Haitian revolution project (fort pics added 30Dec)

[traveller]

 

please more!!!!!

[Schogun]

Oxiana and WillieB -- For gaming (and figure buying) purposes, what would you say should be the ratio of units on the table, armed vs. hand weapons, for the revolting slaves?

2:1 hand weapons to armed? 3:1?

Thanks

Chuck

 

[magokiron]

SUPER painted minis, and a great Green stuff control for those convertions.

I really like your altar too.

Hope to see more of this interesting project.

Thanks for sharing.

[WillieB]

That's another beautiful vignette Oxiana! Love your paintwork!

@Shogun,

For the early period of the revolt 1791-92 I would go as high as 4 or even 5:1. The only guns the slaves captured were those in possession of the civilians and a few from the colonial infantry regiments ( Du Cap and Port au Prince) Still, a potential half million slaves against a few thousand, often ill, soldiers.
After the National Guards were formed more firearms surely found their way (often including their owners) into rebel hands.
The ratio almost surely went up during and after 1793 when there was a lot of infighting between French troops.

[timg]

Fascinating! Read a bit on the subject and toyed with the idea of using it for a skirmish. Trent miniatures are lovely, got a few French here. Lovely painting and conversions here, top notch!

[The Dozing Dragon]

Great work! I've quite fancied the Trent minis for a while.........may throw the towel in at some point having seen these!

[axabrax]

Really nice. I've toyed with the notion of doing this period in the past, especially after reading the article in Wargames Illustrated (when's part 2 coming out, already?)

What rules are you planning on using? I was thinking Sharpe Practice with some mods...

Steve

[oxiana]

Oxiana and WillieB -- For gaming (and figure buying) purposes, what would you say should be the ratio of units on the table, armed vs. hand weapons, for the revolting slaves?

2:1 hand weapons to armed? 3:1?

What WillieB said. But bear in mind that the revolutionary war burned on and off for a massive 13 years. There were a lot more arms around at the end of that, and the Haitians were a lot more organised too. So you could play different ratios for different periods according to preference (or how many minis you have). I'd keep the average French solider as being better trained than the average Haitian, but of course the latter would have picked up a lot of experience over time, so elite units are an option.

Really nice. I've toyed with the notion of doing this period in the past, especially after reading the article in Wargames Illustrated (when's part 2 coming out, already?)

What rules are you planning on using? I was thinking Sharpe Practice with some mods...

Steve

There was a Wargames Illustrated article? I missed that – does anyone have a PDF?

I'd been thinking of Songs of Drums & Shakoes, since people seem to give it good reviews. Although to be honest, it'll be a while until these particular figures see any dice thrown in anger. I'm painting against a deadline, because in the second half of September I'm packing up all my worldly goods and moving for six months to – well, Haiti actually!

Other thoughts on rules:

Some sort of mechanism to account for the French forces constantly dropping down from yellow fever and malaria would be useful. Possibly a random chance of a proportion of models being removed during game play?

The Polish regiments shipped over by Napoleon actually went over to the Haitian side near the end of the war, so possibly some sort of morale/mutiny check? Even today there's a part of Haiti where many locals have Polish names, and the Polish 'Black Madonna' Catholic icon has been adopted into Vodou iconography.

In terms of morale again, no one really wants to surrender. The French mass murdered their captives, and the Haitians frankly were no less bloodthirsty.

The Haitians had many of their most successful encounters through ambush – great for small action encounters. The two big battles, Crete-a-Pierrot and Vertieres, were both very different beasts. The former was a siege, with the Haitians escaping by feint and deception. Vertieres was more a straight pitched battle, with the Haitians showing such bravery under their leader Capoix that the French general Rochambeau actually halted fighting so he could salute the courage of his opponents. But it ended with a French defeat – their last of the war, and Haiti was independent within weeks.

[axabrax]

It was issue 277

http://www.wargamesillustrated.net/Default.aspx?tabid=267&art_id=2222

Good article. There was supposed to be a part 2, but I never saw it. (Don't think I missed it.)

I noticed that Nick has painted photos up of all the packs on the Northstar site now. Wish he would repackage the revolting slaves so that it was easy to get them all!

Those are interesting suggestions for the rules, all of which could be handled by SP with cards. Let me think a bit about the specifics. I noticed there are Cuban dog handlers too. Need rules for them as well  

I have even thought about using Legends of the High Seas for very small campaign games in this era. Like an outpost of French guards versus a local gang of slaves. Throw in a landing party of British too and you've got a good bit of Hornblower style action with a Carribbean twist.

Wow--you are moving to Haiti? That's crazy. Very inspiring place to work on your figs though  

[Schogun]

As Axabrax stated, Sharp Practice would be perfect. It allows special cards that would cover losses from Yellow Fever, or Vodou-inspired frenzy.

As to the article in WI277, there is no pdf available. Still too recent to appear on a CD compilation.

I'm finishing up a Russian Civil War book, then starting my research in this period with "All Souls Rising" by Madison Smartt Bell. Coming through my library exchange in a few days is "Avengers of the New World" by Laurent Dubois. So one historical fiction and one non-fiction.

Also on my list is "The Black Jacobins" by CLR James.

Any other must-read books?

Chuck

[WillieB]

It was issue 277

http://www.wargamesillustrated.net/Default.aspx?tabid=267&art_id=2222

Good article. There was supposed to be a part 2, but I never saw it. (Don't think I missed it.)



I noticed that Nick has painted photos up of all the packs on the Northstar site now. Wish he would repackage the revolting slaves so that it was easy to get them all!

Those are interesting suggestions for the rules, all of which could be handled by SP with cards. Let me think a bit about the specifics. I noticed there are Cuban dog handlers too. Need rules for them as well  

I have even thought about using Legends of the High Seas for very small campaign games in this era. Like an outpost of French guards versus a local gang of slaves. Throw in a landing party of British too and you've got a good bit of Hornblower style action with a Carribbean twist.

Wow--you are moving to Haiti? That's crazy. Very inspiring place to work on your figs though  

I just checked all the later WIs and there's no follow up article yet.

Apparently there are 30 different revolting slaves in the Trent range (17 +13) but there will be an additional pack with new poses soon(ish)
bringing the total to 40 or even 50.
Just out is a new pack of Haitian infantry.(CAR10)

[Schogun]

Apparently there are 30 different revolting slaves in the Trent range (17 +13) but there will be an additional pack with new poses soon(ish) bringing the total to 40 or even 50.
Just out is a new pack of Haitian infantry.(CAR10)

WB -- What do you mean by "(17+13)"?

[oxiana]

WB -- What do you mean by "(17+13)"?

Number of figures in the range: there are 17 different slaves with firearms, and 13 with hand weapons.

I'm finishing up a Russian Civil War book, then starting my research in this period with "All Souls Rising" by Madison Smartt Bell. Coming through my library exchange in a few days is "Avengers of the New World" by Laurent Dubois. So one historical fiction and one non-fiction.

Also on my list is "The Black Jacobins" by CLR James.

Any other must-read books?

'Avengers of the New World' is, for my money, the best book on the Haitian Revolution. It's more readable than 'The Black Jacobins', which while also a great book is a little dated now. The latter was a groundbreaking title when it came out in the 60s, but a lot more research has been subsequently done. Do still read it though!

Good luck with the Madison Smartt Bell. I've picked up 'All Souls Rising' and 'The Stone That The Builder Refused' (the final part of the revolutionary trilogy; the second book is 'Master of the Crossroads') and put both down, not having got very far. He has an incredibly dense writing style that I didn't get on with. That's probably a personal thing though, as lots of people rave about them. You'll learn a lot of creole though!

Bell has also recently written a biography of Toussaint Louverture, which I've yet to read. There was an excellent review essay in the NY Review of Books about it – I can't find it online, but if anyone wants a PDF then DM me your email address. It's an excellent overview of the revolution and a great read.
 

[axabrax]

I'm curious, presuming the "Cuban dog-handlers" in the Trent range are historically accurate, how would they be used on the table-top? I'm assuming they'd sniff out ambushes and chase after runaways rather than being "war-dogs."

Any other unique rules other than those aforementioned? 

Terrain: I'm wondering if there might be any unique terrain feature types to factor in: jungle, marsh, beach, plantation, village, fort, grassland. Any natural dangers such as snakes, poisonous insects, quicksand, flash-floods? 

Voodoo: It was mentioned that voodoo could induce a frenzied morale state. Anything else? How are you planning on using that altar? As an objective or just a cool-looking terrain piece?  I'm not going to bring up zombies, but if one were to write up a mini-supplement for Sharpe Practice (which i am now mulling over) you'd almost have to throw in a zombie variant just for shits and giggles 

[oxiana]

I'm curious, presuming the "Cuban dog-handlers" in the Trent range are historically accurate, how would they be used on the table-top? I'm assuming they'd sniff out ambushes and chase after runaways rather than being "war-dogs."

Yes, these are historically accurate although they weren't brought over to Haiti until 1802. They were meant to be attack dogs – the French general Rochambeau then in charge of the army was a notorious sadist and thought that the public disembowelling of slaves was just the thing to raise French morale. And they actually turned out to be a complete failure. When let loose on the field they were just as liable to attack the French. Rather brilliantly, at one battle near Port-au-Prince, they raised such havoc that the French ended up fleeing the battlefield in fear of the dogs, leading to a famous Haitian victory. Now, game that! 

Voodoo: It was mentioned that voodoo could induce a frenzied morale state. Anything else? How are you planning on using that altar? As an objective or just a cool-looking terrain piece?  I'm not going to bring up zombies, but if one were to write up a mini-supplement for Sharpe Practice (which i am now mulling over) you'd almost have to throw in a zombie variant just for shits and giggles 

The strangest thing is that Eureka recently brought out a French Revolutionary zombie mini. But we'll move swiftly on from that...  

For Vodou, I was looking at the LOTOW supplement Blood on the Plans and their rules for Medicine Men. There are various rituals there that could be easily adapted: concealment, ignore difficult terrain, spirit guide (dice re-rolling) etc. The rules for musicians and totems could apply – adding to morale etc. Drums are an absolutely central part of Vodou rituals. I'm sure Darkest Africa-type rule sets have rules for 'drums in the jungle' sort of things – either inspiring their own troops or casting fear in the enemy. Hmm, I think I just talked myself into finding a decent mini for a drummer...

As an objective marker, the French may want to destroy it. Haitians may want to carry out a Vodou service lasting several turns. And I like having the sacrificial animals too – maybe they need to be raided from a plantation. I quite like the idea of a having a pig running about the battlefield and people trying to catch it amid the fighting!