Killiecrankie (sort of)

I have been working on the Killiecrankie project since my trip to Scotland in late July and I was able to get enough figures done for a gameable matchup with Rob during Fall In. The Williamites had 5 pike and shot battalions to the Jacobites 6 highlander units and one pike and shot unit (Purcell's Irish). Despite being outnumbered in the scenario (which they were not in the actual battle), they had more army points than the Jacobites. I downgraded Kenmure's two battalions to "raw" and made every Williamite unit roll before the start of the game. On a 5 or 6 they would start off disordered and require an orders check roll to remove the disorder. Rob rolled poorly and every infantry unit except one of Kenmure's battalions was disordered. Luckily for Rob, he was able to shake all of the disorder in the first two turns prior to any action.

A map of the deployment (above) and the actual tabletop deployment from the Jacobite side below.

I made the large hill and small knoll myself in the weeks leading up to Fall In, I'm pleased with the results, it didn't stick out as a different colored terrain piece.

Order cards being assigned to the units (above), the opening turns saw each side advance towards their enemy. A few units were outside command range and require orders check (below), the results were unsuccessful as they became less than willing to move. The Jacobite cavalry raced toward the center of the Williamite line to face their mounted couunterparts. Meanwhile the Scottish leather gun fired without any results.

The Jacobites enjoyed some initial success as the Jacobite cavalry drove off the Williamite horse with heavy casualties and rode down the crews of the leather gun battery (above), knocking the artillery out of action. On the Jacobite left, clan Macdonald faced off against Weem's government highland company (below). The Williamite highlanders suffered badly but managed to stay on the battlefield despite reach the breaking point of their stamina.

Clan MacLean getting charged by one of Kenmure's battalions (above) after being savaged by musket fire during a failed charge. Things went poorly on the Jacobite left flank. Ewan Cameron and his Cameronians shrugged off volleys and had several successful charges, ultimately breaking a unit of Kenmure's Regiment and then successfully removing a wear point but couldn't push any other Williamite infantry past their breaking points. Their other clans on the left had much less success and soon it was only the Cameronians holding their side of the battlefield.

In the center, the Jacobite cavalry was having more success, driving off their mounted opponents and causing some havoc with flank charges on pike and shot units in the Williamite center. Ultimately the Gentleman Highlanders were overly aggressive and got ridden down by Annandale's horse after the latter rallied and charged back into the mix. 

On the Jacobite right, things were a slow grind. They were piling up wear points on Balfour and Ramsay's Regiments but not able to break them. MacLean was driven after an unsuccessful charge against Lauder's grenadier detachment on the knoll. Finally, the Highlanders began to waver after Purcell's Irish were driven off the field by Balfour's Redcoats. By turn 7, the Williamites were able to claim a "fair" victory. 

Both Rob and I really liked the game and how the rules played. This was my third game of Tercios! but my first attempt with Highlanders. I like how the rules treated them, you don't want to get in a firefight using them, their only choice is to get stuck in but if they don't break their opponent quickly, a grinding melee will most likely be a failing endeavor. I think that is consistent with historical accounts. 

I played this scenario without the full Williamite force since I hadn't painted up Mackay's and Leven's regiments, which would give the government army 9 total infantry units to the Jacobites 6 infantry units. If I replay the scenario with the full forces, I will probably make the initial die-roll for disorder among the Williamite forces a permanent status. 

This was also my first use of commanders leadership traits and virtues. I limited each commander to one of these traits (Dundee had two) and they could only use them when attached to a unit. I think I will continue to apply them in this limited manner because it didn't make their presence too fiddly. 

I can't wait to play more Tercios. It's a fun game and I look forward to getting exotic armies like Muscovites and Ottomans on the tabletop. 

 

Ferdinando Hastings' Regiment and Fall In games...

 

I just finished Hastings' Regiment and it will prob be the last I complete prior to the Fall In convention. I wouldn't have made a post for just one completed unit but I like this particular unit because it was the only English unit at Killiecrankie, the only one with yellow trim (the Scots units either had red or white facings) and their Colonel was an interesting character. My wargaming friend "One Lover" Ray (who frequently posts comments of encouragement below) explained the "colorful" background of Hastings here. 

I will be hosting two games for my friend Rob at Fall In. One will be a refight of my Anglo Zulu War game of The Men Who Would be Kings. The other will be a Killiecrankie-inspired scenario. I say inspired because the government force will be short a few units (I ran out of time to paint them). 

The Williamite force will consist of the following, with their classification according to Tercios:

1 x Hastings' Regiment - Pike & Shot (135 points)

2 x Kenmure's Regiment - Pike & Shot, Raw (270 250 points)

1 x Ramsay's Regiment - Pike & Shot (135 points)

1 x Balfour's Regiment - Pike & Shot (135 points)

Lauder's Grenadiers - Musketeer Company (55 points)

Weem's Highlanders - Melee Company, Mercenaries (50 points)

Aberdeen's Horse - Cavalry Company (? points)

Belhaven's Horse - Cavalry Company (? points)

Leather Guns - Light Artillery (60 points)

Commanders: Mackay (Zeal) , Balfour (Discipline)

Total: 615 820 Points (apparently my math skills left slot to be desired when I made my initial "fuzzy math" computations. 

The Jacobite force is this:

1 x Cameronians - Clubmen, Well Equipped, Enraged (90 points)

5 x Highlanders - Clubmen, Equipped, Enraged (400 points)

Purcell's Irish - Pike & Shot (135 points)

Dundee's Bodyguard - Cavalry Company (? points)

Gentleman Highlanders - Cavalry Company (? points)

Commanders: Dundee (Dexterity), Cameron (Sacrifice)

Total: 625 Points  

The battle map will look something like this...

To balance the game out a bit, I may have the Williamite infantry roll at the beginning of the game to see if they are "disordered" which would reflect the lackluster results some of the veteran units displayed in the historical battle. 

Government Army for Killiecrankie

I've had some travel these past few weekends which has impacted my productivity. I know that these armies won't be complete for the Fall In convention, I'm hoping I to get gameable forces to get in a game with my good friend Rob. Mackay's army isn't complete just yet but I figured I would give a progress report.

First up is Kenmure's regiment. I have two battalions of this regiment. These were one of the units raised prior to the battle. The other regiment was Leven's, which I plan to field on the tabletop with bonnet conversions (if I am pleased with the green stuff  attempts at bonnets)..

Next up is Ramsay's regiment, one of the units of the Scots Brigade. I should mention that the government flags are from Barry Hilton's League of Augsburg range. Beautiful flags, Ramsay's has an interesting design with the chevron and creature (seal?) on the chevron.

Balfour's regiment, all of these fellows are in red coats faced white.

Bellhaven's and Annandale's horse. I decided to paint one of the units in blue (a common color for militia).

Both Bellhaven's and Annandale's horse are small units, just detachments.

Next up are Lauder's grenadiers. These were a converged group of grenadiers from the various units who operated as the vanguard of Mackay's army.

The Scottish grenadiers at the time wore a stocking cap with brown fur upturned liner. In order to replicate this look, I used Baccus' French dismounted dragoons from their WSS range. 

At Killiecrankie, the Scots government army likely had some "leather guns", for my army I opted to use a small gun from their Sun King range. I painted the barrel a black so that one mistake it as a leather gun. 

Scottish gunners wore a similar headgear as the grenadiers. Again, I opted to use converted French WSS dragoons. I should point out that the gun's apparently weren't very effective in the battle. There is an account of one of their shot becoming lodged (and stopped) by a highlander's targe. 

Here re see the command bases, Mackay is on the right and Balfour is in the buff coat on the left.

The full Scottish government army thus far. I still need to paint up five more infantry brigades.

 

Jacobites Completed!

Managed to push through painting the last of the highlanders and got the basing done. I have enough spare figures for a few more units, even after using some for Weem's highlander company that fought for the government army. I also painted up Purcell's Irish as well, this means I have finished the Jacobite army for Killiecrankie. 

Here we have Purcell's Irish offering a nice visual contrast in their off-white uniforms. 

And here are the three highlander units I just finished up. If I'm not mistaken the black and yellow saltire is that of the Campbells (who I don't believe were present) but they will be for the Argyll Uprising. I believe the yellow standard with a mailed arm with sword is that of Clanranald and the yellow and red banner is the war flag for the Camerons.

And finally we have the entire army. Six units of highlanders, Purcell's Irish, two cavalry detachments and the command bases of Ewan Cameron and Viscount Dundee. It's a small army but I think it will provide a nice game for Tercios with 8 full units, a couple of detachments and two commanders leading them.

As mentioned above, I finished my first government unit which is a detachment base (30mm square) representating Weem's independent highland company. This closeup of Weem's highlanders shows off the very nice sculpts with multiple poses. I have several units of red-coated infantry underway and will be anticipating a parcel in the mail from Baccus that will allow me to complete Mackay's army. More updates to come.

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. 

Scanian Progress

I've been making steady progress on the 6mm Scanian War "diversion"...while I've temporarily abandoned all of the other partially completed projects (Thirty Years War, Fenian Invasion and Big Battle Raven Feast). 

I've been focusing on Swedish infantry and I can report I have five infantry units complete, I will wait to complete the remaining Swedish foot when I get some figures with karpus and matchlock. 

A review of the Hoglund book indicates these colorful little canaries are the Sodermanlands Regiment. One of my favorite so far they are very bright.

The fellows in grey coats and yellow cuffs are the Vastgotadals regiment. I think they look rather sharp in this color combination. 

Next up are some Swedish artillery wearing grey with blue trim and wearing karpus. I left the gun carriages in natural wood because I saw some 28mm League of Augsburg artillery painted up in this manner. If you are going to copy someone, copy someone good!

Here is a group picture of the completed Swedish bases. If you read my previous post post on this project, you may be wondering where the Swedish cavalry unit wandered off to...the answer is that I am in the process of rebasing them. 

I thought they were a bit too sparsely populated (as seen above) on the base so I decided to cram 2 more figures on the base. Only problem is that I only had one spare painted figure. They are a work in progress as you can see below. 

Next up was my initial first into the Danish army. I went with a cavalry unit. Apparently some of the Danish cavalry wore pot helmets so I used this opportunity to paint up some of those sculpts. I gave them buff coats and blackened cuirass but apparently these (cuirass) weren't all that common with Danish horse. I think one unit may have worn them so this inaccuracy won't really bother me.

I like the red of the uniform trim. I think the color pops. Next up will be some more cavalry (maybe Danish horse in hats and the green-coated Fynske infantry Regiment).  I placed a rather large order with Baccus for my trip to Scotland and my visit to the Claymore Convention in Edinburgh.