A bit of filler

I meant to include the following picture, its the cover of CS Grant's Scenarios for Wargames and also the scenario just played.

Yes I admit it, I can be a bit hard on books but to be fair after all the wargames we've played together over the decades, I'm not really in much better shape.

and inspired by Kev's comment, if this had been 1970.....

Mini-Campaign Game 1 (Solo Miniature Wargaming Part 5)

The first game in the mini-campaign has now been fought.

Heavily engaged

It took a bit of fiddling to adapt Grant's Old School Horse & Musket organization and scenario special rules to my ACW collection and rules but eventually I managed it.

Early on in the game the Rebs have their work cut out just to contain the Yanks.

The scenario has a slightly larger attacking force making a river crossing in the face of three converging enemy columns. The scenario calls for boats to ferry units across but I opted to throw a pontoon bridge over the river instead and  calculated that at an optimistic  rate of one unit a turn and a 15 turn game, I could get most of the Blue army across if I manged things well and got lucky.

A mid-game shot of the battle raging across the whole table.

The defender starts with one group on table with others arriving periodically at various times so again I made my own process in hopes of getting an equivalent system. I started dicing on turn 3 needing a 6 for the 1st reinforcement to arrive and adding 1 to the die each subsequent turn. Once they arrived I began dicing for the the 3rd column.

The Reb right crushed the Yankee left and drove it through the town while their left pressed in trying to capture the bridge and cut off the bulk of the Federal forces. It almost worked!

 After the game I looked at what was likely to happen next. If the game had been a draw or a Confederate victory, I would have postulated that the Feds pulled back and crossed again somewhere else. The result would have been a meeting engagement scenario as the armies blundered their way towards each other.

However, with a Federal victory, the next game will see the Rebel army minus some loses, holding a defensive position against a Yankee attack.

The Yankees held the Reb attack on their left though while the Zouaves broke the tentative link between the Reb Centre and Left, capturing two batteries and flanking the reb infantry line. The fire support of  two batteries on the Yankee was crucial to their success.  The battle was over.

Let the Games Begin!

The period is chosen,  the table is set. Come morning there's gonna be a fight!

Once more across the Neverwaussie River.

Newly organized for Brigade units on a Grid, the Yankees launch their Spring offensive.

(Apologies to anyone hoping/expecting a 40mm Fantasy/Medieval campaign but there is too much work to be done before they take to the table.)

Easy Mini-Campaigns Solo Miniature Wargaming (Part 4)

Campaigns are a good way to add way to add context and interest to wargames. The best ones are long running affairs with maps, histories, personalities and so on but these take a great deal of time, effort, discipline and imagination, more than I can muster to be honest.  My real interest is in playing the games so when I want something more I  play a "linked scenario" campaign by which I mean I play a series of games in which the result of one game has an affect on the next one.

The opening game of last Fall's Celebration Mini-campaign (click).
(There are 11 posts but they appear in reverse order so please scroll down to start at the beginning.

First I pick a setting which basically means deciding which of my collections I'll use. This gives me the pool of units to choose from. A unit which is destroyed in one scenario cannot be reused in that campaign. If you have a large collection there is merit in setting an initial order of battle (ie a pool of available units)  and only those units may be drawn from for a scenario. Most of my collections aren't that big individually so the whole lot are available as a pool of replacement units but of course that sometimes means replacing lost elite units with militia and so on.

Now, the scenarios don't actually need to be in a logical order. Ron and I have played some good mini-campaigns to win 2 games out of 3 but selected the games by using a random generator thingie to pick the next game  from a list of scenarios he had entered on a spreadsheet on his computer. However, I prefer to go a step farther. Usually I like to start with a some form of surprise attack, a river crossing  perhaps or an attack on an outpost but a straight clash of advance guards like Sawmill Village also works. The next battle will usually be a pitched battle. If one side lost the first game, I choose an attack/defence scenario with a smaller defender on a ridge line perhaps, if the first game was a tie then a straight up fight might be in order or a die roll to see who the attacker is. If one side wins the first two games then the last game will be a rear guard action, if both sides have won one of the games then fight another pitched battle, rolling to see if one side has an advantage such as a surprise or flank attack? That game will either decide the campaign or lead me to keep playing until one side wins or I get tired.

Back in 2012 Bluebear Jeff challenged blogging wargamers to  design a linked scenario campaign and post them. I think I entered a suggestion but I know I took Steve the Wargamer's suggestion and greatly enjoyed it. I haven't done any research to confirm this but Jeff's suggestion may be where I got the idea.

Here is a link to Steve the Wargamer's  linked teaser challenge entry and here is a link to my series of battle reports and summary (in reverse order as blogger does).

Last but not least here' the video I made of the first game:

Next posts more on the mini-campaign I am working on now.

Getting Ready for Some Serious Mini-Campaigning

Another day of distractions, tidying up the wargame table, reviewing rules, collections, moods, preferences, urges, etc., and finally, choosing the setting for the upcoming linked scenario minicampaign.

The first game of the minicampaign is almost ready to start.
(A close look at the picture will show just how serious this will be.)

The next post will be about getting a linked scenario minicampaign organized and ready to roll.

Deeds Not Words!

OK actually,  the surprise snowstorm yesterday led to me being recalled to the active duty list and pressed into service several times yesterday by the highest level of authority.  (She's not very big but....)

Turn 6. All troops are on table. The opposing infantry are bickering over the woods.

However, I had time to clear the table, ready for a new game. Of course, once I packed up the troops it seemed somehow wrong not to act on the idea of refighting the scenario in a different period. The 1950's lads hadn't been out recently....so I broke out The Portable Wargame, had a quick flip through and went at it.

Blue has been pushed back but the tricksy government forces prefer running away to dying for the autocrats while the Rebels seem to preferring dieing for The Cause.

It was a disaster! What?! Well, maybe not a disaster but things didn't feel right.  I reached for the book and checked the design notes, reread the rules more carefully and found my problems. Well, couldn't let it rest there so this morning, I reset and played again.

That is one of the joys of Solo wargaming, you can do 'do-overs'.

The brakes are on! The Rebels are exhausted but they hold the ridge and the enemy has been teetering on the edge of exhaustion for some time now. If they would JUST die instead of falling back!

 The scenario started the same. I assigned the Rebels (aka Redcaps) to "Red" and the Government (aka Green Helmets) to Blue.

The game that followed was not at all like the horse and musket one, except that at the end it was close, not as close but close. The odds of Blue winning outright were probably thinner but if the rather slow witted Blue Commander had been on top of his game, an attack plan that took more account of the rules, such as exhausted armies not being forced to withdraw, thus needing to be pushed off the hill unit by unit, they could have done it. The overly aggressive Red commander might have done better as well if he had focussed more on holding the objective though exhausting the enemy worked once those who had made it onto the ridge were forced back or destroyed. Of course if the random unit chart had offered up 2 tanks instead of 2 anti-tank guns, that would have helped too!

An exhausted Red clings to the ridge. Blue pours in fire and sends troops to infiltrate onto the hill hoping to be able to grab a toehold and drive the Rebels off with fire. Of course, Rebs just,  don't, retreat!! Eventually the Green Helmets are driven off or killed and their force is also exhausted. The Rebels have a few units on the ridge either out of range or line of sight and are happy to wait out 2 turns for the official victory.

OK, NOW I'm ready to clear the table and start a 3 game linked scenario solo minicampaign.

54's, ACW, 16thC  or Medievel Fantasy?  Hmm where should we go?

Solo Miniature Wargaming (Part 3)

I hope the last post gave the general idea of how I handle the games. Obviously with a larger game and more complex set of rules and or scenario, the play will be more complex and take longer but the general idea is the same.  (Don't worry, the pictures and captions will follow this game to its end.)

Turn 8: British reinforcements (104th New Brunswick Regt and Canadian Fencibles) and the rallied 89th Foot counterattacked and retook the ridge. 

There may be some though who are wondering what more is there, if anything? What happens when the game is over? How long can you maintain interest by playing small, random, scenarios against yourself?

Well the short answer is "Longer than you would think" but luckily its not the only option.

Turn 9 saw both sides regrouping on one flank while  the long range firefight continued on the other.

"Play it again Sam".  How often have you finished a game with a friend and sat chatting about the game and musing on various "what if's"?  The moves you thought about but didn't make, the ones that chance stopped whether command control, random event, variable length moves, morale tests etc or that you thought about too late? How many 'sure thing' combats have you lost when the all the dice liked your opponent better than you? With a solo game, instead of talking about a refight, you can do it and try Plan B or retry the surefire Plan A to see if it was just bad  luck or if there were unseen flaws in the plan.

Turn 10: The British left starts to crumble while the American left rallies and starts to prepare for a renewed assault.

There is also the chance to try a scenario in various periods while the table is set,
that is, if you are one of us who play in multiple periods. Would this scenario work in WWII? What about in Medieval Europe or in Zululand?

Historical battles with a twist are an interesting option. Just played a game based on Waterloo? Got a choice of other periods on hand? Instead of clearing the table completely what about resetting it, maybe 300 years earlier with the King Henry VIII's English bills and bows on the ridge awaiting the French onslaught while watching for the Emperor's Landsknechts to arrive? Will the different weapons and tactics make it a wholly different battle or might it still resemble the later one if the same over all plan is adopted? Since you are controlling both sides you can give it a go without focusing on beating your friend and opponent.

Turn 12. The British left has crumpled after heavy casualties and the British no longer have enough infantry for a solid line. The artillery is cut off and fights to the last, pouring grape into the flank of a rash American attempt to bypass it.

 Rule vs Rule. Solo games are also a good way to test out new rule sets, especially if you don't have a regular weekly opponent.  What I particularly like to do is to play a test game of a new set of rules using a familiar, reliable, scenario such as Sawmill Village or Blastof Bridge, one I know from experience works well with multiple rules in multiple periods.  (eg see Ma-theyre-at-it-agin)

I have also been known to play the same scenario a couple of times in a row with different rules to get a feel for how they compare with each other whether for playability, historical feel, fun or anything else. (eg  Wargames Digest Battle Station - 5 posts, 3 rules )

Turn 14. The light is fading as a last ditch American assault goes in. Both sides are teetering on the edge of army morale collapse.  The British General was shot while trying to steady the 104th and the British are praying for a 2nd Joker to rob the enemy of their last chance.

 Actually, before starting this post I played this scenario with an updated, partially tested, version of my Square Brigadier, found myself modifying it as I went and finally ended up rolling back most of the changes and that was what I used for this game. The replay of the same scenario confirmed my feeling that the rules had wandered off course and had needed to be brought back.

Turn 15. The British get the next best thing, some free rally rolls and first move. Their shooting nearly does it but the American General rallies the Lafayette County Volunteers and leads them onto the ridge and their bravery is rewarded with favourable dice. A tied melee sees night fall with the hill still in contention.  It could SO easily have gone to either side at various points but no, it ended in a draw, much like the battle the "Melee" scenario was inspired by.

However, there is more! In the next post I'll look at various sorts of quick and easy solo campaign options.

Solo Miniature Wargaming (Part 2)

Step one was to pick a period and a scenario to play. This could be as simple as two armies meeting in an empty field but I usually like to go for something more. I wanted something simple though so went with one of  Neil Thomas's One Hour Wargames scenarios: "Melee". It is loosely inspired by Lundy's Lane (which seemed appropriate for War of 1812 figures)  and has two small forces clashing over a hill with reinforcements for both sides moving on.

Since I'm not using Thomas' rules, and am using a slightly larger table, I often tweak the forces to allow more figures on the table while maintaining the force ratios and ground covered. In this case I didn't feel the need to do so. I did roll on the suggested army chart but substituted light infantry for cavalry as more appropriate and I used my Square Brigadier rules. 

The game begins with two British units on the objective with the US units just marching on. Both sides get reinforcements on set turns as the game progresses. It would be easy to tweak this to vary arrival times but as it turns out my normal rules handled that for me.   To everyone's great surprise I chose to command the British and Canadian forces while running the Americans with the help of the dice.

Turn One. The initiative deck gave the US the first turn allowing the British to occupy the wood with light infantry. There was no firing and no need for  more complex decisions.

Turn 2. The US went first again on the next turn but now they had an important choice to make: Swing left and attack the hill or move up the road and flank it? They know there are US  reinforcements marching on a few turns behind them and that British reinforcements are also on the way. I decided to give each option an equal chance and the dice decided to swing left. The Canadian light troops in the wood opened fire with no appreciable effect.

Turn 3. On the next turn the initiative flipped allowing the British a double move in effect. The Canadian skirmishers scored two hits on the American riflemen and they chose to use the "Driven Back" rule to cancel one hit by falling back in disorder. I could, and maybe should, have rolled to confirm my choice  but it seemed an obvious one so early in the game, especially since they were moving second and would be able to rally before the British could go again. 

The first British reinforcement marched on and the American infantry deployed ready to attack the hill.

Turn 4. Once again the initiative flipped. The rest of the American forces marched on, the riflemen moved back into range and the left advanced towards the hill. Marching the column straight up the road seemed useful but a bit rash so I rolled: 5,6 full speed ahead, 1-4 deploy into line along the edge preparatory to an advance. A 6 came up and on they came! In response the British artillery deployed and opened fire while the infantry deployed in support.

On Turn 5 a Joker came up indicating that the turn was over with neither side acting this turn.

Turn 6. The initiative stayed with the Americans. The new arrivals deployed into line across the road and the riflemen took careful aim and opened fire getting a hit. Then came the big question: "Charge up the hill or move into position for a 2:1 firefight?" The firefight was the safer option but risked having British reinforcements come up before the issue was decided. I decided that a score of 1-4 would mean play it safe while 5-6 would mean charging uphill without preparation.  Up popped a 5 so it was "I'll try Sir!" as Colonel Miller said on the day.

 The supporting unit helped bring the uphill charge to even odds. The British rolled low, the US rolled high, and they took the hill.

On the British half of the turn, the last British units marched on and the battle began in earnest. That, however, is for the next post.

For anyone who isn't already a solo wargamer or is just starting, I highly recommend reading through some of the comments on the previous posts by various  experienced solo wargamers.

Solo Miniature Wargaming (Part 1)

Solo wargaming did not come naturally to me. I don't like to think of myself as competitive, it goes against my upbringing but I will confess that there was a time when facing an opponent across a table full of miniatures brought out a powerful urge to win in a younger me. When I retired early to the country with most of my gaming opponents living anywhere from 100 to 2,000 km away  I decided that I needed to learn to play solo.

Stuart Asquith and Don Featherstone were my main guides, helped somewhat by CS Grant's Programmed Scenarios and a slough of other incidental sources. The result is recorded in my 2008/9  Game a Week blog   where 39 of the 52 games were played solo as I taught myself how to do it and have fun. The battle reports are very brief and say little about how I did it, but those games laid the foundation for my enjoyment of the solo aspects of the hobby since then.

A face to face game with friends still trumps a solo game, and I enjoy the occasional game via internet video chat though I could really use better equipment and better lighting for hosting, ( See Posts about miniature wargames via the internet .) but solo wargaming is now a leisurely joy to me in its own right rather than a desperate last resort.

Sep 2013: Rob's view of a Rough Wooing game on my table 2,000 km away.

There are a lot of ways to go about solo gaming but for now I'm just going to write about how I go about it. Feel free to leave questions in a comment, or if shy by sending me an email (address at top of blog). No questions are "dumb" or offensive, all are welcome.

OK, this intro is getting  a bit long so I'll have a quick look at how I get started once the decision to play is made  and the next post will get into a play by play account of a game including how and why decisions were made and so on.

The first thing I do is pick a period and scenario and adapt it to my troops, rules and setup. I find published scenarios invaluable for putting some exterior limits on myself though if push comes to shove, there is always the option of writing up a new scenario when none of the 300 or so published ones I have seem to fit my mood. That includes scenarios found in scenario books, magazines, and rulebooks even if not using those rules that day (Blastoff Bridge anyone?).

If the scenario includes a programmed option such as in CS Grant's Programmed Scenarios then sometimes I will pick a side and follow the instructions for the other side but normally I just "change hats" during the game, doing my best as the "Blue" player and then as the "Red" player but I always pick one side as "me" and make all the choices and accept all the responsibility for decisions good or bad.

For the "other" side, I will usually make the obvious decisions but where there is more than one good option I will use an old technique of setting out a couple of valid choices, weighting them if appropriate, then choosing one with a die roll. We will see examples of this as we do the play-through. Everything else goes as normal with me rolling for both sides with utter, ruthless, honesty and the courage to accept that my favourite unit just rolled three 1's!  In the end, it is my decisions about battle plans and tactical choices that make or break the game for me. Did a gamble work? Did I have that reserve in hand? Did the "enemy" and the decision tree die pull a manoeuvre that I hadn't thought of when I made my last move and can I recover? This is where identifying with one side helps inject some emotion so it is more than an intellectual exercise. For me that aspect is crucial to the depth of my enjoyment.

40mm Scruby War of 1812 US and British infantry with an Irregular General and my own original homecast Riflemen and Infantry officers.

OK the table is set, tomorrow we will look at the chosen scenario and get the game rolling.

Keeping Myself Entertained

Yesterday I decided to proceed with the next step which involves repainting the table top with a 5" grid, trimming a selection of hills to make modular 5" grid hills as well as updating other terrain.  I've left myself an option to expand this permanently to a 9x11 grid by adding a 7" strip on the end rather than having a 22" expansion leaf tucked away but that decision can wait a bit.

An opaque green latex undercoat has been laid over the old grid and work has begun on the new terrain features and grid. There is a lot of 'prettification' to be done but the table is use-able so I broke out the War of 1812 figures and decided to turn them loose on the OHW  "Melee" scenario inspired loosely by Lundy's Lane.

Lots more colour and detail to add in the months ahead as well as terrain modules.

The game worked as anticipated and was fun though the battle wasn't fought quite the way I expected. That, and various posts on FB about wargamers and ways to keep oneself busy in these days of Pandemic Social Distancing, have led me decide to do a series of more detailed posts on Solo Wargaming and some of the ways I go about it. My hope is that it might  be useful for some who have either never tried it or not had any success and if nothing else may distract others for a few minutes.

So, I'll start with a step by step replay of this game including a turn by turn what, how and why I do. 

Encounter at Smallerton

There seemed to be a certain air of satisfaction in the troops as they marched onto the battlefield.  They were back in their old units, fighting under the old rules and with real table edges instead of masking tape bounds laid out by the engineers.

The situation seemed easy enough, march on, occupy the town that controls the road, and keep the other buggers out of it.

 The Rebels were first on table but the Lancers doubled their efforts and got there first. A spirited clash of cavalry on main street resulted  in the Lancers making what they later referred to as "a feigned retreat". 

The White Hats had a go at it but twice their numbers of Bluecoats drove them back and it took the combined work of the Black Watch and the Lancers to settle the issue.

 

Now it began in earnest. Both sides deployed, the guns opened up, and the fight was on.

With the Rebel artillery silenced and driven off the field and every Blue attack on the town repulsed, it seemed like time to finish it. In went the Lancers and the affair seemed settled. Brigadier Marten's staff began to congratulate him and asked if he wanted to launch a pursuit or let the enemy go.

The question of how it all went so wrong so quickly as never been satisfactorily  answered. The Lancers, having suffered heavy casualties, were ordered back to escort the guns while the Fort Henry Garrison moved up to support the Grenadiers and the troops in the town. Suddenly the remains of the Rebel cavalry, which had been written off, doubled around the town. The artillery, startled no doubt, did not adjust their aim quickly enough and sent their shells over their heads. In moments the Rebel riders were upon the Grenadiers and the remnants of the Lancers. Whether it was the surprise or just fickle lady luck, both the Grenadiers and Lancers crumbled and fled without harming the enemy! Now with the light fading, and each side tottering on the edge of exhaustion, Victory or Disaster hung by a thread! 

The wisdom of placing the regulars in reserve now became clear. The steady, accurate fire of the Rebels had been taking its toll on the White Hats who held the Northern block and eventually Brigadier Marten could no longer hold them in place. He approved a disorderly retreat to save a rout and went with them. The Rebel infantry swarmed into the streets while their cavalry charged into the Fort Henry Guards lining a hedge along the road just behind the town.  One close range volley was enough to clear off the rebel cavalry while the fire of the Black Watch encouraged the Blue infantry to go with them. The remaining Rebel infantry pulled back and formed a rear guard while the red coats loaded up their rifles and began to tend to the wounded toy soldiers that littered the ground.

Well Sir? Are Your Sappers Done ?

Yes sir! Ready as ordered. You may commence your battle sir.

 No more marking off one third of my table. The trials have been done and done, a decision has been made, tested, tested again, and again, confirmed, and finally carried out.

4'x4' or 9x9 5" squares with a narrow border

If/when I want a larger table for a special game or to test a convention game at home, I'll add a temporary extension.

Now for a game or three!

Giving OHW Another Shot

The other day I stopped by Dale's Wargaming blog and read his latest post  discussing Neil Thomas' Late Arrival scenario from One Hour Wargames.  Since I was looking for a quick game I thought "why not?".

I like the boiled down scenarios from the book but the last time I tried the rules I wasn't impressed. Dale has got me thinking that I may not have given them a fair shake. So I decided to try them. Dale had been discussing an ancient game and, no longer having ancient armies (I can't believe I just wrote that after 45 years as an ancient's player!!), I grabbed some 16thC Scots and English and used them with the ancients rules.

The army selection gave the English (Blue Army though dressed in Red) 4 infantry, 1 skirmisher, 1 cavalry and the Scots (Red Army though dressed in White) 3 Infantry, 1 skirmisher and 2 cavalry.

The scenario has the Scots arriving en masse at the start of the game except that all units arrive on the single road so get stacked up. The English start with two units with another pair arriving on each of turns 5 & 10. To complicate things there is an impassible hill and a wood which only the skirmishers can move through.

I had hoped that the  Scots would roll more skirmishers so that one could flank the English while the other ran fast and nabbed the town which is the objective. Having only rolled one, I sent it to the town.



 What followed was a prolinged melee with the dice favouring one side then the other. English reinforcements arrived in time to restore the line and retake the town.

At least in the English counterattack the dice favoured one side over the other through the whole short fight.  If the dice hadn't rolled English 5's and 6's vs Scots 2's and 3's   the outcome of the game would have been different with the English being too damaged to hold out later if indeed they had had time to break in.

 At last the Scots cleared the gap and their cavalry had just time to dash across the table and make a long odds attack on the town. It was close but the game ended with the English having 1 unit with 1 hit left facing 4 Scots units. A clear English victory.

So what did I think?

Well, it was fast, actual playing time was not quite 1/2 hour. In that time I made something close to 100 die rolls and made perhaps 6 or 8 decisions, all important. Since each die roll counted, there was some tension that built towards the end of the game when a few good rolls by the Scots would have reversed the decision.

On the whole, the rules are better than my original assessment. They aren't my  cup of tea and I still have some objections on the historical side, for example,  most units are allowed one and only one tactic although in many wars many, not all but many, unit types had a choice of tactics and all arms forces are not allowed if using the lists. With those exceptions, when it comes to how the rules play, they work and whether you enjoy their style is a matter of taste.

I decided to reset the table and play the scenario again later using a different period and rules but that's another post.

All Present and Accounted For

Turns out Friday wasn't a free day after all but the Greys are now done so all is well.

A game was overdue so once I had finished painting, I laid out a One Hour Wargame scenario......

.....but that's a post for another day.

Too Big To See

I made a startling discovery today. As my eyes get dimmer and my hand less steady, I may need to give up painting 40's and go back to 20mm!

Seriously, I kept finding bits I'd missed and eventually realized that with my fuzzy eyes and strong prescription painting glasses, I couldn't keep a whole boot in focus at once. There's also the little problem of increasingly wavering hand when painting lace etc.. So I grabbed a little guy out of the cupboard and I can see all of him at once and  would no longer dream of doing too much fiddly stuff on a little guy since it disappears at arms length now. However, doing 54mm Toy Soldiers still seems to work and be easy so we'll see.

The first half of the Greys, still minus carbines. 

Anyway, the first half of the Greys are done and have their first coat of varnish if not their carbines (need to cast 2 more). I also realized today, that one of these privates was cast in the officer mould and his ammo pouch is actually a bit of flash, or maybe sprue, that happened to be in the right spot. Yup, good thing I have naturally rosy cheeks. However, I have persevered, what I kept missing up close with glasses on, I won't see at arms length without them! (The horse actually gave him away - hey! That horse moved its leg!!)

Hopefully tomorrow will see the unit finished and I get back to nice simple skirmishers in stripy trousers.

Rank Has Its Priveledges

More work has been done on the Greys than it looks and I've now finished rereading O'Brien's Post Captain for the first time in, well, years, possibly decades.  Hopefully, I'll be done with the Greys on Friday and can get back to French skirmishers. I'm very happy though that I'm sticking with my now usual new toy soldier crossed with old school wargaming look. (Not the Gilder old school style obviously)

At least the British now have a General!

Slow Going

Progress has slowed. Partly due to other comittments but also because getting these lads cleaned up and assembled was a bigger job than I expected.

Prince August SYW Dragoons with bicorne heads added.

I still haven't attached the carbines. I'm one short and am wondering how well a drop of glue will hold them for travel to and from a convention not to mention during play.  However, I will cast another one and if time permits will scratch a bit of paint off and glue them on after the fact.

The plan is to finish the facings tomorrow and the lace, hats, boots, belts etc and hopefully the horses. Part of me is looking forward to doing the horses so I've been revisiting pictures of Greys.

Today's Troop Review

My initial goal was six units per side, one per month since last May but although behind schedule by the time February arrived, my goal is now eight units or more per side by the end of April.

British  and Emigre Forces: 1 Gun, 2 Infantry units.  (plus a Brunswick infantry unit in old fashioned hats standing by if needed)

Republican French: General, 1 gun, 1 Light Cavalry, 1 Sharpshooter, 2 Infantry.

One unit a week will get me there but I'm shooting to do two a week as long as I can to allow a safety margin. 

Here's a closer look at the now finished unit featured in the last post.