Mackay's Army Plan

As I grind through the final three highlander units for Dundee's Jacobite army, my mind is already thinking how I will tackle the opposing government army. 

With thoughts regarding construction and game balance, I wanted to downsize the government army a bit. On paper, Mackay should have dealt with Dundee without issue, he had nearly double the men and half of them were veterans of the Scots Brigade. In additional m to the numerical and qualitative superiority, the government troops were also better equipped. If this was all replicated on the tabletop, I'm not sure how even of a fight it would be. 

To balance the armies out a bit, I plan to represent some of the government regiments as one battalion instead of the two that were present. Rather than 12/13 units of infantry, I will give them 9 units of infantry and several detachments. Weem's highland company will be a detachment and Lauder's grenadiers will be one or two detachments. Government cavalry will be two detachments and a single base of light artillery will complete the force. 

I think I will give the government army two commanders, obviously Mackay will be the chief commander and either Balfour or Hastings will be the other. Maybe I will give them three commanders...we'll see. 

The bulk of the figures used will be from Baccus' Sun King range: SKW01 (matchlock) and SKW03 (pike). Kenmure's regiment will probably be represented with ECW Scots Covenanter pike and shot. They will be the sole unit in hodden grey and bonnets... although I may call an audible at the last minute and paint them in red jackets. 

Weem's highlanders will be leftover figures from the Jacobite army and the cavalry will be SKW04 and SKW05 (horse and dragoons). Lauder commanded about 200 grenadiers pulled from the various regiments and they wore a soft cap with fur trim. The artillery crews were supposedly in similar headgear. 

For Lauder's grenadiers, I plan to use dismounted French grenadiers from the Spanish Succession range (WSS13)...right now the plan is to use some of these figures (or rather their heads) for some conversions of artillery crew. I only need to do this to about four figures so I think I can manage it. 

That's the plan, let's see how well I manage it. 

I feel like I should also mention that my primary source of reference for my planning, organizing and painting has been Stuart Reid's book "I met the Devil & Dundee". It covers every aspect of the battle of Killiecrankie (background, the battle and aftermath, nature of warfare, unit composition and uniform information). I can't recommend it enough. 

For Argyll's Uprising, I will be relying on Stephen M. Carter's "One King!: A Wargamer's Companion to Argyll's & Monmouth's Rebellion of 1685". It provides everything you need to know for both Argyll's and Monmouth's uprisings...there are even hypothetical scenarios and assessments of the various personalities involved and their motivations. I initially purchased it because of my interest in the Monmouth Rebellion but it will be invaluable for my plans to wargame the other uprising that occurred in 1685 a bit further north of Sedgemoor. 

Raise the Clans!

I've been making progress on my 6mm Killiecrankie project. Since the last post, I've added a third highlander unit, two detachments of Jacobite cavalry (a base of Highlander gentlemen and Dundee's followers from the Royal Regiment of Horse) and the two command bases. 

Here is the Jacobite army this far. I plan to add 2-3 more highlander units and also an Irish infantry unit. Then it's on to the Government forces. 

First up is the third highlander unit. I'm trying to use flags that can do double duty for both Killiecrankie and Argyll's Uprising (although I imagine the Red Lion Rampant wasn't used for the latter). I have the remaining highlanders primed and ready to be painted. 

Here we have an image of the two cavalry detachments, based on 30mm squares (same as artillery). I plan to use the Tercios rules and since the detachments aren't full units, I will give them diminished stats similar to light horse. The rules allow for detachments of infantry but not of cavalry. I don't think this modification will affect gameplay whatsoever. 

The gentlemen highlanders. I have them a muted palette of blues, greys, greens and red browns. The figures are the Scottish ECW cavalry, I modified a few by removing helmets and adding bonnets. If I was to do another base, I would keep the helmets. 

Next up are the rather smartly attired Royal Regiment of Horse. These guys represent the men from Dundee's regiment that decided to follow their commander in support of the Jacobite cause. We don't know if they retained their uniforms but Stuart Reid suggests that they probably would have. I think the scarlet and yellow uniforms add a nice splash of color to the muted colors of the Highlanders. 

Finally we have the command. These two bases represent James Graham of Claverhouse, 1st Viscount Dundee (Bonnie Dundee) and Ewan Cameron of Lochiel. 

For Bonnie Dundee, I tried to make the lowlander Jacobite as bonnie and flamboyant as possible. He is in his bright scarlet uniform with gold trim and a loyal trooper from his old regiment riding alongside him. 

Lastly, is Ewan Cameron of Lochiel. Ewan was quite the imposing figure with dark hair and a mustache that curled up like the "moon's horns". According to Reid, Ewan was described as being armored (helmet, leather cuirass and chainmail) so I opted to use a rather gallant looking sculpt in armor from the ECW Scottish Generals pack to depict the warrior known as the "Ulysses of the Highlands ". I was even able to add a mustache to the sculpt! 

Well, that's it this far. I have the next batch of figures prepped and primed, more highlanders and the Irish. That will complete the Jacobite army and then I will tackle the Government forces. I plan to use a mix of figures from the Sun King and Scottish ECW ranges to represent Mackay's government army. I think I will downsize the government army (I will get into that later) which will have about 9 infantry units, two cavalry detachments representing militia horse, some "leather gun" artillery and two commanders.

 

6mm Highlanders

 I started these little fellows before the trip to Scotland and I was in a rush to finish at least one base's worth. I completed painting that initial batch and they were all very vibrant in greens and reds...however after reading Stuart Reid's book on the battle of Killiecrankie, I was reminded that plaids in the late 17th century were much more drab in browns, blues, muted greens and reds, violets and grey. I painted up another batch of figures on this more accurate and muted palette to dull down the flamboyant fellas of the initial batch. 

I have enough figures painted for 3 bases (2 shown here, still working on the basing of the 3rd). The plan is to paint up about half a dozen bases along with some cavalry and commanders. 

These little buggers will be used for the Argyll Uprising, Killicrankie and whatever hypothetical scenarios I dream up. 

Claymore 2024

As mentioned in previous posts, I had scheduled a vacation to Scotland centered around attending the Edinburgh Royal Military Tattoo. The other big event I planned to attend would be the Claymore Convention held at Edinburgh College. 

I had a wonderful time, it was very interesting to see the difference between the UK shows and the American conventions. I was really blown away by the friendliness of all the vendors and fellows I chatted with at the flea market and around the games. 

I also had an opportunity to meet some people behind the miniatures and rules I have loved for decades. 

Beautiful displays of Baccus' 6mm offerings in the image above. I ended up placing three orders for pickup from Peter Berry, but the real prize was to finally have a chat with the friendly man I have been ordering from for the past quarter century or so! Peter was as much of a gentleman in person as he has been over email. 

Another notable I was able to meet was Leon from Pendraken (figures seen above). If you follow this blog, you are probably aware that I participate in the Pendraken painting competition most years. I have been a fan of the Pendraken ranges for decades and it was an absolute honor to discuss the hobby and other topics with Leon. I have never really had an interest in the Korean War but I ended up purchasing Chinese and Americans in winter gear...perhaps I can base them with a wintry snow effect...

These are some of Barry Hilton's 1/4800 gems for WW1 naval gaming. While I didn't pick up any of these, Barry was nice enough to sell me a sample pack of his 1/2400 Anglo Dutch Wars ships. These are absolute gems with so many unique and distinctive designs for specific ships of the war. 

Conrad Cairns is subject matter expert when it comes to the Carlist Wars. I am a proud owner of his wargaming guides from both Perry and Helion. In the picture above, you can see some of his brilliant 28mm Carlist figures. It was a real treat to chat with Conrad. After the convention, I realized Conrad also wrote "African Knights" which dealt with the militaries of African kingdoms like Sokoto and Bornu...I wish I had asked him about that..

I spent quite a bit of money and was happy to do so.  Here are some photos of other games I saw in the few hours spent at the convention.

I believe this warship was part of game involving 28mm figures and the siege of Havana or something. Absolutely brilliant stuff.  UPDATE: I was mistaken in my description, this beautiful setup was titled "Descent on the French Coast" and was a Seven Years War display game set up by some gentlemen to honor the memory of their friend and fellow gamer who passed away. I can think of no better way to honor a friend than this. Stunning tribute. My thoughts and prayers to Stuart, his friends and loved ones. 

10mm demo game of Test of Resolve...really neat stuff! The fellows responsible for these rules have recently released a Hundred Years War variant. Since I have already purchased their original War of the Roses set, I decided to purchase this new release. As appealing as the 10mm stuff is, I do have quite a bit of 15mm HYW lead sitting around from an abandoned project.

A really nice looking 15mm refight of the battle of Breitenfield. The use of flooring mats for a game mat was really neat idea.

Early WW1 grand tactical game using 10mm figures (Pendraken I believe). I think it was the battle of the Marne.

Flags of War was showing off a new rules and range called Border Wars that looked like a skirmish style game to fight border reiver actions on a 4x4 gaming area. Similar to Grey for Now games Test of Honour, units were prepackaged with unit cards and such. The ruleset looked to be impressive as well. 

Anyway, I look forward to visiting other UK/European wargaming shows in the future...Peter Berry did say I should attend Joy of Six sometime!