Saturday 22 August 2020

Going full Vauban

 


On a whim, I've bought myself a c.17th fortress. I have slowly been accumulating late c.17th minis and they need a secure base of operations!


This came from Germany, and mostly made from foam, with resin details. It's around 75cm square.

That gate needs some outworks- the whole fort does, really, earthworks and a ditch. It would also be nice to add a house for the governor.


I'm quite taken with it- with a little additional detailing, I think it will look very good on the table.


I particularly like the sentry points. 

The model came from More Terrain in Germany and was very reasonably priced. I'm really not sure how I'll use it- perhaps on the edge of a table at a show, just possibly in a siege.

16 comments:

Lordhay said...

Would this do for the Indian Mutiny,

BigRedBat said...

No, rather more Low Countries. IX YW or later.

Anton Ryzbak said...

The sentry posts on the corners look decidedly Spanish (although the style caught on with the Dutch and French as well) check the Castillo de San Marcos in Florida, your fort is a near match

Taximan said...

I feel some siege rules for FKP coming on........

Millsy said...

Very nice and very YOU :-)

BigRedBat said...

Hi Anton, that's really interesting. I do recall your splendid fortress!

I rather suspect that the fort is designed for the Caribbean, which would explain the posts. I think I could remove the sentry posts fairly easily. I am toying with buying a few extra pieces to give me more options, perhaps I'll ask for the posts to be left off those.

Gonsalvo said...

The posts are reminiscent of "El Morro"in San Juan. Regardless, it's a beautiful piece... just the thing for Eric Burgess' new siege rules, "Vauban's Wars". :-)

Eric Burgess said...

That is a good looking fortress and comes painted! Nice! I prefer without sentry posts, however they are not that rare in Europe. When I visited Kindle, Ireland the fort there had sentry posts. Anton did mention that the one in St. Augustine has one too. If you do want to do a real siege game, you can use my new rules called Vauban's Wars. I have Facebook page for them, and I have a blog too. Plenty of blog posts about the rules too.

https://dinofbattle.blogspot.com/p/vaubans-wars.html

Good luck with whatever you decide to do with the fortress!
Eric

BigRedBat said...

Hi Eric, thanks very much! I saw your rules mentioned recently, I shall have a look into them, I might well be in the market for some siege rules.

caveadsum1471 said...

Lovely looking Vauban fort,useful all over Europe, maybe you can use it with your Napoleonic troops too?
Best Iain

Andrew Brentna said...

Looks great Batters! Have you seen the Osprey on the Vaughan Fortifications of France, by the late great Paddy Griffith? Nicely illustrated, including numerous versions of the echanguettes!

Mollers

Counterpane said...

Oh, I saw one of those in a game at Claymore last year. Really nice and unexpectedly light!

Price is a bit steep though!

BigRedBat said...

Hi Mollers, I need to get that.

Richard, I thought it very reasonable at under £200, painted and delivered. So reasonable, in fact, that I'm considering buying some more walls so that it could enclose a small town. :)

BigLee said...

"I'm really not sure how I'll use it" ah yes, the impulse buy that just had to be made....we've all been there! The very nice fort though, I can see why you got it. This is the sort of purchase that armies and new rules are built around!

Nathan said...

That looks really impressive. I do like a good fort.

£200 is a lot for a piece of scenery but I've spent a lot more than £200 worth of my time making things that look far less impressive than that so it could be seen as a bit of a bargain.

Regarding the sentry posts, I think Anton Ryzbek has it on the nail - they look just like the ones at the Citadelle de Port Louis in Brittany which was built by the Spanish in the 16th C. Given how much the Habsburg Empire covered, plus imitation of the style by others, that strikes me as a piece of scenery that could be used very widely.

WimVdB said...

I've visited several late 17th / early 18th Century forts in northern Spain, Catalunia. They all had sentry posts. BTW, it is realy worth visiting them. You get a whole different view on the life in and use of these fortifications!