The big Wargames convention Historicon is later this week. I have not been to any convention since back in 2018. My good friend George just called and asked if I would be interested in driving down to attend. Lets see if we can get our act together. More to follow!
Taking a little break from the War of 1812 Friday was our club game night. There were three games set up, An Ancients battle, a WW2 action and Mike Bailey put in a naval action with his Sails of Glory ships.
The scenario was a what if Nelson caught Napoleon's fleet on route to Egypt. There were four ships for fact sure set-up. The British ships had to sail into the wind (very slow going) and we're mostly 74guns. The French thus had better speed and two big 100+ ships. in the action that followed my ship passed by a French ship and we exchanged passing shots. I then spent the game trying to turn about and return to the sction. Obviously I did not get points for my ship sailing.
Unfortunately Nelson sailed his ship between the two French 100+ men if war with very predictable results. The two French ships later sailed into each other in what we landlubbers would call a collision. Unfortunately in the basic rules the results were ignored. At the end of the evening two British ships were gone and one French ship sunk.
I enjoyed the game and Mike did a fantastic job. It's only n the second sailing ships game I have played in and it was great fun.
In setting up the game I found the British/Canadian order of Battle to be a bit of a head ache. You find full sized regiments, detachments from regiments and individual companies on the field. You have detachments from various militia regiments formed together into a brigade which is really just a full sized regiment. All most confusing.
This is my best guess of the order of battle and how I will organized it. Remember that I use six stands of four figures as the average unit, eight stands of four figures as large, four stands of four figures as small, and two stands of four as tiny. Any stands of skirmish troops were split front and back into two half-stands, each pair counting as one stand for unit size. Please feel free to change based on your research or preferences.
Lieutenant General Drummond, commanding
RIGHT DIVISION (Major General Riall) AT LUNDY’S LANE :
2nd (Light) Brigade (Lieutenant Colonel Pearson)
Infantry Glengarry Light Infantry (Lieutenant Colonel Battersby): (376) Average unit
Incorporated Militia of Upper Canada (Lieutenant Colonel Robinson): (356) Average unit
Cavalry 19th Light Dragoons (Major Lisle): 95
Royal Artillery; medium
1st Militia Brigade (Lieutenant Colonel Parry) *
(300) Average unit
Native Allies (Captain Norton) (50) Tiny unit
Note: cavalry played little role in thus battle and can be omitted. But as wargamers love there cavalry charges and cannot help themselves here they are.
Lieutenant Colonel Morrison's Brigade:
1st (Royal Scots) Regiment (Captain Brereton): detachment (171) Small unit
8th (King’s) Regiment (Captain Campbell): (company 65) Tiny unit
41st Regiment (Captain Glew): (light company 60) Tiny unit
89th Regiment (Lieutenant Colonel Morrison): (425) Large uniy
Royal Artillery (Lieutenant Thomkyns/Tomkyns) Heavy guns
Royal Marine Artillery, Congreve Rocket Section (Sergeant Austin)
1st Brigade (Colonel Hercules Scott)
1st (Royal Scots) Regiment (Lieutenant Colonel Gordon):(400) large unit
8th (King’s) Regiment (Major Evans): detachment, (275)
103rd Regiment (Major Smelt) (635) large unit
104th Regiment (Captain Leonard): detachment (120) small unit
Artillery (Captain Mackonochie): medium guns
2nd Militia Brigade (Lieutenant Colonel Hamilton)** (250) average unit
*1st / 2nd / 4th / 5th Lincoln Militias: detachments 2nd York Militia (Major Simons)
**1st / 2nd Norfolk Militias: detachments 1st Essex Militia: detachment 1st Middlesex Militia: detachment Western (Caldwell’s) Rangers:
In setting up a game based on The Battle of Lundy's Lane the first step was to see if I had the painted soldiers and how to organize the various regiments. It is a time honoured tradition to have a ratio of men to figures. So if you are using a 10:1 ratio a 240 man Regiment equals 24 figures. Being an iconoclastic individual I like the way Black Powder rules has different sizes for various regiments. Large, average, small and tiny. So for most of my games I use a standard size unit and for this game I chose six stands of four figures as the average unit, eight stands of four figures as large, four stands of four figures as small, and two stands of four figures as tiny. Any stand of skirmish troops were split front and back into two half-stands. Artillery is organized into heavy, medium and light guns. Cavalry played very little role in this battle. Commanders used them ad mounted messengers and such. But wargamers just love to send cavalry in useless and futile charges. So if you must have your mounted heroes field then ad a Tiny unit.
If you are thinking of fighting out this battle on your own and would rather use a man to figure ratio never fear! I have provided the rank and file numbers for each regiment so you can organize your armies as you see fit. Please feel free to use what works best for you.
And for those who like such things I have added the regimental commanders name for each unit. Doesn't effect the game but I like things of this nature. Obviously I have no life or too much time on my hands.
US LEFT DIVISION:
Major General Brown, commanding
First Brigade (Brigadier General Winfield Scott)
Ninth Regiment (Major Leavenworth): (200) average unit
Eleventh Regiment (Major McNeil): (200) average unit
Twenty-Second Regiment (Colonel Brady): (300) average unit
Twenty-Fifth Regiment (Major Jesup): (380). Large unit
Attached light company (Ketchum) tiny
Captain Towson’s Battery medium unit
Second Brigade (Brigadier General Ripley)
First Regiment (Lieutenant Colonel Nicholas): (150) (detachment) small unit
Twenty-First Regiment (Lieutenant Colonel Miller): (432) large unit
Twenty-Third Regiment (Major McFarland): (300) average unit
Captain Biddle’s Battery medium unit
Captain Ritchie’s Battery medium unit
Third Brigade (Brigadier General Porter)
New York State Militia (Lieutenant Colonel Dobbin): (250) average unit
Fifth Pennsylvania Militia (Major Wood): (246). Average unit
Canadian Volunteers (Lieutenant Colonel Willcocks): (50). Tiny unit (skirmish)
Cavalry (Captain Harris)
U.S. Light Dragoons (Captain Harris): 1 Troop
New York State Militia Dragoons (Captain Broughton): volunteers
Combined Total: 70 All Ranks. Tiny unit
Aly Morrison wrote in the comments on my last post, "Are you going to play Lundy's Lane next...?" To quote Lt. Colonel Miller, " I'll try sir."
This is a battle that has fascinated me for a very late by time. It was the largest and bloodiest battle fought in Canada during the war. I have walked what is left of the actual field. My library had numerous papers , articles and books about it. But I have not as yet fought it on my table top.
Probably because it was a such a confusing affair. Confusing from its order of battle, and because the major fighting occurred in the dark. And how does one portray Winfield Scott standing his brigade under artillery fire for an hour wasting his ammunition during at artillery over four hundred yards away? This is going to take some work on my part and advice from you. What I am trying here for is not a simulation of the fight down to every little detail. But a game based on the battle that will give you the flavor of the action.
Reading material and more:
If your interested in reading about the battle I highly recommend these two books,:
Donald E. Graves. The Battle of Lundy's Lane: On the Niagara in 1814. (reprinted in paperback under a new title : Where Right and Glory Lead! The Battle of Lundy's Lane, 1814)
And
Richard Feltoe. A Crucible of Fire: The Battle of Lundy's Lane, July 25, 1814 (Upper Canada Preserved ― War of 1812)
There are two very good book on the battle which I highly recommended. Both are outstanding and go a long way to unravel the mysteries of the controversial battle.
Donald E. Graves is the dean of scholars on battles in Canada during the War of 1812. His scholarship is first class and his books all must have. Unfortunately his book is out of print and sometimes difficult to obtain.
Richard Feltoe's book is less well known then Graves' book but is equally well done. In addition it has a large number of maps which makes following the battle much more easier. I used thus book on my battlefield walk for Lundy's lane and it was if great help. In addition there is a Kindle version of the book available for those who must have it right away.
Terrain and topography:
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The battlefield included a very large steep hill, woods, a small grave yard and fence lined roads. There were a couple very small buildings but they played no part in the fight. Here are two detailed maps of the battle for those who wish to get every little detail correct.
On the other hand here is a very nice wargame table set up of the battle. This comes from Forrest Harris of Knuckleduster miniatures and is the setup for his version of the battle. I personally like it a lot and will be striving for something like this. Almost all of my miniatures by the way are by knuckleduster miniatures. They are excellent and Forrest is a true gentleman to work with.
Time and Darkness:
The battle lasted for six hours. It started about 6:00 PM and ended a little after midnight. During that time Scott held his Brigade under artillery fire for an hour, reinforcements arrived, and darkness obscured the action. Regiments got lost and other regiments blundered into each others. Sadly there were numerous examples of friendly fire. Oh! And Winfield Scott returned to the battle and marched what was left of his Brigade between both sides in the dark. And yes, both sides fired on them. Scott was badly wounded ( IMHO it was one of his own men who did it) and left the field while his brigade was destroyed.
So, how to portray on the table gradual darkness? How many inches away in the dark should you be able to see? If short range for muskets is say 4" what is visibility? I was thinking for muskets in the dark no matter how close you are use long range to simulate the effect of darkness. Regiments missed their way and got lost or blundered into each other. How to portray that! And if course friendly fire because it did happen. I am looking for advice here and how others have tackled these problems in their games.
Conclusion:
These are my thoughts and I am looking forward to hearing your advice. I will be posting my order of battles soon to give you an idea of the armies involved.