A Western Adventure

 I have been lazier than usual and have neglected the blog.

I went on a small trip to visit my brother and his family in Perth.

While there I also visited my brother's wargame club.

First up a photo of the Indian Ocean

Unlike Sydney where all the houses are built right to the ocean, in Perth they leave a lot of space which makes it a lot more natural. Perth is a lovely city, really well planned and easy to get around. Just a long way away. 5 hours from Sydney by plane.. only 4 hours going back because of tail winds.

Off to the wargames club Napoleonic Wargaming Society

It is run in the rooms of a lawn bowling club and has lots of tables and a very welcoming group of gamers.

My brother and his friend were playing a game of König's Krieg to refresh their memory of how it works. Hence the rather bare table. 

I got the usual little brother job of rolling his dice. 😂😂I did alright until an important morale roll where he said "Anything but a 6 Ben"... you can guess what I rolled 🤣 Scratch one infantry battalion and one artillery unit.

Now something never before seen on my blog. Eye Candy.

One of the other things I discussed with my brother is Vauban Fortresses. I have always wanted to have one in my collection but have held off as they are difficult to game with as they will occupy the bulk of any table making it impossible to properly attack them. 

He has resolved this issue by proposing to build one that is on a river or sea. This means the fortress is on the side of the table and you can effectively use all of it. There were many actual forts like this. 

An example.

Anyway, back to normal programming soon.

Copenhagen Denmark

  In early May I went on an adventure to Stockholm and Copenhagen. Below are a very abbreviated selection of the photos I took in Copenhagen that I thought maybe of interest to my readers.

Copenhagen is a lovely city and very easy to walk around. Lots of wonderful buildings and streets and different from my native Sydney. I stayed in a 100 year old hotel near the main railway with lots if period touches including a rotary hotel phone.

So, what do you think this is? I saw it an immediately thought the "best civil war everrrr.... ACW". But no, it is Generallieutenant Krogh in 1850 fighting the Prussians (I think)

The following photos are from the Danish War Museum located in an old arsenal building.

Cannon from the middle ages. From the following photos I think it is apparent that the Danish military are hoarders. Which is great for us 😂

They would make small models of ships in scale and these would be used by the dockyard builders to make the ships as many could not read.

In 1658 Denmark-Norway was once again (their words)attacked by Swedish king Karl X Gustav who brought an army of 10,000 men and besieged Copenhagen. After six months with supplies running low the Danish sent a fleet of 35 ships to break the blockade and siege and deliver supplies and reinforcements. The Danish broke through and delivered the supplies and four months later, after a failed assault the Swedes withdrew. 

The Swedes seemed to get all their anger out during the 17th Century   😂

Diorama of the battle 

Close up. 

A model of the ship "Dronning Julianne Maria" to assist its construction in 1752 but unusually it can be disassembled to show the various decks.

After being bombed by the British in 1801 and 1809 (I think) the Danes created these bombard ships that would be able to operate in the calm waters around Copenhagen. Here is one British ship fighting them off. Not sure how it would have worked if there was a fleet of British ships.

And now for something completely unexpected.

The Danes would request example uniforms from different militaries to help them design their own. The above one is from the USA and according to the note is the only existing complete set of USA Infantry and Cavalry uniforms from 1860.

Close up with my usual abysmal photo skills

In addition to the ship models they also kept models of guns and artillery.

Losing your standard is the worst thing that could occur to any Regiment. Losing it on the battlefield was dreadful, your line was crushed, your square was broken. But the most embarrassing way to lose your standard was to leave it behind in the hotel when you leave the country.  The Eagle of the Franco-Spanish Auxiliary Corp left behind when they departed Copenhagen in 1806.

How the Vikings kept their shields on the sides of their ships. A thin strip of wood creating a slot to hold the shield. From the Viking ships recovered at Roskilde, the early capital of the Vikings, which is a bugger to get to from the sea, so they were nice and safe from any raiding parties... hypocrites!

Random display of ceramic toy British soldiers in India.

Copenhagen is generally low rise but has a couple of very high church towers, all requiring lots of walking up.

This one is the Rundetaarn.... aka The Round Tower.

View from the top. You can see the bridge to Sweden and also another very tall church tower, no not that one with the clock, the one with the ball on top.

So I went up this one too. 400 steps, about 100 on the outside. It was cold, very narrow staircase, wobbled a little in the wind, but the view was great.

In the never ending discussion of whether or not unpainted miniatures are allowed I have never heard of what should happen if your opponent is the Prince and his mini's are made out of gold with the occasional gem stone for highlights.

Prince Frederik V's mini collection of Africans and Romans. 

African camels

Spears?

Archers and Romans

Command group with baby elephants

Just when you thought you had the perfect model ship someone comes along with their model Frigate "Norske Love" that fought for Christian IV in the Torstensson war of 1643-1645 made out of ivory with cannons and details in silver. Pity they didn't paint it though 🤣

Well a trip to Copenhagen is not done until you visit the little mermaid. Unfortunately the little mermaid is a little disappointing. Fortunately, close by is the Kastellet which is a well preserved Vauban fortress, still a military base but you can wander around the walls. First one I had seen in the flesh.

Another view. Great to walk around, certainly got the step count up.

Well I hope it was all mildly interesting. I had a great time there and can definitely recommend it as a destination. Expensive to go out for dinner or drinks but otherwise no different to what I would pay in Sydney. Plenty of options if you don't want to pay too much.

Stockholm Sweden

 In early May I went on an adventure to Stockholm and Copenhagen. Below are a very abbreviated selection of the photos I took in Stockholm that I thought maybe of interest to my readers. (a post on Copenhagen Denmark to follow)

Stockholm is a lovely city and very easy to walk around. Lots of wonderful buildings and streets and very very different from my native Sydney. I stayed in a 400 year old building now working as a small hotel of seven rooms. Despite the four flights of narrow circular stairs and a floor that had a five degree slope it was really nice and I thoroughly enjoyed it, right in the middle of the old town. 

From the War Museum

Diorama of a typical Swedish army of the 1600's when they fought their wars as a great power along with a larger example of the soldiers

another photo of the diorama

Typical canon

Not all the uniforms were static displays, they had setup these 1:1 scenes which were great to see.

Another larger example using Charles XII's cavalry. Beating the Russians and the Poles.

Canon for the winter on a sled. I had never seen this before.

A display of the light troops in the Swedish Napoleonic army.

Example uniform from 1905 with a tricorn hat!!! Inspired by Charles XII's army. Great for those of you who want to play a 20th century army but miss the 30 years war 🤣

The Swedish army maintained a set of models of all the large equipment they issued to their troops. I think that this must of been common as the Danes did it as well. Much of the Swedish models have been kept.

Artillery and limbers

More artillery and various wagons

Uniform 1765 pattern of the Solderlandman regiment

The Vasa Museum
The Vasa sank 15 minutes into its maiden voyage. It was found and raised in 1967 and placed into a purpose built museum. Fantastic to see all the detail and amazing that it is still there after the time spent under water.

Model of the Vasa

The Vasa in all its glory. A wonderful ship and absolutely amazing how much is left considering the time it spent on the bottom of the harbour.

The National Museum

Bringing home the body of King Karl XII of Sweden after his abortive attempt to conquer Norway. The uniforms are accurate but the scene draws heavily on General Armfeldst disastrous retreat across the Jamtland mountains

Proof that the Swedes can have a laugh. A modern imagination of the same scene, the "Levitation of Charles the XII" This was hanging in the same museum. 😂

Anyway, I had a great time and there is lots to see and I have not troubled you with the other 100's of photos that I took - although there is one last treat. Hopefully this works as I have never put in a video before.

Just randomly when I was in Stockholm the King and Queen of Norway visited and there was a Royal procession which was great for me as I had never seen anything like it before.