Jacobite Skirmish at Culwhinic Moor

The two battalions of the Atholl Brigade protect the Jacobite left flank near the town of Cardhu. Click on all Pix to enlarge the view.

On May 8, 1745 the Jacobite army of Bonnie Prince Charlie fought a bloody action against the Government forces of King George II on Culwhinic Moor, not too far from Curmudgeon Castle. As our readers may recall, the Jacobite army descended on the supply depot at Curmudgeon and routed the Government forces out of the village, out of the second line of redoubts, and chased them back into Curmudgeon Castle. For the past few months, the Government garrison has held out, defying the rebels overtures to surrender. Finally, the Government sent out a relief expedition to seccour its forces in the castle and hopefully deal the rebels a severe blow. This then, is the account of the battle between Lord Keith Leidy of Woodstock's Government army, and the Jacobites commanded by Lord George Murray and the Earl of Talisker.


Lord Woodstock surveys his deployment with a certain degree of detachment. "Tis just a little tussle with the rebel rabble. It ought to be over in a matter of minutes," sayeth His Grace. (View of the Jacobite center atop of Culwhinic Moor with its left anchored by the town of Cardhu. The Earl of Talisker (me) commands the Jacobite left).

We assembled in the wine cellar of Lord George Murray (Randy F.) to settle our differences on the Field of Mars. The Earl of Talisker (der Alte Fritz) and Lord George Murray commanded the Jacobite forces. We rolled for the charisma of Prince Charles, which today was Poor (-1) so needless to say, we did not bother to attach the Prince to any Jacobite unit for morale enhancement. Keith L. (Lord Woodstock) and Bill P. (Lord Brown Deer) commanded the Government forces:

JACOBITE ARMY:

Lord Talisker (left wing)
5 x 30 Clan Regiments - Veteran
1 x 30 ECW Unit - Veteran

Prince Charles (center reserve)
1 x 24 French Regiment d'Albanie - Veteran
6 x Mounted Bodyguard - Superior Hussars/Elite
6 x ECW Hussars - Baggot's Hussars - Superior Hussar/Elite

Lord George Murray (right wing)
1 x 60 Royal Ecossais French - Veteran
1 x 45 Camerons - Veteran
1 x 60 Black Watch standing in for Highlanders - Veteran
1 x 25 ECW Scots standing in for Highlanders - Veteran
2 x 4pdr artillery with 8 crew- Trained


The Jacobite center, with artillery and the Royal Ecossais and Atholl Brigade on the front line. The clan regiments can be seen skulking behind the ridge, waiting for an opportunity to charge.

The Government forces were divided into two wings, each of 3 x 60 figure battalions of redcoats. The right wing under Lord Woodstock was to hold back and perhaps contest control f the village of Cardhu, thereby keeping the Jacobites from reinforcing the center. The left wing was commanded by Major General Lord Brown Deer. He had the two 6-pd Royal Artillery battery attached to his command. He also controlled the reserve of 43 converged grenadiers and 12 mounted 2nd Royal North British Dragoons (the "Greys").

Lord Woodstock (right wing)
1 x 60 3rd (Buffs) Foot - Trained
1 x 60 8th (King's Regt.) Foot - Trained
1 x 60 27th (Inniskilling) Foot - Trained

Lord Brown Deer (left wing)
1 x 66 44th Foot - Trained
1 x 72 46th Foot - Trained
1 x 54 60th Foot - Trained
2 x 6pdr Royal Artillery - Veteran

Reserve
1 x 43 converged grenadiers - Veteran
1 x 12 horse grenadiers - Veteran


Jacobite center (2nd Atholl and Royal Ecossais) gang up on the 8th Foot and charge down Culwhinic Moor and open up a huge hole in the center of the Government battle line.

I had not played the Jacobite BAR rules for quite awhile and so I watch three 60 man red coat battalions march towards the town of Cardhu with some trepedation. I pulled back several of my clan regiments to get them away from the dreaded British first fire bonus and hopefully draw them in and attack any kink in their battle line. Then I remembered that the rules favor the Jacobite charging and getting into melees, so I sent in the 2nd Atholl and the Royal Ecossais, from our center, where they outnumbered and overwhelmed the Government's 8th Foot. I had not consulted the rules and forgot that the first fire bonus is only +3 instead of the normal BAR +5. Also, the redcoats were only trained, rather than veterans, but I did not know that at the time. So we charged.


The fury of the Highland Charge routs the 8th Foot from the field with 2nd Atholl losing more than half of its men, while the Royal Ecossais lost a hole stand of 15 figures. Very bloody. Very deadly.


The Clan Fraser Regiment plays "capture the flag" with the 27th Foot. This picture gives one a sense of the whirling back and forth nature of fighting the melee-focused Jacobites.


The 1st Atholl battalion finishes off the 27th Foot, but the Buffs do an about face and prepare to finish off the 1st Atholl instead. This is the "Before" picture.


And here is the "After" picture after the Buffs have shot the Athollmen in the flank and rear. The Buffs would then charge and finish off the Athollmen.

I was too busy to keep track of what was going on over on our right flank around the town of Drambui. There was an intense hand to hand fighting inside the town, and I heard that The Blade and Captain von Bergmann of Tradgardland both fell in battle. (The two heros were later given the benefit of a second saving throw and both survived to tell their tales).


The fight over Drambui (the town, not the whiskey unfortunately). Government redcoats at the bottom of the picture fight the red coated Camerons (top right) and some ECW Scots that we drafted into the Jacobite army. Pikemen counted as two fighters in the melee, a good idea that Bill made up on the spot. The Government captured Drambuie by the end of the game.


The Cameron Clan Regiment (Center left with red flag) and the Black Watch (upper left) stand in for Jacobite units in the game. Both are actually the Black Watch, but since they were wearing kilts, we drafted them into Prince Charlie's army.


The Royal Artillery blasts the Jacobite long arm into kingdome come at very close range.



Well that riles up Clan Stewart of Appin, which comes roamin' from the gloamin' (out of the blue so it seemed) and avenged the Jacobite artillery by charging into the flank of the Royal Artillery battery and wiping it out.


But then the 2nd Royal North British Dragoons materialize on the flank of the Black Watch and make them pay for switching sides. Again, one gets a feel for the sense that units from both sides are charging hither and yon and seemingly hitting each other in the flank. There were no secure flanks by the end of the game.

By the end of the game, the Government forces had captured the towns on each flank of the original Jacobite position, while the Jacobites held the center of the field with two strong battalions of French regulars and a few remaining clan regiments. Lord George Murray advised the Prince that it would be a good idea to retire from the field and pick up stragglers. Lord Woodstock's relief force was in tatters and as he aptly put it, "my relief force needs some relief!"

Thus we assumed that the Jacobites would probably withdraw back towards Curmudgeon Castle and lift the seige and consolidate their army so that it could fight another day. Lord Woodstock decided that he would not be able to fight his way through to the Castle, so he withdrew his forces back to the coast where the Royal Navy could protect them until more red coats arrived.

Jacobite Rebellion Update

Front Rank Jacobites painted by Der Alte Fritz, about a year ago.

Last evening I completed another 30-figure clan regiment of Highlanders to use in our upcoming game on May 9, 2009. They will probably become either the MacDonnell or McDonald regiment, depending on which flag I choose to paint. The Highlanders did not wear any distinct "clan plaid" in the 18th Century, so the figures can represent any clan that I desire to rise for the King Across the Water.

I haven't painted Highlanders in quite awhile (the colonials don't really count since they all wear the same uniform), so it took me a little bit to get back up to speed with my bottles of plaid paint. What, you mean you don't own any plaid paint? A week ago friday, I pitched into the first 20 Front Rank figures, put a few bagpipe CDs on the player for inspiration, and started slopping on the paint. By Saturday afternoon, it was apparent that I would have this batch done by the end of the weekend on Sunday night. That left 10 more figures to bring the regiment up to full strength, and two more painting sessions proved to be enough to complete the job.

Now I have a Lowland regiment on the painting table ready to paint. I figured that I have a decent chance of painting three 30 figure regiments this month, so I cleaned another Highlander regiment and mounted them on their metal bases. Tomorrow night I will spray them with black primer. They will become either the Keppoch regiment or the Ogilvys. That would bring the Rebellion up to 6 regiments plus the Black Watch standing in for Clan Cameron, temporarily. Eventually, I want to have 10 or 12 regiments plus the Irish Piquets in my Jacobite Army completed in time for next year's SYW Association convention in March 2009.

Jacobite Victory At Carmudgeon

Jacobites scale the town walls (built by Ian Weekley). Old Glory SYW highlanders doing double duty as rebels in the Forty Five.

On Saturday July 12th we convened at Brown Deer to fight the next battle in our Jacobite rebellion. The scenario was that the Pretender's forces were seeking powder and arms to supply their growing army and word filtered back to Prince Charles in Edinburgh that the town of Carmudgeon, to the north, was loaded to the gills with ball, powder and several thousand brand new Brown Bess muskets. The Jacobites quickly put a strike force together to raid the arms depot before word would reach the Government garrison, commanded by Colonel Munro of His Majesty's 44th Regiment of foot.

The battle was to be divided into 3 separate battles, each covering a day. On Day One, the Jacobites would assemble in front of the town of Carmudgeon and attack it. Hopefully, they would drive off the garrison of the town and move on to Carmudgeon Castle, where all of the munitions were being kept.

On Day Two, the Jacobites would attack the outer defenses and the redoubt that guards the road to the castle and drive the garrison back into the fort.

On Day Three, the Jacobites could elect to scale the walls of the castle in an escalade (complete with purpose built ladders for the game) or settle down into a siege of the castle.


The town of Carmudgeon and the Cardhu Burn from the Government's side of the water.


Nicholson' s Redoubt - the object of Day Two's battle. Redoubt built by Herb Gundt.


Carmudgeon Castle - the Day Three objective where all the munitions were stored. Castle walls from Miniature Building Authority.

The Respective Forces
The Government forces commanded by Colonel Nicholson consisted of 120 foot, 60 militia and 40 dragoons, plus 36 pounds of artillery and supporting crews. Their quality was determined by the roll of a D6 (six-sided die) as Poor (1-2), Trained (3-4) or Veteran (5-6). Additional reinforcements were available, as determined by a die roll of which I, as Jacobite commander, was not privy to. Local farmers advised the Prince that a column of redcoats was marching down from Fyvie-o to support the garrison of the castle.

The Jacobites had a rather large force of 360 foot and 6 light horse plus up to 42 pounds of artillery and crew. (In practice, we only used two 3 pounders and I think that we only fired them once or twice throughout the whole game). Jacobite troop quality was 1/4 each of Poor, Trained, Veteran and Elite. If I had to do it all over again, I would eliminate the Elite troops from the Jacobite force as they had plenty of foot soldiers to overwhelm the redcoats.

Day One: Storming the Town


The Jacobite army deploys in front of the town in two wings: the right wing commanded by Lord Talisker and the left wing by Lord George Murray. The Prince and his escort are seen in the center.

The dilapidated town walls of Carmudgeon town did not prove to be of much help to the Government garrison. The Jacobites rapid movement of 15-inches plus one D6 meant that they were storming the town walls by Turn 2. Several companies of the 44th Foot manned the walls, the bell tower and a few of the buildings, but Captain Nolan, the leader of the town contingent, quickly saw that a defense was useless and so he pulled his troops out of the town lickety split.


By Turn 2 the Jacobites were already in the town. Murray's wing skirts around the town and heads for the stream, hoping to cut off the retreat of the redcoats, while Talisker's wing attacks the walls with scaling ladders.

Lord George Murray placed two of his clan regiments (MacDonnells and Clan Chisholm) under the command of Colonel vonn Bergmann, an adventurer from Tradgardland who had come across the North Sea to join the Rising, and gave him the task of capturing a battery of Royal Artillery. Afterall, the Jacobites needed cannon as much as they needed ball and powder.


Colonel vonn Bergmann leads the MacDonnell's (left) and the Clan Chisholm regiment to the burn, where a brace of 6 pounder Royal Artillery awaits them.

The Jacobites stormed across the stream like possessed demons. Nothing could stop them and soon they overwhelmed the Royal Artillery battery that tried to cut them down with cannister. Vonn Bergmann grabbed the lieutenant commanding the battery, pointed his sword at the fellows neck, and declared, "I'll have those guns sir - surrender or die!" With the rest of his battery crew either dead or running away, the lieutenant had no choice but to surrender the first battle trophies to the plucky Tradgardlander.


Vonn Bergmann (in pink coat) leads his men into the maw of the Royal Artillery, with successful results.


Clan Stewart regiment pours a flanking fire into the company of the 44th Foot that are trying to defend the bridge. They fall back to the left of the picture to where the rest of the regiment is formed up.


The 44th Foot reforms on the west bank of the burn. Stewarts and Frasiers are working their way across the water to support the attack.

While the Jacobite left was across the burn and hacking away at artillerymen, Lord Talisker was fighting his way through the town and working his way across the bridge. The 44th Foot retired across the bridge and set up a company or two to block the bridge. The Stewart regiment took up position in the attics of the town buildings and poured a deadly covering fire into the 44th, while the French Regiment d'Albany and the 500 strong Cameron regiment stormed across the bridge.


Albany Regiment has crossed (left) while the Camerons (right) cross the bridge over the Cardhu Burn.

The Government forces reformed on the west bank of the Cardhu Burn and allowed the Albany Regiment to come across the bridge. The plan was to then pour in a volley of musketry and follow it up with a cavalry charge. This proved to be a successful tactic as two squadrons of the 10th and the 11th Dragoons pitched into the blue-coated French volunteers d'Albany and drove them back across the river.


Fortune smiles on the Hanoverians, albeit briefly, as the 10th and 11th Dragoons (Old Glory figures) smash into the Albany Regiment and rout it across the bridge, and into the waiting Camerons. Much confusion on the bridge, and a glimmer of hope that the whole lot will rout.

Some of the Jacobite artillery crew that were crossing the bridge suddenly saw a mass of kilts and horses coming their way. They had no choice but to dive off the bridge and into the water. We rolled a D6 for each figure and a Snake Eye (#1) would result in a drowning. All of the artillerists survived the leap into the water.


A desparate hand to hand melee on the Cardhu Burn bridge. The veteran Camerons repelled the brave British Dragoons and saved the day for Lord Talisker's wing of the army. Some of the artillery crew (Perry ECW Scots) are seen swimming in the burn.

The remnants of the Government cavalry retired back to the redoubt and covered the retreat of the infantry as best they could. One unfortunate militia unit (the von Bungle Hessians), though stayed too long and found themselves charged on both flanks by the Jacobites. After this, the rest of the army retired , ending the action of the first day of battle.


The Hessians get caught on their right by the Athol regiment (white flag with red saltire) and the Frasiers on their left (blue flag). Kids, do not try this at home by yourselves. It is a very bad thing when it happens to you.

I will post a report of the second day's battle (both battles occured in one day of gaming) with more pictures in another day or two. This was a fun battle for the Jacobites, obviously, but the British commander (Bill Protz) did an exemplary job of whittling down the Jacobites and slowing them down for a bit. It was a hopeless assignment, but Bill did as well as anyone in this situation could expect. His cavalry charge could have saved the day had the Camerons also routed, but fortunately for Prince Charles, they held the bridge.

We used Batailles de l'Ancien Regime (or BAR) rules with a couple of minor changes. Unit sizes were approximately 30 figures per battalion or clan regiment and I thought that the game flowed nicely with the smaller battalions. One need not use 60 figure battalions in every BAR game. I think that this game serves as an example of the fact that the rules work quite nicely with smaller battalions in the 24 to 36 figure range.

Thanks go to Bill Protz (Colonel Nicholson and Capt. Nolan) and Randy Frye (Lord Talisker) for providing an enjoyable afternoon of gaming, and to Bill for providing the gaming venue.

Prestonpans Battle Report

Prince Charles greets his victorious troops after the battle.

This afternoon, we played a refight of the battle of Prestonpans (Sept. 21, 1745) using our Batailles de l'Ancien Regime ("BAR") rules, with some minor modifications for the Jacobite Rebellion. It was an extraordinarily fast paced game, covering four turns in about two hours, making this a fun scenario for an evening's game down at the wargame club. Both sides had approximately 220 figures with each side divided into two brigades. Randy Frye (Earl of Talisker) and I (Lord George Murray) commanded the Jacobite forces for the Prince, while Bill Protz handled the two Hanoverian brigades on the other side of the table.


The opening deployment at the start of the game. The Earl of Talisker's brigade was deployed on the Jacobite left (bottom of the picture), while Lord George Murray held down the right flank.

The Hanoverian general Sir John Cope was allowed a 12-inch set on from his table edge which placed him just behind the crest of the Prestonpans Moor. He elected not to defend the walled enclosure on his right (Jacobite left). The Jacobites had no particular plan other than to advance as quickly as possible onto the Moor and engage the redcoats in melee.


Turn One: Murray's brigade of Highlanders quickly gain the high ground, while Cope counters by advancing his cavalry brigade in the center.

The normal movement in this game was reduced from 18 inches to 15 inches, but the Jacobites were allowed to toss a D6 for up to six extra inches of movement. I kind of liked the way this worked. Murray was able to hustle his brigade of Stewart of Appin, Frasers and the Camerons to the crest of the hill on the first turn. A small troop of light horse probed around to his right, and you can see that the British 60th Foot is bending back a platoon to protect its flank, above. The Government artillery opened up on the Stewarts, but the cannon balls bounded over their heads to no effect (both sides had Poor rated artillery which has a -1 shooting modifier, plus we only used 3-pdr guns). General Cope moved up his cavalry brigade so that they would be in position to charge on turn 2 and disrupt the Jacobite advance (a good tactical idea).


Turn 2: Camerons refuse to advance, so they get into a firefight with the 60th Foot. British dragoons can be seen advancing on towards the Appin Stewarts in the center.

The troops rated Poor are required to pass a morale test before they may advance within 10" of the enemy. So for the next two turns, the Jacobite attack on the right ground to a halt as the huge Cameron regiment (45 figures) refused to advance into the 60th Foot. Meanwhile, Brigadier General Mosteyn (British cavalry commander) launched his three squadrons against the Appin Stewarts (to the left of the Camerons). The Stewarts lost there nerve and fell back 6" rather than stand their ground and fire at the 10th Dragoons. The 6th and 11th Dragoons likewise decided not to join in on the cavalry charge initiated by the 10th Dragoons. Thus, the Stewarts were able to fall back in good order without being pursued. Still, things were looking bleak for the Stuart cause, from Lord George Murray's point of view on the right.

On the Jacobite left, the Earl of Talisker's brigade of three MacDonnell and MacDonald regiments advanced across the moor and captured the walled enclosure that could have anchored the Government right flank.


Turn 3: Government Cavalry charge into the Stewarts and Frasers of Murray's brigade on the right.

The Government dragoons closed into the Frasers, who lost their nerve and routed to the rear. The Camerons still refused to charge into the 60th Foot, and the Stewarts were looking a bit shaky as well. Gloom and despair for the Jacobites. If the right wing collapsed, then the only unit remaining was the Royal Ecossais (French regulars - 30 figures rated Trained). In the center of the field, the MacDonnell of Glengarry regiment was cut down by half from the opening volley of the 44th and 46th Foot. On the left, Talisker continued to move his Clanranald of MacDonald through the enclosure. Next to them, a mercenary Colonel von Bergmann, from Tradgardland, led the MacDonnell of Keppoch regiment towards the 44th Foot.


The Earl of Talisker (mounted -right) looks on as the Clanranald of MacDonald regiment captures the enclosure on the Jacobite left. At the bottom of the picture, we can make out the pink coated uniform jacket of Colonel von Bergmann of Tradgardland as he directs the Keppoch regiment forward.


Prince Charles and his bodyguard troop of Lifeguards direct the battle from the center. He urges Murray to rally his troops and keep his head on his shoulders.


The Camerons finally charge! And crush the 60th Foot.

At the start of Turn 4, Dame Fortune began to smile upon the Stuart cause as first Murray was able to rally the Frasers (and just barely, by one pip of the dice) and then the Camerons finally decided to charge. The Camerons slaughtered the 60th Foot in the melee, causing the latter to run off the table. The Camerons rolled very well for the D6 melee bonus, rolling a "6", while the 60th was rolling snake eyes and deuces. Bless you God.


Lord George Murray rallies the Frasers.

Both events were actually the result of a mid-game rules adjustment by the Good Mister Protz, who decreed that the Jacobites should henceforth receive a +1 morale bonus if they were attempting to charge. Without this change, the Camerons would still have been cemented to the auld sod. Another Protzian decree decided that Lord George Murray had a bit of charisma afterall, and that he would add a +1 on any morale roll of any Jacobite unit under his command. Without this ruling, the Frasers would have run off the table for good, without losing a single man.


Turn 4 Jacobite Left: Talisker's brigade pitches into the 44th and 46th Foot regiments and drives both off the field.

Things were really heating up on the Jacobite left wing, as Talisker charged all three of his regiments into the waiting Government infantry. The Clanranald and Keppoch regiments combined against the 44th Foot (shown at the top of the picture above), while the remnants of the Glengarry regiment (shown at the bottom, with yellow flag and rampant lion) bravely made a forlorn hope charge into the 46th regiment of foot. They had no chance, given that they were severely outnumbered. Or did they?

Fate was a fickel lady this afternoon, for last 9 figures from the Glengarry regiment charged into 30 figures of the 46th Foot and guess what? They won the melee and the 46th routed, breaking through the 27th Foot standing in the second line as a reserve. The 27th became disordered and then they routed too. How did that happen? Wow.


The Magnificent Seven Glengarry's pause for a well deserved rest after their impossible melee victory. (Perry ECW Highlanders pressed into service with Front Rank standard bearer).

But things were even better to the left of the Glengarry regiment, for Colonel von Bergmann led his Keppoch lads into the 44th Foot, where he personally captured both regimental colours in the hand to hand fighting. The 44th also routed off the table.


Von Bergmann (pink coat) leads the MacDonnells of Keppoch to victory on the Jacobite left, albeit with some significant help from Clanranald regiment to their left (in the camp).

Meanwhile, back on the right-center, the Government cavalry had decided that they had enough and they fled en masse from the field, save for a reserve squadron of the 15th Dragoons. Lord George Murray scanned the field and realized that the only formed troops left were all Jacobites.


The last of the Government cavalry flees, except for the 15th Dragoons formed as a rear guard. The Camerons (bottom) look on.

At the end of Turn 4, there was no formed Government opposition remaining on the field. It was a total and utter rout of Johny Cope's army. Since Edinburgh was already occupped by the Jacobites, General Cope had to ride all the way to Berwick to deliver the bad news to the Hanoverian government. Prince Charles rode around the battlefield to the cheers of his men as the battle concluded.


To the victors go the cheers. Prince Charles thanks his troops for their hard fought win.

So the game was over at the end of Turn 4, all in about 2 hours. The rules modifications that we made seemed to work well and it was quite evident that the best strategy for the Jacobites was to get across the field as soon as possible and close in for the melee. I liked the idea of Poor troops fighting one another and having to pass a morale roll to close. My Camerons wouldn't budge and I was sure that the Frasers would run off the table without losing a single figure. But a mid game act of god saved Murray's bacon today. The rules changes that we made (+1 morale bonus when charging) made sense and made for a better game.

In our next campaign game, the Jacobites will receive another battalion of French reinforcements (Albany Regiment and the Fitzjames Horse) plus some more Highland and Lowland units. The new Scots regiments will probably start as Poor, while the regiments that partcipated in this game will be upgraded to Trained. The Government forces will have more Trained regiments in the next battle as well, so the Jacobites will have a tougher nut to crack. I really enjoyed this game and the rules were spot on for the period. Additionally, we have some growing legends with von Bergmann's and the Earl of Talisker's exploits. Likewise, one wonders what shall become of the Camerons? Will they charge the next time or stand fast? Such questions can only be answered on the table top , aided by the luck of the dice.

Stuart Victory At Prestonpans

I will post some pictures and an after action report of our first Jacobite Rebellion game that was played today. The Jacobites won an overwhelming victory over the Government army, commanded by Sir John Cope. The game lasted 4 turns and as recently as turn 3 it appeared that Cope would crush the rebellion right then and there. However, on the next turn, the Jacobites won every melee and drove the redcoats off the field.

It was a fun game, took only 2 hours to complete, and the rules seemed to work very well for the Forty Five. We did a little bit of tweaking during the game. For example, we added a +1 morale modifier for the Jacobites when they charge in order to improve their odds of passing morale and charging. This coming after yours truly failed to charge on four straight occasions due to horrendous die rolls (one would think that I could roll a "6" on two D6 dice, but I couldn't).

Prestonpans Wargame

The open moor at Prestonpans - site of the first battle of the Forty Five

The plaid painting blitz of the last three weeks has come to an end and now it is time to let the metal lads settle the issue of the Jacobite restoration on the field of battle. It is hard to believe, but I have assembled a force of 63 infantry, 6 cavalry and 4 artillery crew plus two senior mounted officers. We will fight the first battle of the campaign tomorrow, using a scenario that is loosely based on the battle of Prestonpans.

I have set up the game table, as shown above, and you can see that the terrain is fairly open. The picture doesn't show the rise in the terrain in the middle of the table, but this is where the Government forces will deploy. The terrain is rather stark and Old School, but we are here to play test the rules for the Forty Five and I did not want to clutter the field with obstacles and impediments. Hence the simplified terrain.

I am considering having the Jacobites dice to see where they enter the table; either that, or allow them to deploy after the Government troops are set up. This represents the Jacobites' greater maneuverability as they marched around the redcoat flank several times, seeking a more favorable starting position for their eventual attack.

Jacobite Order of Battle for BAR Rules (231 figures)

Lord George Murray's Brigade:
Appin Stewarts (30) - Poor
Frasers (30) - Poor
Camerons (45) - Poor

Earl of Talisker's Brigade:
Clanranald Regiment (30) - Poor
MacDonnell of Glengarry (30) - Poor
MacDonnell of Keppoch (25) - Poor

Prince Charles Stuart's Reserve:
Royal Ecossais (30) - Trained
Lifeguard (5) - Poor
Strathallen's Light Horse (6) - Poor

Government Forces - Lt. Gen. Sir John Cope (217 figures)

Colonel Lascelles Brigade
44th Foot (45) - Poor
46th Foot (45) - Poor
60th Foot (45) - Poor
27th Foot (30) - Trained
2 x 3 pound artillery (8) - Poor

Brigadier Mosteyn's Brigade
10th Dragoons (12) - Poor
15th Dragoons (12) - Poor
11th Dragoons (10) - Poor
6th Dragoons (10) - Poor

There is, of course, no Earl of Talisker. This is a fictional character that I have made up for our Jacobite campaign. He is a laird from the Isle of Skye, home of the whiskey that bears his family name. Likewise, some of the units such as the Prince's Lifeguard (Lord Elco's) and the Royal Ecossais were not at Prestonpans, but we are using them in our stylized version of the battle. Afterall, if I am going to take the time to paint them, then you can be sure that they are going to show up for the battle. The two MacDonnell regiments are actually ECW Scots infantry being pressed into service, while the kilted Black Watch is standing in for the Camerons and the Clanranald regiment. The Royal Ecossais are actually some blue coated American provincials with Royal Ecossais standard bearers painted just for this game. Eventually, we expect to have the actual forces painted for future games.

I don't believe that any of the Government regiments in our OB were actually at the real battle. They just happen to be the British redcoat regiments that we have available for the game.

We are using some minor tweaks to our standard Batailles de l'Ancien Regime ("BAR") rules. The Jacobites will roll a D6 before each melee and the die roll pips determine the amount of modifiers to the melee bonuses. So I hope that I roll a lot of sixes. Since virtually every unit is rated poor, units on both sides will have to test morale whenever an enemy closes within ten inches of them. That could prove interesting if two opponents meet and both elect to run away! We will also use limited small arms ammo chits for the Jacobites in order to encourage them to go in with the sword rather than engaging in a fire fight with the Government troops.

The other interesting thing about this game is that all of the units will be either 30 or 45 figures, rather than our standard 60 figure regiments. This will provide more maneuvering room on my 6 by 12 feet table and probably have some unforeseen effects on the fire dyamics.

This should be interesting and I'm looking forward to the game.

My Jacobite Army

Front Rank Jacobites painted by Der Alte Fritz

Well, I've been painting Front Rank Jacobites for the past couple of weeks now and I finally have a reputable number of figures painted and based for show and tell. The picture above depicts 60 figures divided into two clans. The Appin Stewarts with the blue flag and gold saltire are on the right. The Camerons, with the red flag, are on the left.


Stewart of Appin clan regiment

As you might imagine, painting Jacobites is a challenge and is not the easiest subject for one to paint. For starters, there are no uniform tartans worn within each clan regiment, so each figure has to be painted as an individual. This translates into very slow painting. After completing the first dozen or so figures, I hit on a formula that sort of speeds up the process. I would select a group of five or six different poses, but paint them in the same combination of colors. For example, they might all have red kilts and plaids, and white shirts, but since there were multiple poses, they would all look like individuals once painted.

I also settled upon a couple of color schemes that I liked or were easy to paint. Red was a common color for the plaid. So most of the reds are painted with black boxes and then I mix up the color where ever the window panes cross. One might have a dot of blue at the intersection of the panes, others grey, or green, etc. I also have a standard green plaid that I like: green undercoat, medium green window panes, and light green dots where the panes intersect. It looks a bit like the modern Gordon plaid.

The clan standards are reviewed by Prince Charles. All figures are from the Front Rank range.

So far, I have been hand painting my own flags. I have a couple Signifer brand 25mm flags, but they look rather sterile in comparison to hand painted jobs. The commercial grade flags are better, but my crude, rough hand painted jobs somehow look better to me. Unfortunately, GMB Designs does not make flags for the Forty Five, otherwise I would use those. I still have to investigate flags from The Flag Dude. These are printed on cloth and look very nice.

Lord George Murray (left) & Prince Charles (right)

I used a "lowland cavalry officer" for my version of Lord George Murray, the commander of the Jacobite army. Front Rank makes a nice Prince Charles, seen above, but all of the other Jacobite personalities are on foot. That simply won't do. So the lowland cavalry officer looked like it would make for a nice stand-in. I may use some French mounted officers and do a head swap, putting them in bonnets. More on that idea later.

We play our first game of the campaign next Saturday, May 3rd. I think that I've done a pretty good job getting the first 60 figures done on time. Imagine how grand another 60 figures will look!


Jacobite artillery & crew supervised by Prince Charles. Gun model is the Elite Miniatures Swedish 4 pounder. Everything else is from Front Rank.

The Stewarts & Camerons Have Arrived!

Some re-enactors at Prestonpans in 2007.

My computer has been down for the last four days, so I have not been able to keep everyone up to date on events in the Jacobite Rebellion project. First of all, I have to say that I have been surprised by the amount of comments and traffic that this subject has generated. The posting of April 15th has generated more comments than any other topic so far. Please feel free to click on the comments link at the bottom of each article and let me know what you are thinking. It is much appreciated and I enjoy reading everyone's comments.

I am making good progress on my Jacobite army. As of today, I have the first 30 Front Rank figures painted and another dozen in various stages of painting or preparation. I do not have them based yet, so I posted the picture that you see above for some visuals. So the Appin Stewart regiment is completed and I am now working on the Camerons.

One problem that I noticed was that in the bags of figures that I purchased, there were too many Highlanders carrying broadswords and lochabar axes, and not enough fire arms. It is fairly well established (from first hand accounts and battlefield archeology) that the Jacobite forces were sufficiently armed with muskets. So I will probably need to purchase more figures with muskets. In the meantime, I will have to make do with what I have and just pretend that they have muskets when it comes time to fire at the Government troops.

I will promise to post some pictures of the figures that I painted later in the week, after I have had a chance to terrain the bases and paint a flag or two. I found some old paper Jacobite flags that I bought from a company, years ago, called Signifer - located in the US. I may use these flags in my army, especially for the more complicated patterns. It does not look like GMB Designs makes flags for the Forty Five, much to my regret. Another option is to hand paint the flags on paper or linen. I have a feeling that I will be making some temporary flags and then coming back later to make nicer flags. I really want this army to look nice, because it is a project that I have wanted to paint for a long time (some 15 plus years, I would imagine).

The Standard Has Been Raised

Have you ever embarked on a wargaming project and later wondered "what was I thinking?".

Well, I hate to say it, but this has happened to me. My bete noir is the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745. I have always had a keen interest in the topic, as Scotland and its history are one of my favorites. It probably goes back to the days when my father used to read me stories from Sir Walter Scott's Tales of a Grandfather which is Scott's history of Scotland from the tenth century up through the Forty Five. I especially liked the chapters about the War of Independence in the 1300s with Robert the Bruce, William Wallace and James Douglas (the Black Douglas). But I digress, let's get back to 1745 and the Raising of the Stuart king's Standard.

OK, so I like everything about Scotland, from kilts and pipes to whiskey and salmon fishing. That is a given. Let me also say that I have no particular leanings to either the Jacobites or the Hanoverians. I like them both. I have the 42nd Black Watch Highlander regiment in nearly all of my horse and musket armies: Fontenoy, Minden, Brandywine and the Napoleonic Wars. So the prospect of painting a kilt or two doesn't deter me. But then again, we were only talking 30 or 40 of them, with regard to the Black Watch. With the Forty Five, I am looking at the prospect of painting 300 or more Highlanders with nearly all of them having unique paint jobs. It is one thing to assembly line 40 Black Watch figures off the painting table, and quite another to do 300 Jacobite clansmen for the Forty Five.

As I said earlier, "what the heck was I thinking?"

The most recent push into this madness was provided by the "Elector vs Empire" blog (see the link on the left hand side of this page). One of the running stories on EvE is that the Tradgardlanders (from some Baltic country that is similar to Norway) have invaded the Shetland Islands in the middle of the winter. Now as the prime minister of the fictional 18th Century nation of Britannia, my first inclination was to say, "let them have it - the elements will finish them off, if not the Royal Navy in the Springtime." Concurrenlty, the Tradgardlanders also arranged for the Duke of Albany, one Charles Edward Stuart, to land in Scotland with a small band of supporters. This is all done via free kriegspeiling.

However, those perfidious Gallians (French) decided to lend aid, comfort and troops to the Jacobite cause in order to create some distraction for the Britannian army currently holed up in Minden. Well, push came to shove, and after way too many Diet Lime Cokes, Bill Protz and I were ginning up a sort of informal Jacobite Rebellion campaign for us to play over the next couple of months.

The campaign is very simple. The Jacobites have landed in Scotland and they have to win three consecutive battles in order to effect a Stuart Restoration. Conveniently, there were three principal battles during the Forty Five: Prestonpans, Falkirk and Culloden. The Jacobites will start out with a small force of about 6 clans and a half regiment of French trained troops. If they win the first battle, then they get more clan and French reinforcements in the second game, and even more for a third game, should they win those. Any single loss of a battle means that the Rebellion has been put down.

The immediate problem at hand is that neither myself nor my regular wargaming Pards, Bill and Randy, have any Jacobites. What we do have though are a lot of 18th Century Black Watch Highlanders. Bill has 118, Randy has 72 and I have 50. They are all wearing kilts. Hmm, what would you do?

So we decided that we could fill out the Jacobite army using red-coated, kilt-wearing Highlanders with a small sprinkling of American Provincial blue coats as Lowland regiments. And the French Fitzjames Horse cavalry regiment could be recruited from Bill's SYW French army. Thus, assuming around 30 figures per clan regiment, we can generate 8 Jacobite clans from the 240 Black Watch figures, 1 regiment of Irish Piquets using French troops, and 2 Lowland regiments using the New Jersey Blues from America. There you have it, instant Jacobite army!

Only a madman would even think of adding more "genuine" Jacobite units, right? Oh no. Oh yes, Fritz got a bee under his bonnet to start painting Front Rank Jacobites for this campaign. The fact that he was able to buy some 300 figures at a nice discount only added fuel to the fire. So now I am busy at Ye Olde Painting Tableaux applying plaid paint to the first 20 Jacobites. I chose the Stewarts of Appin only because their flag is easy to paint free hand (a gold saltire on a blue background).

So I have committed myself to painting at least one clan for now, maybe two, before our first battle on May 3, 2008. I also have some figures to use for Prince Charles and Lord George Murray and some standard bearers to paint (this will be inserted into the various Black Watch ersatz Highlander regiments for our campaign). So I have my work cut out for me over the next three weeks.

As for the Hanoverian or government troops, we will use existing British regiments. We have 8 of these on hand, collectively, so nothing more is required to get the red coats up to snuff.

For rules, we intend to use, what else, Batailles de l'Ancien Regime ("BAR") with some minor modifications to give the Jacobites some hitting power in the melees. Jacobite units will be around 20 to 30 figures, while the British Government forces will be 40 to 45 figures. Same troops that we already have, it's just a matter of removing the unneeded figures from their movement trays. This is one of the advantages of the movement tray system of basing that we use in our BAR games. It is easy to resize the units to the desired strengths.

Well, wish me luck in my plaid paint party. In truth, I fear that it is a sinister Gallian plot devised by le Marquis de Silhouette to deter Der Alte Fritz from adding to his Prussian forces. We shall see.