Thursday 30 August 2012

Demo wargame of Battle of Lundy's Lane, Cardiff Castle

Last weekend my brother and myself attended the 'The Fight for Canada 1812-1815. Bicentenary Re-Enactment' held at Cardiff Castle (I hope to post my other photographs from the day as soon as possible). Part of the show included a demo game of the Battle of Lundy's Lane (July 1814) using the British Grenadier rules by Eclaireur put on by the Penarth & District Wargames Society. They were a very friendly, informative bunch who didn't mind answering numerous inane questions from my brother and myself. The participants actually gave an interesting demo unlike, I've increasingly noticed, a number of so called demonstration games (the clues are in the words) which I've witnessed at shows where the public seem to be viewed as somewhat of an annoyance.
 
 

The figures on the table were made up from an equal mixture of Front Rank, Perry and Victrix 28mm Napoleonic miniatures. The American Colours (flags) are by Flags of War and the terrain pieces from several different manufacturers.
 
 
The main event at the castle was the re-enactment (using 1:1 scale figures) of the Battle of Detroit which was entirely appropriate as the original 4th American Regiment of Infantry, captured at the battle, was on display literally around the corner from the game. 
 

 
 
 
The lighting in the Firing Line museum was subdued for obvious reasons but it did mean that it wasn't very suitable for playing/showing off a demo game. I mention this only as a weak excuse for my awful photographs (I sometimes wonder why I bother as they really are getting worse).

6 comments:

  1. The photos are fine and the post is very informative sir....

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  2. I am a BG! fan, but have yet to see the War of 1812 played using them.

    Thanks for sharing!

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  3. Thanks Angry and Vaughan.
    I asked the chaps from the Penarth club why they used BG which I only associated with AWI, they said they actually prefer to use rules that give a good flavour of the period even if they might not be the most popular. They also pointed out that the newer Deluxe version of BG does in fact contain new scenarios for both Sainte Foy (F&IW) and Chipawa (War of 1812).

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  4. You still managed to get some nice pics.:-)

    British Grenadier while not the easiest set of rules to play and understand do excel at giving a very period specific feel.

    Christopher

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  5. The photo's are fine. You can adjust your cameras ISO setting to allow more light in the lens, but for blogging purposes these are fine.

    Looks like you had a good time and that's what matters most.

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  6. Thanks for the info Anne, I suppose it would help if I read the manual but obviously this is against the unwritten rules of man-kind!

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