SP2, 1800 Reconnaissance in the Valley

 My 7 year old wanted to fight a battle, so French v Austrians. He was the French, Daddy was the Austrians. SP 2 rules. Just a straight up fight. He has some amazing rolls and in the end Daddy got crushed. It works though as "success" helps keep his interest.

Herbst Woods, Gettysburg wargame

 

My good friend John M. Priest out together Herbst Woods using his 54mm. We played his own rules set which is well streamlined and plays very fluid.

The regiments were broken into wings, led by the Lt. Colonels or the Majors. The quick explanation is that this rules set looks at the chaos of battle, the command problems that come with that and how units will react to adverse conditions, like being under fire.

It's a novel and creative idea. It adds a great deal of friction in the game, and it prevents the 200 foot general for just doing whatever he/she wants.

The initial set up.

I played the Federals, and one of my first acts was to be aggressive and go after the Rebs. This was especially important given the damage inflicted by Reb batteries off the table.

This led to a general fire fight along the whole line, while way out on my left flank the Confederates brought on a large brigade.

This unit was first hit by artillery and the reaction was to flee up the hill. They were rallied and sent back down the hill to their original position, only to face Reb infantry fire and run away again up the hill. They were rallied and eventually sent back down the hill again.

Federals deploy above the marshy ground to counter the Confederate thrust. 

The hand to hand mechanics are simple. Total D6, one for each man. Both sides roll. Then align the dice highest to lowest. Both sides call put what they have going down the dice one by one. Highest roll wins. Ties mean no damage. Of the 5 hand to hand I rolled this well 4 of the times...lucky but it changed the battle.

Confederate right, which is almost 1regiment, NC regiment is losing command control as officers begin to die and can't be replaced. Several times Mike caused my men to react and go prone, but we were able to fire and cause him just enough disruption that he couldn't capitalize on suppressing the Federal line.

 

Confederates advance on the Federal right. This led to a fire fight and a hand to hand that saw the Federals soundly defeat the Rebs in hand to hand but pushed the Federals to redeploy to a new hill a little later.

Federal line retires in good order, refusing ththe line and forcing the Confederates to contract their frontz thus offsetting their numerical advantages. While this took place the Confederate left was disintegrating.

The Confederate flank falls as units flee the field. Federal units are pushing across the creek adding to the general scramble to fall back. With and officers remaining to rally them the Confederate units run for safety.

So ended our battle. I was lucky in that the Confederate artillery shot really poorly 50% of the time, and that they couldn't capitalize on my Federals poor reaction under fire. The Federals had a few successful and devastating rolls that really hammered the Confederates. As they fell into disorder the Federals were able to advance and force additional Confederate reactions. Alas, those turned out poorly for the Confederates.

Great game, loads of fun. The rules played really fast. It took 2 hours and 15 minutes to play that game.

Pilgrimage to Gettysburg 2020

 I try once a year to go to Gettysburg and tour ththe battlefield. This year my opportunity came when we were camping about a mile away from the battlefield. I biked this part of the battlefield, 2nd day, lower part. I started at Hood's jump off point on day 2, up big and little round tops, down into Devil's Den, through the wheartfield, up to the peach orchard. I then went over to the VA memorial for Picket's Charge, and then back to Hood's jump off on day 2.  I made a njnumber of stops to check out the various monument's. Took about 3.5 hours, best bike ride in a long time.

6mm Wargame Board

 

I used 2 inch Poplar wood, along with brass hinges and fastners to enable me to encase my three sheets of styrofoam. It helps provide a clean edge for the table, and it prevents it from shifting around.

The wood border connects to form two sections, that when joined fit snuggly around the three foam boards.

FIW British Grenadiers, 1756

These Grenadier companies finishes out my FIW project, and they are led by a British officer.  These have being painted as 94th Regiment of Foot (Royal Welsh Volunteers).  Although they were raised for garrison duty my ancestry is partly Welsh, and in my wargame world we need Welsh troops to help protect His Majesty's interest in North America.

History of the unit, compliments of https://www.kronoskaf.com/syw/index.php?title=94th_Foot

The regiment was raised in Wales on January 12 1760 by Colonel Vaughan. The regiment was also known as the "Royal Welsh Volunteers".  (It saw only one recorded action, which prompts my removal of the grenadier companies for other service in my wargame world). During the Seven Years' War, the regiment was under the command of:

• from January 1760: Colonel Vaughan
• from 1760 to 1763: Dundas

The regiment was disbanded in 1763.

Black Seas: Scouting Mission of the Stinging Nat

AAR: its April 1804 the Spanish brig Picadura Nat commanded by Capitán Don Estabon Castanza (Sometime smuggler and pirate) and a French 5th rate frigate, Les Feuilletée ( not seen in photo), commanded by Capitaine Sept Blanc are ordered to make a run out of Cadiz to scout the British Atlantic Fleet position. On their second day out of Cadiz they are intercepted by Captain William Dungeness commanding the 3rd rate frigate HMS Klondike and 2nd Lieutenant Horace Braithweight of the brig HMS Sapphire.

Alas, I only took 1 picture of the entire game. 
Top left, HMS Sapphire, center is the Picadura Nat, lower is the HMS Klondike (not yet with all her sails)

The wind was blowing out of the north making it hard for Castanza and Blanc to beat their way up the coast.  As the day dawned it found the four ships about a mile away from each other, with the British moving in a westerly tact.  Castanza and Blanc had the weather gage and the Picadura Nat came straight for the British at battle sails.  Les Feuilletee took a more westerly angle opening a gap between the two ships.  2nd Lieutenant Braithweight maneuvered the HMS Sapphire to the port side of the Picadura Nat and delivered two well aimed broadsides that caused significant damage to the ship, while the HMS Klondike moved towards the Picadura Nat's starboard side.

Undaunted, the Picadura Nat returned fire causing damage to the HMS Sapphire, but amazingly delivering two well aimed critical shots into the HMS Klondike, inflicting 25% damage to its overall strength of 74.  As the crew of the HMS Klondike cleared away the wreckage of their mast, Captain Dungeness fired both broadsides of his ship.  The Picadura Nat taking minor damage and the Les Feuilletee receiving three critical hits that disabled her ability to make any course change and left her sailing away from the engagement for the remainder of that turn.

Another two turns were taken up with the captains of all ships attempting to gain the weather gage and turn their ships back into the fight.  The Les Feuilletee having to perform a difficult turning maneuver into the wind which had stayed constant from the North.  Unfortunately, the French seamen were unable to demonstrate a mastery of nautical skill to help perform these maneuvers and the French frigate took additional damage as it made it's turns.

While the Les Feuilletee was wallowing in incompetence, Capitán Castanza engaged both of the British vessels alone.  His initial attack on the HMS Sapphire delivered additional critical hits which rendered the the HMS Sapphire out of action and adrift for the remainder of the fight.  His second attack got behind the HMS Klondike and raked the ship at close range.  Captain Dungeness added more sail to the HMS Klondike and pulled away from the Picadura Nat.  With the Spanish ship behind him and the French ship to his north, it looked to everyone that the HMS Klondike had show the white feather and was running.

The Spanish and French immediately changed course to pursue, slowly gaining on the British vessel.  However, this maneuver had only been done to gain sea room and the HMS Klondike changed course, catching the wind and raced back towards the enemy ships, aiming a course between them.  The HMS Klondike fired the port-side guns as she went past the Picadura Nat, missing her, much to Captain Dungeness's disgust.  The HMS Klondike's starboard broadside into the Les Feuilletee inflicted horrible damage with additional critical hits that rendered Les Feuilletee's guns inoperable.  In a blind panic, the Frenchman ordered his crew to grapple with the HMS Klondike.

The ensuing fight saw the British strength of 50 against the French strength of 20.  The British tars, although taken aback by the initial French attack, rallied and quickly defeated the French boarders.  As the tide turned, Captain Dungeness led the counter attack and stormed the Les Feuilletee, capturing it within minutes as the French crew, exhausted, dispirited, their beloved leader dead, called for quarter.  As a the French prisoners were being stowed in a forward hold, and a prize crew was being organized, Capitán Castanza and the Picadura Nat struck again.  Coming out of the shadow of the disabled Sapphire, the Spaniard delivered two well placed shots which caused additional damage to the HMS Klondike.  One shot flew high across the quarterdeck and inflicted additional damage to the now captured Les Feuilletee.

With that last "sting" at the British, the Picadura Nat turned back towards Cadiz, seriously damaged but undefeated (Presently at a 9, on a 7 the ship is disabled).  However, Captain Dungeness was not a man to allow such arrogance to go unpunished.  He immediately ordered the stern chaser to find the target and put a shot into her.  Gunners Mate Thomas Plant carefully called adjustments to the gun, stood back and fired.  The shot delivered a critical hit to the fast disappearing Spanish vessel.  A rousing cheer went up from the British seamen as they watch the shot disable the rigging on the Spanish vessel.  Alas, the shot, for all of its luck in finding it's target, only slowed the Spanish vessel. 

The British claimed victory, securing the HMS Sapphire with a tow line and headed back towards England with the Les Feuilletee for prize money.  Capitán Castanza returned to Cadiz vowing to fight another day.

FIW units for SP2

During the Covid-19 pandemic when we were generally forced to remain at home, I concluded it was time to reduce my lead pile.  Years ago I had purchased some Blue Moon 18mm Frontier Militia and Woodland Indians, and I still retained some British Light Infantry that needed to be painted.  That plan snowballed and I ended up expanding my FIW project to include additional troops.  I have two companies of British Grenadiers remaining to be completed.

I based these 18mm figures on 20mm round bases for the troops, and the officers were based on 30x32mm bases (mainly leftovers from a rebasing effort from years ago).  My principal rule set with playing FIW games is Sharp Practice 2.  In building these units I wasn't necessarily focused on the points values set forth in SP2, I was looking to provide a relatively even number of units across the board.  The intention of ignoring the point values when constructing these forces was not to employ all of these on the same table at the same time.  Instead, I'd like to establish a larger campaign context that could be fought on multiple tables simultaneously when played with friends or our local club.

Below are my FIW units, starting with the French and followed by the British.  Feedback and suggestions on the painting quality is appreciated.

French Units:

First, are my rendition of three Compagnies Franches de la Marine in summer dress.  This military unit was a major work horse for the French in their military actions in North America.

Second, are my representation of the Captain and Sergeant of the Compagnies Franches de la Marine unit.  I have based the officers and NCOs of all units to look as if they are moving through dense brush.

Third, my representation of three companies of Canadian Militia.  They are painted in warm weather gear which includes natural colored shirts and leggings.  These three companies have blue caps which would indicate they are from the Montreal region.  I relied upon Galloping Major Wargames to aid my painting on this unit.

Fourth, these are my representation of Huron warriors that aid the French.  There are forty figures that represent these Huron warriors.  Although SP2 requires natives to be grouped in twelves, I opted to group them in tens.  It is easier to coordinate when you buy packs that contain 30 figures.  The first group of twenty is led by the chief on the 30x32 base.  The second group of twenty is led by an officer of the Compagnies Franches de la Marine.

Another angle of a group of ten not in the above picture.

British Units:

First, this group consists of Frontier Militia and is the original group that I painted.  I do have to touch up the bases a little, but I was trying to get a general mix of common coat colors for the period.  This has a mix of natural fibers and a few "better" quality coats.

I determined that the Frontier Militia group should have an officer of quality, and I attempted to paint this officer modeled off of the Virginia Provincial Regiment.  Although the coat isn't an exact fit in design, I used images of George Washington in his VA PR coat paint something similar. 

This is the reverse image of the same officer shown above.  For kicks I painted a map on his "paper" in his hand.

Next, three companies of British light infantry of the 45th Regiment of Foot (Wartburton's).  This regiment was engaged in North America from 1746 to 1765 participating with the capture of Fort Beausejour, capture of Louisbourg, the siege of Quebec and the recapture of Newfoundland.  These are actually based upon pennies.  Glue the figure, paint the base with thick acrylic paint.  Put on more glue and flock.

This is my rendition of an officer who will lead the 45th foot on its forays against the French.

Lastly, these are my two groups of Mohawk warriors, groups of ten each.  They are both led by a chief based upon the 30x32mm base.

My final addition (presently on the painting desk) will consist of two companies of British Grenadiers led by an officer.  These are being painted as 94th Regiment of Foot (Royal Welsh Volunteers).  Although they were raised for garrison duty my ancestry is partly Welsh, and in my war game world we need Welsh troops to help protect His Majesty's interest in North America.