15mm - American Civil War - Fire and Fury Inspiration

 

Sometimes inspiration can be unexpected, and this post was inspired by thinking about rules and especially, what makes rules fit a period of history almost uniquely.  

I have used the Warlord Games 'Black Powder' rules for a lot of periods for the last 10 years or so and, heavily modified by house rules, they work very well indeed.  At least they can do for most black powder periods.  There are only two periods so far that I just have not felt that they worked all that well for. These are Napoleonic and American Civil War.

I have the Black Powder supplements for both periods but personally speaking, and it is a personal thing, it just didn't feel like I was playing the period in either case.

So, on watching an old episode of rules reviews on 'Little Wars TV' I was struck by their review of 'Fire and Fury' 1st Edition.  The reviewers positively raved about the rules and how they still stand the test of time.  It made me think.  I loved Fire and Fury when it came out and to be honest it was really the first set of wargaming rules that made me think that the hobby was the best thing ever.  I had tried some of the 1980's fare of poor photocopy over-complex slow rules, but besides being glossy and attractive, these rules were fun and the game 'felt' like an American Civil War game.

I wondered why I had moved from Fire and Fury. Was it because of the change of wargaming fashion? The desire for the latest new thing? Had my perception of history and warfare changed?  Probably the first two of the three, I concluded.  

So I got the rules back out again. My old blue book from 1990. I was resolved to use it and give them another go...I picked them up and then the pages dropped out...

That gave me cause to think. Wasn't there a Regimental set of rules that got brought out? I already had the scenario book which I used for Black Powder.  Then I spotted the Brigade level 2nd Edition and decided to go for that instead.

I won't go through all the changes here but there is more detail and some real changes for the better. I like the extra detail - it isn't excessive but makes sensible amendments to modifiers etc. The game still plays in much the same way as before.

I play tested it, and was hooked again.  What a superb set of rules it is!  So impressive that the next month I bought the set for Regimental level too.  The rules seem to be getting expensive and hard to get hold of.  Both are definitely worth getting hold of, and the upgrade to 2nd edition for Brigade level is definitely worth it.  

These photos are from the first 2nd Edition game that I played with Ian a few weeks ago.

It was an absolute joy to get the troops and scenery on the table again and get playing with Fire and Fury.

I do not ever remember having a bad game of Fire and Fury. In addition historical encounters so often went like the real battle. Even the Pickett's Charge scenario - played by us over 20 years ago and still very memorable, ended with the Confederates just getting over the 'Angle' before being beaten back!

So, this was a lesson for me in a set of rules feeling like the history being recreated on the table top. I re-read the book 'Rally Once Again' by Paddy Griffiths and much of the action and stats seemed to follow his well researched findings.  Musket and artillery fire is generally effective at short ranges for instance.

Inspired by the game, I couldn't resist painting up some more troops...

..and artillery limbers!  I found that I was desperately short of limbers and indeed still am. This is something that I will be putting right!

One thing you might have noticed is my unconventional basing for Fire and Fury figures.  There is a reason for this.  I cannot stand the tiny bases!

I decided to make each stand the near equivalent of 3 Fire and Fury bases in width.  So a Brigade of 9 stands in the rules becomes 3 stands for me...easy.  I can still 'refuse' the line and do all the formations that I need to.  For non-multiples of 3, I have also painted up 'double' stands for 2 Fire and Fury bases.

Now I can have the brigades with any number of the stands that are required by the scenarios. I'll still have the odd single based stand for the rare occasion that a single stand might need to form a refuse of the line.

The other thing that I did was make the stands slightly deeper. This means that stands can be moved and picked up and put away without bayonets and muskets being bent and broken.  No bayonet or barrel protrudes over the base edge.  I discovered with the original basing that I simply never wanted to get the figures out of the boxes because of the fiddly nature of it and the damage caused. 

In 2016 I rebased my massive armies from card to MDF using the old sizing.  I never got the figures out of their storage box after this and realising the reason why, I resolved to rebase yet again (twice in one year!) to with this new and very successful method.  It was worth the pain!

The other great thing is the speed of movement.  No longer does an army have to be moved one tiny base at a time! What a relief!  

The figures above are almost all Old Glory 15's and the flags are by the magnificent GMB Designs.

So, what next?  I'm back on to Napoleonics - I have painted 12 x 28mm figures but it is taking an age!  I'll post more on those soon.

28mm Early Saxon Hearthguard - Victrix Miniatures

 

A new period of history for a new year.  I have delved back into the early Dark Ages (or early Medieval if you prefer).  This has been a little while starting properly with many stops and starts.  But finally I have my first packet of figures completely finished.  These are the Victrix Early Saxon Armoured Warriors.

So, the stops and starts were caused by my enthusiasm waning after having to assemble plastic figures of so many parts.  The Late Romans/British are built and undercoated but I put those to the side after building them, and I did the same with the unarmoured Saxons.  When I put these armoured Saxons together, the enthusiasm didn't fade this time.  The reason being was these are just such interesting models and I really wanted to see how they looked fully painted.

It looks like there are more than the 36 troops which come in the packet on parade and you are correct if you thought this.  To my surprise I discovered an extra sprue of figures in the packet (which explained why I couldn't get the troops back in the bag once I got them out at home to examine them!). They were pretty tightly packed!  With this extra sprue I found that I could also create a set of 3 command stands and have a Champion. I did borrow one figure from the unarmoured set just to fill a space on the stands.  I will be giving Victrix a nice write up and review on their website in gratitude.

The troops went together really well. I would go as far as saying that these are probably the best plastic figures that I have assembled yet.  I really like the options of different heads, arms and weapons to go with bodies.  What makes these really so much easier to build than some I have previously assembled, is that you are not robbing another figure of an arm for the choice that you make. Having several options of arms for each torso means that there will no odd mismatches left over at the end for some poor unfortunate figure. You are left with a lot of spare bits but that is no bad thing. 

For several years I have been wanting to play the 'Dux Brittaniarum' rules. I have playtested them and they are fun. Midgard came along recently and I really like some of the concepts in those rules though I have yet to play them.  I know that I will play 'Hail Caesar' with these troops too so these warriors will get a lot of use.   

Both Dux Brittaniarum and Midgard highlight the importance of leaders and champions hence the addition of the champion shown above and below here.  The ability to have challenges and single combat will add another historical aspect which will make this period especially interesting to play.

I must admit that I have also just read the Bernard Cornwell 'Warlord Trilogy' set in Early Saxon times and these are some of the best books I have ever read.  They are absolutely superb!  Just these books alone filled me with an enthusiasm to paint these to a conclusion.

These troops are also known as 'Geodriht' which Midgard describe as Hearthguard.  They are certainly very well equipped. The mail armour and very expensive looking helmets show that these men gained much in the way of riches with their plunder and gifts from their lord. There are a few Sutton Hoo style masked helmets - possibly a slight excess - but they were fun to paint up.  I will have to paint up a lot of poorer infantry to get these into more proportionate balance...but all in good time!

There is a nice selection of scale and leather armour as well as mail, and 3 choices of shield types. For those who subscribe to the small shield doctrine, there are plenty in the box.  Personally, I went with the larger shields.  I'm not convinced by the argument that small shields were carried because they had to invade from boats so wanted something lighter to move with.  The Vikings don't appear to be hampered by larger shields, so neither are my troops.  I'm in the big shield party!

Again, so many different theories exist about their tactics and that the Saxons used solely heavy skirmish/loose warband tactics, but I can't help but think that the Saxons would have adopted the shieldwall tactic pretty quickly too. Once they encountered the British in hard to crack solid defensive shield wall formations, I am sure that the Saxons would have found that using the same tactic was the best way to even up the battle. 

I like the large number of cloaks and fur collars, giving protection from the elements on campaign and as additional armour (and as a display of wealth).

The banners and shield transfers are by the excellent Little Big Man Studios who are now part of Victrix.

I'm still experimenting with cameras - no flash used above and flash used below.  I'm not sure which is the best method to use. The flash brings out more details and colour, but sometimes gives a yellow hue and makes the figure look a bit shiny.  It's a tough call.

One of the amusing things about this period of history for me is that when I game it, or read about it, I view the Saxons/Angles as the villains of the piece and mentally rejoice at the victories of the Britons. 

I then remind myself that my surname is completely Saxon and that those villains were my ancestors and I am almost certainly descended from the hated invaders!  British history is so interesting!

A few more pictures below.  I would normally paint these figures in different groups, i.e. command separate from the troops and post on the blog in the same manner, but I just enjoyed doing these so much that I have done them as one huge batch!

I guess I am going to have to paint my Romano-British now to pit against these (though I do have some Late Romans from Gripping Beast which should stand in quite nicely).  I must say that I do fancy a painting break so will put my energies into a time travel of history and play some games instead.

I have got my American Civil War books out and have just purchased Brigade Fire and Fury 2nd Edition.  I am so looking forward to playing Fire and Fury again, it's been so many years and I had such great fun with 1st Edition, I don't know why I stopped playing with them. The pages are falling out now - it has done well for 35 years though.  Hence the 2nd Edition, and I like the little changes that are in there.  

So I shall park the battles in Wessex and Mercia for a little while I delve into the campaigns of Lee and Bragg in various campaigns in America!