Interuptions! Always Interruptions!

 But I got a few turns in and .Sunday is looking good to play the game.

Stay tuned....

Hastily Trained......

...... but ready to see the Elephant.

News when available.

Where's The Cavalry?

 "The new recruits are still being trained Sir. "They should be in the field in a day or two." 

Strelets R 1/72nd ACW dismounted cavalry.

Its been almost a year since I cut these lads off their sprues and washed them, but more than a year since the last ACW game. Ah well, "Hurry up and wait" is an old army saying and these lads at least are now getting painted and will see the elephant as soon as they are 'dressed' and 'trained'. 

Almost a century later and over 1,000 miles away ......

 ..... a passing hot air balloon snapped a picture of opposing Union and Confederation cavalry heading for an encounter.

I feel a battle coming on.

Gorham's Rangers Take The Field

 This was a tricky lot, but they'll serve. 

Gorham's Rangers primarily served in what is now Nova Scotia from 1744 to 1759 (Some of them probably crossed what is now my yard!) and then joined Wolfe's expedition to Quebec,  Information on how they were dressed is scarce, and mostly speculative since no parts of their uniforms have survived, nor were there any contemporary drawings, just a very few vague descriptions in diaries etc.. Sooo, I decided to go with the most common descriptions, nearly contemporary drawings, and modern day reenactors who usually do a good job of digging into the history. I then crossed that with what I had to work with, decided to drop the sort of skirt or all round apron which wasn't always mentioned or sketched, especially in the early years.

The Scots bonnets seem to be the best bet for headgear and recent(ish) study has decided that the same sort of bonnets were worn by Roger's Rangers despite the old NorthWest Passage movie. Luckily, I happen to have Prince August's SYW highlander mould which includes what we called a 'Balmoral' cap when I was in the Black Watch of Canada Cadet Corps in my teens. 

In the early days at least, many of the Rangers were recruited from First Nations in what is now New England, long time enemies of the Mk'maq and other tribes in what are now the Maritime Provinces, so, I included two of them by darkening their skin slightly. 

Leggings or gaiters to above the knee were common enough but the next bit was tricky. They seem to have worn short jackets and Prince August presented Russians in summer gear without their long coats, but I wanted more poses. I also happened to have the Austrian Grenz moulds. The coats were a bit long and had lace and swords but a bit of work with knife and file gave me a few rather rough conversions, including reducing swords to hunting knives. 

From there, I called heavily on the various interpretations and did my own to make it easy, after all, I want them to play wargames, not sit on display.

Rangers Partly Dressed

Spring!  Spring and outdoor chores!  But I've been making a little time for myself to paint.

Details and just a little shading next.

Recruiting is complete

Now for the training!

These lads will shortly painted up as Gorham's Rangers.  Hopefully the forecast of rain will be accurate, 

Sometimes, Ya Just Gotta Try it......

Well, that experiment is over. 

What triggered this bustle of reorganizing and re-basing a portion of my "horse and musket" armies, was something simple: not being able to divide a 3 stand unit into two half units when a scenario called for it!

Instead of looking for all the Cons of the new units, or the Pros for the existing system, I just reorganized and re-based, with enough units for a small skirmish. game. Both games went well, but......visually, the troops looked like they were in loose order since I didn't want to paint another 6 figures for each battalion, I went from 3x6 figure bases to 4x4 figures. Yup wider frontage with fewer figures and the maximum number of units on the table were diminished.

Given that I wanted to have a choice of smaller or larger games, I decided to just restore the old order but since I had the materials at hand, I cut new bases from thin plywood cut into 2”x2" squares, (I know, but I learned the old Imperial way first and they're my toys!)

All the current painted infantry are done on both sides as are some of the light troops but there are plans for more infantry, sappers,  light field guns with crew, some siege/fortress guns, more Canadian/Acadian militia, possibly a single stand of French dragoons, and, well  time will tell.

And yes, the small portion of 1790's troops who were the first guinea pigs, will be rolled back to standard as well

I have a feeling there'll be another game on the table this weekend.

Rangers Training

 Another step towards being ready for action.

Given they'll likely be used for historical fiction games, I just call them 'Ross's Rangers'

For My Next Act...

 (Anyone remember Rocky and  Bulwinkle? ) 

Anyway, since my current focus is a history inspired version of the fighting in Acadia, I need some of Gorham's Rangers. 

Volunteers anyone? ?.…....

Proposed bits from several Prince August moulds.

Thank you gentlemen! (Hmm, not sure on the standing, firing guy).  Now to dress you.

Hurry Up And Wait

That's the old army saying, but it's all over now. 

Its been 8 months since my last game set in Acadia but the world turns and things are slowly returning to normal. Its also been a wee bit over a week since the table was set, but now the game has been played. Mostly it was the outside world interfering but when I was free, I found that the rules I had spent so much time fashioning and tweaking over the last few years, worked ok, but.....weren't satisfying.  

The games tended to be too fast or too slow, dice had too much effect and the General (ok, player) had too little influence on what his troops were going to do. So, I spent some of my time reviewing a number of old wargame rules, mostly by early wargamers who had fought in real life as well as studying history, and a few newer sets of rules. However, I also revisited bits of various 18th and 19thC memoirs and also a few recent, relevant, history books. Then I tried again.   When they have been tested in a couple of games and consist of more than a one page quick reference, I'll post them. 

Here's how the test game went: 

_____________________________________

Somewhere in Acadia in the 1740's  where the Duc d'Anville's force was still under orders to secure Acadia and evict the British.  Spring has arrived, the snows are gone and the roads are sort of dry most days, but word comes from  Mi'kmaq and Acadian scouts that an army of Redcoats have landed at Pisiquid, and are marching Nor'east. The Brigadier Sieur de St. Lambert was ordered to stop them!   

A Raven took this shot as he flew away from the first "BANG". Honest!

The 'armies' meet at the little village of Nullepart.

 

In short order, the British seized the Church and graveyard as well as a wealthy merchant's  Stonehouse but the French and their allies soon seized 3 buildings, some on each side of the river.
The British had no real option but to push on.

The 27th Foot pushed forward and unleashed a crashing volley! The Mi'kmaq warriors ducked and then began shooting British officers. 

The order to "Hurry up with the Damned Gun!" was acknowledged but the ground was soft and it was hard going, even with a battalion gun. In the village, the Mi'kmaq were picking off redcoats while making good use of their cover. Behind them, the beating drums of Lally's Irish gave all a warning that they were coming. Soon it would be Redcoat vs Redcoat. The British Colonel sent off an officer to request support from the Massachusetts Bluecoats.

Eventually, the British battalions were forced to fallback into cover to avoid destruction, and a lengthy but ineffective firefight ensued. As the sun sank, a firm order came to "Drive those savages out of that town!" The Colonel suspected he was talking about the enemy Irish and ordered the 27th forward to the stonewall, and the Rangers to support them on their right.

The firefight between Irish and Irish was indecisive but the Rangers, judging that the remaining Mi'kmaq were wavering, decided not to stop and stormed the building then turned their accurate fire on the enemy Irish.  

 
The French general surveyed the field and eyed the sun. His force was split across the river and was down to 1/2 strength plus stragglers and the wounded who could no more attacks today. The British had nearly as many casualties but their battalions were still capable of defending and had artillery and the village, stocked with full cellars. 

It was time to withdraw, regroup and send for reinforcements, 

Now The Battle Is Lost and Won....

 But, while we're waiting for the official report, here's a bird's eye view as the armies started to deploy: 

The rest to come soon.

..

Now The Irish Engage

 Interruptions, always interruptions!  But the game carries on.

Friday should see the end of this affair, but another game should follow soon after..