Kettie's ambush - Dumas campaign p. 6

In our new game I had the challenge to bring a wagon to a small abbey in a narrow valley and had no idea where Kettie would try to prevent my arrival at the abbey, where a certain gent in red waits to give me a sack of coins to pay troops to follow his further instructions [1]. 

All of Kettie's troops are hidden in houses or woods. (photo: C. Hanselmann)

 

I decided to let the wagon be guarded by a unit of pikes and August von Wiesel himself while a forlorn hope was send out to find ambushers in the woods. Besides I had 2 troops of ordinary musketeers, some commanded shot and a troop of heavy horse to protect the wagon on the narrow road.

A man in a red robe is waiting for my arrival. (photo: C. Hanselmann)

 

Unfortunately the gent in red had little intention to help me and ordered his 6 guards to stay with him at the abbey. Therefore they could only fight if attacked by Kettie. 

 

I ordered some musketeers to advance towards the hamlet. The cart is moving using the road. (photo: F. Hanselmann)

 

 But after some early bad luck I decide to challenge Kettie to maybe force her troops into failing morale tests... (photo: C. Hanselmann)

Kettie could place two troops of musketeers of the king in the buildings of a small hamlet or in one of the woods in the valley or at the hilltops. A third unit of ordinary musketeers could be hidden in one of the four woods. 
 

Our pike unit is moving through the hamlet as fast as possible. (photo: C. Hanselmann)

 

Kettie herself commanded a troop of Royal musketeers on horseback and had a unit of pikemen to follow her orders which could arrive in the area on one of the smaller roads. My opponents rolled a 2 for both units and therefore they came from the mountainside (on a 3-4 they would come from the opposite direction and on a 5-6 they would not arrive in the turn). 

A small group of forlorn hope is my only unit which manages to shoot - here they fire at the storage building, where 6 musketeers of the king are hidden. (photo: C. Hanselmann)

Plus des Suisses pour le roi

Ich habe beschlossen, dass ich ein weiteres Regiment der Schweizer für unsere Schlacht bei Rocoux benötige. Ich habe ja bereits das Regiment Bettens [1]. Diesmal habe ich mir das Regiment Diesbach ausgesucht. Die Uniformen sind sehr ähnlich. Als Vorlage habe ich die Zeichnung von Gudenus ausgewählt [2]. Die Kokarde ist weiß und auch die Borte am Hut. Die Fahne stammt von "Not by appointment" [3]. Dieses Jahr werden wir mit unserer Veranstaltung in Wackershofen ins Jahr 1746 gehen. Ein Grund mehr sich mich der Zeit zu beschäftigen.

 

J'aime beaucoup le drapeau du régiment. (photo: C. Hanselmann)

The cardinal's guard

 I painted three different tiny units for "Pikeman's Lament". One of them is armed with halberts. We see halberts used in small formations for example in a Hessian regulation [1] in a marching column. For some reason these solders have shoes instead of boots. Maybe they are ordered as a personal guard for the cardinal Richelieu himself. One of them have a more elaborated outfit with lace at his boots and therefore perhaps is to be usd as an officer.

Some guards using their swords. I changed some hats with greenstuff. (photo: A. Hanselmann, 2026)

As usually with these sets the riders fit on the horses very badly. But the details are very nice and sharp. One of the figures missed half of his head and had no hat at all and therefore my son formed a new hat with greenstuff. I was not angry about it because the manufacturer is in the Ukraine during real war now. (photo: A. Hanselmann, 2026)

Perhaps they are fighting their enemies in the blue cassocks... (photo: A. Hanselmann, 2026)

The second group of figures are from the same set [2]. These are more in poses as we know them from movies. Perhaps they are arresting  Eloïse d’Artagnan to get her message [3]? We can doubt that the cardinal's guard used their swords only very often although Dumas presents them doing so fighting the Musketeers of the king at many occassions.

 

I do like the ribbon on the "officers" hat. The guards with halberts are in two different poses in the set. I changed feathers and hats a little to make them looking more interesting. (photo: A. Hanselmann 2026)

Seuchen und Krisen 1626 - Plagues and Crisis in 1626

Die große in Württemberg grassierende Seuche, die nicht zuletzt von den Söldnern wie denen unter Sachsen-Lauenburg eingeschleppt wurde, ist kein vorrangiges Thema auf unserer Veranstaltung. Dennoch will ich es nicht so ganz unerwähnt lassen. In einer Haller Chronik wird die Dramatik der Ereignisse im angrenzenden Württemberg geschildert, Dort regnete es 10 Wochen lang, so dass das Korn ungenießbar wurde, die Ärmsten, die von ihrem Handwerk nicht mehr leben konnten, gezwungen waren "Graßdisteln, Melten und dergleichen" zu verzehren. Noch härter soll es Bayern getroffen haben, weil man dort sehr einseitig auf den Anbau von Roggen setzte, wodurch viele ihr Land verließen und in Württemberg oder gar dem Elsass betteln gehen mussten. Auf die Missernte folgte in Württemberg die Pest, von der 28.000 Menschen dahingerafft wurden [1].

The great epidemic raging in Württemberg, which was brought in part by mercenaries like those under Saxe-Lauenburg, is not a primary topic at our event. Nevertheless, I don't want to leave it entirely unmentioned. A chronicle from Hall describes the dramatic events in neighboring Württemberg. There, it rained for ten weeks straight, rendering the grain inedible, forcing the poorest, who could no longer make a living from their trades, to eat "grass thistles, ragwort, and the like." Bavaria was said to have been hit even harder because of its heavy reliance on rye cultivation, which led many to abandon their land and beg in Württemberg or even Alsace. The crop failure in Württemberg was followed by the plague, which claimed the lives of 28,000 people [1].

Wir haben damals keine Disteln gekocht auf unserer Landleben 1619 Veranstaltung. - We didn't cook any thistles on our Landleben 1619 event. (photo: S. Winter, 2019)

Die Auswirkungen der Krise sieht man auch im Kleinen, beispielsweise wenn wiederholt Bäcker in Schwäbisch Hall wegen "übel gebackenen" Brot wie David Hoffmann am 12. Mai 1626 oder "zu gering gebackenen Brodt" wie Endris Löchner belangt wurden. Die Reichsstadt hatte klare Maße, welche die Bäcker bei einem gewissen Brotpreis, der vom Magistrat erhöht oder gesenkt werden konnte, eingehalten werden musste, wenn man nicht wie hier mit 4 Talern Strafe belegt werden wollte. Bezeichnenderweise ging die Hälfte von Hoffmanns Strafe, also 2 Taler, an den Haller Bettelvogt [2]. Der Rat erließ im 17. Jahrhundert mehrfach Verbote einheimisches Brot oder Getreide ohne Wissen des Rates auszuführen. Da scheint es beinahe übermäßig milde, wenn dem "weib" des Balthasar Widmann nur eine Strafe von 2 Gulden auferlegt wurde, weil sie "Burgers brot hinaus geben" [3]. Die Vergehen wegen veruntreuten Brotes häufen sich im Frühsommer 1626. Besonders schwer wurde der Bäcker Hans Caspar Glock bestraft, weil er im Juli 40 Laib Brot "zunicht gebacken" wofür er nicht weniger als 12 fl Strafe zahlen musste [4].

The effects of the crisis can also be seen on a smaller scale, for example, when bakers in Schwäbisch Hall were repeatedly fined for "poorly baked" bread, as David Hoffmann was on May 12, 1626, or for "bread baked too thinly," as Endris Löchner was. The imperial city had strict regulations that bakers had to adhere to at a certain bread price, which could be raised or lowered by the city council, if they wanted to avoid a fine of 4 talers, as in this case. Significantly, half of Hoffmann's fine, 2 talers, went to the Hall beggar bailiff [2]. During the 17th century, the council repeatedly issued prohibitions against exporting local bread or grain without its knowledge. In comparison, it seems almost excessively lenient that Balthasar Widmann's wife was only fined 2 guilders for "giving away citizens' bread" [3]. Offenses involving embezzled bread increased in the early summer of 1626. The baker Hans Caspar Glock was punished particularly severely because he "wasted" 40 loaves of bread in July, for which he had to pay a fine of no less than 12 florins [4].

Arbeit am Backofen bei Landleben 1625. - Work at the oven on our Landleben 1625 event. (photo: S. Winter)