Peter Laing Wargame

      I have taken a couple of weeks off from the blog. Besides losing our dog, Donna and I lost two close friends to cancer and a family member started her battle against cancer.  Needless to say, it's been hard to get motivated. In the last couple of weeks I did get all my 1st generation AWI militiamen painted. My motivation for that was a book, THE MINUTE MEN by Major John R. Galvin, U.S.A.

      This week I was looking at my Peter Laing War of Spanish Succession figures. They are figures that I have wanted to do something with for a long time. In the past, I wanted to make two armies that I could use with HORSE & MUSKET 2.0 rules by Chris Salander. The armies would be for the French & Indian Wars. I ended painting  little British and French armies, both with 6 infantry units and gunners. Yesterday I fought a battle with them. I used the OHW army lists. For movement I used H&M 2.0; for combat BATTLE CRY rules.  I used my homemade activation dice marked 3,4,4,4,5,6 to decided how many units could be activated.

The French Army. Their skirmishers were home cast Peter Laing indians

The British army.

The French army move up on their right, trying to take the woods.

The indians hit one British unit.

The British hit back at the indians.

The British artillery causes 50% losses on one infantry unit. 

The French on the left forces back the British grenadiers.

The British cavalry forces back one French unit; the artillery hits the other French infantry.On the left the British force back the indians.

On the far left, the French infantry forces the cavalry back. The British grenadiers loses 50%. On the far right the British are in retreat. 

The French infantry continue to force the cavalry and grenadiers back.

The cavalry counterattacks and eliminates the French infantry unit.

The British push the French back across the entire front. The French gun,trying to get in better position, loses 50%.

The French counterattack eliminates 3 British units! The loss of one more will spell defeat for the British.

The British try a desperate gamble to win the day. The cavalry rounds the woods to attack the artillery; it also cuts off the line of retreat for the infantry in the woods.  The cavalry succeed in taking the battery. The British infantry attacks the woods and  kill one Frenchman and rolls one "retreat", killing another Frenchman.  The score is now; the French has lost 2 units to the British 3 units. The first side to lose 4 units loses the battle.

The French counterattack kills 2 out of 3 in the remaining British infantry unit. They are forced to retreat, along with the British artillery.

The French continue their pursuit.

The indians manage to kill the last of the British infantryman, and wins the battle for their French allies.

The end of the battle.

AWI Wargame; Control the River

      Besides painting some more Minifigs AWI figures, I have worked on some terrain pieces, including assembling another stone bridge kit. The first bridge I put together as it was meant to be. However, the bridge has an arch in it that makes it hard to stand my single based figures on. This bridge I made flat in the center, which allows figures to stand better. I wanted to use both bridges in this game (we camped at Boston Minuteman campground and I've started reading a book about the Minutemen), with the thought of the battles of Lexington and Concord as a guide.

       In Neil Thomas' book ONE HOUR WARGAMES, scenario #3 fit what I had in mind. However, instead of fighting militia, the British would be facing the Continental Army.  I used the scenario in the book, where the goal is to control both river crossing. I also used his chart for the army composition. The British has 3 regular infantry units, 2 light infantry units, and 1 artillery unit. The Americans have 3 infantry units, 2 artillery units, and 1 cavalry unit. For rules I used the BATTLE CRY AWI variant that I used to fight my last game. This time I took out the original BATTLE CRY rules and did a quick study of the rules. I didn't use the battle cards; all units could move every turn.

The American army. From the left; the cavalry, the 8th Massachusetts, artillery, the general, another artillery unit,  frontiersmen, and the 12th regiment.

The British army. From the left, 42nd Highlanders (light infantry), Light infantry unit, General with artillery battery, 3 units of regular infantry.

As the armies approach each other, the American cavalry charge over the bridge, un supported.

The cavalry hits the infantry unit nearest the guns...

...and the infantry retreat. At this point I checked the rules. In other Borg rules, the cavalry usually have a followup charge. In the basic BATTLE CRY rules, I couldn't find any mention of such followup rules, so the cavalry couldn't  follow up their success.

Three infantry units turn on the cavalry, while the artillery continues to move to the front.

The cavalry loses 1/3 of their men and are routed.

The cavalry reforms on the American left. Their attack covered the advance of the army.

The British advance continues.

The americans finally open fire on the advancing British, with little success. Once again the Dragoons charge over the bridge.

On the British left, the Highlander fire makes the 12th Regiment retreat. On the right the combined fire from the British infantry eliminates the dragoons.

The British now engage the 8th Mass.

On the left, the combined fire from the Highlanders and light infantry makes the frontiersmen retreat.

The British now start storming the bridges. The Highlanders cross behind the light infantry, in order to position themselves to have targets to shoot at.

The maneuver of the Highlanders have a devastating effect on the light infantry. In BATTLE CRY rules, if a unit has no place to retreat to, they lose a man for every retreat roll. Both American units rally and attack the light infantry. They roll one "infantry" and two "retreat" rolls. With their retreat blocked by the Highlanders, they lose 3/4 of their unit. An amateur mistake on my part, although I  realized this might happen I risked the move (and paid dearly for it!). The 8th Mass, tries to hold the other bridge.

The American artillery fire kills one infantryman across the river.

The light infantry gets across the bridge. The Highlanders return to their original position  and fires on the 12th, who quickly turn tail and runs (again!). The infantry on the right continues across the bridge and inflects more losses on the 8th.

The light infantry attacks the frontiersmen, who hold their ground. The infantry on the right bridge get across in the face of the 8th's fire.

On the American left, the 8th tries to hold  back the British infantry. On the right, the frontiersmen finally eliminate the last of the light infantry while the 12th rallies (again!). The American artillery forces the Highlanders to retreat.

The 8th confronts the last of one British unit.....

More Painted AWI Minifigs

    My wife and I went for a long weekend of camping. I brought along some more of the 1st generation Minifigs AWI figures, with the hope of getting some painting in. I did get three more units painted.

I had started these Highlanders a while back; I finally got them finished.

These figures were painted to represent the 12th Continental Regiment. Unfortunately, I broke one barrel off while working on them.

A unit of frontier riflemen in hunting smocks.

Although most militia units weren't in uniforms, this particular unit I wanted to keep together. This was the militia unit in my last game which held off two of the Regular units.  I do think I will touch up their stocking again.

My wife had to go to work late when we got back from camping; I had taken the day off to clean the camper out. After I had got all the cleaning done, I decided to get a game in using some of the newly painted figures. That will be my next posting.

Work on Projects

       I mentioned earlier that I had made a couple of new molds. One was of Peter Laing Colonial  Indian infantry, which I thought would be good as opponents against my Colonial British figures. I also made another of Peter Laing Crimean British Guards and infantry advancing. Unfortunately, with the regular infantry figure, there was an air bubble right where the face should be, so the figure takes more work than it's worth to use it. The Guards rifle wouldn't fill; I did some work on it and now it looks like he's carrying a log. The Indian figure came out better and should be useful in future projects.

     After my last war-game involving the American War of Independence, I decided to paint a unit of American regulars. One good thing about the American Army from this period is the various uniforms. Being from Massachusetts, it seemed only fitting that the first unit would be of a Massachusetts regiment. I chose the 8th Massachusetts. The uniform is a pale blue with red facing. The blue is probably darker than it should be, and with a coat of lacquer it is even darker. However, I will keep it as is for now.

The Indian figures with a quick coat of paint.

The 8th Massachusetts.

A unit of militia. I do like these figures, as I think they would also work well for the War of 1812.