New War of 1812 Scenario Book

A new book with 59 scenarios for the War of 1812.

Sample page of a scenario.

Table of Contents.

Though I thought it a little pricy, for someone interested in wargaming the War of 1812, I think this book is well worth the price. And  59 scenarios! With a good description of the battle, along with units and unit strengths from skirmishes to large battles, this book could keep a wargamer busy for a long time.
 

New War of 1812 Books

     My wife and I finally managed to go camping a couple of weeks ago. It was my first real vacation in 10 months and was much needed. Last year while camping I started rereading all of Donald Graves books on the Canadian battles of the War of 1812. I was disappointed that he never wrote a book about the Battle of Queenston Heights. However, another author, Robert Malcomson, wrote a book about the battle. It was also put out by the same publisher of several of Mr. Graves' books and was the same quality read.  The name is "A Very Brilliant Affair" and  is worth the cost just for the Appendices, some which lists all the officers (and some of the enlisted men) of the units involved in the battle.
     The book has me thinking of getting a couple of War of 1812 games in. With this in mind, I finally broke down and bought Stuart Asquith's Scenarios for the War of 1812: War Game Actions from the War with America 1812-1815. One reason I hadn't purchased this before was the cost. However, after receiving it, I regret not buying it before.  It is a good volume for anyone wanting to wargame the war, but doesn't want to go too deep into research. With 12 scenarios, it would be enough to keep a gamer going for a long winter and, what I think makes this period so interesting, the different units involved: professional soldiers, militias, Native Americans, and a cast of interesting Generals and battles fought in all different conditions. Also, for those interested in age of sail battles, the war fought on the Great Lakes makes for interesting naval warfare. No Ship of the Lines or Frigates involved on the lakes, just small combatants.

New Book and a "Holy Moly!" Moment

    Before going on vacation I saw on another blog a book" Armies of the War of 1812" by Gabriele Esposito, with uniform illustrations by Olivier Millet. I've seen the illustrations on Mr. Millet's blog; unfortunately it is in French. Finding this book was money well spent. Besides having all of Mr Millet's uniform illustrations, Mr. Esposito has translated it to English. I dare say it might be the best uniform book I own.  Unlike other books that shows a select number of uniforms, this book has examples of most of the major units, along with the different states and Canadian Provinces militia uniforms. It might be a little pricy, but I think it is money well spent.

  I have had little interest in wargaming recently. My personal life right now leaves little time for it; although next month one of the more time consuming matters will no longer be an issue.  Still, what free time I have has been watching tv or being on the computer. I decided to try going back to painting (pictures, not toy soldiers) for a break from my stagnant wargame projects. I have 2 small plastic tool boxes that I use  when I take toy soldiers on vacation for painting. I decided to use one for my new painting supplies. As I was going through one I took out a clear plastic container. When brought into the light, "HOLY Moly!" I realized they were  2nd generation War of 1812 militia that I didn't remember owning, including several militia officer figures I've been searching for. They were 15 militiamen and 4 militia officers. While I might not have any immediate plans for them, it is good to know that I have these new reinforcements.

The new book. If you want to see some of the uniform plates, Google "Olivier Millet, War of 1812".

The newly discovered Minifigs militia.

A New Book on African Tribes and a New Rule for One Brain Wargame

   Since I have started playing No Brain Wargames, I have found myself trying to find out more about tribal warfare. However, instead of starting with native American tribal warfare, which would be easy to find information on, I have been looking for information and the tribes of Africa. I did buy one book, "The African Wars: Warriors and Soldiers of the Colonial Campaigns" by Chris Peers.  What's good about this book is that he tells of the tribes involved in the various Colonial wars and how the war affected them, with little on the Colonial forces. It is a good book (so far). I was hoping that there would be more on the earlier history of the tribes; however, as the tribes had no written records, most of what's known of the tribes are from European explorers. There are some descriptions of tribal combat, which is the main reason I wanted the book.  Still, it has been a good read. I did find a couple of titles that have interested me; however, to buy them in book form, the books run around $100.00 each. I have found them in digital form for around $25.00. I will wait toes after the current book has been read.


    I was also thinking more about the NBW rules.  I started thinking that having two "retreat" on each dice might make for a more fluid game. Over the weekend I played two games, and I think increasing the chances of retreating makes for a more exciting game.
 

Hopefully adding another "Retreat" to the dice roll will make for a more fluid game.

New Ancient Chinese Figures & Vacation Reading

    Shortly before leaving on vacation, while doing a Google search, I came across some nice looking  plastic ancient Chinese  toy soldiers. They are listed as being 1:120 scale.  To me they look like game pieces.  They also had to be ordered through a company in China. I was leery of ordering them. They were also quite expensive; $19.00 for one set. I could only order one set of them (  I wanted to order two). In the end I decided to take the chance and order them.

   When my wife and I went camping we took the dog along. However, being so hot out, and the campsite we stayed at limited what we could do with Jerry, we asked my stepson if he would watch Jerry, to which he said yes. We brought Jerry home, and while there I checked the mail. Way back in the mailbox was a small box from China. I took the box back to the campground to examine the contents that night. I will say that I am happy with the purchase. I received 40 infantry, 10 cavalry and two general figures. I also thought they might be a good match for the Risk plastic Napoleonic figures, which is illustrated below.

    Among the reading materials I brought with me was Bryon Farwells' "Armies of the Raj". I am a big fan of his books, but in the past I couldn't get into this book. I finally got through it and, as always, enjoyed the book. I really can't understand why I waited so long to read it.

My new Chinese ancient figures. I did a quick black wash on the figures to highlight the details.

The back of the figures.

The new Chinese compared to Risk Napoleonic playing pieces.

New Books and an Austrian- Ottoman Wargame

     Yesterday I went to the used bookstore that at the last visit had received a good selection of British Army books. Below you will see the volumes I bought. The book on "Records of the Scottish Volunteer Force 1859-1908" was a great find that I almost missed. The plates are filling my head with visions of Peter Laing and 40mm figures painted toy soldier style with the uniforms in this book.

    I made it a point to leave myself time for a wargame. I had decided to use my Peter Laing Ottomans and WSS Austrians. After buying these books, I almost brought out my Peter Laing Victorian Parade figures, but in the end went with the Ottomans. For rules I used The Stronghold Rebuilt GNW version of "See the Elephant". I tried to use the rules as written, even using regular 6d dice instead of Battle Cry dice. I proved an enjoyable game, with some of his rules that I normally don't use playing a big part in this game.

The best find of the day. A large collection of color plates to give plenty of inspiration. Below is three pages of the plates.

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Another great book with the regimental badges and history  through WW2.

I finally saw most of the movie "Lawrence of Arabia". That, and a Man of Tin  wargame  based on a train ambush in the desert made me want to find out more about this part of WW1 history.

The two armies deployed. The Turks have three cavalry and three infantry units.  The Austrians have two cavalry and four infantry units.  I used the same size forces as I used in the last game.

The deployed Ottomans.

The Austrians deployed.

The Turkish cavalry kills two infantry, and the janissaries kill another Austrian.

With these rules, you roll 1 dice for each unit on the board . If you roll 4-6, you can activate one unit.  If you roll  1-3, the unit isn't activated, but if it has suffered losses, you roll 1 dice for each lost piece. For each  5 or 6 you roll, the piece "rallies" and the unit gets that piece back. One of the Austrian units has one piece rally, and it rejoins its unit.

The Austrian cavalry has no success against the Turks, but infantry fire kills two  janissaries.

The janissaries rally. The Turkish cavalry hits the Austrian cavalry in it's front.

The Austrian cavalry retreats.

The Austrian infantry push forward to try to divide the Turks.

The blue janissaries lose 2 men, but hold fast. One Turk cavalryman is lost and the unit falls back.

The Turks push their forces forward. The blue janissaries don't move, but rallies. In the upper right of the picture a Turkish cavalry unit can be seen. This unit eliminated one of the Austrian cavalry units.

The Austrian general sends his cavalry reserve across the back of the army. to protect again the Turkish cavalry that is now behind his line.

The Turkish cavalry behind the Austrian line attacks the Austrian cavalry, while all the janissaries push forward.

The Turkish cavalry drives es off the Austrian horse.

What's worse, the janissaries force one infantry unit to retreat, eliminates another infantry unit, and kills  an Austrian in the other unit.

The situation facing the Austrian general after this move. The Turks have yet to lose a unit. The Austrians flee the field.

The victorious Ottomans.  An army that needs to see more action. I am thinking of making a GNW Russian army, that could also engage the Turks.

A New Book and More Temptation

    Recently I realized that I have been doing little real reading. I spend more time on my cell phone or computer, but spend it  looking up videos. So a couple of months ago I started bringing books to work with me that I read during coffee breaks and my lunch time. I have been reading different books from the Ballentine Illustrated History of the Violent Century, a series of books mainly about WW1 & WW2 from the 1970's.

     May wife was given the OK to go back to work. So she wanted to go strawberry picking two towns over. As I passed right by a used bookstore that has a large collection of the Ballentine books, I was going to pull in to pick a couple more books. When I went to the row where the books are, there were several boxes of new books out. Going quickly through them, it was obvious that the former owner had a great interest in the British Army uniforms from the 19th century, as I do. I couldn't spend much time looking at them, as my wife was out in the hot car (I did leave it running with the AC on). There was one book I couldn't leave behind on the Foot Regiments of the Guard.  Hopefully I will have some spare money that I might be able to pick up some more of these books.

A book I couldn't pass up. Richly illustrated with photographs from the period. 

This picture really caught my attention. I would have imagined wagon drivers of the Guards would be wearing some kind of forage cap. I sure would have loved a Peter Laing set like this photo!

Another great picture that explains the William Britain's Guards wearing bearskins  in combat poses. I was surprised to read that the Guards wore their bearskins during field exercises. It must have truly been brutal in  the summer.

Another (out of focus) photo of a rout march, again wearing bearskins.

Another photo of the Guards on the march wearing bearskins, although a few are actually carrying their bearskins. In the background is a steam tractor, perhaps pulling a trailer with supplies.

The collection of books have several other books with regimental histories and uniforms, including several militia regiments.  There are also books with regimental badges and cloth badges, and one very interesting book showing regimental buttons from all the different militia regiments.  With my wife returning to work, I might pay another visit to the bookstore next Saturday.