Rules Review "The Whites of Their Eyes"

  It should be of no surprise to readers of this blog that I am a big fan of self published War game rules.  Nothing against the professional published glossy rules.  I buy them and read them and often play them at club game nights.  But for my own games I really like something different.  So I am always on the hunt for new rules.  Once I find a set I tend to stay with them.  This way I actually learn the rules.  "The Charge of the Light Brigade" rules I use for my Crimean games I have been using for over twenty years.  I just discovered Jim Purkey 's rules and very happily use them for War of 1812.  But my American Revolution gaming has of late been lacking something.  While I enjoy "Loose Files And American Scramble" no one I game with shares my interpretation of the rules.  This means games tend to get into long discussions of what the rule really meant with too many interpretations causing a disruptive gaming night.  So I am on a quest for a better set of rules and I believe now I have found them.

   "The Whites of Their Eyes" by Stephen E. Haller are a set of wargame rules for fighting battles of the American Revolution.  These were originally published by The Courier in 1977 and revised and updated in 1985, 2000 and 2018.  At present the rules are available from the author who still plays them.  They could be considered a throw back or "old school" rule set.  They include saving throws, alternate turns , and use six sided dice.  To me that can be a good thing.  After play testing them I found they give me a fun game which stays within the spirit of the time period.  There are also a number of unusual twists within the rules to make things very intetesting. 

A couple aspects of the rules I really like. 

 Light troops in open order or as skirmishers  (rifle men, jagers, Indians, legion infantry and light infantry) can actually act like light troops skirmishing.  They have a split move.  You can move a portion of your movement, fire then move the rest of your movement.  In play this gives them a obnoxious quality.  You can move up to get a better shot then move away.  But be careful you do not get caught by line troops in a melee as they will eat you up.  Shooting by these troops while in a open order is also different.  Line troops volley by counting up the total number figures and checking the chart for number of possible hits.  Defender then throws a saving roll to see how many casualties they get.  Skirmishers fire one dice per figure. Regular Light Infantry, because they were better disciplined can close ranks and fight as elite infantry.    Once a unit has taken casualties skirmishers can aim at the command stand to possibly hit the unit commander.  If they do it effects the unit when they take a morale test.  Another nice rule is troops behind a wall or fence get a little additional range (3 inches)  to their fire because they are resting the weapons.  Saving rolls for hits are interesting.  Instead of multiple additions and subtraction for results it's a simple modifier for hits.  Personally I like it.  

Artillery is also a little different then most games.  When they fire you point to target and where you are aiming.  Roll a dive and this gives you a deviation.  You might hit right where you aimed, or slightly to the right of left depending on range.  Close range is always where you aimed and there are no saving throws for figures but at close range.  

Morale is interesting.  You have a basic morale factor, and can add and subtract  modifiers to it.  Roll two dice and you have to get a seven or better to pass.  Militia in the open or near British regulars get a deduction.  But in woods or under cover they get a addition.  Lots of little things like this give flavor and cause troops to act as their historical counterparts.  

I like these rules a lot.  It gives you a simple fun game which stays to the spirit of the period.  To give a better idea of how they work my next post with give a small game.  Stay turned for more.

Update 7 May 2020:  Steve Haller, the author of these rules has given me permission to send out a PDF version of the rules.  The total page has the authors email if you wish to contact him.  Please use the contact form at the bottom of the blog page here to send me a email and I will forward the rule to you. 

Evidently some emails to me have not gone through. I can be reached at dinosaurfifty5@yahoo.com

Stuart Asquith and the War of 1812: A review of two books

    I was asked recently by a friend about these two books.  How different are they and are they worth getting?  Another fruend asked me if they are just the same thing with different covers or if they duplicate the same materials.  To answer those questions here is a shirt review of my opinion about these books.  Both of which I own.

The War of 1812: A Campaign Guide to the War with America 1812-1815

  Opening this book at the On Military Matters stand at Cold Wars a few years ago I was delighted right away.  It is a book a wargamer would write.  One who loved the period.  Well written, lots of illustrations and bunches of helpful details. Just the stuff you need if starting the period or are an old hand who needs inspiration.   I bought it right away.

  As far as the content of the book it can be described as being in three parts.  The first  third of the book is devoted to a general history of the war per year (from 1812 to 1815). There is also a chapter devoted to the naval aspects of the war.  The text is short, clear, and very understandable.  most of the illustrations in this section are old prints and maps;  many out of Benjamin Lossing's Field Book of The War of 1812.

The next section is devoted to the  armies; British, Canadian United States and Indians.  This section describes the composition of armies and the uniforms worn.  Many are of obscure small units.  Great details here and very handy.  A small part is devoted to the “Indians” (Native Americans), about their involvement in the war and the main actions involving them. 

   The illustrations here are worth The price of the book.  There are a number of outstanding uniform plates by Bob Marrion.  There are also numerous photographs of reenactors here.  It is interesting to see the uniforms and how they look on real people rather then miniatures 

   The third and last part is  wargaming the War of 1812.  How to integrate the tactical particularities of  this unusual war into a set of  rules. The quality and types  of troops, what figures are available and where to get them.  All scales are mentioned.  numerous pictures of wargamer figures illustrate this section. The figures are usually 25mm Wargame Foundry or 54mm figures.  Please keep in mind the wonderful line of figures from Knuckleduster are not listed as they were not yet created when this book was written.

It is also an expensive book.  Because it is hardback and filled with colorful illustrations.  But you get a book that will last and you will return to time and again. 

Scenarios for the War of 1812-1815

  This scenario booklet has been written  with the wargamer in mind.  If you are looking for a quick guide to some of the important actions and how to Guggenheim on your table top here is your guide. 

After a capsule summary off the war the author lays out twelve battles forgoing fight.  The battle listed are:
Queenston Heights, 13th October 1812
Raisin River, 18th/22nd January 1813
The Assault on York, 27th April 1813
Sacket's Harbor, 29th May 1813
Beaver Dams, 24th June 1813
Thames River, 5th October 1813
Chateaugay, 25th October 1813
Crysler's Farm, 11th November 1813
Chippawa, 15th July 1814
Lundy's Lane, 25th July 1814
Bladensburg, 24th August 1814
North Point, 12th September 1814

  Here we have a good variety of actions. Some are obscure battles (Thames River), some skirmishes (Beaver Dam) and others stand up actions (Chippawa).  There is something for every size collection here.

  Each battle is played out in a similar manner.  A potted history of the actual fight, a simple map of the battlefield, troops involved and suggestions on how to game the battle. Some people may say the maps are too simple, but to me they give a good  representation of the ground.  In summation everything you need to war game this unique conflict in your table too.

New Blog Header

I put up a new heading picture to my blog.  I think it is much more appropriate to the blogs title.  This is just one plate of a multi plate watercolor  panorama of Boston done by Lieutenant Richard Williams of the 23rd Regiment Royal Welch Fusiliers.  He mentioned in his journal sitting stop a hill in Boston to paint this.  In one plate there is a fusilier on guard duty.  He is identified by his cap, the blue facings on his coat, no shoulder wings and the three feathers of the Prince of Wales on his cartridge box and rear of his cap.  All of which are very clear in the original works.

A full size copy of the entire panorama is on display at the Battle Road Visitor Center, Minute Man National Historical Park, Lincoln, Massachusetts.  For additional information please see my article concerning the Fusilier and his uniform.

Nichipor, Mark A. "Richard Williams and the Cartridge box badge of the Royal Welch Fusiliers."

 Military Color for and Historian, 37 (summer 1985), pp. 93-94.

Worthington Games: New York 1776

I have long looked at this game and thought It would be interesting to play.    It looked like fun and was a period I was very interested in.  So when a friend, Art from Aide de Camp Books was having a sale I snapped this game up.  And I am most glad I did.

Although I have played board games in the past (Avalon Hill types) this game is most different.  Instead of cardboard counters this has blocks.  One side is blank the other side identifies the unit and gives you it's combat strength and step reduction.  As you move the blocks your opponent does not know what you are moving.  Is it a full strength unit or reduced strength.  Perfect for fog of war and bluffing your opponent.

Movement is point to point.  Because it is New York/ Manhattan it is surrounded by water.  The British have ships which can transport troops.  American have limited movement across channels.  Forts and cities can block ship movements so create strategic options for both players.

Once both sides come into contact you move to the battle board where you fight the battle.  The British have stronger units and American Militia can be brittle.  Each side has advantages and disadvantages.  The British want to close and fight it out.  The Americans want to avoid that.  The entire campaign resembles the old classic boxing matches between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier.  There is a lot more to the campaign then meets the eye.  And a most challenging game.  I think this would be a outstanding way to fight out a campaign with map movement and fighting it out on the table top.  Inspired, I looked through the companies catalog.  I think a number of games would be perfect for this.  

A good thing about having my son living at home is he is willing to play games with me.  So we brought the game out and set it up.  There are two boards. The first is the strategic movement board.  It shows Manhattan, Long Island and Westchester county.  This is where you set up your troops and ships.  Your movements here determine if there is a battle; which sets up on a second board.  It's a simple system which creates complicated results.

I will not go into a move by move description of a game.  But the Americans have to stay alive and outlast the British.  There army is more numerous but much weaker.  The British are much stronger it they cannot be everywhere at once.  It is difficult to coordinate ship and land movements but when it goes right it is a beautiful thing to behold.  Howe is looking for a knock out punch and Washington is looking to avoid it.  That is how the games between Nathan and I are going.  I also have the baggage of trying to follow historical events as I play.  What did Howe/Washington do here.  Nathan not burdened by such thought is much more free wheeling and thinks out of the box.  So naturally he wins most of the games!

The Courier, 1970's

I discovered The Courier magazine in the early 1970's at my local hobby store, Bowens Toys and Hobbies in Bedford Massachusetts. Bowens was a wonderful place.  My parents went to the local grocery store and dropped me off there to stay out of trouble.  Here were wonderful delights to amuse and entertain me.  Shelves of exciting looking Avalon Hill games.  They promised you could recreate history by refighting historic battles.  Then there were shelves and shelves of plastic model kits;  Tanks, ships and planes.  And boxes of Airfix plastic soldiers from all time periods.

But best of all I found my first copy of a self published newsletter from a group led by  Dick Bryan and the New England Wargamers Association called "The Courier."  This was not the slick color publication in the 1980's but a smaller newsletter.   It opened my eyes to the wonderful world of miniature war games. Sure, I had been playing board games, but here were people playing with  real rules for playing toy soldiers.  Great looking painted figures, on terrained table tops and lots of research to get correct uniforms and tactics.  Most people were playing Napoleonics, especially a game called Column, Line and Square. The author of the rules Fred Vietmeyer write the most entertaining battle reports and gave great insights in to how and why he wrote his rules and how they represented his historical research. His debates with Bob Jones, and others were a model of how to have different opinions but still be polite.

  This was great stuff and I eagerly looked forward to each new issue. It was the first thing I went to each visit and I saved my pennies to buy them when they came out.  I read and reread each copy and studied them untill they fell to pieces.  When I got into reenacting I found a small group of friends who also war gamed with miniatures .  We read and studied copies of the Courier and plotted games and figures.  we played with Scruby miniatures in first 2 5mm and later in 9mm.  It was a wonderful start to a life long hobby which has brought me much joy and happiness.  

One of my favorite columns was by Steve Haller.  He was my guru for American Rev War gaming.  Now those of us who were interested in this time period were a very tiny, smallish niche within a small niche.  But what he put out in each article was a treasure trove of information.  Battle reports, regimental histories and uniform research.  There were suggestions on how to organize your regiments for the table top and discussions like realistic objectives for our games or finding correct buildings for the era.

More importantly he backed what he wrote about with source materials.  After each article I was off to the library to find these holy grains of knowledge.  On weekends I would take the bus to Harvard Square and it's collection of used book stores to hunt down books.   It was through these articles that I set out on earning  a degree in history and eventually a thirty year career with the National Park Service at Rev War sites.

Two articles by Steve Haller always have stood out.  The first was a two part article on Greene's and Cornwallis armies 1780 - 81.  Here were listing of units, troop strengths and uniform information.  Everything you needed to create these two historical armies.  The second was a campaign formatted to re fight the Cowpens - Guilford courthouse campaign.  This was outstanding. One did not worry about logistics and map movement. Instead there were a series of interconnected battles who results carried over to the next fight.

 Each side started with a historical order of battles.  Each month of the campaign players were given a series of options.  So January 1781 as Morgan you started with his light Corp.  On a die roll either Picken's or Sumner's or both militia may join you.  You then had the option of either attacking Augusta, Ninety Six or fighting Cowpens.  The British rolled and might reinforce the outposts you were attacking.  While you had the historical order of battle you might get or lose reinforcements.  Once battles happened casualties were removed and you moved to next month.  Replacements and reinforcements were figured in. You had a wonderful system to set up possible battles and firefight the campaign.  Simple but neat and very playable.  I have fought this campaign out and enjoyed it very much.  Of course you can read about it here in the blogs archives.

Lastly, a word of thanks.  To Dick Bryant for his wonderful publication which started me in this hobby.  To the members of NEWA who put the publication together, contributed many articles and created a folklore and history  to this hobby that I still am thrilled to hear and learn about. I am honoured to have met many of these people over the ages and I game with some of them to this day.  Finally to  Steve Haller who started me on a life long fascination with (and thirty year career working in) the time period. Thank you both. 

The Concord - Lexington Battle Road 19 April 1775

  In observance of the events of April 19, 1775 I thought I would post a few pictures of sites associated with the fighting that day.

   The North Bridge in Concord.  

North Bridge fight Concord
By Don Troiani.

North Bridge from
The British side.

View of the bridge from the Americans marching
 down the hill

  Merriam's Corner Concord.  This was about a mile east of Concord and here was the start of the local Minute and Militia companies harassing the British on their return to Boston.

Merriam corner from 1890's

Merriam House.  The Reading company of Militia under 
 John Brooks  took cover by the house and fired at the British in the road.

View from the road. The 
British March column was looking
 towards Merriam house

   As the British defended a steep hill east of Concord the road turned sharply to the North before again turning sharply to the east.  Here, at the "Bloody Angle" in Lincoln the British were caught between two large groups of minute and  militia companies.  Due to the unusually heavy woods they could not deploy flankers.  The Road here has been closed to traffic and restored to its 18th century appearance.

"Bloody Angle"

"Bloody Angle"
 British column caught between groups
of militia on both sides of the road.

stone walls lined the road.

Hartwell Tavern area

Illustration of fighting in above area.

Lastly, since almost everyone has hear about the Midnight Ride of Paul Revere here is the area where he was captured by British officers in the way to Concord

Paul Revere capture site
1890's

Site today

  On Lexington green that morning The first shots of the day were fired.  The green today is almost unrecognizable from its 1775 appearance.

Lexington Green 1775

The Green today

Later that day Captain John Parker took his company of Lexington militia to fight The British as they returned to Boston.  He placed his men on a steep hillside looking down along the road where a small bridge crossed a shallow stream.  

View from the British column towards area
Captain Parker deployed his company.

Guernsey-Pitman Studios

 

  From 1930-1955 Samuel Guernsey and Theodore Pitman constructed a number of  historically incredible diorama's. Both men had been professors at Harvard university.  They had a office in Harvard square. 

   The Guernsey-Pitman Studios are perhaps best known for their 23 large dioramas located at the Harvard Forest Museum in Petersham, Massachusetts. These amazing diorama's depict the same  portion of land in Massachusett and how it changed over three centuries.

   Guernsey and Pitman also constructed a number of dioramas which I have tried and find over the years.  Here are the hand full I have found or seen references to.  

 There were three depicting the Harvard University campus and surrounding area as it would have looked in the years 1677, 1775 and 1936.  These where located in  Widner Library  in Cambridge Massachusetts but sadly were removed and are now in storage.  At the Science Museum in Boston is a diorama of the Samuel McKay shipyard in East Boston. There is a diorama of the Alamo but I have only seen pictures of it.   At the Concord Museum in Concord Massachusetts is a dioramas of the Battle at Concord Bridge.  

Clipped ship Flying Cloud being built at McKay shipyard Boston Massachusetts

The Alamo

North Bridge Fight

  Lastly four dioramas depicting major events in American history are at the town Hall in Newton Massachusetts.  These include von Stueban drilling the troops at Valley Forge; the USS Constitution's battle with HMS Guerriere; Pickets charge on the third day's fight at Gettysburg; and the 26th Infantry Division at the World War I Battle of Seicheprey.