Marc Training to Become a Soldier

Our son Marc is at Basic Combat Training at Ft. Jackson, SC. He is in C Co., 3-13th Infantry. He is currently starting his 4th week of training - almost halfway through.
We can't wait to see him at graduation the first week of October.

The 13th US Infantry

Here is a photo of the 13th US Infantry. This is the most recent unit I completed for my War of 1812 campaign game. The reason I painted the 13th is because me eldest son is currently in Basic Combat Training at Ft. Jackson, SC. His unit is C Co., 3-13th Infantry. So this is for Marc. The unit is a pretty basic US Infantry unit for the 1814 Niagara Campaign. The troops are clothed in tan coats faced red. The officer and drummer are fairly regulation dress. The unit has a battalion color which includes a "13" to designate the regiment.

How can a month go by so quickly? This has been a very busy time for us as a family and the hobby has really suffered. We had a graduation, my oldest son/middle child Marc graduated from High School and is getting ready to go into the US Army. The rest of the summer - at least until Marc's departure on July 21st - will be kind of hectic.

What little hobby time I have had lately has been spent working on a new idea. Still a very small idea, but it could grow into one of the best yet. Given the success of my Niagara Campaign and other War of 1812 games, I began to toy with the idea of a true Napoleonic, Wing Scale, Volley & Bayonet game. I began to think about all of the "Smaller" Napoleonic battles I could recall. One battle which has always fascinated me is Quatre Bras just before Waterloo. Besides, I have always wanted to have a "Black Brunswicker" wargames army so here is my perfect excuse!

I have started to research Orders of Battle and started to make up a list of the figures necessary to put on a Wing Scale game of Quatre Bras. I even bought enough Old Glory figures to raise the Brunswick force of 1815. The first troops are on the painting table and I hope to have pictures ready for this site within a few weeks.

Stay tuned!

Volley & Bayonet War of 1812 Game

I hosted a Volley & Bayonet Wing Scale scenario last night at the Northern Conspiracy game night. The game pitted relatively even forces against each other in a meeting engagement with the Americans at the top of the map and the British at the bottom. The Americans, slightly inferior in troop quality, held the objective (a farm homestead) at the beginning of the game and the British had to take it from them. The terrain between the British side of the table and the farm was several fields surrounded by fence lines which caused disorder to formed troops trying to cross them.

Overall the game was very close for the first eight turns. On Turn 9 the British finally put in a massive assault on the farm and in one great round of dice rolling (killing 7 strength points) they turned around the entire game and the Americans threw in the towel.
Both sides played the game really well. The player on the American left flank used the Light Brigade to great effect, thoroughly trouncing a brigade of British/Canadian light troops and Indians. The American Rifle Regiments were especially devastating in both long range fire and in close combat. On the British side the player on the British left flank conducted an excellent assault on the defending American brigade which left two of the regiments in complete disarray.

The quality of the British units told in the end. With a couple of morale grade 6 units and one unit with a "shock" rating, the British could close with the American defensive line and overcome it with relative ease.

Thanks to all of the players (John, Leo, Ed and Andrew on the American side and Ralph and Byron on the British side). I am glad that everyone seemed to have a good time. It was nice to get all of the newly painted 1812 stuff on the table.

British Order of Battle:

1 Brigade
41st Foot
56th Foot
90th Foot (Light)
DeMeuron Regiment

2 Brigade
93rd Foot (Highlanders)
100th Foot
5th West Indies

Canadian Light Brigade
5/60 Rifles
Voltiguers Canadians
Quebec Foot Dragoons
Niagara Mounted Guides

Naval Brigade
1 Royal Marine Battalion
3 Royal Marine Battalion
2 Glengarry Militia

4 batteries of artillery (2 field and 2 heavy)


American Order of Battle:

2nd Brigade
1st US Infantry
21st US Infantry
23rd US Infantry

3rd (Militia) Brigade
5th Pennsylvania Volunteers
Dobbins' NY Militia Regiment
Pennsylvania Volunteer Rifles
NY Mounted Volunteers

Light Brigade
1st US Rifles
4th US Rifles
Swift's Regiment of NY Militia
Indians

5th Brigade
14th US Infantry
16th US Infantry
3rd US Volunteers

5 batteries of artillery (2 heavy, 2 light, 1 howitzer)

The Start of a New Game

I have been painting over the last few months. Right now I am closing in on completion of two new units - The 5th West Indies Regiment and the 15th US Infantry. These two units will complete the core forces of both sides for my upcoming fictitious Niagara Campaign. These units bring the totals to 37 US Infantry stands, 3 Cavalry stands (Regulars, Volunteers and Militia) and 30 British/Canadian Infantry stands, 2 Cavalry stands (Regulars and Militia). Added to these are 9 US gun stands and 11 British/Canadian gun stands and numerous skirmisher stands on both sides. Each side also has the requisite Native American stands.
It has taken a few years to get all of these forces ready to go, but they are almost finished! Now if I can recruit some commanders, we can get started with the campaign! More photos to come in the next couple of weeks.

Last Game of 2007 - WWII SPEARHEAD

Just a quick update on the last game of 2007. I hosted a WWII SPEARHEAD game at the Northern Conspiracy game night on December 28th. The Game is called "Home By Christmas" and it is a slightly modified version of the same scenario from the White Star Rising book. In this game the British Armored force moving up a road must link-up with an American airborne regiment holding a small town. The Germans have a hodge-podge of forces between the two allied forces.
At the game night the Germans decided to defend as far forward as possible to the British deployment. This forced the British to fight towards the Americans from the very start of the game. The Germans initially fighting the British included a motorized SS Infantry Battalion and an SS Panzerjager Battalion. These units fought a British Infantry Brigade of two battalions and an armored battalion to a standstill for about 7 turns. The Americans made quick work of the Luftwaffe training unit surrounding them and ended up attacking the German reserve of one motorized SS Infantry battalion by the end of the game. Even a regular army fusilier battalion reinforced by Stug-III's couldn't prevent the Americans from breaking out and counterattacking the surrounding forces.
While the Germans were very successful at the beginning of the game, I think that the British reserve armored battalion would have tilted the game in favor of the allies if it had played out the total 18 turns. The Americans were so successful in the breakout from the town, that they would have put significant pressure on the Germans trying to hold off the British and basically "turned the Germans" out of their defenses.
We are limited to some extent at game night by time. We completed 8 turns of the 18 turns for this game before we had to pack up. Overall, I believe everyone had a good time in this game. It was much closer than I anticipated with the Germans really making the British fight for every inch of ground along the road. The British didn't conduct a cavalry charge that one would anticipate. They were very patient in their attack using the infantry battalions to push the Germans off of some very dominant terrain.
Overall, a great game that I hope to host again at some point in the future.

Back on Line - CD Test of Battle Game Report

Man! Does time fly! I can't believe it has been so long since my last post. I haven't been doing much gaming. Last weekend I had a chance to play in a Command Decision - Test of Battle game at a friends house. The rules are really interesting and the figures we used were great, however, the scenario needs some work. It was a British vs. Italian Western Desert game. I played on the British side and we got our heads handed to us. The Italians were dug in and the Brits had basically just tanks to attack with. The rules really favor dug in defenses because they are so difficult to spot and return fire on. I think the rules have some promise, however, I think they are a bit involved unless you play them often. I think at this point in my life I want to play a simpler set of rules. that I can be away from and come back to easily. I'll let you know if I play the rules again.