A "Master" of My Own Destiny

Yesterday, I completed a two-year journey and finally walked across the stage at SUNY Maritime College and received my Master of Science degree (with Honours) in Maritime and Naval Studies. 

There is a lot of emotion, as one might expect. My father, who was such a huge supporter of my journey, passed away in February. In spite of his Alzheimer's, up until maybe four months before his passing, he would always excitedly listen and talk about my progress in my degree. 

My wife Sandy gave up so much in terms of time, emotional space, and physical space as I re-decorated our living room with piles of books and papers and extolled to her about Spanish explorers or the business end of American 19th century whaling, or, finally, the role of mermaids in the culture of the Taino people. 

And now it's done. 

So now what? 

I asked that of my academic adviser and my Department Chair as Sandy and I had lunch with them before graduation. 

My chosen field has been that of the Quasi-War with France. That was a complete accident. I had originally intended to study the maritime aspects of the American Civil War. But it seems that Other Paths were laid before me. And mine seems to be the early Federal Republic and its Navy. 

I've decided, for the time being, to don the mantle of "Independent Researcher and Maritime Historian", until I can truly answer that question. But I can see there is a path forward with the Quasi-War. Both on the tabletop in wargaming (I mean, I DO love me some naval gaming) and as a proper Maritime Historian. 

"On se canisse!", as one might say in Quebec, before beginning a journey. 

 

Weekend Update

The arrival of moderate weather led to a cry to be outside of the house as much as possible. This meant hobby things have taken a lower priority to taking some long walks and attending a festival. However, I was able to get some hobby things done. 

First on the list was a much needed general clean up and put away of things in the Game Room. While I still have some things to sort out and go through, the table has been cleared and several things have gone back into boxes where they properly belong. 

Today I finished cleaning and preparing a number of Spanish WAS/SYW figures, mostly mountain fusiliers. I even was able to get primer on the first eight dragoons. 

I was also able to make some more progress on my RISK figures, getting four of the bags washed in soap and water. Tomorrow I'll be able to take the figures and get them on craft sticks and hopefully get some of them primed. 

After lunch, Sandy and I took advantage of the annual Polish Festival being held in Doylestown, PA. It was a crowded and very energetic celebration of all things Polish. One was literally awash in a sea of Red and White. We arrived around half twelve and parking was already going pear-shaped. Queues for food were getting long. And the traditional music was jamming right along with the Polish form of disco. Go figure. 

There were also quite a few re-enactors there putting on some excellent displays. I knew a few of them from WW2 events where out paths have crossed. 

All in all, it was an excellent day out. We did manage to get some pierogis before the lines became too enormous. We also picked up a bottle of local maple syrup, of all things. 

Tomorrow is Labor Day and I have the gift of no work. So, hopefully there will be hobby things done tomorrow.  

Mid-Week Update

Last night's game at the RAP Gamers saw a massive 400-point per side game of ADLG with Romans fighting Romans. It might have been Marians versus Polybians. Or maybe it was something else. All I know is that I was a-Roman around the left flank with some light bobs and an ellie for one command, and six stands of stalwart legionnaires with stabby-stabby and armour. 

The Bad Romans (boo! hiss!)

From left to right: Phil G., Bruce P., and Garth P. 

The Good Romans (yay!)

Steve T. on the left and John F. on the right (I was taking the picture...)

The action was fast and furious. The Good Romans were the attackers, whilst The Bad Romans were defending. With a 400-point per side game, there were six commands for each player. I took the left flank, as is my wont, and was given some light infantry, one stand of Roman cavalry, two of Numidian light horse, and an elephant which had two stands of Spanish medium sword carriers as escort. Presumably, someone also carried the brooms, shovels, and bins to pick up after said ellie. 

Ellie and Friends. Bad Romans (well, Dacians) popping out of the gully. 

A Family Photo of The Good Romans

I have to admit I did sort of turn my brain off for the game. It was a bit of a day at work, so I enjoyed playing a group of plodding dirt surfers. My dice rolling was again the talk of the table. No one could remember seeing anyone throw that many 1's in a row. In fact, I had multiple friends offer to an aerodynamic distance check on my dice. But I still persevered and in spite of my dice rolling we did manage to beat The Bad Romans, 36-35, after two hours and a bit of play. 

This included my ellie getting killed, but in its death stampede, it crushed the allied Dacian general, scored an extra point for us. This, in my opinion, made the difference, and I'm sticking to that story. 

Action shot of the keen minds of the RAP Gamers on display. 

Another great time and great game with these fellas. I'm not sure what game we are playing next week. It could be a boardgame. Or maybe not. 

Either way, I'm sure it will be an excellent time. 

Weekend Update - Another One of Them Weeks

The late summer heat and humidity abated just enough in the Duchy to allow us to turn off the aircon and open the windows. Between schedule changes at work and other commitments, though, hobby time was limited and mostly spent on thinking about projects. 

The RAP Gamers indulged in a game of Merchants and Marauders this past Wednesday, at Bruce P.'s abode, instead of the Sloan Club House. 

Our Host, Bruce, standing, and explaining the game to John and Michael. 

The game is a boardgame set in the 17th century in the Caribbean and based on acquiring wealth, hopefully at the expense of your competitors. Each player has a ship and a captain and goes between map areas and ports trading for cargo and avoiding pirates and the extra attention of the various navies in the Caribbean. I have never played this before and it took about 30-40 minutes to learn the rules, figure out how everything worked, and get stuck in. 

In addition to Bruce, John and Michael, Steve T. and Phil G. made an appearance and we played several turns until 2200, when the one working stiff in the group (that would be me) had to leave and go to bed because he was working the next day. 

Next week we will be doing a massive Roman Civil War game in 15mm with 400 points per side using our favourite ADLG rules. Stay tuned for that battle report. 

Today being Sunday, Herself went up to New York City to visit friends, whilst I attended to "various and sundry duties", I had hoped to be painting some 25mm RSM Spanish Cavalry for my War of Austrian (and Polish) Succession collection and maybe play a small (well, they are all small) game of Five Men in Normandy. 

Alas, the separate arms on five of the troopers defied easy connection. I had to run out to the local hardware store for some Gorilla brand super glue gel. Even then, it was a struggle. 

But now the little buggers are ready for the next step. 

In Honours of War, a "unit" is eight figures on four bases. If I want to use them for Rebels and Patriots, a unit of dragoons would be six figures. 

I have another bag of these fellas and as they come in 12 figures per bag, there's two more units between the bags. Somewhere in the Wall of Shame is another bag, so I suppose to keep things even, I should get another bag from Rich and Dave at RSM. 

But let's get this lot painted first, eh? 

Taking A Calculated RISK

So here in the hotel, this time in Virginia, I've set up a game for The Portable Wargame rules using some RISK replacement figures purchased from Amazon. 

Ready To Go! (That may be a unit motto somewhere...)

I am trying to prove the principle of a truly portable wargame before my impending deployment to a warm place with a free view of sand traps and scrub. This is yet another step in that process. I will try to paint some of the other figures I have before I go, as I do not expect to have my painting kit as I was fortunate enough to have previously. 

BLUEFOR

The Blue Forces I mounted in a manner similar to Mark C from the TPW FB Group. I figured that this would give me a test group that mirrors what others have done. The artillery on the left, followed by Light Cavalry, then two units of Heavy Cavalry, followed by four strong Line Infantry units, and the right most group being a pair of skirmish type Light Units of mixed infantry and cavalry. 

REDFOR

The Red Forces are mounted slightly differently, with only Light Cavalry and Infantry with five figures instead of six and no dedicated Light Troops. My idea is that they will have some integral skirmish capability or something to that effect, but be less resilient in melee than the BLUEFOR infantry units. 

The ground cloth is almost 36 inches sqaure and was originally intended to be used for a Five Men in Normandy playtest, but more of that anon. 

So, we shall see how this plays out. 

I Have Been To.....Seccessionville, SC

Well, maybe not quite all the way to there, but I visited the battlefield named after the village. 

Located on Jmes Island south of Charleston, the swampy, mucky, humid place was fortunately free of bugs for my brief visit. 

Monument to mark the location of the battle, properly speaking, located inside the Union's objective

The 12 June 1862 battle saw five brigades of Union infantry, two of which were under Brigadier Isaac Stevens, try to assault Fort Lamar, whose guns were covering Charleston's harbor. Poor coordination and a lack of leadership doomed the assault to failure. 

Interpretive Stand

I read a book about the battle several years ago and being in the area for work, I thought I would see what there is of the battlefield. It's a state park and wildlife refuge, so there is minimal infrastructure to support or interpret the battle, but the stand they do have was excellent, if somewhat faded, due to weather. 

That part of James Island has been built over, so there are houses on the routes of approach that the Union forces used. With the housing area being private property, I did not dismount and walk around, there was literally no place to  park, but instead I drove slowly along. 

Inside Fort Lamar, there is a very nice walking area. Even if it was miserably humid at ten in the morning. 

Some of the remains of earthworks of Fort Lamar

As the Union forces made their advance across a narrow strip of semi-dry land, the Confederates held them off with artillery and musket fire. Other forces moved down from Charleston to help the fort and put pressure on the Federals to retreat. 

An example of the swampy bits. Looking towards Charleston. This was approximately where a tower stood, hence the fort's other name Tower Battery

Union avenue of approach as seen from the Confederate side

To the left of the picture, Colonel David Leasure's brigade of Stevens' division would have been advancing with the road on their left flank. The other brigade, which included the 28th Massachusetts and the 7th Connecticut, would have been on the other side of the road. Both brigades were squeezed in as the terrain canalized them as they got closer to the fort. 

Part of the excellent map on the interpretive stand

The overall map on the stand. Excellent explanations and details.

A view of where Leasure's brigade made their part of the assault

The end result was several hundred dead Union Soldiers with the Confederates suffering approximately 200 casualties themselves. 

Just walking around with my water bottle in shorts and a t-shirt was miserable enough. Wearing my Civil War kit would have been just awful. I can only sympathize for those who had to do so. 

Overall the site is very nice, small, easily accessible, and I felt it was worth the hour or so I spent there. With very stormy clouds on the way in, I decided to pack up and leave a little sooner than I was originally planning. Thunderstorms in this part of South Carolina are nothing to ignore. 

I am thinking about how I can run this on the tabletop, definitely in 15mm, with All The Kings Men rules, I think it would be an interesting game. 

Weekend Update - Taking a RISK

Various and sundry ideas crop up from time to time, which is all part and parcel of the wargamer's life. But I was noodling around on "the socials" as I believe they are called, when a gentleman whose work I really enjoy posted a picture of painted figures from the game RISK based for The Portable Wargame. 

And then the mustard seed of an idea found its way into my brain...

Then, as a friend of mine likes to say...in a bit of doggerel 

"And the monkey wrapped his tail

Around the flagpole.."

 So. Unable to get THAT Idea out of my squirrel cage, I found some 40mm squares, pulled out The Yellow Army, and came up with this....

Still not 100% sure on things, but it's getting closer

More to follow on this project, I am sure. 

In other news, here in the Duchy, Herself the Younger spent the night and the day here. We decided last week with all the hurley-burley running amok, that this might be a better weekend for them to take Dad to lunch. Which they did and it was good. And then we came back and played a nice small 15mm ACW scenario with All The King's Men rules. 

Morgan trying to decide upon how to best whomp Dad

Based on my knowledge of the rules and the time available, I took the Confederate side, which had a brigade of four North Carolina regiments and a battery of smoothbore guns with two sections. Each of my regiments was four stands of four figures. Morgan had a brigade of six mostly Pennsylvania regiments with three stands of four figures, and a battery of rifled guns with three sections. 

The objective was to "take the crossroads", but really, the objective was just to play a game together. I am incredibly lucky my child enjoys playing the odd game with Dad, even at 27. 

Morgan enjoyed the flow of the game and rolled moderately well. With the odd pointer from me, they did a fine job of getting up and establishing a position. A run of cards one way, and then the other kept things interesting and lively. 

After two hours of game play, we called it since I had a Zoom meeting and they were going to meet up with a friend of theirs for a lift back into Philadelphia. I still have the game set up and I think I'll play it out just to see what might happen. 

Overall, a very nice way to spend a Sunday and mentally prepare oneself for the week ahead.