Bit By Bit

 Well, I've managed to get a piper and an ensign painted at least:

"Ensign! Where are the colours!??" "Not yet arrived sir!"

A close picture of my simplified version of the sett of the kilt which at this point, was the same as the Black Watch. Like my old kilt, from across the room, or when on the table (them not me), they just look dark, but if  you are closer you can start to make out the variation of 4 colours/shades and the pattern. 
(There was a time when stripes would be straighter on 40's and a bit more regular in width etc., but these days, if I can make out who a unit is at arms length, thats good enough for me.
I have a growing feeling that I'd better get all my painting down before this decade is done! )

Right! Next up: a stand of grenadiers are primed and on a painting 'stick' and the final stand of highlanders are assembled and about to be primed. Will I get them painted before the next game? 

Back To "Work"!

I haven't been doing much painting recently but life is starting to slow down again, so today I finally turned my attention back to the next company of Fraser's (78th) Highlanders, the grenadier company. 

Recruits for Fraser's Highlanders

I can't fit a 40mm Siege of Louisburg game, or even the Plains of Abraham, on my little table but they'll get their share of tabletop fighting in my alternate universe Acadian war. Won't be right away though, the coats on the first batch of highlanders dried darker than I intended and seems to have darkened even more since,  so I'm going to have to get the grenadiers right, then go back and fix the coats on the first highlanders. 

I'll need six more Highlander after than but they don't need to be a full battalion to get in some action. When the time comes, it'll be a matter of deciding whether to paint or play on some quiet day.

Fight For The Ford

When the word came to the Commander on the Frontier that the Saxons and Picts were marching to meet up and ravage Britain, there was dismay. Could enough men be raised to repel them? Should a quarter of each unit be held back in garrison? Would any of the independent British kings answer a call to join forces? After debates and messengers riding there and back, two forces marched to rendezvous at the Inn on the Ford with every man they could spare at such short notice.

Neither side was expecting both sides to arrive at the same time but the battle was soon engaged and the generals were left improvising and adapting plans as the day went on, hoping that their ally would be able to adapt and cooperate.

(Note: click on the pictures for a closer look, click twice for a much closer look!)

The Picts arrived from the North, on the Eastern bank of the river. Their force was all cavalry and light troops, even the spearmen, and they quickly drove back some Roman cavalry and occupied a wooded area which had to be passed to march down the road and cross the ford.

The Saxons were soon up to the ford and started to deploy with a wary eye on the British cavalry which could be seen riding quickly forward on the East bank. As the Romans deployed, the Pictish king called back his cavalry and some of his spearmen to guard a fordable section of the river to stop the Romans from flanking the road ford. The rest of the infantry prepared to hold the woods.

From the south, the British forces soon appeared. Their cavalry rode forward but there was no easy target so their horse archers dueled for a short while with Saxon archers before falling back. In the meantime the British infantry crossed over another ford and began to occupy and fortify a Villa while their Duke studied the situation and formed a plan.

There was a brief time while the Picts watched the Romans deploy in orderly fashion, then came the hurricane of steel.

Before the Pictish warriors could retreat back to their ford, the pursuing Roman veterans were upon them, driving them into the river.

While the some of the British were still crossing the ford, a Saxon shield wall gave a cry and moved to contact. The fighting was bloody and prolonged.

With the Picts out of the way, the Roman Veterans stormed the ford but the Saxons held their position despite their casualties.

The Saxon Hearthguard began to push the Britons back across the villa but those Britain's were led by Prince Micheal and he called upon his men to push the Saxons back. 

All along the line, Saxon and Briton fought and died but behind the British shieldwall, the British knights crossed the ford and thundered along the rear of the British shieldwall, giving them all heart and determination. (and some good die rolls.....)

"Come On! We'll flank'em!"

When the thunder of the hoofs and the battlecries appeared on the Saxon flank and rear, their morale gave way, The shieldwall broke and soon the whole army was fleeing!

An Eagle's eye view of the battle's end.

A Vital Bridge: The Prequel

If memory serves, I have only played this scenario once before. (See Scenario 10 from 'Playing through Scenarios for All Ages' on the 'Links to Old Stuff" column of the main blog page.  ) 

Having been attracted to the Prince Valiant strips, and the Elastolin figures since my early days, (strips only seen by the young me when visiting my Uncle's farm, and figures only seen in store displays.) I decided to get them out and get a brief break from 'horse and musket' games. 

When this century rolled around, I finally started picking up a few Elastolin figures here and there, mostly from HMGS fleamarket tables, and from Ebay. Some were old factory painted figures, not all broken, and even better yet, unpainted, non-assembled, Elastolin figures and one 'lot' of 100 gold coloured vikings for $20!  All in the same pose, running with an empty hand upraised, just right for conversions to all sorts! 

Eventually, I started to played small, skirmish games, initially using Medieval Mayhem (See Battlegames Issue 6). A few years went by and I happened to get some good deals here and there, and now the barracks are holding close to 200 figures ready to do battle which are a bit many for a solo skirmish game. (To be honest, 1:1 individual figure skirmish games aren't really my 'thing".)

So, to be honest, while adding characters and vague narratives, I just want to play conventional wargame 'battle' scenarios with "units".  Luckily, the figures fit nicely on 4 figure homemade bases that a friend of mine passed to me a few years ago.

After some contemplation, I have decided to continue to use them for conventional wargame scenarios, some small battles, some small actions. Today's battle is done and if all goes well, a Battle report post to follow Saturday evening (Atl time).

Yes, Yes....NO!

 But there's always another way.

So, after wasting spending time trying this and that, and restarting the game.....(twice more)  I decided to stay with my existing units but tweaked the rules.....and reread the scenario for the nth time, thus being reminded that the rivers could be forded near the table edges. Ahhhh! Right...that's better than just one bridge......

If all is well, the game will be played to a finish tomorrow (Wednesday) and a battle report posted.

Reset!

This was meant to be a small, quick game, an encounter between small parts of the main armies. 

Proposed 6 and 3 figure units.

Instead, it ended up with almost every painted Romano/British and Saxon/Pict  with a weapon, including some of the crudely painted ones I've picked up here and there and haven't touched up yet. The table was also getting crammed as the four contingents converged. 

Sooooo, after some thought. I decided to reorganize the units into smaller ones. It's only a 25% reduction but it allows a bit more manoeuvre room and a future reserve of bodies if I should ever get an unlikely urge to want to play a bigger, edge to edge, pitched battle.

Another option though, is to keep the 4 and 8 figure units, and reduce the number of scenario units. For example, instead of 6x6 figure infantry units (36 figures) use 4x8 units (32 figures).  

Best to sleep on it and make a decision in the morning.

In Action Again

 The battle has at last begun, will it be worthy of a story?

Time will tell!

Coming Soon....

 Somewhere in Britain......

Stay tuned!

War Resumes on Belmont Island

After another British victory which allowed supplies and reinforcements to make it through, (see Ambush) the fighting on Belmont Isle was limited to small raids and skirmishes when patrols collided. As another New Year's came and went, the French Governor ordered an attack on the British possessions. After a series of meetings with a leader of ex-slaves, and a supply of muskets and powder, a joint operation was arranged.

The British had fortified a road block but had not considered a flank attack from the wooded hills to the east of the British outpost. Patrols spotted the French column and a messenger was quickly dispatched requesting reinforcements.

The forces gather.

Soon the fighting was wide spread while reinforcements on both sides marched on. On the hills behind the British flank, the freed slaves hesitated for a while but then decided to engage. 

Supported by skirmishers and the artillery, the 1st battalion charged the redoubt but was repulsed. With the English preoccupied, the freed slaves came storming down from the hills and a long firefight began.

After a brief pointblank musketry duel, the first battalion broke and ran. The 2nd battalion formed a storming column and assaulted the gate across the road while the 3rd battalion deployed and began a prolonged  short range firefight with the French having 2:1 numbers but the British soldiers being in cover.

A prolonged fight but eventually, numbers counted.

An attack on the main gate was repulsed  but the French skirmishers manage to silence the British gun and they took the wooden barricade for themselves until the gun could be brought up.

At last the British casualties in the redoubt weakened the post and General St. Lambert ordered another assault on the redoubt and one on the gates. On the other flank, two companies of Marines (not yet royal), made an attempt to drive the French from the gun position but the French skirmishers were determined to hold their position and poured such a deadly hail of bullets that the Marines broke and headed back for safety.

The situation was hopeless and the order was given to retreat with the Hussars and the first two companies of marines were ordered to form a rearguard to hold the enemy at bay. 
Behind them, they could hear the cheers and the sound of  La Marseillaise being sung.

At Last

 The battle has finally been fought!

If all goes well, the battle report should appear sometime on Friday. 

At last!

 At last a move or two have been made and dice have been rolled!

Maybe this afternoon I may get at it again once I get back from a visit to the dentist. 

STAND TO!!!!

It had been quiet day on Belmont Isle until the long roll called the small garrison to form up. Amid the noise and bustle, officers, ncos, and the other ranks speculated on why they had been called to fall in. Was it a drill or a real alarm? Then, as the garrison was formed up and quiet, they could hear the approaching sound of drums and voices singing:

"Aux armes, citoyens, formez vos bataillons, marchons, marchons...."

To be continued....

It's Winter, Time To Go To The Caribbean

 Well, not me! Just the little lads.

Base behaviour.

To my surprise, the last West Indies game was posted on 31 December 2024. So, I've decided that the West Indies are due to reappear. However, the 3rd party (ex-slaves) were still waiting to be put on regulation 18C bases. 

So, I'm doing that now, and then will come up with a scenario, probably with French and ex-slaves vs British, and set the table. I might even get to play it today if I'm fast!  

Blast From The Past

 I just stumbled upon this clipping from a July 1977 issue of the Montreal Gazette.

Hard to believe but some of these Heritage pikemen still march on my table under the banners of the Midlands on the Gathering of Hosts blog.

One of my first (and possibly the last) appearance in a major newspaper. I had graduated from the College Militaire Royale de Saint Jean in May and been assigned to the HMCS Ottawa in Halifax for on job training before heading to the West Coast to finish my training. However, I also had leave and came home to visit my parents in St. Lambert, across the river from Montreal. While I was there, the Montreal Wargames club, of which I had been a a member, (The club itself and some of its original members are still active.)  was taking part in an exhibition of hobbies etc over the summer. Since I was there, I volunteered to do a shift and thus had my first interview with a professional reporter from the Montreal Gazette. 

 

Ever since I read the distorted, inaccurate, supposed quotations, (not to mention the misspelled name,,,)
I have given less weight to newspapers! 

Now The Battle's Lost and Won (Incomplete Post Now completed..... Ooops!)

It was a cold January day in Acadia, the festivities were over when word came of an English column marching towards Belmont. The church bells began ringing and the women, children and old folks headed for the woods, carrying supplies and driving what livestock they could manage and a messenger sent to the local Mi’kmaq camp to ask for their support. Before long the beat of the British drums could be heard.

At last the British columns came into view along the snow covered road while rangers could be seen flitting through the woods and on the hills. 

    

The Acadians watched the British battalions deploy and advance towards the village and listened to the sporadic fire from the woods. Soon the Acadians, supported by some Compagnie franches from Canada, joined the battle as the Royal Americans and a battalion of provincials advanced. 

The 60th suffered heavy casualties and was forced to fallback having done little harm to the Compagnie franches in the stone church, but the provincials halted and kept up a heavy fire.

As the Acadians began to suffer casualties, they turned and retreated despite the Priest's admonishments.

The Provincials pursued but the Acadians rallied behind another stone wall and the Provincials stopped to pour another volley into them before crossing the wall and preparing to charge. 

As the Provincials advanced across the open field, a deadly stream of fire came from the Acadians in front of them, but another hail of bullets also poured into them from the flank.  Compagnies franches and Mi'kmaq warriors had moved into position to support the Acadian militia.

Their Colonel ordered a charge, but he was shot down and seeing that the 60th foot had broken, they voted to carry their commander to safety. 

Day By Day

 Despite several hours of cracking and removing 1"+thick hunks of ice today, I managed 1 turn.

Hopefully tomorrow will include an hour of downtime to allow me to finish the game.

Neither Ice Nor Snow

 The game has begun! 

Only two turns since there were lots of winter outdoor chores as well as packing up Christmas but its a start!  

Winter In Acadia

It's a cold wind when it blows across the ice but when the wind stops howling, everything is quiet and if the sun is out it can be a good day to put on snow shoes and go hunting in the woods.. 

But whether snow and wind, or sunshine, it doesn't do to assume the enemy is far away and the war is paused due to the weather.

"Then This Happened!!"

 (Arrghhhh I hate that pervasive phrase that is so popular with AI and many people these days.)

Anyway, the assault on the town has been interrupted by a 'fierce blizzard' making further fighting impossible. (Mind you, some propose that the real reason the assault failed was that there were too many family interruptions over several days for the historian to keep track of what was, or had been, happening and the blizzard was just imagined as an excuse to reset the table with different figures and a better set of rules.) 

The 1st assault came from the North and failed to break into that end of the town.

 

To the South, the attack was slow to develop due to some snow drifts but some riflemen did surprising damage to the gun crews, whose powder seems to have been wet, and a vigorous bayonet charge forced the gunners to retreat.

The triumphant attackers streamed into the town to find that there was a solid line of redcoats across the road and muskets raining down bullets from the buildings along the road.

To the North, the attackers casualties were severe and the first regiment fell back to let the 2nd wave to attack but they stalled in a firefight.

Both sides prepared to continue the fight but a whirling snowstorm put an end to the fight.

*********

So ended 2025, but apparently there was a similar incident on similar terrain in Acadia in the previous century................ but with different hats......or maybe even an assault by American Rebels against British troops...... we'll see....