Hook's Trading Post and A Truce

This month has seen an almost unparalleled focus on one subject. All I have painted or played has been my 54mm NorthWest or Cyprus Hills game. Its time to switch focus for a few weeks so beware of Tricornes in September, and maybe a few other things.

Yesterday saw one last quick game. Really it deserves a full telling and narrative but not only was I  tired but I was called away several times by duties as jack of all. Now, the memories are fast fading and the pictures too few and too poor so this will be a quick "fare thee well till we meet again" post for the 54's.  Don't worry, they'll be back well before Christmas.

Its been 5 1/2 years since my Britain's engaged in battle at Hook's Farm and it seemed like as good a scenario as any to close the month with.

The Canadian and  US forces meet again at the site of Hook's Trading Post and Firely Mission. Each side having by arrangement a General, 2 Colonels, 2 cavalry, 6 infantry, and a gun.

I have been fearing, and working to avoid, this moment for 6 years now. Having cracked open the 54's and tried out actual toy style fashions on them, its going to be hard to keep them from expanding out of the box. Not only does that threaten the "No duplication of period, game scale and theatre of war in different figure sizes" rule but also the space distribution in my room, especially since "54mm wars" creep threatens.  We'll see.

A cavalry clash goes terribly for the Canadians but the Highlanders hold steady. They are unable to drive the Irish from the Whiskey Trader's General Store however and eventually Douglas concentrates on his left. 

Another old fluctuating choice beckons as well. When I started in 54's around 1995, I wrote a set of 1 stand = a unit rules but got drawn into Old School singles for Colonial's and for the War of 1812. Ever since I've felt the pull back to one base units and its strong now. I like knocking figures over for photos for a while but eventually the novelty wears off. With small units, not only does it look odd to me to have a single figure left as a functioning unit  and not only are stands easier to deploy and clear away and less prone to damage but I just have this odd irrational attraction to the idea of Permanence that a fixed and labelled stand has. A neat contrast of Permanence for toys, things which are usually considered Impermanent by nature. A question for later.

The end of turn 15 and with each side holding 1 objective, the American morale collapses. They have only 4 of 9 units left in action while the Canadians still have 6. Three turns earlier the Canadians had been behind thanks largely to the astonishing combat and rally dice of the Black Horse cavalry. E troop I'm afraid fell prey to "new unit syndrome".  

Summer is over (ok not technically). Autumn is coming!  (We have more than 2 season here..)