Next in the production queue at Fife and Drum Miniatures

British Flank Company Skrimish figures.

The Saratoga British greens are at Griffin Moulds and they will start making production moulds once everyone is back from their holidays. The release date will likely be in early February.

More light infantry figures. The backpacks will be removed from all of the skirmish/firing figures

An NCO (far left) and rank and file center company British soldiers

British flank company figures in marching pose

British mounted officer wearing a round hat, turned up on the right side. This figure can be used in all theaters of the AWI, especially in the Southern Campaigns.

Richard Ansell is currently working on some nice surprises for the Fife and Drum Miniatures Saratoga figure range. Stay tuned and keep checking in on this blog to see what is in the pipeline. I'm not giving out any spoilers.

Something Wicked This Way Comes

Sand Worms from Acheson Designs

Uh oh, it looks like there is trouble on the horizon. Graboids have been sighted in Moravia. What implications can this have in the mid 18th Century?

The sand worms are made by Acheson Designs and come with five parts for assembly. The torso and head were attached with a metal pin, some green epoxy putty and Super Glue. The three tongue  or teeth thingys also need to be attached - these were a bit more difficult to attach. I will need to fill in the gaps with more epoxy putty.

The business end of some terrifying tentacles.

The obvious putty line should not be visible once a coat of black primer is applied.

Two Hour Wargames has a rules module called Big Ass Worms (or "BA" Worms) and I plan to use some of the ideas from this to append to my Croat Terror skirmish rules for the 18th Century. It should be a lot of fun to play. Perhaps Brotherhood of the Wolf and Predator could find its way into the 18th Century skirmish games on my table.

Croat Terror Skirmish Rules Play Test Game

Master of His Domain surveying His realm.

On Saturday December 28th the Terrible Trio of der Alte Fritz, Major General Pettygree, and the White Menace held our annual post-Christmas game at Schloss Seewald (also known as my house). This year I decided to break out my Croat Terror skirmish rules for the SYW and give them a thorough play test. Messers Pettygree and White Menace are particularly adept at finding the loopholes in any set of rules, so I set them loose on Croat Terror rules.

Ostensibly, we played a skirmish game with some second rate Prussian Freikorps, hussars and jagers escorting a supply convoy to a nearby Prussian encampment. One should not be surprised to hear that an Austrian raiding party of grenadiers, musketeers and Croats attempted to intercept the convoy.

I only took a few pictures during the game because I was busy jotting down notes about rules errata, loopholes and other legerdomain from the action on the tabletop.

Keith L (The White Menace) attacks with his Austrians.

Bill P's (Major General Pettygree) Prussian Jagers proved to be a deadly force to deal with.

I hadn't hosted a game with my Croat Terror rules for quite awhile, and it soon showed as I had to consult the rule book quite a few times to render judgement on the interpretation of the rules. There were a number of those "ah yes, I remember it well" moments as memories of how the rules worked were dredged from my deepest memories.

However, after several turns, Major General Pettygree and the White Menace picked up on the mechanics of the game system and the flow of the game proceeded smoothly. For the record, it looks like the Prussians staved off the Austrian attack and would have steered the convoy to the safety of the Prussian encampment had the game not been called at 4:00 PM as is our custom.

Austrian Grenadiers (left) chase some Prussian Freikorps out of the woods.

What Did We Learn

One of the first things pointed out by the White Menace was the need for a one or two page quick reference chart of the rules. I had given the players the 10-page rules set and we found ourselves frequently thumbing through the pages for movement and firing tables. There were very few melees in the game, other than to test the melee system in Croat Terror. So later that evening, I typed out a QRC and fit it onto two sides of one 8-1/2 by 11 inch sheet of paper.

Next, we discovered that the Prussian Jagers were a powerhouse when they took advantage of the 30-inch range of their rifles compared to the 18-inch range of muskets. The players suggested either (1) shorten the rifle range to 24-inches, or (2) use only one company of 12 figures in any game, rather than the 24 figures that I have painted. I subsequently reduced the rifle range to 24-inches. I will probably limit jagers to 12 figures in any game.

It's kind of funny, but in many of my large battles and skirmish battles, the Prussian players fail to take advantage of the jager rifle's range. Basically, they can stand outside of musket range and shoot down the Austrians while the Austrians can not fire back at them. So it was great to see Major General Pettygree employ his jagers to his best advantage.

Movement seemed a bit too slow in the game, so I added an extra D6 to all of the movement rates for different formations and troop types. Typically, a musketeer regiment formed in line will move the number of inches from two D6 dice (i.e. a roll of six and three on two D6 equals nine inches of movement). Now they will have three D6 and so on.

There were several other minor changes such as clarifying some of the definitions and working out the mechanics of cavalry pursuit and passage of lines, but other than that, I think that the revised Croat Terror rules will work very well in a convention setting.

Next Steps

The QRC needs to be proof-read and then I will have some laminated copies made for my games. The rules book and text will need to be revised to incorporate the changes. After a couple more play test games, I shall start laying out the pages of the rules book with the aim of publishing them in the future.

The mechanics of the rules (movement, firing, melee and morale procedures) are fairly well-tested over time, so additional play testing will focus on seeing how the tweaks and changes affect the game.

Finally, I can see that I need to paint another unit or two of 24 Croats to use in the games. I envision two regiments of 24 figures, each on a 12-figure movement tray. These would actually be companies and so a player will command two companies in the game. I might reduce the forces to one company of 12-figures per player anticipating that fewer figures will tease out the role playing element of wargamers.

Croat Terror Skirmish Game Today

Dismounted Prussian Hussars spring the ambush trap!

This morning Bill P. and Kieth L. are visiting Schloss Seewald to play in a little skirmish game, set during the SYW, to play the Charles Grant "Ambush" scenario. The game will also allow me to play test my Croat Terro skirmish rules again. I haven't hosted a game with my rules for quite a number of years and Kieth L. in particular has a nose for sniffing out the loop holes in almost any rules set.

A band of Croats sets the ambush of a Prussian supply convoy.

The game will feature a Prussian supply convoy trying to reach the safety of a Prussian encampment somewhere down the road. Prussian hussars, jagers and freikorps troops escort the wagon train.

A task force of Croats and Austrian Grenadiers aim to stop the convoy from reaching its destination.

Austrian Grenadiers

I will post a game report later this evening. Stay tuned, you never know what is hiding out in the woods.

The Ultimate Library

The stuff that dreams are made of....

Continuing my random journey around the internet in search of visual treasures, I found what certainly must be The Ultimate Library. I found this picture on Pinterest this morning. Wouldn't it be grand to have a two-story set of bookcases, requiring a ladder or staircase to reach the upper half of the shelves?

I'm sitting in my own library this morning as I write this post, and looking around me I realize that my own library is pretty nice too. My library hardly holds all of my books, far from it. I store my reference books for the SYW, AWI, Napoleonic era, some GNW books and my  collection of wargaming books ( Grant family, Featherstone, Peter Young, etc). My large ACW book collection is shelved in other areas of my house. All of my Ospreys and uniform reference books are in the wargame room in the basement.

Here are a few pictures of my library. I am sitting on the leather settee as I write:

The view from the entryway, looking to the right.

The view from the entryway, looking left.

The rolltop desk was given to me by my late father. It is one of a matching pair that he purchased in London, circa 1972.

My one regret is that I did not put a fireplace in the room. We rehabbed the entire house before we moved in back in 2004, and our architect told me that he could install a fireplace in the room, probably where the armchair and window are today. I'm kicking myself for not taking him up on the offer. The small television seems a bit out of place in this room.

The bookshelves are groaning from the weight of my books.
The white porcelain is  Lord Nelson, a gift from my wife. The John Bull statue is one of my favorite pieces. I bought it with the intent of turning it into a desk lamp, but I have never gotten around to doing that. On the shelf second from the bottom is my small collection of Frederick the Great statues and busts that I have acquired on my world travels.

One of the other bookshelves in the library. Note the collection of Napoleon figures on the second shelf. The collection has expanded greatly since this picture was taken about 5 years ago. The equestrian statue is Robert E. Lee on his horse Traveler, sculpted by Ron Tunstall. The grenadier mitre is a reproduction made by Military Heritage in Canada.

My library has a set of pocket doors that I can slide shut to keep out the noise or to have some privacy whilst I meditate and have great thoughts (or read another Christopher Duffy book).

Boxing Day Recap

Christmas Day at the dinner table

We don't really celebrate Boxing Day in the United States, but I seem to be seeing the name being used more and more here. These are mostly Boxing Day sales, but I have heard the term used on several radio stations today.

The Serene Princess and I had a day out together, having lunch together and doing a little bit of Christmas... err, Boxing Day shopping. I picked up some Woodlands Scenics trees at Michael's Stores while Lelia purchased some art supplies to donate to the daycare center where she does volunteer work.

Christmas Day was a big success; we had 15 guests for dinner. They were mostly family, but we also invited some friends who didn't have anywhere to go to for the holiday celebration. I didn't get any wargame related presents (do I really need anything when I have a basement full of inventory?), but I did get some interesting history books.

Post Christmas debris after all of the packages were opened. Don't worry, we cleaned up everything.

First and foremost is "Vicksburg. Grant's Campaign That Broke The Confederacy " by Donald Miller. I tucked into the book last evening and expect to finish it off in a couple of days. After that I will read David McCullogh's "The Pioneers."

Today the post man delivered a box with some resin Sand Warms from Acheson Designs, a gift that I bought for myself. Hmmm, what can I do,with these?

Transylvania Fortified Church

My internet browsing turned up this little article about the town of Viscri in Romania and this nifty looking Fort caught my eye. The building is actually a fortified church. I really like the architecture and look of this building.  The article is copied and pasted below:

The Transylvanian town of Viscri is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. A preservation grouphas worked hard to bring Viscri into the tourism fold and provides plenty of opportunities for guests to get a taste of ancient rural life in Transylvania. There are plenty of traditional houses spread across the town, but the major draw is the centuries-old white fortified church. The oldest parts of the building date back to the 12th century. The additions placed over time are a testament to the historical power shifts that the town has witnessed.

The village has worked to bring back traditional activities, and the effort has been such a success that many local people have now made them a part of their daily life. Blacksmiths create horseshoes and nails, and they bake handmade bricks in an oven. Guests can feast on delicious fare sourced entirely from local ingredients. It's a town that wasn't so much stuck in time as one that intentionally chose to go back and recapture some of the most charming and authentic pieces of history.