Wooden colonial church and cemetery designed for the game Muskets and Tomahawks and Dracula's America, compatible with 28mm historical wargames. Detailed interior. Matching for the "Grave Valley" set. - Church: size 176x112x190 millimeters. - Cemetery: sizes 100x58x32 117x45x81 112x53x33 millimeters 3D printed piece in biodegradable PLA+. Pieces may have small imperfections or layer line marks, these will not be considered a product defect. The pieces will be sent without supports, but do not have any other treatment, priming is recommended before painting. The color may vary slightly from the photographs. Some parts may need to be glued. No cards, miniatures or anything for reference included in the photos. Own.

Hi, yesterday was the first time after about one year and a half or so that I was able to play a game with a friend. And it was the first time for Walter and for me gaming "Muskets and tomahawks". The game turned into a fantastic evening with a lot of fun and we both hope to be able to play further games as soon as possible. We met at Walter´s house, there Walter already had prepared a very nice gaming table. After a short run through the rules, meaning that we both studied the rules at home and now recalled our knowledge of the rules, we decided that Walter would have to play the British and me to play the French. The British Force (198 pts): 1 Officer 12 Men of Regular Infantry 5 Indians 6 Torries (Provincials) The French Force (201 pts): 1 Officer 8 Men of Regular Infantry 5 Indians 7 Men of Canadian Militia The scenery for the game. We then rolled for the objectives. Walter´s British force had to slaughter the civilians hiding in the farmhouse. My objective was to scout all of the four sections on the table and leave with just one unit to report about the geography and the strength of the enemy. The given orders also meant that Walter was able to set up his whole force on the table while my units got on the table as soon as their activation card was dropped from the card deck. We also decided to have side plots within the game. Walter side plot was "a hateful heart", meaning that he had to kill at least 6 enemies with his officer (enemies killed in melee counting double) without loosing this figure during the game - very suitable to his order to kill all of the civilians. My side plot was "negotiations", giving me a further civilian officer in base contact to my regular officer. In every round they didn´t move I had to check by rolling a D6 if the negotiations had been successful. The side plot would be fulfilled if the negotiations had been successful and the civilian officer survived the game. As if this wouldn´t be enough for a first game we also put an event card within the deck. Walter´s Indians and Irregulars. The British Regulars. Walter placed his force on the table and the game started with my Regulars to be the first unit to be activated twice and also getting on the table. I decided to let them walk on the street. The next card from the deck was the same as the first one and gave me another two actions for my French Regulars. So another two movements and my Regulars immediately builded a firing line. The French Regulars approaching. The Indians of Walter and my Canadian Militia got closer and closer. This should turn into a fierce fire fight during the game. The Indians from Walter had to be knocked out if I wanted to be able to scout the sector the Mohawks had occupied. The Canadians are coming. The Canadian Militia and the British Mohawks getting closer. The other difficulty was to keep the British force away from the settlers. But they came closer and so I decided to get my Indians as close to the building as possible waiting for a chance to take the British under fire. The "Hummers" on their way to the farm. The "Froggies" waiting for the enemy. The Canadians trying to get into cover. The first loss caused by the Mohawks taking the Canadians under fire. The Provincials in the background firing at the French Regulars with no effect. The Canadians in cover with one of them shooting at the Provincials without effect. The Hurons trying to reach the farm. The British Regulars preparing for a fire fight. The British shooting causes one loss on the Hurons. The French and the Civilian Officer negotiating. The Hurons getting over the fences…. …getting in cover and close to the farm building. The Canadians splitting their fire on the Mohawks and also on the Provincials. Yes - the first casualty on the British force. The reaction test causes the Mohawks to recoil. Walter´s British and my French had a very fierce fire fight for about half an hour with small effects. Suddenly the Provincials got several activation cards from the deck and managed to bring at least two figures in the right position to shoot at the settler hiding in the building. The Provincials reaching the building with the settlers. The settlers had been saved by an activation of the French Regulars still being in firing line. So they got a bonus of +1 and knocked out three Provincials. But the French firing line became a sitting duck taken under fire by the British Regulars, the Mohawks and also by the Provincials. As the card deck only has two cards for Regulars they had to stay on the street without cover. As the rules say that a firing line can only be build up by 6 figures or more it was a question of time when the French would loose their bonus for a better shooting. The French firing line killing three Provincials and saving the settlers from being slaughtered. The Provincials retreating. The British forming a firing line. The Provincials are back shooting at the French Regulars. With no effect. Lucky firing activity of the Hurons causing another casualty on the Provincials. Another retreat of the Provincials. The first loss on the French Regulars. One activation card for the Officer per round is not much. Walter´s Officer tried to get closer to his force but was killed by a lucky shot from a Huron placed next to the building. So, no chance to fulfill the side plot "a hateful heart" for Walter. Checking the line of sight from a Huron Warrior to the British Officer with a laser pointer. The Indian bullet found its target and kills the British Officer - no chance to fulfill the British side plot anymore. The Mohawks killing another Canadian in cover. Now the fire fights got deadlier. Walter killed my Canadians one after the other and so the reaction tests got harder and harder. So "flights" often happened. This means that the unit has to move back one full movement with a facing away from the enemy. The unit also isn´t allowed to be activated during this round anymore and has to wait for a reshuffling of the card deck to be able to be activated again. A Huron after entering the building to get into dense cover with the settlers wondering if the Indian is friend or foe. The Mohawks cause another loss on the Canadians... …and the British Regulars kill two French Regulars - so this is the end of the French firing line. After we had two other events to cope with, the third time the event card had been dropped from the deck told us that "the old farmer" will now shoot at a random unit (friend or foe) within 6" of the building. This would happen in every turn as soon as the event card has to be played. I had an Indian within the building and Walter´s Regulars had been near the building, too. The roll of a D6 decided that the Regulars will be taken under fire by the farmer. And he caused the "Hummers" to retreat. The event card and its result - "The old farmer" is activated and will shoot at a random unit near the building. The old farmer causes the British Regulars to recoil. The Canadians decimated by Indian shooting. The game got better and better, the losses got more and more and my camera got out of energy. WTF. So the end of the game will be reported without further pictures. Walter´s Provincials got on the windows of the building and shot on the settlers - with no effect. My Hurons (three left on the table) got into melee with the Provincials and killed two of them, so there was only one Provincial left. The Provincial retreated giving the British Regulars line of sight to the Hurons. And the next activation card was for - yes, - the British Regulars. Their firing line killed two Hurons and there was also only one Huron left now. My French Regulars had taken cover in a field, tried to cause casualties on the British Regulars and also knocked one out. The first morale test for my force - the Canadians wanted to go home and also my Regulars said "Goodbye". So only the Regular Officer, the Civilian Officer and the Huron leader left. Now the left three Mohawks entered the building and got into close combat with the farmers. We could not believe it. Their attack had no effect but the settlers killed two Indians. A morale test on Walter´s force (caused by a dropped card) took the last Provincial and also the last Indian off the table. The only left unit were the British Regulars. My Officers tried to reach the building but got under fire of the British firing line. Both officers lay dead on the ground. So my side plot cannot be fulfilled anymore, too. As the card deck only had the cards for the left units and also the morale cards the turns of the game got very fast. Another morale check on my only left figure, a single Huron Warrior failed and the game ended for me. But Walter had to fulfill his objective to slaughter the settlers. The next card activated the Regulars and they managed to enter the building. Another melee. And - again - the Regular´s attack was driven back by the settlers. Though the "Hummers" killed one settler, the brave farmers killed two Redcoats which had to retreat. The next card dropped was a morale test on the British. A last roll of a D6 - a thrown "1" and the Redcoats left the table. So no winner as both of us could not manage to fulfill a side plot or our orders. The "Oscar" goes to the settlers as they survived with only one casualty and also killed 4 enemies in melee and another two men by the event "the old farmer". A very very funny game - Walter, let´s play it again as soon as possible. Cheers Mike

I like Fred Ray's artwork. It's unmistakably American. Read about Gorham's here

Here is a fighter I just finished up last week. This was a custom ordered piece based on a fighter I did at the beginning of the year. The customer...

Another thing I used to do a lot in the late 90s was write pieces for living history magazines on the French and Indian group I was running. There were three glossy mags at that time - this one was the first and this piece was in the launch issue - it only ran to a couple. I'm not sure if this piece actually makes any sense - I think by this time I had written so many bits on the F&I scene I had lost the plot a little. My sister took the photos at Bath. You may wonder how many people you get from an article like this - well none of course but with other articles in other mags it created a surge effect that eventually wore people down to thinking maybe everyone is actually getting into the F&I ... good times.

This group made their debut last weekend in Kent and they apparently went down very well. What is it about Wales that it produces really top notch groups? Image from Nigel of the Lexington Minute Company who are producing some 1812 militia for this summer's bicentennial events.

Gage's, Highlanders and Light Infantry in ambush mode.

This battle was fought in Pontiac's war. Read about it here and here. See it being wargamed here. The image is from the old Wolfe's Army Osprey and I don't think it's representative of what Gage's were wearing in 1763 but I like the image and Gage's were there...

Good image of summer kit.

Thanks to Thomsomsfeld for alerting me to this book by R Chartrand - I shall have to buy it. They say In 1758, at the height of the French and Indian War, British Brigadier General John Forbes led his army on a methodical advance against Fort Duquesene, French headquarters in the Ohio valley. As his army closed in upon the fort, he sent Major Grant of the 77th Highlanders and 850 men on a reconnaissance in force against the fort. The French, alerted to this move, launched their own counter-raid. 500 French and Canadians, backed by 500 Indian allies, ambushed the highlanders and sent them fleeing back to the main army. With the success of that operation, the French planned their own raid against the English encampment at Fort Ligonier less than fifty miles away. With only 600 men, against an enemy strength of 4,000, the French & Amerindians launched a daring night attack on the heart of the enemy encampment. This book tells the complete story of these ambitious raids and counter-raids, giving in-depth detail on the forces, terrain, and tactics.

KRONOSKAF entry In 1762, the regiment was part of Burton's Corps sent from North America to assist the British force already besieging Havana. It arrived in Cuba on June 27 and took part in the siege and capture of Havana suffering heavy losses from sickness during the following months. After the capitulation of Havana, the remaining rangers were drafted into the depleted British regiments.

Hello all, I recently ran a demo day for Muskets & Tomahawks at the local game store by my place - Game Kastle (Fremont). Roy Scaife and I ran a couple of games in parallel with some new players who had never played the rules before. Good news, they bought miniatures and the rules right after the games wrapped up :-) Setup and ready to start (after a quick Subway sandwich!) I did up two scenarios that ran 300 point lists on each side. Muskets & Tomahawks Scenario – The Meeting Background British – A French trading post has become a common location for meetings between French officials and Indian tribal leaders. Your orders are to destroy the trading post and kill any French units in the area. If you come upon any Indian or French leaders they should be captured and returned for questioning. French – We are meeting with the council of elders that represent the Indian tribes in this area. Make sure the officials remain safe and if attacked your orders are to escort the Indian elder council away from the battle area. If the elder council is killed or captured that would negatively impact our relationship with our Indian allies in the area. Forces British (300pts) (1) British Regular Officer (8) British Regulars (8) British Grenadiers (Sharpshooters) (6) Rangers (6) Light Infantry French (300pts) (1) Canadian Militia Officer (Coureur des bois) (8) Canadian Militia (Coureur des bois) (8) Canadian Militia (Coureur des bois) (1) Indian Chief (6) Indians (6) Indians (6) Civilians (Indian tribal elders) Objectives British Capture the Indian elder council = 3 VPs Kill the Indian elder council = 1 VP Each French (non-officer) unit killed = 1 VP Capture the French officer = 2 VPs French officer killed = 1 VPs French Escort the Indian elder council safely off the table = 4 VPs Each British (non-officer) unit killed = 1 VP Capture the British officer = 3 VPs British officer killed = 2 VPs Muskets & Tomahawks Scenario – Local Diplomat Background British – A local civilian leader has been highly effective in negotiations with local Indian tribes. We've learned that the French seek to eliminate this diplomat and my be on their way right now to do so. Your orders are to secure the local leader and escort him to Albany. If attacked, save as many of the local settlers as possible as if we leave them to the mercy of the French the local leader will be very upset and may not continue to aid our efforts. French – A local civilian leader has been causing trouble with the areas Indian tribes. We must capture this leader so we can turn him to our cause, or if that isn't possible than we should kill him. It would also be helpful to capture as many of the local settlers as possible as we can use them to help persuade him. However, if the locals are not cooperative, kill as many as possible to send a message to those who would work against us. Forces British (300pts) (1) British Regular Officer (12) British Regulars (8) British Grenadiers (8) Rangers (1) Local Leader (6) Civilians (6) Civilians French (300pts) (1) French Regular Officer (8) French Regulars (8) French Regulars (8) Compagnie Franches de la Marine (6) Indians (6) Indians Objectives British Evacuate the leader through the designated area = 3 VPs Each civilian group evacuated through the designated area = 2 VPs Each French (non-officer) unit killed = 1 VP French Officer killed = 2 VPs French Capture the local leader = 3 VPs Kill the local leader = 2 VPs Each captured civilian group = 2 VPs Each killed civilian group = 1 VP Each British (non-officer) unit killed = 1 VP British Officer killed = 2 VPs Not your normal layout for M&T scenarios ... but we figured we've give it a try.

Clip for today's anniversary.

American warfare 1690-1835 in popular culture, art, in miniature and in wargames, through Living History and in movies.

Thanks to Thomsomsfeld for alerting me to this book by R Chartrand - I shall have to buy it. They say In 1758, at the height of the French and Indian War, British Brigadier General John Forbes led his army on a methodical advance against Fort Duquesene, French headquarters in the Ohio valley. As his army closed in upon the fort, he sent Major Grant of the 77th Highlanders and 850 men on a reconnaissance in force against the fort. The French, alerted to this move, launched their own counter-raid. 500 French and Canadians, backed by 500 Indian allies, ambushed the highlanders and sent them fleeing back to the main army. With the success of that operation, the French planned their own raid against the English encampment at Fort Ligonier less than fifty miles away. With only 600 men, against an enemy strength of 4,000, the French & Amerindians launched a daring night attack on the heart of the enemy encampment. This book tells the complete story of these ambitious raids and counter-raids, giving in-depth detail on the forces, terrain, and tactics.

Thanks to Thomsomfeld for this image of cartridge making and muskets.

Happened today in 1755.Read about it here

Hand-forged, pipe-axe. Smokable with a drilled ash haft.

American warfare 1690-1835 in popular culture, art, in miniature and in wargames, through Living History and in movies.

Got to play a special game today in the man cave with *the* Andrew (Andy) Thompson - a longtime friend who is visiting sunny California from far away Scotland with his lovely wife Christine. Adam Clark and Roy Scaife joined us for a great game of Muskets & Tomahawks. I used a 6' by 6' setup for this game that you can see below. Most importantly, we used a modified version of the M&T rules aimed at speeding up our games. Since we mostly play large games we found that our games would regularly run 5-6 hours. By modifying the rules a bit we successfully played out this large game in around 3-4 hours. Below is a brief summary of the modifications. Modified M&T Summary Movement for regulars and others troop types that move 4" increased to 6" per action. Movement for irregulars/Indians that move 6" increased to 9" per action. Formed (firing line/regulars) troops moving completely on a road get +2" per movement action. Officer only - new action "command" - may pass their actions to a friendly unit within 6" - no single unit can receive more than 1 action this way per activation. Officer only - new action "rally" - may spend an action to attempt to rally a "flighted" unit within 6" - the unit takes a reaction test and immediately applies the new result. Spotting only is done against hidden units. Completely new simplified spotting table/roll. 360 degree LOS for all skirmishing units. Weapon ranges increased slightly (e.g. musket from 24" to 30"). I adjusted the unit entries for the British and French army lists and I created a QRS to track the new changes. Pictures of all of these are below (I did them in MS PowerPoint). I have to say that the modifications worked very well ... the game still essentially works the same but plays through much faster and is just as deadly. The Game So, with these new rules updates in hand we set off to play our game. Both Adam and Andy had not played M&T before so Roy/Adam took on the British forces and Andy/I took on the French forces. British objective: Raid the settlement. Kill civilians and burn buildings if possible. British sub plot: A group of Indian allies and two important daughters of a colonel at Fort William Henry are being pursued by the French, intercept them and escort them to safety. For this, the unit of Uncas, Hawkeye, Chingachgook, Cora and Alice Munro start "hidden" with two additional dummy markers. They also have a 4+ "fate" save when kills are inflicted and do not take reaction tests. French objective: Protect the settlement and evacuate the civilians. French sub plot: Magua is closing in on white hair's daughters. He must find them and put them under the knife, along with anyone trying to protect them. Spot the hidden markers to locate which one is the fleeing daughters. British Forces: 12 x Regulars (42nd) 12 x Grenadiers (42nd) 12 x Regulars (48th) 12 x Grenadiers (48th) 8 x Rangers 8 x Rangers 10 x Light Infantry 6 x Indian Allies 6 x Indian Allies VIPs (Uncas, Hawkeye, Chingachgook, Cora and Alice Munro) - 3 x Indian Chiefs, 2 x Civilians French Forces: 12 x Regulars (La Reine) 12 x Regulars (La Reine) 12 x Regulars (Royal-Roussilon) 12 x Regulars (Royal-Roussilon) 10 x Compagnes Franches de la Marine 10 x Compagnes Frenches de la Marine 1 x Couriers de Bois (Canadian Militia) Officer 8 x Couriers de Bois (Canadian Militia) 8 x Couriers de Bois (Canadian Militia) 1 x Indian Chief (Magua) 6 x Indians 6 x Indians 6 x Indians The French deployed 15" in on 1/2 of the table nearest the settlement. The British deployed opposite, 15" in across the entire side. Three hidden markers (one ambush, two dummy) had to be deployed 24" in on the opposite 1/2 of the french deployment area. The game ended in a French victory with a completed subplot. It took many Indian units and lots of melee but Magua put the daughters under the knife. Most, not all but most civilians were evacuated. Both sides suffered major losses ... around 45 for the French and 56 for the British. Lots of pictures below show the action! This crossroads cost the French many regulars but they held it and eventually pushed the British back. The VIPs are spotted but are near friendly forces. The rules modifications work out very well. I think we'll keep using these moving forward and make any tweaks as necessary but I don't foresee any changes at this point in time.

This image shows the distinct advantage the 3 banded 'Charleville' muskets had over the Brown Bess - you could clean the barrel more easily. Charleville musket wiki

American warfare 1690-1835 in popular culture, art, in miniature and in wargames, through Living History and in movies.

American warfare 1690-1835 in popular culture, art, in miniature and in wargames, through Living History and in movies.

[FN_04a] === Bearded Spiked TOMAHAWK with Burned and Oiled Oak Wood Handle === Manufactured by ΛdiThiel - the ArchaeoSmith *** I am Adam Thiele, Ph.D. Besides my scientific activity I have been working as a smith since 1998. I use ΛdiThiel as a brand name for my products. The name the ArchaeoSmith explains my main activity. The head of tomahawk is forged of medium-carbon steel. Its body is tough while the point of the spike and the cutting edge are hardened. The cutting edge is sharpened, hard and durable. The handle was made of oak wood and it is burned and oiled which provides a nice and old appearance. The head is fixed on the handle with a pair of monosteel fixing parts. Properties As all of my products are unique and handmade ca. 10% difference is possible in size and weight. Also the pattern can be slightly different in case of damascus steel items. Handle length: 550mm = 21.6” Head length: 200mm = 7.9” Edge length: 80mm = 3.1” Weight: 720g = 25.4oz Material: head – C45, handle – burned and oiled oak wood Postage methods Shipping as registered priority mail with tracking. Shipping and handling time is approximately 15 workdays outside Europe and 7 workdays in Europe. Custom orders are welcome for leather sheath and protective iron cap for this item, see the last picture. Contact me!