Aux Armes, Citoyens!

Long ago and far away (well ok, 1998 and 1,600 km.) I crossed the border into the USA and drove down to Pennsylvania for 'Cold Wars', a US wargame convention (That's another story.), to run a 54mm 1812 game using my  "With MacDuff To The Frontier" rules which had been published in 'The Courier' magazine the year before. To my surprise, some guys were running a  French & Indian "With MacDuff" game using homecast 40mm figures, and another game using Prince August homecast figures (Yes, that's how I started home casting figures) and Charge! one of my first wargame books which had been read over and over, especially the pictures......, a few hundred times since I bought it with my first paycheck at military college at the old age of 17!

Rob and I became friends and co-hosted 40mm games until Covid hit.  French & Indian skirmishes, then a 16thC Anglo-Scottish affair involving the English trying to get a supply train into a defended city, (A game we ran three times ending up with twice the number of players in the last game as they teamed up, and which got us a "Best of show" award). 

A few years later, we ran a French Revolution sort-of-skirmish/character game involving the Scarlet Pimpernel and all. The figures were largely homecast from Meisterzinn moulds cast and painted by Rob. I think all that I added was to sculpt and cast some peasants but the games were fun. Well, things change, people move, etc etc, and the last time Rob and I ran a game in Portland Maine, roughly 1/2 way between us we were using our mutual horde of Prince August semi-flats and Rob was moving to a different house and had decided that his French Revolution figures would be better elsewhere, like in my game room!

(btw his blog is:  https://sharpbrush.blogspot.com )

40mm French Republican Infantry

Each of his units were 12 single figures, a good choice for the kind of games we had been playing, but I have recently decided to settle on 4 stand battalions, preferably with 16 figures for line infantry but not necessarily. So, I added the handful of standard bearers then scrounged a few extra figures to boost the numbers to at least 14 figures. Rob's painting style is a bit different from mine but I think I managed to copy his style close enough to fit in. 

40mm French Regulars, still wearing their old uniforms.

Austrians and British to follow, I think I'll leave the civilians and peasants as singles!

Meet Me At The Crossroads

Well......., its been more than a week since I laid out the table for a quick game with some of the refurbished Oberhilse (not USA) and Faraway (not Dominion of C.). Well, life's chores and obligations sometimes interfere with hobbies, as does working on reversions of incomplete rules. None the less, the game went on.

(PS: If you click on the pictures, they will expand to a larger size. Depending on your computer, you can either expand and shrink the pictures using 2 fingers, or on older machines, there will be a "+" marker, click that and then the picture will expand to full size, bigger than most screens BUT you can slide around the big picture and have a good close look. When you've had enough, click the back pointer on the header panel where the left, right, arrows etc).  

 a '+' on the Click on pictures for larger size. Depending on your machine, you can use your figures to enlarge or shrink the picture, or there may bepicture which will expand again and allow you to slide the large picture to see all of it. Click on the header arrow pointing left to go back to the regular screen.

What follows is a quick illustrated report on the opening encounter in the war of 1837. Once again, there was a dispute over just where the border ran. The particular target was the Stone Jug Inn and Tavern.

At dawn, both armies rose and hit the roads. Once the enemies spotted each other, the advanced guards moved as quickly as possible with the republic's cavalry and sharpshooters moving fastest with the infantry doing their best to catch up.

The Oberhilse forces moved up quickly, cavalry across the fields, infantry up the road and soon had troops in the village. The Redcoats marched forward in good spirits, but it was soon clear that the enemy was already occupying the town. General Turner had to come up with a new plan.

For awhile, while the armies deployed, the battle was a skirmish between the light troops, taking what cover they could find while the infantry on both sides moved forward as fast as possible and the Generals made battle plans.

A prolonged firefight followed.

Before long the casualties were increasing without any advantage apart from the side in the cover of the town.

At last, the Redcoats were ordered to "Fix Bayonets" then "Charge!!!"

The Dominion's infantry on their right managed to push back the enemy infantry but they weren't broken or even forced out of the cover of their houses, and reinforcements were at hand.

It was time for General Turner to fallback, fortify the two sections of the town that they held, barricade the roads, call for reinforcements and make a clever plan to evict the enemy.

ps: About 2/3 of these figures were home cast, with or without conversions, but about 1/2 of those are from my original sculpts, the rest being from commercial moulds.

Interlude

It's been "one of those days" but I managed a few turns. 

Hopefully, I will be able to resume soon. 

'Hurry Up and Wait!'

The plan was an afternoon to play out the game. I managed to play 2 turns today......sighhh

At least the advanced units are engaged.

Ah well, there's still tomorrow.

Genr'l, Thanks for giving us a chance to show what we can do.

 Coming soon to a screen near you!

1836, Oberhilse and Faraway will clash again!
(click on photo for a close look)

......(well, it could be a few days, depends on the weather, volunteer stuff, various chores, etc, etc....)

Pass In Review

 ”Yes Colonel, that's our newly raised 2nd Dragoons passing by us now."

"Would you and your lady like to review the new Squadron, Colonel?”

"Oh, of course, your companion is dressed beautifully for the soiree, not to inspect horses and men. My apologies"  

Bit By Bit

I'm trying to make time for a short painting session most days, so these lads are slowly getting into tabletop condition.

If the forecast heavy rain comes, they should be finished tomorrow!

Ghost Riders

 I picked up these hard plastic 40mm figures at a Flea market at a US Con a few years ago. There were several styles of figures and both infantry and mounted cavalry, but without horses. 

Well, I've started on a small troop of cavaly. Ever since I cut my 6'x8' table to 4'x5', I've had to reduce the size of my squadrons to 4 figures. The kepis had to be modified like a peaked police cap, but there are semi-retired cavalry.

To be continued.

Falllllll In!

The 2nd Infantry has now been reorganized and their uniforms have been slightly modernized. 

Umm, the lighting wasn't great, and I was tired. The coats are dark blue, not black!

Anyway, a mix of home cast of my own sculpting, and 4 Scruby figures from Historifigs.

 Now for some new cavalry! 

Hold That Hill!

 Until I get this picture taken.

It's been a very busy couple of weeks outside and not very busy inside. However, The reorganized and  modified Oberhilse 17th Regiment, is ready for battle.

....."NEXT!"

Sentry! Where's the Mess?

 "Right over there Sir! Right mess they are too Sir, no white belts and so on."

"Ahh! Well, I'm sure they'll soon be in order, but I meant the Officer's Mess?".....

(Not much hobby time this week.......)

Preparing For Battle

The Oberhilse army has reorganized although a few battalions of volunteers and a few squadrons of cavalry are not yet ready to take the field.

While the army is waiting for reinforcements, a series of drill sessions are being held. 

Maintenance Of The......Oh Look!

Sighhh......there I was, working on my fictional 1830's forces when I stumbled on one last straggler of the one-piece Scruby ACW cavalrymen of the sort that have been recruited into my 1790's British Light Dragoons. As it happened, I needed exactly one more to finish the 2nd squadron.........sighhhh..... why wait?

(Please let me know if the above doesn't show. My favorite Chrome laptop, with the best photo adjustments, has been banned from Google Drive, so for now I'm trying ways to circumvent when necessary until I manage the new photo options.)

Right, back to the 1830's.....

Still A Mess But Making Progress

 I've decided on dropping the 1812 look and focus on the 1830's with my fictional opponents. 

If you can't see this picture, please let me know.

Work is progressing......

The Officer's Mess

When I made my list of "periods" I was unsure about my assorted melange of troops from the War of 1812, the US vs Mexico war and the 1830's Canadian rebellions. 

Yup, what a mess I'm making!

One option would involve tripling the number of figures so that I could do all three, usually to be used once in a blue moon. Other options were to ditch them all, continue using the mishmash of troops, or keep a token 1812 unit for each side to go on a shelf and let me focus on the 1830s. 

For a start, I will do opposing British and US forces (under the guise of Faraway and Oberhilse. That will give me a fictional war  in the mid-19thC. Same weapons but different terrain and tactics. 

,

Let Us Pass Over (Now with apologies)

******* 

It has come to my attention that some or many of the photos are not showing to all viewers even though they all show on my screens and on some of my viewers' screens. A little exploration suggests that some of the pictures are too large and are getting blocked. 

My previous surprise was that many of my devices were no longer able to take an image on my GDrive and modify it (inc making a pic smaller in size of file in addition to trimming, adjusting lighting etc etc as desired).  The new ones I did have access to, allowed me to adjust colour, trim bits, etc etc BUT would not reduce the size of the file.

I'm now investigating the result of adjusting the size on my phone before down/uploading, as well as looking for other apps as an option if they are not too expensive for something I only use a few minutes a week.

The missing pics should be starting to appear soon!  -Ross

hmm. or not. So far every free or cheap app I've looked at has removed an option to reduce the size/(density of pixels) of the photo. Now all they do is have an option to crop. 

In the meantime, I'll have to back off and then crop the pictures It'll take a bit to get it right unless I can find an affordable app. 

Now back to the post as it was, though I may crop a few of them, reducing the width of the battle being seen, into a small part or several portions.

******** 

Winter has turned to summer and the armies of Oberhilse and Faraway march again. 

Having failed their New Years assault (see the main action here) the Oberhilse command has formed a new plan to make a surprise attack to seize the stone bridge over the Little Blue River. If they moved fast and keep the expedition a secret they should be able to launch a major invasion.

Apparently, either Faraway had a spy who sent word, or they just assumed that Oberhilse  would attack when the spring hay was cut and stacked, and summer arrived.

(Note: please click on the blank picture to see the full view....at least until I figure out how to fix it.)
A quick clash of cavalry was indecisive but the infantry on both sides took their place and the Musket fire was loud and heavy, To the North, the land did not look like cavalry terrain, so both generals ordered their cavalry to move South to find a ford.  

A passing hot air balloon with a newspaper reporter, with a camera, managed to pass overhead.
(Note: please click on the blank picture to see the full view....at least until I figure out how to fix it.)

There were fewer fords on the river than expected (#@#dice), especially in the convenient crossing places. There were a few spots where pointblank shots could be exchanged but in several spots, it was the less deadly long range musket fire.

The Faraway regulars were taking heavy casualties so the Fencibles were ordered to pass through and hold the bridge. 

The day was getting late and casualties were heavy on both sides. After a quick consultation, the order came out to Brigadier Wavey for his cavalry to cross the river and drive back the enemy cavalry.
(Note: please click on the blank picture to see the full view....at least until I figure out how to fix it.)    

As the sun began to set, the Queen's cavalry crossed the ford to encourage the enemy cavalry
to back off while heavy casualties from  musket and canister fire was
begining to weaken the morale of the Oberhilse infantry. 
(Note: please click on the blank picture to see the full view....at least until I figure out how to fix it.)

Hot Pursuit! 
(but the bugler was soon ordered to blow the Recall.

As the day turned to dusk, the order was given to the Oberhilse troops to fall back in good order,
and the battered Faraway infantry were happy to let them go.

An Early Sketch...

 ...by a War Correspondant:

Report to follow when the battle is won and lost.

It's been a busy day.....

 But I got a few turns in.

Sunday should see the middle and the end fought out.

The World Has Changed But, ....

....battles will go on, but with a new backdrop and a table that is 4" taller. 

For the first game on the slightly modified table, Oberhilse and Faraway are at it again in the 1840's

.....but they are fighting on a taller table with an enveloping backdrop

But enough of this: "Let the battle begin!".

Summer Rerun: 10 Years Ago

Ah summer, a thousand and one chores outside, especially cutting firewood for the coming winter now that my usual supplier has retired. Effort vs cash.
(Our wood stove is a main source of heat when the winter nights drop to -15C,-20C....... )

Since I'm also rearranging my game room when I have time, any game or figure additions are likely to be a few days away. So here's a look at the 2016 Fall In wargame convention, I think the last HMGS Con that I drove 1,500 km each way. Portland Maine was only 1/2 that distance and I've missed meeting with some of my American friends, but, my passport has expired.  .

F&IW 40mm homecast figures from the collectons
 of 2 of the HAWKS club and their Canadian mascot.

For a bit more on my blog report on HMGS  2016 Fall In Con, see:

Falllllll Out!

Any future wargame convention, if any, will be the same distance from Nova Scotia but in Canada. 

Hopefully, in a day or two I'll have time for figures or a solo game with a blog post to follow.