Further to the last post On Military Matters will be also now be carrying "Against Spain"
Dennis still carries "Sugar Islands" too, so now you have three places to by both books.
Direct from here. From Caliver Books. And now from On Military Matters.
Right....now there's no excuses!π
First up, I'm having a problem. Something has changed in blogger, or in safari or in some settings somewhere and now I can't post on many peoples blogs. It might be at my end or it might be at theirs or it might be both but I am stumped, having fichered and fiddled with my settings I can't get it fixed. So apologies to anyone whom I've popped round to read and not left a comment to, (Aly, Chris, Graham and others).
I said in my last post I would have a bit more head space and clearly I do. I have two projects on the go at the moment, the first is building up forces for the Marian Civil War and Gordon-Forbes Feud in North East Scotland in the latter half of the 16thC. On this I have three things to report.
The first is the purchase, as a bit of light background reading and to support an excellent bookshop, of Rizzio, by Denise Mina . This short novella deals with the murder of Mary Queen of Scot's secretary David Rizzio. It is fast, brutal and atmospheric and reads like a screenplay for a cop thriller....as it should coming from an accomplished crime writer. I read it in a night.
The second is the following of the Renaissance armies posts on Matakishi's Tea House and his use of Neil Thomas's One Hour Wargames for battles with landsknechts, conquistadors, elizabethans and lately border reivers. Currently my figures are based singly and used on movement trays for this period, but I was impressed with Matakishi's posts as he built each of his armies up and his use of roster sheets to track casualties for what are a very simple but very effective set of rules. Following his example I have decided to rebase my16thC figures using his model.
On that topic I bought some of the rather nice Peculiar Companions resin figures, specifically the Demi Lancers. These arrived earlier this week and are very well sculpted, cleanly printed and very well proportioned. Although they are marketed as a replacement for GW Empire types they lack the fantasy styles, skulls and other embellishments so are perfect for 16thC figures. Other figures in the range are useful as landsknecht halberdiers, reiters and fully armoured men at arms. Their landsknecht foot with arquebus are nice too, but the guns seem a bit large. Mine were printed and supplied by Sundered Studios
The second project is a fictional 19th century campaign based on a Russian invasion of Scotland in the early 1830's. I have tried a simple conversion of using Warlord Crimean War plastic bodies and Warlord 1809 Russian Shako covered heads to represent the Russian infantry and it seems to be a close match to the pre helmet, but post napoleonic Russian uniform illustrated in the various Viskovatov prints. Graham H is working on British, specially some 72nd Duke of Albany's Own Highlanders, converting Perry Carlist war figs to highland bonnets.
As background to the Russian army I bought a copy of John Sheldon Curtiss's book The Russian Army Under Nicholas I - 1825-1855 which covers the Polish, Persian and Turkish wars as well as the Hungarian uprising and the Crimean war. Not a cheap buy at £50 but it's interesting nonetheless.
Last but not least the sharp eyed will notice I have added a new page to the blog. As my original posts for the Sugar Islands and Against Spain books were many months ago I thought this was a better way of keeping them to the fore.
I'm off on holiday at the moment, having a sneaky break between my old job and new one. After a lovely long weekend away up Donside, then down to Edinburgh and Glasgow I was at my local Club to continue playing out the scenarios from my Against Spain book.
Now we have reached Manila on the Philippines. The British have landed through the surf onto a beach near the city and established a depot there while they build their siege line. The expedition suffered from a lack of regular troops and equipment - and this meant the beach depot was not particularly well defended nor was Manila cut off - allowing Spanish forces and supplies to come and go. A sally was inevitable, and when it came it was a force or regulars, militia and tribesmen who attacked.
The depot was near a Spanish church which in our game housed a detachment of the 79th foot. This was only a short distance from the forest, and it was from this location that trouble arrived. Bill, commanding the Spanish sent his regulars and militia round the church, and his Filipino tribesmen against its stone walls, thinking they wouldn't be good for much but they're tie up the defenders. Dave settled down for a siege. His thoughts were that he could hold out until the Grenadiers and another detachment of the 79th arrived from the lines nearer the city.
It was going to be quite a different battle for both sides....
First of all the tribesmen crashed into the church and in a fierce melee (good dice from Bill and a poor morale check from Dave), drove the defenders back from the vestibule (it's a big model!) into the nave where fighting took place amongst the stores and stacked pews. Bill sent his second tribal unit into the church and they swept the 79th back once more forcing them out of the building. Dave (with Robert on the dice), wasnt having a great start. The only consolation as was the city militia were proving very sluggish and it seemed hadn't been paying much attention to musketry drills...they only managed to amble round the church and line up, getting them to fire at the beach depot was proving impossible. Regiment del Rey, on the other flank were better, firing a volley into the defenders amongst the boxes, barrels and tents.
Another round of melee broke the remaining men of the 79th and they fled for the city. The marauding tribesmen were now free to attack the camp, which they set about with some glee and the British there were pushed back from the breastworks of baggage and equipment. There seemed to be something wrong with the morale dice and it wasn't getting any better.
The militia were still dithering about, unable, or unwilling to get a shot off, but at last some help arrived from the siege lines and the Grenadiers showed up. A firefight started between them and the Spanish regulars. But back at the beach, the British were now in deep trouble having been pushed back yet again they were practically on the surf line. However order now began to break down and some of the Bill's tribesmen now got stuck in the depot, unable to activate below half strength and probably thoroughly looting the place. The militia still didn't fancy much action, but did at least move round to watch.
The Grenadiers and Rgt del Rey were blazing away but the Spanish were getting the upper hand but the arrival of the remainder of the 79th brought hope for Dave.....fleetingly....
The men on the beach faced another attack by the Filipino's and were overwhelmed. The dice had been cruel....three 3's for morale tests in a row and poor shooting and melee rolls had done for the Brits.
Historically the British were able to drive off the Spanish, but with some loss and the fighting quality of the tribesmen was noted. This game showed just how finely balanced the attack on Manila was and had the Spanish been slightly more organised and active in their defence they would have driven the attackers off. As disorganised and poorly resourced as the British were, it was their single mindedness which saw them through. We will deal the the attack on the city itself in the next game in a few weeks time.
As we have reduced numbers at the club it was a two aside game from my Against Spain book tonight.
Following on from the Advance on Guanabacoa scenario a few weeks ago we played the next scenario from the book, the Spanish attack on one of the British batteries firing on Manila and El Moro.
The Spanish rowed men across from Havana and the moved up from the coast, attacking from behind the British position. Appearing from the cover of the trees the Spanish caught the British napping and the three units defending the battery had their work cut out as the Spanish commander Dave, chose to send two units round each side of the battery and his remaining unit of marines and sailors to demonstrate against the centre of the British position.
In response I brought the scratch unit of gunners and assistants up to the breastworks at the rear of the camp along with the 60th, while the Grenadiers tried to get out of the camp to take on the Moreno and Pardo militias. However using Rebels and Patriots grenadiers are shock troops and have a reduced range for shooting, to encourage them to close. This time however Dave managed two decent first volleys which caused a fair amount of casualties to the Grenadiers, so they were pulled back pdq!
I managed to keep the marines and sailors back and a low morale throw disordered and then broke them, but the Blanco's and the Havana garrison were edging closer. Only the cover provided by the breastworks was saving the British from losing men, but the Spanish were getting into short range - my shooting wasn't great and even the militia would start to whittle the Brits down once they were closer.
I brought the grenadiers out to the right of the camp to try and shoot away the Spanish regulars and for once my shooting resulted in a decent volley from both the Grenadiers and the 60th. This halted both the Pardo militia and the Garrison men. It was the last act of the grenadiers though as they were wiped out in the firefight. This left just two British units.
By now the Havana blanco's had got into the camp, but a sharp volley ended their incursion and they were wiped out, this left Dave with three units, but the Pardo's were pretty shot up and the Garrison regiment had lost a quarter of their men. They took further casualties trying to close from the 60th and failed their subsequent morale test. Now at less than 50% they were disordered and retired and at that the Spanish had lost more than 50% of their men and the game was over.
It had been a close thing. The British were getting decent morale rolls but poor shooting. The Spanish, bring mostly militia (green), suffered from poor activations the two good volleys I managed to get in coincided with poor morale thrown from the Spanish and that saved the day for the Brits, who were close to losing their second unit and the game.
Historically the British were able to drive the Spanish off, both sides suffering high casualties, so this game was a historical result. A second sally from Havana with more regular troops as well as militia was repulsed more easily and then the British received reinforcements and fresh supplies of powder and shot and the fate of El Moro and Havana were sealed.
All of the figures (other than the pickets, the Caribbean camp follower and the casualties) , were from Crann Tara Miniatures, (now available from Caliver Books) , and include the Moreno militia which were designed specifically with this campaign in mind.
If you'd like a copy of Against Spain, please use the contact box on the right to drop me a line.
We played the Advance on Guanabacoa scenario last week at Oldemeldrum Wargames Club.
Im umpired the game and other than a direction or two, pretty much left the players to sort the tactical situation out themselves. What seemed to be a straightforward fight between some crack regulars and a larger number of militia turned into something completely different.
Using rebels and patriots the British advanced and started to cross the stream, while eager to close and slow down their advance, the Spanish also tried to move forward. This didn't quite go according to plan, as you might expect when trying to move militia towards more resolute troops.
The British however decided to sit in the streambed, perhaps enjoying the shade and cool water in the heat of the Cuban sun. The Spanish were able to pick off one or two here and there, but bringing enough of them up to have any effect was difficult. So, to try and force the issue the Edimburgo Dragoons were ordered into action and they trotted down towards the light infantry who seemed happy to sit in the stream.
The resulting clash was inconclusive with both sides failing to cause any casualties, but due to the cover of the banks, it was the Dragoons who were forced back. The Spanish were struggling to control their men, one unit then a second ran out of ammo and poor activation rolls of 3's and 4's causing them to hold in place rather than advance to form a new line and instead it was decided to fall back an draw the British, who were still fairly fresh, forward. This had the desired effect, but now the Spanish began to take heavy casualties from the Brits. It looked like the Spaniards would soon be done for. One more turn though ....and this time casualties on the British lights, who had failed their previous check and were already disordered......the dice were thrown and a second terrible dice throw meant the lights, now in the open decided they weren't taking any more of it and turned and routed. With half of the British gone, the Grenadiers couldn't complete their objectives and the game was over!
Victory - snatched from the jaws of defeat!
What would this have meant for the British?
Further troops would have had to have been detached to cover Guanabacoa, but the Spanish had shown that they could fight and the remaining militia would have taken heart from the action. They'd certainly show more mettle and possibly have landed more troops in an early attempt to drive the British back to the sea. Guanabacoa may have served as the jumping off point for further attacks, threatening the vulnerable British flank and rear.
Prep done for tonight's club game which will be a battle between elements of the 79th Foot and some Sepoys against Spanish and Filipino tribesmen.
Thanks to everyone who has bought a copy of Against Spain so far. Copies have been heading out to all over the UK, Europe and further afield.
Feedback has been great and I've even sold a few copies of Sugar Islands too.
If you want a copy of either book, please use the contact form on the RHS of the blog AND keep an eye open for a reply from my personal email address. It may go in your spam. Please let me know where you heard about the books and tell your wargames buddies about them if you enjoy the books.
Another batch will go off in the post tomorrow.
Well, it's taken a while, but Against Spain is now officially on sale....
AGAINST SPAIN
WARGAMING THE SEIGES OF HAVANA AND MANILA
1762-1764
The follow up to Wargaming the Sugar Islands Campaign, Against Spain is a 78 page, A5, full colour, glossy bound guide to the British campaigns to capture the Spanish cities of Havana and Manila in 1762. It contains a detailed summary of the events occurring in both campaigns, the leaders, the troops and the locations involved. There is information on which miniatures are suitable for the campaigns and lots of period maps and paintings detailing the location of the battles. The book also contains 6 skirmish scenarios with full colour maps and details of troops required which are non rule set specific so can be used with Sharp Practice, Rebels and Patriots, Muskets and Tomahawks or whatever are your favourite rules.
Contents
Foreword
Background to the Campaign
Leaders and Forces Involved
The Invasion of Cuba
The Invasion of the Philippines
The End of the War with Spain
Wargaming the Invasions
Notes and Biography
Copies of the book are priced at £11.50 a copy
1st Class Postage is
UK - £2.00
Europe, USA, Canada - £4.00
Rest of the World in Aus/Nz - £6.00
Should you wish to purchase a copy please contact me directly using the contact form on the RHS of the blog. I'll reply from my personal email address, so keep an eye out (and check your spam!)
If you do not already have a copy, Wargaming the Sugar Islands Campaign is also still available.
Despite storm Eunice, the books have arrived!
Full detail of costs, postage, etc will be on the blog tomorrow.
As Against Spain is out soon I thought it would be a good idea to give you an overview of some of the Spanish units which took part in actions during the siege of Havana.
The Spanish have a colourful army which is straightforward to paint and whose white coats be broken up with blues and even yellow to make a colourful force to paint up.
The army wore a plain coat, with turned back tails, large cuffs and a small collar. Equipment was natural leather, probably of a buff colour. Headgear either a yellow laced tricorn with a red cockade or a fur grenadier cap with a hanging bag in the facing colour.
The table below gives the units who fought at Havana.
In addition to these units there were sailors and marines from the fleet, the latter in blue coats with red turn backs and cuffs, breeches and waist coats. There were also militia in civilian clothing from rural towns and villages near Havana.
For figures I used Crann Tara's Spanish, but SYW French with turnbacks would suit from several suppliers or the slightly later AWI Spanish figures from Perry Miniatures. For the civilian militia I have Minden AWI militia and Crann Tara civilians and again AWI types would suit here. For the Blanco, Pardo and Moreno militia I used Crann Tara again as they designed the latter for me especially for the book. But since uniforms were probably not issued until after the siege you can use civilians militia. Eagle Figures make some nice Militia and Orinoco have some nice figures which would be great for the rural militiamen from the area surrounding Havana.
STOP PRESS....the books are on their way to me now and I should have them in my hands very soon.
Against Spain is at the printers now and will be ready for sale before the end of the month.
I'm using Book Printing Uk to do this once again - an excellent, friendly, efficient wee company who are a pleasure to work with to get your project off your laptop and into print.
They will review your file to check for margins and layout, font and other issues then send a report back. After you've fixed anything you resubmit the file and you will get either a printed proof or a 3d online version to view with turnable pages and a 360° spin view too. If you've any questions, they're happy to help,
So come on, who out there has something they've been wanting to get into print for years....go for it!
I will be releasing details of how to purchase Against Spain, price and postage costs shortly. You'll be able to get it directly from myself via the blog as this seemed to work well last time, with copies posted out to the four corners of the planet safely and without a hitch, even during lockdowns.
Here is a little preview to whet your appetite.
The draft of "Against Spain - Wargaming the Sieges of Havana and Manila" is with the printer for review.
Contents -
Foreword.
Background to the campaigns
Leaders and Forces Involved
The Invasion of Cuba
The Invasion of the Philippines
The End of the War with Spain
Wargaming the Invasions
Notes and Bibliography
75 pages of full colour pictures and periods maps and 6 wargames scenarios for 18thC games - 3 set on Cuba covering the landing, encounter with the Spanish and a Spanish counterattack and 3 in the Philippines covering the defence of the landing beach, the storming of Manila and a battle in the jungle between sepoys, Spanish and Filipino tribesmen. Each scenario has a full colour map and breakdown of troops involved and can be used with any game system. Perfect for Rebels and Patriots, Sharp Practice and Muskets and Tomahawks or your preferred skirmish rules.
Want to know more - drop me a line and ask!
What do you do when you are relaxed and have plenty headspace?
Catch up on the project you've been working away on for ages and finish it!
The text is done, the pictures are in place and sources referenced, the scenarios and maps are in place. Lossiemouth has been a place I can relax and unwind since we started coming here when my wife was doing her training in Elgin. So I took my laptop up and finished off the bits I have been meaning to for so so long.
When I get home I will put in the last reference books and papers I used and get a spell check and then get in touch with the printers. All going well this should be ready very very soon.
Keep your eyes peeled.
I have been quite busy over the last few weeks, both at the painting bench and off it.
However it hasn't been quiet on the painting bench either. I have managed to paint a frigate to use as a support vessel for the landings on Cuba.
It's been quite a while since Graham H and I have been able to have a game. The real world got in the way for a while but with the lifting of restrictions that changed at the weekend.
Looking back through my photos it was August....2019!
We tested a set of rules which I have worked up for playing multi divisional sized 19th century games and especially the Franco Prussian War. This is a favourite period of mine, along with the 18th, (more on that in a minute). With the announcement of the Perry FPW range last year both Graham and I decided this was something we wanted to tackle, on a grand scale.
The rules work on a scale of 1"to 50yds with large bases of figures as a battalion of infantry, each with varying strengths, Prussians more than French for example and Austrian regiments being 4 stands while Prussians are 3. They are a home cooked set, with activations a la Rebels and Patriots, etc and other bits borrowed from Volley and Bayonet and other rules.
The game was an encounter battled with a French division bumping into a Prussian Corps with opportunity for the French to take and defend some high ground but not enough to cover the approaches effectively.
Graham took the Prussians, 28's from Eagles of Empire with some of the new Perry cavalry providing divisional cavalry support. I had the French, Ironclad minis with some supporting EofE, Foundry and Gt War to flesh them out.
Graham decided to get up the table as soon as possible, but I had time to take the hill and dig in around the farm, losing my screening Chasseurs in the process. On my left a line regiment and a battalion of Turcos held of Graham's cavalry and a Bavarian unit but were too few in numbers to threaten the centre. There Graham tried to assault the hill but was driven back by Chassepot fire at least twice before deciding that his artillery could do the job cheaper then his infantry. Three turns were needed to rout the defenders of the farm and that gave me just enough time to pull back my battered regiments and we called it quits.
The rules still need a lot of work to bring them up to a full set, but the flavour is right, at least for the sort of games we play. More will follow.
We also had a chance to discuss a 40mm SYW display game of somewhat epic proportions which Graham is planning for Partizan. This will be something special.
Finally Ive spent some time this week tweaking editing and finalising Against Spain. Being on Holiday has given me a bit of space and time. I promised a sneaky peek so....
More next time, as I test the scenarios.
I received some pictures from Graham at Crann Tara of new figures which Andy Stadden has completed. These will be prefect for the sieges of Havana and Manila.
Indian Labourers
