Only a Historical Miniature Wargamer

I am only interested in historical wargaming.  Does such a wargamer exist?

Yup, I discovered the other day when discussion turned to Warhammer 40k I zoned out completely.  I'm not a wargamer, I am a historical wargamer.  I really have no interest in sci-fi or fantasy wargaming.  This is because my main interest is history.  I love learning about history.  I have no problem popping into any historical game even though I may know very little about the period.

78th Highlanders based out of Halifax, Canada in Estes Park, Colorado, USA (2004)

Within the historical wargaming hobby I find myself focused on actual historical battles rather than just a hypothetical battle.  I'm sure lots of gamers have no problems having a DBA game between Ancient Chinese and Romans, but I find it a little off.  Also, I like to try and paint my miniatures the most accurate as possible based on the resources I have access to.  Other gamers, for example, have no problem painting a pre-dreadnought either the black and tan or white, where I have painted them grey.  Sure the black and tan or white looks cooler, but grey in the battles was historic.  I guess that makes me a hardcore historical wargamer.  We all approach the hobby differently, which is okay.

I am not a fan of mixed wargaming content, like in a magazine.  Some magazines for example have become dominated by non-historic articles.  The mixed content is also prevalent in Podcasts.  Am I going to listen through a one hour Podcast for a 10 minute discussion on a new historic ruleset with the rest being non-historic?  Nope, no thanks.

I have no problems with sci-fi/fantasy gaming, I just don't have the time or brain power to filter through it to get to good historic wargaming material.  40k painters are great painters, better than I am, but I don't need to read/spend money on how to paint a Grey Knights army. 

Maybe someday I'll get into Star Wars or Battletech gaming, but for now I continue to charge ahead with all sorts of historical wargaming projects.

Battle of St. Denis 1837

This battle was fought during the Lower Canada Rebellion in the town of St. Denis on the Richelieu River.  French Patriots decided to make a stand against British forces in the town on November 23, 1837.  The British had two companies from the 24th Regiment with a Royal Artillery cannon (which I believe was a 5.4" howitzer).  The Patriots had about 800 men, half were armed with muskets.  The other half were only armed with scythes, pitchforks and clubs.

The British made some success, but eventually withdrew due to casualties and low ammunition.  The cannon was stuck in the mud and had to be left behind.  The Patriots eventually left the town and the British captured it at the beginning of December.

This was the only victory for the Patriots in the rebellion.

I put together a Rebels and Patriots rules scenario of this battle.  I bought 28mm miniatures for the battle.  I did not have a good selection of buildings so made up two of the historic buildings (still surviving today).

Scenario Order of Battle

British	Patriots
Lieutenant-Colonel Gore Heroic Leader +2 bonus -1 on officer casualty roll Light Artillery 24pdr howitzer 4 crew Line Infantry veteran Line Infantry veteran Line Infantry Line Infantry 22 points	Wolfred Nelson Skirmish Leader Once per game, 1 unit within 12” may re-roll a failed skirm. activation or evade reaction. Skirmishers Line Infantry Line Infantry Line Infantry Line Infantry Line Infantry no muskets Line Infantry no muskets 22 points

Infantry with no muskets is not in the rules.  I made two units of Line Infantry have no muskets and only able to fight in close combat.  These units I set to two points each rather the normal four points each.

The black border outlines the tabletop.

28mm Figure Manufacturers

British:

• Infantry: Studio Miniatures
• Gun: Perry Miniatures

Patriots:

War of 1812 militia

• Knuckleduster
• Brigade Games

Texians

• Boothill Miniatures

Unarmed Civilians

• Casting Room Miniatures

Introduction and layout of battle

Two videos on how I made two of the buildings