I finally finished fighting the first exemplar battle for THE PORTABLE NAPOLEONIC WARGAME yesterday afternoon and completed writing the blow-by-blow account of the game during the evening.
The battle was set during the War of 1812 between the United States and Great Britain, and featured an single brigade per side. Although the British won the engagement, the Americans performed well, and at times one felt that they were on the verge of winning. Below are some of the photographs I took during the battle, and I hope that they will whet the appetite of my regular blog readers.
The battle was set during the War of 1812 between the United States and Great Britain, and featured an single brigade per side. Although the British won the engagement, the Americans performed well, and at times one felt that they were on the verge of winning. Below are some of the photographs I took during the battle, and I hope that they will whet the appetite of my regular blog readers.
Hi Bob,
ReplyDeleteThat is looking very effective - it is good to see the Del Prado figures in action.
All the best,
DC
David Crook,
DeleteCheers! I was very pleased with the way the figures looked on the tabletop, and the two-base units worked very well for this era. (I am thinking of going over to two-base units for wargaming some other 19th Century conflicts, such as the ACW.)
All the best,
Bob
Hi Bob,
DeleteACW? Funny you should mention that....
All the best,
DC
David Crook,
DeleteI have a number of ACW Union troops in storage that I painted back in the 1970s and have never used. They could easily form the basis of a couple of ACW brigades, and would take very little time to renovate, varnish, and base.
An alternative is that they could be used for the army of an imagi-nation (or several) as they include Zouaves in uniforms that are similar to those worn by the Ottoman Army.
All the best,
Bob
'Funny...' as Dud said to Pete, 'Funny...' My ACW armies are already mounted on 3-figure bases... At, say, 4 stands the brigade, I could easily 'do' Gettysburg...
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvQq_tqB0jA
Archduke Piccolo,
DeleteI've always wanted to re-fight the Battle of Gettysburg ever since seeing the model and troops used in the film CALLAN. Everything was re-used in the TV series BATTLEGROUND, where the battle was re-fought by Peter Gilder and Paddy Griffith. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=7jDo-XaRxl4)
It sounds as if you're going to get there ahead of me!
All the best,
Bob
Looking good so far. I agree that 2 stand units work well for the period.
ReplyDeleteRoss Mac,
DeleteI am definitely coming around to the idea of using 2-base units for the 1800 to 1900 period.
All the best,
Bob
Bob,
ReplyDeleteVery crisp detailed photos- these should go well in your book to show the action and explain the rules. Nice to see you making use of your large Del Prado collection. Cheers. KEV.
Kev Robertson,
DeleteHaving a good camera helps. I use a Fujifilm FinePix 8200, which has a 40x zoom and takes 16 megapixel images. I also have it set on SRAuto with anti-shake, which means that even in my huge hands it is possible to take photographs that are in focus and that don't show how much my hands might be shaking!
It's great to get some of the figures in my collection onto the tabletop. It sort of justifies all the effort that has gone into collecting them and then renovating, varnishing, and basing them.
All the best,
Bob
Great game and photos,you have certainly whetted my appetite.
ReplyDeleteAlan
Tradgardmastare (Alan),
DeleteThanks for your kind comments. With luck you should be able to get a copy of the book before Christmas.
All the best,
Bob
Bob,
ReplyDeleteYour figures look splendid and the battle photos will enhance the book. May I make just two suggestions for the future?-
First - infantry colours would aid identification in b/w photos, and simply look good. I'm sure you could find, download and print suitable British and American colours on the internet.
Second, cotton-wool or paper powder-smoke clouds between units could indicate battalions that are heavily engaged in an exchange of musketry.
Good to see your troops in action at last!
Best wishes,
Arthur
Arthur1815 (Arthur),
DeleteThanks for your very helpful comments and suggestions. I'm not sure how easy it would be to provide standards for the units I used in this exemplar battle. I'll certainly look at the possibility of using cotton wool to indicate artillery and musket fire, but unless I restage the entire battle, I will have to leave the photographs as they are.
All the best,
Bob
Looks great Bob - 2 units become a Square very neatly. I'm looking forward to the book.
ReplyDeleteMaudlin Jack Tar,
DeleteCheers! The two-base units do make it much easier to show that an infantry unit is in line, column, or square.
All the best,
Bob
Interested in this as many others are
ReplyDeleteIt looks scalable to the purse
So much other Napoleonic suddenly implies a lead mountain!
Geordie an Exiled FoG,
DeleteAs with all my PORTABLE WARGAME rules, the idea is that players don't have to fork out lots of cash to buy the armies needed to fight battles using the rules.
All the best,
Bob