A Return to the Sugar Islands... in 40mm

 Last weekend I had the opportunity to catch-up with Graham H and we decided that it had been a bit too long since his excellent 40mm SYW figs had been on the table. So we decided to play the Ambush scenario from my Sugar Islands book. 

The scenario was designed to game the British struggle to get their men through rough country to be able to capture Fort Royal. The British advance was hindered by the narrow road to Fort Royal and the fact that the French were able to continually harass them with swarms of skirmishers taking advantage of the home ground. The British sent their Grenadiers and highlanders forward to clear the way and capture overlooking high ground. 

In  our game a unit of Grenadiers, one of Scots and a supporting unit of line infantry were advancing towards a hill with large house on it. They were attacked by three French units, one of line and one each of marines and militia. 

The game went very well, with the British finding it difficult to engage the French, casualties were not overly high, but Graham suffered from some poor morale rolls which disordered his grenadiers and highlanders and even had them scuttling back to the road in what could otherwise have been said to have been a rout! But there they reformed and the French decided it was time to head for the hill and call it a day. 

A great game, with a few surprising twists. We used Graham's 40mm figs and Jim Purky of Fife and Drum's AWI rules to play. Piccies below - 

Both Wargaming the Sugar Islands and Against Spain are still available , directly from me, from Caliver or from On Military Matters. The UK's postal woes continue at the time this post was written, and a recent order to the US took quite a long time to arrive safely. However it did arrive - thanks Brett for your patience! 

Against Spain - Now available from On Military Matters

 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!😀 

Looking forward - To the 16th and 19th Century!

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. 

The cap pouch should be shaved off, and as the model is not wearing his pack the vertical straps are not present, but the shako is the correct height.

72nd Highlanders

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. 

Against Spain - Advance on Guanabacoa

 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. 

Against Spain - The Spanish Strike Back

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.

I will take some shots of the game and make the roster sheets available afterwards. 

Thanks to everyone who has bought a copy so far and for the reviews on Aly and Graham C's blogs. 

Remember Against Spain is only available direct from myself. You can get a copy by getting in touch via the Contact Me box on the rhs of the blog. I've shipped to the four corners of the globe already, so don't miss out.

Against Spain update.

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.

The Landing at Cojimar game and the Real Cojimar Castle

Against Spain - ON SALE NOW

 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.  

They're Here.....

 

Despite storm Eunice, the books have arrived! 

Full detail of costs, postage, etc will be on the blog tomorrow.

Against Spain - Spanish Troops at Havana

 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

 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.

Against Spain - Update

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!

Almost done - Against Spain

 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. 

Against Spain - Sepoys, Lascars and Havana Morenos and something for the Sea too.

 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. 

Blood and Plunder Frigate 

I've sent figures away to be painted by Stuart Foley, who's done a lot of figures for me before

Havana Moreno Militia by Crann Tara

British Sepoys by Crann Tara

I've painted some Sepoy deserters and some Indian sailors, labourers and camp followers for the siege of Manila.

Labourers by Crann Tara

Early Sepoys by CrannTara

Added some irregulars to the Havana Blanco militia unit.

Militia marching and Spanish Infantry by Crann Tara

And painted another couple of longboats for the landing on Cuba. These and the frigate bought from Gaming Figures. 

Finally I've finished the guns for the fort and the for the frigate. That's almost everything I need in terms of figures and accompanying bits. There are some crates and other stores which are needed for one scenario in the the Philippines but otherwise that is it. Once these figures are all based I plan on taking pictures of each scenario in play for the blog and finishing checking the text and references for Against Spain and then it's off to the printers. 

Sugar Islands on the Interwebs

 I'm on the Lead Adventure Forum, an excellent, inspiring and very friendly forum, and was sitting having my morning cuppa when I came across this rather lovely game based on the Madam Ducharmey scenario from the Wargaming the Sugar Islands book, played at the recent SYW convention in the US.

The scenery is particularly splendid I think you'll find. 

Juergen C. Olk does Guadeloupe 

A Catch Up.

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. 

Chasseurs screen the french deployment

The Flank

Perry Drgaoons

The Hill

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.

Against Spain - Crann Tara Sepoys

More soon to be released figures from Crann Tara. 

This time Sepoys -

Against Spain - update time !

 I received an email from Graham at Crann Tara yesterday with some good news. The first of the figures to accompany "Against Spain", the sequel to Wargaming the Sugar Islands have been sculpted by Andy Stadden.

These Indian labourers will be able to serve the British as labourers, "lascars", without whom no European army in India could operate. But with the addition of muskets they'll become early Sepoys, "peons" as they were known, who were only just becoming more regimented and equipped with uniforms in the 1750's. The Madras residency were to supply trained soldiers to serve in Drapers expedition to Manila, but instead he was given fresh recruits and men straight of the streets. Many disappeared in the the countryside once in the Philippines, some turned their coat and fought for the Spanish. Some settled and built a new life and their descendants are still there to this day. 

A versatile set of figures, excellently sculpted by Andy, soon to be joined by a more steadfast force....the Cuban Militia. Watch this space for more info!

The book itself is almost complete. The last couple of sections have to be written, summarising the end of the campaign on both islands and of the conclusion of the war. The maps for the scenarios are done and but the notes for the scenarios have to written, but everything else is in place.

Wargaming the Sugar Islands is still available, from myself using the link on the left, from Crann Tara, and Caliver Books here in the UK or On Military Matters in North America . 

 

There's a review here if you want to know a little bit more