Veldhuizburg

I've had a moment of creative diversion that I thought I'd share. As the campaign focus moves to the river-crossings of Veldhuizburg on the River Schelve, I found myself sketching out maps for the small city/large town of Veldhuizburg. Here's a plan of the place:

It sits on the NE bank of the river, with a bridge across to a small (unwalled) docklands area on the opposite bank. Surrounding terrain is generally low-lying with scattered woods and marshland. I've also wound up doing my model in 3-D, and here's a view below:

As you can see, Veldhuizburg has a bastioned wall around it's perimeter, designed in accord to the scientific principles of the age. There are no ravelins around the works however on account of the relatively smaller size of the fortifications (outworks cost money, you know - do you fancy writing to the Elector about it, mister Burgomaster? I thought not!) The ditch in front has been cut into the river Schelve to create a moat around the walls, and a small Glacis to the front has been made by mounding up the sandy soil into a ramp (presumably, the money for Ravelins is taken up in paying some poor devils to constantly shovel the sand back into place and prevent the whole place slumping down!) The town layout is also on the classic Dutch fortress-pattern of streets radiating out like spokes from a central assembly area, allowing the garrison reserve to reach any point on the walls swiftly. On a whim, I made the central area a grassy little quadrangle to serve as the garrison parade-ground, town market, or promenading gardens for the well-to-do.

[Just as an extra note, I should add that the whole thing was drawn up easily on Google Sketchup, the free download for drawing 3-D pictures you can obtain, and can be used even by untrained amateurs like me!]

Rain in Muckenmire

Wouldn't you know it - after much delay in the real world, the exact thing happens in the 18th-Century world! Aschenbach's campaign of invasion into the province of Muckenmire has been hit by a most inconvenient spell of bad weather. The normally hot august weather has been ruined by some unexpectedly heavy rain, which has turned the entire theatre into a muddy, shapeless mess.

Fresh from his bloody nose at the Steenwijk, the stunned Von Krumper has taken stock and called for a re-concentration of his forces, with the aim of taking Veldhuizburg further up the River Schelve and obtaining a crossing to the southern bank. If the capital of Brederdam can't be taken by a direct approach, it can be cut off and encircled from the rear! Veldhuizburg is also an easy target on account of the only defenders being the Luftberg army under Von Bitzhelm, still recovering there from their earlier defeat at the hands of Von Grenwitz.

Only a small holding force under Tobias Ludwig stood in the way, with his small detachment of Luftberg infantry & cavalry dug in at the Katherijne Bruck bridge over the Langendijk canal. He should have been brushed aside by the main Aschenbach army, except - he wasn't. The Aschenbach troops never even made it there. Thanks to this foul weather and trying to haul a siege train through it, the attack slowed to a crawl and never even landed a blow. In fact, the closest thing to action all month was when Von Krumper ordered the depot for his aborted advance to be torched - the first time for weeks anybody in a blue uniform has felt warm!

Enough of this miserable trekking around. Time to go to your billets in a handy requisitioned farmhouse, hang up your gaiters by the fireside, then engage in some drinking, gambling and pipe-smoking for a few days until the rain lets up.