Saturday 27 June 2015

Harpers Ferry to Sharpsburg and Valley Forge.

While staying at Gettysburg we hired a car and drove around the beautiful country side of Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Virginia.


West Virginia on the far side at Harpers Ferry.
The Potomac River





The Potomac again.


The Battlefield around Sharpsburg
The Dunker Church.
 After stopping in at the visitors centre we drove around the battlefield.

Near the sunken road.

 No trip to the Sharpsburg battlefield would be complete without seeing the famous bridge over Antietam creek known as Burnside's Bridge.
 Very warm and peaceful the day we were there and hard to believe that once this was the scene of some bitter fighting.

I also had plans to visit the Brandywine Battlefield but it was closed for some sort of repair work so instead I hopped on a bus and went out to Valley Forge.

 I spent several hours wandering around taking photos.

This guy was busy explaining about the huts to some visitors.

The artillery park.

A huge monument in the middle of the park.


So that is about it until my next trip over to that side of the world.



Sunday 21 June 2015

Gettysburg

It was a totally unreal feeling overlooking Gettysburg and realising that I was actually there.

I had a fantastic time driving around the battlefield and around the countryside.

Just a few of the many photos below.


Taken from between Cemetery Hill and Culp's Hill
Looking back at Cemetery Hill.
Meade's HQ

The Angle.
 Wandering along between The Angle and the Copse of Trees and looking toward where the Rebels started from was a strange feeling.
The trees that where the target for the Confederates on July 3rd.


 It's also quite a long walk retracing the steps of Pickett's Charge when you think of the amount of lead that was flying around that day!
The round tops in the background.

Lieutenant General James Longstreet


Moving through the rocks at Devil's Den.

Devil's Den from Little Round Top

The view from Little Round Top
Trostle farm was important for me to see. Having made a model of it a few years ago, for our 150th anniversary game, I was keen to see it up close.

Near Trostle Farm

The Round Tops.


A covered bridge near the battlefield.


The cyclorama at the visitors centre is well worth a look
 In the town of Gettysburg is this amazing diorama. They do a light show over this layout to explain the battle and then you are free to take a closer look. Thousands of Airfix troops can be found here.


All in all a fantastic time that I will have to do again.

Sunday 14 June 2015

Camelot.

This is the last post on the wonderful dioramas at Miniature World, Vancouver Island, Canada.

 Camelot comprises a number of separate dioramas in different scales.
The Round Table.

Jousting tournament. Push a button and the two knights charge each other.

 These photos are of the main diorama. 20mm scale, or thereabouts.
 Stunning diorama that could well be used for a few Lion Rampant games!
 Might need some special rules for assaulting the castle though!



 I was really impressed with this. Hence all the photos!

This diorama was created using several different scales of figures to help give the illusion of depth.

The end for Arther and for my time at Miniature World.