Just finished up my mounted officer command stands. Nothing special but I wanted something for my officers rather then the traditional rectangle bases. So AJ from the club came through with these really excellent oval type bases. I like them a lot!
Brigade officers are mounted as single figures on a stand. Higher command division or wing commanders get two figures. Army commanders get a diorama type base.
As I have mentioned in the previous post my game at game day was a last minute addition. Dave, who had been working incredibly hard on his Seminole war game came down with Covid. Fortunately he and his wife Pam are doing much better. I quickly volunteered to put on a game in his place.
Having a short period of time to put something together I decided to do a War of 1812 game. Since I had been working on the Battle of Lundy's Lane that was what I would go with. I had the order of battle and troops ready, I had the terrain ready. But since I was still struggling with the night fighting I decided to ignore that part of the battle. I would play it out as a daylight action. Scott's Brigade would be exposed for one turn only in my game rather then the almost two hours in real life. Reinforcements would arrive by d6 roll; 1-3 = turn 2, 4-6 = turn 3 for Americans and 1-2 = turn 2, 3-4 = turn 3 and 5-6 = turn 4 for British. A medium size group of Native Warriors were historically near the field but did not take part in the fighting. I decided to let the British play roll for their possible arrival each turn; a 1 on a 10D let them join the fight. All of which was to make the game more playable and translate into a fun afternoon game. One member of the club, Allen Wright (AJ) said "So we are fighting the battle of Fundy's Lane;" and the name stuck! Rules used were "Mr Madison's War" from Fife and Drum miniatures and figures are 25mm from Knuckleduster miniatures. George and Warren took the Americans while AJ and I were the British/Canadians. Let the game begin!
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| British/Canadian forces on the right and American forces on the left. |
Our game starts with Pearson's and Morrison's British/Canadian brigades placed on the high ground along Fundy's lane. Winfield Scott's American Brigade is deployed along a narrow country road outside musket range but with artillery range of the British. Woods cover the British/Canadian left flank. Otherwise its open ground. In the upper right of the picture Captain John Norton is concerning with his Native Warriors to see if he can convince them to join the white mans fight.
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| Scott's Brigade deployed behind worm fence. |
Scott's Brigade, deployed behind a worm fence consists of the 9th, 11th and 22nd US Infantry regiments in their famous gray jackets and Captain Towson's artillery. Unknown to the other side he has sent Major Jesup with his 25th US infantry regiment and Captain Ketchum's light infantry company to out flank the enemy line. They will emerge out of the woods on turn two. Each regiment is made up of six stands of four figures, and the light company is two stands of four figures on split stands so they can skirmish.
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| British/Canadian position at start of game. |
On Fundy's lane the Crown forces are made up of (from left to right); 19th Light Dragoons, Incorporated Militia of Upper Canada (IMUC) , 8th and 41st light companies, 1st Regiment of Foot, the Glengarry Light Infantry (GLI), and just off the ridge the Canadian 1st Militia Brigade. The 89th Regiment of Foot is in reserve. In the center is a battery of a heavy gun, a medium gun and a rocket battery. Reinforcements are expected to arrive on the road at the top of the picture.
The game started with a surprisingly aggressive move on the part of the Americans. In the rules you roll to see who gets to either move first and fire second or move second and fire first. There are advantages and disadvantage to both and it makes each turn interesting. Warren, choosing to move first advanced the Americans towards the British/Canadian line! Obviously he was challenging the spirit of Scott! For the next couple moves he advanced boldly towards the guns. Which of course returned fire....
On turn two not only did American reinforcements start to arrive along their side if the table but the 25th US Infantry and Ketchum's light company arrived on the flank of the British position. The UMUC and 19th LD turned to face the enemy.
And the American infantry continued their advance as the Royal Artillery continued hitting them with long range fire. The British cheered when AJ rolled seven dice for possible hits and all seven dice scored a hit each!
Due to casualties the 9th and 22nd US Infantry fell back shaken, and later routed off the table. The 11th continued and charged the 89th Regiment.
The 25th US and IMUC engaged in a close range musket duel; the 19th LD charged the light infantry who calmly stood their ground and shot the cavalry to pieces. The poor 41st/8th light companies tried to charge Towson's gun but misjudged the distance and failed to connect. The gunners blasted them with canister and sent the survivor running for cover.
In the close combat on the hill the 22nd US was driven back by the 89th. At this same time Captain Norton convinced his braves to enter the fight. They raced forward and fired at the 22nd US as they were attempting to rally. This sent them routing off the board.
But on the flank the 25th US charged forward and routed the IMUC. The GLI attempted to plug the gap but they too were driven back. Things looked grim on the flank. Now, if the Americans could just feed in additional troops perhaps they could break the British line.
In the race to feed reinforcements it was the British who won. They additional British regiments finely arrived. Colonel Hercules Scott (isn't that a great name for an officer!) Arrived with the 1st, 8th and 103rd regiments, the flank companies of the 104th, the 2nd Militia Brigade and an additional battery. One Regiment was hurried along the ridge to support the 89th and artillery while the rest marched to flank the Americans.
Although the 2nd Brigade (1st, 21st and 23rd US infantry and two batteries) and 3rd Brigade (Pennsylvania volunteers, New York volunteers and Canadian volunteers) had marched into the table they were experiencing traffic control problems. Attempting to sort out the infantry became a problem as Norton's warriors harassed them and caused all types of mischief!
Because of this, the American side threw in the towel and conceded the game. It was felt they could not rally and reorganize the regiments before being hit by the advancing red coats.
I feel this was a fun scenario and one that will be played again. The various reinforcements helped swing the game first one way then the other. The early advance by Scott's brigade was bold and threw the brutish side off there game first a couple turns. That and the out flanking by Jesup's regiment. Unfortunately due to traffic issues they could not feed more troops forward. I think I will look into that to see what I can do to fix it.
On the British/Canadian side they played a conservative game and did well. All agreed the not knowing if the warriors would join the fight and the rolling for when reinforcements could arrive added suspence. All agreed the rules worked well and provided a easy to learn and fun game.
Thank you to AJ, George and especially Warren for playing g in the game and making it such a fun experience.
On Saturday we held our monthly club meeting. While most game nights are held once a month on a Friday night in October we hold a game day . thus gives us the opportunity to play games in the morning, take a lunch break then play more games in the afternoon. Sometimes one very large multi player game is held. What did we play this year?
Ed, from Ed M's War game Meanderings blog put on his excellent Jousting game. This is not your usual miniature game. There are gigantic figures, excellent graphics and very, very clever rules. It is really outstanding and I have never seen anything like it. I know Ed will be doing a write up so I will leave it to him to better describe the game.
Mike Bailey put on his 28mm Pirate vs Royal Navy sail ships game. Rules used were "Blue Waters, Bloody Pirates.". Again a beautiful looking game and great fun. The players in it sounded like they were having a great time. Mike does a lot if sailing ship games and they are always fun.
Lastly, I put in a War of 1812 battle. It was based on Lundy's Lane with the topography and order of battle the same. I changed some parts to make a better game. Scott's Brigade did not have to stand under artillery fire for two hours, and the battle occurred during daylight so we didn't have to worry about night time rules and those complications. Because of this one if the players AJ said we must be fighting the Battle of Fundy's Lane. I like that and so that us what I will call it. Next post a mire detailed account if the battle.
Moving along with the project, I just finished the stands for Lauzun's Legion. This included the two squadrons of Hussars and Lancers as well as the infantry element. Thus was the force put together from two legions under Lauzun's command that was sent to America.
I think the uniforms of the Legion are some of the most attractive during the war. As such they make a great table top addition.
And of course you cannot forget the commander himself!
Technical difficulties have befuddled me. My Kindle Fire 8 died. Unfortunately for me this is my life line to the internet world. While we do have a lap top computer that is Janine's domain. She used it for work, up to her retirement and now uses it for her duties on various town boards. Plus it confused me. Up to now I have done all my work on my little Kindle tablet. I can read books, surf the internet and write. You would be surprised how much you cab get done on this little table and its small enough it can go anywhere. Unfortunately after six years it up and stopped working. I attempted to share the lap top. But that wasn't working for various reasons. Mostly how uncomfortable I was using it. So I have faced facts and ordered a new Kindle. I found a refurbish Kindle 10 for a very reasonable price. Its bigger, which is much better for my eye sight and pudgy fingers. It took me a while to transfer files and drafts to it, as well as back up everything on memory sticks. So I hope I am back in business now.
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| The new Kindle 10 in all its glory. |
Hobby wise I am still slowly slogging through rebasing. While most of my infantry and artillery are done I still have my cavalry and mounted generals to finish off. The bases for mounted generals have been dine my my friend and fellow club member AJ (thank you!) and I will be picking them up at game day later this month.
Cavalry are all mounted on stands now. I have painted each stand green and will be flocking them with static grass to match my table cloth. I realize its unfashionable to not super detail the bases with ground and various vegetation but that is my choice. I admire how how it looks and many gamers do a truly fantastic job creating miniature works if art. But I personally like plain bases. Ones that match my table cloth and have the units blend into it rather then jump out. Perhaps in many ways i muss the plain painted greet bases from my youth. Oh well its just a personal preference and each to their own.
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| Grenadiers and Guards |
I am also doing a little bit of painting. I find it not a easy as I once did and still have trouble coordinating my brush, fingers and the figure. But I am working through it and trying. Adding a few extra individual figures to round out regiments.
Also getting the table ready for a small game and perhaps a review of the new troops.
Updated Note: If you are directed here from the Miniature Pages it is because Tango stole this link. I have asked him to please either give my blog credit or stop linking here. Although he promised to stop taking my work without giving me credit obviously he has not. Nor am I able to respond to him as I have been blocked on TMP.
Since he has gone back on his word and cares nothing about honesty I will be blocking him in the future. That man contributes nothing and instead fills the TMP site with the work of other people. Glad you liked it! I guess Bill tolerates it since without him there would be little content.
Updated Note: If you are directed here from the Miniature Pages it is because Tango stole this link. I have asked him to please either give my blog credit or stop linking here. Although he promised to stop taking my work without giving me credit obviously he has not. Nor am I able to respond to him. Each time I have i have been blocked on TMP by the editors. I guess free speech only applies if you agree with the topic. On TMP you cannot speak your mind only what bill says you can and if he agrees with it.
Since he has gone back on his word and cares nothing about honesty I will be blocking him in the future. That man contributes nothing and instead fills the TMP site with the work of other people. Glad you liked it! I guess Bill tolerates it since without him there would be little content as he has driven away all the better contributors.
Oh! And for those who disagree with my opinion on bill, tango and TMP please go and listen to this song....
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Vqbk9cDX0l0
Nothing brings you out of a funk then a project. So its troubles behind me and back to re basing my American Rev War collection. The difficult and very messy part of soaking the old stands in water and popping if futures off is now done. The new bases and extra static grass has arrived and its time to start gluing figures to bases.
I am using a mixture of bases for how I mount my American army. Early accounts of the war talk about problems with formations and maneuver and different drill manuals. All of which caused confusion. so I too will mix it up and use a couple different methods if bases and also unit strengths. All, I hope will give a unique flavor and look to my army.
After reviewing American troop returns for 1776 I noticed most regiments had around 200 to 300 rank and file. So that is were I am going with unit sizes based on a 10:1 figure to man ratio. My smallest units had 200 men so 20 figures will do it. I am going to cheat by having a extra stand so if I want I can field them at 24 figures. These will be four figure stands, of two figures up and two back. Five or six stands per battalion.
I will have a few 24 figure regiments. I am looking at three eight figures stands for these.
Most of the regiments will have 30 figures. These are six figures per stand with five stands. All these systems let me have the colors displayed in the center of each regiment. Looks are important.
My light units right now are Rifle armed. Because these seldom fought in line I am facing them two figures on a round base. In addition I may paint up a few extra skirmishes type figures and give each line Regiment one or two stands to represent men sent out as skirmishers. This could give players something fun to have in a game.
Militia regiments are to be organized by eight figure stands. Because they are all in civilian clothing I can field a battalion with three or four stands. Great flexibility. I am also doing a bunch of two figure skirmishers stands because militia do like to do that thing.
Cavalry will have two figures per stand and artillery are staying the same.
Ok, not hobby related at all but a rant about life. Please do not feel like you should read this unless of course you want a reason to have a drink....
I have mentioned my accident at work back in March 2022. While I am doing better I still have a number of issues such as hand eye coordination and not being able to drive (everything is too fast and I cannot process what is going on around me quickly enough). Crowds cause confusion and load noises add to my daily headaches. But I can get out and start doing things again. The medical issue in my head with the tumor appears to be not growing and stable so that is very good.
Thus it was with great surprise I received a certified letter from my employer JetBlue on Thursday. It said because of my injuries and my not being able to perform my job for a year the company was terminating my employment for admission reasons. All benefits are forfeited. Effective Friday September 1, 2023. And thank you for your years of dedicated service. After recovering from my shock I looked into it legally and yes a company can do this. My email was shout down and no calls returned. I have no retirement benefits like flights.
So, I guess technically I am unemployed but being retired sounds so much better.
I will now end this rant and move on with life. Thank you for listening, I feel better. And if you tonight rise a glass of adult beverage please do so and with this toast; "Here's to the pencil pushers. May they all get lead poisoning."
Thank you for listening.