Friday 19 April 2013

Marlborough's army

It's great, that feeling you get when a project is completed. I finally completed the last of the infantry and artillery that I needed for Marlborough's British contingent for the Battle of Ramillies. The last 2 battalions of foot, Lalos' and Farrington's have just had their bases finished. So I thought I'd post a few pictures of the completed force.






I've really enjoyed this project. I've used a mix of manufacturers, Dixon, Warrior, Blue Moon, Minifigs, Donnington, Black Hat and Irregular. All the flags were taken from the Warflag site and bases from Warbase. My uniforms guide by Charles Grant proved invaluable as well as the TMP and League of Augsburg forums. When I compare this to the progress I am making on the Friedlingen project, you can see the difference that a target can make. This project has been finished in 4 months while the Friedlingen is still on the go after a year and a half. Now these will be packed away until May next year for the re fight.

Monday 8 April 2013

WSS progress part V

Well, I am nearly nearing completion with this project, with just 2 more battalions of infantry and some artillery to complete with a whole year to spare. The next 2 battalions are those of Evans and Tatton. The only information I had apart from the red  coats was that Tatton's foot had green cuffs and waistcoat, so I also went with green stockings as I like the look. The figures are all from Dixon Miniatures and flag from warflag, just a simple St George's cross.



The next battalion is that of Evans. For these there was even less information, no cuff or waist coat colours were given. I went for green as that was the paint pot I had opened. To differentiate them from Tattons I went with grey stockings which is quite common for English foot. Again these figures are all from Dixon.



This just leaves Lalos and Farringtons battalions, both of which are already prepped and undercoated. I also want to add 6 more artillery pieces to bring my total up to 9, again these are already undercoated and ready for painting.

Saturday 6 April 2013

Raid at Moose tavern

On Thursday night at the club I managed to run another game of Muskets and Tomahawks. The forces ended up larger than I would have wanted due to the addition of 2 extra players. It was also the first time I was using hidden markers, visually not as appealing but that was probably more to the small table and too many units.

The game centred around a French attack on Moose tavern and the surrounding settlement with orders to burn each building. The British were arriving in support of the militia defenders and to beat off the French.

French Force
2 French officers
1 Irregular Officer
2 units of 10 Regulars
1 unit of 8 Canadian Militias
2 units of 8 Companie Franches de la marine
1 unit of 6 Courer de bois
3 units of 6 Hurons

Settlement defenders (British)
2 units of 6 Militia

British relief force
1 Regular officer
1 Provincial officer
2 units 8 Regulars
1 unit of 8 Provincials
1 unit of 8 Rangers
2 units of Mohawks (6 and 5 figures)

The game opened with the French irregulars and Hurons advancing through the woods with the regulars keeping to the dust tracks to aid their movement. The British meanwhile advanced the regulars and provincials into the settlement to support the militia while their Mohawks allies and rangers went looking for the french.



The first engagement came between the rangers and some Hurons, after a brisk exchange of fire the Huron unit was destroyed for the loss of 2 rangers. Meanwhile the Provincials decided to cross the stream via the bridge. Due to an unfortunate sequence of cards, a unit of french regulars were able to advance up, form a firing line before giving them a volley which downed 5 of the provincials and put them to flight. The Mohawks then tried to engage the french regulars but were surprised by a unit of Courers de bois and Canadian militia. Caught in a heavy crossfire, both units were routed.

At Moose tavern the British regulars then got to grip with more marines and Hurons. The rangers came up to support and gave a devastating volley to a unit of marines which saw them routed. The regulars then opened up and destroyed a unit of Hurons, but not before the had torched one of the buildings.






As casulatied began to mount on both sides a second building went up in flames. With no British troops across the stream a third building had been left isolated. The French regulars managed to get moving again bringing them up into range of the British regulars. The french got the better of the exchange. With time running out we called it a day. Most of the British units were either destroyed or heavily damanged, whereas the French still had 4 strong units to attack across the stream and relieve the last of their marines and Huron allies. The game was Victory for the French.

I did have a few learning points with this game. The main one being too many units on a table only 6ft by 4ft. The game got too cluttered and very confusing for both the umpire and players. Also I would restrict hidden movement to only one side unless the scenariio requires it as it just didn't feel or look right. I also need to take more photos, but as the action got fast and furious I got too wrapped up working out the carnage. Still the players enjoyed and that is the main thing.

Tuesday 2 April 2013

FPW French and others

I've been painting a bit of a mixed bag of figures at the moment. First up is the second regiment for my FPW division, the 29th Line. The figures are once again all from Outpost. I did paint up the artillery piece as well but forgot to take a picture of it.



Next up is a unit that has stared at me across the painting table for nearly a year. They are the last of my unpainted ACW infantry, I'll need some more to finish off the remaining brigades. Think this project will get pushed to the end of the year. I painted these up as Kemper's Brigade from Pickett's division. The figures are all from Warrior except a couple of the command figures from Peter Pig. The flag is from an old set of Revo flags that I have had sitting in a box for years.

Kemper's Brigade
Kemper's Brigade
Next up is a move away from historical to fantasy. I painted up this Aragorn figure from Games Workshop to use as a Ranger NPC in my fantasy role play game, I still need to finish off the base. I already have a couple of the other versions painted up as Aragorn.

Ranger
Ranger
Lastly in preparation of a club game on Thursday night with my nephews I set up a FIW game. Still got to think of a suitable title for this one. The pictures below give an idea of the layout. It will be difficult to get regulars moving so I may dispense with them and stick with Rangers, Indians and militia for both sides.
View from the South
Settlement from the West
Settlement from the East
View from the North East
I'll try and remember to take some pictures of the actual game and write up a rough battle report.