Niagara Campaign 1814 Project in Review

Just a few pictures of the Niagara Campaign project that I have been working on since March 2016.  Thank you all for following my progress.  It is exciting to finally see the collection transformed into two table top armies.   I am extremely pleased with how this project has turned out.  

  

   Janine and I are off on vacation.  So my next post may not be for a while.  This one is being composed and posted at over 35000 feet while flying  down to Fort Lauderdale and then driving to Key West.  Gotta love the free fly fi on JetBlue.  We will be back in time for the Super bowl; Go Patriots!  After that I hope to have my first battle with these fine fellows.

Royal Artillery

   Just finished up my Royal Artillery bases.  Borrowed the British guns from my Crimean war stands.  I got the bases from litko and they are a little larger then what I used for my Americans but I like the look.  Should I add additional gunners to stands?  We will see......

   Once I finnish painting my two British mounted command figures I should have enough regiments to have a game.  As I go on vacation soon it will be after I get back from Key West (and after the superbowl) but before Cold War in March.

100th Regiment of Foot

  

 If the 1st and 8th Regiments of Foot were long service regiments with traditions and honours, the next regiment is the opposite.  The 100th Regiment of Foot (Prince Regent's County of Dublin Regiment) was raised in Ireland in 1804 for service in the Napoleonic Wars.

    The 100th were sent to Nova Scotia in 1805.   Colonel Isaac Brock, then serving on the staff in North America, reported favourably on the regiment while they were serving as garrison for Quebec City,  "The men were principally raised in the north of Ireland, and are nearly all Protestants; they are robust, active, and good looking."

    During the War of 1812 the regiment served along the  Canadian frontier. The whole regiment took part in the Capture of Fort Niagara, and the raids on Buffalo and Black Rock New York in late December 1813.

    In July 1814, they saw action at the Battle of Chippawa where the regiment took heavy losses.  They were reduced to "one Captain & 3 subalterns doing duty, with 250 effective men". They then served at the Siege of Fort Erie in the closing months of the year. For their services in the defence of Canada, the 100th were awarded the battle honour "Niagara."

    Figures from Knuckleduster miniatures and flags from Flag of War.  The regiment had yellow facing and the officers silver lace.  I painted them in the Belgian shako since they were keeping up with the times.  I also liked the bright yellow facings which contrast nicely on the table top against the blue of their fellow regulars.

Battle of North Point 1814

    My first game of the year was, of course a War of 1812 game.  A refight of the Battle of North Point in 1814 in fact.  Yet I have not bloodied my new troops as this was a away game.  When I went to the game day at Fort Devens I met a lot of local war gamers I had not known of.  This Sunday I was invited to one of their homes.  Peter, who ran the game day is putting on a Battle of North Point at Cold Wars this year.

    For the game it was yours truly commanding the Americans and Greg the British.  Rules used were Carnage and Glory a computer generated rule set.  This was the first time I had played a game where everything is run through a computer.  It took a while to get used to not reaching for a first full of dice. But once you let that go things run very smoothly.

American militia holding the line.

    As to the Battle my militia line stood and drove off the British lights skirmishes stands.  But bad morale caused them to be frozen in place and finally they lost their nerve and fell back.  Greg used his  skirmishes to protected his mainforce which allowed them to get close to my line.  In the end morale and better quality forced my troops to head home after causing a lot of British casualties.

The great run away commences.

    It was a fun game and a enjoyable day.  I look forward to returning the flavor and having Peter and Greg ever my house for a game.

   Thanks guys!

8th Regiment of Foot

    At the time tensions between the United States and Britain resulted in America declaring war the 8th Regiment of Foot was based in Quebec and Nova Scotia.  During the course of the war the 8th Regiment of Foot would find itself at the forefront of the defense of Canada.

    The Regiment took part in a daring raid on Ogdensburg New York in February 1813.  To reach their destination, the Regiment and Canadian militia had to cross the frozen St. Lawrence River and march through dense snow. After gaining control of the fort the British destroyed the main barracks and three anchored vessels,and departed with provisions and prisoners.

    In April 1813, elements of the 8th, Canadian militia, and Native American allies attempted to defend  York (present-day Toronto) from and American attack.  As the Americans landed on the shoreline, the grenadier company of the 8th engaged them in a bayonet charge but we're repulsed.   The Americans  overwhelmed them and forced the entire command to retreat. Although they captured York the Americans suffered over 250 casualties, including their commander  General Zebulon Pike, when retreating British regulars detonated Fort York's Grand Magazine.

    While garrisoning Fort George, at Newark (present day Niagara-on-the-Lake), in May 1813  the 8th Foot ( with companies of the Glengarries and Runchey's Company of Coloured Men) attempted to disrupt an amphibious landing by the Americans. Although outnumbered British delayed the invasion force which allowed the defenders to retreated. Interestingly this was the first time the 8th would fight against the American officer Windfield Scott who led the landing parties.  In June 1813, the 8th and 49th regiments attacked the American encampment at Stoney Creek in a daring night time action.  Although the British captured two American brigadiers  and inflicted heavy losses, Colonel John Harvey who commanded the British worried (panicked?) his heavily outnumbered command would be captured ordered a withdrawal.  Later that year the regiment took part in the capture of Fort Niagara, and the raids on Buffalo and Black Rock New York.

    In July 1814 the regiment fought in the Battle of Chippawa against their old foe Winfield Scott.  Later in the month, the regiment fought in the Battle of Lundy's Lane. The following month, the regiment took part in the action at Snake Hill during the siege of Fort Erie.  The 8th Regiment received the battle honour 'Niagara' for its contribution during the War.

    To recreate this regiment I again used the incredible miniatures from Knuckleduster.  To illustrate the long service of the regiment I put the rank and file in the older stove pipe shako, while the officers wear the newer Belgic shako.  My thoughts are the officers would have purchased the new version of the caps before the men were issued theirs. Conjecture on my part but possible. But it does set it apart from the similarly dressed 1st Regiment on the table top.   As many have noticed it is important to me that I know something about the regiments I push on the table top.  Flags are again from Flags of War.  And beautiful works of art they are too!  Flag finals from Front Rank miniatures.

1st Regiment of Foot (Royal Scots)

The 1st Regiment of Foot (Royal Scots) arrived in Canada in August 1812.   During the war it fought at the battles of Sackett's Harbor, the raid on Buffalo & Black Rock New York, as well as the capture of Fort Niagara in 1813;  the battles of Chippawa and Lundy's Lane, and the Siege of Fort Erie in 1814. The regiment had blue facing's and the officer has gold lace.

   Interestingly the 1st Regiment of Foot was the oldest regiment in the British army.  One of its nick names came as a result of a dispute with the French Picardy regiment who claimed they guarded Christ's tomb.  The Royal Scots replied that if that were true then they were Pontius Pilate's Bodyguard.

    For the miniature regiment I once again used the Knuckleduster miniatures line of War of 1812.  All figures wear the more modern belgic shako.  Colors are from Flags of War.

Crimean vignette

A fun set of figures from Great War Miniatures wonderful range of figures.  Russian NCO's motivating the soldiers to advance for the greater glory of the Tsar.  I use them in my Crimean War games when ever things go wrong with the Russian players.

The Battalion of Incorporated Militia of Upper Canada

In March  1813 the Canadian Legislature created the Volunteer battalion of Incorporated Militia of Upper Canada. Volunteers were to be equipped, trained and paid as Regulars, and to serve for the duration of the war.  Most of the men came from the militia and had served in a previous campaign. During its first year of existence the Incorporated Militia saw action at Fort York, Fort George, The capture of Fort Niagara, the burning of Buffalo, the raid on Madrid (New York), and numerous other small skirmishes.  In March 1814 the ten existing companies of the Incorporated Militia were assembled at York and amalgamated into a single battalion under Lt-Col. Wm. Robinson (8th Regiment).

On July 6th, 1814, the Battalion sailed to Fort George and were assigned to the Light Brigade. After a few skirmishes with Americans, they were ordered forward on July 25th to assemble along the hill by Lundy's Lane.  The IMUC were placed on the far left of the British line holding left the flank.  The battle began around 6 PM and continued in the dwindling light as both sides committed reinforcements.  Around sunset the American 25th Regiment succeeded in getting around the British flank and hit the IMUC on its flank.  The IMUC did not break but fell back in reasonably good order, rallied and returned to the fight . The battle raged through the night until both side were exhausted and left the field.  The IMUC lost one Ensign and six men killed; four officers and 39 men wounded; five officers, three Sergeants and 14 men prisoners; 75 missing (most of the who turned up over the next few days).

During the winter, the Legislative Assembly passed a series of acts to expand and improve the Incorporated Militia. It was also planned to change the uniform to a more practical green and they be allowed to bear "Niagara" upon their colours and appointments. But with the ending of the War, the Incorporated Militia was disbanded on March 10th, 1815.  In 1821, the Battalion was finally presented with a set of colours, which were lodged in the care of the York Militia. They are currently in the National War Museum in Ottawa.

In creating the Volunteer Battalion of Incorporated Militia of Upper Canada (is that a great name or what!) I used the Knuckleduster miniatures.  As there are conflicting information on its uniform I followed Forrest Harris's advice.  They were to be issued regular uniforms faced green.  Later in the summer 1814 the facings were to be changed to blue.  Although blue cloth was sent it is unknown if they made the change.  To make the unit look more interesting I painted officers with the new blue facings (since they provided their own uniforms)  but left the  rank and file in green facing's.  There are some suggestions the battalion received left over  stove pipe shakos;   round hats were very popular so I mixed the headgear, again to make the unit more interesting and stand out on the tabletop.

    The Incorporated Militia of Upper Canada added a dash of color to my tabletop army.  They blend with the regulars, but look slightly different. As part of 2nd or Light Brigade with the 2nd Lincoln militia and Glengarry Light Infantry and occasionally Norton's Indiands  this will be a fun command!

   If you would like to learn more about this fine regiment I suggest "Redcoated Ploughboys" by Richard Feltoe.

2nd Regiment Lincoln militia

    The  various battalions of the Lincoln militia were active throughout the 1814 campaign.  The 2nd Regiment fought at both Chippewa and Lundy's Lane.  I wanted them for my collection, but had to research what they would look like for the table top.  As is usual for my miniature regiments I wanted them to be accurate but also look interesting.

    What I found was that the militia wore both uniforms and civilian clothes. While  they  wanted to present a uniform appearance, it was very rarley achieved.  Depending on the year or month they were given red coats with yellow facings, green coats with red or yellow facings, castoffs from the 41st Foot (red faced red), regulation gray

trousers,   "gunmouth" blue trousers. Head gear were left over stove pipe shakos, round hats or what ever the individual brought with them.  Equipment were regular accoutrements.  The troops who came the closest to military uniformity were the flank companies, who's uniforms included lace and possibly wings.

   When I started this project I was confused over the terms "embodied" and "sedentary" militia.  These troops who served for longer tours of duty were termed "embodied" militia while those who were called  away from their farms and businesses only during times of dire emergency were the "sedentary" militia.  They seldom had uniforms, and were instructed to report for battle turned out in a civilian coat made of a dark cloth, but avoid grey coats, which was the color frequently used by the Americans.

Miniatures are from the extensive Knuckleduster miniatures War of 1812 line.

Glengarry Light Infantry

   The Glengarry Light Infantry was a light unit raised in the Glengarry area of Canada.  Recruits were mainly Scottish emigrants who came from Novia Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward island.  Originally a Fencible Regiment it was granted regular status.  They served throughout the war and distinguished themselves in numerous actions.

  The uniform resembled that of the more famous 95th Rifle regiment.  Dark green coats and trousers, faced black with black equipment.   Officers wore sashes highland style over the shoulder rather then around the waist.  Instead of the baker rifle the men were armed with the standard British smoothbore musket.

Old school terrain Hills

  I have always liked these old school style hills.  They remind me of the maps on the old Avalon Hill games. To me they are wicked pissa (as we used to say in my mis spent youth).   They are not what is standard on most game tables.  But then I have never been part of the in crowd.  

 If any of the readers of this blog have made these or know gamers who have made these please contact me.  I would love to know how you made them, or suggestions on how to make them.  Did you use blue board?  Or MDF (which I know nothing about).  I am interested in making these would appreciate any suggestions or how to.

Thank you!

Battle of Princeton

Battle of Princeton January 3, 1777

Love this portrait of Washington representing his twin victories of Trenton and Princeton.  Leaning on the captured cannon, captured colors at his feet.  A Marvelous smile on his face.  Yes, I saved the revolution, and proved my critics wrong.

Eye witness panting of the Battle.  Great details for uniforms, colors.

Happy New Year 2017

The Light Division will advance....in a game!

  Following on the heels of my last post of 2016, here is the first post of 2017.

As is the custom it's time for resolutions and plans.  What to do and how to do it.

Need to get these fine fellow on the table

First complete my projects. Always a good intention but so seldom carried through. But I will make a try.

The beatings will continue until your projects are done, comrades.

War of 1812:
Complete British forces.  Already a good start and enough figures on hand for some games.  Bases and flags are on order.  Last minute just got to have (cavalry and rockets) I can pick up at Cold Wars in March.

Time for Cousin Johnathan to meet Thomas Lobster.

Rev War:
Need flags for my loyalists.  A few additional cavalry and some militia would be nice.

Crimean:
Need to get them onto the table top!

That young man, Nolan, I don't like him....

Terrain:
This is my big push for the year.  After years of trial and error I found I am looking for a old school minimalist terrain.  But with static grass ground cloths.

  Need to make hills to go with it, the old steeped type hills. But not painted but covered in static grass.   I have Plenty of fences, fields and woods.  But they are more game friendly rather then diorama. An example would be woods which are outlined and trees placed in them which can be moved about to make room for figures moving.  Clear, simple and game friendly.  I like my roads fromBattlefield Terrain Concepts.  But looking for good rivers.  These are big on my shopping list.  Not pleased with what I have so looking for suggestions.

So there you have it.  Better table tops and terrain.  Paint a bit but more playing games.