Other areas of interest

As I have gotten older different periods have caught my attention. One of my fancies was the British imperial period. It was the movies Zulu and The Charge of the Light Brigade that enamored me in my youth. The picture above is a small portion of my collection. The rule set I use for this period is "Battle for Empires."


I also have a huge collection of Seven Years Wars period figures. There are Prussians, Russians, Austrians, French and Hanoverians. Barry Lyndon was the culprit here. The image of the British regiment marching across the field toward a French line was my inspiration. I use the system Warfare in the Age of Reason for this period, though I have enlarged the units by 50% because I like the look of bigger battalions.

My attraction to the American Revolution was the smaller armies. Also to blame was an article in Wargames Illustrated that featured some beautiful 25mm figures. My most memorable games have been in my period. A friend of mine brought over his son for a game. My step son and his son commanded the British force while the two dads took the Americans. It looked pretty grim for the Americans, but on the very last turn the two youngsters put their commanding general in base contact with a regiment. A casualty was sustained and the commander had to roll to see if he was hit. Double sixes were tossed. To determine the severity of the wound roll was then rolled: a one. The commander was killed. This started a domino effect that lead to an American victory. Youth is wasted on the wrong people! Oh, the rules used were Johnny Tremain, a varient of the Johnny Reb III series.

Then there is the American Civil War. My cousin and I bought some Airfix figures when we were teens and had some incredible battles in my backyard. My favorite rule set of all time is Johnny Reb III. I like the flow of the game and its scale. It is probably the favorite of my students as well. There is something about being a brigadier general and leading a gallant charge against a stubborn foe.

Landscapes Turned Red, by Stephen Sears is absolutely the best book I have ever read. I used this battle to build up my armies. I have both sides at a scale of 1:30, along with supply trains and a wide range of buildings. I even have the cavalry for both sides which I seldom use. But they sure look nice on the table!

As if the above were not enough, I also have a collection of ancient Gauls and Romans, rebased for Field of Glory. And then there is my Culloden collection, which is the most beautiful of the lot. I'll take some pictures and post them later. My new camera makes such a huge difference in photo quality.