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!

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.

 

Yet more Catholic League Reinforcements

Despite my 6mm Scanian War diversion, I continue to grind away on my 10mm Thirty Years War armies. As previously mentioned, my armies are based on those present at the battle of Fleurus so all of my Catholic infantry are in large tercio field squares. 

To allow my armies to fight other battles of the Bohemian campaigns, I needed some Catholic League infantry in smaller units. My plan was to add 5 regiments from for the Catholics and paint them up as Bavarians and other German cities. I opted for dark red and cornflower blue as dominant colors. With three of the five complete, I like the look this far. Once the Catholic League units are done, I will paint up some more cavalry, artillery and baggage and add one all-shot Protestant unit then call the project done! 

Here is a blue regiment with a flag indicating they are either from Bavaria or Cologne. I suspect Catholic League armies used blue sashes but for my armies all Catholics wear red and all Protestants wear blue. 

The next unit is in dark red and their front rank of shot are getting ready to deliver a volley of lead. The flag is a yellow cross on a dark red field. 

 

6mm Scanian War

A few years back, I was really tempted by Baccus' 6mm Sun King/Scanian War range. To satisfy that temptation I purchased a few starter armies and then they just sat in a box waiting until the came to forefront of my painting queue. 

Recently I've been playing Liber Militum Tercios for the Thirty Years War in 10mm and recently I played a game of Tercios with my buddy Alex using his 15mm By Fire and Sword figures for the period of The Deluge wars. The idea popped into my mind to paint up my 6mm Scanian War stuff for Tercios. This would allow me to put my units on big bases (which I love) and give me the opportunity to revisit 6mm (which I also love). 

The plan is to collect and paint small armies for the Danes and Swedes and also armies if Poland-Lithuania, Russia and Ottomans. These armies can cover anything from the Deluge to Scanian Wars. I managed to paint up my first three Swedish infantry units and here they are.

First up is a unit in red/white and with the karpus headwear. Using the excellent Lars Eric Hoglund book on Swedish army of the Scanian War as a reference, this unit was painted up to represent the Skane-Blekinge regiment. After I painted them up, I realized the Baccus flag sheet doesn't have their flag so I had to use another unit's colonel flag. I presume the Skane-Blekinge Colonel's flag was similar to this one. 

Next up is the Halsinge regiment in their grey and green scheme. At this point I should mention the unit bases are 65mm x 35mm which allows me to fit 6 strips of shot, 2 strips of pike and a command stand to the base. 

The final unit was supposed to be Vastmanlands but I realized that the Baccus flag sheet doesn't have this unit. Since the command strips in hat have two flag bearers, I couldn't just steal someone else's Colonel's flag so I referred to the Hoglund book and learned that the Dalregiment wore a similar blue/red uniform and hat previously so I used their flags instead. 

When I ordered the armies from Baccus, all of the figures had firelocks. I wish that I had ordered matchlocks instead. I prefer the slightly bulkier look of the figures and it would be more appropriate if I'm using them for the earlier Deluge conflict. I plan to visit the Baccus booth at Claymore so I will be purchasing quite a few more figures then...

UPDATE: I managed to finish the first Swedish cavalry unit. Not sure which unit they are. According to Hoglund, most didn't have uniforms other than a buff coat. I have decided to match the saddle blankets and and rolls to the colors of the standards and give them all buff coats. Anyway here they are:

I gave the impression of a blackened cuirass for these guys as you can see in this rear image. 

I'm reasonably happy with the results. Looking forward to painting more.