Hobkirk's Hill Playtest

Enfilade is only a couple of weeks away and with three games on the docket I've scrambled to finish figures and get games ready.  I've also struggled to try and playtest my three scenarios, so hopefully they all turn out.

Last summer I walked through Closing Wilmington a couple of times and it just needs some minor tweaking.  I got in the Sluys playtest last month and enjoyed it thoroughly.  We tweaked a couple of modifiers to the charts, but the game will play as planned.  I was hoping to get in a second playtest but it just didn't happen. The only game left out there for me to run through was Hobkirk's Hill and yesterday seven of us got together to play through it.

Hobkirk's Hill  was fought on April 25, 1781 near Camden, South Carolina.  In the grand scheme of things it was a minor affair, but it was the first of a series of actions that forced the British to abandon their outposts in South Carolina to very active patriot militia.

The action took place as American commander Nathaniel Greene tried to enlist the aid of South Carolina militia leader Thomas Sumter.  Sumter, not an easy guy to get along, let the pleas of Rhode Islander Greene fall on deaf ears.  In the meantime, the British command, young Lord Rawdon committed to attacking Greene in his encampment at Hobkirk's Hill.  Counting on information from a deserter that Greene had no artillery, Rawdon made a night march through some heavy woods and massed in front of half of Greene's army, and that's where the scenario began.

We used the Regimental Fire and Fury rules with official modifications for AWI. Bruce Meyer, Al Rivers, Mark and Joe Waddington, Scott Murphy, and Wayne Harold came down to Game Matrix to walk through the game.  I went with a historical set-up, the British largely set up against the American left flank, but seriously overlapped by the American right.

A panorama shot of the set up.  The British are clearly massed east of the Logtown Road, while Huger's Virginia Brigade is in position to turn the British flank.

David Sullivan controlled the first group of three British regiments.  He promptly rolled three 10's for fire in the first two turns of fighting, reducing the effectiveness of the two Maryland infantry battalions.  Sensing an opportunity to shatter the American left, David quickly assaulted the 1st Maryland, who unexpectedly repulsed his charge.  Al Rivers likewise attacked the 2nd Maryland with the 63rd Regiment and the Convalescent battalion, and despite some initial struggle, eventually drove them off.  A second assault by Sullivan's troops cleared the left flank of American troops,  leaving a gun behind to be captured.  Only a large unit of North Carolina militia and Washington's Light Dragoons remain to hold on to the center.  The 1st Maryland broke and fled the battlefield while Greene tried to rally the 2nd Maryland.

The Volunteers of Ireland, and the The King's American Regiment get the best of the 1st Maryland in a firefight.  The Marylanders repulse their bayonet attack, and hold the hilltop by their fingernails.

A longer view of the battle shows the 1st and 2nd Maryland under attack by the British all along the line.

On the right flank, Mark Waddington, running the Virginia Brigade, struggled with Brigadier Isaac Huger's poor commander rating.  This large force, came up only slowly as the British made a mess of the American center and left.  The 4th and 5th Virginia watched helplessly as Bruce launched Coffin's militia dragoons against the North Carolina militia.  Things ended badly for Coffin's troops, however, as fire from artillery and the militia decimated them.

William Washington's Dragoons are about to ride to the rescue and run down the 63rd Regiment.

Just as things began to look hopeless for the Americans, Joe managed to launch two devastating charges against the 63rd Regiment with the Continental dragoons. With everyone in extended order to move over the rough ground, the light horse had its way, slaughtering the British foot.  At that point we agree to wrap things up.

At game's end, the North Carolina militia hold  the Logtown Road in support of the Continental Dragoons.  In the distance, Huger's Virginians make slow progress toward the British.

I did get great feedback on the game.  All agreed the basic concept was good.  Al even asked if he could help me he could help run the game on Saturday night at the convention.  He has the most experience with the regimental version of the rules so I was all over it.

Finished at last:: Coffin's Provincial Light Dragoons and Other Hangers On

Actually I'm showing off three units.  The first is the light dragoon regiment.  Like most cavalry units in the southern AWI, it's a small unit.  It represents 80 men, which is pretty typical for the war in general and the campaign in particular.  Horses were hard to come by, and once procured, i.e. stolen from a partisan for the opposite side, they could be difficult to feed.  Both Americans and British complained about shortages of horses and keeping adequate mounts.

 Coffin's light dragoon unit is a loyalist formation.  I've painted these figures based on the notion they were actually a South Carolina loyalist unit, perhaps raised from the South Carolina Royalist infantry regiment.  There seems to be little or no information about the unit on line.  However, after I inquired on TMP, the most reliable information was that they were red, faced yellow.  They wore light dragoon caps, beyond that not much is known.  I used figures I got in a trade from Doug Hamm.  The riders are Front Rank, and they are very nice figures. The horses are a bit of a mix.  Some Front Rank and maybe some Dixon mounts.

I've had these on my mostly cluttered painting table for two months.  I like 'em but I'm sure glad their done.

The flag is totally apocryphal.  Flags, as you know, for AWI are bit of a hit and miss effort.  Brits we usually know pretty well because, well, they're British with a long regimental history in most cases, and there is a clear record of their standards.  Provincial units, unless they were taken on the British rolls after the war are pretty dicey.  I chose the yellow standard to match the facings and gave them a GR cypher inside the gartered emblem.  I added simple crescent and palmetto devices.  I also chose a standard over a cavalry banner because many irregular units-militia and yeomanry in Great Britain-seemed to have small (32" square) banners.

Coffin's regiment was present at Hobkirk's Hill and Eutaw Springs.  They did some fighting at Hobkirk's, trying in vain to capture the American artillery when Greene's infantry broke.  They were charged by William Washington's dragoons and driven off.  At Eutaw Springs Coffin's cavalry led the British counter-attack when all American troops fell into confusion as they looted the British camp.

 The second unit is the battalion of convalescents at Hobkirk's Hill.  It was a temporary formation composed of invalids in the hospital at Camden but were well enough to fight. The invalid battalion was in Rawdon's second rank at the battle, and little is said of their specific performance at the battle.

 My unit is composed of Perry figures in southern dress, but retain their cuffs and facings colors.  This actually works for them because they would have been composed by men from many different units.  Their flag is simple union standard with no regimental designations.  Simply a flag to align themselves on.

 The last unit is the Queens Rangers.  I've actually photographed these before.  Doug Hamm painted these, and I acquired some from him last year in our Enfilade deal.  However, over the summer he painted up a few more bases and now my Q.R. unit is a more useful six stands of troops.

 I'm taking a bit of a break from AWI and will painting about 50 figures for my Space 1889 project.  I'll show the painted Indians and Martian askaris over on my Shastapsh blog when they are done.  Should go fast.  How long does it take to paint and wash a bunch of khaki?  After these are done, however, I'm kind of up in the air about what comes next.  I have just the New York Volunteers and some artillery to paint for Hobkirk's Hill, and then I'd also like to paint up the South Carolina Royalist Dragoons that defended Charleston.  Maybe them, but we'll see.

All pictures were taken with my silly phone camera, 'cause honestly it's just a lot easier to work with it. Rumor has it Santa is bringing me photographic reinforcements.

Coffin's Light Dragoons: WIP

Not a lot new to report.  Haven't played any games or finished much.  I'm hoping to have Coffin's Light Dragoons, a provincial cavalry unit of some unclear origin, affiliation and dress finished by this weekend. Through some discussion on TMP I have them in light dragoon uniforms with yellow facings.  I dare anyone to find data to dispute this, and if you do, so what!  Major Coffin had his dragoons at Hobkirk's Hill where they accomplished little, and at Eutaw Springs where they captured William Washington when his cavalry's charge failed.

A couple of other quick items I've linked to Dave Schueler's Naval Gazing page.  On December 27th he'll host our annual DANG game (Dave's Annual Naval Game.)  This year it is Lepanto.  Long on my list of to do's.

Front Rank British Light Dragoon figures in yellow facings form William Coffin' light dragoons

Coffin's troopers may have been mounted infantry from the South Carolina Royalists

 I've also added my other non-gaming blog, From the Upper Left Hand Corner, to my list.  Long neglected, this blog includes a variety of topics, but mostly Mariners baseball stuff.  I recently blogged a review of The Wall by Roger Waters which I was fortunate to see in Tacoma last Saturday.  Amazing stuff.

1:10: The Only Scale

Before I leap too much further into sharing more of my AWI battle plans, I realized it might be worth your time to talk a little bit about scale and rules.  The American Revolution can be tidily divided between the northern war and the southern war.  The north features those classic actions such as Bunker Hill, Trenton, Princeton, Brandywine, Germantown, Saratoga, Monmouth and a host of other actions.  These tend to be good sized, actions, with Washington fielding over 18,000 men at Monmouth.  That's a passel  of troops and a worthy subject for a 1:20 action. 

My interest in the Southern campaign, however, showcases zero battles of such size.  The largest battle is Guilford Courthouse, with about 2,000 British and 4,000ish Americans.  The other four battles are much smaller indeed. It's a campaign that calls out for 1:10 scale.  Why?  Setting aside Guilford which has a bunch of 250-400 man units on both sides, most of the participating units are small.  At Hobkirk's Hill and Eutaw Springs many of the British units are 140-160 men strong.  Those are sixteen figure units, or four stands at 1:10.  At a larger scale they'd be only a couple of stands.  One of my favorite units is Kirwoods Delaware Regt., a stud unit that wears very cool bed-ticking trousers.  They are effective light infantry with an influence on a battle well beyond their 80-110 men.

There are some snags with the 1:10 scale.  I am not convinced that the groundscale always works.  I have some very large Continental units at 40 figures or ten stands.  They take up 15 inches on the game table.  That seems like a lot of room. What about large units that can fight in open order, such as the British 33rd Regiment.  What if one end of a ten stand unit is attacked?  What then?  I guess I need to do some more reading.

Despite the ground scale concerns, I can't envision another way to do the South in a larger scale.  If nothing else the historical feel is gone and you have tiny units.  How do you show the 50 17th Light Dragoons at Cowpens, or William Washington's Continental horse at each of these five battles.  Lee's Legion would be a speck.  These units and others influenced battles far more than their tiny size would indicate-and the more there are, the cooler they look. I also think it's best in 28mm.  There, I said it.  I'm slime, but I admit it.  I haven't seen any 15mm AWI I'm particularly enchanted with, and would you really trade in your Perry figures for 15mm Old Glory?  I think not!

Rules are always an open question with me.  Most of the games I want to run/plan are geared around   conventions or with friends who aren't familiar with the rules or the period.  So, they have to be fairly easy easy to pick up with reasonably simple mechanics. I own a copy of British Grenadier rules, which I hear lots of good things about.  If I had an intact group of regulars interested in the period, I'm sure I'd play these.  They are adaptable to 1:10 and have a couple of useful scenario books.  Unfortunately, that's not the world I live in.

A couple of years ago I began writing, or perhaps deriving would be a better term, a set of AWI rules from Fire and Fury.  At that time, Regimental Fire and Fury was still in its 275th beta version and publication was not on a foreseeable horizon.  I was also intrigued with the Hasenauer spawned "Wars of America" Regtl. F and F rules intended to serve a wider audience covering the American Revolution through the Mexican War.  Those rules are still unaccounted for.  Because Fire and Fury, together with The Sword and the Flame, are the greatest rules every written I decided to adapt my own version I called Tarleton's Quarter.  These were intended to be written at a 1:10 scale and aimed at the American Revolution in the South.  With those rules I hope to capture the more open formations the British used, and the closer integration of regular troops, provincials, and militia that was a regular feature of war in the Carolinas.

Number 1: Cowpens

Cowpens is the first battle of my series chronologically, and also the first of the battles I've actually run.  I covered this battle extensively on this blog in 2008 .  It's a challenging battle to do.  For those of you who don't know the action, a combined arms force of British regulars and provincials under Banastre Tarleton ran headlong into a novel defense developed by General Daniel Morgan in the South Carolina backcountry.  Morgan deployed a defense in depth of three lines, the first two of militia and the third of veteran continental light infantry with support from various mounted elements.  Tarleton was decisively defeated when his rapidly advancing troops were enveloped on both flanks by cavalry and the militia that retired in front of his advance.

It's a tough battle to game, and the mechanisms have to be right or the militia simply gets run over and the small force of Continentals is overwhelmed. It's a game I hosted at Enfilade a couple of years ago and the game turned out pretty historically, with the Brits taking some damage when confronting the line of militia, and the British Legion foot being rocked by a blast from the Continentals.  Failed charges by the British cavalry resulted in an envelopment of the British left and the end of the game.

All the units are painted and the unit strengths are based on those in Greg Novak's American War of Independence: Book Two the Southern Campaigns. 
British Order of Battle
17th Light Dragoons     6 figures (3 stands)
British Legion Light Dragoons 24 figures (3 troops of 4 stands)
British Legion Infantry     24 figures (6 stands)
Light Infantry Battalion    16 figures (4 stands)
7th Foot                         20 figures (5 stands)
1st Batt. 71st Foot         24 figures (6 stands)
Royal Artiller  1 section 3 pdrs.

American Order of Battle
Maryland/Delaware Light Infantry Battalion     36 figures (9 stands)  3rd Line
Virginia/South Carolina State troops                12 figures (3 stands)  3rd Line
Triplett's Virginia Militia                                   16 figures (4 stands)  3rd Line
1st and 3rd Continental Light Dragoons           8 figures (4 stands)    Cavalry Reserve
Virginia/North Carolina Light Horse                 4 figures (2 stands)   Cavalry Reserve
McCalls Carolina/Georgia Light Horse/Volunteer Light Horse 8 figures (4 stands) Cavalry Reserve
Roebuck's Spartanburg militia                        12 figures (3 stands)
Thomas's Spartanburg militia                          16 figures (4 stands)
Hayes' Little River militia                                20 figures (5 stands)
McDowell's North Carolina militia                  24 figures (6 stands)

Limits to Growth: My AWI Project

I just finished reading David Sullivan's blog post on having too many projects to manage.  I am sympathetic.  I do cop to his comment that I have good focus and can be productive, at least in a short term, say three or four months, then I have to take a break and do something else.

My American Revolution project is where it's at for me right now.  Yes, I definitely have other things to do too-Spanish Civil War, American Civil War in 15mm, 28mm and 1/600 naval, the First Jacobite Rebellion, 28mm War of 1812, and a plethora of others to work on, but right now AWI has me by the nipple ring.

I've written a lot about my War of Independence project.  The conflict is interesting, I love the variety of troop types, with British and American regulars, Tory regulars, militia galore and the spectre of Indians fighting on the frontier. So many battles, so many troop types and so little time. This being the case I narrowed my interest to the year following the Battle of Camden to the fall of Yorktown.  In fact I went even farther than that-I limited myself to battles in the Carolinas from 1781.

While it's certainly possible to fight a bunch of one-off battles with the pile of units that took part in this southern campaign, I am, of course, lured by the battle-sized historical actions, and there are five of them.
1. Cowpens (January 21, 1781)
2. Weitzel's Mill ( March 6, 1781)
3. Guilford's Courthouse (March 15, 1781)
4.  Hobkirk's Hill (April 25, 1781)
5. Eutaw Springs (September 8, 1781)

These omit large numbers of smaller actions that could easily be fought in  skirmish or semi-skirmish actions between formations of British infantry and/or Tory militias and American militia units under Francis Marion, Thomas Sumter and others.

It is my plan to paint each unit involved in these actions at 1:10 and apply them to the appropriate order of battle. I'll review each of the battles, together with my progress toward making them available for a game.

It's Been a Weird Month

Yeah, I know it's time for another post.  It's the first month of school and I find myself working longer hours and enjoying it a bit more, so I've had less time for game-related activities.  I also haven't had a whole lot to write about what I have been doing.

I have been painting pretty regularly and I've purchased some new figures.  I am mostly focused on my RevWar figures right now.  I'm finished painting the figures for my 5th Virginia Regiment, 40 figures strong.  It will be full strength for all the major actions it participated in-Guilford Courthouse, Hobkirk's Hill, Eutaw Springs-as it diminished in strength from 400 men to 180 men.The figures are Perry Miniatures, a combination of figures types from their Continentals in southern dress.  They are very nice figures, with lots of variation available. I chose an example of a thirteen star flag from Richardson's Flags and Standards of the American Revolution. The Liberty flag, which is hard to see, comes off the Danish Wargames page.

I'm also working on a new British unit, the New York Volunteers.  Okay, they aren't exactly British regulars, but they are a smallish loyalist unit that served in the south.  I'm also painting them green.  Usually that's a no-no by the time provincials headed for the Carolinas.  But it's clear they were issued with green jackets in 1780 as they embarked for Charleston, and red jackets some time later.  Would they have had them at Hobkirk's Hill? That's debatable, and I'm guessing they probably wouldn't but I'm okay with it because it adds some variation. These are also miniatures from the Perrys' British infantry in southern dress.

I'm working toward fighting Hobkirk's Hill for Enfilade.  It's a pretty straight up action, with another post to follow to explain.  I've got a couple more units ready to paint.  One is James Coffin's small unit of light dragoons, and the small converged unit of invalids that also fought at Hobkirk.

Work in Progress: Greene's Virginia Regiments.

Sometimes I get captured by a period and put everything else down to work on it.  June it was Spanish Civil War, July and August it is the American Revolution.  As I've stated previously, I'm very interested in Greene's Southern campaign.  That's after the disaster at Camden, but includes Cowpens, the race to the Dan, Weitzel's Mill, Cowan's Ford, Guilford Courthouse, Hobkirk's Hill, Eutaw Springs and maybe throw in the Siege of Ninety-Six.

So how does this play into my painting projects?  To do these actions there are four Continental units I have to have:  1st and 2nd Maryland, and 4th and 5th Virginia.  In their first actions these units are good sized 300-400 men.  But as the campaign winds down both get much smaller. In my 1:10 scale, those are some BIG units.  The two Maryland battalions weigh in at 36 figures, the two Virginia units at 40 figures each.  My 1st Maryland are all Front Rank figures, and one of my favorite battalions.  I painted it in the early 90's for an early Enfilade project, and they've held up well.  I painted my 2nd Maryland during the school year last year.  They're Perry figures.  I like them, but I'm a bit less wild about the paint job.  Somehow my effort at combining washes of lighter areas, such as trousers and shirts, and highlighting the brown coats didn't work out so well. Just didn't get the contrast right.The 1st Maryland were studs, veterans of the units destroyed at Camden.  The 2nd Maryland not so much.  They were trained but green at Guilford, and when they broke, it forced Greene's decision to retire from the battlefield.

I just finished the 4th Virginia.  It's a big unit and took me most of the month to complete it.  I used a combination of Old Glory Continentals in firing line and Continentals in hunting shirts firing.  Neither of these packs of figures are top of the line in terms of posing or accuracy.  The hunting shirt figures even have cuffs with buttons.  Nevertheless, I am too cheap to just not do them, and too lazy to do 16 or so figure conversions.  The 4th Virginia was one of three large trained, but unblooded undits in Greene's main (third) line at Guilford Courthouse. On the table, that's ten stands, fifteen inches frontage.  This unit also fought at Hobkirk's Hill and Eutaw Springs, though in much smaller versions in the subsequent actions.  I gave them the Trumbull standard with the rectangular array of stars and one in the middle.  They are six-pointed stars and I'm not sure I did such a good job with that.

I'm currently working on the 5th Virginia Regiment, brigaded with the 4th and commanded by Isaac Huger. It's another massive paint job, with 40 figures at 1:10.  These are Perry figures.  I love painting them because of the potential varieties in figures.  When I ordered them last Christmas, I decided on the shoulder arms pose.  Not one I usually choose.  I love the firing line figures, and the advancing poses, but, at least with the Perrys I've discovered a disadvantage in this.  They're busy enough that cramming them all on stand with muskets pointing hither and yon can lead to problems with adjacent bases, so I just kept it simple.  There is a combination of four different figure styles here-southern Continentals in regimentals, Southern continentals in single breasted coats, southern Continentals in shirt sleeve order, and black troops.  All of them are very nice and fairly easy to paint.   Lots of animation and variations. I've begun work on the twelve figures in regimentals.

Got some birthday cash and earned a little extra pay working at J-Camp a couple of weeks ago, so I've invested in enough Perry British infantry in Southern dress to paint the two Guards battalions at Guilford.  Ahh, another endless project.

AWI: The Big Rules Quandry

I'm not really ready to play an AWI game yet. Well, I could, I have lots of figures in various stages of remounting and painting

I have my 1st and 2nd Maryland figures, tons of militia and riflemen, some cavalry and such. I have lots of Brits. Finally remounted my highlanders, some regular battalions, lights and provincial units. I'm still just working on some big American units that historically play throughout the period.

The big question, for me anyway, is rules. I have some basic rules requirements. The first and most important is they be suitable for AWI in the South. Except for a few battles, such as Green Springs or Yorktown, there aren't any real big battles. The rules need to accept a ground scale and figure scale of 1:10. That can lead to some big units, but it's doable. "British Grenadier" and "Fire and Fury Regimental" both fill the bill. I think "Loose Files and American Scramble" can be made to work too.

The rules also need to accommodate my mounting. I've just remounted my figures back to 40mm square bases. Each base is equal to 40 figures, though skirmishing units such as riflemen and jaegers are only mounted two to a stand. It appears I can make this work with all the foregoing mountings. I have questions about the scale for F and F Regimental, because I think they are designed for 15mm, but perhaps I can get some clarifications.

Feel for the period is also important. Could I actually refight Cowpens with all its retrograde movement? Are there allowances for the extended order the British units might have employed? That's a definite yes for British Grenadier and Fire and Fury Regimental. Not quite so clear for Loose Files.

I'd also like to host games at conventions or informal gatherings. Fire and Fury would probably work. British Grenadier might be a stretch for those who aren't real excited about the period. Rank and File by Crusader games would probably work too, but they lack a lot of period flavor.

Anyway, lots to think about.

Year's first unit: The 64th Regiment

I've fiddled with these guys for more than a month, and now they're pretty well finished. The 64th Regiment fought at both Hobkirk's Hill and Eutaw Springs, so they are a nice addition to my collection. They are mostly OG southern light infantry, I ran out of command figures so, the command stand is straight British command. I mostly appreciate that I didn't have to paint facing colors on all the figures-not just because I don't like painting facing colors, but the black facings are just so je ne c'est qua-ick!!

The picture at left is the 64th, the picture at right shows them with the South Carolina Loyalists. My painted regiments grow and grow. Since Enfilade I've added the following units:
63rd Regt.
64th Regt.
Volunteers of Ireland
South Carolina Loyalists
3rd De Lancey Battalion

My Drumbeat game with Darin raised the possibility of running my Maxmillian figures again. I haven't dragged them out in quite some time. It also reminded me that I have one French/Imperial cavalry unit left to paint and then that project will be totally completed. So, last night, while watching Episode 7 of last season's Big Love I got all ten of the little fellows ready to paint. After I wrap up the 64th and a unit of 15mm SCW, it will be on to the last dragoons of the project.

AWI Wrap up

I'm one of those who often doesn't paint in a straight line. It's hard for me to sit down and paint 200 figures for a project and declare it finished. I lose interest after six weeks, two months and need to do something else, and then come back to the project and finish up.

Yesterday I wrapped up some of my AWI units. By wrapping up, I mean basing and flagging. I'd finished my 1st North Carolina Continentals, the 63rd Regiment and was just waiting to polish off the eight figures of the teeny, tiny, 1st Battalion of the De Lancey Brigade. I did all that as well as painting the five flags for each of those units over the holiday weekend.

I'm going to pick at AWI while I focus on my Hundred Years War project for the next wee bit. I'm working on twenty Welsh spearmen, and if I get through them quickly I'll probably paint the 64th Regiment before taking on the remaining Welsh and passle of Genoese crossbowmen I need to paint.

Pictures are of the three units. At the top of the page is the two stand DeLancey battalion, the first battalion that appeared at Eutaw Springs. There were only 80 men, but I'm determined to show some of these small units whenever possible. The standards are strictly supposition. These are Old Glory figures. There are two pictures of the four stand 63rd regiment. This was a veteran unit that fought at Hobkirk's Hill and Eutaw Springs. The blue-coated unit is the 120 man 1st North Carolina Continentals that fought alongside two other North Carolina units at Eutaw. They probably weren't quite as well dressed as these guys.

A Change in the Air

I've been working on my American Revolution figures for the last three months or so, and I think I'm ready for a change. I have my North Carolina continentals and 63rd regiment finished, despite some basing and flagging issues, and I'm in the middle of painting my teeny DeLancy battalion, but after they are finished I see myself tucking my 64th regiment that is primed and partially painted away into a corner of my painting table so I can pick them out when I'm more interested.

I've looked longingly at some of my Hundred Years War stuff (again!) and am going to work on some troops and models I need for one of my Enfilade projects. I have thirty-two Welsh spearmen to paint--20 single figures and twelve on three man mountings for the Crusader Rules. In addition, I dragged out my two Merrimac cogs--medieval warships--that I'm going to use in my defense of St. Jean scenario. I also have a passel of Genoese crossbowmen to fill out those I already have for the scenario and again for the Crusader rules. The Welsh and cogs should paint up fairly quickly, and I'm looking forward to getting started this weekend.

Once I wrap up the AWI units I'll post some pics.

Show time: AWI All the Time

I have new pictures to post. Two are newish units, at least to my collection, and the last is an old favorite.

In my trade with Doug I received eight light American light infantrymen painted in Doug's beautiful black primered style. They are indeed gorgeous, and they are a bit of a contrast with my figures on the right. In fact these two stands will form part of the regiment of Maryland and Delaware light infantry that fought together at Cowpens and Weitzels Mill under John Eager Howard and Otho Holland Williams. These were veteran troops, survivors of Camden, and the very best in Continental service. The troops on the right are my own, Kirkwood's Delaware company. Kirkwood was a true survivor of the Revolution, fighting in thirty-three actions, at the head of an elite company of infantry. Sadly he was cut down at age 63 in Arthur St. Clair's army at the Battle of the Wabash, fighting Indians on the frontier in defense of his Congressional land grant in recognition of his service during the Revolution.

The next unit are Queen's Rangers. They are my favorite of the trade bounty. Simply beautiful. Doug has graciously offered to paint a matching bunch from my shrinking pile of Front Rank figures. The Queens Rangers were truly an elite provincial unit that did see some service in the South--the defense of Savannah, and marching about Virginia with Benedict Arnold.


The last unit is one of my old favorites--the 1st Maryland I painted up for Guilford Courthouse at Enfilade II. They are old, but perhaps the best figures I ever painted using my white primer "slop" technique. The flags are wrong, and they've been remounted more times than I can say, but they're still one of my favorites.

Books, books, books, books . . .

I love books. I'm a total book geek. It's gotten to the point too, where I don't let them own me, I actually read all my books. This is incredibly necessary because I've pretty much maxed out my bookshelf space, so I don't buy nearly as many as used to.

Nevertheless book buying is one of my chief vices, so I'm pretty picky about what I get. This week I ordered two books. One is used, in fact it's out of print so it had to be used. I picked up a copy of "Now We are Enemies," by Thomas Fleming on Bunker Hill. It's supposed to be a great read, and Fleming is an interesting writer. Not sure it will vault right to the top of the heap in my reading queue, but it's definitely a good mid-winter's read.

The other book, which arrived today from Amazon, is a bit more central to my current painting projects is Kevin Kiley's Uniforms from the American Revolutionary War. I've only thumbed through it, but it was definitely worth the investment. It's so difficult to know what units looked like during the AWI and most illustrations are just speculative. There is no truth, at least not for the Americans, and even for British units in the field. Kiley's book is a bit more wide-ranging than Mollo's classic little book on AWI uniforms, and supplemented by Don Troiani's book on soldiers of the Revolutionary War, I get a little bit more to think about. The books offers illustrations of British, American and Provincial Units, as well as French, German and Spanish troops. There are even illustrations of cannon, ships and examples of flags.

If you're desperately in need of knowing exactly what James Coffin's sixty mounted South Carolina Royalist dragoons wore at Eutaw Springs (as I am) this will not solve your problem. However, if you're groping in the dark at what units might have worn at various times during the Revolution, this will offer some suggestion. The book that tells it all simply hasn't been written--and likely never will be.

Volunteers of Ireland and other thoughts

It's been a wonderful weekend. Aside from the fact that I struggled with my insomnia, I had absolutely nothing I had to or places to go aside from a few errands. I took the opportunity to watch the Huskies' heartbreaking loss to Notre Dame and both Mariners' wins to end the season. Together with lots of sports watching I did lots of painting. Mostly I worked on finishing my 48 figure French unit of Perry men-at-arms for HYW. These guys have been on my table since June, so I was pleased to wrap them up. As soon as the basing and standards get done I'll get pictures up.

These figures are one of two units I got from Doug Hamm in our June trade. They are Volunteers of Ireland, a provincial unit that served throughout the south in the period that interests me, 1780-81. They are all Front Rank figures, and serve in summer linen. I was a bit challenged as I painted up a couple of figures to fill them out to sixteen-my figures are mounted in foursies. It's even more challenging because Doug black primes everything and mine are white primed. I did the best I could and I think you would be pressed to find which two are mine.

I've had the opportunity to really inventory my piles of unpainted AWI lead, and I've made some plans regarding how to organize and paint it. I have enough figures to paint up numerous British units, the small one that show up at Eutaw Springs and Hobkirks Hill. I have enough American figures to paint up the 1st Virginia and 2nd Maryland at their Guilford Courthouse strengths, which together is 72 figures. Throw in the Welsh Fusiliers and the Von Bose regiment and I have lots I can paint.

But first I'm painting up a bunch of SCW machine gunners before launching into the 63rd Regt., at its Hobkirks Hill strength of about 160 men (16 figures.)

Tarleton's Quarter Revisited

As I mentioned last week, I've just finished Matthew Springs book, "With Zeal and With Bayonets Only." Springs' work is intended to dispel commonly held beliefs about the formations, and battlefield philosophy of the British army during the American Revolution.

I think there are some basic points that Springs makes that can be easily be summed up in a little list:
1. The British generally fought in open formations with spacing of 18 inches between files rather than the Continental norm of 6 inches. This allowed them to move more quickly through difficult terrain, but made it more difficult to effectively dress lines and and maneuver with other regiments. There are exceptions to this rule, but they are few. American regiments also tended to fight in these formations.
2. Light infantry units tended to be the numbero uno elite regiments. These troops, nicknamed "bloodhounds" were the most active, usually operated on a flank, and in the absence a cavalry arm, became the pursuit force after a broken or retreating enemy.
3. British units in the American Revolution generally did not volley with American untis. It was first fire and then charge with the bayonet.
4. In the American Revolution, the first fire was terrifically important. Because it was typically the best loaded round in a firefight, it would be the best prepared. One great volley fired in defense could completely undo a bayonet charge, as at Cowpens.

In my own rules set for AWI, Tarleton's Quarter, it presumed that the British formations at Cowpens were not unusual. Springs states that they were common, and the British only rarely adopted close order. This may mean a rethinking of the rules, and perhaps eliminate the need for them. I am considering ordering a copy of British Grenadier, which is wildly popular. If they don't do the trick, I may instead go back to Loose Files, which at least treats the unique conditions of fighting a war in America as a unique experience.

Freeman's Farm

Bruce Meyer sent out the word a couple of weeks ago about a game at his Palace of Gaming Delights. I don't get to play with Bruce often, but I really enjoy it when I am able. Last year we did Guilford Courthouse, and today it was Freeman's Farm. The action took place during the Saratoga Campaign, as Burgoyne approached his rendezvous with surrender. Freeman's Farm was the first of two quite desperate battles as the outnumbered, and out-of-supply British try to force the Americans out of their fortifications, opening the road to Albany.

There were twelve of us there for the game. Bruce asked if I would take Burgoyne, and I was happy to oblige. Tim McNulty volunteered to be Gates. Actually Gates was safely back at his bunker, but Benedict Arnold led the American forces on the ground that day. Tim behaved just as aggressively as Arnold.

We were divided into three commands--the right column under General Simon Fraser was commanded jointly by Mark Waddington and Bruce Duthie. Our center column under General Burgoyne himself was run by Jerry Nordbye and Steve Ghan. The left column under General Riedesel was the responsibility of Michael Koznarsky and myself, entering the board somewhat later.

Our right column immediately came under fire from Morgan's rifles, losing the commanding officers of the converged lights and a line battalion. It was the first of many bad things that would happen to Fraser's column in particular and the British in general.


While Burgoyne's column of four battalions moved dutifully to positions along a rail fence facing a field, dozens of American units poured onto the field, filling the opposite rail fence and pouring to flank. The battle had scarcely begun, the British were already in deep trouble.


Fraser's column on the British right was quickly unable to advance. Forced into line by the fire of American marksmen, the difficult situation rapidly went from bad to worse. American infantry began advancing in march columns aimed right at the British line. More fire forced morale checks the British commanders could not seem to pass. It would be a common theme throughout the day.

The British troops in the center and the right took defensive positions, rather than assuming the offensive as I had planned as British commander. There were simply too many Americans who were happy to bring the battle to us. Steve and Jerry in the middle had some initial success firing their cannon at the Americans in the center, but it was like a pebble tossed in the ocean in hopes of stopping the incoming tide. Jerry found himself holding the very end of the British line facing legions of Americans with two units.

He managed to hold things for a turn or two, but Jerry took his turn to fail an easily made morale check. Instead of holding the line, the threatened unit retreated, and the line turned into a bow.

On the right, things went from bad to worse. Repeated fire decimated the the British lights and line infantry. The Canadian militia sought refuge in the woods, and the Americans poured in toward the British right, forcing the survivors to find refuge in Freeman's Farm.

Just when all seemed lost the British got a bit of a reprieve when Riedesel's Germans showed up on turn five--exactly where the Americans expected them. Michael's Hessians pulled into the gap with the artillery, while I tried to pull off an attack on the American militia through the woods. For two turns the opportunity was mine for the taking, but I couldn't roll the six on a ten sided die I needed to attack disordered. I don't know if it would have changed the battle, but it sure would have made me feel better. I also attached Riedesel to the one attack I was able to make and he was killed in the melee. The story of the British army this day.
Although the Germans had five units to add to the eight British units already on the field, it simply wasn't enough to make progress against the eight slightly smaller American units arrayed against us.

As the Hessian counter-attack stalled out things went from bad to worse on the other fronts. On the right flank, a series of American attacks wiped out the British grenadiers and light infantry. They put up a good fight, but there simply wasn't enough to fight with. Steve's two battalions in the middle were being pressed from the front, and with his right flank now wide open, it was just a matter of time before he too was a goner. Jerry was fighting off units from his front and flank, but it was clear that the weight of the enemy would eventually end his resistance. At this point, with the Hessians clearly unable to draw strength from the American attack in the center I called a general retreat to save what was left of the army.

Though the game was a tough one to lose, and lose so decisively, it was still a great deal of fun. I met some new guys, and it was another great opportunity to pull out my AWI figures, which had lay dormant since Cowpens at Enfilade in the spring. I was really proud of the British players who did the very best they could under very difficult circumstances. On a positive note, I think we did as well as General Burgoyne, who suffered terrible casualties (just like us) and was forced to retire on his baggage (just like us) before his inevitable surrender after one more assault on Bemis Heights.