Knuckleduster War of 1812 U.S. Marines

With the War of 1812 bicentennial approaching-er, actually it's here-Mark Waddington, Doug Hamm and I are committing ourselves to hosting several games at Enfilade 2013-14.  You can count on Crysler's Farm and Sackett's Harbor for 2013, and likely Chippewa, Lundy's Lane, and Bladensburg for 2014.  Doug probably has enough figures to do all of them himself, but he's letting us in on the fun anyway.

As I've mentioned ad nauseum, I'll supply the figures, British and American for the Bladensburg game.  I have some of the figures done already, but I'll need to build and in some cases re-do some of the units.

U.S. Marines at Bladensburg in 1814.  Commanded by Joshua Barney in the third American line.  One of the few dependable units at the battle, there were only 120 on the field.

One of the units I'm rebuilding is the U.S. Marines.  I've already painted them once, but honestly the figures used were minor conversions.from Dixon's Napoleon in Egypt range. Nice, but skinny, and not quite right. Doug's written to me and on his fine blog about the Knuckleduster War of 1812 range over the past year.  He alerted me to the fact that KD issued its Marines.

There aren't very many 25mm War of 1812 ranges. It's pretty much Old Glory and Knuckleduster, with the latter becoming a late arrival on the scene.  In some cases KD has recreated many of the same figures OG issued decades ago, but it's real value is in the troops OG omitted.  Canadian militia types, American frontier militia, the American marines, and most recently, Joshua Barney's flotillamen. I've ordered enough figures to complete two units, both relatively small: the U.S. Marines at Bladensburg and a unit of Maryland militia I'll use for one of the Annapolis battalions.

I've completed the Marines.  They are definitely a step up from my Dixon place holders. Their uniforms are distinct with their long gaiters and yellow lace.  The miniatures are anatomically correct.  Not a lot of poses.  For such a small unit (only twelve figures on three stands) I wonder if it would almost be better to have just one pose, or a bunch of poses.  Anyway, I could probably have grouped them differently on the bases.  The heads and faces are very nicely formed, as are certain parts of the torso.  I'm less wild about the strapping that is very hard to get to, as well as some of the lace.  The unit might be better served with shouldered arms.  The command group with officer, drummer and NCO are probably the nicest figures in the lot. 

 Are these great figures?  They are necessary figures for this battle.  I don't mean to give faint praise.  They are well proportioned, but for some reason I didn't enjoy painting them.  I felt myself painting around things, which is frustrating.  Some of the details, like the canteen, shako and faces were awesome.  Others, such as the the strapping, were a crapshoot. I've begun painting the Marylanders, and they seem to be going much better, so maybe it's just these guys.

I painted the long tailed jacket in Vallejo dark Prussian blue, lightened with white for the highlights. .  Pants white, with simple gray in the creases.  The gaiters were in Vallejo light gray washed in Ceramcoat charcoal.  Facings and the drummer's uniform in Vallejo flat red. Yellow lace is Vallejo Deep Yellow which give decent coverage over the dark jacket and shako.

Daveshoe's Sail and Steam Navy Adventure

We've probably played a half dozen games of Sail and Steam Navies from Bay Area Yards.  I have to say I like it. As with any other miniatures game it requires fairly regular play to master.  Still, it's easier to play and introduce to other casual players than Ironclads.

It's also become a great vehicle for converting to a sail only game for the War of 1812.  Though we chiefly remember this conflict for the great frigate actions between the Constitution and the Java or the United States against the Macedonian, the war had two important campaigns: the war against British merchant shipping and the campaigns on the Great Lakes.  It's the latter, in my view, that has the most potential for great games.  Unfortunately, most Age of Sail rules focus on large numbers of large ships, such as 74-gunners and up, and leave out the small schooners, brigs, and sloops altogether that constitute the vast majority of the lakes games.

The American schooners race across the table, as the British sail in two lines to cur them off from their objective.

Dave Schueler, a game designer himself, is always able to see the value in rules to get where he wants to go.  After playing S and SN for ACW, he saw no reason the rules wouldn't work for War of 1812.  Using Mark Waddington's beautiful handmade 1/600 ships, Dave tinkered with other rules, including Prevailing Winds to host the Burlington Races game last summer.  These were clunky and Dave moved on to work S and SN to make them suitable for his project.  I missed out on his playtest and Enfilade scenario, so I was really excited to play in a one off game on Saturday.

The game was fairly simple.  The Americans had six small schooners laden with supplies headed for Sackett's Harbor to aid in the construction of the frigate General Pike. A British force went out to intercept the Americans, including two schooners and the 20-gun corvette, Royal George plus the 18- gun brig Earl of Moira.  The British had the weather gauge and a short table to cross to intercept the American convoy. It was wolves among the sheep.  However, creeping onto the table were the American 24-gun Madison, and the 18-gun brig Oneida. The American schooners were chiefly armed with long guns, including larger 24 and 32pdrs, while the British were almost entire armed with shorter range, but deadly carronades.  The two larger American vessels were also armed almost solely with the stubby and nasty carronades.

As the game began, the British players made one fateful decision-double shot their carronades which required them to be fired at short range or six inches. They proceeded with their plan to cut off the schooners.  As they did, the smaller American vessels opened fire as their long guns came into range.  While the schooners, mounting between 2 and 10 guns, didn't have the heavy broadsides the larger square rigged vessels mounted, they usually had a couple of heavy guns on pivots with a larger field of fire.  There were plenty of opportunities to shoot, and with shooting comes hits, and with hits damage.  One of the British schooners took a broadside from Madison, hulling it badly.  The smaller schooners focused on Royal George and its schooner escort, plinking away at both ships, while the British could only plink back in return because they were out of range for their double-shotted, death dealing carronades.

Though the American schooners raced along along the shoreline to reach their objective, the British eventually succeeded in cutting the American line in two.  Three of the schooners, including some of the smallest tried to fight their way through the British while the others dodged the Brits to the north, shooting as they went.  At this point the Brits were finally able to unleash their broadside, badly damaging the  3-gun Ontario and also hitting the 3-gun Conquest.  In the exchange, however, the British schooner Sidney Smith was badly holed, and forced from the action. 

The tiny Ontario fouls the Royal George, bringing both to a stop.  Though Ontario would be sunk, the remaining American vessels would pound the large British ship into submission.  In the foreground, the sinking Sidney Smith sails for the shallows and beaching.

In the ensuing turns things came to a rapid conclusion.  The second British schooner, Beresford, already damaged by Madison, was sunk, leaving only the two large British vessels, both pinned against the shoreline.  Royal George, with significant mast damage, sailed off to the east ahead of the American schooner line.  However, Ontario, with a damaged rudder, fouled Royal George as it attempted to pass astern.  Though Royal George dispatched the smaller ship with its stern chasers, the two vessels remained motionless for a critical turn as the remaining American ships closed in.  Earl of Moira was sunk without a whisper.  The game ended with Royal George nearly dismasted and the Americans circling for the kill.

It was a fun game.  I ran the Ontario and somewhat larger Scourge. Despite their lack of size and relative frailty, I never felt like I was out of the action.  The larger ships always had to cope with the lack of long range weapons, so the small schooners always had the opportunity to be an important part of the fight. I really liked the flow of the rules with its two movement and fire phases, and the opportunity to fire specialized ammunition such as chain, grape or double shot provided some important choices.  Dave, did a good job of adapting the rules over to sail, and I hope he shares it with the Sail and Steam Navies Yahoogroup.

Truants visit Venus

Our weekly truants game found four of us playing in Scott Murphy's treasure hunt on Venus scenario. The players divided into three factions-British, Venusians, and Germans. The Brits and Germans each had to struggle over rivers with limited crossing options. The Brits immediately opened fire on the Venusians when they came into sight. The Venusians, charmed by this friendly gesture, became instant enemies.

Scott's very nice Stonehouse Aztec Temple.  I have bits of this, but not the whole shebang. Al places his Venusians, while Steve and Rocky set up the Brits across the river.

 While Brits and natives tangled on the far side of the board, the Germans, run by yours truly, carefully crossed the river, only to encounter native wildlife of the large, reptilian Jurassic variety. First, a single Allosaurus kept me tied down as I tried to cross the a rope bridge in single file and keep my force intact.  Then a persistent pack of smaller, but more aggresssive velociraptors  pinned me down as formed a firing line to mow the little beggars down.

The nasty Allosaurus held up my initial advance across the rope bridge.  It also gave me a platform to provide myself plenty of fire support.

Thankfully, I planned to shoot my way across the river by placing my Seetruppen to on the river bank.  Slowed me down, but prevented a disaster with the big critters

A short lull in the action finally allowed me to move to one of the several treasure sites on the board with my unit of Schutztruppe, while my askaris and Marines advanced toward the chief objective, the large temple in the middle of the board.

All the while, the Venusians and British continued to tangle.  Generally, the limeys got the worst of this exchange.  The Venusians don't shoot much, but are difficult to kill. Both of them got to a treasure objective before I did, but often distracted by their fight were much slower about extracting wealth.  A giant crocodile that emerged from the river they fought over and repeatedly disrupted both forces kept things even more interesting.

A view of the Brits tangling with the Venusians.  While Sikh reinforcements rush to aid the failing British lines, the giant crocodile keeps both sides on their toes.

Despite a final Allosaurus attack on the German seetruppen, it was determined at the end of the game I was the winner. Yippee.

Slowly making my way across the bridge, the advancing velociraptors are visible in the distance.  Fresh meat tonight boys.

Moving slowly by the left to establish a firing line, I was eventually able to establish a firing line, with the schutztruppen on the left moved off to mine a treasure site.

This was a really fun game.  The rules, based on the Sword and the Flame, were the same as our Martian games.  We all had the right number of units to run-generally three infantry units and I had a Gatling as well. I really liked Scott's terrain, which was flashy enough to be interesting and attractive, but sparse enough to get around the board easily.  We agreed a fourth player, a second Venusian from a different faction, would give the Germans a little more to think about, and simply complicate the situation on the table.  Even so, a very fun game I would play again any time.

Kentucky Mounted Rifles

Another unit I finished painting but didn't get mounted before I left on vacation was a pack of ten Kentucky mounted rifles from Old Glory.  These are from the Mad Anthony Wayne's Legion range, and featured prominently in Wayne's campaign that ended at Fallen Timbers.  However, these troop types likely would have featured prominently in any late 18-early 19th century conflict in the American west.  Offering the advantages of speed and dismounted rifle fire, they would have appeared in a conflict with Spain, or if there had been some kind of military action tied to the Burr Conspiracy.

The Old Glory figures aren't special.  The riders are relatively simple and easy to paint.  They do have the virtue of sitting their horses properly without a lot of filing, sanding or drilling, which is not true of many OG mounted miniatures.  The horse are adequate.  While this doesn't sound like a ringing endorsement, they do fit the bill and at a per figure cost of $3.50 are quite reasonable.

At the present time, I am wrapping up some more Wayne's Legion infantry, but I've written about them before.  These are mainly unit fillers for my Mississippi project.  Ideally I'd like three companies or twelve 12 figure units.  This brings me up to about seven and a half.

Also on my painting table are a couple of Knuckleduster War of 1812 units.  First up, and currently underway is the U.S. Marines at Bladensburg.  I hope to have something up about these guys by early next week if not earlier.  The second unit is the Knuckleduster version of the Maryland militia.  I will paint them as Annapolis militia, not that I know what Annapolis militia looks like or how it's different from the 5th Maryland.

German Men at Arms at Poitiers

Before I left on vacation, I was able to get a start on my Poitiers project.  I began working on the vanguard infantry.  The vanguard was led by Constable Brienne and was the only combined arms command at the battle.  There were the two mounted units led by Audrehem and Clermont, a significant number of crossbowmen, and a fair number of dismounted knights and men at arms. It's also likely that the crossbowmen were divided between Genoese mercenaries and feudal levies each fighting on a wing of the command.  Also divided were the men at arms, divided between a foreign contingent of Germans led by the Count of Saarbruck and some Scots, and French knights.

I've painted up my German command.  The figures are Old Glory from the Crecy and Poitiers range.  These are the French dismounted knights with shortened lances combined with the command figures from the same range.  They are relatively easy to paint.  The figures wear the jupon over their armor, which often makes painting the heraldic emblem a little difficult navigating around various arms.

The flags were printed off a color laser printer.   They are available free from Dansk Figurspilsforenings, a Danish miniature wargame site.  The site itself is in Danish, however there are many high quality flags available for download including AWI, ACW, the Crusades, later middle ages and others.  They also include a fine collection from the Hundred Years War, including specific standards/banners from Crecy, Poitiers and miscellaneous French, English and Gascon flags, as well as those from the guilds of Ghent, and the kingdom of Aragon.  I like my banners visible, so I left 'em big.  They are mounted on Northstar lances, shortened for the occasion.

Farewell Virginia: It's been fun

We left Charlottesville on Monday to spend time with friends in Montclair. John indulged my desire to get to sites I haven't seen.

See, I was here.  Marker outside visitor's center at Chancellorsville

Tuesday we went to the Chancellorsville battlefield, wandered through the visitor's center and caught the movie. Because the battle was one of movement, John picked up the CD and we took the driving tour. The tour wound through large swathes of rural/suburban Virginia. Though we spent at least a couple of hours and were assisted by a map with written directions, it was a bit confusing to keep track of movements, positions and scenes of fighting. The driving path mostly focuses on Stonewall Jackson's famous flank march.  It is well marked and winds through what is still mostly wooded terrain. Nicely preserved, well presented, Chancellorsville is managed by the National Park Service and the cost is only two bucks.

John and I walked out to see the large monument to Jackson's accidental shooting by his own men, and happened upon a tour led by a park ranger.  She indicated that markers commemorating Jackson were plunked down on the believed site of the incident in the 1870's and again in 1904.  However, an interview with a member of the 14th North Carolina, the unfortunate authors of this famous "friendly fire" incident indicated the locations of these markers were likely incorrect.  Based on this later testimony, the ranger said,the site of Jackson's fatal wounding was likely close to contemporary storm drain located behind the visitor's center.  Of course as we drove about the march route and encountered numerous storm drains, John wondered aloud which soldiers each one memorialized.

1904 marker indicates spot where Stonewall Jackson was wounded, with inscription below.

Thomas J. Jackson memorial storm grate  marks the more likely spot where the 14th North Carolina fired their ill-fated volley that mortally wounded their commander in chief.

Three-inch ordnance rifle marks the Confederate gun lines firing from Hazel Grove.

Wednesday the fourth,  John and I drove down to Manassas and stayed near the visitor's center.  Frankly the weather took its toll on us.  Having spent plenty of time outdoors in temperatures ranging from 95-100+ degrees off and on most of the previous week we'd had enough.  Thankfully the visitor's center is located right on Henry House Hill where most of the climactic action for First Manassas is located.  The visitor's center is okay with lots of period artifacts.  However, most interesting are the pictures of battle participants or their close relatives with  a couple lines regarding their experience in the battle and their subsequent lives.  Some are quite moving, and it adds a human face to man's most terrible proclivity. We also watched the inevitable movie, narrated by Richard Dreyfuss.  The battle is, again, one of movement and on this day we were just too cooked to move much, but trails toward the Sudley Ford crossing and Stone Bridge sites are available for exploration.  The cost for three day pass to Manassas is three dollars.

Equestrian statue of former VMI instructor, Stonewall Jackson

Gun line marks the spot where Jackson's brigade stood like a stone wall. Looking back at Federal positions.

I'm finishing this post from the comfort of my home computer early Friday morning.  We traveled most of the night and I am, shockingly, having a little trouble with sleep.  It's good to be home, mostly because the heat of Virginia was ridiculous.  I saw almost everything I hoped for, and a little more while I was in Maryland and Virginia, and enjoyed myself immensely.  I'm sure if I lived there I'd have become a National Park Service ranger working one of the battlefields.  My desire to see those sights and touch the history was overwhelming.

New Market Battlefield.

New Market was fought on May 15, 1864. It was the first of several important actions that year fought to control the Shenandoah Valley. William C. Davis wrote a wonderful little account of the battle, which has intrigued me ever since. Yesterday, with a little time on my hands, I determined to drive the 85 or so miles to the battlefield state park.

Traveling from Charlottesville, I can assure you the highway is great-interstate all the way-and signs clearly mark the way. The State of Virginia preserved 900 acres to showcase this relatively small battle. The grounds also house "The Virginia Museum of the Civil War" which, in the grand scheme of things is no big deal. However, the do have examples of a Williams Gun, and an Agar "coffee mill," early machine guns that pre-date the better known Gatling. The life-sized vignette of a 12 pound Napoleon and crew was a nice touch too. Along with the artifacts in the museum is a theater with a lengthy movie on the battle, emphasizing the connections with VMI, and rightly so. I didn't stay for the entire presentation because I felt pressed for time.

The battle was smallish, 6,200 Union and 4,100 Confederates, and the park preserves the complete action, which straddles I-81. It was a very hot, humid day (95 degrees) and I spent a bit more than an hour walking the field. Informational maps are available from the museum which correspond nicely with markers on the field.

The terrain east of the interstate is accessible by a tunnel and most closely represent conditions on the day of battle. The western side of the battlefield is mostly grass. On the rainy day of battle many soldiers struggled through plowed, muddy fields that became known as "The Field of Lost Shoes." in the middle of the field is the nicely preserved Bushong farm which served as a hospital for both sides.

The state of Virginia did a great job of preservation with the New Market site. The cost for touring the battlefield is $7 and another $3 to visit the museum.

The road to Charlottesville: Hollywood Cemetery

Friday was a travel day as we drove from Baltimore to Charlottesville in the Virginia hills. We decided to stop in Richmond, where I-64 parts from I-95 and heads west to Charlottesville. Despite wandering a bit through the city, we did make it to Hollywood Cemetery. This beautiful, well-kept burial ground contains the graves of 18,000 Confederate war dead. There is a special section set aside for the dead of Gettysburg. Resting with them is General Richard Garnett, killed with many of his men at Pickett's Charge.

From there it was on to Charlottesville and the rehearsal for my niece's wedding. I'm reading a poem during the ceremony, so had to be there. It was about 95 degrees with about the same percentage of humidity. Hotter today, with chance of thunderstorms for the outdoor wedding. Can't wait, right. Actually couldn't bear to miss the festivities.

USS Constellation

Yesterday Lorri and I wandered down to the Baltimore waterfront. Lorri had a rendezvous with a local nail salon and I was determined to check out the USS Constellation in the Baltimore Historic Ships exhibit.

There are four ships to tour: the Constellation, WW II era submarine Torsk, lightship Chesapeake, and a Coast Guard cutter. I chose admission to two ships, the Constellation and the Torsk. The cost was 14 bucks. The single vessel cost was $11, So the second ship was a three dollar throw in

The Torsk was no big deal. I've toured other subs and this was no different. Nice tour of the main deck, but nothing special.

The Constellation was entirely different. Completed in 1854, the sloop was the last all sail vessel completed for the US Navy. Reconstructed many years ago, it is simply the finest floating museum I've ever visited. Constellation is one of those rare vessels that invite a top to bottom inspection of each deck, from the spar deck to the ship's hold. The gun deck is lined with 8-inch Dahlgren smooth bores. The armament missing from the historical complement are four 32-pdrs and a couple of light Parrott swivels on the spar deck.

The Constellation is beautifully restore with loads of useful signage. The captain's cabin and dining room are fully accessible. The other officers' cabins are also restored and open with an explanation of their duties. All naval restorations should be so beautiful and well turned out to the public. If you find yourself in Baltimore with time on your hands, the Constellation is definitely worth your time.

Percussion lock on an eight inch Dahlgren smoothbore.

Starboard battery of eight inch Dahlgrens.  The ship lacks a pair of 32 pdr for each battery.

One eye-level look at the Constelllation.  Simply beautiful inside and out.  The ship had its summer awning spread against the 92 degree heat.

The Road to North Point

The Battle of North Point was fought between Maryland militia defending Baltimore in 1814. It was critical because the energetic British commander, Robert Ross, was killed in the action and the subsequent siege and assault on the city proceeded slowly and carefully. This allowed the city to gather its strength and deter a prolonged effort to capture this important Chesapeake naval base

Before I left home I saw (or thought I saw) the North Point battlefield was preserved and I was determined to see it. I left Bladensburg at about 1:30 and headed for North Point east across the bay from Baltimore. The route to the park was clear and except for a minor incident involving a bridge toll and non-payment thereof (eep) I made it safely to the park by 2:45.

North Point is beautiful. Semi-rural, wooded and green as much of Maryland seems to be, it is quiet and lovely and it reminds me a great deal of Washington's Long Beach peninsula. I paid my admission and drove on to the visitor's center. In speaking to the park staff I learned the actual battlefield wasn't in the park. Rather it was located over in Dundalk, near a place laughingly referred to as Burger Junction because of the location of MacDonald's, Burger King, and Wendy's on three of the four street corners.

Burger Junction was easy to find but locating the battlefield took most of an extra hour. Though the field is owned by Maryland State Parks, it has only two small markers and really nothing about this important action. Nine acres of the field in this developed semi-urban community is all that exists of the battle of North Point.

Hope fully, given Maryland's important role in the War of 1812, and the arrival of its bicentennial, the state will invest in some interpretive signage. A map of the dispositions. Perhaps even some unit markers if those spots are known would be helpful. Honestly, I'm skeptical this is the location of the action, but it's hard to know after two centuries. It does however demonstrate the difficulty of protecting historical sites in the midst of development and urbanization.

O' Maryland, My Maryland (actually, you should have let the Brits takeBaltimore)

Today was my big day of driving around to War of 1812 sites. Unfortunately I only made two-Bladensburg and North Point. I'm posting from my iPhone, so I'm not sure about pics but I'll do my best.

I blew out of Baltimore this morning at about 10:30 and successfully navigated my way south toward D.C. Not an easy feat given the aggressive drivers near our nation's capital. Lots of highway should make it easy to find things, but it doesn't. I finally broke down and used information from websites and the GPS feature on my phone to locate the village of Bladensburg on Maryland Hwy 1.

Bladensburg is located on both sides of the Anacostia River. It seems pretty unprosperous by any standard I'm used to. The Maryland Historical Association/Society received a grant to begin studying the battlefield, which includes the state highway bridge over the river and a lot of privately owned businesses.

There are two valuable sites to see in Bladensburg. First is the Waterfront Park on the river. From here you can look across the Anacostia along the British line of advance. The other site is the Fort Lincoln Funeral Home/Cemetery-strange place for awar memorial. Yet, at the top of the hill behind the largest structure on the grounds is a marker showing the position of Joshua Barney's flotilla men and a memorial to the handful of Marines that accompanied him.

North Point post tomorrow

Fort Lincoln Cemetery is located on the site of Fort Lincoln, an actual Civil War fort in the outer defenses of Washington D.C.  In the distance is Lowndes Hill which was more easily defended than the Bladensburg crossing

View upriver to the (Maryland) Highway 1 bridge.  Likely crossing point for the British, and proposed archaeological site.for Maryland Historical Society

Marker for the small band of Marines that fought alongside Barney's bluejackets.

Barney's view from the American third line, down the hill toward the Anacostia crossing

 

 

 

Plaque dedicated to Barney in the Fort Lincoln Cemetery

British view of their line of advance across the Anacostia River.  Taken from the Bladensburg waterfront park.

The Chesapeake calls

My lovely niece Katie is getting married to her Dan next weekend, and Lorri and I are heading to the wedding.  The only downside is that the wedding is in Virginia.  The last couple days we've been trying to get the house in order which is always a bit like preparing for a moon landing. Our friend  Allison will be here to take care of the pets while we're gone, and we don't want to appear quite as messy as we actually are.

In any case, our itinerary has us flying in to Baltimore tomorrow, and spending a few days there.  I've never been to Baltimore.  I think Wednesday is my day to have the rental car to myself and an entire day to see stuff. I hope to make the most of it.  I'd like to get to the Bladensburg battlefield right outside the District. Drive to North Point State Park and wander the battlefield there.  That's about ten miles from our hotel near the inner harbor.  If there is time left, I'd really like to see the naval academy at Annapolis.

It's all pretty timely with my projects.  I hope to take lots of pictures.  I do own the mobile blogger ap for my iPhone, but I'm not really hopeful of being able to make it work properly.  I'll try, but this entry may be it for a while.  We'll return home on July 6th.

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.

Galactic Knights

I have a bunch of stuff I'm trying to finish before I run off to my vacation in Virginia.  We leave on June 26th, which is just around the corner.  So I'm trying to finish up some HYW figures and some Wayne's Legion infantry, but I'm also trying to squeeze in some fun stuff that's taking up space on my painting table.

These are Terran ships from Monday Knight Productions for Galactic Knights.  I haven't actually played these rules, but I own the toys.  They just require paint.  I don't need anymore ships, just the flight bases--about thirty bucks worth. Because I have other items competing for those dollars right now, I probably won't pick them up until August, but I like the way these turned out.

The vessels are from the Terran fleet range.  There is a cruiser in the foreground with a destroyer leaders in the back, and a destroyer following.  There are plenty of vessels in the range on which one can spend a great deal of money, but I've more or less set a ceiling on the size of my fleet. The game looks fun.  Dave picked up some ships we can fight with, and we each picked up a star mat.  The mat is also available through MKP.

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.