Woodman Museum 12# Napoleon Restoration Unveiling

This past Saturday, four members of our wargaming club went to Dover NH's Woodman Museum to attend their unveiling of their recently restored original Civil War 12# Napoleon cannon.  The Woodman Museum has a complete colonial-era garrison house in its collection which was relocated from nearby Dover point in the 1850s, a nice collection of historical artifacts from it and the surrounding area from both the colonial and 1850s era when the house ceased to be occupied. The museum also hosts several other collections including John Wilkes Booth artifacts.

The 12# Napoleon cannon was recently restored and according to the Museum's website, "was forged in 1863 by Henry N. Hooper & Co. of Boston, MA and was one of four acquired by the New Hampshire National Guard after the conclusion of the Civil War. The original limber and carriage were manufactured by the Woodman Brothers of New York.  The limber itself includes rare and original sabots (cupped wooden projectile holders)."

There are a lot of original Civil War cannons remaining, but precious few retain their original carriages, caissons and hardware. Although this restoration had to replace many pieces of the original wood, the original hardware, including the copper caisson cover remains. The restoration looks beautiful. The cannon will be housed in a sealed garage at the museum which will be opened up for public viewing and the cannon pulled out for special events. This should protect it from further damage from the weather. For those interested in helping the Woodman Museum recoup the cost of this restoration, they have a gofundme page for you to support the effort.

The reveal included an initial salute by NH reenactors firing a 10# Parrot cannon in salute, followed later by two full firing demonstrations. All three can be viewed below, videoed by me at the event.

Northern Conspiracy October 2016 Game Day - French & Indian War

This past Saturday, fellow Northern Conspirator and friend Earl hosted our club's game day. The theme for the day was French & Indian War. Earl provided all the terrain, figures and scenarios for the entire club to game all day - two sessions, three games each session. This was a Herculean effort and Earl pulled it off beautifully! Fellow conspirator and blogger Ed M has also written up the event on his blog, which you can read here.

There were two teams of six players on each team, the French (shown left) and the British (shown right). I'm missing from the British photo as I was taking the photo.

The British pulled lots for which table they would play on. Bob and I pulled table three. The mission was for the British to protect some supplies on two wagons and three animals, while the French were tasked to take those supplies and burn the British fort nearby.

Ralph and Chris were our opponents. Ralph headed for the fort to commit arson, while Chris started to approach our supplies through some light woods. Bob (shown left) defended the supplies while my Indians and British regulars attacked Chris' Coreur De Bois. Fortune was with me early in this game. In a system where you roll for 6s to hit enemies in cover, a Yahtzee in 6s is pretty deadly. I also had more than my fair share of hits in my second round of fire. Chris took it like a consummate sportsman, but the early damage really sealed his fate. Ralph had to cross a wide expanse of open ground to get to the fort and fared similarly on his side.












Other round 1 table photos:

In Round 2, Kevin and I pulled table one against French Players Phil and Ralph. This was another scenario where the French wanted to burn down all the British stuff. The French wasted no time in burning three fields of crops and two buildings. They also killed several civilians and obliterated two full units of local militia, while Kevin's British regulars and my Rangers rushed to oppose them. We called time with the game split 18-22 in favor of the British. The French thought future gains would be tough due to all the burning fields blocking most avenues of advance, but from our side I think my Rangers were in serious danger of being obliterated very quickly by the French numbers. I'd call it a draw at best. Likely given a couple more turns either side could have turned the game with some good shooting rolls.

Other round two game photos:

Anyone who's run even a single game at a game night or convention knows how much work it is. I cannot even imagine running a whole game day alone. Earl did a great job at pulling off a great event for the club. Thanks Earl!

September 2013 Game Night

Yesterday was our club's monthly game night. I played in Earl's beautiful French & Indian war skirmish game that uses the 'Musket & Tomahawks' rule set. The rules are simple, fun and bloody. I was on the French side with my friends Ed and Greg (photo left). I started off with two squads of Courier de Bois and two squads of Indians. One of my squads of Coureurs de Bois got mauled right away by new member prospect Matt, but then my luck turned around and I was able to trade blow for blow with Matt and Gordon's British irregulars and British lead Indians ending up on top. Additionally my Indian officer was able to commit an act of martyrdom and get killed which was a side objective for him. Fun game beautiful terrain and figures.

Phil ran a 28mm Volley & Bayonet game for the Battle of Hubbardton. This small scenario was able to be played three times by our experienced V&B players.

 

Kevin ran a beautiful France 1940 WWII game in 15mm using Blitzkrieg Commander rules. The terrain on this table was as plentiful as the figures. They must have been having a great time because this game was still going strong when I left.