19th Century Imaginations during the pandemic

One thing I have been working on, during the pandemic, has been the gathering of a large collection of 15mm figures related to the Russian forces of the Russo-Turkish war of 1878-79.

This includes Russian units, and also Bulgarian and Romanian.  Eventually, I would like to also do a similar sized force representing the Turkish forces, but in the meantime I am playing around with some Imaginations ideas for gaming.  That leaves with considering different fictional match ups.

in the past, my 19th century imaginary foes were the Margravate of Furstenberg, and the Cantons of Rumpwhistle. In 28mm, I would use ACW union troops for Furstenberg and Confederates for Rumpwhistle. I also introduced a third, relatively neutral nation based on Danish forces - the Kingdom of Elsinore.  Sadly, I sold off those 28mm figures, but I retain the fictional navies that I built.

Now that I am switching gears to 15mm, I can resurrect the army of Furstenberg, based on my Mexican-American war U.S. troops.  Rumpwhistle is out of luck in this conflict, except as a naval power (I can use my Spanish American war Spanish forces as Rumpwhistle colonial troops).  The new nation will likely be the over extended Romani-Bombastia Empire (Romani for short).

In the west, Romani has hegemony over several client states (notably Vulgaria, and Bromania).  Both are home to ethnic Romani peoples, and border Furstenberg and several smaller Balkanized states.  Howeve, in the vast eastern hinterlands of Romani, there are border skirmishes the Chow Empire of the Jade Dragon in the north, and the dangerous mountain regions of Boruckistan in the south.  The Romani Emperors have long sought after control of seaports on the Chow Sea, but those are also contested by naval and colonial forces from Furstenberg, Rumpwhistle and other nations.

This will give me plenty of scope for all sorts of fictional conflicts, using figures I already have, as well as naval actions.  The trick will be devising rules and games that will reward solo play, and in a small battle space.

Pictures of troops and notional maps will follow.  I hope to post a battle report soon.

 

Miniatures gaming update

I recently got to play in a few miniatures games, which I had been absent from for some months with the busy time at the end of fall semester, over the holidays, and heading into spring semester.

At the Williamsburg Muster in February, I got to play in a Frostgrave game, very fun.  I forgot my own wizard and his stats at home, so I used a "loaner" wizard (actually my friend John D.'s wizard), and I did well enough.  I retrieved a single treasure, but did get to kill (using the spell "Bone Dart") my friend Jon K.'s wizard (Jon set up and hosted the game, and I repaid him with Bone Dart).

Also I got to try out Impetus again, using Late Romans vs. Sassanid Persians.  Fun game.  I played against Stephen P.  We had a good time, and have enjoyed these rules pretty well.  Looking forward to trying some more armies.  The Romans did well and were performing very nicely in terms of points, at the time the game was called, but the Persians had just broken through with an encircling move on one flank, and it wouldn't be long before Roman Collapse.  Still, a very fun game.

Over the holidays, I got to play in a large 1809 game using the Shako II rules (with the D10 modification).  Very fun.

I've gotten to play a few Saga battles here and there, very fun.

---

Coming up - projects I am working on, to run soon, are:

An 1965 scenario between Pakistan and India, using Cold War commander.  To get ready for this, I am doing some 1:300 scale Asian terrain.  The battle I am doing featured some flooded rice fields, so I am doing rice paddocks (and I am trying to straddle the line for pieces that could be used for 1:300 or 10mm or 15mm).  Also, some villages.

Using Piquet: Field of Battle to play a Russo-Japanese scenario.  There are things I like about Basic Piquet, and some things I don't like.  I believe that FoB preserves the good, and patches over the bad, so I want to give it a try.

Mexican-American War - looking for a new ruleset.  I may try Field of Battle if the above game goes well.

Japanese Medieval - Will be basing my Japanese on 80mm wide bases.  I'm pretty sure I will be doing two Samurai armies.  Will also look into doing the Koreans.  Looking to play "To the Strongest" with these armies.

Taking Stock - 15mm Collections pt. 6 - 19th Century

Wargaming topics and possible theaters of battle in the 19th century are extremely varied and provide for a lot of exciting gaming possibilities.  One of the most popular is of course the American Civil War.  But not for me, I have tended to avoid that conflict ( I had a collection in 25mm, but I only used them for imagi-nations gaming).

This period, from the perspective of military operations and wargaming potential, is fantastic.  It is the century that sees musketry evolve from a weapon of mass application (with little precision), into the dominant force on the battlefield (as we evolve from the age of muskets, to the age of rifles).  The introduction of the railroad and mass production also mean that armies and logistics are evolving, so that operational campaigns are very different.  Naval capability changes from being wind and muscle driven, to being steam driven - which means that imperial and global colonialism is not only possible, but commonplace (with the colonial wars that go along with it).

I will include in this listing a few armies from the very early (pre-WW1) 20th Century.

Mexican-American War

This is a big enough collection to put on a 6-8 player game. Maybe a thousand Mexican figures, and maybe eight hundred Americans and Texans.  All painted, recently rebased.

Mahdi Rebellion

This is a larger scale (in terms of larger scale battles) and more serious study of the two parts of the River War (as Churchill called it) than my 28mm TSATF collection ( which is, appropriately, for small scale skirmish engagements).  I have British (painted), Egyptians (unpainted, but also suitable for the Arabi Revolt), and Mahdists (hundreds painted, but hundreds not painted).

Zulu War

Probably not worth mentioning except for an impressive stash of very nice, but unpainted, Zulus. Hundreds of 'em.

American Indian Wars
This is a recent acquisition for me, a set of very nice (but individually mounted, so suitable for skirmish gaming) figures including US cavalry forces (mounted and dismounted), and a large selection of American Indian figures.  There are leaders and a variety of figures for both sides.  I have not gamed with these yet, but I am planning on trying The Tomahawk and the Flame, Pony Wars, and/or Hey You in the Jail (one of my favorites, now available as a PDF download).

Spanish American War

A few years back, Patrick Wilson re-released the Richard Houston Lyzard's Grin collection. I bought in. I have a few hundred figures, all painted nicely by John Callahan. Both sides, and big enough for a modest game. No Philippines or Moro figures.

Boxer Rebellion

Very nice Old Glory 15s, this is at heart a nice, large collection of unpainted Boxers, and some Europeans. Started this collection to take advantage of Americans (from above), and Russians and Japanese (both from below).

Russo-Japanese War

Another nice OG15s set, painted (by me) and large enough for a meaningful game. Maybe a dozen infantry units per side, with 2 or 3 cavalry and artillery units for each side. Many more troops for Russians. In addition, maybe another dozen units each side, of infantry.

This series includes

Part 1 - Ancients

Part 2 - Medievals

Part 3 - Renaissance

Part 4 - 18th Century

Part 5 - Napoleonics

Part 6 - 19th Century (this article)

WRG Wargames Rules 1685-1845 - review

This is another review in the Once and Future Rules series, of wargame rules that are out of print, but that got a lot of play at one time (at least, in the clubs and groups I played in since the early 1980s).

The version of the rules that I own (physically), and that I am reviewing here, are from July 1979.  There was evidently an earlier release that same year, and also a release in Australia (with a yellow cover).  But the version I have is dated July 1979, and pictured here.

This is a 48 page book, and does a pretty thorough job of presenting a set of tabletop rules (no campaign rules, although they are hinted at) for the core of the horse and musket period.  While written for anything from 6mm up through 30mm figures, most of the games I have played, or watched, have been either 25mm (the majority) or 15mm (a close second).

The topics covered by the rules, and the table of contents are as follows:

1. Introduction
2. Method of play and time, ground, and troop scales
3. Troop types, basing, organization and values
4. Choosing terrain and setting up a battle
5. Weather, time of day, and visibility
6. Formations
7. Orders, command and control
8. Playing Equipment
9. Sequence of Play
10. Reaction Tests
11. Steadiness and Order
12. Movement
13. Shooting
14. Hand-to-Hand Combat
15. Casualties, damage to property and engineering
16. Prisoners and victory
17. Suggested wargames units for Marlburian, Seven Years and early Indian Wars
18. Bibliography
19. Miscellaneous Information

The troop scale of the rules is 1:50 for the infantry, and 1:40 for the cavalry.  Ground scale is 1 inch to 25 paces (so, 40 inches for a mile).

Training and Morale classes are divided up between Regulars and Irregulars.  Regular classes include Elite, Veteran, Trained, and Raw.  Irregular include Fanatics, Soldiers, Warriors, and Levies.

Troop types are, of course, based on employment and equipment -

• Cuirassiers
• Heavy Cavalry
• Light Cavalry
• Irregular Cavalry
• Line Infantry
• Light Infantry
• Irregular Charging Infantry
• Irregular Skirmishing Infantry
• Engineers and Pioneers
• Mounted Infantry
• War Elephants
• Transport
• Staff
• And a small constellation of artillery types (different weights, rockets, and different mobility types - such as foot, horse, elephant)

Basing figures is based on a rather typical WRG 60mm wide base for 25-30mm figures.  Infantry get 4 figures per stand, and cavalry get 3 figures per stand.  In both cases, fewer figures are used for irregular units, for instance.  The basing of typical infantry and cavalry as (respectively) 4 and 3 figures is extremely helpful in combat, as shooting and fighting are done in those increments.

A point system is given for competition games, and pickup meeting engagement.  Rules for terrain selection and battle setup (entry sequencing, off table troops, flank marches, etc) are included.

Troops can adopt a number of different formation (column, line, square, skirmishing) depending on the troop type. Order writing is addressed - and pointed out (in the text, as well as in the introduction) that these rules require no order writing because of their turn sequence. Which brings us to:

Sequence of Play (alternating between players)

1. Response Phase
2. Shooting Phase
3. Hand to Hand Combat Phase
4. Maneuver Phase

This is an interesting turn sequence, mull over it for a second.  You start moving charges, and other moves, at the end of your turn, at the last phase.  At the start of the next turn, your opponent then immediately rolls for reactions, and his troops may have a response to your charge.  Once that is done, you complete your charge.  Then comes shooting, fighting, and regular maneuvers.

Okay, enough with all that jazz.  There are specifics on turning, marching, expanding, taking reaction tests and all that.  But the thing that keeps these rules fun, and still have a following , is the method for determining shooting and melee casualties.  When a unit engages the enemy it gets to roll a certain number of d6.  Usually this is 1 per 4 figures for infantry, and 1 per 3 figures for cavalry.  This is why those stand sizes make sense.  For shooting, cross index the type of weapon (musket, medium artillery, etc) and range, vs. the target disposition.  That can be a dense target (such as the flank of an infantry formation), or a normal target, or a covered target etc.  The table then gives you the results, on 1d6, for which numbers will produce a Hit.  In some cases, there are multiple hits from a single dice, if the right target number is rolled.  Easy. I refer to this as a "dice per element" system, which is different from the "dice per figure" system that Universal Soldier uses.

Example: Musketry from regular infantry, at up to 100 paces (4 inches) will roll 1d6 per four figures firing (so, say a 16 figure infantry battalion, representing 800 men, would roll 4d6).  The table for the weapon at that range, vs. a Normal target, says "2345H 6HH" - that means on each dice, if it is a 2,3,4 or 5 it causes one hit (a dead figure), and if it is a 6 it causes two hits (two dead figures).

Melee is very similar (you roll the same number of dice), but the matrix for determining hits is very much simplified for melee combat.  That table compares the fighting troops, and breaks it down to: Mounted vs Mounted
Mounted vs Foot
Foot vs. Mounted
Foot vs. Foot

For each of those lines on the Hand-to-Hand combat table, there are three columns - if you are at Disadvantage, if you are on Equal Terms, or if you have an Advantage.  There is a method for determining whether or not you have advantage, but in my experience from years ago, in 99% of cases, it is obvious (once you work through the method a few times).  If you have to figure it out, then there are points to add up and compare.  It is possible that a unit is advantaged to a foe it is fighting, on the front, for instance, but disadvantaged against another foe on its own flank.  It all works out.

Then you roll the dice, and the table tells you, again, how many hits you score for a dice toss.  For instance, Foot vs. Foot, on equal terms, will score "456H" - which means on a 4, 5 or 6 on the dice, one enemy Foot figure is killed.  Mounted vs. Foot, with advantage, is deadly.  The results are "23HH 456HHH" Which means on a 2, or 3, each dice rolling that number will kill two enemy figures, but on a 4,5, or 6 each dice rolling those numbers will kill three enemy figures.

Interesting odds and bits on engineering rules, and how to treat structures, officers, and prisoners round out the rule book.

There is a reason these are still played by some people, and hated by others.  There is a lot in these rules to reaction tests, which may or may not be your thing.  The fact that there is no simultaneous movement is a bonus.  And the combat adjudication is simplicity itself, once you get the hang of figuring out advantage.  They do, however, tend to bring out some extreme gamesmanship (i.e. - min-maxing?) that I have only seen topped with Napoleon's Battles.  But that is a different story.

Several supplements have come out over the years that are useful.  One of the best is a set of 18th century army list rules that I have, from the Cheltanham Wargaming Assocation.

These offer up a number of rules, and hint at some changes for linear warfare.  The cover everything from Marlburian up to Revolutionary armies (both American and French).

Later on WRG themselves produce Seven Years War army lists, with actual (official) changes to the rules to accommodate linear warfare better.  It seems that the rules themselves are more suited to Napoleonic warfare (being more fluid).

I don't have the 7YW army list book, so I can't compare them to the Cheltenham book.  Equally, I never got a copy of the Tabletop Games 1:50 Napoleonic Army List book, which also was widely touted for use with the rules reviewed above.

My opinion?  I like them.  I like the mechanics.  But I also very much like the Tac50 rules from Ben King covering the same period, and they play easily as fast, with easier to navigate text and reaction rules.  Maybe these need a replay.  Maybe not.  I understand there is a modern version, for free on the internet, called ELAN that are a refinement of the WRG rules.  That deserves a look.

19th Century Imagi-nations - Terrain for the 23 Weeks War pt 1

In 1871, when the 23 weeks war began, the forces of Furstenberg invaded the Cantons of Rumpwhistle, and began operations around Lake Nyakker.  The first land engagement was between the three Companies (in name only, they are close to battalion strength, of about 600 men each) of the Furstenberg Seebataillone fighting Fribourg canton militia at the battle of Krump's Farm.

The border between Furstenberg and Rumpwhistle runs through the Karzstan Mts

One of the recent model farm houses that I built was based on the farm house of this engagement.  The other key terrain features of the battle are (1) the old oak forest, and (2) the Persimmon grove at Krump's Farm.

The farm house is as constructed, recently.  It will be based on a base with a wall around the farm yard, and a work building in the back yard.  The base I am working on (I will post photos) will have a rough, but ruined, outline of the house, that the actual model house sits on.  This allows for the possibility of Krump's farm house to be destroyed by artillery or fire during the battle.

The Persimmon grove will be modeled by using several rows of smaller 15mm trees, representing the grove, with the stone wall around it.  This allows for the fight in and around the grove, and should be pretty flexible.

The edge of the old Oak forest, that also saw action, will be modeled using larger 28mm trees, grouped together on dark felt to show the forest outline.

Pictures will be posted soon, but here is a map of the battlefield...

 The map is approximately 6' wide by 4' from north to south.  The features, labeled, are these:

• A. Krump's Farm, with a stone wall around it.
• B. The Persimmon Grove, also with a wall around it.
• C. The Chewgas Stream, that runs south east to the Maduro River, and south west to Lake Nyakker.  It is deep and fast, not fordable, but not very wide (about 2" in game scale).
• D. Hedge rows, tall enough for a man to hide behind (soft cover - concealing, but not protective)
• E. Two other farms along the road into the Maduro Valley

The Furstenberg Light Brigade (consisting of three battalion strength units of Seebataillone, and a battery of light guns from the Eiderduck) had landed by ships boats on the north shore of Lake Nyakker, and enter this map from the south side, between the southwestern leg of the Chewgas, and the southwest corner of the table.

The Fribourg Canton militia are in place, with one battalion stationed east of the bridge, on the road between the two farms, and two battalions in the ground between Krump's Farm and the Chewgas stream.  Finally, two units of Rumpwhistle sharpshooters will enter the road, in the northwest corner of the board.

The battle is simple - the Furstenberg troops must cross the Chewgas, and the Rumpwhistle militia must do their best to stop them.

25mm houses project - pictures and tutorial

Working on some 25mm houses, to rebuild some of my terrain collection that has frittered away and declined over the past decade or so.

I want to build a couple of different styles of houses, mostly useful for late medieval through 19th century.  These will be used for a variety of different European conflicts (and, as always, will be stolen for everything else that I can think of), but initially they are intended for Balkanian wars in the mid 19th century.  The regions of Balkania that I tend to wargame that period in  (my two imagi-nations of Furstenburg and Rumpwhistle) are relatively poor, although they enjoyed some prosperity in the 15th and 16th century.  So most of the durable buildings left in the area (everything from wealthier farm houses, to high street shops, castles, churches, and taverns) are based on older (pre-19th century) architecture.  So this works perfectly with my bigger goal of rebuilding some houses that will be useful for a variety of conflicts.

My first goal are a couple of houses that could be used, maybe along with a tavern or a church, as the focal point for a small village.  So this first round are basically stand alone farm houses, that might end up in a walled compound with a small work building, animal housing, or a barn.

For construction, I looked at several options, including a lot of the really lovely print-and-assemble buildings that are available.  In the end, I returned to my favorite - which is using foam core board for the basic structure, and then applying architectural and details on top of that.

So first step was to cut out some basic shapes.  I chose to make the one story structures basically 1.5 inches tall, and then have a peaked roof rise another inch above that.  I made the peak ends of the house 3 inches wide, and the side structures another three inches.  For this basic pattern, I cut out enough pieces for two structures.

Foam core board is easy to work with, if you have a relatively sharp cutting implement, and resign yourself to having to cut along a score line a few times.  If you are unfamiliar with the material, it has been around for some time, and has been used for gaming models for a few decades now, and originally was used for really nice Architectural models.  It is basically two layers of paper (or sometimes sheet plastic) filled with a layer of foam, to give it thickness and strength.  My method, is always to cut three times (which almost always results in a nice clean edge).  First cut is to go through the top layer of paper.  Next cut is to go through the foam, and score the bottom piece of paper.  The third cut goes through the bottom piece of paper.  If you try this with anything but a sharp razor knife (an X-acto or something similar), then you will end up mangling the foam, and pulling/tearing the paper.  If you haven't worked with foam core board before, this is the single best tip I can share.

Next is to assemble the basic pieces.  There are a couple of options here, for strength and proper angles.  First, is to use straight pins, through one piece of foam core, into the one being glued to it - this holds it in place, provides extra strength, and ensures a straight join.  For these small structures, I didn't feel as if it was necessary, but when I have built much larger structures (castle walls, towers, large middle eastern buildings, Indian temples, etc) I almost always use straight pins.

The second option, is to use some sort of straight edge angle piece inside as a support to give the building strength and to help keep the corners square.  Again, on these small structures I didn't go this route, for two reasons.  First is because I could square them on my cutting surface grid, and basically just hold them until the tacky glue dries (I use tacky white glue for these, because it dries quick, is cheap, and is extremely easy to work with).  Second, is because I plan to mount these to wooden bases, will will ensure lots of strength down the road.

Once these guys set, and are dried, if you have any overhang on any edge, and you think it might be too much to cover over with the decorative material (whatever you end up using - paper, paint, spackle filler, etc), then you can use a razor knife to trim the left over bits that overhang.

Leave those basic structures to dry for a while before proceeding to the decorate stage.  Once I did that, however, I decided that rather than paint these guys (which would have involved some sort of undercoat of white spackle filler, or white primer paint) I would use colored paper for the basic wall covers.  I used a nice 65 lb weight card stock, mostly because it won't warp when you glue it, or if you come back and paint details on it.  I cut out basic shapes to glue on, and using a glue stick I attached them.  One thing - it is nice, at this stage, when you are covering over the side pieces to make sure the edges of the foam board on the end pieces are covered over.  Another technique to do this, which I usually use in conjunction to employing straight pins, is to cut away a section of one layer of paper and the foam on the end piece, and then the side piece fits in, so that once they are glued together and dried, there is no foam edge showing.  I will try to do a model like that soon, and post pictures.

As you can see, with this method, I was a little bit sloppy with my edges - so that the colored paper does not line up exactly with each other.  That's okay, because I plan to do some details that will decorate the edges, as well as cover up that gappy join.  For these houses, I planned to do a variety of different constructions.  One method will be half timber, and the other member will be stone structure with plastered over walls.  This first house is of the second variety, so I have to give the idea of stacked stones for support at the corners.  This gives me a great excuse to cover over that gap.

I cut out some different colored card stock - grey to suggest stonework - and decorated with a fine point marker the basic outlines of the stones.  Then using precision scissors I cut these pieces out, and scored them on one side (to help with a crisp fold).  A tip - whenever you have surfaces like this that are supposed to stand out on any sort of paper construction, always outline your pieces with black. Try not to let any edges of paper show that are not some dark color.  That is like black lining when you paint - it suggests depth, and shadows, in small ways, and hides some of the obvious model making materials.  These houses are far from realistic, but the black edging makes them look a little better (even if they are supposed to be the old school sort of cartoony terrain seen in a lot of the older wargaming books and magazines).  This is what I tried to do with this corner stone work (and also with the roof piece).k

As you can see, the edges cover over the joins between the sides and ends, and the stone work looks reasonable.

The last basic piece, before decorating with architectural details, is the roof.  For a small building like this, I used a basic piece of card stock, cut and scored, and with end flaps folded down to suggest depth, and just glued it on.  There you have the basic, finished shape of the model house.

For this building, some of the features I would want to add are (at least) a door and some windows.  Rather than messing around with glazed windows, I instead chose to do wooden shutters.

The door is done in layerd pieces of card stock - a dark wood for the background of the door, and a lighter wood for the door itself.  I did a small grey threshold stone under the door, again as a piece of decorated (slightly) card stock.

The effect of the door that I was trying was for something like this . . .

 Rather than adding on separate black pieces for the hinges and door handle, etc, I just decorated the door with a fine point marker.

For future cottages, and efforts, I had considered doing other details, like a lintel window over the door, or even a window as part of the door, but I think those are details that speak to a later architecture than what I was aiming for.  Here are some examples of other doors that feature those other elements - maybe to be added later . . .

The presence of gourds almost certainly mark this as a Balkanian door...

While a later period door (note the electric light), this could be nice to model.

At this point, the details on the roof decoration are seen.  I added some simple lines to suggest tiles on the roof.  I could have gone with thatch, or some other material (chinked planks, shakes, etc) - but instead, I wanted to suggest tiles. 

So, there is the first house.  I also built two others, with different looks and architectural features, to model specific buildings in Balkania, but the next article will talk about them.

Williamsburg Muster - accidental convention trip

So, recently, I had to tell folks that asked that I was not going to be able to attend Marscon and the Williamsburg Muster.  Both in Williamsburg, Virginia (one of my favorite places on Earth, even though Scribner's is closed since 1984, Rizzoli's is closed since 2001, and the Williamsburg Toymaker has recently closed - sniff), they would prove just too far, since we are living in Harris County Georgia currently, at Toad Hollow.

And then, and then, it happened.  A work trip, a family visit, all coincided.  So I would be in the area over the weekend of the Williamsburg Muster (Feb 7-9).  I decided to attend.  I took a flight to arrive on Friday, so I wouldn't have much luggage room for buying, and I did not bring any games or miniatures with me, but I was looking forward to a good time.

Lots of miniature games (a very solid collection of games, although I did not notice anything appreciably exciting or new...maybe I was not in the right place at the right time).  There was a board gaming room, ran very capably by Tidewater Area Gaming Society, although some of their peeps were also supporting Whose Turn is it Anyway? (the winter version of That Board Gaming Thing) in Raleigh NC.  There was a Flames of War tournament room (which also doubled as part of the Flea Market room on Sunday).  There was a room given over to Slot Car racing (??what??).  (ed. note: Slot car racing is a great hobby, and I used to love going to races with my dad and my uncle when I was a wee little sprog, but I don't know what it adds to a gaming convention)

Watched lots of miniatures games.  The rules that I WANTED to play, but didn't make/find time for:

• War and Conquest
• Pike and Shotte
• Bolt Action
• General Quarters 3

Watched and played a bunch of board games.  The games that I WANTED to play, but did not see, or did not engage in, were:

• Trains
• Russian Railroads
• A Study in Emerald
• Ora et Labora
• Glass Road
• Troyes

What I did get to do was spend some time with some fantastic friends, and play a few board games and card games, and watch a lot of miniature games.  I got to do a lot of "window" shopping for miniatures and miniature rules.  And I got to buy a couple of books.

First, I bought a copy of the main rulebook for War and Conquest.  This is a set of 28mm wargaming rules for Ancient and Medieval warfare, written by Rob Broom.  Rob was the director of the North America effort for Warhammer Historical games, so it has a certain feel to Warhammer Ancient Battles.

One of the cool things about War & Conquest (WAC) is that the army lists for it are available in a very polished professional way, but online as electronic documents for free.  This is being published and supported by Scarab Miniatures.  I wish them well, with WAB gone (well, out of commercial production), a set of rules that is still "in print" is a nice thing, even if WAB itself still is available non-commercially and played quite a bit.

One of the other acquisitions I made was a copy of Renaissance Warfare, edited by Bob Carruthers.  This is a nice collection of pieces about battles in the British Isles from 1513 through 1640.  It is extracted from a larger work, originally written by James Grant, and published in 1894, called British Battles on Land and Sea.

This work, for me, is chiefly interesting because of the focus on the battles between the end of the Wars of the Roses (ended 1487) and the beginning of the English Civil Wars (beginning approx 1642).  The battles covered in this title are:

• Flodden, 1513
• Haddenrig, 1542
• Ancrum Moor, 1545
• Isle of Wight, 1545
• Pinkie, 1547
• Siege of Leith, 1560
• Zutphen, 1586
• The Groyne, 1589
• Flores and Cape Corrientes, 1591
• Cadiz, 1596
• Porto Rico, 1598
• Bay of Cezimbra, 1602
• Cagliari, 1617
• Isle of Rhe, 1627
• Newburn Ford, 1640

In addition there are treatments of Sir Francis Drake, Admiral Hawkins, and the Spanish Armada.  All of these are covered very sketchily, but as I did not have something concise on this period in my library, it serves as a nice introduction.  One complaint - it is in a series from Pen and Sword, called the "Military History from Primary Sources" series, and this is definitely not primary sources, although it is republishing a historical piece of military history writing (Grant's work from 1894).

Two other pieces I picked up are two titles from Histoire & Collections.  These are fantastic little military history monographs, accompanied by a packed house full of illustrations.  Perfect for the armchair historian, or the wargamer, who is looking for inspirational images, and a thumbnail sketch of a campaign, or a particular army.  In this case, I got two titles from their "Men and Battles" series, very similar to the Osprey Campaigns series.  The two I got are Alesia, 52 BC, by Frederic Bey, and Rocroi, 1643, by Stephane Thion.

 

The only other one I already own in the series is on Bull Run (purchased to help my Daughter with a school project on the battle... as I am not a huge fan of the American Civil War, for wargaming).  If you are not familiar with the Histoire & Collections publisher, they are from Paris, originally published in French, and their series' are now being translated into other languages (including English).  Very nicely done, and a nice complement to the many Osprey titles on popular topics, as a layman's introduction to military topics (again, great for Wargamers and Figure Painters... like those slaving away in the dungeons below Gaming with Chuck headquarters).

Not to let Osprey be outdone completely by their French rivals, I did purchase an excellent new volume from them.  I got Campaign Series number 260, Fort William Henry 1755-57 which was just published in November of 2013.  This is an excellent treatment of the famous French & Indian War fort, built in 1755, and subjected to two sieges.  The second one finally saw British Lt. Col. Monro surrender to the French/Native American force that was besieging the fort, and the elements of the 35th Regiment, the Massachusetts Regiment and the New Hampshire Regiment (along with some carpenters, sailors, and elements of the Royal Artillery) prepared to march out.

The ensuing "Massacre of Fort William Henry" occurred when the Native American troops in French command fell upon the column leaving the fort, and began to hack and kill the British and Colonial troops.  The battle is well recorded in the fantastic movie "The Last of the Mohicans", but as this title by Ian Castle points out, modern scholarship, and archaeology of the past 20 years, have brought to light some different details.  The scene, from the Daniel Day Lewis movie, however, is still a stirring piece of Hollywood militaria (regardless of what it gets wrong).


The movie is a really nice piece of what Hollywood can accomplish as an action/history movie, although much of that is based on the inspiration of the fantastic Cooper novel.  One of the best things of the movie, commented on several times in the past here at Gaming with Chuck, is the great soundtrack by Trevor Jones.


Several Violin soloists have done nice versions, to be found on youtube.  Here is one played by a talented young lady dressed as a Gypsy dancer at a renaisance faire (in the background of the video is another young lady dressed as the Genie from I Dream of Jeannie??).  Here, however, is one of my favorites by very talented Taylor Davis.

All this talk of the Lewis film is all well and good, but the original book by Cooper is not to be missed. By all means, read it.  The movie referred to here (while good) is based much more on the 1936 (Randolph Scott) version of the story, than the Cooper novel.

From a gaming perspective, doing French & Indian war miniatures has long been on my Miniatures Painting project list.  Perhaps soon. However, the boardgame Hold the Line from Worthington Publishing (formerly Worthington Games) has the French & Indian War supplement available.

While the Fort William Henry Massacre isn't one of the scenarios in that expansion, there are a number of great battles included.  Very good game, and satisfyingly reminiscent of the period (and they get the history right, much better than Hollywood).

Finally, the last treasure that I walked away from The Williamsburg Muster with was a copy of the fantastic treasure trove of information concerning the military activities of Prussia (and then Germany) in the period from 1860-1867.  The book, Armies of Bismarck's Wars: Prussia 1860-67, is by Bruce Bassett-Powell (2013 Casemate).  It is fantastic, with information on the German Bund, leading up to the Schleswig-Holstein war, the Second Schleswig War and the Seven Weeks war.  Information about the armies, politics, diplomacy, key personnel, and battles abounds, with lots of reproduced primary illustrations, and other information.  This is the first half of the book, the second is dedicated to describing the Prussian arms - organization, operational methods, and uniforms.  It is all finished with a large number of color uniform plates, and appendices on the OB information for Prussia, Denmark and so forth - for the 1864 and 1866 campaigns.  A great book, and  nice find.  Glad I was able to pick it up.

Here is an example of one of the uniform plates from the book.  As you can see, a lot of great information, again, a perfect source for an armchair historian (although this book has a lot of very good, apparently sound from an academic perspective, information), and for a wargamer and figure painter.

So, the final shot of this article is to say thanks to Larry Weindorf, now owner of "For the Historian" a military history (and military models) shop in Gettysburg Pennsylvania.  He is located at 42 York Street, Gettysburg, PA 17325.  He is a fantastic guy to deal with, and most of the books listed here were purchased from him.  He has supported the Williamsburg conventions (especially back when they were sponsored by ODMS, and I was partially responsible for running them) for years now, and is a dealer at other wargaming shows (notably the big HMGS shows in Fredericksburg and Lancaster).  Great guy, buy some books from him at http://www.forthehistorian.com/

Furstenberg Units - Pictures of Seebataillon

Here we have pictures of Furstenberg Seebataillon (naval infantry).  This is the 3rd Company.  The distinction from regular infantry is the light color of the sky blue Seebataillon trousers, and also the fouled anchor collar tab pins (not seen on the miniatures).  A proud distinction that the units themselves make is the use of bright yellow bedrolls, in distinction from the red bedrolls that the regular infantry use.

Seebataillon are expected to take the brunt of the fighting in either landing actions, or in actions that are fought in defense of Naval coastal assets (bases, weapon stations, etc).  Because of that, the companies are formed up like battalions, with four stands of three figures each.

Here we see the back-of-stand distinctions for the Seebataillon Companies (battalions).  They are sky blue, with colored tabs of red, trimmed in yellow.  This is the third Company, so it has three such red/yellow tabs on the sky blue background.

Furstenberg Units - Pictures of Regular Infantry

Here are some pictures of a unit of regular Line Infantry in Furstenberg service.  The medium blue trousers, with dark blue tunic, topped with a dark blue kepi.  One of the distinctions of the regular infantry are the red bedrolls, seen at the top of their campaign packs.  Once a unit is in the field for some time, it is not as typical to see so many of the red bedrolls, but one a battalion first leaves for the field, it is almost uniform throughout.

The next picture is of a different unit, but is included here to illustrate something.  The unit is actually a Mountaineer unit, as you can see by the Mountaineer hat that the units are famous for.  The bedrolls are a mix of different drab colors, notable for not being red throughout.

The interesting thing to notice is the color bands at the base of the unit - the back of each base is colored a different series to match the unit itself.  All of the Furstenberg infantry units are so marked.  This marking (dark green with a brown central band) belongs to the Mountaineers - which are all dark green, with a colored band of distinction.

Furstenberg Units - Pictures of Waldjaegers

Here are a few pictures of two battalions of Furstenberger light infantry.  These are forest rangers, which have the name of Waldjaegers in the Margravate army.  The unit in the foreground (in skirmish formation) is 2nd Battalion, 48th Waldjaeger.  The battalion behind is from the 51st.

Standard for the basing that I am doing, all companies (stands) are 40mm x 40mm square.

Since these are light infantry, and not regular infantry, they have only two figures per base. 

The Waldjaeger uniform is dark green throughout, with a grey goose feather on the side of the dark green kepi.

Additional possible armies/units for 19th century Balkania

So, with the Kingdom of Elsinore sorted out, and beginning the rebasing process, I started thinking about possible limits on other units and armies based on figures I already own.

One of my rules for this project is "no new figures".  I am only making use of figures I already own, and preferably those already painted.

One such possible army (although it would be small) would be a phalanx of Wagon People of the Karzstan mountains. These are wandering communities, in and around the Fribourg Canton of Rumpwhistle, and he travel in town sized populations with many wagons and horses.  The fighting style is not unlike South African Boers, fighting from behind a wagon laager.  I have about 8-10 units of infantry intended for this role, only needing rebasing.  I also have half a dozen wagons that could serve this "phalanx" (the name they use for an armed camp fighting together.  They were first mentioned here: http://chuckgame.blogspot.com/2013/03/19th-century-imaginations-rumpwhistle-2.html

Beyond that, all other possible painted figures that would be suitable are individually based for The Sword and the Flame.  I don't want to rebase them.  However...

If I stick to my rule of no new figures, but relax the rule on painting, then I could conceivably come up with not only several foreign units (Vulgarians, Trans-Turkylvanians), but also a sizable force of Urbs.  In fact, I am planning on it. Details to follow...however, so that I can use them for other  gaming projects, I may make changes to the standard Baalkanian basing scheme ( which is currently 12 figures on 4 bases for standard Infantry units).

Finally, another modeling project related to 19th Century Balkania will be some terrain modeling. Again, details to follow.

Beginnings of third army - Kingdom of Elsinore

I have yet more painted figures that will make it into the Balkanian 28mm 19th century project...

This next batch, which is entirely painted, just needs to be rebased, will be the Kingdom of Elsinore.

These are based loosely (more like shaken, not stirred) on the Danish kingdom of the period from about 1848 until about 1864.  This covers the First (1849-1851) and Second (1864) Schleswig Wars.

The figures were sorted out and organized into units, and there is something like this. . .

14 units of Royal Infantry (the core of the army)
5 units of Huscarls (elite household infantry)
2 units of Deetlanders (irregulars, from a mostly empty region of unwelcoming moors)
3 units of Foresters (elite rangers)

The little kingdom is pugnacious and annoying, yet the high quality of her infantry and the inhospitable nature of the country make it tough to conquer.  It got involved in the 23 weeks war over imagined sleights to Elsinore sovereignty and threats to trade and shipping.  Elsinore units were not actively engaged in coordinating with either side, and yet in both the Maduro Valley and the Plains of Arthur campaigns they were fighting "together" with the two sides in the conflict - in Maduro they sided (briefly) with Furstenberg.  During the maneuvers prior to the Plains of Arthur, they sided with Rumpwhistle.

Painted and Based - Furstenberg Infantry, 1870s

In addition to the Rumpwhistle army, there is also the Furstenberg army, that has been worked on recently.  This army has a somewhat different flavor than the Rumpwhistle army - slightly smaller, slighter higher quality troops.  The types of units, and how many, that have been completed are listed here.

Number	Type	Figs per Stand	Stands per Unit
6	Mountaineers	3	4
3	Seebataillon	3	4
2	Drovian Highlanders	3	4
8	Regular Infantry	3	4
2	WaldJaegers	2	4
3	Dismounted Cavalry	2	2
2	Sharpshooters	2	2

• The Mountaineers are tough alpine troops, detailed here.
• The Seebataillon (Naval Infantry) are troops from Naval units (ships and installations), detailed here.
• The Drovian Highlanders are recruits from the highland clans of Drovia, detailed here.
• The Regular Infantry are the mainstay of the Margravate army, detailed here.
• The WaldJaegers are scouts, used to hunting and tracking in the forests of Furstenberg.
• The Dismounted Cavalry, are basically elite mounted infantry, fighting dismounted as skirmishers.
• The Sharpshooters are an elite corps of handpicked marksman, also operating as skirmishers.

Total, 20 battalions, 5 demi battalions, 252 miniatures.

Painted and based - Rumpwhistle Infantry, 1870s

Recent efforts to start up on painting 18th century infantry came to a quick halt, as certain painting supplies were found missing.  So, after firing the chiefs of the logistics operation, attention turned to finishing up the rebasing of the remaining 19th century figures.  First up, the rest of the Rumpwhistle infantry.

Here is a list, now, of everything done for Rumpwhistle, so far.  The average infantry battalion is 12 figures, mounted on four bases of three figures each. Light infantry (skirmishes and scouts) have only two figures per stand.

Number	Type	Figs per stand	Stands per unit
6	Confederacy Infantry	3	4
4	Sharpshooter Companies	2	2
2	Red Guard	3	4
2	Drovian Rebels	3	4
5	Border Scouts	2	4
9	Canton Infantry	3	4
2	Skylarks	3	4

• Confederacy infantry are the under resourced units of the Confederacy Government.
• Sharpshooter "Companies" are actually Demi battalions of mounted infantry, armed with rifled repeaters.
• Red Guard are two battalions of volunteers from Mac Baren, romanticized remnants from the civil war.
• Drovian Rebels are Highlanders from Furstenberg that defected because of inter clan feuds.
• Border Scouts (or Grenzers) are battalion strength light infantry units that patrol the Karzstan Mountains.
• Canton Infantry are the foot units provided by the individual Cantons involved in the 23 Weeks War.
• Skylarks are units of foreign mercenaries under the command of Rumpwhistle officers.

Total: 26 battalions, 4 demi battalions, 308 miniatures.

Wargaming project update

So, things at Gaming with Chuck HQ have settled into the typical Autumn pattern - school, work, trips, looking ahead to holidays, etc.

The weather is nice enough that I can use my painting area (which is in the garage) again, without suffering from the summer heat.

We have had some very nice (and successful) game nights at our house lately, mostly board and card games.

I have been working on a couple of wargaming projects, and have some progress to report.

1. I have completed the painting on the vessels (for both navies) for my 1870s imagi-nations naval project.  I now have fleets for both the Margravate of Furstenberg, and the Confederated Cantons of Rumpwhistle.  Games coming soon.

2. I have built some shore facilities to use with the new navies - some towns, and some fortification/gun batteries.  Yet to be painted.  Nice to have, but not needed for games.

3. I have constructed the first 6 figures (plastic, multipart) for my 1700 imagi-nations project (Poppenheim vs. Bombastia).  These went together very easily, and I think I will stick wth the plastics.  I already have a bunch purchased (Wargames Factory - owned when the company was under the original leadership, but this left me with 332 infantry figures, enough for both armies). The 6 figures took seconds to put together.  The basic figure in the Wargames Factory box sets go together really easily - 2/3 of the figures only need a head attached.  The other figures are a little bit more complex (heads, and arms).  Looking forward to doing some whole (24 figure) units

4. The 1870 infantry (repurposed ACW figures, now used for Furstenberg and Rumpwhistle) has been MOSTLY rebased and ready to go.  There is still a box of infantry left to work up, and some more cavalry, and guns.  This is pretty much ready to go for a small battle, which I hope to get played this autumn.  Still thinking about rules.

5. Really thinking about dark ages stuff (vikings, danes, scotts, etc).  Have lots of lead, just deciding if I want to do this before or after the 1700 stuff.

Pictures and ship details on the navies; posed pictures, maybe a game, for the 1870 stuff.

A Study in Emerald

So, I just filled out the pre-ship survey on this one.  It looks like it will be pretty good.  It is Martin Wallace, and it is based on a Neil Gaiman story.  And the art for the cards looks great.  What could possibly go wrong?

Lots of preview stuff about the gameplay, cards, etc on the kickstarter page.  I understand it will also be available directly through Treefrog Games (Martin's company).

Neat pictures on the Treefrog Games facebook page as well.

Enough about the game - the Story that Neil Gaiman wrote, which is the basis for the game (in short: Sherlock Holmes solves mystery in a world where the Cthulhu Mythos are real), is available online - at Neil's website.  This, by the way, is a fantasticly done version with a really nice layout. So if you have read it before (or not) do your self a favor and check it out.

That is all.

19th Century Imaginations - Furstenberg Naval Elements

Additional units of the Furstenberg Navy have been completed.  Here are some photos.

Frigates in line against Armored Cruisers (note - blue splotch mistake on lead frigate - need to fix that)

Battleships in line (the four ships of the Queen class)

Spar Torpedo boats.  Converted lobstermen?

Overhead view of the matchstick boats

Queen Guinevere and Queen Gloriana

Queen of the May, Queen Titania, and Queen Guinevere, threatened by spar torpedoes

Armored Cruisers (left to right) Junebug (with the raked stack), Moondog, and Weevil

The Weevil leading the line against a line of Screw Frigates

Screw Frigates mounting broadside guns, vs. Armored Cruisers with modern turrets