Back to Two Wars, p.1 / 3 - Lake George

Just another dull day with morning parade...?

Visiting Lake George and the surrounds is a great balance of history and seaside kitsch but in fresh water. You have regular encounters with high-class products ranging from food to whiskey and wine right alongside low-brow entertainments and styles. Quite enjoyable, but not Annapolis, nor Belmar NJ - it's somewhere just in-between. Highly recommended!

Definitely check on covid issues as New York State is one of the "crazy states" run by crazy people and you could easily have your trip ruined by mask mandates and public closures. Just the way it is. No issues with our trip, but it is summer.

For the amateur historians, the Hudson River valley has loads of history, and was a focal point of fighting in both the French and Indian War and the American Revolution. It is easy to lose track of which fort is from which fight if you don't pay attention!

For lodging, we got a suggestion from a travel agent friend, and the rate and accommodations at Scotty's Lakeside Resort were good if not perfect. The room was not very well cleaned, altho the main areas were, the corners and edges had dust, trash and there was some hair stuck to the wall of the shower, showing that it wasn't fully cleaned and hosed down.

The rate we got was good, $600 for three nights. However, I can't recommend it as they blare loud pop music in their beach / pool / recreation area, from about 8:30 in the morning to 8-9 at night. The would be especially annoying if you had a room near the pool, which is about 15-20 rooms.  I would have demanded a refund or relocation since their website does not carry a warning about this, but we were far enough away that it didn't matter.

**Important note: ask any place you may stay if they run a disco instead of a beach!**

Basically, it is impossible to relax at the areas of Scotty's that are for... relaxing. If you are one of those people who need loud music blaring in your ear to relax, see a doctor or psychiatrist as that isn't healthy.

Anyway, I will still present pics of Scotty's Lakeside Resort since it is quite typical of what they all look like in the area.  We had a view about 100 yards from the lake, at the bottom is the pool / beach.

Each room had a balcony it shared with a neighboring room. This was nice, and far enough away from the music that I was able to chill out and read in the mornings.

The main rec area. There had just been a torrential downpour, but you can see the "beach" and Lake George at right. The beach is basically play sand spread on an area about 50 yards square, and into the water about 5 yards. The bottom is rocky without the sand. Almost no one played in the water, not even the kids.

View back towards our room. The building to right is the cafe / bar, which also had some arcade games. Convenient if you don't bring food / beverages to the pool.

The lake has several ways to tour, including two boat companies:

 

Above, looks like Minnie-ha-ha heading north up the lake.

Below, view south down the lake, with the fort just to left of the center trees.

There are some great sculptures with historical themes - this one by a chainsaw artist!

Lovely old train station next to Fort William Henry.

View north from Fort:

only a small portion of the 30-mile lake is visible due to a bend and some islands.

And of course the star historical attraction on the lake is Fort William Henry

Image from https://www.fwhmuseum.com/

Inside Fort William Henry, you are greeted by well-done static displays and dioramas.

Another day at the fort - morning parade.

French and Indians about to ambush badly scouted British column...

The French siege of the fort.

Map of the camps and other areas of interest during the siege.

Re-enactors are employed by the State Park, but one should check ahead to see if they are working when you will be visiting, just in case they are seasonal.

Above fellow is a British defender of the fort. He did a musket firing demonstration and was suitably engaging.

Below re-enactor of a state militiaman [serving in his own clothes and gear] was up on the parapet. He and the other fellow demonstrated a 6pdr field cannon firing. Again, suitably engaging, altho I thought the description of grape / cannister was a bit gruesome and explicit considering the variety in age groups.

Shortly before the firing of the gun. Notice how small the 6pdr is!

View into the fort from the parapet. The little roof at ground level to the right shelters the crypt going down towards the original fort which is below this replica, and has some good info on archaeology and human remains of the period.

Always worth double-checking sources, even museums, but below are the regiments and the color of turnbacks and lacing that they had.

Another part of the museum is a room with a "US Army since then" theme, with several areas of uniforms displayed.

Took some images of the WWI uniforms for future reference - like to check out the olive color.

Gift store was decently sized and had a variety of stuff - there was a large Osprey display, plenty of history books, and plenty of gifts for all ages. The only thing it lacked was a guide book of the museum itself for purchase. I asked, and the cashier said "That's a Great Idea!" and that she would pass the idea along!  Museums used to always have these, now none do. I guess they expect you to check things out on line?  In lieu of that, there are - more expensive - books about the archaeology of the fort and its surroundings.

Below, a nice fort playset by Roy Toy, sort of Lincoln Logs, may be of interest for those who do Toy Soldier wargaming.

Highly recommend getting out on the lake - we used Lake George Kayak Co., and they were super competent and helpful!  http://www.lakegeorgekayak.com/

Below, Mr. Winkie prepares himself to face the lake - we took out a tandem kayak.

With some practice, we managed to make decent time to cross part of the lake and go to an island for lunch.

It was nice and quiet, a lovely day. No loud music!

Some places we HIGHLY recommend in Lake George Village:

Best ice cream - Nina's Sweet Shop on the south side near the fort.

Coolest unexpected discovery: 

The Patriot of Lake George: 

Military Museum and History Shop

Amazing place!

On a side street, so we stumbled upon it purely by accident. 

PatriotofLakeGeorge.com and Fb page [CLICK] too.

For you Afrika Corps fans, a pic of LTG von Ravenstein, 21 Panzer Division commander.

British military cuisine - there's a guy on line who would eat this thing...

The actual CMH posthumously awarded to SFC Tony Burris at Heartbreak Ridge, in Korea:

This is the basis for Clint Eastwood's character in the film "Heartbreak Ridge". He delivers an outstanding performance of a man simultaneously managing the difficulties of whipping some bad Marines into shape while wooing his ex-wife. He makes it look easy...[CLICK].

This poster is amazing, but partially obscured by the souvenir flag signed by 1st Infantry Division Soldiers. The poster explains the way that Soldiers should take on a German tank. I didn't find it very reassuring, as it is pre-bazooka. Overall, it is a "do what little you can with the little we have given you" sort of training poster. We should be grateful today...

The sort of results you can get when you DO have bazookas? This was a pretty famous incident, and I believe it involved plenty of firepower. The Lt. also did the big three jumps for the 82nd in the war: Sicily, D-Day and Holland, aka "A Bridge too Far".

Napoleon's death mask - amazing!

And retrieving the below only leaves about, oh, 500,000 musket balls on the ground...

Poor Napoleon...even in Lake George, can't escape that ONE battle...

Amazing collection of tags from 28 missions flown by some crew in WWII - harrowing!

And yes, a packed case of toy soldiers!

The best restaurant in town: Blue-Collar Cuisine at "10 McGillis"

Typical small-town bar / restaurant, but this one has local art on the walls.

The tall chef is French trained but from Texas. The menu featured classic French cuisine like frogs legs and escargot, which of course we had to get. Below, Mr. Winkie tries his first frogs legs. The comment: tastes great, a lot like chicken but different texture.

I had a frog leg and I concur. The breading was amazingly light and crispy! I admit that I ate too much and needed the walk back to our room to aid with digestion. Still, I have no regrets despite needing to diet a bit now that I'm home!

Next post - Ft. Edward, West Point, and Stony Point.

Oldhammer! A project continuation, p.1: Evil Stunties

"You can tell by my fangs that I'm a CHAOS dwarf! Mwah-ah-ah-aaaahhhhh!"

No, no...they don't suffer from 'Little Man Syndrome'. They suffer from 'Evil Dwarf Syndrome'

This blog post moved to my medieval blog, Spear to the Strife, here [CLICK]

American Civil War: It's "Epic" now!

Epic v. Kallistra Comparison

Was able to quickly sell off all my 6mm ACW figures - I had to, they were just too small to see or deal with for me! After struggling with various optical enhancements:

I gave up and eventually listed them on Fb where I was pleased to find someone who was glad to have them.

Still, the ACW is near and dear - and I like it at the regiment / battalion level.  I wanted a look that gave the impression of a long line with lots of Soldiers, but was larger than 6mm.  I was very interested in Old Glory 15s, which look perfectly animated for this period.  I also closely looked at Old Glory 10mm, which appeared to be quick to paint up and yet still look right despite the blocks.

A gaming pal told me about the new Warlord Epic scale [somewhere around 13mm or True 15mm, or...something], I did some research and found the starter box at a discounter for... $108.00, so it was a no-brainer!  Also, the plastics snap into bases and I can playtest while I am painting, which was a big bonus. I quickly bought it!

But, I'm picky about a lot of things I like on the table, so I just had to expand the offerings with Kallistra's "12mm / 1:144" figures from here [CLICK].  They appeared to match up well to the uncertain scale of Warlord Epic.  This allowed me to get skirmishers, cavalry, more gun variety, limbers, wagons, etc. Things I needed for both game mechanics and appearance.

Box arrives - couldn't resist spending a few bucks on flag sheets, they are just too useful!  Amazingly, the simple packing survived altho just barely.  They should up their game in this respect!

Comparison shots:  Kallistra gunners v. Epic: Kallistra are a big "bigger" and Epic are a bit taller and are slender. Overall, while the style is different, on the table there will be very little difference to the eye - especially at 2-3 foot gaming range!

Above, the Kallistra wheels are the right type [16-spoke] and only *slightly* smaller. The gun is the same 12 pound Napoleon, and the barrel is definitely smaller while the carriage is a bit smaller and more slender and otherwise close.  Once painted, I'll see which guns will stand in for what types.

Below, closeup of the Artillery.  The plastics are very cleanly sculpted and executed, the Kallistra have more texture and wrinkles in the uniform cloth. This may differentiate them more from Epic to the eye than any size issue.

The Cavalry. Pictured are Kallistra 12mm / 1:144, Epic, and 15mm Rank and File Prussian Cavalry from here [CLICK].  The difference here is quite pronounced.  As cavalry can take up a lot of space on the game table, it is my thought that I prefer the smaller Kallistra.  How do they look next to the infantry?

Another shot - you can see that the Epic are almost as big as the 15mm fig, definitely between the Kallistra 12mm / 1:144 and the Rank and File 15mm.

Below, how does Kallistra compare to Kallistra? Certainly, the height is right - the cavalry are significantly taller. My thought is that the horse is a bit short and doesn't have quite as much bulk.  I'm fine with this as they are more likely to be pony nags than cuirassier steeds in real life!  The Army was notorious for inconsistent horse purchasing.  Ultimately, they are intended to mostly serve as mounted infantry, so as long as the horse can keep up the pace, it is good enough.

Same comparison with Epic in between.  The stands are not quite right, the Epic is a bit heightened by 1-2mm thanks to the stand v. the cast base of the Kallistra.

This is a better shot - all cast/molded bases are about equal. The Epic has less bulk [and less gear] than the Union infantryman, but both are close in height and obviously shorter than the Union cavalryman.

Overall, I am very happy with the project.  Altho the Kallistra set me back $315, the Epic "cast of thousands] provides a crazy number of 60mm stands, 120 to be exact!  In my world, that translates to about 40 units!  The Kallistra flesh things out just a bit with infantry [Zouaves, Heavy Artillery infantry unit] some gun variety, and most important, the full cavalry option [mounted, dismounted with skirmishers] and skirmishers in general.

The big question now is how will they paint up?  My goal with 10mm is that it be a lot faster than 15 or 25mm painting, and obviously less expensive, while still obtaining the look I want on the table.

I'm hoping this is correct, we'll just have to see!

Post-Beaumont Playtesting, p.4: Mechanics, Tactics

As you design or puzzle out a game, you have to line troops up and try out basic mechanics.  This example is a straightforward Brigade v. Brigade attack, two regiments of three battalions each, with some nominal support units affecting tactical decisions, e.g. two batteries of Krupp guns, some jagers in a town.

The game mechanic - or real-life tactic - being tested here is how to handle an attack by an opponent that outranges you. In the Franco-Prussian War, the Prussians had to solve the problem of their Dreyse "needle-gun" being outranged by the French Chassepot. 

In the below example, six French battalions [two regiments] are advancing against six Prussian Battalions [also two regiments] who are defending a town. The town is held by a few companies of Jagers, with support from two batteries of Krupp guns. The Jagers have a max range of 9" and the battalions a max range of 6". The French battalions have a max range of 9", thus heavily outranging the only unit that can effectively respond to their fire. 

As denoted by the dark green felt, the French have chosen to use a covered approach through the woods out of line of sight of the Krupp batteries.  

Shown above are the 6" and 9" distances of the Prussian Units: this leaves a 3" range band where the French are in range, and the only Prussian units that can respond are the Artillery and the Jagers. As these have only about half the firepower of the three leading French battalions, eventually the French will force a decision in their favor altho the combined firepower of the two Krupp Batteries and the Jagers is greater than the top-most French battalion by itself.  The French could choose to sacrifice that battalion, but instead choose another course of action.

Below, the French move up a unit of their light infantry, which can effectively threaten the batteries, forcing them to engage the light infantry instead of supporting the defense of the town.

Given this situation, we can see that the French have mitigated the Prussian defense plan through cover and concealment, and with a support unit of their own. 

The Prussians, with their inferior range, have a few obvious options:

1. Use Terrain so as to reduce the effect of incoming Fire,
2. Rely on support units that are NOT outranged to engage the enemy.
3. Close with the French,
4. Withdraw

But, as can be seen, there is no terrain to mitigate the French battalion's firepower; also, the Prussian support units were insufficient to drive off three battalions and have been countered by an opposing French support unit. 

The only good news is that the Prussians are not within the 9" of the woods that would give the French continued cover as they engage the Prussians. So keep this in mind when you are fighting against a covered approach - either occupy it yourself, or start within line of sight and fire range so you can cover it with sufficient firepower to deter attack!

The French continue their attack plan by moving out of the woods into range - they are still out of range of all Prussians except one jager company in the town. 

Withdrawal is not an option, so the Prussians immediately move up to close into their 6" shooting range before the French can fully deploy into line.

For this one [French] Player Turn, the French have deployed into line and will have a 2-1 Firepower advantage. Such is life.

On Prussian Player Turn 2, the Prussians deploy and the exchange of Fire will be even.

As I was playtesting mechanics, I stayed very close to average dice rolls, so Fire and Saves and Morale Checks were pretty average numbers. In French Player Turn 3, they managed to outnumber a Prussian Battalion in bases, charge and just barely weather the Fire and drive back the Prussians. Fortunately, the Prussians have properly deployed a second line and the French battalion is now facing a fresh Prussian one.

Fire between the two sides is generally attriting everyone.

Prussian Player Turn 3, they charge with their Fresh battalion and drive back the French breakthrough.

The Prussians Pursue the French, taking up a position in the main line of battle.

Turn 4, the French advance a supporting battalion from their second line into the gap where the Ligne battalion charged then was counter-charged and fled.

The status quo of two even battle lines has been maintained, with both sides having 5 Units in the fight, and 1 unit rallying / reforming in the rear.

I was very satisfied with how my mechanics worked - they are closely based upon Neil Thomas' "Wargaming 19th Century Europe" rules, which are the best developed of his "4-Base" system of rules that started with Simplicity in Practice [which is actually half-baked, but free].

The key thing to remember is that in real life, troops density was about double what Wargamers normally put on the table. All lines would have about half the force up front and another half behind, ready to support the first line. This should translate to an attrition battle with very close results if both players are playing equally well [or poorly] and the victory conditions are fair.  I'm fine with this!

To summarize, neither in real life history, nor on the table top, is outranging the opposing Infantry with your Infantry a decisive advantage. It typically means in game terms that for one turn, the side with shorter-ranged weapons has to advance into their range band [unless the side with longer-ranged weapons is in a situation where they have to assault, in which case there is nearly zero advantage to having a longer-ranged weapon!].  Thus there should be no problem fighting Dreyse v. Chassepot, Springfield v. Smoothbore ACW, Enfield v. Smoothbore Crimea, etc.

Tactically, the side with the inferior range, has to:

1. Use Terrain so as to reduce the effect of incoming Fire, e.g. defilade.
2. Prevent an attacker from using terrain to engage them with an even bigger advantage: firing out of their range from cover and / or concealment!
3. Use support units NOT outranged to engage the enemy, e.g. artillery and rifle armed units, jagers, etc.
4. Maneuver into firing range of the enemy infantry.
5. Counter-attack with second line supports - these will be well within range right off the line.
6. Withdraw - this is an option in certain scenarios.  Cover from one's Artillery and light infantry will be helpful in this instance, just like in 3 above.

Hopefully, this little tactical posting will help wargamers, both players and scenario designing hosts, to realize that just because the forces are a bit asymmetric it doesn't really matter and you can have a fair fight. Generally speaking, it is more interesting to have a fight with asymmetric forces than identical sides, altho both can be fun battles.

My "A Gentleman's War" Project, P.1

I've been knocking around the idea of an AGW project for a while. It's been hard to figure out what is the perfect period for such a stylish set of rules! My requirements are:

1. Large figs with simple shiny paint: 40mm to 54mm preferably.
2. A war that one struggles to take seriously
3. Alternately, a "what-if" war; somehow, I prefer a "what-if" to an Imagi-nation war. It's odd, but while I love the Imagi-nation work of others, for me, it just doesn't work...if they're sorta Prussians, then why not just be Prussians??
4. Given the nature of the war, the people and units must be ripe for humor. If COL Balderdash and SGT Whiskers can't march upon a field against Gen. Rimskey-Kutitoff and Prince Putinov, then why bother?
5. There needs to be enough Figures that I like to motivate the painting.

Given the nature of the requirements, I came up with a few ideas that caught my interest:

• The War of 1812
• The Belgian War of Independence, 1830
• The American Civil War, 1850
• The Crimean War, 1853-6
• The Invasion of Belgium, 1890-ish: precursor to WWI

THE WAR OF 1812

Pros:

• Particularly silly war as few even understand why it was fought
• British are Napoleonics; Americans similar
• Figures in 40mm from Sash and Saber
• Figures in 54mm are plentiful: mostly plastic Napoleonics; best are Armies in Plastic, which has Naps and 1812, Indians, ACW in kepi for French, and Crimean War cavalry!
• Lovely crazy expensive plastics from Singapore
• Shorter Range than ACW
• No one games war of 1812, so would be "different"
• Easy access to resources here in USA, including visiting Battlefields in Maryland and US - Canadian border
• Much of the generalship was so poor, it begs for satire and whiskey
• Several boardgame options
• Comes with interesting naval actions that really matter

Cons:

• Historically, hardly any cavalry actions
• Did I say there's hardly any cavalry actions?

Overall, this is a great choice!

THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR, 1860 OR 1850

This has a lot of potential, and is an favorite period all over, but especially in the USA. Also has interesting gaming potential as a "What if" on a smaller scale in the 1850s - the war came close to breaking out during a few crises.

Pros:

• Figures in 40mm from Sash and Saber
• Figures in 42mm from Spencer Smith
• Figures in 54mm are plentiful: plastic ACW is everywhere; best are Armies in Plastic
• Variety in weapons and Ranges: smoothbore carbines to breechloading repeaters, smooth bore 6lb cannons to 20lb rifled Parrots
• Easy access to resources here in USA, including visiting Battlefields in Pennsylvania and Maryland
• Some of the generalship was so poor, it begs for satire and whiskey
• Infinite boardgame options, tons [literally] of books, a number of movies

Cons:

• Not a very silly war because of slavery; politically loaded perhaps
• Everyone games the ACW and has an opinion about it
• Historical uniforms have variety but usually lack panache [except militia companies]

Altho I did look into the other options listed above, I decided to go the simplest route, and put in some quick orders through Armies in Plastic and Michigan Toy Soldier Company where I found additional bits and some nice Cavalry.

Below, the first order arrived fairly quickly from Armies in Plastic.

Nice variety of figs. There are some "generally the same" poses, such as firing and loading, or running and marching, but still variety within the pose style.

Rebels with a gun. Of course, they could be Union, Also.

Rebel firing line.

Four different shooters. One dude has his kepi backwards to see better - hilarious!

They take up about 8-12" on the table - depends on your basing style.

Sorted as a Kepi unit - could be Union, of course. Nice firing line!

This could be a firing line out west - all slouch hats.

Defending Richmond? Petersburg?


With clapboard house in the background, and fortifications in foreground.

Same, with cannon entrenched.

By the Dawn's Early Light? No, it's the Twilight's Last Gleaming.

Closeup of house: has room for several figs on porch!

another angle - the officer has exited to see what the shooting is about!

The union fellows. Iron Brigade in hats. Energetically charging. In the background, some Rebels are sneaking into a house on their flank!?

Nice variety here, also, both Firing and Running poses.

Looking a lot more blue in the flash - they are actually darker.

Closeup with cannon and crew - very nice figs. Firing line looks great, also.

overhead shot...

And both sides in opposition. At 6 feet, pretty discernable figures!  Eye-catching spectacle could look great at a convention game.

Forward! Looks like some just prefer shooting, however...

This is a nice force!  The big question is painting them up. They are sorta fun to play with as-is, and might make a good example of what you can do with minimal effort to have fun wargaming. Lots to think about going forward!