Sir William Howe and Mrs Loring

To command my Crown Forces army here is the command figure of Sir William Howe.  It is a beautiful figure from Fife and Drum miniatures.

To go with Howe I have painted a figure of a lady in a  riding habit to represent Mrs Loring.  I thought it would be fun to add her to a command stand vignette.  Perhaps a couple of General or staff officers trying to get orders from a distracted  General Howe.  We will see how it comes out!

Cornwallis and Generals

Some more command figures for the Crown Forces.  Here is the figure of Earl Cornwallis and also two other General officers.  Outstanding figures from Fife and Drum Miniatures.


Here is the figure of Cornwallis.  It actually looks remarkably like his paintings!  In my games he will be either commanding his southern army or the "elite wing" (Guards, Grenadiers and Light Infantry) of Howe's army.

Next are two generic mounted officers.  These will be used in command vignettes.

American Generals and Staff

Working on some command stands for my American Revolution War armies.  Fife and Drum miniatures have released some excellent command figures including figures of Washington, Greene, Howe and Cornwallis. I am most excited as these four are some of my favorite commanders during this period.

For higher level command stands I am going with two figures per division level stand. So both Greene and Cornwallis will will have a ADC staff figure on their stand.  Washington will have a extra officer and a trooper with his command flag in a nice vignette.  Howe will have something similar.

Right now I am painting away in American figures.  In the work bench are Greene, two mounted officers and a trooper of the 3rd continental light dragoons.  These are beautiful figures that are fun to paint.

Gettysburg in Miniature: A Battle Overview Illustrated With Model Soldiers and Dioramas

  Recently while looking through books on the American Civil War on Amazon I came across the title "Gettysburg in Miniature: A Battle Overview Illustrated With Model Soldiers and Dioramas. "  Unfortunately there was no picture of the book cover but reading the reviews suggested to me this might be worthwhile.  At under $3 for the kindle version down load it was a bargin.  I am very glad I did.  Once downloaded I could not put it down and finished it in one reading.

  I am not a big Civil War buff. I have read widely through the literature, walked numerous battlefields and had many late night discussions with fellow Park Service Rangers stationed at NPS sites.  But for some reason the bug has not bitten me.  So please keep this in mind while reading my review.

  The text is a standard account of the Battle of Gettysburg.  It follows the usual narratives but is written in a clear, understandable manner.  From the author's blog he has said it was written for teens to get them interested in the battle and the Civil War.  I am sure it will;  it held my attention.

  But the glory of the book are the pictures.  Illustrated profusely with photos of Civil War miniatures.  These include 54mm, 40mm, 25mm, and 15mm figures.  Collector figures, War game tables and dioramas fill the pages.  It is reminiscent of the book "The Wargame" edited by Peter Young.  And just as that book filled my imagination and still delights me today so too does this book.  A minor criticism of the book in Amazon reviews are that the pictures are in black and white rather then color.  The author says on his blog this was done to keep the cost low to make it attractive price wise to parents buying the book for teens or younger.  He also hints that they might later release a color edition of the book in the future.  While I am happy with the book as is, I would buy a color version of it if it came available.  But I am happy with the black and white pictures as they add to the period feel of the book.  They give me a nostalgic feeling of rereading a Featherstone book or looking at The old New England Wargamers magazine "The Courier."

  The combination of interesting text and miniature soldiers makes this a wonderful addition to anyone's library.  Many of the war game tables illustrated in the book should inspire one to refight that phase of the battle (either in the ACW  or as a hidden scenario) or improve your tabletop set up. This is a winning  combination and I am surprised more books like this have not been done.  I would highly recommend it.  In fact I have dropped a hint to my daughter and son this would be a great fathers day or any other time gift! It has already gotten me pondering how to fight the first days battle has an American Revolution action, or the wheatfield as a War of 1812 battle!

If you are interested in this book here is the page on Amazon for it;
https://www.amazon.com/Gettysburg-Miniature-Overview-Illustrated-Soldiers-ebook/dp/B07QT7TV89/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

Sentry box

I picked this up from the Charlie FoxTrot stand at Cold Wars.  I had just bought the Tidewater Mansion and asked if he had one of the Sentry boxes with him.  After rummaging about he asked if I could come back later since he could not find it.  I did, and he gave it to me for free!  Outstanding!

Not sure how authentic a sentry box would be for Rev War period.  But it looks neat and I think it would go nicely with a camp scene or in front of a headquarters buildings.  The kit was super easy to put together.  I painted it gray as I picture it with the Crown Forces in mind and Royal Artillery equipment was painted gray. Pure guess work on my part with no documentation.

Georgian House

    My final building from the bundle is the two story Georgian house.  This was the building which drew me into looking at the site.  It is perfect  for North America and my Rev War/War of 1812 games.  Another  great looking building.  I plan on ordering a couple more of these.

Cutting out window shutters and frames.

  There are a number of small details which need to be glued in place before assembling the house.  The shutters and window sills need to be cut from cardboard and glued in place.  This gives a very good look to The house. The door and door frame I would glue after the walls are assembled.

  Here is the house after construction but before painting.  Note the field stone foundation around house.  It is a beautiful model and looks like many of the homes that were along the Concord, Lincoln and Lexington Battle Road on April 19, 1775.  I plan on buying a few more of these.

Door and field stone foundation added.

The cardboard extras add to the appearance of the building.

  On the Fife and Drum Miniature forum John Carroll (Winston Smith/John The OFM from the Miniatures Pages) has suggested buying the roof shingles from "Things in the Basement" store (www.thingsfromthebasement.com/store/c21/Accessories.html) . Jim Dunkan has suggested the rules from " Warbases "(warbases.co.uk/product-category/from-scratch/tiling-sheets/).  Both have said they look far better  and improve the visual appeal of the building.  I will have to look into these!

  As for painting the house, I am up in the air.  The roof and field stone foundation will get a cost of black  then  set brush grey and brown.  Since I like the color of the stain of the MDF I might leave it as is.  But I am open for suggestions.

The battle of St. David July 1814: part 2

New York Militia Dragoons.

    Preparing for the American army, the British /Canadian players set up a defense in depth.  The 1st and 2nd brigades were pushed forward to defend the fence line as close to St.David as they could.  The 2nd Brigade (1st Militia bde, Incorporated Militia battalion of Upper Canada and Glengarry light infantry ) held the right flank.  The 1st Brigade (1st Regiment of Foot, 8th Regiment of Foot and flank companies) held the left flank.  In the center blocking the road were a Royal Artillery battery and the Royal Marine artillery Rocket detachment.  Towards the rear, by the next fence line were the 3rd Brigade (41st Regiment of Foot, 49th Regiment of Foot).  A group of Native Americans under Norton watched curiously from a stand of tree behind the 2nd Brigade.

View of British/Canadian defense in depth.

49th & 41st Regiments.

Flank Companies, 8th & 1st Regiments.

19th Light Dragoons.

  The Americans marched through and around the village.  Ripley's and Scott's brigades were deployed on the right, while Porter's volunteers and the cavalry held the left.  The battle plan was for the massed regulars to punch through the right while the volunteers protected their left.  The artillery were to neutralize the enemy artillery.

  While the British/Canadian line waited patiently behind the fence line the American advance became unglued.  Bothered by the fields to his front the regulars advanced in a scattered fashion. Finding he could not deploy all his regulars the right flank commander formed two lines of three battalions each.   On the left, with more open ground to his front the commander of the volunteers moved forward in a more solid front maintaining formation. Just out of range of the muskets he  changed formation from column into line and waited for the regulars before opening his attack.

American militia General.

   During this time both sides artillery blasted away at each other.  Although some casualties were caused no batteries were silenced.  The Rocket battery fires away but appeared incapable of hiring anything.

Geese cheer on the American Artillery.

The rockets go up, but where they come down, that's not my department says Wernher von Braun.

Finally, with his forces in proper formation the American commander ordered a advance against the enemy fence line. No fancy echelon attacked.  Everyone march straight forward.

  On the American left(British/Canadian right). Both sides realized it was volunteers against volunteers.  More importantly the  Glengarry Light Infantry saw marching  towards them the arch traitor Canadian Volunteers.  This unit was formed of Canadians fighting for the American side.  They had earned a reputation for misdeeds and had in fact burned a number of villages near here over the winter.  So both sides were curious how these two regiments would act.

Canadian Volunteers.  The flag is a New York militia flag for the period but I thought it went with this regiment rather well.

It's those guys!

All along the front as the Americans charged the British/Canadian line tested morale and held.  They fired at the attackers causing a number of casualties but the attackers still marched on.  In  the fight  that followed  the defenders held and the attackers were all pushed back.  But while the American regulars were still in good shape, and had reinforcements the American left had collapsed.

Add Pennsylvania Volunteers move to the attack.  

Hoping to punch through the Canadian militia the Pennsylvania Volunteers were surprised to find them holding their line and the attackers retired disordered.  To their right the Incorporated Militia routed the New York militia.  But on the far right, the Glengarry Light Infantry decimated the Canadian Volunteers with small arms fire (causing nearly 50% casulties). And the volunteers routed back to the cheers of the Canadians.

 Glengarry Light Infantry route the Canadian Volunteers.

  At this point the crest fallen American commander called the game and decided to retire back towards Fort Erie.

   The game was fun, and moved  quickly.  By the second turn all players had grasped the rules and were playing the game and not the rules.  While they enjoyed the game the American players suggested next time I try to have more American Regiments to give them a better advantage.  I would also suggest that the Americans  wasted their advantage in artillery by concentrating on counter battery fire and trying to knock out the Royal Artillery.  For the Americans this tactic was a mistake. If they had concentrated their fire on a couple infantry battalions they might have caused more damage and helped with the attack.   I will also turn the table about and rather then play up the table length play across the table.  This would give each side note room to maneuver and no anchor a flank on the table edge.