Great Northern War- New Units

 

A pack of Minifig Generals above painted for the Swedish Service.  These are very nice figures.  Note the cuirass the lad on the left is wearing.  The latest research shows that some Swedish cavalry were cuirassiers.  Good news for me.  I can now press some Dixon Cuirassiers into the Swedish Service.

Should you want to know more Sergey Shamenkov's latest book for Helion. Volume 2 "Charles XII's Karoliners".

The Grenadiers of the Swedish Life Guard above. Centre, with the flag, a lone CP model.  The rest are Dixon.

Two new Russian Battalions below representing the Ustyuzhski Regiment.  Figures from Minifigs.  You will note the regiment has two battalions.  

In Talon and Claw speak they are "Regulation" that means musket armed with supporting pikemen.  The "ideal" as it were.

The first battalion is rated "Drilled".  The second battalion is rated "Raw". I'm waiting for their pike men to arrive.

The flags are by Russian James, fine fellow that he is for making them freely available.

Here we see the Ustyuzhski Regiment manning a field redoubt.  The Russians liked to use these when fighting the Swedes.  To that end they were often willing to cart around ready made portable defences.  It was an old tradition.

I have two of these and may do a third.  These come from Alternative Armies.  They have lots of interesting bits and pieces.

The thinking being that the steppe often lacked trees for improvised barricades and the rolling plains were little better.  Digging was arduous and time consuming.

These ones wouldn't stand artillery bombardment but as the Swedes rarely deployed their guns it didn't much matter.

Two squadrons of Russian cavalry next.

Minifigs, representing the Kazanski Regiment.  Swords drawn, but these fellows liked to shoot from the saddle too.

I would like to say that is my Great Northern war collection done.  More probably it is nearly done.  You all know how it goes.

Next week we are back to the West.  Will it be Wild?  Yes, very wild.

Head Quarters Detachment Part 1- Yellow Ribbon

 

My HQ Detachment is loosely modelled on that of Crook on the Powder River and Rosebud Expeditions.  Let us look at progress on the various elements.  They all offer interesting gaming opportunities.  Be advised, this started off as a single post.  I realised it would take two posts and cut it.  Hopefully it still reads well enough

Above, we have the Great Man himself, the General.  He was normally accompanied by an Adjutant(s) and the vital Indian Scouts.  Numbers of the latter could vary.  Note the scouts are wearing red.  This is so Crook's soldiers can recognise them as allies. Unfortunately, red was a favourite colour of the Sioux and Cheyenne too!  An ahh.. moment for Crook. 

 

While we are on Scouts here is a photo of Arikara and Crow Scouts. No one makes Arikara (Rees) in 15mm.

I think it was taken at the site of the Little Big Horn battle.  We have discussed tribal hair styles before and here we see how distinctive they could be.  The Arikara (Rees) have a top knot or tuft, the Crow a quiff and plaits.

Horses, Mules and Men had to be fed. Reserve ammunition was essential.  Crook was a mule enthusiast.  They were tough and highly mobile. So were the Packers and Crook loved them too. All the same mules lacked capacity and the more you took the more Packers were needed.  Packers had to be fed too and so did extra Mules.

Here's another thing about Packers-they were incredibly well paid.  They earned more in a week than a trooper did in a month.  Lots more. 

Finerty, a journalist accompanying Crook chose to Mess with the Packers.  Crook invited him to dine.  "Ah, no thank you General said Finerty, previous engagement!"  The Packers dined well. Custer famously used soldiers as Packers. It saved a fortune.  His packs never showed up.

The solution was the wagon.  Not so mobile but roomy.  Mules could accompany a detached Battalion or Company.  Wagons stayed with the HQ.  

As an expedition progressed the contents of the wagon would be consumed.  This resulted in capacity for carrying the wounded.

Here is my QRF Wagon, easy to assemble and it looks the part.  Good price too.

A Surgeon accompanied the Army.  He might have his own Ambulance if the soldiery were lucky. Again he was part of HQ Detachment. My Ambulance has not arrived yet.

Here is half of my Mule Train. Note figures on foot too. a Yellow Ribbon requirement. I  could do some military Packers to accompany them. Civilian Packers were hugely expensive.  My Packers are shot gun armed just because of what I had lying about. Civilian Packers often liked Winchesters. The figures are Confederate Irregulars from Peter Pig mounted and Minifig dismounted.

Food on the hoof was useful too.  A small cattle herd might accompany HQ Battalion. Mine are from Peter Pig.  One of the packers is riding herd. I'm sure I have another Cowboy somewhere.

All of the foregoing needed protection.  HQ Detachment had the choice of the best men and horses. However, post the Powder River expedition morale was poor among the units who had participated.  My HQ has a Company of Troopers to keep everything and everyone in one piece.

Some of HQ Troopers wear the new issue blue Army Shirt.  All the good stuff was to be found at HQ.  The Army took pains over logistics. Of course I need this Outfit dismounted too. And horses.  Next time.  

I also have an Infantry Company to accompany the wagon. Eight Privates and a Sergeant.  Infantry are no use at all in pursuing Indians.  They are very good at defending wagons, improvised hospitals and livestock.  Longer ranged rifles, "Long Tom's" in the argot of the Army. 

QRF once again. I actually have near enough 3 of these units.  Infantry escorting a supply train, or simply going into garrison, gives a different sort of game challenge.  

The infantry, along with the Crow and Shoshone, saved the day at the Rosebud.  Scout Frank Grouard thought Crook would have quickly lost half of his command without them.  I could buy some mules for mine. Then I'd need mule mounted soldiers too.  Maybe I will. That would be an additional 20 mules and 20 mule mounted infantry. 

You don't need many figures for Yellow Ribbon but the variants mount up.  No pun intended!  They dismount too.

HQ Detachment is also the place for your Gatling Gun should you have one.  Custer, famously, refused to take any.  He said it would slow him down.  It would have.  Also, difficult ground was a Gatling challenge.  Five men were injured trying to push and pull one through the rough. We will see mine in Part 2.

Your General might be desirous of favourable publicity and successful post campaign grandstanding.  If so he might have a pet Journalist along to attest his military brilliance. Getting him killed would be a black mark.  

Could this be Journalist Finerty ?  Will he keep his hair once again?  Crook's accompanying journo's were mainly to be found in the thick of the fighting.  It made for interesting copy.

We will have another look at HQ Detachment when everything has arrived and is painted.

Next time we will consider some first hand accounts from both sides.  Somewhere along the line we are going to have a close look at Army tactics, soldiers and officers.  Lots ahead of us, Powder River, Rosebud and other interesting stuff.  I'll post it all as it comes with maybe other periods interspersed as opportunity presents.

Elk Scrapers -Yellow Ribbon

 

The Elk Scrapers are my second Plains Indian Warrior Society.  These ones are from Minifigs. Pleasingly, I got a big bag of them as an ebay bargain!  A major project saving.  They came on horse and on foot.  These are very nice figures and easy to paint.  Once again the band is 18 strong.  As required by Yellow Ribbon I have them on foot too.  You can see one has been designated as Leader.

The Warrior Societies competed for members and membership was taken seriously.  Apart from scouting missions (Wolves) members always fought together.  The tactical method was always the same. Locate and watch the foe, skirmish and then attack.  Warfare was fluid in nature.  There was one exception.  If a village was attacked all warriors would stand and fight until all women children and elderly had been evacuated to safety. 

Here is my rating for the Elk Scrapers Warrior Society.  Medicine is high. Perhaps they are the survivors of the Powder River attack. Almost all Cheyenne survived that but they were utterly impoverished by the burning of their village. According to Scout Frank Grouard it had been a rich village. "Those Indians were well to do" he said. Naturally, they were furious.  The Sioux re equipped them gratis.

 

Elk Scrapers	Cheyenne Band	Leader, Wooden Leg
Movement Foot	Indian
Movement Mounted	Crack
Exhaustion Foot	11
Exhaustion Mounted	12
Field Craft	Crack
Close Combat	Crack
Marksmanship	Good
Weapon	Well Armed
Medicine	18

Normally, women did not fight. Yet, sometimes we read accounts of young women joining the warriors.  Then, riding with the best of them, they killed.  In each case that I have read this behaviour was occasioned by the death or injury of a young male relative.

Famously, a young Cheyenne  woman fought at Little Big Horn.  Here is another example.  At the Rosebud  a Crow warrior attempted to count coup on a Sioux.  The Sioux shot him in the knee and de horsed him.  Counting coup was always dangerous.  The Crow had failed in the attempt and the Sioux came in for the kill. He was shot dead by a Crow woman who had joined the fight.  Her brother had previously been killed by Sioux.

There is more.  The fallen Sioux was scalped by the Crow woman. Subsequently, she distributed parts of the scalp to women of her village. Then, when the scalp dance was performed the women joined in each displaying their scrap of Sioux scalp.

The origin of Scalping is much disputed.  Scalp Dances are much easier for us to locate.  During a scalp dance every warrior displayed the scalps he had taken. He then sang and boasted of the how and when. His women folk then acted as a sort of Greek Chorus.  They echoed his words, shouting his exploits. This was a high point in Plains Warrior culture.

To be an Indian was to compete for in tribe status.  Status came from hunting and warrior skills.  The more meat and hides provided, Coup counted, scalps taken the higher the status accrued.

The pressure on young men to gain status was immense.  Older warriors already had it.  Paint patterns of coup counted and men killed, scalps adorning war shields and lances all fore fronted their achievements. Scalp dances provided an additional reminder of who was who.  Young men yearned to be counted in.

This brought tensions as America advanced.  Red Cloud could afford to sit on his reservation.  No one could challenge his warrior status.  He had killed the foe, won his wars, brought fame to his name.  A young man seeking similar status, by necessity, must go to war.  There was no other way.

The Sitting Bull solution was to avoid America all together.  That was no longer possible.  America did not stand still.

On a Reservation a young Indian normally could not go to war and thus could not accrue status.  Progression to full manhood was then denied him. This was destructive of Indian Society.  Generational conflict was uncontained.  It found various outlets-none of them good.  The Comanches who we have yet to consider suffered most.  We may look at that later.

Some responded to Army calls for hireling warriors.  Once engaged they could fulfil their cultural imperative to war.  They could then return home having achieved status.  Or, possibly.  That they had fought and killed their own kin was a serious breach of tribal mores. For Reservation Crow or Shoshone no such problem existed.  They went out against traditional enemies.

We have not entirely reached those fraught times. In front of us is Powder River, The Rosebud and Little Big Horn.  We also need to say more about the Army, the Kit Foxes and potential scenarios.