Empires and Honor

Battle of Wheaton Farm

2014-05-28T18:11:00.000-07:00

So I have been working feverishly at painting up my AWI troops and last night rounded the 200 miniature mile marker. Anyone who has gotten into table top wargaming knows that doing a period like this is a great undertaking - the Tailor Wars as the period from the Seven Years (or French Indian War as it is better known here in the states) through the end of the Napoleonic era. So with all this painting it has been requested that I post some pictures to show my growing collection. I tried simply getting them all out and shooting pictures...but that was too boring. I chose instead to dress up my table and play a small game, posting action photos! I hope you enjoy!

Click on any picture to make it bigger - you can see much more detail that way!

Here is the full field. The Americans are centering their defense around the farm with some earthwork trenches. They have three regiments of Militia, they place two in the trenches with a third in the woods near the hill overlooking the road. In typical American fashion, the troops in the trees hide. The Americans deploy a unit of Riflemen to the left of the redout covering the flank of the approach to the backup fleche. The 1st New Hampshire Regiment of Regulars deploys to the rear of the formation, ready to plug any gaps in the line as the British advance.

American Left flank in the fleche.

American Rifle Skirmishers in Hunting Shirts

Militia deployed in the redoubt - the only artillery of the battle deployed to the right, a single 3lb Grasshopper cannon

American 1st New Hampshire Regulars - Skirmish screen thrown forward to harass any enemy troops and provide mobile cover for the close order infantry.

Militia in the trees to the extreme American right.

British 20th Regt. Line of Foot, Skirmishers screening the advance of the march column

British 24th Regt. Line of Foot in the foreground, the 9th Regt to their rear - both regiments throwing skirmishers forward - a very important part of the era.

The British Commander in Chief (CinC), riding his beautiful Dapple Grey

Combined Light and Grenadier Regiments - In this era each regiment would have a company of Light Infantry for screening and harassing and a company of Grenadiers - the biggest and strongest, most disciplined troops of the regiment. Most frequently these companies were stripped out of their parent units and combined to form their own elite regiments.

Indian Scouts hiding in the trees

War Paint

More war paint - see the hand print on the guy's shoulder? Yep...I went there. These are among the more detailed of the troops I painted since they add so much flavor. The blue and white bases indicate that these are Iroquois, employed ion great numbers by the British.

Close up of the CinC

I am proud of how he turned out - the two line infantry indicate that this is the brigade commander or CinC of a Line Infantry brigade - if he were the Elite Brigade Commander I would have had a Light Infantry and a Grenadier figure.

Close up of the Ensign for the 24th Regt. The flags are printed on white paper, cut out and then glued. While the glue is drying I roll the flag around a paint brush shaft to make it furl - then bend it the opposite direction to make it look like it is flapping in the wind.

9th Regt.

Lights

Grenadiers

Bearskin Caps of the Grenadiers gave these troops their distinctive look. These troops were known to show no fear and less mercy when unleashed on the enemy - the sight of the bobbing caps was enough to make many militia turn tail.

20th Regt.

Close up of the cannon - Technically this piece is a Napoleonic era French 6-8lb cannon...but who is looking? It is smaller than the 6lb cannon of the British for the era, making it look half the size. I painted the carriage red to show that this was a French or Spanish supplied piece. The British and Hessians had a very distinctive pale grey-blue colored carriage.

The Iroquois advance out of the treeline and the general advance is sounded. The American Rifles open at long range to pick off anything they can before the enemy get too close.

The grasshopper opens up to bounce a few rounds through the oncoming British columns.

The 20th Advance quickly up the road in column, unaware of the Militia in the trees. They deploy into line formation and take position behind the wall, preparing to pour enfilading fire into the artillery unit.

After turn 2, the British appear to be in good field position, closing fast on the Americans in their defenses.

The British line errupts into rolling smoke clouds as they fire into the Americans. The Indians fire a volley in preparation for a valiant charge into the pesky Rifles.

The Americans respond with a volley of their own shaking the Indians up pretty badly.

The Militia in the redoubt open up and fail to cause much damage as they are forced to shoot into the skirmishers. The Militias poorer quality makes it harder for them to cause damage.

The militia in the trees swing out and form on the fence - pouring blistering fire into the rear of the 20th.

The Indians charge and the Rifles stand to deliver a deadly volley at close range.

The Indians turn craven and flee! Good thing too - Indian scouts have an additional bonus attack in close combat due to their fierce nature and skill in hand to hand weapons.

The skirmish screen from the 24th fire another volley into the militia trying to shake them up before the impending charge.

The 3# cannon fires a round of canister into the 20th. The 20th, being caught in a deadly crossfire are forces to take a morale check. If they pass, they would be in prime position to charge the guns and escape from the militia to their rear. If they fail, they stand a pretty good chance of being caught up by the militia - To the colours lads!

The Indians fleeing, the Lights and Grenadiers advance on the Rifles, trading shots back and forth, the Rifles no worse off fore it as their open formation makes them hard to hit.

Passing a Morale test with no troubles!

The 20th fail their morale test and run away, the militia shuffle down the row to fire another volley into the fleeing Lobster-backs.

The 24th declare their charge, the militia stand to receive the charge and fire a volley as the Red Coats advance up the earthworks. The volley does not stop them though and the valiant 24th close to grips with the ill prepared militiamen.

The Grenadiers declare their charge.

The Rifles try to stand ground and fire a volley, but the Grenadiers are not deterred by their fire. They close to grips and drive the rifles off with something to think about.

The 24th punch through the militia and drive them off through the wheat fields.

The militia on the road declare their charge against the fleeing 20th. The terrified unit is cut down, surrendering their colors. The whole regiment taken prisoner or being scattered to the wind.

The 9th finally get their hands dirty, deploying into line ready to delivery punishment into the now unformed militia.

The reserve militia in the fleche fire a volley into the advancing grenadiers, who after the melee with the rifles have now lost a third of their men. The Light infantry behind them forming up ready to fire into the militia as soon as the grenadiers clear out of the way.

The Indians still flee - they eventually leave the field, broken.

The 1st NH Regt with skirmisher fire a hot volley into the 24th

The militia in the road formed and fired before the 9th could - the exchange is does not go well for the militia.

The double 6 indicates a critical hit on the leader who is within 8" of the target unit - the British CinC happens to be there...and things to not go well. Rolling on the "Risk to General" table indicates that the General was hit in this pocket watch. Another roll is required to see if the watch was superior quality and stops the bullet, or inferior and the bullet passes through...the roll was not to the Generals liking and the round enters between his ribs. He falls from his horse, the whole of the army seeing the loss of their beloved general lose their desire to fight.

Capitalizing on the loss of British Initiative, the Rifles reform and they with the militia catch the grenadiers and Lights in a pretty bad crossfire. Without the general and with so many casualties sustained, both units break and flee the field.

The 24th break and run out of the redoubt, the 1st NH close and fire a volley into the retreating troops.

The whole of the British army is broken. The Rebels have taken the day.

Insult to Injury.

So a pretty good little fight, it is certainly hard to drive troops out of their hiding holes and with such a narrow approach things get dicey. I hope you enjoyed the pictures and, if you are local and want to try your hand at a game, let me know!

Didn't we do this already?

2013-12-06T19:46:00.002-08:00

The topic of today's post will be a little out of the mold again, my mind has been all over the place in terms of my historical love interest. You are all the benefactors as I proceed to spew the mind stew across this, my digital canvass.

Marines at Hamburger Hill

I have been thinking a great deal about the Vietnam War. This single conflict saw more than a half a million men ground into the jungles of a country that for all intents and purposes had really very little appearent value. I have written a few papers about how I lost my "innocence" as to the purity of America's intentions and this has me on a kick to look at the events that would cause a country to invade in such a way...I mean, why Vietnam?

What other countries and civilizations have done the same thing? Is the tired old colloquialism "Those that do not read history are destined to repeat it" really so true? Where shall I start my attempt at converting you? Persia. Yeah, thats the place. An empire that by all accounts was one of the greatest in history, but why are they now reduced to a handful of bickering Islamic states that all hate the US? It stated long ago when the God Kings still sat on the golden thrones at Persepolis.

Xerxes - the Beneficent God-King

You see, the Persians, like many other nations in history became a little too big for their shorts and needed some "leg room". They began expanding and conquering as they went. Within a few hundred years they had conquered everything from the Indus River valley to the Caspian Sea, from the Urals to the Red Sea. Their empire incorporated more than a thousand different tribes, all with different cultures, customs and languages and what happened? They got bogged down in a costly war with a foreign power of little to no evident resources. Wasnt that the reason you expanded though? to gain resources to grow your empire?

Picts - Progenitors of the Scots

Greece had no real resources that Persia didn't already have in spades, yet they wasted hoards of men at the battles of Salamis, Marathon, Thermopylae and Platea, all where the Greeks, knowing their own territory, were able to use it to full advantage. The Persians tried to quell the Greek "savages" and the result of their taming exercise? The Savages won. The Persian empire fell apart and the bones were picked clean by the Egyptians and Romans. Persia's Vietnam was Greece.


Goths - Not the kind that cut themselves while listening to techno emo music.

The Sacking of Rome

So as Persia falls, Rome rises. Rome grew out of humble beginnings, they conquered the Etruscans and quickly set about uniting the peninsula under the rule of the Republic. Their unique form of government was a threat, the voice of the people dictated the mood of the empire and a nation born of war often suffers with that malady for its entire existence. Rome conquered countless peoples expanding from Gibraltar to Jerusalem, but their Vietnam was in the far reaches of Britania and Germania. These "barbarians" would be the death of an empire as thousands of gold denari and millions of men would be butchered in the fog covered hills of Britain and the tree covered mountains of Germany. Their pride led them to expand and their expansion spelled their doom. The Barbarians united and within 200 years of the conquest of Germania and Britania , Rome was looted by Vandals, Goths and Huns.

Overconfidence, greed and racism lead to the downfall of two great empires, but does it stop there? Join me next week as I look into more empire breaking events across history.

Let slip the Dogs of War

2013-11-15T16:56:00.004-08:00

I know I have been pretty US-Centric in my studies to this point, but I want to depart from this for a moment and take a look at how the Native Americans fared in the war as well.

How the French Indian War and American War for Independence shaped the fate of American and Indian relationships

The relationship between native peoples and those exploring new territories has never been a Nora Ephron story. Rare are the cases where the two sides are able to co-exist in the long term as good friends. Most of these stories end in one side dominating the other, ending in subjugation and exploitation, but what are the reasons that relationships sour? Is it totally out of greed on the exploring party’s side, a pure desire for acquisition or are there other, basic human needs that drive the violence? War is never a one sided event, but the driving factors and outcomes shape nations and relationships for centuries to come. Though many examples of this situation exist in history, one of the most poignant examples is that of the Native American and the English colonists as they became Americans.

English settlers, not explorers mind you, people coming to stay, landed in the latter part of the 17th century in northern North America. They were greeted by a number of different native tribes, some with curiosity, some with reluctance and some with outright violence as could be expected from a native people protecting their lands. As the settlements grew, they required more land, more land that was owned by the native tribes. The relationship with the natives had been one of necessity, trading for food that the colonists didn’t know how to grow, by trading manufactured goods, firearms, tools, clothing and blankets. However, the settlers needed something that the Indians were unwilling to give; land.

Skirmishes and raids become common as settlers living on the fringe of what they considered civilization became the targets of harassing attacks by native tribes. Why would they be attacked though? The answer is simple enough if we apply another era of history that may be a little easier to understand for modern history students. Simply think of how the modern US citizenry would respond to Russians, Chinese, Cubans or any other communist country, making permanent settlements along the California cost without US permission. How would the people react if on top of our churches, our temples and cemeteries, they began to build houses, factories and shopping malls? It isn’t hard to see how the idea for the movie ‘Red Dawn’ came about. The natives were trying to stop the erosion of their rights, the destruction of their homes and the defilement of their holy places as the European settlers moved further west.

According to Historical Statistics of the United States, colonial population grew from roughly seventeen thousand in 1690 to an estimated 240 thousand in 1750. To say that there were border disputes in the colonies would be a gross understatement. Couple with those disputes the colonists desire to expand into the fertile and very navigable region of the Ohio River valley, firmly a French colonial holding, and a great hatred from the French and the British had the makings of a reason to expand their global empire. Americans call it the French Indian War, Europeans call it the Seven Years War and Indians call it abuse.

Both the French and the British employed Native troops during the war, however it was the way the French paid the natives that would cause the conflict to stick out in American pop culture. The native tribes sided with either the French or the English and colonists based on who they thought would win the war and who would give them a better chance for peace after the war. Not surprisingly, those Indian tribes most completely within the British and colonial lines of territory aligned with the English, and those outside it, allied with the French whose native policy had been much more of integration and comingling than separation and segregation as it had been with the British. As in all war, it was not simply the killing that mattered, but the perception of the enemy, and what better way to frighten your opponent than by desecrating the bodies of the fallen? The French instituted the practice of Scalping as a way to measure the Indian’s involvement in raiding, attacks and other harassing maneuvers against the encroaching colonists and redcoats. The French paid by the scalp and the Indians saw it as a way to both dishonor the enemy as well as drive a spike of fear into those that would chance upon the spectacle. However, this violence was also engaged in by the colonials who, out of spite began trading in death as well, trading in Indian scalps for “12 pounds per Indian scalp”. The brutality would serve to poison already poor relationships as both sides began to view the other as savage and barbaric as the practice was not only visited upon fallen warriors, but also on any person, man, woman or child felled in any attack or raid.

After the war, the French were forced to cede most of their North American holdings to the British. This allowed the colonists to expand into the Ohio Valley, but also brought up the question of who should pay for the English blood and money spilled during the seven year conflict. The answer would spark a history altering conflict – The American War of Independence. An empire was divided and again so were the native peoples. In the Great War that would decide the fate of a budding nation, those tribes not already destroyed by the previous war, were forced to side with the lying English, the brutal Rebels or leave their ancestral homes in search of a quieter place. Again, most tribes sided with the group that made the best promises. The English promised that the Indians would have claim to any and all lands they captured back from the colonists in the Ohio and that regular trade would resume upon completion of the war ("Quebec Act of 1774"). The Americans promised lands west of the Ohio and south of Georgia would be left untouched and would be Indian Territory. Not surprisingly, the natives tended to side with the European power, Britain.

Soon, British supplied Natives would against the colonists in the same old ways. The native elements were used to scout enemy positions, harass supply lines, run orders from commander to commander and were used most devastatingly to harass unprotected colonies along the frontier. Again, the Indians were a shock value against the enemy and though British commanders didn’t order the scalping of dead enemies, they did not discourage it. In Christopher Hibbert’s book Redcoats and Rebels, he quotes British Lt. Thomas Anburey who recorded his account of a scalping in grizzly detail:

“They seize the head of the disabled or dead enemy and placing one of their feet on the neck, twist their left hand in the hair, by which means they extend the skin that covers the top of the head, and with the other hand draw the scalping knife…If the hair is too short, and they have no purchase with their hand, they stoop and with their teeth strip it off…They then tie their trophies in a small hoop with bark or deer’s sinews to preserve it from putrefaction, painting part of the scalp and the hoop all around with red.”

Indians were used constantly and viciously during the British campaign in Canada and the Hudson Valley. Their use inspired some of the United State’s first propaganda as documents detailing attacks on settlements began to circulate. The painting The Death of Jane McCrea by John Vanderlyn, though it was not painted till after the end of the war, would certainly have been right at home with the editorials and articles that immediately began circulating after General John Burgoyne’s Saratoga campaign in the summer of 1777, in which native troops were used extensively, ruthlessly and without restraint. Though the orders for unrestricted warfare came from a British officer, all the American colonists witnessed was the Native brutality.

When the war finally ended in 1783, the American victors set to control their spoils. Independence was won and treaties were drawn up between the US, Britain and Native tribes. Though the tribes would be at peace with the new American government, resentment over the war would stay fresh and soon after the end of the war, tribes were drawn into open conflict again during the War of 1812. Long term effects of Indian involvement would lead to many of the Anti-Indian policies of the mid 1800’s including the Indian Removal act of 1830, leading to the dissolution of Native sovereignty, relocation of tribes and the eventual cultural delusion and diffusion into American culture. As is the case with most countries on the side of a losing war, the Indians fell victim to marginalization and relegation to the annals of history as their culture slowly slipped from prominence into obscurity.

And so it goes

2013-11-08T21:13:00.002-08:00

Washington

Growing up I felt much that the battles of the Revolutionary war were fought in rapid succession - that combat was an almost daily event and that thousands upon thousands of men died in a constant stream of gunfire and cannon blast. The more I study, the more I find that nothing could be further from the truth! Examining the timeline for the revolution reveals that the big battles we learn about were few and far between. Months passed by with no engagements to speak of. Such was the case between the battles of Bunker Hill in June of 1775 and the next major event of the Revolution - the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Patriot retreating from Quebec

In the time spanning more than a year, little had happened in the sense of a real military conflict, small skirmishes occurred in the Carolinas between Loyalists and Patriots and an offensive in Canada was launched. Major outcomes of the period were that Washington was appointed Commander-in-Chief and Benedict Arnold failed in his attempt to capture Quebec.
The winter of 1775 to 1776 was one of the most precarious for the war effort. Washington's ranks had swelled to over 10,000 regulars and militia, but this amount of men brought on terrible issues with logistics and management. The troops needed shelter, clothes, food and medical treatment, all of which were in short supply, but most of all, they needed training. Washington knew he could not rely on providence to save him and he quickly set to the task of whipping his men into shape.

One of the largest issues that plagued the army was venereal disease. The oldest profession had found a soft spot in the hearts and wallets of the patriot soldiers and when the men shared, they shared everything. Lets be honest though...who isn't excited by woman who shows a little ankle eh? Syphilis, Gonorrhea and Herpes ran rampant and the surgeons, doctors and other medical staff were busy helping men with more serious ailments, cholera, trench-foot, lyme disease, typhoid, tuberculosis and a whole host of other ailments that come from packing men in close proximity with poor food and water.

Sanitation was an even bigger issue. Men would relieve themselves in close proximity to potable water sources, near the kitchens and generally wherever they could. Washington had his hands full. The first order of business was to straighten up the camp.Washington devised a plan that would solve all the issues of the camp. First and foremost - any man found with an STD would pay a fine for his medical care. On top of this, he would be required to work latrine duty until the condition cleared up. Any man caught with a prostitute in camp would be fined and forced to work the kitchens or laundry. Any man caught relieving himself in any other location than the latrine would be flogged publicly and made to work latrine duty for a week. This solved all the major issues as the money brought in from fees and fines was sufficient to help equip and feed the army. Health improved as would be expected.

Morale was further boosted by a little pamphlet called "Common Sense" by Thomas Paine. The little pamphlet summed up in plain language the patriot's reason for fighting and united the cause. With healthy soldiers and improved morale, Washington and the cause of liberty moved on toward freedom.

"I would that we could have sold them two more hills at such a cost!"

2013-10-25T18:07:00.002-07:00

The wooden breastwork

Ammunition was low, the men were exhausted and the heat of that muggy June took its toll on the men who had spent the last twelve hours digging a dirt barricade between them and the British Red Coats. The redoubt was high and gave the men extraordinary cover, the wooden barricade extension they had thrown up gave them cover on their flank leaving not but empty ground, marsh, sand and grass between the battle lines, something that the British would learn to hate.

British Doctrine dictated that battle lines were to advance to within range of their muskets, present arms, fire and then, if the enemy lines were weak enough, present a charge with bayonet to finish off the will of the enemy. In countless battles in numberless countries this formula had paid large dividends against make-shift armies and rabble. Doubtless, this time tested tactic should work here and at 3pm the British tested the theory.The main British force was to form up at the center and advance in glorious fashion toward rebel right flank. The Line of Foot regiments were to engage the rebels at the weakest point in the line, attempt to crack them and turn the flank to envelop the remaining force in the great redoubt. The British Light infantry were sent in first to engage John Stark and his small band of men who held the extreme left on the rebel flank. These men would be counted as the heroes of the day.

The Redoubt

The pum-pararum-pum-pum of drums drowned out the chirping of crickets and the shrill cries of the piccolos cut through the muggy air as the British Light infantry formed up for their attack. They advanced at the double, moving quickly into formation. Theirs was a precarious task, the rebel redoubt on their left, and not but a sandy beach on their right. They were penned in and manouvering would not be east as the men packed in tight formation to advance.

First Attack

Knowing the range of his weapons, Stark had left stacks of painted rocks to mark ranges and as the British advanced into the perfect range, he bellowed the blessed words of battle: "FIRE!" Smoke, fire and lead filled the air as the tightly packed red coats came into range. Where twenty men had been, less than eight now remained in broken lines. Before the British had even formed ranks to fire, their had been cut nearly in half. The main attack advanced blindly in front of the redoubt, drawing sniper fire from the rooftops of Charleston and direct fire from the defenders of the earthworks. Quickly the advance turned into total chaos as officers and men fell in bloody heaps one atop the other under the withering fire of the rebels. British command watched in complete shock as some of their best men were obliterated with almost miraculous accuracy under the defensive fire from the rebels.

Charge of the Grenadiers

Second Attack

A second attack was to break the rebels once and for all. There was no way the rebels could withstand a full frontal assault.With most of their ammunition gone the command was issued down the rebel ranks to hold fire "...until you see the whites of their eyes". This popular quote carries a great weight when you figure that the whites of a person's eyes are only visible at a range of less than thirty yards. Most engagements of the time took place at the 100-140 yard range. This meant that the rebels would hold fire until the British were almost on top of them. The British formed their Grenadiers at the center. They marched boldly, bayonets charged and didn't stop to fire. When the rebels opened fire their ranks were reduced by a full three quarters. The grenadiers fell back completely decimated.

Final Attack

The third assault formed up with the remnants of all the regiments. Again they marched boldly over the same ground, now littered with the dead and dying of the previous brilliant plan. The rebels again held their fire, but, having expended most of their ammunition in the previous two engagements, the rebels were unable to stop the advance. The terrified rebel line melted away, running for their lives as the British poured over the walls of the redoubt, an ominous red wave crashing down on the battle weary defenders.

When the smoke cleared and the sides counted their dead, the rebels had 115 dead and 300 wounded. The Crown suffered 226 killed in service to the King with another 828 wounded. The Rebels had been driven from the field, but the severe loss of some of the Crown's finest troops would serve to haunt the British in later campaigns.

When Nathaniel Greene, one of Washington's closest generals, heard of the battle he said "I would that we could have sold them two more hills at such a cost!"

I said Bunker you fool! Bunker, not Breeds!

2013-10-18T18:40:00.002-07:00

The revolution was off to a shaky start. The fate of a nation walked on legs as stable as a newborn horse and the slightest mis-step would send thousands back into subjugation beneath the British Crown. The British had been defeated at Lexington, though the victory meant little considering the British still occupied the whole of Boston Harbor and Proper. The Rebels needed a sound victory if they were going to establish their cause as a right and just one. They would get their first chance on a small peninsula overlooking Boston Harbor, a place called Breeds Hill.

Bunker and Breed's Hill

The peninsula served little importance from a tactical standpoint but for the fact that the two hills, Breed's and Bunker, overlooked Charleston and the rest of Boston Harbor. Rebel artillery could easilly be placed on those hills and pose a great threat to the British ships who held Boston in an economic choke-hold. It was for this reason and out of hope for redemption that Gage chose to engage the Rebel forces there. On the 16th of June, elements of rebel militia under numerous commanders began marching into the peninsula, a gutsy move as a landing force would easilly trap them on the thin neck of land were they to land in the flanks.

the Redoubt at Breed's Hill

Original orders were to have the men set up defensive positions on Bunker hill, the hill closest to the narrow neck of land that would allow the rebels to withdraw should the British attempt to flank and block them in the peninsula. To say that there were miscommunications would be a generous understatement. New York officers sent orders to New Hampshire troops and Connecticut militia received orders from officers from Massachusetts. In the end, the men ended up at the smaller of the hills and began their preparations. Their numbers stated at nearly 3,000 men from varying places. They dug all night, throwing up earth to make a rampart (redoubt) with a wooden breastwork to protect from any advancing enemy.

HMS Somerset

Long into the night the men toiled with little sleep, less food and even less water. They were exhausted, but they had done it. The sight to which the British awoke on the morning of the 17th alarmed the British high command. Over night the rebels had thrown up what appeared to be an insurmountable fortification. The first order of the day was "FIRE!"

Asa Pollard Memorial, Billerica MA

The command, bellowed from the lungs of the surely gunnery mates aboard the HMS Somerset set match to fuse and the cannons belched their brimstone, fire and damnation upon the unsuspecting rebels. The first round did little in the way of actual physical damage, but the headless form of Asa Pollard served as a gory foreshadowing of what the rebels were about to face. The man was quickly interred and the rebels went on with their preparations. Men began to desert to behind the lines; fatigue, thirst and fear driving them far from the almost certain clash to come.

The next six hours would be the most tense of those men's lives as the British formed on the opposite shore and began their ferry trip to their staging grounds near the base of Breed's hill.

To the victor - The spoils

2013-10-11T18:44:00.000-07:00

Ft. Ticonderoga as seen from Mount Defiance

With a commission from Congress, the enthusiastic and patriotic Arnold began his trip north toward Ticonderoga. He stopped in as many towns as he could trying to drum up enlistees for the attack on the British Arsenal. His hopes were to attract enough men to be a formidable force once the fort was taken and that he would retain his commission as their Brigadier General for the rest of the war. Arnolds hopes were high and his zeal for the patriot cause was only to be rivaled by that of General George Washington. Arnold found gathering recruits difficult, however, as many of the towns and cities stopped in had already sent many men to join up with the newly appointed Commander-in-Chief.

En route to Ticonderoga, Arnold received a bit of discouraging news. He was to be joined by another commander, the famous Ethan Allen. Arnold would no longer be the Brigadier to his recruits but would be co-commander of any troops raised. In truth, Allen was more veteran in both experience and rank. Allen had been fighting for years in the Vermont-New York Grants war where Allen had lead the Green Mountain Boys, a crack unit of some of the harshest and crudest mountain-men patriots the fledgling US had to offer. These men had grown up in the back woods, making their living as trappers, hunters, loggers and farmers. They were used to the territory and most had weapons that had been tested in combat against the encroaching New Yorkers. They now served the US but more importantly, they served Allen.

Flag of the Green Mountain Boys Militia

To add insult to injury, Arnold, who had hoped to recruit 400 men, arrived with himself and two other men who had set out with him. They joined ranks with Allen and a little over 100 Green Mountain Militia. Allen became the default leader of the group and Arnold knew it.

After preliminary scouting, Allen found out that the fort was garrisoned by only a handful of troops whose powder had been ruined by the heavy rainfall and whose ammunition had dwindled to shockingly low levels. He was also able to gather inteligence that the British were to be reinforced any day by a force of unknown size. The time to act was upon them. he two leaders laid out plans to assault the fort. Arnold suggested a bold attack, but was quickly countermanded by Allen who dismissed Arnold's ideas as foolish and glory seeking. They settled on their best strategy, a sneak attack on the garrison at three points along the fort.

Modern view of Ticonderoga

The plan was exicuted almost perfectly. The attack was launched mid-day just after tea time when the garrison was in the process of winding down for the day, relaxing and getting ready to change the guard. The militia poured over the walls of the fort and captured it in a bold stroke aided partly by briliant planning and partly by blind dumb luck. Upon seeing the commosion, the British commander of the fort called out "By whose authority do you enter this fort?!" to which Allen replied "In the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress!"

Within minutes the fort had been taken without a shot fired. The only recorded casualty was a slight wound suffered by an american who had tried to wrest a rifle from one of the sentries on guard duty. Quickly the fort filled with over 400 men who began looting and pilfering anything that was not bolted down. Arnold tried to stop it all and when he saw that he could not, he retired to the captain's quarters and began to write his action report. Allen, who was now seeing to the transportation of the over 30 artillery pieces entered the quarters and inquired as to the nature of the document at which Arnold was feverishly writing. When the reply came that it was an action report, Allen snatched the page, glanced over it and burned it in the fireplace declaring that it was his right, as commanding officer to detail the actions of the day. It is no doubt then, to see why Allen was hailed as the hero of Ticonderoga and Arnold was largely marginalized in the dispatches back to Congress.

This would not be the last time Arnold would be snubbed where credit was due.

Off on the wrong foot

2013-10-04T19:27:00.001-07:00

Less than a month after the astounding victory at Lexington and Concord, the fledgling government of the Rebellious States of America found themselves faced with the painful realization that the road to independence would not be paved with hopes and good intentions. Rather that road would be one much like the British took from Concord back to Lexington, one fraught with chaos, casualties, loss depression. The truth of the matter was that this haphazard gaggle of militia, rebels and patriots was engaged in a war against the super power of its day - Britain.

The saying was that the sun never set on the British Empire and the British lived up to the Latin proverb of "Empires are not kept through timidity". Their soldiers had fought hard for years to carve out their empire at the point of sword, spear bayonet and by the flash of musket, cannon and horse hoof.

It was this ugly realization that aroused the new continental congress in the days following Lexington. They ordered a full accounting of all available stores, munitions, guns, powder, cannon and wagons. They found themselves severely wanting in all regards. Ammunition, powder and guns would be easy to come by as most of the men who had already volunteered would bring their own weapons, and what the men would not supply, the continental government would contract from some of the best gunsmiths in the world - the Quakers whose fabrication and rifling technique was begining to be duplicated in the southern colonies, could fabricate. The terrain was unforgiving to the use of cavalry who relied on large open spaces to maneuver into the flanks of the enemy, thus leaving only one issue - cannons.

Cannons were vital to any siege or defense of a city as cannons could fire heated shot* into blockading ships. They were also effective at long range engagements of tightly packed troops, the common formation of the day. The issue was that when the Americans tallied the total number of artillery in their possession, they found less than twenty pieces and only five of which were larger caliber than a 4pound gun**.

Fort Ticonderoga

Something had to be done and the best solution is often the simplest. What do you do when you don't have something and don't have an easy way to get it? Find someone that does have it and take it from them. That someone just happened to be the British. The were the best soldiers and they knew it. This air of superiority served to be their arrogant downfall. Just across the border from modern day Vermont was a fort called Ticonderoga. The fort served as an arsenal and housed over thirty pieces of heavy artillery. The best part of the situation was that there were more cannons defending the fort than there were Red Coats.

Benedict Arnold

Ethan Allen

Congress had its desired target, all it needed was a leader for the attack and the men to carry it out. Congress appointed a young officer whose only desire was to gain fame and glory in the revolution - Benedict Arnold. Arnold was to go north and gather as many volunteers as he could, attack the fort and bring back the much needed guns to aid in the siege of Boston. Congress, however, like any true gambler, chose to hedge its bets. Why send one man with a mission when you can send two? Enter Ethan Allen - the rough-neck backwoods hero of the Hampshire Grants and veteran of the New York/Vermont boundary war and leader of the Green Mountain Boys.

Join us next week as we find how the Patriot started down the path to infamy and how the Backwoods hick became a hero.

*Heated shot was an ammunition type where gun crews would put the cannon ball into a furnace and heat it till it glowed read. The shot was then loaded into the cannon which was quickly fired at an enemy ship. The glowing shot would act as a tracer round and when it struck the ship that was highly sealed with pine tar and coated in oil to keep the wood from rotting, the round would explode into firey fragments that would send the ship up like a torch. This tactic was only employed by gun crews on the ground as no ship commander would be silly enough to allow a red hot glowing ball of death to have the possibility of slipping out of a crewman's control and rolling around a crowded gun deck.

** Cannon gun calibers were designated by the weight of the shot it fired. A 3# gun fired a cannon ball that weighted 3 pounds. A 6# gun fired a 6 pound shot and so on. While this may not seem like a large difference, the weight of the shot determined the distance the round could accurately be fired and the destructive capability the round would have when it arrived at its target. To paint the contrast, Americans were dealing with 3-6 pound guns where the British had whole batteries of 6 pound, 12 pound and 24 pound guns. To say that the Americans were out gunned would be an apropos pun.

Let it start here!" prt 2

2013-09-20T20:45:00.005-07:00

With the first shots of the war already fired, the match of rebellion had been irrevocably laid to the powder keg that was the unrest in the colonies. Men on both sides had been killed in open conflict, now, like it or not, the colonies were in open war against the greatest military power of the time. Britain's Vietnam had begun and Concord would prove a fatal error in judgement and logistics and tactics on the part of Gage, the British commanding officer.

It was 8am when the British entered from the east of Concord, looking for militia weapon stores stored up by the rebels. The men had been marching since 8pm the night before and were in full pack and gear, weighing close to 75lbs. The men were tired and hungry as they marched into the town. They searched house to house for weapons, some men finding weapons, business end first as the residents of Concord had been warned of the British attack by Paul Revere.

In another hour, once the British realized the weapons stores had been moved, Colonial militia had formed across the river and had begun firing into the British. Colonials had been trained to aim for officers, and soon the formations of Redcoats were falling back without commanders. The British mounted an offensive and were able to control most of the important points of the town, both the bridges and the main road were under control, but soon the men ran low on ammunition. Each man had been given 36 rounds before marching, but many had fired shots at Lexington, and with their training, most would fire 3 aimed shots in a minute. This meant that in a direct fire fight, most men ran out of ammunition within 12 minutes. The fighting lasted until 11am with the British taking heavy casualties.

Exhaustion had set in and ammunition was all but expended,but the rebels still came on. The ranks began to break and the men began their 20 mile retreat back to the safety of Boston. Militia and Minutemen harassed the Redcoats all along the way, small groups popping up out of fields to fire a few rounds and disappear. Ten or twelve would pop up from behind a wall or fence, fire a volley and leave. It was a masacre, the dead littering the 5 mile path from Concord back to Lexington, some from musket ball, others from exhaustion.

When the sun set on Boston, over 300 redcoats were dead, wounded or missing in action. The colonists had lost less than a third of that number. The realization set in on the British High Command that the Colonists were not just a rag-tag group of untrained rabble that would be easily dissuaded from their rebellion with a few pounds of powder and a few musket rounds. Their resolve could not be broken even at bayonet point. One thing was clear, this only the beginning of a long and dangerous conflict.

"Let it start here!"

2013-09-13T17:51:00.001-07:00

Many are the personalities we remember from the American revolution. We remember the founding fathers, George Washington both as the general and the eventual first president. We remember the great traitor Benedict Arnold and maybe even a few of the the English personalities. As a whole though, many people today don't remember much about what happened during that long struggle all those many years back. They don't remember that this was a war not fought by professional armies in the fields of Europe or the Jungles of Southeast Asia. This was a war on the American continent, in the backyards of the men doing the fighting. This war was fought by men with passion for freedom in their hearts and muskets in their hands. Victories were won and lost on the backs of the American fighting man, the militia and the minuteman.

Minute Man Memorial

With the Seven years war, Stamp and Townsend acts in the past and the open wound from the Boston massacre and subsequent closure of the port still open and festering, the pot of American discontentment had begun to boil over. Boston was the hotbed and Lexington and Concord would provide the spark needed to turn the American colonists from disgruntled subjects into fighting men and women.

British Grenadiers

"The shot heard round the world" as many now call it happened late in the evening of April 18, 1775. The British were moored in Boston Harbor and had received word that the Colonials had been stockpiling a cache of weapons, powder, ammunition and cannons at Concord. It was a target that Gage, the commanding officer could not pass up. At 8pm, Gage mobilized his troops and gave them marching orders to Concord - a destination of some 20 miles distant. The officers were informed of the target but the men were not told anything. They knew there was a high chance of contact with rebel elements, though no one expected the rabble to be stupid enough to attack the most professionally trained army on earth.

Advanced elements were made up of Light infantry (marksmen) and Grenadiers (Heavy, strong and tall troops) under the command of John Pitcairn. They marched with their heavy packs from Boston to Lexington where they arrived at around 5am, having marched all night long. 77 militiamen under the command of Veteran John Parker who told his men through his rough tuberculosis ridden voice told his men
"Stand your ground; don't fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here."

"Let it start here!"

Over 350 Redcoats were assembled on Lexington Green with the rag-tag militia assembled on the opposite end, less than 100 paces distant. A single shot fired. Some sources credit it coming from a rooftop, others claim it was fired from behind a wall on the common. What all sources agree upon is the fact that it was neither the British nor the Militia on the Green that fired the opening shot. What they also agree is that the next shot came from the British infantry. The first volley wounding 7 men and killing the first official recorded KIA of the conflict - Prince Estabrook, a black slave, serving in place of his master.

Estabrook Memorial

After the initial volley, the British troops broke rank and charged the Americans with their bayonets. The colonists let out a volley that felled a few troops before their lines broke and fled. It would be another hour before the British troops were recalled and reformed to continue their march on to Concord.

More next week!

"Just Infantry, Poor Beggars"

2013-09-06T20:53:00.000-07:00

At 18 years old I was not the smartest person. I didn't make the best life choices, but none of my choices precipitated a revolution. The poor souls we met last week were not much older when their actions were borne onto the world's stage, their every act under intense scrutiny.

These boys were young, not liked and above all, not in their native land. They were not surrounded by their countrymen, but a whole city of angry colonists crying for their blood to run in the streets. They were scared and no one wanted to help them. They were the "Lobsterbacks" the "Red Coats", in short, the enemy. The war for America's independence had not officially begun, but one of its first battles was about to begin in a courtroom in Boston Proper. Their only advocate was a man dedicated to the preservation of liberty at all costs, John Adams.

John Adams, the "younger years"

Adams was a young lawyer who had struggled to make a living. He knew that by taking this case, he was not only subjecting himself to peril from the incensed city, but his law practice and his family would also be thrown into the hazard. The gamble for the lives of 8 lowly infantrymen had begun.

The prosecutors started their case, painting the gory picture of 5 patriots, innocent and harmless men, killed in that cobbled square. They presented evidence of the British troops harassing the "peaceful" assembly of colonists, attempting to rile the crowd to violence with murderous intent. The whole city's rage was kindled against the 8 personifications of the tyrannical oppression of the British government. As in all wars, truth was the first casualty. fabrications and false testimony permeated the courtroom. Men that were at home, asleep in their beds testified as eye witnesses to the "massacre" as Paul Revere would deem it. The men were guilty, and anyone who thought else-wise was a traitor against God, liberty and common sense.

It appeared to all the world that John Adams had lost the case before it had even begun. Might as well give up now and save the shame, but John loved a good challenge, especially when liberty was on the line. He knew that these raids on customs houses, looting, rioting and lynchings happened, just as any Bostonian did. The burned effigies of King George were still smoldering outside the courtroom from the night before, the lingering smoke and ash a testament of the common displays of the discontent. Like any Bostonian, he knew the violence that happened and knew how a dog reacts when backed into a corner. The truth was there, but he had to bring it to light, or 8 unfortunate boys would see the gallows and have their bodies paraded through the streets.

Adams found his redemption in two unlikely places. His witnesses were not high standing members of society as the prosecution had called, but simple men, hard men, workers and patriots, ropers and dock-hands. His key witness was a black man, Holmes, bore witness that the shots were not fired into the crowd until after snowballs, rocks, clubs, oyster shells and chunks of ice were thrown at the customs house guards, clearly showing that this "peaceful gathering" had quite the opposite intention. His other key witness was a man by the name of Richard Palms, a roper by trade. Palms testified that Preston, the Captain of the 8 men, was not behind his men screaming "Fire, Damn your blood FIRE!" as the prosecution's key witness alleged, but that he was in front of them, making a fire command counter-productive to a long and happy life.

Roper's club used to beat the slack out of rope under tension, or to throw at Red Coats!

All but two of the soldiers were acquitted. Hugh Montgomery and Matthew Killroy were let go with a branding on their right thumbs.

Though Adams would count the defense of the patrol as one of the highlights of his legal career, it carried terrible consequences for his practice as his clientele dropped by half and, as seen in an entry in his journal depicts after leaving the courthouse after the sentencing hearings:

"a motley rabble of saucy boys, Negroes, and mulattos, Irish teagues and outlandish jack tars...shouting and hazing and threatening life...whistling, screaming, and rending an Indian yell... throwing every species of rubbish the could pick up in the street."

Next week, we'll discuss the opening moves of the revolution. The pot finally boils!

For your viewing pleasure:

John Adams - Courtroom scene - HBO Series staring Paul Giamatti

Lost before it began

2013-08-30T18:01:00.005-07:00

From my last post, I promised a synopsis of the Battle of Bunker Hill. Well, I apologize, but I forgot that there were a few conflicts that happened before it, and were vital to the escalation of the war.

Many people look at the American War of Independence (AWI) with a certain degree of almost mythological inaccuracy. Many of the characters have been popularized, ingratiated or overly vilified. My goal is to tell it like it was, not embellish with patriotic rhetoric or overly critical analysis, but to call the shots as they happened.

Before we dive into the blow by blow of the conflicts I wish to set the stage by saying that in 1770, what we now call the USA was a colony of Great Britain. Big surprise right? Not really. What we take for granted in that though is exactly what it would have meant to be a colony of the UK or better said what difference the common person, you or I 250 years ago would have noticed between being a colonist of the UK or being a citizen of the US. In reality, the American colonies, by 1770, when the Boston Massacre happened, the Colonies were already almost fully autonomous. They clamored for no taxation without representation due to the Stamp act and Townsend acts that put taxes on goods that the colonists were consuming and buying already when in reality, they simply ignored the Stamp act, didn't buy the stamps and published their goods and burned down the houses of those that collected the tax on the stamps. On top of this, rather than pay the taxes levied on sugar based goods from the Townsend Acts, "Americans" simply turned to to nothing short of piracy. Rather than dock at port and offload cargo to be counted and taxed, they would offload their cargo further down shore and not have to pay the tax. The reality of the matter is that as colonists called for reform. they were paying less than 1.9% of what British citizens in London were paying (Americans paid sixpence to the British average of 25 shillings, or rather 302 pence). So really, what were they crying about?

The other myth I wish to dispel is that ALL colonists wanted independence. The truth of the matter is that the split was more 50% Patriot, 25% Loyalist and 25% Neutral. When hostilities broke out in Boston in 1775, a majority of the push for change came from citizens north and east of the Hudson. So it is with this framework in place that we descent upon Boston in the winter of 1770.

As a British soldier you were promised sixpence a month and 3 square a day. You were promised to see the world and indeed you could. As a 17-23 year old boy from mostly poor families, the prospects otherwise were bleak to say the least. The adventure of the American colonies would have seemed like a dream. With no barracks, most of these boy-soldiers would have quartered with American families who would bed and feed the troops and often launder their clothes. For some this was a welcome opportunity for enterprise, a great symbiotic relationship, the soldiers had a place to stay and the quarters would often get paid for the extra services rendered. as summer wears on though, the British begin to wear out their welcome. Many misdeeds of the troops are published, tales of wanton and craven acts visited upon the chastity of virtuous colonial women who were powerless to stop the advances of the Lobsterback cretins. Soldiers begin to slack on their debts and cause further strife. By the time winter rolls around soldiers are sock of the ungrateful colonists and the colonists are sick of everything British.

While on patrol a group of soldiers come across a group of angry settlers near the customs house. The mob is vicious and numbers near the hundreds. They throw insults, chunks of ice, snow and bits of rock at the vastly outnumbered patrol. They yell out things like "Go on now, you cant kill us all!" and "Fire damn ye, Fire!", the crowd willing to commit suicide by scared young redcoat. A shot is fired. The scared British discharge their weapons into the crowd and 5 are killed where they stand. The first "victims" of a war that would not start for another 5 years.

Tune in next week for the spirited defense of the perpetrators of the smallest "massacre" to be so named.

Where'd you get your information from?

2013-08-22T13:49:00.000-07:00

Recently, my studies have deviated from my normal field of the Napoleonic era to that of the American War for Independence. I have been reading two really great books on the subject, Hibbert's Redcoats and Rebels and W.J. Wood's Battles of the Revolutionary War. Though they may sound dry, both of these books have brought the conflict to life in a way I have never before experienced.

Lexington Green

Redcoats and Rebels is a rather unconventional take on the subject as most books tend to be from American colonial perspective, rather patriotic volumes glorifying a war well fought. This book, however, is written from the perspective of the side that lost. Using almost exclusively English source documents, Hibbert is able to put together a view of the war through the eyes of the Lobster-backs. It brings a fresh approach to the conflict as it gives eyes to what King George and all his white wigged friends in Parliament and the military were doing while Washington and Adams had a war to win and a nation to forge.

Battles of the Revolutionary War takes a little more conventional approach, the typical "so and so moved his troops here, they did this and this happened" type of feel, though the delivery is almost Hollywood-ized in that it is presented in an almost theatric approach that makes the battles come to life.

American Minutemen

The way I am reading them helps out as well. I will read in Redcoats and Rebels until I reach a battle. Then I will read the account of the battle first in Battles of the Revolutionary War, then in R&R. using the two together sheds light on the war in a way that almost makes you want to sign the enlistment papers outside your local tavern. They both discuss the follies and strengths of the leaders involved but do so from a boots in the mud perspective gathering direct info from the diaries of soldiers that were there. This flesh and blood, smoke and powder feel make these both a must read for anyone interested in the war.

My next post will deal with the Battle of Bunker Hill...there are some pretty interesting turns of events that made this almost sure victory into the noteworthy first near defeat the British had of the War.

Purchase Redcoats and Rebels
Purchase Battles of the Revolutionary War

French Artillery Progress

2012-08-09T06:58:00.000-07:00

After a few weeks of working slowly on my Legere Battalion, I have decided that the upcoming Borodino battle was more important than my personal unit progress. I have this "shelved" my Chasseurs in favor of painting up my commitment to the battle - Fleeing artillery crews and abandoned artillery pieces.

I will be providing these troops for the game coming up labor day weekend and am very excited to get them painted...they should paint up pretty quick.

For the crews, I primed them Ultramarine blue and have washed them in a light black/brown wash to pick out the details against the blue figure. My next task will be to paint flesh on the hands and faces, followed by the red on the cuffs, turn backs, collars and shakos. Once that is done, my work is almost complete! I will then add the white to the belts and straps and finish the model off with black on the boots, cartridge and fuse boxes and finish them off with a final coat of wash. I also will need to paint the details of what each figure is holding, cannon balls, caisson boxes, swabs and buckets and trail spikes.

Anyway, here are some pictures of the guns themselves. I know the green is a little too dark for my taste, making them look almost Russian in their color, but with some small highlights I can pick the tops out and make them look a little lighter. They will also lighten up against the light green of the static grass.

Hope to have pictures of the crews soon!

Weekend Progress

2012-08-06T07:40:00.000-07:00

Well, this weekend was not as productive as I would have liked, but it was more productive than most other days during the week, so no room to complain!

My wife threw out her back camping this weekend, we went up to Payson to tool around and do some shooting, the drive up her back started twinging...not a good sign. Long-story made short, rather than go to church, we stayed at home like heathens that we are and she rested while I modeled.

My paints were left at work (I like to paint on my lunch hour) on Friday, so no painting minis, but I did get some work done on my battle terrain - I had some old paints kicking around my drawer and was able to get my hedges and some other terrain features done.

My first project was a grove of trees recovering from winter - some small foliage on their branches, but still mostly nude. The project was easy, just used some trees in varying sizes from Woodland Scenics, used green turf rather than the clump foliage used for larger broad leaf trees. The result was a cool effect making the trees look sparsely ornamented with the first leaves of spring. On the ground I put green grass and some mud patches where the grass had been matted down. I put some wagon tracks through mud in a cool effect that made the area look like there was some foot traffic.

My next project was to to get my hedges up to snuff. Last weekend I had put the cut "Scott" pads on the bases and left it at that (time was limited last weekend). this week, I broke them back out, threw some light green paint and some buff color down to highlight the whole thing, put down the grass and they look awesome! I an excited to use them in a game.

With my hedges all done, I started a new project to make some low stone walls. This was as simple a project as there is. All you need is some hot glue, Talus rock and flocking materials. I laid down a strip of glue on the base, pressed it in the talus, lay another layer of glue, press it into the talus, make sure to shape it with your fingers so the wall stays straight, add a third layer of glue and rock, and you have your wall! Add grass to the exposed base and you are done. Instant wall. Paint the wall if you wish, but that was too much of a pain for me to want to do...so I moved on to my final project of the day, A simple broken ground area.

For the broken ground, I just needed something that would provide some small cover, not a full forest, but something bigger than a wall or fence. I cut the base out and flocked it, added some rocks, a small portion of a wall and a large tree. I thew in some bushes for color and it was done.

Terrain, I am finding, is a really quick and easy way to cut down on the cost of gaming. You can make most of the terrain yourself, saving you money that can later be spent on the more elaborate pieces, like buildings etc.

My next terrain project will be making some Wheat fields, streams/rivers and plowed, un-planted fields. I also am going to start working on a few bridges, some stone and some wooden as well as begin working on some earthwork trench defenses.

I will upload pictures of my terrain soon, hopefully as part of another battle report!

Second Battle of Farm House

2012-07-28T12:28:00.001-07:00

After the first Battle of Farm House a few weekends ago, I wanted to re-fight it with the french in defense and with increased numbers to see how it would work out. The result was a fun, albeit quick game resulting in an astounding victory of the attacking British.

The british came with a little more enthusiasm and troops than last battle, having a battalion of Line and a battalion of Scottish Highlanders. They also had 4 companies of the 60th Regiment of Foot Rifles and 2 squadrons of Light Dragoon Cavalry held in reserve (no need to commit them unless things go poorly) A 6 gun light battery was assigned to the Brigade to support the advancing infantry.

The French had 2 full battalions of Line infantry, each having 1 1/2 company of Voltigeurs and the Grenadiers being attached to the Brigade command. The farm house was also defended by one light gun at the outer defenses.

The French deployed with both battalions in open order along the wooden fence with the artillery in the center and the grenadiers in support.

The British deployed with the Highlanders in March Column (foreground) with the rifles in open order screening the advance. The Line battalion entered in March column with their light company depolyed in skirmish order as well. The artillery were placed on the British Right flank to provide direct fire on the french in front of them as well as enfilade fire against those units along the British left flank.

The Rifles advance and open up on the french 2nd Battalion

Even at long range, the rifles score 2 hits

Already looking down for the french!

The French descide to advance on the rifles with the hope of routing them before the Highlanders are able to deploy. They hop the fence and make a dash toward the outcropping of trees

In like fashion the 1st battalion on the British Right advance to the outer fence to lay down fire on the advancing column.

Voltigeurs and the Cannon open up on the rifles, no hits.

A look across the field from the cannons toward the French 1st Battalion. The battery opens up and fires on the french at Effective range. The guns were well sighted and of the 6 shots they fire score 4 wounds.

A look through the trees as the British shells bounce through the French 2nd Battalion in the outer defenses.

The British 60th Rifles are the heroes of the day. This was their first round of shooting. The unit advanced into the trees before the french could and then laid down murderous fire. The 4 stands of rifles opened up at effective range. Notice the triple 6? yeah...Critical casualty on the French 1st Battalion. The secondary roll on the Critical chart scored a Wound on the Battalions Colonel.

A sniper's view as the rifles skirmish with the French Battalion.

View from the French 1st Battalion as the orchard erupts in clouds of smoke as hot lead is poured into the unit.

The fire was too hot and the Battalion, having lost their colonel, ran toward the farm house. In the French turn, the Brigadier General rallied and reformed the men. They advanced back to the fence line.

The French returned fire and killed the Highlander Light company that had attached to the Rifles. The Rifles fired another volley, and killed another 2 stands! they scored 8 hits with 8 rolls! again, the rifles showing their keen eyes paid off.

Clearly, the British Light Companies were not the place to be during this battle as the French 2nd Battalion opens up on the British Line's Light company in Skirmish. The French have some great shots and kill the whole company where they stood...and at long range too! Things are starting to look up for the french!

The Line Battalion deployed into line formation and advances.

While the artillery opens up a world of hurt on the French line. They fire another volley and cause another 3 casualties, finishing off the stand that they had hit in the previous round.

The French battalion fires on the British in line and cause 2 casualties.

The Rifles advance and fire as the cavalry round the flank. The Highland battalion forms line and advances, thought the deployment is only for show...the left flank had completely collapsed by this time as the 1st battalion had all but been destroyed, leaving only the Battalion command and the partially destroyed voltigeurs. Not a good day for the french. On the other side of the field, the British line battalion advances and pours more fire into the already wavering 2nd battalion. The French General has steel resolve though and decides to keep fighting.

The Rifles pour more heat into what remains of the first battalion, now so reduced in number that they can occupy the farm house.

The Highlanders, completely untouched, advance on the french battery. The guns stay silent.

The final shots are fired as the french and british trade shots back and forth.

Smoke filled fields. The French try disparately to push the British back, though the british keep firing as long as the french stay on the field.

The French Brigadier looks on in horror as his brigade withers under the intense British volleys.

The Grenadiers are sent to support the wavering 2nd Battalion.

A final look from the farm house as the French general realizes he can no longer hold his position against the British onslaught.

The Day ended in a Total victory for the British. Unit of the day award goes to the Rifles, who single handedly destroyed the French 1st Battalion Killing 340 and wounding 180 of 660 men.

The French deployed 1320 men and 2 guns. A total of 580 were KIA with 280 wounded including a Battalion Colonel.
The British deployed 1560 men, 120 Cavalry and 6 guns. 120 were KIA with an additional 80 wounded.

A SMASHING victory to the British.

Progress

2012-07-24T09:42:00.001-07:00

So, since my last blitz of painting I have been slowly but steadily working on my Light infantry Battalion.

The full battalion is going to be 36 figures to make a full battalion - 1 company Carabiniers, 1 company Voltigeurs and 4 companies of Chasseurs.

Here are the most recent pictures after last nights additions.

Here is the traditional way I paint my minis. I glue them to the head of a nail with PVA glue and then prime them. The nail gives me a really easy handle to turn the mini any way I need to without fearing that it will stick too hard to the nail...PVA is pretty easy to pop off the nail :)

Also, notice the carnage in the background...my 6 month old son is still trying to learn the fine motor function required to pick up cheerios and other cereal...emphasis placed on the trying part!

Here is a close up of the Carabiniers. Last night I worked on adding Red and brown to the models, I got the plumes, epaulets collars and the sleeve turn back. The brown was applied to the packs, guns and scabbards (I am alternating black and brown scabbards per unit)

Also seen in this picture are the scantily painted Voltigeurs, red only being applied to the sleeve turn backs and the pom-poms. Brown was also applied to these models.

Here is another shot of the same group. 6 grenadiers, 6 voltiguers and 24 chasseurs...progress moves slowly, but each additional color makes the models pop with added life!

Here is a close up of the Chasseurs. I love the minis from Old Glory 15s Battle honors line...they are really well done and offer some nice models in a variety of poses. It really makes a unit come to life when the models look like they are moving. For a unit like the Chasseurs that were constantly running around, being sent out to the Skirmish lines and back to the battalion, it makes it nice to see the figures in moving poses.

Here is a close up of the Battalion commander as he is currently, nice full beard...we'll see if he keeps it :)

So there you have it. Slow progress, but thats what you get for an hour of painting with a screaming flayling child throwing cereal at you. I am pretty happy with them so far. The great thing about 15mm is that the scale hides a TON of sins. The devil is really in the details of the straps and belts and all. these minis are pretty easy that way, once painted up they look a ton better and look like I have spent eons of time on each one...thats the beauty of colored primer and ink washes :)

More pictures to come as I make progress!

Small action Battle Report

2012-07-23T08:32:00.000-07:00

This weekend I got to try out my "City Fight" small engagement rules...and the game was AWESOME

It didnt turn out the way I had hoped...I was playing solo, but hoping the French would win.

The French had:
1 Company Grenadiers (one stand)
1 company Voltigeurs (2 small stands)
9 companies Fusiliers (one stand each)
1 gun of Light Artillery (one stand)

The British had
5 stands of line (10 companies)
2 stands of Rifles (2 companies)
1 Stand of Brigadier General Staff
2 stands Light Dragoons

The British were set up to defend a Farm house. The house had a wooden fence around the perimeter and then had a stone wall around the courtyard with an orchard on the right flank of the house.

The French lined up with 3 line companies to each section, one to the right, one in the center and one on the left. The Group on the right had the grenadiers with them. Group Center had the Cannon and group left had the Voltigeurs.

The french sat and pounded the brits with the cannon for a few turns as the infantry got into position, but did nothing as the British were in cover behind the fence.

The General advance was sounded and the french began the assault. Along the right flank they formed into columns with the grenadiers leading the way through the orchard.

In the center they advanced through the open field as the British Rifles took Pot shots at them.

The left flank advanced in line with the Voltigeurs out in front.

The right met very little resistance through the orchard as the British troops were not in range and were too under-strength in the other parts of the line to reinforce the flank defense. The Center moved up and let out a volley at long range and did some small damage. The left moved up and the voltigeurs opened up on a company causing 3 kills (on a stand of 6) The the company ran toward the farm house.

The right pushed through the orchard and was met by a company in cover, causing a few casualties to the fusiliers. The Center marched to effective range and traded rounds with the line and rifles, but as the brits were in cover and the French were in the open, the day went poorly and 2 of the 3 companies ran.

The left flank marched up to the fence and the voltigeurs hopped it and poured lead into the rear of the British in the front line. The Brits held their ground and poured murderous fire into the left flank killing a company and sending another running. The volrigerus continued harrassing the brits and the British unit that ran was rallied and entered the farm house on the right flank.

The company in the farm house opened up on the Grenadiers at close range and scored 2 critical hits...making the company fail their Morale test and run.

The Supporting battalion in the courtyard opened up on the other Fusilier company, they missed all shots and followed up with an assault that caused french company to flee. The other two battalions on that flank also took murderous fire from the farm house and the courtyard causing them to run before they crossed the wooden fence.

In the center the french came over the fence and killed a British company of line and a company of Rifles. The left held as the french companies were either killed or ran due to intense fire. The voltigeurs were flanked by reinforcing dragoons and both stands were destroyed.

With the cavalry reinforcements and the center and right flank in retreat, the left flank felt it better to retreat than to press the attack and be destroyed.

The British held the farm.

After totaling everything and applying some house rules to casualties I found that the French ended up taking 76% casualties - Killed or wounded. the British took 55% and held the field. overall, an impressive feat of defense considering the odds.

The most impressive bit of the day? I was in the middle of the game when My wife came home from babysitting and she said "Next time you play I would like to give it a try...it looks like fun. If it is totally boring nothing lost, but it looks fun. I would like to give it a shot."

So...the brits won the day and my wife wants to give it a try...not a bad turn of events :)

Progress and Research

2012-07-17T10:39:00.002-07:00

Since my dedicated attack of my models from last month I have had very little time to get any real work done. I have, however, started a new unit that is progressing slowly. I have started my first Light Battalion. The unit is comprised of 36 figures, 6 for the Carabinier, 24 Chasseurs and 6 Voltigeurs. Any time I have a 36 man block on my table it is a daunting task. Seeing progress in such a large group of minis is always a blessing.

I have found in writing this game that there is a TON of research that goes into it to make it accurate.

So far, here is some of the info I have found (and I am posting it for my benefit as well as anyone out there that reads this)

I have worked out the following:

Uniforms
Unit composition

and I am currently working on getting detailed Order of Battle for a number of battles for the era. I hope to be able to publish a detailed Order of Battle book containing all the major battles of the Napoleonic age...just as an aside...the list of battles is 4 pages long so I have my work cut out for me.

For Units I have found the following (I will use France as the common element)

Line Battalions:
Battalions were made of smaller units called Companies. For the period I am focusing on a Company was made of 120 men (6 figures for the game at 1:20 compression). With this scale, a full company would be mounted on a medium base.

Each Line Battalion (of French) would have 1 Company of Grenadiers, 4-8 Companies of Fusiliers (Line infantry) and 1 Company of Voltigeurs (Marksmen)

Each Light Battaluon (of French) would have 1 Company of Carabinier (a true double threat in that they had to be the best shots to make it into the light infantry and had to be large enough and veteran enough to make it into the Grenadiers), 4 Companies of Chasseurs (light equivalent of Line troops, veteran troops selected for their ability to shoot) and 1 Company of Voltigeurs.

Grenadier uniforms were distinctive, traditional blue coats with white trousers and tunics. the Collars, cuffs, accents on the Shako, epaulets and plumes were all red. Grenadiers were also required to wear facial hair.

Line troops wore the same uniform with blue coats, white trousers and tunics. their Collars and cuffs changed per their battalion, but generally they were still red in keeping with the Tri-color theme of the Republican era. Their hats were trimmed depending on their personal distinction. Some hats were covered with water sealed canvas, usually indicating service in a given campaign depending on color. Pom-poms were colored based on company. The first company of Fusiliers in the battalion would have Dark green pom-poms, the second would have sky blue, the third would have Orange or pink and the fourth would have violet (looks like I have some correcting to do on my minis eh?)

Light troops wore blue coats and pants with white Tunics. Their cuffs were left blue with red collars. Epaulets were green and red as well as the plume with green on bottom and a red tip. Shakos were generally black with White braids.

Voltigeurs wore the same uniform, their pants were white as well as the tunics. Collars and cuffs were yellow, epaulets were green and plumes were yellow with green tips. Shako braids were also yellow.

Each unit had their primary role. Grenadiers were hearty and were meant to inspire the line as well as punch a hole in the enemy. They were big fearless men that often lead the charges. In units of questionable resolve the grenadiers would be at the rear of the battalion pushing the reluctant troops forward.

Fusiliers and Chasseurs made up the bulk of the army and were tasked with standard duties of firing. Chasseurs did this a little better as they were taken from the best shots of the Line battalions and assigned to the Light battalions.

Voltigeurs (jumpers) were the best at shooting. They were expert marksmen tasked with scouting, screening the advance and skirmishing. Their doctrine dictated that they should target enemy officers and NCOs to cut the head off the snake that was the enemy battalion. They were originally named for the primary role that Napoleon wanted them to do - to jump onto the backs of cavalry, kill the riders and take the horses....this plan was scrapped but the name remained.

Next on the Chopping Block?

2012-07-09T11:24:00.003-07:00

So I thought I would take inventory and see what you would like to see painted up next. I have nails open to start my next project and am going to have time tonight to get something done.

The options are:

1) Artillery unit with 3 light guns, 2 heavy guns and 1 howitzer with 24 crew

2) Cavalry unit: 16 Cuirassier Heavy Cavalry, 16 Hussar Light Cavalry or 16 Dragoon Heavy Cavalry.

3) Light Infantry unit: 24 Chasseurs Light infantry.

4) Line Infantry unit: 42 Line infantry - If this is the predominant choice, I will most likely paint them up as Swiss or Bavarian Line just to give myself something fun as the last unit I painted was French Fusiliers.

5) Grenadier Battalion: 36 grenadiers.

All units will be french, as they are the army I am trying to get done first. I am game for anything, Its just nice to paint up something that someone will want to see :)

Rules Update

2012-07-04T07:05:00.004-07:00

So with the updates I have been doing to the rules, I wanted to run a few playtest games before releasing the rules, I ran through a few small games with the new painted French Battalion...they look too good to not see action right away :)

The major change in the game is that units are based off number of Stands rather than number of models. Each stand has a FRS (Fire Resolution Strength) and a MRS, no, not a ball and chain...but Melee Resolution Strength. Each unit has 3 FRS values and one MRS value. FRS is broken into Long Range, Effective Range and Close Range. With the way massed musket fire worked, the closer you get to a battalion the higher chance they had of hitting and killing.

Just as an example, a Normal French Line infantry unit will be made of 4-10 Companies. Each stand represents a company as a stand is 6 figures at 1:20 Ratio this means that a stand represents roughly 120 men, a decent strength company. A traditional French Battalion would have 4-8 Fusilier Companies and also had 1 grenadier company and 1 Voltigieur company. The French and a few other countries liked to attach Light artillery guns, man portable guns, to the battalion as well. With the Battalion command, a normal battalion would have 4 Fusilier stands and the option to add a Grenadier, Voltiguer (whole or half company) and a Light Artillery gun.

As an example of the new game play, a Fusilier stand may only get 1 die at effective range where a Voltigiuer would get 1.5 (with rules on how to resolve the .5 explained in the rules)Grenadiers would also only get 1. However in Close combat, a Fusilier stand may get 1 die where the voltigiuer would get .5 and the grenadiers would get two.

Long story short: Line infantry are vanilla, Light companies can shoot better but dont fair as well in melee. Grenadiers are normal for shooting but excel in melee.

Full French Battalion Completed!

2012-06-30T21:35:00.001-07:00

Well, as promised, I slaved all weekend and produced a full French Battalion. All in all, it took me 26 hours in all from Package to prime to painted and pictured.

I modeled it so that the unit with 4 fusilier companies, 1 Grenadier company, 1 voltiguer company (broken into two small bases so as the be able to be stripped out for Battalion or Brigade Skirmish screen) and Battalion Command. The result is a Battalion of 42 men (only 36 of which were painted this weekend).

So, without any further ado, here they are for your viewing pleasure.

The full battalion in Attack Column, ready to Press home the attack, the Grenadiers leading the way, just the way Nappy would have wanted it.

Another angle of the column to show the full composition of the unit. Grenadiers next to the Battalion Command, Voltigieurs in the second rank, Fusiliers bring up the rear.

The other angle.

Close up of the Command

For the Fusilier Companies I chose to go with a mix and match type look, giving the unit a bit more of a mid to late war look to be used in the Peninsula as well as against the Tzar!

Reverse angle from above

Ah, the line officer, again he was one of my more enjoyable paints because it is such a clean model.

Front view of the officer

Battalion Command avec Tambour, Clarion et le garde du couleur avec estandarte.

more frontal view of the unit.

My Brave Grenadiers!

The Voltigiuers. Quite a colorful bunch, gives the unit some fire power and makes them nice and colorful at the same time!

The full Battalion deployed in line. Grenadiers to the extreme right of the line, Voltigiuers just to their left, 4 companies of Fusilier with the Battalion command holding the extreme left flank.

Well, there you have it, the product of roughly 3/4 of an hour per model over two days with my cousin lending me a HUGE hand for 8 hours of the painting. Hope you lot enjoy it!

Modeling Progress

2012-06-26T07:09:00.001-07:00

This weekend was very productive, I have been working feverishly on my Highland infantry. I found out that the unit I am making is about 6 figures too large for what the unit ever was, but thats okay...I have 30 42nd Black Watch infantry on the block.

Last weekend I got the flesh painted on faces and hands, shouldn't have been too difficult, but last weekend was busy. This weekend, though, I was able to get the collars and facings done, got the base coat for the jackets and kilts and have put the white belts, socks and hat bands on all of the troops. The rough part is still to come.

Right now I am working on getting cartridge boxes, hat plumes, haversacks and guns done. On 30 guys, this is no small project, but it needs to be done quickly as this next weekend will be a blitz to get a good chunk of French done.

The minis are really coming together, although I fear that at 15mm Kilts, argyle socks and hat bands will be a definite chore...Magnifying glass here I come! Those details will wait though...far too time consuming for the project I have coming up...

I will upload pictures as I can.