CapnJim's War of 1812 Stuff - Blood & Steel Battle Report - page 3 (04 Jun 23)

[CapnJim]

This is the end...

With a company of US Regulars in my center works, I sent in my band of Indians after Gene's Indians in the copse of tree on my far right.  Too bad.  My Indians were sent packing...

But my Canadian Militia and my gun had moved up far enough to get in the action, and began firing deadly volleys in to the US troops on the ridge.  Our Dragoons and Rifles mixed it up on my left, with my units getting the short end of that stick.  At this point, it wasn't looking good for my Crown forces.

BUT, my right flank Regulars chased Genes' Indians away, and the firing of my Militia and gun sent the US Regulars in the center running away.  Things stabilized on the ridge, with I hold on to my right, while the American held my left.

Then, Gene's Dragoons skirted around a copse of trees in my left rear.  Fortunately, they got lost, which gave me time to move my Mounted Colonel over to see what that was about.  Gene's Dragoons sorted themselves out just in time for my Colonel (and his small entourage) to gloriously charge into them.  My Colonel, while he lost the fight and had to retreat a bit, held that flank!  Huzzah!

And then night fell.  We had reached the end of the battle.  My British held the south end of the ridge, while Gene's Americans the north.  It was a bloody draw!

Once again, Fistful of Lead: Bigger Battles had worked just fine for this fight, and fun was had by all.  It was a close-run affair for both sides, and we fought to that bloody draw.  Huzzahs all around!
   

[BaronVonJ]

Awesome battle. You'll have to post the stats for all the units.

[CapnJim]

Awesome battle. You'll have to post the stats for all the units.

Ask, and ye shall receive...

First off, we decided that each figure represented 40-50 men, and all troops were d10...

British Force

Mounted Colonel (Leader, Encouraging)
Dismounted Major (Leader, Encouraging)
2 10-figure units of British Regulars
1 10-figure unit of Canadian Incorporated Militia
2 5-figures units of British Rifles (Ranger, Sniper)
1 6-figure unit of Indians (Ranger, Good with the Tomahawk (but only in cover))
1 light gun
1 4-figure unit of Light Dragoons

US Force

Mounted Colonel (Leader, Encouraging)
Dismounted Major (Leader, Encouraging)
2 10-figure units of US Regulars
1 10-figure unit of US Kentucky Militia
2 5-figures units of US Rifles (Ranger, Sniper)
1 6-figure unit of Indians (Ranger, Good with the Tomahawk (but only in cover))
1 light gun
1 4-figure unit of Light Dragoons

I think that does it...

[BaronVonJ]

Great! I'll share this with the Facebook groups.

[CapnJim]

Great! I'll share this with the Facebook groups.

Roger that!

[CapnJim]

Inspired by Ash up in the "Conflicts That Came in From the Cold" and "World War 2" boards, I have been going through all my minis and taking group shots of them.  I've started with my 28mm collections, and my WW2, Vietnam, and Modern stuff is already posted on the afore-mentioned boards.  Next up is my 28mm War of 1812 stuff.

Below are pics of the Americans.  Most of them I bought painted as such on eBay, but I've added several of my own.  The figures are Old Glory, Knuckleduster, and Brigade Games metals, and Perry and Victrix plastics.  Once I finish some modern figures I'm working on, I think it's time to add to these guys...(and play with them!)...

[CapnJim]

And here are my British.  Again, most of them I bought painted as such on eBay, but I've added several of my own.  The figures are Old Glory, and Knuckleduster metals, and Perry, Warlord, and Victrix plastics.  Not sure who made the Indians, but they're metals.  I think it's time to add to these guys too...

[MaleGriffin]

Great thread! Brilliant AAR!

[CapnJim]

Thanks!  The battle above was a real nail-biter!

[CapnJim]

My weekly gaming group played a game of Blood & Steel today, in a period for which it was not specifically intended - the War of 1812!  It worked quite well, actually.

Below are the US and British Troop Lists and Scenario Sheets I came up with.  I randomly rolled for the missions out of the rules, and assigned them to the 2 sides at my discretion.  Ted and Gene rolled to see who picked which side, and the other guy picked his home base edge.  As it turned out, Ted played the US and approached from the west, while Gene played the British and Indians, and approached from the east.  I acted as umpire/GM.

I based the Regulars (both sides) and US Militia on the rules' US Regulars and Militia in their Seminole Wars lists.  The US Rifles were based on the Mississippi Rifles in the rules' Mexican-American War lists.  The Indians were taken straight from the Seminole Wars lists.  I gave the Indians their own Junior War Leader, and I gave the British the "Fix Bayonets!" Army rule, but it could only be applied to the British Regulars.

As you can see, the points for both sides were dead even. 

Also below are a couple shots of the field (farm, really).  There were woods along both the east and west board edges, and the farm was in the middle.  A single track ran at a slight angle from the east edge to the west edge.  The powder kegs the US force was after were located in the barn, and the musket crates in the cabin.  The cattle were gathered around the feeding trough in the livestock pen.

I also included a farmer and his eldest son.  I rolled their initial location randomly, and they ended up working in their crop field by the barn.  Once they saw their first unit, I rolled randomly to see who's side they would be on - it turns out they were on the US side - so the fight must have taken place in the Old Northwest (maybe Ohio, or the Michigan Territory).

The fight would prove to be a close one right up to the end.  I'll start the actual AAR tomorrow (Saturday)...

[CapnJim]

Here is the field of battle.  It is about 5' north-south, and about 4.5' east-west.  The pic shows the respective forces' base edges, the US Objectives, the location of the hidden Indian unit at the start of the game, and the location of the 2 farmers at the start of the game.  As I mentioned, the farmers turned out to be pro-US....

The farmers and animals all activated on 1 initiative die.  They would all have an 8+ as the score for their various tests, and both farmers had SB muskets.  I ran the farmers and the animals.  the farmers would react as events warranted, and the cattle, the ox, and the chickens would react as events warranted, as well.  The livestock pen's fence would keep the cattle and the ox inside it, unless someone opened the gate, of course...  The horses were tied to the hitching rails.

I'll post the AAR here very shortly...

[CapnJim]

And now, on with the show.  By the way, this fight was in 28mm...

Part 1:  Get to the Cabin!

The British slowly advanced from the starting line, Regulars astride the road in the west woods at the left of their line, with the Indians right of them.  One Indian unit stayed hidden at the wood-line keeping an eye on things.

The Americans came on from the west through the woods, led by their Rifles.  Their Regulars were on the right, Militia on the left and in reserve. 
 
The farmers noticed Indians in the west woods, grabbed their muskets, fired, and ran.  The Indians kindly fired back, killing both farmers.  The US Rifles advanced on the cabin, intent on grabbing some muskets.

The US Regulars and Militia moved up to the west wood-line, to provide covering fire for the Rifles, who had made their way into the cabin. 

The Indians began moving out of the east wood-line, heading for that cabin.  The were considering torching the place.  But they traded shots with the US Rifles inside the cabin.  Both the Indians and the Rifles took casualties, with the Indians on the short end of that stick.  Over on the British left, their Regulars were taking a more deliberate approach to things, only moving up to the wood-line and no further...

[CapnJim]

Part 2:  We Have the Muskets!  Well, We Had the Muskets...

Things heated up a bit now.  The Indians kept up their attention on the Rifles in the cabin, slowly making their way across the farm and the crop field toward it.  The US troops in the west woods traded shots with the Indians, with both sides taking light casualties.

Then, the US Rifles grabbed a crate of muskets, and headed back to the US line in the west woods.  Or at least they tried to.  Indian fire caused the Rifles to drop the crate and retreat back into the west woods.

The British Regulars, apparently seeing the Indians having the situation somewhat in hand, stepped out of the east woods, and advanced a short ways to the east fence of the livestock pen.

A US Regular unit then stepped out of the west woods, and took possession of the crate of muskets the Rifles had dropped.  They then hauled them back to their wood-line.

The Indians continued to move slowly up to around around the cabin.       

 

[CapnJim]

Part 3:  A Close-Run Affair...

By now, the fire had spread out across the field, with both sides volleying at each other.  It was about now that the British and their Indian allies really found their marks.

Up to now, the British had been firing by platoon.  Once they got to the livestock pen, the whole company presented and fired.  And didn't hit a damn thing... 

But when they went back to platoon firing, they did.  The US Regulars carrying the crate of muskets, took a man down, dropped the crate, and ran back into the woods.

The firing continued.  A few more Americans went down.  The Militia unit in reserve ran out, grabbed the crate of muskets, and got back into the west woods without taking any casualties.  And ran out of time...

When the game ended (after the 8th turn), the crate of muskets was still on the board, but in possession of the US Militia unit.  Thus, the British and their Indians friends had 1 Attrition point due to that.  They had only taken 4 casualties (all Indians, given the British Regulars' deliberate approach to things...).  The Americans, on the other hand, had taken 11 casualties (5 Rifles, 4 Regulars, and 2 Militia).  3 more, and they would have taken an Attrition Point.

Thusly, with an Attrition score of 0-1, the US could claim a Minor Victory, albeit it a fairly pyrrhic one...

We all had fun.  And while Blood & Steel was not specifically designed for the War of 1812, it certainly worked for it.

Now, we are talking about maybe trying the same scenario using Fistful of Lead: Bigger Battles.  We'll have to wait and see if we do that...
   

[AKULA]

An impressive collection - had no idea your interests stretched to 1812 … always associated yourself with more modern projects