Yellow Ribbon Variants- Apache and Seminoles

 

Yellow Ribbon justly found fame as the Plains Wars gaming experience. The sections on Mountain Indians (think Chief Joseph and the Nez Peirce) and Apache are often overlooked.  Less showy I suppose. Yet the Yellow Ribbon touch is just as sure in these theatres.

Without much of a stretch you can use the Apache rules for the Seminole Wars.  Simply replace mountain and desert with the Everglades. 

As you have doubtless guessed I have some Apache and have bought some Seminoles.

These fellows did not fight like Plains Warriors. Although horses could appear.  The individual style of fighting was not for them. No counting coup, no emphasis on  warrior heroics.  Rather the aim was to collectively kill the foe.  All of the foe.

Truth to tell I have had the Apache for decades. They are from mostly QRF with a few Minifigs and a Hovels Mexican. 

The Apache and the Comanche constantly raided Mexico. They burned, killed and took prisoners. Depending on their age the prisoners became slaves or were adopted and brought up as Indians.

The Mexicans responded by putting a price on the head of every Apache. Man, woman and child. Scalp hunters assembled like Carrion Crows.

The Comanche also waged a war of near extermination against the Apache. It wouldn't make much of a game. The Comanche rode up out of nowhere and killed every Apache they could find. Then they went home. 

All very bleak. 

Here are my Apache on foot.

 

You really don’t need many figures for a good game. Here are my mounted Apache.

 

That’s it.  A transfer of my US Infantry from General Crook to General Miles and it is game on. May be a section of cavalry too, mules also. 

I already have Wickiups. Mine are from QRF, the smaller ones. They do big ones too. I bought the smaller ones because young Plains Warriors used to build and use them.  To avoid vexing the adults no doubt.

I feel the need to buy some Cacti.  Irregular or Peter Pig can provide them.  Scene setting. I have an excellent Geek Villain Desert Mat and there we go-Apacheria in miniature.

Florida terrain is going to be more of a challenge. My uncle told me that while he was golfing there an Alligator shot out and ate someone’s dog.  Irregular make an Alligator or maybe a Crocodile. In 15mm it won’t matter which. 

I may need one. You know the sort of thing throw triple ones and the Alligator appears.  Hungry. Throw a 6 on a D6 and you are lunch.  Throw a 5 and everyone does a full move in the opposite direction. Throw 1 to 4 and everyone blazes away at the Alligator.

QRF has two packs of Seminoles.  They include Africans who had escaped slavery. A nice touch.

The Chief pack above and the Warrior pack below.

Here are the Black Seminoles.  Good for Maroons I think. 

In fact the turban wearing Seminoles would make good Maroons too.  

The Seminoles favoured a sort of Mohican cut. You can see it in the Catlin paintings. QRF give us a 3 figures like that. 

Unless you think Maroons looked like the A Team's Mr T, that disbars those 3 poses. You could always add a turban with green stuff.

Between the two packs there is sufficient variation. I have not bought any Seminole civilians and probably won’t.  However many Plains types women and children could do.  A bit of translocation will do the job if I need them.

I did need to buy some US Infantry due to leather shako requirements.  I also bought a gun and crew that I have yet to paint.  

Here are the infantry, QRF once more. I have painted some of them as "Red Leg Infantry" that is to say Gunners deployed as infantry.

In pretty much any American conflict armed civilians turned up. These could be local settlers, formal or informal militia, or just the sort of fellows addicted to carnage, rapine and loot.

 

Once again note the small number of figures required for an interesting game. I'm minded to give it a go with Musket and Tomahawk too.  

The light was a bit tricky when taking these pic's. Hopefully it doesn't spoil your viewing pleasure entirely.

Somewhere I have additional Seminole figures for this. I'd like to find them.  Their exceptional field craft not withstanding, I will-eventually.

League of Augsburg – Colonel Edward Butler’s Regiment

 

Edward Butler of Ballyragget, County Kilkenny was the only son of Piers Butler, Lord Galmoy.  Galmoy was a famed and feared Jacobite cavalry commander. Well respected by his peers and hated by his foes. We should consider Galmoy influential in the Jacobite Army.

The Butlers, there was no shortage of them, raised troops for King James.   Edward had previous European Military Service. He was a natural choice to lead a regiment.

Edward’s  troops came from North Kilkenny and Kilkenny City. Like all of the newly raised Jacobite regiments they struggled to equip themselves. The regiment had 268 broken muskets, and was short 86 muskets. It had 390 swords, 84 pikes and virtually its full complement of belts and bandoliers. Initially uniforms were out of the question. The occasional veteran or wealthier officer might have a red military coat otherwise it was come as you are.

As the bandoliers were out of stocks I have assumed that they would be painted. Water proofing was important. I have shown the "Apostles" in blue which helps theme the regiment.

When French aid arrived  Edward’s connections likely ensured his regiment was uniformed in French grey coats. I have chosen to show them lined blue. Blue was a Butler colour and blue lining was hardly unknown in the French Army. All the same the soldiers uniformity rests heavily upon their French coats. 

By this time Edward’s men were properly equipped. Note the drummer is in Butler colours.  All the figures in the unit are from Irregular, save the Drummer an Essex figure. 

The flags the regiment carries were made for me by David of Not by Appointment and very fine they are. They are conjectural, but informed conjecture.  The King’s Colour shows St. Patrick’s Cross in Butler Colours bearing the initials JR and the Crown. The Company Colour is discussed below.

Given their original intended ratio of pikes to shot I have deemed the regiment to be “Regulation” in Beneath the Lily Banners terms. I could have equally chosen to model them as Pike and Shot without much fear of contradiction.

 In the picture below you can get a better look at the regiment's pike men.  These would be brought forward when repelling cavalry or for close assaults.

The Company Colour is that of the 3^rd Company led by Captain John Brennan.  The three swords designating the Company are drawn from O’Brennan clan heraldry.  Clan Brennan like most of Gaelic Ireland were looking to get their lands back.

The regiment fought throughout the Williamite War. After the bloody fight of Aughrim it was reduced to 21 officers and 277 men.  In the final defence of Limerick its men were combined with those of other reduced regiments.  

Post the Treaty of Limerick many went into exile in France. The Irish Brigade beckoned. Colonel Edward Butler died in battle at Malplaquet. Captain John Brennan lies buried in Castlecomer, then and now, the heartland of his clan.

I intend a series of League of Augsburg posts between now and Christmas.

Bishop Thurstan’s Array at Northallerton

 

Why Bishop Thurstan and not Walter Espec or some secular Norman Lord?  Thurstan sorted out the squabbling Norman barons and played a key role in mobilising the English to fight alongside their Norman overlords. Political boundaries were quite mutable at the time and there were ethnic tensions. 

The Harrying of the North would still have been fresh in the popular memory.  Such horrors are not quickly forgotten. 

King David (Dauíd mac Maíl Choluim) already had English subjects. Indeed his mother had been an English Princess. Refugees had been welcomed. The English might have considered if they would do better in a Greater Scotland.  

Thurstan seems to have decided them against it. 

In his favour he was a known champion of Northern Church Rights, a skilled politician, and it was an era when religious authority was taken very seriously.  It was also a time of brutal military incursions and King David's invasion followed that pattern.

The English nobility of the North had been in exile at Constantinople or Scotland for two generations.  They were not coming back. The ethnic English of the North were leaderless.

Thurstan was probably as good as it got. His name might make one assume he was of English stock.  Not so, he was born in France. Yet he had a sure touch in Northern politics as his dealings with Fergus King of Galloway attest.  

He was also a dab hand on the international stage securing the support of two successive Popes against the encroachments of the See of Canterbury.

We know the Norman knights opted to fight dismounted. A wise decision against the long spears of the Scots. Our Normans will be Elite Footmen.  Only 6 figures in  the unit yet they are formidable. 

One of the attractive things about LRv2 is its sliding representative scale. It enables me to represent these Norman Barons as a single base of 6 figures rather than 6 on two bases. The latter just looked wrong. A bit thin I thought. The single base will fight as 6 figures with12 dice. They fought in the front line.  Here they are again.

 

Also in the front line were the retainers of the Norman Lords.  Here, a decision was required.  We know that the soldiers were spearmen and archers. 

I could opt for two separate units or two mixed units. For the fun of it, and due to Shipway’s novel, I chose mixed units. Is this right? Maybe, shading to probably.

The second line comprised of the better off English. I see them as Heavy Infantry in two units. These figures are Feudal Castings from Steve Shaw. 

They are very handy fellows indeed. They can form the core of the Anglo-Danes at Hastings. One unit can take its place in King David's "Warband" representing his English subjects. 

The pair of them will benefit from the presence of a Holy Man. This will help morale, another nice touch from LRv2. They are substituting for Thurstan's cart mounted Cross. I don't have one.

The Scots at Northallerton – Lion Rampant

 

I cannot recall ever seeing the Scots array at Northallerton on the table top. It has always interested me because of its diverse components.  George Shipway featured the battle in his lively novel Knight in Anarchy. In it he repeats an old Tudor lie but you cannot have everything.

When Steve Shaw of Feudal Castings released a suitable range of 15mm figures I was in like a flash.  These are they, arranged according to Lion Rampant v2.

Here are my Fearsome Warrior Galwegians.  One Chronicler credits the men of Galway as using long spears. I could have done that. However, a Mr Walsh devoted some serious time to researching Galwegian armament.  He concluded that it was Axes, Swords and Javelins for those warriors. Having read the evidence I’ve gone with that.  The Galwegians led the attack and broke the Anglo-Norman first line.  Others did less well. Northallerton was not a Scots victory.

As you can see the Galwegians are wearing a lot of black.  Black wool was common in Galway and it makes them stand out.  Here are the LRv2 Stat’s.  You can see they are an expensive unit.

The troop type is “Warriors”.

Models per unit	12	points	6
Attack	5+	Attack Value	3+
Move	6+	Defence Value	6+
Shoot	-	Shoot Value	-
Courage	4+	Maximum Move	8”
Armour	2	Special Rules	Flexible, Wild Charge, Counter Charge Against  Infantry, Fearsome.

In our period Normans had accrued to the Scots Throne. We need a unit of them too.  King David (Dauíd mac Maíl Choluim)  or his son Henry will be there. The Leader unit then. These Knights are from Gladiator, Josef Ochmann sculpts.  As 15mm ranges go the Gladiator Feudal range is rather special.  Get them while you can. Fighting 15s who retail them intends to retire in October '25.

Interestingly, some of those Normans were actually Bretons. They could converse easily enough with the Cumbrians. The root of both the Breton and Cumbric language being Brythonic.

The troop type is “Elite Cavalry”.

Models per unit	6	points	6
Attack	5+	Attack Value	3+
Move	7+	Defence Value	5+
Shoot	-	Shoot Value	-
Courage	3+	Maximum Move	10”
Armour	4	Special Rules	Wild Charge, Counter Charge

The bulk of the "Warband" is comprised of spearmen, long spears is the consensus. I think the Light Infantry LRv2 category suits them better than Heavy Infantry.

I'm using two variants, first a Veteran unit representing the Cumbrians. King David had fought and politicked his way to the throne. He was a Cumbrian. 

The troop type is “Light Infantry”.

Models per unit	12	points	5
Attack	6+	Attack Value	5+
Move	5+	Defence Value	4+
Shoot	6+	Shoot Value
Courage	4+	Maximum Move	8”
Armour	2	Special Rules	Wall of Spears

A similar unit but less enamoured with King David.

Models per unit	12	points	3
Attack	6+	Attack Value	5+
Move	5+	Defence Value	4+
Shoot	-	Shoot Value	-
Courage	4+	Maximum Move	8”
Armour	2	Special Rules	Wall of Spears

Our final two units are of Skirmishers.  They both look like this.

Models per unit	6	points	2
Attack	7+	Attack Value	6
Move	5+	Defence Value	4+
Shoot	7+	Shoot Value	5+/12 range
Courage	5+	Maximum Move	8”
Armour	1	Special Rules	Skirmish, Hard to Target, Evade, Fast

I have a variant of this "Warband" with Bloodthirsty Galwegians, one unit of Skirmishers and the Aggressive Skill for King David.

I already have the figures for other in period LRv2 Warbands.  We will see them as they come. I'll start with Bishop Thurstan's Anglo-Normans for Northallerton. There are some interesting choices to be made there.

For the future we will see North and South Welsh "Warbands" and the same for Moray and The Isles. Almost all comprised of Steve Shaw castings. I can also put together an Irish "Warband" with variants and a few more too.  

A little Later and I can do both sides at Otterburn also with Steve Shaw figures .

For me LRv2 is proving to be the catalyst for getting old collections back on the table top.