Bunker Hill

At the beginning of february it was finally on! Me and my comrade Alex were playing the Assault on Bunker Hill (actually Breed's Hill). For over a year I have been working on my new love child project, the American War of Independence from 1775 to 1783, and now the line-up of the first battle is ready. I started with Bunker Hill, because it is a very famous and iconic battle of the war, marking the start of allout warfare in the colonies after the "shot heard around the world" at Lexinton and Concord. Also it provides a good starting point to build up the forces for both sides and larger scenarios.

The Battlefield

The opposing forces were the round-up of New England militia, which later would become the core of the Continental Army, made up of a Massachusetts brigade under Col. William Prescott and one from New Hampshire commanded by John Stark, against the British regulars stationed in and sent out from Boston.

American redoubt on Breed's Hill

John Stark's Brigade behind the Rail Fence

The British comprised three brigades, one under Howe with Grenadiers, Light Infantry, the 5th & 52nd Regiments as well as an 12 pdr artillery battery on Copp's Hill, another brigade under Brigadier-General Robert Pigot with the 38th and 55th Regiments plus a battery of 6 pounders, and last but not least, Lt.-Gen. Henry Clinton's 63rd and Marines arriving later on the day. 

Howe's Brigade

Pigot's Brigade

And here are the overall Commanders-in-Chief on this 17th June 1775. 

Major-General Israel Putnam

Lieutenant-General Sir William Howe

The Battle was a frontal assault by the British on the strongly fortified American positions on Breed's Hill. A risky endeavour indeed ,which predicted a lot of casualties, but was taken on for two reasons: 

First, the British thought themselves superior, putting His Majesty's highly trained Regulars against a ragged bunch of colonial militiamen. 

Second, Breed's Hill lies on the Charlestown Peninsular surrounding the north of Boston and the British commander of Boston, Lt.-Gen. Thomas Gage, feared the consequences of the rebels postioning artillery there. This would have enabled them to bombard Boston Harbour and the Royal Navy. Therefore this strong position had to be taken nonetheless.

The first wave attack begins

A group of Skirmishers holds up Pigot's brigade

Meanwhile on the right flank the firefight starts.

A curiosity occured early on in the battle, as the British 12 pounders get a very good shot at the American Commander, which causes Gen. Putnam to flee from the battlefield, leaving Stark in charge . An extra ration of rum for the Royal Artillery, please!

12 pounder guns on Copp's Hill

Israel Putnam disgracefully fleeing, court martial to be followed.

The 55th Regiment of Foot tried to charge the skirmishers, but changed their minds on the last inches and rather retreated. The caused a crash with the following artillery, leaving Robert Pigot in the role of a Bobby directing the traffic. 

Pigot rallies traffic jam

With Pigot's Brigade being stuck, it is up to General Howe to bravely lead his men in the frontal assault on the American redoubt, with the Grenadiers firing on Dolittle & Nixon's 4th Continental Regiment and the 5th/52nd closing in on Knowlton's militia. Meanwhile, the Light Bobs on the right flank keep up the firefight and face a counterattack from the 3rd New Hampshire Regiment.

Frontal Assault on the Redoubt

3rd NH counterattacks

The British charge on the fieldworks is successful as the Militia can not stand the onslaught and retreat. Suddenly, the Regulars stand in the American redoubt, intending not to yield one foot backwards, while Col. Prescott desperately tries to rally his men.

The British have a breach!

The other British regiments behave not nearly as glorious as their comrades in the 5th/52nd. The Grenadiers refuse to charge their side of the redoubt and the Light Infantry retreats from the 3rd NH's counterattack.

The Grenadiers halt

Light Bobs retreat foot in hand.

But help is on the way and lifts morale, as Henry Clinton's column of Marines (not Royal yet^^) and the 63rd Regiment of Foot arrives on the shores of Charlestown Peninsular, ready to take up the fight.

Clinton's force approaches the battlefield

Looking to his left, he watches a military disaster: our poor traffic policeman Pigot had just rallied the 55th and ridden to direct the 38th on the left flank behind Charlestown, as the faltering Grenadiers retreat right into his brigade. This causes more disorder and another traffic jam with the artillery! 

Grenadiers cause more traffic jam

The 38th on the left flank

Encouraged by necessity and the maneuver blunders of the rest of the British Army, the American militia tried to charge the 5th/52nd out of the redoubt with all their might, but in vane! Colonel Woodbridge's militia also retreats from the stout British soldiers holding the breach. They also drag the remainders of Gridley's 3 pounder battery with them. This leaves a hole in the American center, too big to stuff, therefore forcing the New England Army of Occupation to retire from Breed's Hill and across Charlestown Neck to safety.

American Militia and Ari retreat, giving victory to the British

The 5th/52nd hold the breach and mock the routing Rebel rabble

So, the outcome was very close to history, although not as bloody for the British, who in reality needed three waves, before the Americans routed due to running low on ammunition. Maybe the dilettantism and missing professional behaviour displayed on both sides in this game could be a reason for this.

This was our first game using the excellent "British Grenadier"-Rules by Eclaireur and I have to say, they are ideal for the AWI. The movement and firing mechanisms feels appropriate for warfare of this period. Also the "Disruption Points" (stone markers), which cover all kinds of disorder, from uneven terrain or false movement up to disorder by musketry fire, work really well. The first two rounds were slow, because we had to look up stuff in the rulebook a lot (first game, you know...) but afterwards the game was fast and flowing nicely. I am really looking foward to the next game and more scenarios.

Relaunch!!!

As is imminent  by the recent posts, I am relaunching this blog under new premises.

It was formerly intented to serve as a platform for telling the story of my VBCW in Ireland games, but proved to be too time consuming and less enjoyable. Also the project has sunk on my personal priority list. Therefore I will use this blog to present my newest progressions (and some older) of my different wargaming projects. These include:

1. American War of Independence (using the "British Grenadier" ruleset)
2. Bolt Action (Polish, British BEF for 1940, German Wehrmacht)
3. Warhammer Fantasy (Halflings, Dogs of War, Undead, Dwarves)
4. Team Yankee (Soviets, British will follow)
5. A Fantastic SAGA
6. Lion Rampant (Burgundy, Swiss, Mercenaries)
7. and of course VBCW in Ireland

Obviously, there are some intended crossovers between projects, so British can be used for VBCW and BA; Warhammer miniatures for AFS and LR, and so on.

My aim is to post a new piece at least once a week. Mainly these will be new units, but the occasional battle report is also to be expected.

So, cheers and good luck for this new round of tabletop blogging.
Greetings to all old and welcome new readers!
 

Matilda

I have been looking for a Matilda Mk. II Tank to reinforce my 1940 British Expeditionary Force (BEF) for quite a long time now. Finally I found this nice tank on eBay!
It's a big block of resin with a removeable turret, although the manufacturer is unknown to me. I did some minor repainting and now I am hoping to crush some German Panzers with it soon.
Welcome Drake, the 'Queen of the Desert/Northern France'!

The Battle of Crossmaglen

On 12th of July 1937, while the annual commemoration marches of the Battle of the Boyne are keeping the organized Protestants of Northern Ireland busy, a new battle is started at the borders of county Armagh. After the successful distraction of the 1st (Experimental) Parachute Regiment by the feint attack on Checkpoint Meigh, the main column of the Irish Citizen Army PAC marched on the bordertown of Crossmaglen to establish a bridgehead in the North and liberate it from British rule.

ICA commanders Peadar O'Donnell and George Gilmore

The ICA is equipped with Mosin-Nagant rifles, SMGs, mortars and other Soviet surplus equipment, kindly supplied by the comrades of the Comintern, along with some locally raided Vickers/Maxim HMGs. The essential supply train is provided and protected by the local Ulster Farmers Union cavalry militias.

Nora Connolly-O'Brien supervisizes the positioning of her battalion, mortars, and supplies.

British resistance to the attack is expected to be relatively low, possibly only some small Protestant militia units, but no real threat compared to British Army Regulars with heavy weapons. But as the PAC gets in position for the attack, they recognize several companies of Ulster Home Guard manning the border checkpoints, including a depot of fuel supplies, building barricades and estalishing a fortified HMG position on top of the church tower.

Company of Ulster Home Guard manning the border checkpoint.

UHG and Craig's Bicycle Dragoons defending the fuel supply depot

Commanding the British brigade that defends Crossmaglen is the infamous Brigadier General Ormonde Winter, called "O.", a notorious member of the British Fascists and former head of intelligence during the Anglo-Irish War.

Brigadier General Ormonde "O" Winter awaits the attack of the Irish Reds.

During the ICAs initial offensive moves, heavy rain sets in, leaving the ground muddy and hampering the observation distance. But the socialists continued their attack nonetheless and tried to open a gap in the British defensive lines at the checkpoint. The devastating shots from the SMGs of an ICA assault unit eliminated a whole company of UHG at the checkpoint.

Whole company whipeout after SMG fire by ICA assault company.

A British 18 Pounder gun of the 17th Heavy Battery, RA, starts a creeping barrage to slow the communist assault.

British artillery barrage fails to hamper the approaching ICA battalion.

But the assault is advancing as planned towards the checkpoint and fuel dump. The rifle fire is too much for the Uster Home Guard, which decides to retreat back into town.

Beaten up Home Guard leaves the checkpoint and retreats to Crossmaglen. 

Meanwhile the bicycle dragoon take heavy losses and are reduced to a single soldier.

Last remaining member of the Bicycle Dragoons irritated by the lost of his unit.

But the day is still not lost for the British defenders, as reinforcements in form of the 1st Battalion of the Parachute Regiment, commanded by Lord Lovat, arrives and wades slowly through the heavy rain and muddy ground, much to the liking of CO Brigadier-General Sir Ormonde Winter. Now he sees a chance of holding the border.

Reinforcements from the 1st Battalion of the Parachute Regiment arrive.

Brig.-Gen. O. Winter and Lt.-Col. Lord Lovat consult their defensive strategy.

In the meantime, the Irish Citizen Army storms and successfully takes the border checkpoint in a frontal assault, bravely lead by Nora Connolly-O'Brien and Cpt. Ita Feeney, a veteran of the 1916 Easter Rising.

ICA storms the border post

With no other option than to watch the fall of the border post, the Orangemen militia begin to dig in and build barricades in Crossmaglen town. Nearly desperate, they have to see how the PARA artillery gets stuck in the heavy mud, unable to move towards the enemy at all.

Orangemen build barricades on the outskirts of Crossmaglen

Para Artillery gets stuck in the mud

Therefore Col. James Craig rallies the retreating Home Guard and, with little hope to hold on to Crossmaglen, prepares his half-hearted defense of what will soon become the centre of Communist Bandit Country!

UlsterHome Guard rallies around Col. James Craig