Year End - 2018

"Soldiers Atop The Mount" - 2018

It's sort of traditional in the blogging world to create a year-end post, especially in regards to project type things like painting. With only a couple of days left in 2018, here's where I'm at:

First, created this blog. I've blogged a few times in the past, but never consistently. So far I'm doing okay with this one, and it's helping me stay motivated with my figure painting. I'm not as prolific as some, but I haven't abandoned this one so far.

Next, reenacting. I was able to attend five events this past year. Less than I would like, but often real life gets in the way, especially with four children to tend to at home. My wife and kids are starting to attend events with me, so this may change in 2019. One of the events was a “lifestyles” event, while the other four were military in nature. I enjoy both aspects of the hobby, though I really need to get into better shape to keep up with the younger guys on the field. Count that as a goal for 2019.

Sewing projects related to reenacting included a shift, petticoat, and jacket for my wife. I'm also currently working on a pair of breeches for one of the guys in Warner's Regiment. 2019 will probably see some more sewing for my wife, and some upgrades in clothing for the kids.

Learning about the Southern Battery during "Muster at Mount Independence."

Third, history. Most of my historical pursuits this year have been driven by interest in my reenacting unit and the locations where they were stationed and fought. This past fall I was able to attend a full day event at Mount Independence in Orwell, Vermont, where I learned a little more about the fortifications that were there, and the archaeology that has been happening for the last several decades. In particular, there was a focus on the Southern Battery, where our reenacting unit had been stationed during the past summer's “Soldiers Atop The Mount” event. It was pretty neat to hang out with state archaeologists, museum curators, and historians for the day, especially those who had been involved with excavations on the site. It gave me a whole new appreciation for the area, and the artifacts on exhibit in the site's museum.

1765 Surveyor's Field Notes at Bennington Museum.

My other historical pursuit has been researching and learning about 18^th century surveying techniques. One part of this involved a research trip to the Bennington Museum, in Bennington, Vermont, where I was able to read the original field notes of a surveyor from New York who was working in the area in the 1760s. Handling the original manuscript, written over 250 years ago, was a little surreal. Later, while at home, I started mapping out his field notes, and found that he had actually walked right across the property that the museum is currently located on. Pretty wild to imagine that the two of us were in the same spot, with the same book, a couple of centuries apart from each other. For 2019, I'm hoping to attend the School of Instruction in March, held by The Department of the Geographer, a group that reenacts surveyors for the Continental Army. This is a yearly event, and photos that I've seen from past years show it to be both a lot of fun, and very informative regarding colonial surveying.

Finished Miniatures for 2018, plus some old finds.

Finally, wargaming. This year I decided to put some serious effort toward painting up a set of miniatures that I've had stashed for several years. These miniatures became the 28mm version of Warner's Regiment as they may have appeared in 1777. I also completed some small terrain pieces, a few civilians, and started a set of British troops to pit against my Continentals. Within the last couple of weeks, I also found a second stash of older miniatures that I had purchased at some point, so I've added these to the “to do” box. My goal for 2019 is to finish the British regiment, repaint a cannon crew that I found, and then paint up the extra figures that I dug up (Three mounted Continentals, a few militia, and an extra sprue of Perry plastics). I'd also like to work on some more terrain pieces, including a ground mat to stage games on. Will I actually game? Who knows. I might attempt a couple of solo games if I can find the time, or perhaps wrangle some friends into a game some weekend. I'm having fun putting the armies and terrain together, so anything else would just be extra fun.

So, I think that sums up 2018 in regards to this blog's topics. On to 2019!

First Brits

A Scouting Party of the 24th Regiment of Foot.

I finished up the first five figures of my first British regiment last evening (minus basing).  The Internet readings are true. Red, white, and black are difficult to paint.  Brits, being mainly red, white, and black, are difficult to paint.  Fortunately, I have another 33 to practice on.

These men are from the 24th Regiment of Foot, and are from the Perry line of plastic miniatures.  These are the same sculpts that I used for Warner's Regiment, just with cut down caps and bayonets.  I considered adding bedrolls, but didn't really care for the look.  Warner's and the 24th squared off against each other a few times in the Northern theater of the American Revolution, so they seemed like a good unit to start with.

"How did you capture the 24th?"  "Sir, they were unarmed!"

Unlike my Warner's Regiment, I tried painting these before assembling.  This was useful for reaching more bits of the model, but a little tricky to not lose an arm here or there to pets or children.  Successful enough, though, that I'm going to work that way again on the next batch of five.

My little armies are slowly assembling.

The Parade Field.

Surveying Bennington

Theodolite at Bennington Museum (Photo from Wikipedia)

A couple of months ago I became interested in the equipment and techniques used by colonial surveyors. I don't recall what spurred me to start looking into them, but I've been studying some period books and journals regarding the subject, and began looking into recreating replicas of some of the tools so that I can use them in the future to demonstrate 18^th century surveying to the public.

Field Notes of an Unkown Surveyor from New York, 1765

During my high-level online research, I found that the Bennington Museum in Bennington, Vermont has, in its collections, a few original 18^th century surveying items, including a field book from an unknown New York surveyor from 1765. The field book is not on display, but I was able to make an appointment to view the item at the museum's library and archive. In addition to being able to view it, the curator there allowed me to take photos and later emailed me a transcript of the book. I've been reading, re-reading, and studying the book over the last few weeks. It's really sort of fascinating.

The first thing that I came across of interest was a statement by the surveyor regarding the temperament of some of the people who lived in the area that he was surveying. He was working on land that was contested by the colonies of New Hampshire and New York, and not all of the settlers were friendly. Having purchased their land from New Hampshire, many people in the Bennington area were not happy to see a New Yorker who was trying to claim the land for someone else. On the second page of his field book, the unknown surveyor states:

"Going North a Little to the S there Lives one Wickwire & on[e] Pratt I did the Same manner Demand the Possesion of that House & Lot in your Name, here I had like to have had my head broke, & he forwarned me Running across his Inclosion I told him Shurely Would & the, he might Sue for a Trespass of [if] Chose-"

Knowing the history of the New Hampshire Grants, and the residents border dispute with New York, it was pretty neat to see a literal first-hand account from someone who was there, in the midst of it.

Danby, New Hampshire Grants, Land Survey, 1775

Another item that I was able to look at was an original survey of land in Dorset, Vermont, dated 1775. The survey was a single page, and outlined a plot of land that I was later able to draw a map of. I haven't tried placing it within the town lines yet, but based on the survey notes, it was on the northern town line.

After spending an hour or so in the archives, I took a look around the museum. They have a really great collection of items from the area, including a lot of artifacts from the Battle of Bennington. Back to the topic of surveying, one item on display was a theodolite captured after the battle, thought to belong to a local Tory by the name of Colonel Francis Pfister. Pfister and Lieutenant Colonel Friedrich Baum, leader of the German troops at Bennington, were both mortally wounded during the battle, passing away at a house where they were taken after the battle.

Setting The Scene - Quick Review

I've been remiss in posting lately, but real life and other projects have taken priority lately. Here's to getting back to it.

A few weeks ago, I sent for and received a copy of Setting The Scene: Winter Wargaming – A Guide For Creating A Winter Layout For The Games Table by Pat Smith. I'd been reading Pat's blog, Wargaming with Silver Whistle, and his Chain of Command reports. Each post is filled with beautiful photography of some really great scenery, so when I had the money, and they were available for purchase again, I decided to snap up a copy of his book.

The short review: I'm not disappointed.

The book is laid out so that, with a couple of exceptions, each chapter is a single project. The projects are written as step-by-step tutorials, and include notes on materials and how to use them. Projects range from roads to buildings to figures and backdrops. There's a lot of information that covers just about every part of the game table.

The photographs in Setting The Scene focus on gaming set in World War II in the Ardennes, but the techniques can easily be used for other settings. With my preference for AWI, for instance, the projects could be used to build a Battle of Trenton table, or more likely for me, a small skirmish set at the Shelburne Blockhouse.

The only drawback that I found to the book is that the photos seems small. They actually aren't, but I'm used to seeing the same scenery on a bright large screen blog format, so the printed versions seemed, less, somehow. This is a minor nit though, and one of my own making, so it's not really a fault of the book.

For anyone interested in obtaining a copy of Setting the Scene, head over to "Painting & Gaming" at www.stevenlampon.co.uk.

Wattle Fencing Test

After reading through Vagabond's Wargaming Blog the other night, I decided to try out the method of building wattle fencing that he used in his viking village.  I used a slight variation.  Instead of adding glue to the string before winding, I built my fencing, then dipped the entire piece in watered down PVA.  This seems to have worked pretty well, and I'm happy with the result.  I think these will look decent around gardens or fields, and are appropriate for the AWI time frame.

Toothpicks driven into plastic card base.

Thick string glued to first post, then woven through uprights.

Woven back and forth, climbing up the post with each layer.

Woven to desired height and trimmed.

Dipped in water/glue mixture.

Primed and base coated.

After dry-brushing and flocking.

A couple of bushy bits added for character.

Mounted Gentlemen

Over the past week I've been working on a pair of civilians on horseback.  Like the civilian laborers that I finished, these are from Minden Miniatures.  They are set CIV-006 Pair of Mounted Gentlemen with Horses.

I really like the sculpts on these, but the size difference between Minden and Perry Miniatures is even more noticable if a Perry infantry figure is placed next to one of the horses.  I'll try to keep that in mind when I place them on a table.  These will mostly be used as scenery and plot devices, though, so I don't expect them to see a lot of action around troops.

The Siege of Shelburne Blockhouse

On a little patch of grass, wedged between a half-sized basketball court and the entry to a short boat ramp, in a small park on an out of the way road in a little town sits a large stone embedded with a bronze plaque. Dedicated in October of 1913, the plaque tells the story of the Battle of Shelburne Blockhouse, a little known skirmish that occurred on the Vermont shore of Lake Champlain during the American Revolution.

There's a monument over there.

In 1770, a gentleman by the name of Moses Pierson (or Peirson, or Person, depending on the source document) built a house and barn on 1,000 acres of property that he had bought in Shelburne in the New Hampshire Grants. Some sources say the house was a cabin, most state it as a “blockhouse”. Mr. Pierson's house must have been a well-known stopover point, as it is mentioned in the journal of Lieutenant John Fassett, Jr. of Colonel Seth Warner's Regiment in 1775, and during the day related here, two men, described as travelers, were spending the night at the house.

Area of Moses Pierson's property - Today Shelburne Town Beach & private lands.

As the monument states, on March 12, 1778, Moses Pierson, his family, guests, and some militia from the Rutland/Clarendon area were attacked by a band of Indians and “British dressed as Indians”. The attackers came from the lake, possibly on skates or snowshoes (accounts vary) likely with a target of capturing wheat that the Piersons had harvested the season before.

Shelburne Town Beach - Location of the Moses Pierson Monument

The attack began roughly an hour before dawn. The two travelers, named Woodward and Daniels, along with Barnabas Barnum of the militia, were killed in the initial assault on the blockhouse. One account states that Barnum was shot as he looked out of a blockhouse window. Another states that he was killed outside while trying to extinguish flames as the attackers tried to set fire to the building.

Meech Island, south of the cove - Burial place of Moses Pierson's son James.

The men inside the blockhouse were able to fight off the assault, which continued for about two hours. During that time, the attackers did succeed in setting fire to the building. One story goes that Thomas Sawyer, of the militia, offered his pocket-watch to anyone who would go to extinguish the flames. Corporal Joseph Williams took him up on his offer, but finding no water, used a freshly brewed batch of Mrs. Pierson's beer to put out the fire. Another version of the story says that a Captain Sanger ordered the contents of the beer barrel to be used, and several men went outside to kill the flames. Both accounts agree, however, that the building was saved by beer.

Area northwest of the monument - General area of the Pierson Blockhouse and barn.

When the fight was over, it was found that in addition to the three dead men in the Pierson's house, several of the enemy had been killed, including the British commander and an Indian Chief. Legend has it that the enemy had dragged some of their dead to the Lake, where they tossed them in a hole in the ice.

Further west along the north side of the cove.

Being a bad researcher, I've drawn this story from several secondary sources, which, of course, I haven't noted. Being a good researcher, I'm beginning to look into primary, or at least period, accounts of the action. My youngest daughter and I also visited the monument site today, so that I can have a better picture of the landscape. Fortunately, most of the area is still farmland, so it looks much like it may have then. Unfortunately, that farmland is all private property, so we were restricted to viewing the area from the Shelburne Town Beach.

The Monument.

Reading the secondary accounts, it seems the attack was carried out by roughly 60 men (one account says 57, one says 64), and the blockhouse was defended by roughly 24, including Moses Pierson's family. In some aspects, the accounts are vague. In others, they are incredibly detailed. For instance, one source that I read mentioned that Moses himself wasn't wounded, but had taken a shot through his shirt that passed just below his arm. Accounts also state that Pierson's young daughters, who were lying on beds within the house, where not hurt, though balls from the enemy muskets were found lodged in the headboards. I look forward to researching this action more, through both contemporary and period sources.

Civilian Laborers

This evening I finished up my first batch of 18th century civilians.  These are Minden Miniatures Agricultural Laborers Set 2.  Minden sculpts are a bit smaller than the Perry Miniatures infantry that I did, and aren't as bulky, being more of a true 1:56 scale miniature as opposed to a 28mm gaming miniature.  They were easy to paint up, and I'm pretty happy with how the shading turned out on their waistcoats.  My "warm white" shirts came out okay, but I'm not happy with my attempt at "cool white" on the stockings.  That's one that I'll have to practice in the future.

Soldiers Atop The Mount - 2018

This past weekend, Warner's Regiment took part in the annual “Soldiers Atop the Mount” event at Mount Independence in Orwell, Vermont. The event is run by the Vermont State Historic Sites, and features reenactors portraying soldiers garrisoning the fort that occupied the grounds in 1776 and 1777.

Me and Miss G. in our 18th Century roles.

Planning and construction of the fort began in July of 1776 when the Continental Army decided to fortify the peninsula of land opposite Fort Ticonderoga on Lake Champlain. By erecting a second fort, and connecting the two via a bridge across the Lake, the Americans had total control of the Lake Champlain water route leading from Canada to the north, to New York, via Lake George and the Hudson River, to the south. The two forts were abandoned, however, in July of 1777, when the British army, under General John Burgoyne, moved south to lay siege to Ticonderoga. At first, General St. Clair, commander of the Continentals, did not believe reports of British movements. When Burgoyne arrived, his men were able to haul cannon to the top of Mount Defiance, which overlooked both Ticonderoga and Mount Independence. This move, coupled with the fact that he was short of both supplies and men, convinced St. Clair that the Americans should retreat, rather than be captured in a siege that they could not withstand. On July 6, 1777, women, children and supplies were sent south on boats to Skenesborough (today's Whitehall, New York), while the army at Ticonderoga moved across the lake to Mount Independence, then south along the military road to Castleton, Vermont. The British pursued St. Clair, which led to the Battle of Hubbardton on July 7^th, a delaying action which may have saved St. Clair's army.

The Sgt. Major demonstrating guard procedures.

For this past weekend, our unit was tasked with manning the Southern Battery of Mount Independence. Some of our men and women were allowed to camp at the battery, which was the first time the ground had been home to troops since November of 1777, when the British left the fort after the defeat of Burgoyne at Saratoga. On Saturday, our men posted guard at the battery, challenging visitors with a sign/counter-sign phrase that they learned from our regimental Chaplain who was stationed further down the trail from out post. Once admitted, guests were able to learn about the design of the three-tiered construction of the battery defenses, then could move a bit further along the trail where the 2nd Continental Artillery was firing one of their small pieces (again, the first time such had been done since 1777 in this location).

Cpt. Mullen explaining the battery layout to guests.

In the afternoon, we set off on a small skirmish in the woods at the upper camp of the mount. The scenario was that a small patrol had attacked the camp, and we were to push them out. Unlike most reenactments where visitors stand behind a line while troops battle each other across an open field, this event allows visitors to follow along behind the men at a safe distance as they patrol and engage the enemy in the woods. Two of the officers from Warner's acted as guides for the crowd, interpreting the action as it unfolded.

Some of the ladies of the Regiment at the Upper Encampment.

Day two of the event saw a Sunday service by our Chaplain, who read a sermon from Reverend Thomas Allen, who had served at the mount in the time period. There was a reading of the Declaration of Independence in front of the assembled troops, and a second small skirmish in the afternoon.

Safety inspection before the Sunday skirmish.

Game Board Testing

I've been going back and forth on ideas for creating a game board. I've been reading a number of blogs where the players use a flat terrain map, sometimes with risers beneath to create hills. Roads, rivers, and buildings are then placed on top to complete the terrain.

I'm not sold on above table rivers though.

Another option is to build a table with foam, where rivers and entrenchments can be carved down below the main surface. I like this look, but that potentially means creating a new board for each scenario.

The mid-point between these two would be a modular board made up of tiles. Several years ago I read about hexagonal pieces made from foam-board that could be mixed together to form a play surface, similar to old-school hex maps from games like BattleTech. I thought I'd take a crack at a small proof-of-concept version of that.

First up, I used a roll of flocked paper that I picked up at our local art store. I found some 1.5” foam-board in our basement, and a scrap piece of 1/4” plywood that I used to make a template from. With these in hand, I used my favorite spray-on tacky glue to attach the flocked paper to the foam. Since I don't have a hot-wire foam cutter (note to self, buy a hot-wire foam cutter), I tried a few different ways of cutting out the hexes. Scoring the lines with a hobby knife, then cutting them out with a small hacksaw seemed to work the best. The dust is messy, but a quick vacuum cleared that up.

Grass mat, foam board, spray glue & template

Flocked paper down and drying

First cuts

With the supplies I had on hand, I managed to make 8 full tiles, 4 half tiles, 4 end triangles, and 2 corner triangles. This gave me a playing surface roughly 2' x 2'. Three more sets will get me a surface suitable for some Smooth & Rifled skirmish games.

A decent start

Rough assembled board

Assembly after trimming tiles

Time and cost-wise, I'm not sure if these are worth the effort. I like the idea, especially once I start adding rivers and multiple levels, but some of the retail version out there may actually be cheaper in the long run.  The other issue with hand-made tiles is getting a tight fit.  These aren't bad for a quick test, and a hot-wire foam cutter would help.  I'll have to play with the idea some more before I make any purchase decisions.

With a bit of terrain and some troops..

Low angled shot shows the gaps a bit too much

Ground level view

Warner's Regiment in the sun