I ordered up various bits and pieces of siege artillery, and sorted out what I already had, and wrote some notes to myself about what I intend to do.
First off, my thanks to various kind souls, notably to Albannach for generous donation from his toy museum, to Old Glory UK, to Caliver Books for sending some Minifigs gun castings so quickly that I can only assume they had them in stock, and to a number of commenters and emailers for helpful suggestions.
I got started last night on cleaning up and assembling the things that require assembly. There is a considerable risk that if I don't get the various kits glued up then I shall lose the bits, or get them mixed up. The mortars are dead easy. The Minifigs MALA 3 siege guns are a little more tricky; I last bought some of these (my blog tells me) in July 2016, which was before the change of ownership, and the moulds are not nearly so crisp nowadays, so a lot of fettling is needed, but I'm enjoying it thus far.
I haven't yet received the extra garrison guns from Hinchliffe (which I think is Lancashire Games now), but in truth I hadn't expected to have anything at all yet, so a breathing space is fine.
The gunners for these new pieces will be based singly, so the guns may be shared by any nation that needs them. If I can play this correctly, I hope also to be able to use these guns for the long awaited Spanish Napoleonic siege train - I have some bags of SHQ Spanish gunners who have been waiting a very long time for such a moment...
Good so far - I hope to get on with painting the guns over the next few weeks, but the first stage is to get them all ready for painting. The mortars, by the way, will require a new size of MDF base, 20mm x 30mm, so I have those fine chaps (just across the Forth from here), Warbases, working on these.
Admirable progress sir!! Your project is well planned and taking shape very nicely indeed!
ReplyDeleteThank you Donnie - at present I am quite happy spending an evening listening to music (or football, if I'm brave enough to go back to it), prepping castings, or painting them when the time comes. My intention is to use a heavily modded version of Vauban's Wars, which will also need a lot of sorting out, so there's plenty of work in this project!
DeleteThat’s a whole lot of mortars Tony will you actually need that many for a game? I’m intrigued to see how you will play this. Also great to hear that the Napoleonics will be getting reinforcements too!
ReplyDeleteHi Ian. I probably don't need quite this many, but they tend to come in packets of 4 or 5! I'm also stocking up for the ECW here - I'm keen to go back to the Siege of Newcastle, or the Leaguer of Lathom House. In the ECW, the fortifications tend to be medieval, which means that lengthy bombardment is usually unnecessary, and the artillery is pretty useless. A section of Chester would be interesting. [That was a digression...]
DeleteThe mortars come in various types, such as BIG, SMALL, or shrapnel-type devices such as Coehorns or perriers. This is to be the weaponry for both sides, and the rules I am hoping to use for dedicated siege games (as opposed to off-table sieges in a campaign) will probably use a points system for setting up, so that each side may choose a selection of weapons. Mortars are good for setting fire to towns, the big cannons are for knocking walls down (when you get to see them), the Coehorn is really a tactical anti-personnel weapon, like a grenade launcher, etc.
My Peninsular War Allies and French each have their own siege train (really not very much employed until 2 years ago), and the Spanish should have one too. The Spanish army was involved in a lot of sieges in 1808-14, at Saragossa and quite a few on the East coast against Suchet, though offhand I can't think of one in which they were the besiegers!
That is a lot of mortars! Your siege efforts are most impressive.
ReplyDeleteYes - a lot! The Old Glory models are nice, but strictly they are 28mm, and look a bit out of scale with the others, so I am planning to set up the Old Glory pieces with permanently-attached ECW gunners.
DeleteApparently Vauban was dismissive of mortars generally, declaring they were not a lot of use, but my exploration of the Vauban Wars rules made it clear that they are handy for upsetting the civilian population and for attacking troops in cover - certainly having none at all has not been a good option!
That is an impressive siege train, even without the extras you are waiting for! Like campaigns, sieges have always intrigued me, as they LOOK so impressive when done well....like a model railway layout in some respects. I look forward to seeing your plans come to fruition!
ReplyDeleteHi Keith - the challenge with the rules for me will be to try to allow for development of a narrative a little more riveting than the proceedings of a model railway...
Delete"...and then 14:05 from Lichfield, with the Royal Mail van attached, came round the bend past the gasworks and pulled into Platform 2, right on time, yet again..."
[with all due apologies, as necessary...]
I see you are from the school of if you are going to conduct a siege then do it properly!
ReplyDeleteNever mind the quality, dear boy, feel the width. I have to plead to two previous periods which suffer from the same issues!
DeleteI applaud your commitment to overkill. If I was under siege from this lot I’d surrender immediately.
ReplyDeleteThe very idea of someone firing explody stuff at me has me hiding under the stairs. Too right.
DeleteThat's a nice looking gun, always worth boring out gun barrels as it's surprising how much that improves the look. Watching your siege projects with interest.
ReplyDeleteIt is a nice looking gun, but it is worth mentioning (if anyone is looking for shopping ideas) that the Minifigs moulds appear to be well past their best, so I have my magnifying loop on, and my tongue sticking out one side in concentration. Work proceeding OK, but for various reasons I will have to take a few days off. Not a problem...
DeleteA fine Siege Train indeed Tony…
ReplyDeleteI do remember reading somewhere that Mortars were considered a terror weapon… They certainly seemed to affect the civilian moral.
All the best. Aly
Somewhere I've got a book on mortars in the ECW, written by the excellent Stephen Bull, and I have never read it, and, as of this evening, I still can't find it. I have to say that it must require a huge amount of research, not to mention a rich imagination, to generate an entire book on such a topic, but I promise I will find it.
DeleteSome years ago I attended a gripping walking tour (at night, led by Ed Abrams) describing the Siege of Chester in the ECW, and was very upset by the tales of the citizens being under fire by carcasses, all cramped in the little cellars which are now the smart clothes shops and coffee shops of the city. That would certainly put you off your flat white.
I have tried in the above post to explain that this is all but a part of the combined siege trains for both sides in a siege, offering choices of kit, not to mention some overlaps into other periods. I am convinced that I have to view sieges as strictly a solitary activity; I am unlikely to breeze up to the Dunbar and Innerwick Harbingers of War with my siege train in a suitcase, just on the off-chance that one of the other members has brought along his model of Lille fortress. Especially if it also has to be the night the janitor is prepared to let us play after hours.
Well, I will await with interest the game from this. As always, I admire the completist in you, but I am lost as to how the game itself will proceed. I’ve always assumed siege guns were well placed and protected so suffered little in the way of return action. But, I’m nothing if not patient.
ReplyDeleteAlways a pleasure sir
Hi Marc - I'm working on editing down the Piquet siege game into something that makes rather more sense than I find in it at present. I've been playing wargames wrong for decades - it would be a pity to catch up now, would it not?
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