Enervation, Ennui: Ma, I'm stuck

I am moving very far very fast. I'm still slogging through my 2nd Maryland figures. I confess, I'm taking a lot of extra time with them. They are Perry figs, and I really do love them. They are very crisp and have a fair amount of extra detail. However, they do have the most annoying mold marks--little tags of pewter that are very hard to see at times. I often find myself scraping them off as I apply paint because I didn't catch them as I was prepping the figures.

The figures in the 1779 regulations uniform are very nice, but the uniform for these boys is brown faced red. Not real exciting. A couple of the officer figures have voluminous jackets that I painted blue faced red, regulation for Maryland units. I've finished all the uniformed types, and a handful of figures in hunting shirts. I'm actually down to the last third of the unit: a dozen figures in shirtsleeves. I've just begun working on them, but I'm still really struggling with a germ and zillion anxieties associated with work and home. It's been a challenge getting painting time.

I've attached a couple pictures of the 2nd Maryland in progress. I've got a few of my finished figures in regimentals, the rest of the finished miniatures are piled behind them. The figures I have in progress are to the right. I actually committed a couple of hours tonight, and a couple more nights' work will wrap them up. Sunday by the latest.

2nd Maryland

These are my 2nd Maryland figures. They are a mix of Perry figures, with a couple of Old Glory guys thrown in to fill it out to 36 figures. I ordered figures in regulation uniforms, hunting shirts and shirt sleeves to show the varying attire of the unit. It's size represents the strength of the 2nd Maryland at Guilford Courthouse, the first of several engagements the regiment went on to fight in 1781. The unit was also at Hobkirk's Hill and Eutaw Springs. At each succeeding battle the unit got a bit smaller due to casualties and, no doubt, desertion.

At Guilford the 2nd Maryland was a green regiment. Unlike the veteran 1st Maryland, they didn't receive the blue regimentals, faced red. They drilled and trained under Nathaniel Greene as the light corps of his army maneuvered north through North Carolina, leading Cornawallis and his army a merry chase. However, the unit was drawn from the entire state of Maryland, rather than a particular locale, loosening those necessary bonds of unit attachment, and many of their officers were transferred to the First Maryland.

Their first action was at Guilford, where they formed part of Greene's third line of Continentals. Unfortunately, they broke under the British attack, which led to the counterattack by the 1st Maryland and Greene's withdrawal despite brilliant fighting on the day.

The Perry figures are mix of uniform types as I explained above. I chose to go with the firing line poses because of the nice mix of miniatures. It's pretty impressive in a large unit. Standards, as with all American units, were problematic. I went with a version of the stars and stripes based on the Jonathan Trumbull version at Yorktown. I also went with a divisional flag, just for something different.

This is the first of three large units for the American Revolution I want to complete by the end of the year. The first and second Virginia regiments are next in line. However, it's unlikely I'll begin working on them until school is out for summer.

My photography is, as always somewhere between crappy and execrable.

Reports From Afar

This post has a number of purposes. First, it is my 100th post. I know they were pretty few and far between the first couple of years, but I'm pleased that I've settled into a system of regular posts in 2008. Maybe it's my own form of journalism now that I'm a student journalism adviser (yes that's the correct spelling in journalism-land.) The other fact I'd like to point out is that nearly 1700 visitors have landed on this blog, and I'd like to thank you for visiting. Thanks too for those of you who have had something to say. It's been nice to have posts to respond to.

Next, there are a couple of events coming up if you happen to be in the proper neighborhood. In eastern Washington SpoCon is a multi-genre convention at Gonzaga University in Spokane August 1-3. Information about the con is here http://spocon.us/ . Though this is more a sci-fi convention than anything else, there appear to be board games, rpg's and historical miniatures as well. Mike Clinton has mad noises about hosting Watch Your Six! air games, and there seems to be some Flames of War and other games planned.

The following weekend is Dragonflight in beautiful Bellevue, WA. Again this is a multi-genre gaming convention, probably the largest in Washington state. It's a good con, though historical miniatures are frequently under-represented. It's a tough gig. The con isn't cheap unless one pre-registers, and not only are games needed but gamers are needed. Information about Dragonflight is located here http://www.dragonflight.org/

My good friend Doug Hamm likes to keep me posted about game nights at the Bonsor Centre in Burnaby, B.C., home of the Trumpeter Club. They meet one Friday per month and host some fabulous games. The Bonsor Centre is a community center with lots of stuff going on, and it is a very practical, affordable venue for a gaming club. This month Doug and others played a 15mm Fire and Fury ACW game. How long has it been since you dragged your 15mm ACW out of the closet?

Doug wrote:

Here are a few photos from the recent game of the fictional "Cedar Run" 15mm ACW game hosted by me.

As usual it seems, I remembered most things one needs to put on a good game: terrain (woods, roads, fences, houses etc etc) but forgot the more obvious: like the dice and the rules!! Luckily, my friend Dennis brought his so all was good. Had more players than anticipated but I was making up the scenario anyway :-)

Will not bore you with all the details suffice it to say that my die rolling was a poor as ever as my two brigades never got into action as I rolled six 1s in eight attempts to get any of them off the road!! (the remaining two throws were a 2 and 3 - again not helpful! For the "Fire and Fury" rules 1s are bad and thus I could not even shake out of road column (I was in reserve). Luckily the Union were not in position to hurt me and the other Confederate players were busily defeating a Union force almost twice their size!

I used many of my 'special' units for this game; brigades represented by actual regiments of the war. The picture of the clash in front of the barn shows Wheat's Zouaves defending again the 165th NY Zouaves in the foreground. The close up shot from the back shows the 146th NY Zouaves (please be kind to the painter as these ARE 15mm and I paint fast) and another unit of 72nd PA moving through the woods. The final shots shows part of the action.

If you don't know Doug, he is a fabulous painter and creates some very nice, very practical terrain pieces. He is also half of the creative team of Larry Leadhead, and yes one is the most likely number Doug will roll regardless of the game system he is playing.

Finally, David Sullivan has begun writing a blog. David is another dear friend, possibly the smartest person I know and he loves ancients, cats, conservative politics, and shooting his cool collection of firearms. He is currently the director of Enfilade and has done loads of stuff for NHMGS. I've put a link to David's blog "I Live With Cats" in my links section. He is a great writer and a wonderful photographer. His entry on FoG is awesome.