A surprise package and some horse models

Today, I received a package in the mail containing some plastic Spencer Smith Hussars. They were a generous gift from Neil of the aufklarungsabteilung.blogspot, who reached out after I mentioned in a recent post needing to use some 28mm Hussar figures having run out of Spencer Smith Hussars (see here). He had some spare and kindly offered to send them my way, an offer I gladly accepted. These will be soon moving up the painting queue! 

New recruits.

At the moment, my painting table is occupied by a scratch-built two-dimensional ship and a couple of boats for my French and Indian War (FIW) games, where I’m adding an amphibious element. More on them in the next post.

A recent purchase to be used for some more carts, wagons, and limbers.

Additionally, I bought some horse models to build more wagons and artillery limbers, continuing on from my recent scratch-building efforts to add carts to my FIW armies (see here).

Finally, some photos of an English Civil War game…

The tabletop all laid out ready for a game.

A view of the infantry all lined up.

The cavalry stand ready.

French and Indian War Convoy Battle Report

This is a battle report for a French and Indian War scenario where a supply convoy is trying to reach a fort and is expecting an attack by enemy forces. See the previous post for the background, order of battle, and victory conditions. 

The tabletop with the supply convoy arriving.

For the game I am using a variation of the One-Hour Wargames (OHW) horse and musket rules. Some of the changes include:  

Shooting Changes: Subtract 1 from shooting rolls if the unit fired during the previous turn, reflecting the difficulties of visibility following an initial volley. Militia units always subtract an addition 1 when shooting.  

Charge Changes: Only Indian units and regular infantry may charge. If a charge does not eliminate the target unit, the charging unit must retire facing away from the target. Units have to wear down their target first, else risk failure.

Movement Adjustments: Units (excluding carts and artillery) gain an additional 3 inches of movement when traveling on open ground or roads. Carts move 6 inches on roads and open.

Elimination Tests: To determine if a unit is routed, roll a D6 and add the result to the unit's accumulated hits. If the total is 16 or more, the unit is routed and removed from play. Modify the D6 roll as follows: add 2 for Indian units and 1 for militia units.  

Battle Report

As the convoy advanced along the road, gunfire erupted from the northern woods. Reacting swiftly, the British commander ordered three units to engage the ambushers. Meanwhile, the supply carts, flanked by regular infantry units, hurried forward, determined to reach their destination. The intensity of the enemy fire from the north woods increased as additional reinforcements of Indian warriors and French militia emerged along the tree line.

Gunfire erupts from the trees. Additional French reinforcements can be seen moved through the north woods.

Along the road British engage while trying to push the carts to towards the fort.

As the convoy crested the hill and the fort came into view, so too did a line of French regular infantry advancing rapidly from the south. See the danger, a detachment of regular infantry from the fort's garrison sallied forth to intercept the approaching threat and help to bolster the convoy’s defenders and prevent the French from cutting off the carts before they could reach the safety of the fort. 

More French reinforcements arrive from the south.

A unit from the fort marches out to help protect the carts.

As the supply convoy began its descent down the hill, the British units holding the northern flank faltered and routed, leaving the convoy dangerously exposed in its final run to the fort. A unit of French regular infantry moved to cut off the convoy’s path. In response, all remaining British forces formed a protective cordon around the supply carts, relying on the fort’s gun to provide them with covering fire.

The convoy’s northern flank routed.

The French close in.

With their rearguard routed, the remaining British units marched alongside the supply carts, taking relentless French fire. Despite suffering heavy losses, they shielding the carts and ensured their safe passage to the fort's gates. 

Continuing to march along the road the British take heavy casualties.

Finally the supply carts reach the fort.

Wrap up…

The battle was a British victory as both supply carts successfully reached the fort. In hindsight, I should have pushed the French forces from the northern woods closer to the fort in an attempt to cut the road ahead of the convoy, even at the risk of coming under fire from the fort’s gun. If I were to replay the scenario, I would also consider bolstering the French southern reinforcements with another unit of regular infantry to balance the engagement.

The supply carts move into the safety of the fort.

French and Indian War convoy scenario

Having recently completing two scratch-built supply carts for my French and Indian War forces (see previous post), I was keen to see them in action on the tabletop. This post outlines the game setting and order of battle, while the next post will have the game report. The game scenario is inspired by two sources: 

• “Convoy (1) Wagon Train” from “Scenarios for Wargamers” by C.S. Grant and 
• “Scenario 25: Infiltration” from “One-Hour Wargames” by Neil Thomas.

Supply carts on the move.

Background

A guarded supply convoy has been sent to deliver much needed supplies to a fort. On the march the convoy has spotted enemy forces and expect an attack before they reach the fort.

Map of the tabletop.

Forces

British forces in the fort. 1 unit can leave the fort on turn 6.

• 1 Militia Unit
• 1 Gun
• 1 Regular Unit

British Convoy

• 3 Militia Units
• 3 Regular Units
• 2 Carts

French Blocking force

• 2 Indian units

French northern reinforcements arriving turn 3

• 2 Indian units
• 2 Militia unit

French southern reinforcements arriving turn 6

• 3 Regular units

Special Rules

The convoy carts can be captured or destroyed if a French unit makes contact with them and no British unit is within 3 inches of the cart.

Victory Conditions

The British forces achieve victory by escorting both convoy carts to the fort, while the French forces win by capturing or destroying both carts. Anything else is a draw.

Fort awaiting supplies.

Tabletop setup with convoy arriving.

Scratch building some supply carts

I plan to set up a small campaign for the French and Indian War (FIW) in the near future. As I don't have any supply carts, I decided to scratch-build some for my armies. I used to have some spare plastic cart wheels stored away, but over time they became brittle. I considered buying replacements, but they would take time to arrive, so I chose to make my own by making a mould from one of the broken wheels. Nothing fancy, just something basic that resembles a wheel on one side and can be attached to scrap wood shaped to look like carts. I used a polymer clay to make the wheels which stays flexible until baked in the oven to harden, after which it can be sanded and painted.

A completed supply cart.

To create the wheels, I began by making a simple mould using Milliput epoxy putty. I pressed the broken wheel into the putty to form the shape. Since the putty takes overnight to set, I had plenty of time to widen the spokes, make gaps for the missing ones, and make sure everything looked ok.

A mould is made from Milliput using a broken wheel.

The next steps involved pressing the polymer clay into the hardened mould and cleaning up the wheel ready for baking.

1. Lightly dusted the mould with talcum powder.  
2. Soften the clay by working it until it becomes malleable, then pressed it into the mould.  
3. Carefully removed the clay from the mould.  
4. Trimmed off any excess around the edges.  
5. Straighten the spokes and ensure the wheel is circular (as it does become slightly misshapen during removal from the mould).
6. Baked the clay in the oven to harden.  
7. Once hardened, the wheel is sanded for a smooth finish.  

I chose polymer clay over epoxy putty because it's easier to handle and doesn't stick to surfaces as much.

The polymer clay is pressed into the mould.

The clay comes out of the mould slightly misshaped, but this is sorted out later.

The excess clay is trimmed off.

Spokes are straighten and the wheel made circular with modelling tools. 

After baking, the set wheels are sanded.

The cart is made from a piece of wood sawed into shape, with additional items like a canopy or a variety of bits added to represent barrels and crates. The horse an unused cavalry horse from a kit, with its saddle filed off and a collar made from Green Stuff.

Bits of balsa and beads are added for the stores.

A horse and handler are prepared.

While the painting is very simple, I do paint on a few highlights, especially the spokes. A final coat of gloss hides the many imperfections. 

Now the carts are made. I plan to make a ship and some boats for some amphibious scenarios.

The carts can be used by either army.

Blurring the Detail

I have a collection of 30mm Spencer Smith Napoleonic plastic figures the bulk of which were gifted to me by a very generous wargamer back in 2017. I really liked the look of the figures and soon had a couple of small OHW type armies painted up. I had opted to paint them with a simple toy soldier style with a gloss finish as it seemed to suit the figures. Their uniforms only bear a slight resemblance to those of the period, as I selected uniforms online which I liked and then painted something similar. Very reckless! 

Anyway, since then I have been able to add to the armies with a few purchases and added in a few plastic Seven Years War (SYW) and converted American Civil war (ACW) figures.

Plastic Hussars from the SYW range. I really like the movement in these miniatures.

Some converted ACW figures

There are still gaps in my Napoleonic armies, with some areas feeling understrength, for example a lack of Hussars. I currently only have one unit of SYW Hussars and just three spare miniatures, too few to complete a full unit of five. Since the chances of me finding more Spencer Smith Napoleonic plastic figures are increasingly remote, as a search eBay again, I decided to see if some 28mm plastic figures would suit to fill out the gaps in my armies.

A game in progress.

The local hobby shop had a pack of 28mm French Hussars by Warlord Games. I suspected the new figures would be chunkier and more detailed compared to the slender 30mm Spencer Smiths. They turned out to be not only chunkier and detailed, as expected, but also taller. That is scale creep for you!

Undeterred, I went ahead and glued the figures together. In an effort to help them blend in with the Spencer Smiths, which are not highly detailed miniatures, I filed down some of their prominent details, then went about blurring the remaining details on the model by applying a mix of gesso primer and PVA glue. This gluggy mixture fills in smaller areas and crevices to create a smoother surface. Once everything is dry, I started the painting with a simple, glossy toy soldier style to fit in with the painting approach used for the Spencer Smith figures.

The completed Hussars.

A side on comparison between the old and new Hussars.

A view head on.

One other pack of figures I purchased was some 28mm Prussian infantry marching manufactured by HAT. While not as detailed at the Hussars, they still got the blurring of detail treatment of Gesso primer and PVA glue. 

HAT 28mm marching figures.

Comparison to Spencer Smiths on the left, HAT on the right.

On the tabletop the new figures look fine, particularly the HAT infantry, they fit in very well. With one more Hussar unit to paint and two more infantry units, I am now eyeing up some additional artillery.

A new book and playing around with rules

Currently, I have my 20mm WWII collection set up on the tabletop as I am testing out some rule changes for combat and activation mechanics. A few photos from one of the test games below.

On the subject of rules, I recently picked up “The Fundamentals of Tabletop Miniatures Game Design - A Designer’s Handbook” by Glenn Ford and Mike Hutchinson. The book arrived the day before Christmas and I am treating it as a present to myself.

A recent purchase

Rather than reading it cover-to-cover I am dipping into different chapters to read about specific design aspects that catch my interest or areas where I’m seeking ideas. The book has 235 pages and is organised into three main sections:

• Miniatures as Medium
• Raw Materials
• Miniature Rule Systems

Each section contains multiple chapters that discuss various elements of game design along with their advantages and disadvantages. Examples of games using the discussed mechanics are often provided. At the end of each chapter, there’s a helpful summary along with suggested experiments to try out with the rules. The chapters are listed below and give an idea of what is covered:

Section 1 Miniatures as Medium.

• What Are Tabletop Miniatures Games?
• A Brief History of Miniatures Games.
• The Spatial Relationship.
• When Should Something Be a Miniatures Game?
• The Hobby Games Loop.
• Players of Tabletop Miniatures Games.
• Sources of Fun.
• The Victory Imperative.
• Fantasy and Narrative.
• Dramatic Focus. 

Section 2 The Raw Materials.

• Miniatures and Measures.
• Scale and Scope.
• Uncertainty.
• Dice Mechanics.
• Card Mechanics.
• Genre, Theme and Setting.
• Resources.

Section 3 Miniatures Rules Systems.

• Setup and Deployment.
• Activation and Initiative.
• Movement.
• Close Resolution.
• Line of Sight and Ranged Actions.
• Terrain.
• Control Removal.
• Damage.
• Victory Conditions.
• Special Abilities.
• Scenarios.
• Campaigns.
• Forces and List Building.
• Conclusion.

I have probably dipped into a third of the chapters so far. I have found them all easy to read and clearly written, averaging 8-10 pagers per chapter.

The authors of the book also have a YouTube channel where they have quite a list of videos where they discuss many of the topics covered above (https://www.youtube.com/@RuleofCarnage). I find I generally listen to them while painting.