Author Topic: F&IW Fort and Terrain (Read 9911 times)

Lowtardog · « **Reply #15 on:** February 07, 2012, 11:50:02 AM »

Fantastic, that will take some figures to man the walls

Colonel Tubby · « **Reply #16 on:** February 07, 2012, 05:32:27 PM »

Amazing! Stunning! Brilliant! Thanks for posting, that is one hell of fort!

I too would love see more pictures!

Oh, and welcome aboard!

Malamute · « **Reply #17 on:** February 07, 2012, 09:49:40 PM »

Magnificent stuff

I hope you stay and share more of your work with us. I can't wait to see some more.

Koppi · « **Reply #18 on:** February 07, 2012, 10:04:16 PM »

That's so real. I'm so impressed.
It's the best FIW fort, i've ever seen. Just give us more pictures of your project.

ffrum · « **Reply #19 on:** February 08, 2012, 04:42:54 PM »

Thank you all for your kind comments. This was a labor of love. I built this fort when I lived in Carol Stream, Illinois, a suburb west of Chicago.
Since my family home was in Turtle Creek, Pennsylvania (next to Braddock, Pennsylvania) and I travelled there often after moving to Illinois, the twigs I used for the stockade of the inner fort were harvested from the Braddock, Pennsylvania area (where the battle of Monongahela took place - the defeat of Braddock's expedition). There is a little local color for you, built into the model.

The model was completed in 3-4 weeks in my garage shop, after several weeks of research and planning, including period plans and visits to the site. The glacis and stockade wall profile were each cut in one pass using special foam cutting tools I obtained from commercial sources. The buildings and outer stockade took the most time. I will share more images once they are scanned from actual photographs taken before I used digital cameras.

My inspiration to complete this project was partially due to my friendship with Charlie Prosek of Winfield, Illinois. He was the proprietor of a military hobby shop there and taught me a great deal about wargaming, painting and miniatures. He was a great, generous man. This game was first used at his hobby shop in 1997.

This model will next be fielded for a game at the 2012 Little Wars Convention in Saint Charles, Illinois, on Saturday, April 28, 2012. The game will be set up for eight participants with several units each, using Brother against Brother skirmish level rules (modified).

The Old French Fort mentioned in my first posting that I have modeled (I will post pictures of the models) is alleged to have been located in Higginbotham Woods, part of the Park District, east of Joliet, Illinois. There is a site where a circular mound can be easily seen, from where a proven (post hole remains), now gone stockade was located. This circular outline includes a few irregular angles and is on a sloping hilltop that is rumored to have been a French fort in the early 1700s. There is even a rock with a plaque bearing a description and artist’s conception of what the fort looked like.

According to the records of an archeological dig there, only Hopwellian period Indian artifacts found, no later “European” type articles. “Hopewell might best be thought of as a system of interaction among a number of different cultures in the Eastern Woodlands of North America. This system of interaction peaked 200 BC to 400 AD.” There is also a rumored trading post location nearby. Since it is a nice little fort, even if a rumor, I built a model and have used it in several games. Three additional models of this were also build and sold to deserving gamers.

Another Illinois Fort I have built and used for games is the Apple River Fort located near Elizabeth, Illinois. I will post pictures soon. There is a reconstructed fort there. See more on that fort at http://www.illinoishistory.gov/hs/apple_river.htm

carlos marighela · « **Reply #20 on:** February 08, 2012, 07:40:34 PM »

My God! That's amazing.

Galloping Major · « **Reply #21 on:** February 08, 2012, 07:45:43 PM »

Fascinating background information there, thanks for sharing it with us

Cheers,

Lance

www.gallopingmajorwargames.com

yar68 · « **Reply #22 on:** February 10, 2012, 08:59:53 PM »

Dribble, dribble, dribble!!!!

ffrum · « **Reply #23 on:** February 11, 2012, 08:19:19 AM »

The Apple Valley Fort is under attack in a small game we held at a convention on February 6, 2009. This is a model of a Blackhawk War fort that was attacked. This fort was located near present day Elizabeth, Illinois. The model was uilt for a friend. Information about the history and reconstruction of the fort located there now can be found at: http://www.illinoishistory.gov/hs/apple_river.htm

This game represents one of the many raids by Black Hawk, a Sauk leader who crossed the Mississippi River into the U.S. state of Illinois in April 1832, with a group of Sauks, Meskwakis, Ho-Chunk, Potawatomi and Kickapoo warriors.

The Black Hawk War is known as a conflict that gave young Abraham Lincoln and other (to be) well known American leaders military experience, including Winfield Scott, Zachary Taylor, and Jefferson Davis.

The figures in the game are Old Glory, Front Rank, Foundry and some Dixons. The fort is scratch built from photographs of the restored fort and archeological diagrams.

Galloping Major · « **Reply #24 on:** February 11, 2012, 09:28:43 AM »

That looks great

I've always thought the Black Hawk war would be a great one for games like this

www.gallopingmajorwargames.com

Marine0846 · « **Reply #25 on:** February 11, 2012, 05:40:13 PM »

Very interesting history on the fort.
Love the fort and the building around it.
Makes a wonderful center piece for the game.
May I ask how many times you have played this scenario?

ffrum · « **Reply #26 on:** February 11, 2012, 09:01:09 PM »

Quote from: Marine0846 on February 11, 2012, 05:40:13 PM

Very interesting history on the fort.

May I ask how many time you have played this scenario?

This fort was made for a friend after his visit to the reconstructed fort site. We usually offer games together at conventions and for our local group of war gamers. As far as games I have played in with him and this fort, it has been used for at least five games.

One of those games was a multi-table game using map movement with two forts (this one and another small one), forest areas, a settlement and an Indian village. Map movement was used with players moving through map locations, until more than one unit (based upon the judge's monitoring) entered the same map location. Once this occurred the figures were placed on one of the six already setup tables to interact. Additional players' units could arrive on the active table or leave using (blind) map movement.

Galloping Major · « **Reply #27 on:** February 13, 2012, 07:27:47 PM »

That sounds great

www.gallopingmajorwargames.com

einarolafson · « **Reply #28 on:** February 13, 2012, 08:16:22 PM »

Impressive!!

mikedemana · « **Reply #29 on:** February 16, 2012, 01:21:23 AM »

I will be at little wars, so may get to game on this beauty!ooks amazing, and I love the research you put into them!

Mike Demana

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