Merry Christmas

Thought I would add another post to this blog before the year runs out. What better time than Xmas Eve. So to all you fellow gamers out there, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and I hope you have many good gaming years to come.

Sadly our little Group has been out of action for awhile due to all the Xmas and family business going on. We hope to get a game in around New Years. We went in together and ordered some CigarBox Battle Mats that we hope to put to good use. They had a 20% discount going on orders of three or more mats. If you haven't seen them they are pretty nice. Check'em out here: http://cigarboxbattlestore.bigcartel.com/

So what's Mitch been up to since he hasn't been playing war games. Well I decided to get back into Napoleonic Sharp Practice(SPv2) so restanded some Victrix Napoleonic French I had painted some time ago.

Here are a few more. I've only got three Voltigeur figures and In SPv2 you need six for a Skirmisher Group so decided I needed to paint a few more.

So here they are in process. Nasty figures to put together. I can't see how one can glue the arms on and then paint the figures as they create crevices that I can't get into. So I paint the arms and bodies separately and glue them together later. Tedious but it works. I wouldn't buy Victrix figures again. If you know a better way, please let me know.

I have a box of Colonial Militia from Wargames Factory(now owned by Warlord Games, I think) and decided to paint up a few to see how they look. Just a tad bigger than the Old Glory ones  from Gajo that I have. I intend to paint up some more to replace the Custom Cast militia and skirmishers I have now that are noticeably smaller than the Old Glory.

 Here's a tray of some Napoleonic French wounded I've slowly been trying to paint to use for SPv2 Shock counters. Also have some British I haven't even primed yet. If we ever get back into SPv2 Napoleonic, I gonna need these.

Just finished another twenty man unit of Pathans for TSATF. More on the way. So many figures to paint, so little time. So far I have two units of Pathans and one unit of Brits(see below) complete with several more of each in various stages of completion. Some I acquired already painted and they need just a little touch up. Others need a little more work, but someday soon, Northwest Frontier action with TSATF will be on the menu.

Below are some British  artillery crew intended for AWI period. The black figure is a Surgeon figure intended as a Physician Support for Spv2. In the background a Commander for the Pathans. I've got enough projects going to keep me busy for a long time.

Best Holiday wishes to all of you. Not sure if I'll get another blog entry done before the new year. If not I'll see you on the other side.

Reverend Hal E. Looya

I was looking for a figure as a Holy Man Support option for Sharp Practice v2 American Revolution Period. There are several suitable ones available commercially ranging from monks to priests to reverend types. A good wargaming friend gave me one, but I thought he was a little too pompous looking (the figure, not the friend) for the Ungrateful Rebellious Colonists.

I had a box of the Wargames Factory AWI Militia plastic 28mm figures and decided I could make a suitable figure that was a little more what one find accompanying some rag-tag rebel soldiers. So I selected a figure and added a cross cut from card and a Bible made from Green-Stuff and below is what I ended up with. Meet Reverend Hal E. Looya, ready to bring salvation to the defenders of Liberty and Freedom and Damnation to those who oppose them. It was said where ever he would stop to preach, flowers would soon grow afterward.

 Here he is next to the more formal figure that I plan to use for the British Forces. Please excuse my poor picture taking and staging.

So I don't think he came out to bad. The box of Wargames Factory Militia  has all the figures such that when you glue their head on, they are all facing sort of down. I would have preferred a figure looking more straight ahead or upwards, but he is what he is. Of all the Priest figures I could find, I think the one by Crusader Miniatures, Pirate Motley Crew Pkg is about the most suitable for AWI Patriots, but the one I made is entirely suitable and I don't have to pay for two other figures I can't use. See below:

Thanks for looking

Fife & Drum Rules, 1st Game

I've been looking for a good simple set of rules to use for the American War of Independence(AWI) and found these on the internet. We've been using Sharp Practice for AWI skirmishes, but I wanted to try something that would allow a slightly bigger game and would be a little faster. The rules are designed by the owner of the Fife & Drum 30mm range of Miniatures. They are one page and can be downloaded here: http://fifeanddrum-minis.com/rules--articles.html  You can check out his Blog here: https://altefritz.blogspot.com/

So I set up a meeting engagement too see how these would work. The Americans have slightly more troops, but the British are better quality. The Forces involved were as follows:

British:  Left Flank
7th Fusiliers 28 figures Elite(we ran theses as Grenadiers
71st Highland Regiment  26 figures
1unit of British Light Infantry Skirmishers 6 figures

British:  Right Flank
33rd Line 24 figures
British Legion(Loyalist) 28 figures

Rebellious Colonists: Left Flank
Md Continentals 28 figures
Va State Line 24 figures
4pdr Artillery piece
North Carolina Skirmishers(Rifles) 6 figures

Rebellious Colonists: Right Flank
Delaware Continentals 24 figures
North Carolina Militia 32 figures (no bayonets)
South Carolina Milita24 figures (no bayonets)
South Carolina Skirmishers(Rifles) 6 figures

This shows positions at the end of the 1st turn. Objective for both sides is to capture the cross roads.

This shows disposition at end of 1st turn on the American side. Each side had a Leader for each wing and one overal Commander. We allowed troops to start on table twelve inches from table edge, Skirmishers move really fast in theses rules, 16 inches.

This shows to British first move.

Anither view of the Colonist first move. I've got the right flank and elected to put my Militia troops up front with the De Continentals in reserve on the hill. Gary has the right flank and he has done the opposite, putting the Continentals up front and Va State Line in the rear. We both move our skirmishers up front to get some shots in with our longer ranged rifles.

British left flank, skirmishers out front followed by the Fusiliers and then the Highlanders.

The Colonist Militia move up to the rail fence hoping it will give them some benefit from the British advance. The South Carolina Militia were slowed by the woods and don't quite make it up to the fence yet. The SC Skirmishers have already traded shots with the British and have gotten the worst of it. Although they managed a few hits they themselves they have been reduced to half strength. They pass their morale check however so stick around a little while longer. Not shown on the other side, Gary's NC Skirmishers get a good volley in against the Loyalist Legion who subsequently fail their Morale Check and Rout back.

Maryland Continentals move up to contest the rail fence with the British line. Loyalists are no where to be seen having routed back.

They they go. Not a good day for the British Legion. Perhaps they will rally back.

A view from the British side of the field. Highlanders are moving up although slowed a bit by a small copse of woods.

South Carolina Militia versus Fusiliers on the Colonist right flank. Rebel Force Commander has moved up to give the Militia some moral support for the impending melee.

View from position of the Delaware Continentals in Reserve on a hill.

Rebels are getting the worst from the firefight. SC Skirmishers  are reduced to one stand and are done as a fighting force.

On the other side of the field, the Marylanders morale collapses as a result of the melee and they Route back.

Next turn, the Md Continentals rally and are ready to get back into the fight.

SC Militia cause some casualties on the Fusiliers but fail their Morale test with a Shaken result. They fall back and the Fusiliers take their position.

Highlanders advance and the Virginia State Line takes on the British Regulars. The British Legion failed to rally and flee off the field. NC Militia starts taking casualties.

An epic turn. Highlanders charge the NC Militia who fail their Morale and move back Shaken. On the other side however, the British Line take casualties from the skirmishers on their flank and are charged by the Virginians. It's too much for them and they Route back. British right flank is now completely gone.

The Delaware move up to hold the Fusiliers. Militia units have a good chance of rallying.

British Commander seeing his right flank gone decides to call it a day and orders a retreat. With three rebel units about to fall onto the flank of the Highlanders, it's probably a wise decision. Chalk up one Victory for the ungrateful rebellious colonists.

So our first play-test of the rules went pretty good. I'm sure we did a few things wrong, but the rules aren't bad and they move quickly. The turn sequence is initiative, move, firing , melee and finally morale although it's a little more complicated than that. From the Tutorial on the rules it looks like you do firing then test morale for casualties before going to any melees. It's also not clear to me whether you can charge and then fire before closing into melee.
There is a Tutorial  for the rules here:
http://altefritz.blogspot.com/2017/08/fife-drum-awi-rules-tutorial.html

You might also want to check out his Forum here: http://fifeanddrumminis.proboards.com/ and look at Der Alte Fritz Rules, AWI rules and also his 7 Years war rules as they are similar and I think he has made changes in one set and uses them in the other also.

I would recommend these rules, but you are going to have to come up with interpretations of your own to provide clarity. With a little tweaking, they can give an excellent game and certainly faster moving than Sharp Practice.

If you are interested in the miniatures used, they are mostly Old Glory figures purchased painted up from Gajo Minis. The South Carolina Militia are old Der Kriegspielers miniatures painted up by myself. The British Line are some figures I bought off of  Ebay and repainted. Not sure what manufacturer they are. The Artillery figures are Hincliffe, also painted by me.

Sharp Practice-AWI-Small action somewhere in the Southern Colonies

The West Sound Warriors had another try at Sharp Practice v2 on August 6th at Blue Sky Hobbies in Bremerton, WA. I had picked up some Militia in Civilian Clothes from Gajo while at the  Historicon Convention in Fredericksburg, Va in July. I wanted to give them their baptism of fire so put together a small scenario.

Now I will admit its a somewhat dull AAR, but one can always learn from other's  mistakes and there are not enough SPv2 AAR's out there. So with that in mind, I hope you find something entertaining in the following.

Roster(Order of Battle)
First up is the Roster. I went with 76 points per side, not counting any extra Deployment Points. The Americans(Rebels) were actually one point less. The points were verified by using the Sharpulator, so my Militia in Civilian Clothes with No Bayonets came out at 2 points per Group. This seems too low to me and their performance certainly didn't reflect such a low point value. (more on that later)

So the British had two groups of eight British Regulars, two groups of eight British Light Infantry and one group of six British Light Infantry Skirmishers. They were also supposed to have a unit of eight Loyalist Cavalry, but I forgot to bring them, so they ended up with a group of six Loyalist Skirmishers. (They probably would have dismounted anyway).

The Rebels had one good unit of Delaware Continentals in three groups of eight that could stand toe to toe with the British Regulars. There were two units on Militia each two groups of ten, one without bayonets. Finally the Rebels had one light Artillery piece. (Personally, I think the Sharpulator is a bit flawed but would like to hear your comments on it.)

Roster with Unit characteristics is shown below:

Setup
For this Scenario, the objective is to hold the crossroads. Rebels start out with half their forces on the table. The rest of the Rebels and the British come on at their Deployment points. The Rebels have a Primary and a Secondary while the Crown Forces have a Primary and a Movable DP. The map and initial deployment positions are shown below.

Rebels are on the Left, Crown Forces enter on the Right. There is a hill on each side of the field and various woods that provide cover and block fields of fire. A Mill is located in the center near a stream at the top of the table. A log cabin sits near the cross roads. Field in lower left quadrant is enclosed by a low stone wall. Upper right quadrant is enclosed with rail fences. Wheat fields don't provide any cover or obstruction to movement.

 House Rules:
Previous games have seemed slow to me. Always took too long to get into action. So for this game we made the 1st Movement Die always a "Six". This worked very well and sped up the game. The only other Mod we used was having two Tiffin cards. End of Chapter would occur if either one came up first although this did not happen int his game.

Deployment:
The Rebel Artillery and Militia(with bayonets) under Captain Oliver Loser start out deployed on the hill facing toward the Mill. The Delaware Continentals arrive in Line near the Primary Deployment point and behind a copse of woods. The other Militia(without bayonets) under Lieutenant Moe Lester arrive at the Rebel Secondary Deployment point just short of the wheat field.

The British Regulars use the Primary DP and deploy on the road in column, The British Light Infantry deploy in the field in line. The Loyalist Skirmishers use the Movable DP and deploy behind the hill. The British LI Skirmishers arrive a turn later  and deploy next to the stream headed for the Mill.

Starting Positions for the Rebels, Militia & Gun on hill, Delaware Continentals near road and Lt. Moe Lester's Militia(without bayonets) about to cross wheat field (near side).

Staring positions for British, Regulars in column on the road, LI in line along side. The Skirmishers, both British and Loyalist are not on the table yet. They arrive a turn later.

 

View from the Rebel side, Staring Positions.IN background, British Regulars advancing down road with Light Infantry deployed in Line along side.

Movements:
As I said before,this wasn't a very exciting game and map below shows most of the movement that occurred.
1. The British Regulars moved into the Mill and deployed at all the windows to trade fire with the Militia.
2. British LI Skirmishers moved up behind the Mill and eventually deployed into some woods alongside the road where they suffered some casualties from the Rebel Artillery.
3. The Loyalist Skirmishers advanced past the log cabin to engage the other Militia Unit behind the stone wall. The Militia gave them a thrashing and they had to withdraw.
4. British Light Infantry advanced to support the Loyalist Skirmishers and eventually broke formation to pass around the cabin. They were engaged by the Delaware Continentals and driven back.

On the Rebel side, Capt, Loser's Militia eventually advanced to the rail fence where they traded shots with the British Regulars in the Mill. The Delawares advanced towards the cross roads and stopped to give the British LI a crashing volley. Lt Lester's Militia advanced to the stone wall where they engaged the Loyalist in a fire fight and eventually drove them back. They then engaged one of the British LI Groups, then charged and drove them back as well..

LT. Lester's Militia trade shots with the Loyalist Skirmishers inflicting enough Shock to dive them back. They then moved up to the wall to engage one of the British LI Groups. Rebel Artillery put some shots into the British LI and Capt Loser's Militia move up to the rail fence.

Another view of action showing position of British LI who are about to be engaged by the Delaware Continental and Lester's Militia. British Regulars are still deploying into the Mill and British Skirmishers are still moving up.

Lester's Militia have driven off the Loyalist Skirmishers and have engaged the British LI. They are about to charge over the wall and melee the LI.The Rebel Artillery and the Delawares with a crashing volley, put some Shock onto one of the unfortunate British LI Groups. IN background, British LI Skirmishers have now made it into the woods.

Another view as above. Note: the Delawares got a Random Firing Event that left a large cloud of smoke in front of them that obscured vision and gave a minus one to chance of hitting.

 

A view from the British Side. Skirmishers soon came under fire from Rebel Artillery.

 

Here you can see the British Light Infantry Group after the melee with the Militia. They have lost about half their number and gained considerable Shock. The other Group will soon join them.

 

Here the other Group of Light Infantry has been driven back due to Shock. Also, the British Regulars and Skirmishers have taken a few casualties from Artillery and Miltia fire.

With the Loyalist and the Light Infantry being severely hindered by casualties and shock, the Crown Forces decide to call it a day and give up the cross road to the Rebels. Both the Delaware Continentals and Lt. Lester's Militia are barely touched and the British would have a hard time to prevent them from advancing and taking the British Deployment Points.

 

Delawares and Lester's Militia have only about two casualties each so are in good shape. Capt Loser's Militia has about five casualties. Brits decided they would have a hard time holding their left flank so conceded the field.

Other than the Militia charging the British LI, there wasn't a lot of excitement in this game. The British Regulars could have done some significant damage but were hesitant to attack due to the Rebel Artillery. Lieutenant Moe Lester's Militia performed admirably and shows what can be done with aggressive play. It should be noted however, that the Rebels had a better run of dice on that side of the table which may have skewed things.

I'm not sure the rules adequately reflect the disadvantages of Militia in this game. Perhaps they should automatically be encumbered with negative characteristics such as "Weedy Coves" and "Poor Shots" to better reflect their historical performance. As it is, a twenty figure Militia unit with "First Fire" and a "Controlled Volley(First fire only)" can do significant damage to a six figure Skirmish Unit or even Formation of Line troops. There is no mechanism in the rules to reflect the historical proclivity for Militia units to run away at the first shot. What do you think? Constructive comments always welcome. Hope you found something here to help your understanding and enjoyment of SPv2.