(a little more prattling about plans for next year…)
As I’ve alluded to in previous posts I’m planning on doing some sort of big game of the Battle of Queenston Heights for the bicentenary on October 13th next year. It’s a long way off, but I’ll have a lot of painting and terrain making to do so it’s good to start planning these things well in advance (the trick is not to plan them TOO far in advance so that you lose interest or forget what the hell you were trying to do in the first place…).
I’m still doing a bit of reading
I’m using the scenario from Bruce McFarlane’s excellent Red Rocket’s Glare as a starting point and currently planning to use DBA-Hx to play it. The scenario may be altered (though it seems pretty straightforward) and the rules may change based on playtesting (when I get to that); There’s Black Powder and Ever Victorious Armies… but it’s a start.
In the RRG scenario it gives Orders of Battle for two different levels of play. I’m currently working with the idea of one company (from the “small units scale”) being one stand in DBA-X. So the orders of battle would look something like this:
British
49th Foot - 1 company/stand
49th Foot Light Infantry (Rifles) - 1 company/stand
41st Foot - 3 companies/stands
Lincoln Militia - 5 companies/stands
York Volunteers Militia – 2 companies/stands
Mohawk Indians - 1 company/stand
Heavy Fild Guns - 1 battery/stand
Light Field Gun - 1 battery/stand
Americans
13th US Regulars - 3 companies/stands
6th US Regulars - 3 companies/stands
28th US Regulars - 3 companies/stands
16th New York Militia - 3 companies/stands
20th New York Militia - 3 companies/stands
17th New York Militia - 3 companies/stands
18th New York Militia - 3 companies/stands
Pennsylvania Militia - 3 companies/stands
For regulars I was planning on mounting 8/base and 6/base for militia so I will need:
British Regulars – 40
British/Canadian Militia – 42
US Regulars – 72
US Militia – 90
I’ve started modeling some figures to cast my own infantry. Since that first post I’ve made a mould of the doll, cast half a dozen and started working on some variants.
The Indians I already have (from the Seven Years War project that fizzled – but will one day be revived!!) and I recently painted some Napoleonic Royal Artillery that could stand in for the guns if I didn’t find something else.
The limited recoils option in DBHx will allow you to differentiate units by morale without fiddling their combat power. It makes a nice contrast with basic DBHx and gives you some of the grit you'd expect at a company scale.
ReplyDeleteYes, I've used that in other DBA-X gunpowder games (where EVERYONE is pretty much musket or rifle!).
ReplyDeleteHow many recoils would you give. I'd thought regulars three, Militia two...?
We've usually given elite 5, regular 4, militia 3, skirmishers 2, cavalry 3, dragoons 2, cannon 2.
ReplyDeleteWe've also used the mobile general rule: general attached to a stand adds plus 1 and moves with the stand; for a pip you an move the general separately up to 500 paces, typically to re-attach to get better command position.
I have a copy of RRG and I have been unable to verify the allocation of rifles to British Light Companies (and also to some American 'Rifle' units!). My Osprey reference books seem to contradict RRG on a good few points! Just thought you might want to know!
ReplyDeleteA lot of the 1812 stuff is guess work, especially around uniforms and equipment.
ReplyDeleteRRG is about 15 years old so it could be wrong. Or the Osprey could be wrong. Take your pick.
More important is that the scenario is good and interesting and some variety in troops (a few rifles) will help.