Something new!

Here it is! My just out of the box, Euroarms, 1803 Harpers Ferry, rifle musket! Just in time for the Tippecanoe bicentennial! Now to get the rest of my kit together. HUZZAH!!

"A well regulated militia..."

I just got the kids back to their mom's after another exciting, fun and exhausting Fort Meigs siege weekend. The persistent rain this week/spring, and the occasional "leaden" sky seemed to keep the number of on lookers down, but still the event and attendees soldiered on! Another quality event! The kids militia as always is a huge hit with my son, Lawson (7), and he has the amazing ability for finding a buddy everywhere he goes. Lawson and his buddy fell in, were equipped, learned the rudiments of 19th c. drill, fought a mock battle and were musterd out all in about 40 minutes! This says volumes about the volunteers of Fort Meigs and their ability to "herd cats". Well done folks! Sadly, I was talking with fort staff more about clothing and stitching than paying attention but here is a shot of Lawson (loading)and his buddy. The fort provides the kids with a stand of arms for this activity. It is amazing to see how quickly the kids fall into line, take orders and execute commands with some alacrity. Hats off to the public schools for training them in linear order and voice command ("alright kids line up for lunch, recess, to go down the hall", etc) American militia training and performance would have been vastly improved in the war of 1812 with a levee of elementary school aides!

Along the road home...

When I journey back home to Michigan from my present abode in Columbus, Ohio, I take US 23 North. This in many ways is my true "road home", as I can take it from here in central Ohio, north all the way to my home town in Oscoda, MI. Pretty cool I think. While not as storied as the National road (US 40) or Route 66, there is some history along the side of it. Here are 2 markers related to the struggle for the Old Northwest. And here is a shot of 2 new recruits for the 41st Regt:

This shot of the kids was taken at Fort Meigs, Siege Weekend 2010. Thanks to freind, fellow wargamer and reenactor, Dave D.

Signs of life

Yep, there is still life here. Despite some changes in my personal life, I still have my main loves and interests: my kids, my books and my toy soldiers.

While trying to make some room


on memory card, I ran across


these shots from an old Spattacon


2010 I believe.



Here are some of Rebs by the talented Brad N. They are a mix of TSSD, Cunnygham and Conte. Brad did a number of conversions on these, mostly head swaps. The unit looks ragged and well worn, with loads character and campaign impedimentia.

Cold Wars '09

Well, I am consistently irregular in my posts. I have that going for me!
Now for some old news.....


I made the trip out east to Lancaster, PA, for Cold Wars. This was my first trip out in about ten years or so. Overall, the gaming crowd has gotten grayer, balder and heavier. Myself included. Baseball hats and beards seem to be the thing as we all age. Unlike past cons, I did not overspend in the dealer area or flea market. And, this is the first time I bought NO lead minis! Yep, not one! I picked up a number of books and rules sets in the flea market, along with some cool toy soldeir finds such as a Timpo crusader and other fun things. Rather this year I did some gaming, met up with some friends and met a couple of guys who I had been in correspondence with via e-mail and news groups for years. 10 years, has been too long.

I certainly was not kidding when I said that this would be an irregular blog! Well, '09 is upon us, we have new president due in a few days, and we just passed Spartacon, XIX! Spartacon is a historical miniatures wargame convention, held each January, in Lansing, MI. Spartacon is run by some old college friends, whom I have happily stayed in touch with over the years since I left town in 1991. Ray, Dick, Bob, Mark, et al, set the bar pretty high with some truly gorgeous games, which are assembled from all over Michigan, Ohio, Ontario, Kentucky, and even from as far away as Philadelphia, PA!

This year, after 18 years of clear (clear-ish) January weather, we got socked. Lansing picked up 7" during the day, and points south toward the Detroit metro area got even more. This affected attendance. 130+ passed through the doors, and a number of games were understandably canceled. Still, everyone seemed to have a great time; players played, dealers sold stuff, flea market folks transferred some junk, and on site concessions sold food. Everyone won! The visual standard of the games was very high as always, but I only participated in two of them, both with the big 54mm figs, which I now prefer.

This year 54mm came out strong with 2 very nice games, which were booked up, and drew admiring crowds. The first was a 54mm Battle of Trenton, using Ken Cliffe's gorgeous "All the Kings Men", metal figs. I commanded the Hessian grenadiers and a light gun. My grenadiers fired a devastating volley driving off some American light troops that had the audacity to approach across an open field. After that victory, I lead them into a charge against another rebel unit. With my substantial superiority in numbers, movement, and in some cases a 2:1 match up in melee, I was soundly defeated. Yep, I blew all 14 die rolls! Failed my morale roll, and ran away. We lost the game pretty badly.

The other 54mm game was run by Tod Kershner, with his homegrown war of 1812 rules. Tod is one of the co-authors of Age of Reason Seven Years War rules. Tod always has some clever mechanics, and his games visually do not disappoint. He was helped with figures and terrain this time by Dale Wood, who painted up some of the excellent Barszo, US Regulars and Indians. Dale also scratch built an excellent limber and gun team. A great looking game. The scenario was simple: get the gun and supplies across a river, with the far bank held by Glenngarry light Infty. and a company of light troops of the 49Th foot. Indians could be anywhere and were. After a hard fought fire fight and some nasty melee, the US forces of Free trade and Sailors rights, triumphed over the bloody handed forces of Albion and their native minions, (we won on points).