Last game of the year: club game night

  Friday night was game night for our club.  There were two games that night;   a World War 2 French vs German and a wild West cavalry vs Indians.  I played in the later and it was a blast. For a report of the WW2 game please visit my friend AJ's blog. 
http://ajs-wargaming.blogspot.com/2018/12/northern-conspiracy-december-2018-game.html


 For the Wild West game we used the Rules "She Wore A Yellow Ribbon."  These were a most excellent set of rules. In them the Native American 's acted and fought like Native Americans rather then light Napoleonic cavalry .  If their medicine is good that day they can do wonders. Unfortunately due to bad die rolled we did not have good medicine.  In addition Peter who hosted the game went above and beyond setting this up.  Each figure had a name which helped you to identify with the game.  Figures were 25mms and beautifully painted. There were separate figures for mounted, standing and dead.  It brought life to the game.  In fact it played like one of Charles Kong's novels.

Scenario was a wagon and pack trail escorted by a troop of cavalry and a platoon of Infantry had to get through a narrow pass.  The Native American war bands had to stop them.  In addition each war band received victory points for various actions. counting coup and so on.   So victory meant different things for each players.  I like this very much and it reflected the clash of cultures in this war.

The game went fast and was great fun.  The Native warriors could not coordinate their attacks .Groups advanced, retired and in general acted to their best interests.   The Cavalry had a hard time facing in multiple directions to met threats .  And to advance without leaving their wounded behind.  The infantry with their very long range rifles were a deciding factor in the game.  If they could see it, they could hit it (and Bruce had great dice that gane).  This kept groups of warriors at bay.

A wonderful game .And a great game to end the old year in. I will be buying a set of these rules and look forward to playing them again next year.

Merry Christmas!

                           A very Merry Christmas to all!

Painting totals 2018

So, how did I do this year with my painting totals?  Not too bad.  I made great progress on my Revolution War figures. My 1776 project went very well and has added another element to my collection.  I painted less War of 1812 then last year but did add some important regiments.  These will enable me to fight most if the battles of the 1814 campaign.  Lastly my French mid eighteenth century collection has been put to the back burner.  On the total of figures painted I have included generals and mounted officers with the cavalry.  Artillery included both guns and crew.

War of 1812
Infantry: 96 figures
Cavalry:   6 figures
Total:  102 figures

French 18th century
Artillery:  4 guns and 8 crew
Cavalry:   12 figures
Total:  24

American Revolution War
Infantry:  432
Cavalry:  14
Artillery: 4 guns and 16 crew

Total for the Year;
Infantry:  528 figures
Artillery:  30 figures
Cavalry:  32 figures

A very respectable out put for the year!

How they look on the table

  I mounted the houses I put together on foam core.  This helps to add strength and durability to them.  I think I might cut down the size of the stands in the future.  But they look very nice on the table top and they fit in well with my minimalist old school terrain.

More Paper buildings

  I am having great fun with the Paper Terrain buildings.  After work I put together one of the stone houses.  Looks great!

Next to it is a small cabin from the American Revolution paper soldier booklet.
Once I mount my other houses on a foam core base they will look more like this.

Paper buildings

  Tis the season to plan out projects and goals for next year.  And one of my goals is to  fight the Battle of Trenton at Christmas time next year.   Once at our club game night in December then again Christmas day with my son.  I have the miniature soldiers ready;  it is the terrain I need to work on.  A winter ground mat, trees, snowy roads and icy river.  But mostly I need buildings, and lots of them.

  After looking at a number of  resin buildings I doubt I will go that way due to the cost.  I really like the MDF buildings but again I need a lot of them. So I will turn my hand to trying the paper type. Towards that end I have bought a number of clap board and stone houses from Paper Terrain.  These look very nice and are a very reasonable price.

  My first try was with one of  the simple white clap board houses.  Nothing complex about it.  I cut out most of the house with scissors and trimed it with a xacto knife.  I then scored the folds with the dull edge of the knife to fold it.  Using tacky glue I put a small amount of glue along the folds and glued the edges.  It went together very quickly and now I have a neat little  home for my table top. Thus ine should work for both  American Rev War and War of 1812. 

  A nice bonous is each house comes with a burned out destroyed version which fits inside the building.  Just in case your British Legion or  Canadian Volunteers are  up to their reported nastiness!

More to come soon both in terrain and buildings.

Battle of Cowpens 1814

  It has been one of those weeks. Repairs to the house, cleaning for the holidays and dealing with long days at the airport and holiday fliers.  To relax I put together a game. Because my son is living at home and has spread out in the basement I was pushed into a corner.   I have wanted to take out my War of 1812 collection and decided to refight the Rev War battle of Cowpens but with War of 1812 figures.

  My American army took the role of Tarleton and his British army;  while my Canadian-British army took the role of Morgan.

The Canadian-British firces under Lt.Col. Pearson deployed the Glengarry Light infantry in skirmish order out front.  The Lincoln and Norfolk militia formed the second line. The Incorporated Militia  Battalion of Upper Canada (IMUC) And 41st hold the third line.  In support are the 19th Light Dragoons and Niagara Dragoons.

 The American commander placed the New York Volunteer Dragoons on his left flank and Militia horse on his right. The U.S. dragoons are his reserve along with the 5th U.S. infantry.  His main line consisted of the 1st Rifle battalion, Pennsylvania volunteers and Canadian Volunteers along with a light gun.

The American commander marched forward trying to get in musket range.  He advanced his cavalry to try and turn the enemy's flank.  They were met with a counter charge and retreated.

On the left flank the New York Dragoons advanced against the Lincoln militia who emptied two saddles for their trouble.  The dragoons remembered they had somethings more important to do and scampered away.

The American main line drives the militia back.

On the left flank the 5th Infantry moves up with the Pennsylvania volunteers.

The light gun unlimbered and started firing at the troops on the ridge.

The American main line closes with the Canadian and British line.

 But being table top wargamers I could not resist a cavalry charge.  It did not go well.  The militia and British line shot down the horses who then raced back home.

 On the  left flank a tremendous fire fight broke out with both sides giving as good as they got.

  The British commander unleashed his cavalry who then over ran the Rifles and Canadian Volunteers.

The 41st swung around to take the volunteers in flank.  At this point both sides called the game with a victory to the Canadian - British side .  A great fun game in a colorful time period was had by all.

  Rules used were my War if 1812  "Mr Madison mets Fife and Drum"