Back to North America!

Having spent the last few months in Spain with the gallant Spanish attempting to hold off the voracious French, I found it was time (again) for a change. Being retired has many advantages, like time. But as precious as that is, it is also a drawback of giving you too much time to think. The Bard put it best in  Julius Caesar when Brutus (I think) describing Decius (I think)  said: "He thinks too much. Such men are dangerous."

 

I suspect my level of dangerous, never particularly high, is quite a bit less as I am now in my seventies.  But I still probably think too much, and that leads me back to today's topic: North America and more particularly, the Anglo-American War of 1812. 

 

Many years ago the great American war game pioneer, Jack Scruby, offered inexpensive, tin-lead castings in several scales, most notably (and still one of my favorites) 30mm. Today we call it 28mm, but the two are virtually indistinguishable. In any event, my first purchases in those halcyon days of discovery (war games, girls, cars, girls, more war games, real part-time jobs, and girls), were from his War of 1812 series. By today's standards, they are simple, almost crude, but since they were all we knew about (the British wave hadn't broken yet), they were the only game in town so to speak! I probably still have a couple of dozen somewhere in my collection. 

 

The real challenge, however, was finding information on those fellows. Uniform information on pretty much most of the 19th century American army, save for the Union and Confederacy, was hard to find.  The centennial of the American Civil War was only a couple of years past and quite frankly, I had had quite enough of it. There was stuff out there, but you had to look for it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flash forward nearly sixty years, and I probably have three to four dozen histories, references, tactics, and military minutiae books and pamphlets sitting on my library shelf. I still find that war fascinating, and, having thought too much, decided it was time to go back.

 

 The spur, if you will, were some Expeditionary Force (EF) Militia Infantry II (Yeoman Crown Shako) 54 AMR 04-S. While no doubt these could be painted up as organized militia, the uniform is pretty much the same, including shako, of the 1812/1813 for US Regulars (which is what I did). I'll post some pictures next time. The quality and casting of these figures are superb. They come with interchangeable arms and poses for almost infinite (well...a lot of) variety. Given that the well done figures by Ken Cliffe with his All The King's Men line are no longer manufactured, this line by EF is well timed and based on their website, soon to expand!

I have played enough of the About Bonaparte (AB) rules to know that for enjoyment, and the relatively small battles of this war, the Expeditionary Force lines could be a renaissance in 54mm gaming. The pictures show some Americans and British organized for AB. Dirk Donvil has done a remarkable job of making multi-battalion Napoleonic battles practical with these rules.

Never Say Never (or something like that)

Well the first battle in my Viva Iberia  campaign has been fought and the Spanish force was driven from the field. But this was a small battle, taken from Neil Thomas' One Hour Wargames. Dirk Donvil's rules continue to impress me, so much so that I took it upon myself to come up with a couple of QR sheets to speed things along. Unlike the set at the end of his rules (About Bonaparte), I disregarded the metric measurements and simply used standard English units of inches, feet, etc. Of course, my other motive was to use them as I try to interest my wargaming club in battles with 54mm figures. Also in May they will be used for the game or games I hope to put on at Huzzah 2022, in South Portland Maine. 

So, what about "Never Say Never"? Well for those of you who have been kind enough to follow my random musings over the last couple of years, know that my preference for game bases has always been the lowly, but functional, rectangle. Back in 2020 when I first discovered these rules, I used the square bases (55mm x 55mm) specified in the AB rulebook. At that time, and perhaps it was such a small battle, I thought the square bases just didn't look right, especially considering they only had 2 figures per stand. So I switched to rectangles measuring 3" x 1.5" with 3 figures per base. The drawback was it also increased the unit frontage by about a third.  

The two photos show you the difference. The Americans on the left take up about 8" of frontage, while the French below on rectangular  bases take up 12". So what to do?

If you guessed "rebase", you got it in one. Fortunately, since I use white glue to attach the figures, their removal is quite easy and relatively painless as far as the repainting is concerned. The other, and rather unexpected bonus is that it provides more figures for second and third battalions, with minimal effort. 

Well, I will find out soon enough if it was worth it as I will be conducting a march larger test battle on my club's 8' x 6' table in a couple of weeks. 

Until next time...

From the Chronicles of Viva Iberia: The Battle Called El Tope de Velocidad

In my last post, I showed you the dispositions of the two armies for the first battle of my Viva Iberia campaign. There were some slight adjustments in the French line as their commander decided that the best plan was to pin the Spanish forces on his right while driving the veteran Swiss up the road to smash the center. While all this was going on, the two light battalions were given the dual mission of neutralizing the Spanish artillery, and clearing the woods of any Spanish lights lurking about. 

As attacker, the French moved first. There was a general advance, albeit at a stately pace. They were experienced troops and it showed. The artillery fired...three I's, and a blank. The right hand Spanish Battalion lost a full stand! Then the middle two battalions fired, but could only account for one figure! Now it was the Lights turn. The woods were too thick and the dice too unlucky to hurt the Spanish skirmishers...but on the right, they took out an artilleryman. 

 

Now it was Spain's turn to retaliate. The Spanish light infantry fired...but to no effect! Now the artillery, the best troops on their side, fired a withering blast. Had there been Cavalry or Artillery in the blast pattern, it would have devastating.  But today...no such luck! Nada! Zilch!

The second turn was much a continuance of the first. Again the French rolled well and the light infantry on the road took out two more artillerists. At this point the Spanish artillery should have turned tail and ran, but I wanted to give them a chance. Nothing. In the center, however the line fired a telling blow and two lights fell to the tabletop.   The advance of the French continued, seemingly unstoppable. The Swiss continued in their attack column. 

With turn three, the battle would be decided as was thought by all observers. The French lights formed and charged the lone gunner, who fired to no effect. The lights in the woods fired at the defending Spanish: a hit, and two flags! Even with the officer present, they would be forced back 20 cm. The woods were cleared. French artillery on the right  killed another full stand and force the doughty Spanish line to retreat.  But the final blow was struck as the Swiss smashed into the Spanish line. Despite rolling only five dice to the defender's six, the bad rolls continued for the Spanish. Causing three casualties to one, the Spanish line broke. With the Hiberian Regiment acting as rear guard, the battle broke off. A great victory for the French, including the capture of a gun! The Emperor would be pleased! The first battle of a long war and now recorded in the archives as The Battle of the Speed Bump! (El Tope de Velocidad). 

In my next installment, I'll continue my earlier discussion of the rules. They are titled About Bonaparte, written by Dirk Donvil, published by Partizan Press, and available from Caliver Books. 

Until next time!

The Battle Begins

In my last post I described the forces and scenario for the opening battle of my Viva Iberia campaign. After reviewing the rules, I decided that for the Spanish to have any chance at all of winning, they would require some reinforcement. The revised order of battle (OB) is below:

French

    1 Veteran Line Bn. (Swiss) with Officer*

    2 Trained Line Bns. with Officer*

    2 Veteran Light Bns with Officer

    1 Veteran Medium Battery

The French CiC included one Aide de Camp. The units marked with an * have an integral but separate command stand which I equate to an attached Officer figure. The opening French positions are shown below.

The Spanish Forces were reinforced by an additional line battalion, as the point totals for them versus the French would indicate their chance of accomplishing their mission ranged from slightly over slim to none whatsoever. Anyway, their force was as follows:

Spanish

    3 Trained Line Bns.

    1 Trained Light Bn.

    1 Veteran Medium Battery

The Spanish CiC had an Aide de Camp with him. The Lights had an attached Staff Officer, but only one of the Line had an attached officer. The Spanish opening positions are shown below.

In my next report, I will go over the battle itself along with some commentary on the rules.

Until next time!

  

The Opening Moves!

For some time now, I have been discussing my mythical campaign, "Viva Espana!" which I think, by the way, I will rename "Viva Iberia!", to avoid any conflict with Two Fat Lardies Spanish Civil War campaign. Most of the posts so far have talked about collecting and painting the various forces to be involved, along with a couple of battle reports using either highly modified Charge! rules, or the more contemporary (and I believe more suitable) About Bonaparte by Dirk Donvil.

Now, for those of you that game in 54mm, you understand the logistical problems associated with large club games, especially if you want anything bigger than a skirmish.

Now,  in the depths of a particularly variable New England winter, I haven't been getting out as much as I used to. A large part of it I think has to do with my getting on in years, being in my eighth decade. Perhaps more relevant is that I don't like driving at night in the winter. That being said, a solo game or two combined with significant painting sessions, pretty much satisfy my gaming needs.  

 The basic rules were pretty much adhered to, so they would be a good indication of their suitability. For such solo games, I turn to Neil Thomas' One Hour Wargames. For this, I will be using the basic map for Scenario 24, Bottleneck.

 The Blue force will be the French and the Red force Spanish. Using the dicing system to determine the forces involved, in this case a 6 unit force (blue) against a 4 unit force (red), the following were decided: French-> 3 infantry units, 1 artillery, and 2 skirmishers 

French Artillery and Commander

French Skirmishers

Two French and one Swiss Battalions

 Spanish-> 2 infantry, 1 artillery, and 1 skirmisher. Under the scenario conditions, one of the red units had to be skirmishers.

Spanish Skirmishers

Spanish Line

Spanish Commander and Artillery

In the next edition, I will go over the set up and opening moves, perhaps even the entire battle!

We're back...A New Year Beckons!

It's been awhile, longer than I expected but Der Resin Kavalier has finally returned. As most of you who have followed this occasional blog, I am retired and with all the time on my hands, I continually find new things to do and interests to pursue. In the last eight months or so, I've painted numerous figures, mostly 28mm World War 2 ranging from US Marines and their Japanese opponents, to North Africa with the 8th Army, Afrika Korps, and Italian troops. I made enough jungle terrain to covers most of a 4' x 6' table, built a model railroad, and of course played numerous rounds of golf. Having an wonderfully tolerant and understanding spouse has certainly helped Indeed, after nearly fifty years of marriage, I still can't believe how incredibly lucky I have been in that regard. But enough of the 2021, a new year is upon us. So back to Spain it is! But first, let me talk about something I've been meaning to do and that is discussing how conversions and paint jobs can create multiple units and nations, and with a minimum of work. So to change about the familiar Latin phrase E pluribus unum or, "out of many, one", I will change it to Ex unum figura, multae, or "out of one figure, many". In some of my earlier post, I showed you some pictures of some Bourbon Spanish troops that I converted from "A Call to Arms" (ACTA) French infantry. This involved, other than painting, a couple of steps:replacing the head, adding a plume, and finally painting it up. The photo below shows the process:

Another easy conversion involves the ACTA Waterloo Dutch Infantry. In looking to find some light infantry for my Spanish Army, I came across a listing both the names and uniforms of a number of these light infantry (www.littlewars.se/spanish/lightinf) One unit that caught my fancy was the Battalion de Voluntarios de Málaga. The dark green uniforms, purple facings,and buff belts/straps were calling out to be painted. The Dutch needed a bit of modification. They a cast with what appears to be the perfect shako, except that it is double-billed (Austrian surplus?). A bit of trimming, and we are good to paint, as shown below:

I'll finish up today by showing just what I meant by "out of one figure, many". The series below shows you the basic starting figures, Armies in Plastic set #5455, the French Second Foreign Regiment(who, I might add, contributed to the inventory of Spanish plumes for their bicorns).

Starting at the top we have Swiss, Nassau, Irish Legion, French Lights, and the original castings! Until next time...

On to Spain, Part 2

 In my last post, I showed you some of the Bourbon Spanish forces that will be used in my current campaign. The rules are titled About Bonaparte by Dirk Donvil. However, I noted in the previous post's opening that it has been my experience that no set of rules survives first contact with gamer. Let me state though that I like the mechanics of the rules and the results (so far) seem to be consistent with many other sets that are used for this period. Most of the changes I've incorporated are primarily aesthetic. So let's take a look.

I don't like square bases! I have been gaming with toy soldiers most of my life, and in an organized way (i.e. using written rules) for more than sixty years. From my earliest excursions, bases have been mostly rectangular. Dirk's rules use a 55mm x 55mm base for 2 infantry figures, which also allows for some creative landscaping. Four bases constitute a unit ( 8 figures). The rules allow for different basing, so mine are 3in x 1.5in, with three figures (12 per unit). It takes up more room, but I think it looks better. Light Infantry are mounted on the same size base but with two figures. Likewise, instead of splitting a base or removing a figure for casualties (and skirmishing), I just use a plastic ring to indicate it. 

The cavalry in AB are on individual bases 55mm x 110mm, and since I hate rebasing, I've let that alone. Artillery on the other hands is supposed to be on a 110mm x 110mm base with 3-5 gunners. I've left the gun un-based and the gunners on 1.25" fender washers. I think it looks good, and appears to have no significant impact on the rules play. Below are some photos of the French.

Artillery on the march!

French Line and Chasseurs à Cheval

In these photos, you can see the general deployment of  the troops.  

French Lights skirmishing

A Swiss Battalion in French Service