Poitiers: Les Crapauds

That's not a very fair title.  Of course, I am English speaking.  Oh well.  For all those French speakers out there, I apologize.

Poitiers map showing the consecutive advances of the French divisions, allowing their numerical superiority to be squandered.

Unfortunately the French in 1356 were not blessed with dynamic leadership on the battlefield at Poitiers.  King Jean II responded to Prince Edward's chevauchee through Poitou by calling for the arriere ban, summoning his nobles and local militia to him.  Though he dismissed a great many of the more poorly equipped dross, he cornered Anglo/Gascon force near the important town of Poitiers. He proceeded to throw his army away in a series of uncoordinated attacks that tested English resolve, but ultimately wrecked his army, led to his capture and the economic and political humiliation of his country.

Green estimates the strength of the French at Poitiers as follows:

8,000 knights and men at arms
2,000 crossbowmen
5-6000 light infantry.  These could be a collection of the rather nice OG militia, halberdiers, pavisiers with spears.  They lack arms, armor and most of all motivation.

The French were divided into several divisions including a mounted contingent.  As you can see the French seriously outnumber the English, according to Green, some 15-16,000 against one that maxes out at 8,000.  Historically the size of the French army was estimated as much larger, perhaps as many as 30,000.  As Anne Curry (in Agincourt: A New History) has suggested, however, this is likely apocryphal-English mythmaking.  Armies this large were simply too large to maintain in the field, and many of the troops, local levies, simply more trouble than they were worth.  

Scottish knight William Douglas rides to his doom with the Marshals of France.

For game purposes, I will follow the same rules I laid down for the English.  Knights and men at arms are mounted four to a 50mm X 50mm base.  Light infantry and crossbowmen are three to a base with skirmishy types mounted two to a stand. One stand of infantry represents approximately 100 men.  Cavalry are mounted two to a base and 50 men.

Vanguard-The French vanguard represents the opening cavalry charges by the Marshals and the first infantry assault that closely follows their charge.
Marshal Audrehem: 4-5 stands mounted knights
Marshal Clermont: 4-5 stands mounted knights
Vanguard foot under Constable Brienne:
Knights and men at arms (includes a German contingent under the Duke of Sarrbruck and others)
12-15 stands
Light inantry:  5-8 stands
Crossbowmen: 15 stands

1st Division (Dauphin Charles)
Knights and men at arms: 20 bases (includes at least two bases of Scots led by William Douglas)
Light infantry: 10 bases

2nd Division: Duke of Orleans.  These guys were not happy campers, with at least half the division drifting away before their attack.  This division may never have contacted the English.
Knights and men at arms: 10-20 bases
Light infantry 10-20 bases

3rd Division: King Jean
Knights and men at arms: 30-35 bases.  20 of the bases should be elite
Light infantry: 15-20 bases
Crossbowmen: 5-6 bases

In this fanciful picture, King John is captured by the Black Prince.

As you can see, by simply counting the bases, the French are considerably larger than the English.  The facts of the battle are simply that the French failed to combine their disparate divisions to swamp the English/Gascon defenders.  However, it is clear from all accounts the English took many losses along the way, and were worn down by the constant fighting. The appearance of Jean's massive division was dispiriting when it appeared, advancing on the defeneses. 

Order of Battle for Poitiers: The English

James Audley's banner appears with the Black Prince's battle at Poitiers.

Poitiers is one of the big three battles from the Hundred Years War.  Big three because it was one of the decisive English victories, the other two being Crecy in 1346 and Agincourt in 1415.  There are other important English victories, and some big French victories, but we mostly forget them because we speak English and in these battles the French, to put it politely, got their asses kicked-hard, many times.

Of these battles, Poitiers may be the most important, the least remembered, the most unusual, and the most interesting to game. At Crecy and Agincourt, the French behave incredibly stupidly and are annihilated in a storm of arrows.  On horseback at Crecy (so the wounded horses aid the archers in dispatching their riders) and on foot in the mud at Agincourt. At Poitiers the French again behave stupidly, but there aren't so many archers or so many arrows as at the other battles, so it takes on more of a medieval slogging match. There's a mounted charge, an off board flanking movement, the King of France is captured, "humiliations galore" to quote Inigo Montoya. But it didn't have to be that way

Old Glory Welsh spearmen carrying the sometimes lethal Northstar spears. These will be light infantry

Lots more to write about the battle, but there are many better print accounts if you are interested, including some of very recent vintage.  Christian Teutsch's 2010 reinterpretation of the battle

VICTORY AT POITIERS: The Black Prince and the Medieval Art of War is on my birthday list.  However no book can be handier for the wargamer than David Green's The Battle of Poitiers, 1356. This 2002 account provides information about the battle, the composition of forces and the leading characters.  There is even a section on wargaming Poitiers.  A few not terribly useful color plates and some maps, make this a worthwhile purchase. Unfortunately, it's not currently in print, but can be had used for about ten bucks.  One more book that is quite useful if you can lay your hands on a copy is Don Featherstone's guide to gaming the battle, Poitiers, 1356.  Published in 1976, as one of the Knights Battle series, it's also a handy guide to the action, though not as well guided by recent scholarship.  Featherstone included a set of very playable rules I'll hope to adapt over to my game. Is available quite cheap used.

I currently have 12 painted stands of English knights and men at arms.  I only need 18-28 more!!

Poitiers is not a small battle, and the French army is especially large.  I've chosen to recreate the battle in approximately 1:25. 50mm square Infantry bases with 2-4 28mm figures to a stand equal about 100 men. Though there isn't much cavalry at this battle, I'm counting two figures on a 50mm square base as 50 figures.  I'm more interested in counting bases than I am figures.  You'll see the required number of bases is pretty big, so I've decided to use Old Glory figures.  Their Crecy and Poitiers range is quite acceptable.  I acquired quite a few figures a few years ago, but I'll need more.  My target is to have both sides painted for the anniversary in 2016.  To have any hope of finishing this and Bladensburg, however, I've begun painting now. 

According to David Green, the English army is composed of the the following troop types: 

3,000-4,000 knights and men at arms.

2,500-3,000 archers

1,000 light troops

The English order of battle is pretty straightforward.  The English army is divided into three commands: 

The vanguard is commanded by the earls of Warwick and Oxford, and includes the Gascon noble, the Captal de Buch.  According to Green, this command consists of 500 men at arms, 500 light infantry, and 1000+ archers.  For my purposes this will equal out to the following: 

6-8 stands of dismounted knights and men at arms.

5-6 stands of light infantry (these could be Welsh spearmen, Breton bidets or Gascon militia types)

12-15 stands of longbowmen (though the case could be made these could include some Gascon crossbowmen. 

As a note, these should also include three stands of mounted knights that delivered the final crushing flank attack against King Jean's division.  

The center is commanded by the Prince of Wales.  Many of his favorite retainers are included in this division, such as Sir John Chandos, Sir James Audley and Sir Reginald Cobham. This force totals some 2,000+ men at arms.  I plan to build them as: 

20-25 stands of dismounted knights and men at arms.  I'll likely split the stands into several smaller commands. 

The rearguard is commanded by the Duke of Suffolk. His command is similar to the  vanguard. I'll represent them as follows: 

6-8 stands of dismounted knights and men at arms

5-6 stands of light infantry

12-15 stands of longbowmen.  

One further consideration when fighting this battle.  When the action entered it's terminal phase, and King Jean's final battle was wavering and beginning to retreat, there is some suggestion that some of the English knights and men at arms ran to their horses and managed a charge against the French.  I don't know how much of this is true and I'm anxious to read Teutsch's account to see what he suggests. If you wish to include this, there might need to be a an English mounted contingent to replace some of the dismounted knight stands.

Bladensburg: The British

72 hours since my last visit to TMP.  The urge is growing less all the time. 

The British marched to the Bladensburg battlefield under orders from Admiral Cockburn to punish Brother Jonathan.  The British force, commanded by General Robert Ross, was landed on August 19th,  marched up the Patuxent River, accompanied by come of Cockburn's smaller vessels.  He forced the burning of Barney's flotilla of gunboats before turning inland toward Washington and Baltimore.

Robert Ross forces his way into Washington D.C. through the American lines at Bladensburg.

Again, the scale for this battle are 50 men per stand.  We use the Regimental Fire and Fury rules, plus the additional support provided for the War of 1812.

The British order of battle for Bladensburg is as follows:

Commander:  General Robert Ross

1st Brigade (light infantry) Col. William Thornton
Converged Light Infantry battalion           six stands                        veteran light infantry
85th Regt.                                                  twelve stands                   veteran light infantry
Royal Marine light infantry                       four stands                      veteran light infantry

All these troops are capable of fighting in extended (skirmish) order.  Facing the Maryland militia, with three sections of artillery in fairly close proximity requires this brigade to form skirmish order and cross the bridge in skirmish order.

2nd Brigade Col. Arthur Brooke
4th Regt.                                                   eight stands                     veteran line infantry
44th Regt.                                                 eight stands                     veteran line infantry
Royal Marine rocket battery          three-four sections                     veteran rocketeers

This brigade appears at the bridge on turn 3.  The rocket battery was extremely mobile and should be two-action artillery.   The battery had some sixty rocket frames and fired quickly.  If you have a copy of Rocket’s Red Glare, the rules by Canadian Wargamers Group, you might take a look at the rocket template in those rules.

3rd Brigade: Col. Patterson

21st Regt.                                                eight stands                      veteran line infantry 

2nd Battalion Royal Marines                  eight stands                      veteran line infantry 

elements 3rd Battalion Royal Marines    four stands                        veteran line infantry 

Colonial Marines                                     four stands                        trained line infantry

 This group appears at the bridge on turn 6.  

A modern view of the Bladensburg battlefield.

We've played this scenario a couple of times, and both times, nobody was particularly satisfied with the outcome.  The Americans just can't be as bad as their morale and training were, and can't be as poorly led as badly as their political and military leaders made use of them.  However, I'm working on it.  

This summer I'll be painting a unit of the Annapolis militia and the U.S. Marines using Knuckleduster Miniatures.  I'll also finish assembling and paint up the battalion of converged British light infantry using Victrix figures.  Maybe I'll get more than that done in July and August, but I'm not going to stress myself out about it. 

Planning for Bladensburg: American Order of Battle

I've been able to stay away from TMP for 24 hours.

I am actually trying to plan for my summer painting and I've pretty much settled on the two areas I'll be painting.  Once I clear my painting table of  a few extraneous units I'm working on, I'll focus on two projects.  The first is the Battle of Bladensburg in 1814, and the second is the Battle of Poitiers in 1356.

Bladensburg is the battle outside Washington D.C. in 1814.  There is a simple synopsis.  The Americans, with a superiority in numbers opposed the crossing of what is now the Anacostia River by a British force.  The British fired some Congreve rockets at them and the Americans fled.  Though some units in the American third line resisted heroically, they were outnumbered by the advancing British, were overwhelmed and the Brits marched on to Washington. 

Lossing's map shows the deployments of the Americans.

Doug and I have run Bladensburg before, but I've decided to paint all the units actually at the battle.  We will use Regimental Fire and Fury with the War of 1812 modifications.  Each four man stand represents 50 men.  I'm working in 28mm, but there are certainly some fine 15mm War of 1812 ranges from Old Glory and Blue Moon. I'll be using Old Glory and Knuckleduster miniatures for my Americans, and Victrix and Old Glory for the British. The source is Lossing's Field Book of the War of 1812.

American Order of Battle  under command of General Winder

American First Line-Pinkney
Pinkney's Maryland Riflemen           three stands                raw militia
Maryland Militia Artillery                 three sections 6 pdrs. raw militia

Sterret's 5th Maryland eventually broke after its supporting units dissolved.  But it regained its reputation as a fighting militia unit as depicted by Troiani fighting at North Point.

The first line is entrenched, facing the bridge the British will cross over the Anacostia River. Unfortunately the embrasures for the guns are designed for larger guns, and the gunners are forced to scrape out new ones.

American Second Line--Stansbury
Sterret's 5th Maryland Battalion        nine stands                   trained militia
Schurz's Maryland Militia                  seven stands                raw militia
Raglan's Maryland Militia                 seven stands                 raw militia

These troops, together with Pinkney's small corps form the volunteers from Baltimore.  Their original position, supporting Pinkney was changed by James Monroe, Secretary of State.  Monroe sent them up the hill to the rear, to far away to be a support to Pinkney and exposed to fire from the British rocket batteries and musket fire.

American Third Line-General Winder.

Joshua Barney led his mixed force of green regulars, Marines and bluejackets to the battlefield at Bladensburg.  His naval gunners did great execution among the British, but their resistance collapsed when Barney fell wounded.

 

This line begins arriving on turn 1 and includes the following troops:

 

Scott’s Regulars                                              six stands                    raw regulars

Marines                                                           three stands                 veterans

Barney’s Flotillamen                                       six stands                   veterans

Barney’s Naval Artillery                                 two sections                naval guns

The next group begins arriving on Turn 4 and includes the following troops:

Beal’s Annapolis Militia                                 six stands        raw militia

Morrison’s Annapolis Militia                         six stands        raw militia

Wadsworth’s Militia Artillery                         two sections    raw militia artillery

The final groups begins arriving on Turn 7 and includes the following units: 

Three Units of District Militia                        Four stands each         raw militia

The Americans mustered about 6,900 men for the battle.  Of those troops, about 700 or so were regulars.  The rest were militia.  Of the militia, only the 5th Maryland had a reputation for being well drilled, and well trained.  The rest were raw.

Projects: a look ahead

It's time for a little reflection over the past year and a little planning for the coming year.  Yes, I know it's the end of May, but my wargaming year ends with the convention and I begin to think about what to do for the next Enfilade. 

Though I found this convention pretty relaxing, I ran at least one more game than I would like to.  Ideally, next year I'd like to keep my activities at the con to just three games, with the rest of the time an opportunity to play games, photo games, shop, have a quiet meal, etc. I don't think I'm going to plan anything major that's new for next year, which kind of leaves me free to enjoy the painting I'll do and confine it to my existing projects.  Here's what I'm thinking:

1.  Thunderboats were missing from our schedule of games this year.  A couple of guys asked me about them.  They're low stress and fun, and I think I'll probably host a hydroplane racing game on Sunday. Maybe just a fun free for all.  Maybe something like the Gold Cup race a couple of years ago. I think I have three boats left to paint, and I'd like to get those done.

2.  I want to leave one game free for an air or sea project with Dave.  I just like working with Dave.  I learn a lot from him about scenario design, he's a good friend, and really the projects don't take that long or cost that much.  I'm in.

3.  St. Jean is a game I've run before at other gatherings.  It's a big setting up nightmare, but I think it would be fun.  It will also keep me motivated to paint my huge stash of Hundred Years war figures.  Poitiers in 2016, maybe sooner. 

4.  This is a big maybe, but I'm assuming with the War of 1812 bicentennial Mark and Doug are going to want to run Crysler's Farm, which is an 1813 battle. I don't know how much I need to be involved in the planning, because the painting is done.  I may just plan to play in the game, either side is okay, just to be a resource and be a kibbitzer involved in the scenario design.  The battle is definitely fiddly and will require using game elements effectively to make it balanced enough to create a semi-historical result.

So, at least at this point, that's where I am with potential Enfilade games.  Nothing really new, except maybe for an air or sea game.  I'd really just like to have an enjoyable year of painting with little rush, just painting what I feel like.  Here are some things I'd like to pick at:

1.  Hundred Years War--I probably have 500 painted figures for this period, but I also have about 400 more unpainted figures.  Some are intended for my singly mounted stuff, most are intended for my larger scale project that will become Poitiers.

2.  War of 1812--I am committed to hosting the Battle of Bladensburg outside Washington D.C. for Enfilade in 2014.  I am also going to help host Lundy's Lane and Chippewa.  There are lots of militia to paint, and lots of British, including my pile of Victrix figures.  I probably need to buy another box of British elite companies and hunt down some really great Royal Marine figures.

3.  America vs. Spain--I've painted up all the infantry figures I have for this period, but still have fifty mounted that need work.  I'd like to begin to acquire more Spanish foot too, and at least one more pack of Wayne's Legion foot.  Not pressing, but I'd like to at least paint what I have.

4.  Paint those ships--I really enjoy painting ships of all kinds, and, shockingly, I have lots of ships of all kinds to paint. One more 25mm cog, wouldn't mind acquiring a fourth.  ACW ships, batteries and buildings from Thoroughbred and Bay Area Yards live in my drawers of shame and could do with some building and painting. I have given a base coat to all my PT Dockyard vessels for St. Nazaire and would really like to finish them up.

Treading cautiously: modern naval war in the Straits of Hormuz

I've written about Dave Schueler many times in the past.  He is a good friend and a great gamer.  Daveshoe recently had one of his board games, U-Boat Leader on submarine warfare published, and that is huge news.  Congrats to him.  He is also one of my favorite co-conspirators.  We got to know each other well through our early dabblings with the WWII air game Mustangs, our work on the Golden Age Air Racing, Thunderboats and many other naval and air projects. Dave is a great teammate, he understands game systems, and there is no better designer of scenarios.

Cyber-Hobby LCS-4 is a highly detailed 1/700 model of a mine warfare version of the U.S. Navy's Littoral Combat Ship

In any case, Dave and I have been chatting up an Enfilade naval scenario.  We originally thought we'd rerun a WWII naval game we'd hosted at ConQuest several years ago.   We've been reconsidering this, however as the crisis with Iran becomes ever more topical.  While we've done an interesting Strait of Hormuz game in the past, we're considering another.  With the new Littoral Combat Ships entering service and miniatures available from P.T. Dockyard and Cyber-hobby models, the period is available to be gamed.  We'll offer a menu of ship choices to the United States and probably a combination of Revolutionary Guard and Iranian Navy vessels to the Iranian players.  There will likely be objectives beyond reducing one or the other side to splinters.

Throndor class missile boat test firing new Iranian missile

Frankly, I find the entire Iran/Straits issue quite troubling.  By the time of Enfilade, the advanced sanctions and potential boycott of Iranian oil will be nearing implementation by the European Union and the United States.  Threats of war and rising tensions between the U.S. and Iran are likely to be regular features in the print and electronic media.  Is this a topic we should avoid for a convention game, or is a good game just a good game?

Chickasaw Fort WIP 3

The fort or palisade or whatever you want to call it is moving toward it's terminal phases.

I started by painting the palings Ceramcoat brown-gray and then washing them with Ceramcoat Walnut.  That made them look pretty weathered, maybe a little too weathered, and also gave the color just a little more depth.  I also used the Walnut wash over the built up areas to provide some shading to the earthen areas.

 After that it was patiently putting down the Woodland Scenics turf.  It's really tempting to rush through this, but that just creates holes in your work.  I use a big brush to apply Woodland Scenics cement and then just scatter it over the glue and try to recover whatever is left over.  Then I let it sit for 15 minutes before moving on to the next area.  When it's all applied, I Dullcoat it to more effectively hold it in place.

 Next, it's on to the finishing landscape pieces.

SNOW DAY!! The Revenge

Snow days are always a mixture of elation and frustration for me.  As a teacher, I know these are days I'll need to make up in June.  They're not freebies off with pay.  Unlike my wife, I can't work them off from home.  They have some real consequences for me.  The first snow day of the year is made up on the Friday before Memorial Day weekend.  That's the first day of Enfilade.  No snow days means I can easily make the Friday sessions.  Snow days mean I have to leave from school at 2:30 and fight traffic down to Olympia.  Bleah.

 The snow days of this week, however, had a new set of challenges.  We knew the Wednesday snow fall was going to be big.  Just how big wasn't clear.  I thought I'd be out of school Wednesday and Thursday and back to work on Friday.  I envisioned lots of painting and finishing the Chickasaw palisade.  It certainly started out that way.

 Wednesday we got the snow.  Thursday morning we got freezing rain.  Dum, dum, dum.  In an area with lots of trees and above ground electrical wires, freezing rain is the weather equivalent of nuclear war.

At 9:00 we heard from my son a few miles away, he'd lost power.  At 11:00 I walked out to the arterial near our development to check on road conditions, came home to figure out how to best de-ice our frozen cars, walked in the door and we lost our power.  It was out for nearly 60 hours, coming on last night at 8:00ish.

As with all disasters, the first thing you have to do is assess your resources.  We knew we'd have light for a while-good.  We also had an electric lantern-rechargeable variety-so light-for a while.  We had plenty of food.  A few years ago we installed a gas fireplace in the living room and a small standing gas fireplace in the bedroom for just these occasions.  We wouldn't freeze or be forced to leave the house with our ridiculous dogs.No entertainment to speak of, but I did have a battery powered radio that could also be hand cranked and lots of batteries. I had my Kindle, with a nice back light, so I could read in the dark until . . .A couple of working flashlights and Lorri is the candle queen.

We also checked our problems.  The fireplaces would keep our bedroom warm if we closed the door, but the electric blower in the living room was off so the immediate effect of the living room fireplace was to camp us right in front of it.  No computer, limited light, no television.     Phones are all-electric, so no phones.  Cell phone service went down with the nearby cell towers, so service was terrible. Text messaging was okay, but no internet, e-mail, or calls from my iPhone.

 Bottom line, we were prepared for a short power outage, the kind we always have, say 24-36 hours.  We survived Thursday and Friday just fine.  It still got chilly in the house unless in the bedroom or sitting by the fireplace. There was never enough light paint by, and one can only listen to so much radio.  The lantern died after about 12 hours and no way to recharge.  We didn't complain, however.  We drove all around, to charge our phones, and could see the outage was massive.  18,000 customers in Puyallup lost power; 280,000 in the Puget Sound area were out-we'd get by. 

Thursday we checked on family, and drove to survey the extent of the outage.  We went to the movies and saw We Bought a Zoo and I liked it. Cameron Crowe movie with Matt Damon, what's not to like.  This was easy.

 Friday I drove around and surveyed the extent of the damage.  Weyerhaeuser, Lorri's employer, lost power, so I drove her around in search of fabric stores.  No luck, all closed.  Came home.  No power.  The lantern died.  I finished building the Chickasaw fort by firelight. Not fun. A last drive on Friday night to recharge the cell phones showed a little progress in repairing the power.  We were optimistic.

 By Saturday morning, it was clear the repairs were fully underway.  The neighborhoods with power were creeping closer to us.  We had an errand to run to Issaquah, forty miles away, and were confident when we returned we too would have power.  My son Pat got his power back within six hours of his outage.  My mother in law had hers back within eighteen hours, and my brother-in-law Paul had his back early Saturday morning. Our errand, to pick up forty pounds of chicken, which would go in our freezer, required power.

When we returned home at 4:00 to no power it was devastating. (We ran the meat over to my vegan son and daughter in law's freezer.  They must have been so pleased.) I was looking forward to who know's how much longer of time wasted-no heat, no light, no painting gah!  Lorri went out with a friend at 6:00 and sent me a text that some houses in our development-"Fuck those guys, I want power." I sent off several Facebook posts reporting similar, if somewhat more G rated views. My brother-in-law dropped off a working lantern, some hot water for coffee and tea.  Ingrate that I am, I continued reading my Kindle by firelight and finished my Diet Coke, but I did truly appreciate the effort. Finally at 8:30 the power came on to cheers and hosannas. 

I know we're fortunate.  It could have been worse and for many folks out there that live on isolated lots or small communities, it will be.  Puget Sound Energy always focuses on the biggest bang for their buck first-bring on as many customers at one time as possible.  Some time mid-week they'll have their power back on.

Top view of completed fort.  I used wood putty around the base of the palings and created some slight ground irregularities.

A comparison with figure size.  The minis are OG Woodland indians.

Another shot with Indians from a different angle.  Seems weird to have Indians defending a frontier fortification.

The beginnings of landscaping.  I painted the green areas with an artist's acrylic.  I just can't make Ceramcoat's Forest Green cover anything so I'm using Artist's Advantage Hooker Green from Fred Meyer.  It works.

Another aerial shot.

 So my snow days are gone, and it's time to move on.  I've included a couple of photos of the few things I was able to get done.  The Chickasaw fort is still in progress.  The palings are all in, and now I'm beginning to landscape.

One can't have too many trees, and I have a bajillion armatures for fairly smallish trees and the clump foliage to stick on 'em.  They'll be mounted on washers to weigh the little darlin's down.

I started working on trees from Woodland Scenics.  I have a lot of the smaller armatures, and I want to be sure I have plenty for the Chickasaw game.  I'm weighting them with 5/16" washers flat cut washers so I can use them individually.  I probably have about 60 or so armatures, so I've got a lot of work to do.

The Indian Stockade: WIP

It's great, I'm here at school on deadline on a Friday night, desperately hoping I'll get home in time to see the season premier of Portlandia.  Some things are more important than others. In between looking at stories, and page designs I decided to amuse myself by working on my next terrain project, the Chickasaw stockade.

As you can see from the illustration, the Chickasaw stockade is not huge, and is nothing like we see on the whites building on the frontier.  No bastions, firing platforms or interior buildings. In an Indian palisade, the palings simply are not flush together.  A gap is left between the timbers to allow fire. There's not a gate; entering and exiting  is done by a narrow opening.  My objective is to provide a simple fortification warriors can use to defend their village and food source, or send their families for safety.  And I want to scratch build it.

There is a commercial Indian palisade available from Acheson Creations. It's not even terribly expensive, and looks pretty nice, but I've decided to make it myself. 

I decided on dimensions of 12" X 6" with rounded corners.  I decided to make the palings two inches tall from 1/8" craft dowels I bought at Michaels.

Step One:  I cut the dowels on my little scroll saw, shattering a few along the way.  My bad.  After cutting the dowels into two inch lengths. I traced out the outline of the palisade. 

The dowels are sanded to flatten one end and an irregular peaked shape is created on the the other end

A hole is drilled in the flat end and a hunk of .032" brass wire is glued into the hole

 Step Two: I decided the best way to fix the palings into the plywood was to put a pin into them and glue them into the holes.  I sanded one end down flat and tried to remember to round off the top edge or to make a point; I didn't want them to appear too uniform.  I started by using a pin vise to drill the hole because I was afraid using a drill might split the dowel.  After taking forever and wearing out my hand, I switched over to my Dremel tool and it worked fine. I chose .032" brass wire for the pins and I began cutting it to length.  Actually, to make it easy, I inserted the brass rod into the hole and cut the protruding rod to the desired length, and glued it in with CA glue.

I started gluing the palings into the holes in the plywood and immediately discovered I'd need to skip some of the holes if the palings were to have enough room and leave sufficient gaps. 

One view of the Chickasaw fort under construction.  The palisade doesn't have a gate.  The entrance is open but protected by fire from the overlapping curved wall.

The palings don't fit flush and provide some fire openings between palings, yet offer some protection to defenders including women and children seeking shelter from an attacker.  The holes for the palings are clearly visible.

The brass wire offers some advantage.  It fits snugly in the holes, and can be bent a bit to get the palings perpendicular.

Chickasaw Bluffs: an outline

I've been trying to put together my plans for Chickasaw Bluffs as part of my Enfilade projects.  I'm thinking seriously about what I want the game to look like.  It might be complicated but should be fun.  So here it is in a nutshell.

The Layout

There are two 8' X 5' game tables separated by space to move between them.  The left table is an all land table, at relatively equal elevation.  The terrain will consist of an Indian village represented by four or five small buildings and a defensive stockade, plus a large cornfield. The rest of the terrain will be some medium sized hills and a fair number of trees.

Yes, it's crude, but I'm thinking the board will look something like this. 

The right table is partly river, with a with an irregular shoreline roughly bisecting the table lengthwise. The shoreline rises quickly to an impassable height with a steep, but passable grade near the board edge.  At the top of the hill is a Spanish battery defended by an earthwork.    At the top of the table is a Spanish encampment.

 The Forces

American Forces: The Americans will have a combination of regular and militia troops.  There are six American units (half companies) of 12 figures each.  In addition there are eight militia units (half companies) of 10 figures each.  To support the foot forces will be at least one (perhaps two) mounted militia companies of ten figures each, and an artillery detachment two-three guns (there will be choices to make.)  Last, but not least, the Americans will have a keelboat and four armed pirogues.  The priogues can each carry a half company (one unit.)  The keelboat can carry a complete company (two units)

Spanish Forces: The Spanish will also have a combination of regular and frontier militia (cuera) troops.  There are two half companies of Spanish regulars, 10 figures each.  The three militia half companies are also of ten figures each.  One of the Cuera companies may also mount as lancers.  Finally, the Spaniards will also have three artillery crews.  They will be able to apply these to the three pounders in their camp, or the twelve-pounders in their earthwork.

Indian Forces: The Indians, Chickasaw warriors, will defend their homes with eight ten man units, all dismounted.

The Scenario  

A combined army of American regulars and militia are making their way down the Mississippi to capture New Orleans.  The Spanish are fortifying the west bank of the Mississippi and providing anchorages for river galleys in order to control Mississippi traffic.  The Americans force is intended to capture  the Spanish battery commanding the river from the bluffs.  

The Spanish have paid the Chickasaw (and other tribes) to fight the Americans, who menace their homelands.  The Chickasaw also provide some much needed to manpower to augment the small and dispersed Spanish Army in America.  

Particulars

The American forces are divided between a force marching overland toward the Chickasaw village, and an amphibious force aimed at ascending the bluffs from the river .  The Indians may begin in the cornfield or the stockade to defend their village.  The Spanish begin in their encampment, ready to move, having been given the alarm by their Chickasaw allies. 

Units can move freely between the two tables, being separated only by convenience.  I'd be interested to hear, dear readers, what you think. 

On my painting table: gunners, ballplayers and Cavalcade Miniatures

Sometimes it's just hard to post.  It's not that I'm doing nothing, it's that my whole world is in process.

I've actually been painting my little (I wish) butt off.  Last weekend I finished painting up all those nice U.S. and Spanish artillerymen I wrote about.  They're finished, but the basing isn't done.  Not on all those silly American infantry either.  Why?

In the foreground are the Perry gunners.  Very nice, uncluttered figs.  In the back are the RSM Spanish artillerymen.  I'll get a final photo out when they are properly based.

Well it's the Christmas season dontcha know.  This year I've foolishly decided to paint some figures for two of my non-painting friends.  So as we hurtle toward next weeks's X-mas deadline I have to knock out twenty three 28mm figures. It's a lot but I'm making pretty good progress.

First on the list is 15 baseball players.  They are the last of my Reviresco baseball stash, and I wanted to paint them for my friend who is a big baseball fan.  He's equally divided between the Yankees of the Bronx Zoo era and those 80's Cubbies.  I decided to paint them up as the '84 Cubs that won the NL East title because I am an inveterate Yankees hater.  There was something very working class about that Cubs team, and I painted them up in their blue away pullovers.  There are some fiddly details on them that give the uniforms some character.  Should be finished with them tonight.

Tim's '84 Cubs from Reviresco.  The figs are pretty simple, and most of the detail has to be painted in.  Even so, every team I've painted has been fun. 

The other gift I'm painting is a batch of figures from Cavalcade Miniatures.  I first saw Cavalcade's French and Indian War figures on The Miniatures Page, and decided I needed an excuse to at least paint some.  I ordered a box each of the Rogers Rangers and French Marine figures.  The miniatures are all in serious winter dress and are wearing snowshoes.  The figures are quite nice with lots of detail  The muskets, in particular, are quite delicate and look very nice.  They are large and bulky in their heavy winter clothing, but anatomically consistent.  If I have a complaint it is that on a few figures the mold mark runs right down the miniatures' faces.  Though the flash is minor, on a couple of figures, removing this adequately was difficult.  They'll remain in queue behind the Cubs probably until Friday night.

In the queue are these Cavalcade French and Indian War figures on snowshoes.

The holiday vacation begins at 2:40 tomorrow.  You best believe I'll be blowing out on time and headed home to my painting table.  I have big painting plans for the break, and I'm hoping to get a lot done.

A Little of This and a Little of That

I wish I had something sexy to share like the hussars, but frankly things are going to be kind of uniform and boring for a bit.  I have painted, but not based, 18 American regulars for the project.  They were mostly figures I'd stripped and repainted.  The process was sloppy, and despite plenty of effort, I just didn't get all the gunk off from the previous paint and primer.  Thought I did . . .

OG Wayne's Legion figures.  They're awaiting basing-hopefully this weekend.  They actually look better than this-geez I hope so.

I also painted up my very last handful of usable Front Rank militia types, mostly command figures, and combined them with a couple of the Lewis and Clark figs to use with the militia masses I'll be calling into service at Chickasaw Bluffs.  I have an odd mix of figures to use for militia.  Lots of them are AWI figures from Front Rank and OG.  However, a fair number of them are from the Mountain Man range by Foundry.  I got them much cheaper than their present price, and they add some spice to volunteers out to chase off Indians and drive the Spanish of out of N'awleens. I need at least 80 figures in eight units for my planned scenario, and each unit needs command figures.  So I used the generic militia flags from Quindia studios to give them a bit of unit identification.  The flags turned out well-I really like them. Thanks Clarence.

A chance to show off my Quindia flags with my militia units.  I'll need about 80 militia figures in all for Chickasaw bluffs.

On my table right now is a bunch of artillery.  One of my purchases for this project were guns and gunners by the Perry brothers from their AWI range.  I've mostly painted the guns, and I've got to say I'm disappointed.  I've bought other guns from the same range, the six-pounders and crews for the Brits and the Americans and these were just lousy castings.  The gunners look great, but the guns look like the molds need cleaning.  These are the only disappointing miniatures I've had from them.  Just a simple Vallejo blue gray with a little gray dry-brushing before painting in the black hardware, Vallejo brass for the barrels, and then a follow up dry-brushing.  The odd gun is a Front Rank piece.  Not uniform with anything, I thought it might work as a militia-served piece.

Spanish guns in natural wood and American guns in blue-gray.  You can see the Perry gun carriage on the left is actually twisted.  Disappointing.

The other guns are from the RSM range now produced by Dayton Painting Consortium.  I can't say enough good things about these miniatures or DPC.  They were extremely easy to work with-great communicators for a small operation.  I'm really happy with the figures.  They have plenty of detail and love the elevating with the level figures.  My only beef is the figures,which came as a bagged set, create only three man crews, rather than the conventional four man crews.  I'll have to figure something out.

The RSM gunners by Dayton Painting Consortium are nice.  Not quite Perry nice, but cheaper and serviceable.

The guns, also RSM from DPC, are also nice.  The little three pounders are perfectly serviceable.  The twelve-pounders, while nicely detailed, seem undersized.  I can seem them as eight pounders, but the carriages and barrels should be larger.

More pictures when everything is done.

My Mississippi Project: Scenario One-The Battle of Chickasaw Bluffs

After a week away from the paint brush and chain, I've begun thinking about potential game topics for my Mississippi project.  One that came to mind first was the American effort to chase the Spanish out of the fortifications they were building on the east bank of the Mississippi River prior to the Louisiana Purchase (1803.) One such place was at Chickasaw Bluffs, built on a promontory at the mouth of the Yazoo River.  It was intended to command the river and control approaches to New Orleans.

I was considering a fairly terrain heavy game with some interesting game pieces.  Because the Spanish allied themselves with the Chickasaw, I am thinking about a Chickasaw village and stockade.  This reconstruction of an early 18th century village will help guide my thinking.

I generally avoid terrain-heavy games.  I know it adds a lot to the scenario, but my chief objection is the problem it creates in storage.  Even so I'm willing to take on the travails of building and tucking away the stockade, buildings and cornfields, the earthworks and encampments because it will look cool.

I've been giving some thought to the scenario itself.  The Americans will have five or so units of regulars and eight to ten units of militia troops, with artillery.  Maybe one unit of light dragoons or mounted riflemen, and some artillery  They'll be able to split their units between a direct land assault on the Chickasaw fortification and an amphibious assault with five or six units on up the bluffs on the Spanish artillery position.

The Spanish will defend with a unit of mounted cuera militia, three units of dismounted militia, and eight to ten units of Chickasaw warrior allies, plus some artillery.

Play it all on a 16 X 5 table.  It should work.  How much do I have to paint?  Not that much actually.  The Indians are already done, as are almost all the Spanish.  I need guns and gunners for both sides and the Americans are a ways away from being finished.  Plenty of time, however, to allow me to concentrate on building the terrain pieces.

Taking Stock

It is the last day of October, and addition to answering the doorbells for trick or treaters, I thought it might be worthwhile to review the month just completed as well as the year in terms of projects and purchases.

 Frankly, I find this to have been a productive year for a number of reasons.  I'd just like to focus on expense for a minute.  Three or four years ago I spent money on figures like a drunken sailor.  They might have been figures I might eventually have an interest in painting, but I basically just stockpiled figs.  Mostly they were OG figures I ordered through my membership in the OG Army.  I stockpiled huge numbers of Hundred Years War figures, American Revoltion Figures, War of 1812 figures.

 Two years ago that all changed.  I stopped using credit, and began paying cash for everything.  I'm in the credit card users protection program.  This year I've bought few figures, often using Christmas and birthday cash to buy the figures I needed.  No purchases on spec, all purchases directed at a particular project.

 At the same time I've been able to reduce some of my figure stocks.  I painted all of my 15mm Jacobite project in August, with the exception of some of the very cool baggage that go with them.  I finished all of the American Revolution figures I picked up for my Hobkirk's Hill game.  Though I still have figures to paint for AWI, and will also buy minis for future battles, they can wait until I'm ready.

I've also taken on two projects this year.  The first was my Sluys battle.  I still think of this as Sluys round one.  I learned a little bit about the period-though not as much as I'd like-and put together two fairly representative fleets.  David Manley's medieval naval rules also provide for some single ship battles and I'd like to build another round of ships to make use of them effectively.  It's a low cost, high labor activity, but I think I'm up to the challenge.

Finally, there are my Mississippi projects.  This is really a labor of love that can cover the Spanish-American tensions as well as Fallen Timbers.  I've purchased a fair number of figures for this project.  The Perry hussars I'm currently working on, the cuera foot, horse and Spanish artillery from the Dayton Painting Consortium are waiting to be painted.  That's about 45 figures.  I also have American dragoons and mounted militia to paint, plus regular infantry, militia foot, and artillery to paint for about 120 figures.  I also have about 80 unpainted Indians I would love to finish, but I have 100 or so painted figures, so they aren't exactly necessary to the project.

So that means I need to paint 165ish figures with some 80 figures optional.  Plus terrain pieces, plus deciding on a set of usable rules.  I'm thinking Brother Against Brother with some modifications for cavalry.

I envision running at least one scenario using the Mississippi figures at Enfilade.  That means figures need to be pretty much wrapped up by early April in order to playtest games before the convention.

Ramon de Murillo and the Texas Hussars

Ramon de Murillo was a citizen of New Spain.  In 1804, according to historian Jesus de la Teja, Murillo sent a letter to King Charles IV's foreign minister, Manuel de Godoy offering his analysis of Spain's frontier forces in New Spain.  Murillo claimed six years experience as a cadet at the desk of the Interior Provinces as well as service in several Indian campaigns.

De la Teja published his analysis of Murillo's letter as well as the letter itself on the web.  Those with an interest in Murillo's proposal to modernize frontier forces in the Spanish borderlands. Murillo was highly critical of the cuera horsemen, their armament, their dress and their appearance.   The lance was too easily broken, though the shield was still valuable because it protected the horse and rider from Indian arrows.  The leather jacket, literally the cuera, was unsightly and too long.

Murillo, clearly influenced by Napoleonic military fashion proposed troop types to supplant or at least bolster the cuera militia.  First he recommended the cuera reduce their leather vest from thigh length to waist length. Murillo also suggested a reorganization of the presidial units defending the Spanish frontier.

Murillo's cuera with shortened leather jacket and leather leggings.  For all his complaints, the lance  is retained.

Finally, Murillo offered two new troop types to supplant or complement the existing militia units defending the borderlands.  First he suggested the cuera companies be replaced by a chasseur unit.  Though I am unable to provide a picture of this unit, it is it is depicted in Murilla's own watercolor on pg. 507 of the Teja article. These were to be deployed in "flying companies."  However the jewel of Murilla's reorg was to be, what he described as the heavy cavalry unit, the Texas Hussars or Usares de Tejas. I've provided several pictures of the Texas Hussars from a variety of sources, including the Murillo watercolor.

54mm figure of a mounted Texas Hussar.  The base colors are in agreement with the images that follow.  Red or scarlet Dolman with light blue pelisse and light blue trouser.  Sword and shield are deployed with carbine present.

The shield is round, unlike other depictions in modern modeling examples.  They have more of the "apple" or heart shaped shield similar to the genitor light horse of the middle ages.

I am presently working on the Texas Hussar, using the Perry French Hussars.  I'll provide you more of a play by play of their painting as they near completion.  Suffice it to say I like these miniatures very much.

Murillo's own watercolor of the Texas hussars, very similar to the example above and those that follow. 

The Texas Hussar found on a Spanish web forum.  The blue is darker, the pelisse fur is black and the "wing" of the mirliton shako is red. 

Another miniaturist's version of the Texas Hussar. 

It is unclear whether the Texas Hussars ever took the field.  Some sources say they served from 1803-05, but that would be a year before Murillo's letter to Godoy.  They are, to say the least beautifully uniformed and accoutered. However, as Teja points out, under-resourced, it is likely they would have devolved into a condition similar to the cuera: practical uniforms with practical equipage and armament according to their need.