1st Grenadier Battalion 1776

 "Some talk of Alexander and Some of Hercules,
Of Hector and Lysander, and such great names as these,
But of all the world's great heroes,
There's none that can compare,
With a tow, row, row, row, row,
To the British Grenadiers."


   Nothing says American Revolution like a battalion of British Grenadiers! And these are beautiful figures that capture the look of these elite soldiers.

   Made up of the most veteran and best soldiers in the battalion, these companies were detached from their parent regiments and combined into special, elite battalions.  They were often used as assault troops or the van guard of attacks.  The distinctive tall bearskin cap added to their height and made them stand out.  Wings, strips of regimental lace were sewed on the shoulders to also set them apart uniform wise.

  The Fife and Drum miniatures Grenadiers  are uniformed as they might have appeared on campaign with shortened regimental coats and trousers.  Swords have been placed in storage and waistbelts worn over the shoulder or converted to shoulder belts.  At this time the grenadier cap was still being worn into battle.  These were light weight, with a tin front to give it it's shape and they could fold flat. For daily service they wore a fatigue cap, made from an old coat or a cocked hat with a white feather.  At the Battle of Brandywine the commander of the 2nd Grenadier battalion Colonel Meadows is reported to  address his soldiers by saying, "Grenadiers, put on your caps (bearskins); for fighting and drinking I'll match you against the world!"

Colonial Faire At Longfellow's Wayside Inn

  I guess it is officially fall here in New England. How do I know this?  Because Saturday was the annual Colonial Faire and Fife and Drum muster at the Wayside Inn in Sudbury.  This event is something we look forward to each year.  A chance to get together with friends, enjoy the fall weather,  hear lots of very good Fife and Drum music and have a couple beers. This event has been going on since, well I do not know.  I have been going since the mid 1970's and it was an annual event then.

  What happens?  There are about 30 different Fife and Drum bands. Some are very small, only about a dozen members.  Others very large with 30 or more.  Costuming (this is not where you go for authenticity) ranges from colonial type dress to 19th century band uniforms and everything in between.  There are bands that have been together performing for decades; and other started just last week.  But each groups get a time to appear on stage and perform. At the end off the day lots of people get together to jam.

  In addition there are craft persons selling their wares.  Blacksmiths and artist and basket weavers.  Individuals selling reproduction colonial clothing.  This year there were a farm that raises Lama and sells their wool. Our dog Fritz was most puzzled by what these strange animals were!

Fritz meets a Lama!

  One group we look forward to each year are the Middlesex County Volunteers.  They are one off the larger and very professional groups out there.  They have multiple CD's out there and they travel across the country performing.  This year they were at The Edinburgh  Scotland at the muster there.

   In the past they have been dressed in 1779 type continental line musician uniforms.  Reversed coat of white with blue facings.   But this year they are trying out a  War of 1812 type uniform of trousers, short coat and round hat.  Really smart!

  All in all a very fun day!

Hessian Jager company 1776

  It was recently that I discovered I have been so busy painting American line infantry I had neglected my crown forces. Yes, I have some British line and guards and Highlanders but few loyalist, no Grenadiers and a single Hessian battalion.  Time to correct this.

  To get started I painted up a small group of 12 Jagers.  Inspired by reading Captain Ewalt's journal years ago I find that Jagers are ubiquitous and turn up in almost every battle.  So they will be super useful troops.  Their plain uniforms were easy to paint and I did these in a couple of days. I am experimenting with different basing for skirmish type troops.  Single based figures just do not look right to me.  So now I am trying a longish thin base to look like a skirmish line.  After a couple games we will see. Figures are from Minden miniatures and although from the Seven Years War period will not look out of place on my American Revolution battlefields.

Game night: Sharp Practice Great Northern War

Swedish commander gazes over the battlefield.

  Friday was club game night.  There were three great games;  Great Northern War, World War Two and Romans vs Gauls.  All looked great and sounded fun. Others will be reporting ion the other two games in their blog reports.

Village defended by Russians on right.

Glorious Russian line infantry.

The village which was the object of the battle.

Glorious Swedes led by cautious commanders.

My drunken Cossacks preparing to cause grief and mayham to the Swedes.

   I played in the Great Northern War.  Greg out this on and we used the rules Sharpe Practice.  His figures are outstanding and his terrain is beautiful.  He also is one of those individuals who put on great games and it was an honour to play in it.  They are usually well balanced and great fun.  And this game was great fun.

  The Russians were by a village which they had to burn to prevent the Swedes from capturing it.  there was a swamp to their right and a fashioned fortifications to their front.  Across the board was a river.  But it was July and both the river and swamp were dried up so posed little movement difficulty.  To set fire to the village the Russians had to get 18 points from rolling one D6.  Each turn that a certain chit came up they could roll the dice and accumulated points.  So it would take a while.  During that time the Swedes had to capture the village.

  Game started with the Swedes moving forward against the village with two battalions and some skirmishers.  They also sent another battalion and two skirmishes groups through the swamp.  The Russians threw there skirmishes forward to fire at the Swedes while the line infantry moved up to the gabbions.

  My group of Cossacks proved very annoying  to the Swedes.  Each time they fired they caused no casualties except to knock down the officer of the group they fired at. In game turns I believe this causes temporary  disruption.  Anyway it caused great fun for us and grief to the Swedes!

  For some reason the Swedish commanders in front of the village moved their line up to the dried up river and then stopped.  For the remainder of the game they stood there and traded shots with superior numbers of Russians.  Although the Swedes in the swamp pressed on it was hard going and soon the Russians moved two skirmishes groups to snip at them.

  In the end the cautious Swedes gave the Russians more then brought time to build a fire. Once the fire started the game was over and the Russians victorious.  A most entertaining and fun game was held by all.

Back from vacation

   While it appears I have been most busy painting and posting blog entries I have been in fact on vacation.  Due to work, both at the airport and at home I have had little time to write up any posts. Work has been especially taxing due to too numerous to count delays due to the weather in Florida.  Good for over time, not good for painting time.   So my last five posts were done while relaxing on vacation.  All pictures were taken ahead of time.  We planned to go up to Maine  and hear some music and visit Acadia National Park.  Unusual for us this was a driving vacation rather then flying to some location.

 We started with a blue grass festival at Thomas Point Beach in Brunswick Maine.  We camped over night; something we have not done in too many years.  The music was great.

   On the way up to Arcadia National Park we stopped in Bangor Maine.  This was of course to see part of the USS Maine.  But we also stoped by Steven King's house (wore my Miskatonic University hat in his honour), and the Bangor Police station to see the famous "Duck of Justice."

https://downeast.com/duckofjustice/

  Then it was on to Acadia National Park.  We stayed in a time share in southwest harbour.  The view from our balcony was beautiful.

During our stay we explored the island and got out each day.

Walked across the bar in Bar Harbour to an island at low tide.  But plan carefully since you do not want to be caught by the  tide on the wrong side.

Couple hours later,  at high tide the bar is under 10 or more feet of water!

After hiking through the woods we arrived at the ocean.

Ricky coast by Bass Harbour light house.

Hiked up to a old fire tower.

View from the fire tower.

Astronomy night  at the Seawall.

Rewarded with a spectacular view after a hike.

Atlantic brewery craft beer

A most wonder time. We did a lot of hiking; both up the hills and through the woods and along the rocky coast line.  Beautiful views and scenery everywhere.  In addition we went on a bird watch hike, took a harbour cruise to see seals, porpoises and sea birds.  Went to a astronomy night program and saw the Milky Way and Saturn's rings.  We are already planning to return next year. But for now it is back to work until our next vacation.