News Flash: Convoy to Ft. Henry Ambushed!

 Renegade Kree have broken the truce! 

Her Majesty has summoned the house. 

Does this mean war or can the treaty be saved?    

That hopeful day 18 months ago.

More details of the fighting to follow!

A Welcome Stop

There's only one decent wagon road between the railroad and Fort Belmont but at least there's a warm welcome at Bob's farm along the way, and the latest news and rumours. 

Once the mail had been dropped off and some news and rumors exchanged, the column got back under way. Suddenly there was a stir in the column as its attention was drawn to a distant hill. 

"Sir, we're being watched"

   .........stay tuned!

Battalion! By Company! Reeee_BASE!

Some readers may have noticed that my plans don't always (no sniggering!) survive contact with implementation, but there are some threads that weave through my attempts. Logic, alas, does not seem to have much influence on the eventual outcomes of said plans.

Anyway, every now and then I get an idiotic urge to bring everything into line, same basing, same style of rules,  etc. etc..  Then, I recover and get back to enjoying some variety. This time I caught myself early. My one set of "Horse & Musket" armies for scenarios, has officially turned into 3 because they already existed and I wasn't really ready to let any of them go. So I switched my sights to my 54's. Having stuck them onto bases again a few years back, they weren't really giving me a different sort of game and they were appearing less often. I was starting to wonder if it was time to let them go . 

Battalionssssss, DEEEeee BASE!

Yup, took about 30 seconds to change tack and start looking for other options, starting with past blog posts. In short, overall, the small, story driven, 54mm actions were generally more fun than the bigger, long drawn out battles. So, I decided that its time to downsize my 54mm forces and to focus on small actions, and to once again fall back to individual figures, partly because I like the look, partly because it can sometimes add to the storyline, and partly because it will be a change from battles on a crowded tabletop. 

 

Defaulters: Case of the Missing Blog Roll.

 Sahh! Commissary Hull reporting as ordered! Sahh!

"Well sergeant, can you explain to me why our posted blog list ceased being available to the general public  and why I was not informed of this" 

    "No Sir! I was unaware Sir! Worked just fine on base Sir! Received no complaints sir!"

"Well Sergeant, I HAVE been informed, and the good Captain here has now fixed it for you! In future keep a closer eye on things and ask for help should you need it"

"Sergeant Major, make a note in the log, Commissary Sergeant to be confined to base for two weeks, stoppage of rum ration, and barred from the nco's club for that turn. Carry on!"

    "Sahh! "Defaulter! About FACE! Quick MARCH!"

(Sorry about that folks and a BIG thank you to those friends have let me know the blog list wasn't working for anyone but me. Problem has been resolved but  one never knows when another glitch happens so, please feel free to enquire or notify me whether by comment or email, carrier pigeon, etc. if something's not working for you of if you have suggestions or questions.)

  

A Near Run Thing

 

DECISION IN THE DUSK 

An illustrated eye witness report! 

At last the crest was taken, but on the reverse slope, the enemy still stood, protected from the Queen's artillery! 

As the sun sank in the sky, the remnants of the Queen's infantry reformed and readied themselves to make one last effort to break the enemy line and drive them  back along the Wood's Road. On the right wing, the Heavy Dragoons and some riflemen kept the Oberhilse cavalry and riflemen occupied, while the Light Dragoons were ordered to move to the center and prepare to charge. 

Reform! Forward!!

By the time the troops were in position, the sun was setting and the skies clouded over. This last effort HAD to do the job! There would not be anymore chances tonight and by the morning, there could be more Oberhilse troops pouring down that road or fortifying the woods. The attack went in as the sun dipped below the horizon.

CHARGE!

The ridge was quickly scoured clean of Bluecoats, but beyond it, the Oberhilse line stood like a rock. A fierce firefight ensued, followed by a sudden cheer.

HUZZAH!!!!!!

After a severe fight, the Bluecoats had suddenly broken, heading for the cover of the woods. The Queen's light infantry soon followed, determined to keep the enemy running as long as they could.

 _____________________

( PS: Don't forget to 'click' once on the pictures to see a larger view of the pictures or twice to get an even larger one.)

FIERCE FIGHTING ON THE BORDER

 

DEADLY STRUGGLE FOR SHALPH RIDGE 

An illustrated eye witness report! 

Desperate defense of a wood behind our left flank by Oberhilse riflemen against Voltigeurs and veteran militia light infantry. It was afternoon before our lads were able to push forward.

Our attack was widely discussed as being planned as a surprise dawn attack and we were expecting to seize the hill and march our army through the woods via the woods road and deploy to fight the enemy in the open. Rumour had it that their forces on this front were quite weak, as ours had been before the two battalions of volunteer Fusiliers had been recalled to active service. 

However, our talk may have been overheard by the wrong people and the information passed on.

We were not expecting any enemy reinforcements to arrive before noon but they must have marched all night, as an observer in the Newport News hot air balloon, dropped a message: "They are here". 

Archive photo fm 2010 post 

They were there right enough, by the time our troops had stormed the hills, a second line had formed. Worse than that, the enemy Volunteers in the centre had managed to hold the Veteran Royal Fusiliers until the Lafayette Volunteers arrived to support them.  The fighting raged for hours until the roar of musketry, canon fire and the wooosh-BOOM of our rockets made it hard to think.  

The Royal Fusiliers being led by their Brigadier in a charge which would have swept the hill if the Grey's Brigadier hadn't risked his life to steady them..

Ed note: Fighting is still ongoing but our correspondent had to send this dispatch or he would have missed the evening paper.  Which ever way the battle goes, we will have the news tonight and the results for you in tomorrow's edition.  

( PS: Don't forget to 'click' once on the pictures to see a larger view of the pictures or twice to get an even larger one.)

Now The Battle's Lost and Won

 At last! Today I finally managed a free morning and let the eager armies go to it.

(click on the picture for a closer look)

Battle report to follow tomorrow.

Early Addition: News from the Front

FARAWAY STRIKES BACK 

An illustrated eye witness report! 

Ever since Oberhilse launched a mid-winter surprise attack, we have waiting to see what the Queen's response would be. Today, we have an answer, she has struck back!

Fighting is still ongoing but our correspondent is on the site and we will keep you advised.  

Here They Come!

 "Enemy cavalry spotted on the SouthWest Road, Sir!", 

"Very good."

"Sir! The enemy riflemen near the Inn have just been reinforced by some Redcoats"

 

" Sir! Enemy Infantry have been spotted marching towards us on the NorthWest Road"

"Captain, What time did that courier say the rest of the brigade expected to be here? This could be a long morning...."

Ready For The Fight (2)

Several hours later, a messenger arrived with a response to the warning. The rest of the army was on its way.

"Major, The enemy riflemen are lurking in the town and woods and you and especially your....companion... are in danger. Word has come that the rest of our army is already on the march and if you meet them on the narrow road through the forest, you will slow down their advance and it might cost us the battle and this position and we'll both be in trouble.
If you leave now, you should be free of the woods before you meet them, so please do so." 

"Soldiers! Our comrades are threatened by the Queen's men! We march to battle!"
"Brigade! Form column of sections to the right!" 
"MARCH!!"

(Note: In the above picture, the Bluecoats on the right of the line (your left) are mostly Zinnbrigade Napoleonic homecasts, the Grey coats on the left are mostly homecasts from my own original sculpts. (The exceptions include 2 Perry 40mm Peninsula samples, 1 each in these battalions. Feel free to spot'em.)

The battalion in the middle, the Lafeyette County Volunteer Rifles were homecast by their Sculptor and sent to me as a gift in 2012. (See their debut battle report, including video, here: " Stony Creek Surprise". 

...to be continued....

"How'd you get wounded son?" (1)

 "Well, Sir, it was like this........"

"Word has it that the Redcoats are planning something after we captured that bridge awhile back, so we've  been posted here to keep an eye on the enemy while the rest of the army is called up, and ev'ry morning we stand to." 

"I guess the muster of Volunteers is going a bit slow but they'll be fine with a bit of drill and stuff to get them back into fighting trim"

"Well, I thought I saw something moving down in the town but looking into the rising sun made it hard to see, so I just pointed at the town and hollered 'Hey Cap'n I think..' and there was a flash and a "Crack" and that's the last I 'member till I woke up here"

to be continued......

Rainy Day Soldiers

 We're all but promised a few rain showers over this weekend, and I'm sure we all no what THAT means!  (rain-holiday from lawn and garden duties etc). 

The question is: What shall I play tomorrow?  All suggestions and requests will be considered whether comments,  even anonymous ones, or emails.    

At the moment, I'm leaning towards getting my revived Oberhilse and Faraway troops out again.

I've also been revisiting my plans for my remaining collections. One change is that despite my desire to set games in my province, apart from the two sieges of Louisburg, it was almost all small but bloody skirmishes between raiding parties and the defenders of their targets or else smaller sieges such as Ft. Beausejour or Ft. Anne. 

My toy soldiers want something larger and more noble with no harm to non-combatants etc etc. and without harm to non-combatants where possible, So I've moved my alternate Acadia setting from my primary list to the secondary list, meaning I'll keep working on the figures and will put them on the table when in the mood, whether its tomorrow or next year.  I still have two companies of Highlanders to cast and paint and summer is the best season for hand casting. I'm sure their arrival will trigger a desire to see the full battalion in action.

How Many ACW Figures Are Enough?

Obviously, more than I have. During the last game I noted that I really didn't enough  cavalry, especially dismounted cavalry. I was about to go shopping for compatible metal figures when I remembered about the Ukrainian company, Strelets-R. 

The price of a single box of plastic soldiers isn't going to aid the war effort but I'm sure the company needs whatever sales they can get in hard times even if it's someone who retired  early on reduced pension (1/2 pay I call it) so I looked them up. The figures have arrived and I like them!  Just the thing. 

 I like 'em!
(btw, there's 2 of each figure in the box.)

Of course, now my Reb cavalry is complaining about favoritism, so I suppose I'll need more. Alas, I can't seem to connect to their website. I'll blame our old Cold War enemy, after all they were THE enemy when I was born and when I first put on a uniform. Well, for now, I'll split 'em.