Another Regiment Joins the Lagerburg Army

December 1st-

The Musketeer Regiment von Beck has completed training and now joins the Stroh regiment in rounding out another brigade in the Army. An artist's rendering of the regiment marching to the Ducal Estate to receive their Colours accomanies this report:

Biography of Albrecht Mordicus

Biography of Albrecht Mordicus, Austrian naval officer, later Herzog of Lagerburg-Slobbovia;

-1710 Born Trieste, to maritime family
-1725 Joined Austrian navy as Mittschiffsman
-1731 Stood for and promoted to Leutnant zur See
-1737 Posted Kapitän-zur-See, assumed command of Nova, frigate (24)
-1737-39 Engaged in raids on shipping in the Adriatic
-1739 Nova transferred to Danube Flotilla
-1739-47 Commanded Nova plus 4 galleys
-1747 Assigned to command Imperial yacht
-1753 Titled 1st Duke of Lagerburg
-1755 Defeated, then annexed Principality of Slobbovia
-1757 Present day

Map of Lagerburg

The Ducal cartographers have just completed the first official survey of the Duchy. Here then are the results, the official Map of Lagerburg:

Raid on Gublatz- Epilogue

In the Ducal manor, Herzog Albrecht was re-reading dispatches from the garrison commander of Gublatz when his servant, Helmut, discreetly knocked on the doorframe. “Milord, General von Grunt has just arrived.”
“Very well,” replied Albrecht. “See that he receives refreshment. And Helmut, see that his coat gets a good brushing-off before he comes in.”
“Yes, Milord.”
Moments later, von Grunt stumped into the room, stein in hand, a valet trailing him vainly waving a clothes brush. The Graf sat heavily into the chair opposite the Herzog, staring at the floor.
Albrecht regarded him carefully for a few seconds, then waved a hand to the servants. “Leave us. And Helmut, close the door.”
As the servant’s footsteps echoed off down the hallway, Albrecht said softly, “I imagine that you think I’ve taken leave of my senses.”
After a few moments, von Grunt looked up. “I don’t understand this whole business. You placed a magazine and a depot in a border town with an under-strength garrison, and don’t give me enough reinforcements to hold them off, even though we have more than enough troops to do the job. That just invited them to come and make off with everything. We lost enough guns for the Slobbs to form four batteries of field artillery and enough rations to keep them on campaign for weeks. And you don’t seem particularly disturbed by the results.”
“Perhaps this will make you reconsider…” said Albrecht, sliding the stack of reports across the table. “Take a look through these.”
The general glared at the stack of papers, frowning. He placed the stein next to the papers and began to read, looking more confused as he flipped through the pages. “This is making less and less sense. The gun barrels were shot-out or poorly cast? Wet grain in the wagons? What is all this?” After a few moments, he started as if struck, then his face brightened. Von Grunt looked up sharply at the Herzog, who was smiling faintly at the general’s sudden understanding. “Why, you old sea-dog, it was a gambit! So they got nothing they could actually use…amazing!” He chuckled.
Albrecht sat back, a satisfied smile on his face. “That’s correct, my dear August. We have just been officially provoked into war. Now, when we annex Slobbovia not even Her Majesty in Vienna will bat an eye.”
“And the silver and iron mines…very nice.” The Graf nodded, impressed. Then he frowned. “But our losses. You could have told me, and I could have withdrawn with fewer casualties.”
“True, but we had to make it look convincing. Forgive me, my friend, but you had to give your best to defend the town. Besides, there’s another reason.” Albrecht lowered his voice. “As the old saying goes, ‘Too many ears tie a rat’s tongue.’ There are agents of the Prince here.”
“In the capital? How did you find out?”
“The RFJK is not only for police work and reconnaissance. There is of course “I” troop, made up of my most trusted men. It operates in secret and reports directly to me. I wanted to see if news of the depot would reach Prince Sergei; then I would know for certain that I had one of his agents here. The timing of the attack validated my guess that he was receiving reports from here in the capital, as well as confirming who was passing the information. As we speak, those agents are being rounded up and will vanish without a trace this night.”
Von Grunt shook his head. “Very surprising you are, milord. I’d love to be a fly on the wall in Sergei’s palace right about now.”
“As would I, August. As would I…”

“They’re WHAT!?” shouted Prince Sergei. “Unbelievable! Not even one gun usable? And ALL of the grain is spoiled? Impossible!”
Yerboudi shook his head slowly in admiration. “He out-foxed us completely. It seems that I badly underestimated this sailor Herzog, him and his intelligence people. He must have discovered our agents and fed them false information.”
“I’ll have their heads, the lot of them! Recall them immediately!”
“Right away, sire, but I doubt if any of them will survive to return. That’s how I would handle them.” mused the Sheik.
“Eh? You seem to admire this Herzog of yours a bit much, Ali. Are you sure of where your loyalties are?”
“Sergei, please. You should know better than that. I simply grant credit where it is due. The man outmaneuvered us completely, and I can admit that. Unfortunately, we just started a war we cannot help but eventually lose. We’re in the soup now, and it’s just a matter of how long can we hold out against his forces.”
“Perhaps we can wear him out by attrition.”
“Sire, that is unlikely. However, perhaps we can salvage the situation for ourselves. We can drag out the fight enough to inconvenience him, so that when we do sit down at the surrender table we can negotiate some favorable terms for you and me. Remember our ancestors’ arrangements.”
“True, it did suit both our families well enough. But how long can you stave him off?”
“A few weeks should be convincing enough. Just so it is obvious to all concerned that you didn’t just knuckle under without a fight.”

Raid on Gublatz

The town of Gublatz is situated on the west bank of the Pisswassere, at the highest point of navigability. The river is bridged there, and the town has a small waterfront, suitable for transfer of cargoes from medium-sized vessels. The location of the town makes it a transshipment point for goods from points upriver and inland. An overhead view of the surrounding area, with South at the top, is shown here:

The town was home to a supply depot, a magazine and an artillery park. There was a garrison of a sapper battalion, a battery of field guns, and the workers required to manage the facilities, all known beforehand to the Slobbovian general. Additionally, surprising to the Legion commander, the 12-pounder sloop "Herzogen Lynnette" (20) was anchored just below the bridge in mid-stream (one broadside was equivalent to a field battery), and had embarked a battalion of Marines (light infantry). The regiment of the Lagerburg Mounted Police (RFJK), accompanied by the Graf von Grunt, had recently arrived to reinforce the garrison. Enroute to the town was a regiment of kurassiers, but it is uncertain when they would arrive (von Grunt knew, of course, but he wasn’t telling).

A Slobbovian raiding force approached the town from two directions. The Legion, commanded by Count Philipe, and comprising a regiment of grenadiers, two battalions of grenzers (light infantry), a regiment of uhlans and a troop of rocket artillery (functioning as howitzers), came from the northeast.

Don Matteo led his Spanish mercenary brigade of two line regiments and a battery of field guns from the southeast.

The marines occupied a walled farm in the forward center of the position, with half occupying the house; the balance manned the walls. The light horse took position astride the northeast road near the farm.

The sappers sortied across the bridge and formed line at the foot of the eastern approach. The field battery remained in works just south of the bridge, protected by fascines and from direct assault by the river itself. The sloop remained at anchor, its guns covering the southeast approach and the eastern end of the bridge.
The first contact was between the uhlans and the RFJK just north of the farm. As the uhlans charged to contact, the marines in the house loosed a ragged volley into the flank of the lancers that caused a few casualties. Upon impact, the melee was fierce and bloody, but the constables gave as good as they got.

When the forces disengaged, both units were disordered sufficiently to require a long rally. While the uhlans fell-in near the scene, the constables withdrew to the foot of the bridge.

One of the grenzer battalions rushed the farmhouse; after enduring a volley from the marines, they broke down the door and forced the windows. A ferocious melee ensued inside. Although the marines exacted a heavy toll on the grenzers, they were nearly done in to a man, and a paltry few escaped to rejoin the rest of the battalion in the enclosure.
Meanwhile, the rest of the battalion peppered the advancing Spaniards with musket fire. Even though behind a stone wall, a full volley from the Corona regiment felled several marines, their morale was badly shaken, and they were forced to withdraw in some disorder past the engineer battalion and across the bridge, followed closely by the advancing enemy regiments.
As both columns of foot approached the bridge, each came under artillery fire. The Northeast column had to pass the canister-loaded guns of the "Herzogen Lynnette". The sloop’s captain had to shake his head with regret as he ordered broadside after broadside to sweep the leading grenzer battalion. That unit faltered, then broke under the relentless hail of canister from mid-river. Their losses masked the following grenadiers, who approached the bridge and the waiting sappers unscathed.
The Spaniards fared better at the hands of the field battery behind the redoubt. First roundshot, then canister as well, fell amongst the advancing Dons, but very few fell. As the Coronas moved slowly forward, there began a long-range musketry duel with the engineers. Despite the artillery supporting from across the river, the disparity in numbers of muskets quickly whittled away the engineers, and shortly they too were forced to retire back across the Pisswassere.
While the main fighting was going on, on a hilltop in the rear Major Wan was in his glory. His claims for his new-fangled weapons were proved true with a vengeance! Rocket after rocket arced into the enemy ranks with unerring precision and, to von Grunt, disconcerting effect. "If only the Emperor could see this!" Wan chuckled. "There’s a lot more that Shi-Tsu’s getting blasted now," as a rocket went off in the ranks of the remaining constables, scattering man and horse. Under the bombardment, the mounted police broke and joined the exodus to the west bank.
By this time, the Carlsberg Kurassiers arrived along the road from Felsenfall to stabilize the situation. Von Grunt ordered them to form up to charge the grenadiers, who by now were beginning to march across the bridge in their immaculate column. The left-hand field gun of the entrenched battery was wheeled to catch the advancing grenadiers in flank, the Herzogen Lynnette’s gun crews now had a clear field of fire, and it seemed that "the trap was sprung" on Philipe’s hapless guardsmen.
As von Grunt gave the word for the Kurassiers to "Angriff!", the field gun fizzled and popped and the canister tumbled unbroken from the muzzle! A faulty charge, and the gun was quiet as the frantic gunners worked desperately to reload. For her part, the sloop’s guns did good execution on the rear ranks of the grenadiers; handfuls fell from the blast.
In the front, however, the grenadiers had little time to discharge even a few muskets before the kurassiers rode them down, forcing the survivors back upon the following ranks. As the horsemen paused to regroup for another charge, one of "those damned rockets!" whooshed into the rallying cavalry, killing the standard bearer, the cornet and several troopers, driving even them back from the bridgehead.
Over on the southern flank, the XXth Spanish Regiment and their supporting field battery had come into action, engaging the right-hand entrenched gun. By that time, further defense of the position was impossible, and von Grunt had no choice but to call for a general withdrawl from the town, covered by the Kurassiers. The sloop’s captain "slipped his cable", the crew manned the sweeps and she sedately moved downriver. After the kurassiers finally withdrew, the jubilant Slobbovians swept into the town to reap the spoils of victory.

Chapter 7- Prelude to War

The border town of Gublatz lies on the east bank of the Pisswassere at the fall line, the most southerly navigable point. The town serves as a main trans-shipment point in the area for goods in- and out-bound along the river. This area of Lagerburg has been long in dispute with the Prince of Slobbovia.
Before and after the SofanOttoman occupation, the area was clearly in Slobbovian territory. After the anschluss, or annexation of the Lagerburg region by the Holy Roman Empire, part of the border of Lagerburg was established along the west bank of the Pisswassere River to include that area formerly within Slobbovia, to include Gublatz.
This “paper invasion” sorely incensed the Prince, and he spent many a long night planning in vain to retake Gublatz. With his limited military resources, the possibility seemed remote.
Seemingly to add insult to injury, the Herzog recently established a sizable supply and artillery depot in the town. The town was not heavily guarded. The building military presence was predicted by many as a prelude to an attack upon the Principality.
“Who does he think he is fooling, with all that equipment and stores in Gublatz?” shouted Prince Sergei. “What nerve! What arrogance! Not even a decent garrison. He thinks I’ll just sit here and let him waltz in and take over?”
“Sire, there is an alternative” replied Sheik Yerboudi, the Prince’s chief advisor. “You could strike now, while the town is unready. Think of it; you could take the guns and the stores, and return here with them. It would set Albrecht back for months, perhaps more, if he is preparing to attack. And it would give Major Wan guns to train more gunners. We would triple or more our artillery arm. The advantages are obvious.”
The Prince leaned forward in his chair, resting his chin on his hands. “I’m not sure we are strong enough now to start a war with that son of a gondolier. We have only our uhlans, a regiment of grenadiers and two grenzer battalions. And of course Wan’s rockets. Not much of an army to start a war with.”
Yerboudi smiled craftily. “Sire, as you recall, the mines have been a constant source of considerable, not to say obscene, profits for both you and I. We have been able to afford to augment our army with hired foreigners for a long time now, but until now have not had the need to do so. Anticipating such an eventuality, I took the liberty of contacting some business acquaintances in Seville. I have secured the services of some troops, a total of a brigade and a battery of field guns. They have arrived in Trieste just yesterday, and are on the march here as we speak. I can have them alter their route of march to arrive at Gublatz at the same time as our force does.”
Sergei sat up with a start. “You did what? How long have YOU know about all this Gublatz business? So, are you intending to have me done in and take over again? I should have known you planned to eliminate me!”
“Calm yourself, Sergei. Our business arrangement is quite secure, I assure you. The last thing I need is to give the Sultan an excuse to send his assassins after me. I am only thinking ahead to our own futures here. I have had spies in the town for a fortnight already, and one in certain circles in Lagerburg for nearly a year. That is how I knew to hire the Spanish troops and have them sent here.”
The prince looked visibly relieved. “All right, all right. You had me going there for a moment. So, you seem to have thought this all out already. Why not just take the town and fortify it? That would show that upstart that we mean business.”
“Not necessarily. If we take the town, then we have to use some of our own men to entrench there, and we do not as yet have trained sappers to do it. Also, it may force his hand to declare an all-out war, one that we cannot yet win even with the mercenaries. We need to leave him the town, at least for now. It will give us breathing space to form batteries using the captured guns. That will also give him pause, thinking that we can use the artillery against him.”
“All right, I’ll issue the orders to put our troops on the march. Will you be leading the attack?”
Yerboudi smiled. “I will not actually be on the field, but you can be sure I will not be far from it. I leave immediately.”

Regiments Receive New Colors!

Felsenfall- Yesterday, in a ceremony complete with cannons firing, troops passing in review, speeches and festivities, the Herzog bestowed new regimental colors to most of the troops assigned to the Duchy. Reporters are working feverishly to complete drawings to show the ardent reader what the new flags looked like during the passing-in review. Because immigrants from other regions had established breweries in the region before the anschluss, some company colors had reflected their old national origins. According to comments by His Excellency, the new flags reflect more closely the close ties with Vienna and the Empire.

Pass-in-Review

Good Day,
And now, by popular demand, a Pass-in-Review of the Lagerburg army. This new selection of photos reflects the assignment of Austrian-styled colours. The General Staff, led by the Duke and Duchess:


The Guards Brigade: Crown Royal Grenadiers and Lowenbrau Grenadiers:


The "German" brigade: the regiments of Heineken and von Busch:



The "Imperial" brigade: IR Borsodi and IR Edelweiss:





The "Irish" brigade: Col. Killian's Irish Red-coats, and Col. Guiness' Stout-hearts:




The Light Brigade: Garde Jager and the Jagermeister Jagers:



Col. Stroh's Sapper Rgt:




Major Pusser's Marine Battalion:




The cavalry- Three Brigades, plus the Mounted Police...



The Heavy Brigade: Carlsberg Kurassiers and the Grolsch Horse Grenadiers:



The Medium Brigade: Anheuser Dragoons and St. Pauli Dragoons:



The Light Brigade: Reitendes FeldJagerKorps (RFJK) and Schwartz Label Hussars:




The Slobbovian Legion, made up of horse, foot and rockets/guns-



The Infantry: the Bibermilch Grenadiers, Hurlbut Battalion and Grenzer Battalion:




The Cavalry: Smirnoff Bosniak lancers, and Topvar Hussar Regiment:



And finally, the Massed Batteries:

Lagerburg's Mounted Police given their Colours!

Felsenfall-

His Excellency Albrecht, Duke of Lagerburg has today in the capital of Felsenfall presented the Colours to the Duke's Reitende FeldJagerKorps Regiment. The ceremony was coincident with the graduation of the first class from the RFJK Academy in the capital city. The Duke personally presented each Trooper, NCO and Magistrate their commissions, then each was given his assignment and sent to his post. The presence of these highly trained enforcers and administrators of the law will ensure a safe and peaceful atmosphere in the towns, cities, and the countryside. They will also provide a more secure border, reducing the incursions of rading parties from across the eastern Grenz. The regiment should not be required to assemble again except for ceremonies, or if an emergency or war should arise. The attached artist's sketch is of the Regiment as they passed-in-review during the ceremony.

The Lagerburg Mounted Police (Reitendes FeldJagerKorps)

The roots of military police in the Lagerburg Army can be traced back to the Reitendes Feldjagerkorps (RFJK) of Friedrich II. Upon accession to the newly-created Duchy, Albrecht borrowed from the Prussian model to create his own police and security force. In contrast to the Prussian regiment, however, the Lagerburg RFJK was trained and employed for civil law enforcement duties as well.
The Duke made use of the most recent advances in the sciences and law in order to create a model organization. He established an academy in Felsenfall for the training of recruits; basic literacy, physical fitness and prior education were prerequisites for admission. As indicated by the nature of training, a heavy emphasis was placed on law enforcement and criminal justice. Subjects taught in the RFJK academy were:
Criminal police methods
Correspondence training
General & special police powers
Criminal, forestry, fishery, industrial and waterway codes
Passport and identification duties
Folk culture
Wound treatment
Weapons drill & marksmanship
Scouting & reporting duties
Horsemanship
Self-defense techniques
(It may be noted that much of the training would eventually be brought together to create an Olympic sporting event, the Pentathlon.) The rank structure reflected the mainly police duties of the organization. The commander of the force held dual titles of Chief Magistrate and Colonel, each used when appropriate. In peacetime the duties of the Reitendes FeldJagerKorps (RFJK) were to enforce and administer civil law; during general emergencies troopers were tasked to conduct reconnaissance, control military traffic, carry important messages, and protect members of the ducal family.
As members of the RFJK rose through the ranks, their roles and assignments likewise changed. In peacetime, rank and file troopers were employed as police officers or constables assigned to towns and cities in the Duchy, and officers held positions as circuit judges. When the Duchy went to war, the RFJK would muster at Felsenfall to be organized as the senior regiment of light cavalry. Later a battalion of Feldjagerkorps zu Fuss, was raised to supplement the RFJK.

Why I use Plastic Figures...

"My name is Allen and I am a gamer of plastics..." there, I've said it! Yes, I'm one of the heathens out there. My entire SYW collection is in various plastics. The great Lagerburg and Slobbovian Army is composed of 9 line BN's, 3 grenadier BN's, 4 light BN's, one sapper platoon; 2 Dragoon RGT's, one of Horse Grenadiers one of Kurassiers, two of Hussars, one of Light Dragoons, and one of Uhlans; and eight field batteries, with two extra 24-pound siege guns and two howitzers in the artillery park. To accomplish this, I decided to utilize as many figues per box as possible, so I sat down and did some figuring. The numbers for, say, Revell Prussian infantry crunched out like this. In each box, then costing about $7.50 USD, you get:

loading, 8

marching, 5

st. firing, 8

kneeling, 8

grenadiers @ charge bayonets, 5

gren's @ run, back leg raised, 4

gren's @ run, front leg raised, 4

LT, 1

SGT, 2

Ensign, 1

drummer, 1

CO on horse, 1

Thus, if I wanted 48-figure line/grenadier battalions and 24-figure light/militia/engineer BN's, I would usually need six boxes of Revell figures. So, with 6 boxes, I got:

3 line BN's (firing, kneeling, loading),

1 grenadier BN (combining the running ones),

1 fusilier/Jager BN (the grenadiers at Chg. bayonets) and

a Light/Militia/Engineer BN (the marching hatmen).

I would allot one LT, two SGT's, one ENS, a drummer and a COL to each unit:

Average cost, about $7.50 USD per unit. Cavalry was a bit more, requiring two boxes per RGT of 24 sabres, plus officers. Average cost, about $15/unit. Artillery, depending on whose I used, was about a box per battery. I relaxed my authenticy needs a bit with regards to cavalry and artillery, as I am going the "fictitional nation-state" route in my gaming. This opens up the availability of using Napoleonic hussars (some SYW units had busbies anyway, true?), Italeri AWI light dragoons, some perhaps with RHA-supplied Tarletons, and a smattering of others, all this in keeping with my personal requirement for frugality. Now admittedly it was true that I was buying Revell Prussians when they were still pretty easy to get. Now only the Austrian infantry are priced reasonably at Tower Hobbies, at about $7.50 USD/box. To obtain specific SYW heavy cav, I resorted to "Frankenstein-ing" other figures, like SYW dragoons with head swaps (left-over grenadiers) to make Horse Grenadiers:

or Zvezda Napoleonic Saxon cuirassiers, with the heads previously removed from the Revell SYW dragoons:

I even modified unused dragoons, firing carbines from the saddle, to make extra staff officers (see my photo of the horse grenadiers, the CO is thus converted).The artillery is a mix of Revell Austrian artillerymen, ESCI AWI British infantrymen, and a few Napoleonic RHA (the Brigadier did that too once, as I recall from a certain book). All in all, I have kept the overall costs down to within reason.

Building an Army

Oddly enough, this army has been under construction for a long time; nearly 30 years since I first put brush to plastic.
I started out in the late 60's (I know I'm dating myself here) as a lad playing along with a neighbor with early Airfix WW2 figures and Matchbox vehicles. I received for one Christmas an Aurora "Rat Patrol" set that yielded a Pz IV, a Panther and (of course) two Jeeps with .50 cal MG's. These gave many happy hours in the sandlot next door, sculpting fortifications, terrain features and the like.
At that time the War Memorial Museum in nearby Newport News sold ROCO Tiger I's, Shermans, PZ IV's and T-34/76's for 99c apiece (ah, those were the days!). Also, Airfix figures were a dollar a box. One could truly amass an army on the cheap. Eventually an epiphany came, an idea of putting my FFL troops in two-rank formations outside of their desert fort to "volley" at the onrushing Arabs on their horses and camels on the coffee table; hence, a habit is born! Up to that point I hadn't though of actually painting them, though.
A serious setback happened in my teens when my mom threw out by mistake a large shoebox filled to capacity with all of my collection of troops and vehicles of various types. I was in such a blue funk over the loss (and also began unhealthy habits like driving and dating girls) that I forgot about reconstituting my "armies". Later, while attending college in Norfolk, my Army ROTC instructor showed me his copy of "Charge!" (thats it lads, I was hooked!) I was absolutely fascinated with the book, its style, the ideas of OS gaming and of the concepts of fictional countries and armies. While borrowing it to read, the book accidentally fell onto a copy machine with a handful of dimes (remember, Amazon.com was still two decades in the future) and I at least had the rules summary. It would be almost 20 years before I finally found and bought an actual copy for myself.
About the same time, a friend introduced me to D&D and I began to frequent a local gaming shop. Here I observed fellows playing "Empire" rules 15mm Napoleonic games, huge ancients battles, and WW2 company-level 20mm engagements. I thought, "Wow! I could have a decent sized army if I still had my box of stuff!" Finally, all of the elements of a gaming habit were in place. I never did get into lead figs though; I supposed that I'm just a cheap bugger, but most plastic figures had a sufficient level of detailing and of course one can't beat the price!
Over the course of a couple of years, I accumulated several brigades of Napoleonic troops in the Young/Lawford 1:10 scale, all from the Airfix line of figures and painted from Philip Haythornthwaite's Waterloo color plates. I quickly learned how to convert figures("Frankenstein-ing" as I call it).
With just Airfix Waterloo figures, I was able to
- swap the tarletons for busbies on RHA to get Artillerie a Cheval de la Garde (I got a lot of complements for those)









- put the tarletons on French line to get Bavarian infantry
- trimming the shako plates from British line to get 61st, 95th and 60 th. light bobs
- put excess French shako heads on the RHA drivers, trim the harnesses from the draft horses, separate the bases and get 16th Lt. Dragoons.
- Put AWI grenadier caps on cuirassiers, trim the breastplatestraps, and paint heavily on the torsos to get the 2nd RNB Dragoons.
- Trim the horsehair plumes on cuirassier helmets to get LifeGuards/Blues.
- Put shakoes on hussars for French, British, Prussian or Brunswick hussars.
The list goes on, but you get the idea. I kept painting at every opportunity, and by about '78 I had about 1500 figures, stored in a motley variety of boxes. After joining the Coast Guard and being assigned to a ship, I'd keep my collection in my "coffin locker" underneath my mattress (you'd be surprised at how much stuff you can hide in one of those). After getting several of my shipmates hooked on the hobby, we'd have "battle royales" in the helicopter hangar on improvised tables of stacked equipment boxes covered with green army blankets. On one duty weekend in a nearby barracks bay we held a marathon multiple-table event with (by then) nearly 3,000 figures. It was a truly awesome spectacle.
During this period, I also resurrected my collection of WW2 ROCO armor and Airfix troops. While in Connecticut on assignment, I found a hobby shop having a clearance on ROCO vehicles, with dozens in a wire-mesh bin by their front door. There were tanks, trucks, half-tracks, almost everything you could want for a collection. Whatever I could not buy, I converted with sheet styrene and model part trees. I scratchbuilt drop-on casemates. turning T-34s in to SU-76's or SU-100's, PzIVs into StuG 42's and modifying searchlight halftracks into SdKfz 251's. I even converted an M-41Walker Bulldog to a M-24 Chaffee by shortening the gun and cutting down the rear of the turret. I had several Avalon Hill board games, and a favorite of mine was Panzer Leader. I adapted the rule set for use with the miniatures with success. Two friends and I had many an enjoyable battle with those.
While on a cutter in NewYork, I met a young ensign who showed a mild interest in my painting troops, and he dabbled in a regiment or two. After we parted ways, I figured he wouldn't do much with the hobby. Imagine my surprise over a dozen years later when he, by now a commander, called me at my office. I asked him if he ever gamed anymore; he laughed and told me his wife would probably put out a contract on me for introducing him to the hobby. He laughingly called me Dr. Frankenstein to his monster. He said I should see his garage, overflowing with thousands of all kinds of miniatures, and that some vendors now send him samples to paint and show at HMGS events. DoctorFrankenstein I was indeed!
When I was made Chief in '88, I had a lapse of sanity and sold off all of my collection for a song (I still kick myself for that today). I figured that, now that I was a senior enlisted my days of miniature gaming were over; foolish me! A hiatus of 5 years ended with assignment to a sea-going cutter, once again out of Governor's Island.
During my dry spell, Revell began to produce their SYW series, which was from the time-frame that "Charge!" interested me in originally. I found a hobby shop in Manhattan and began to reassemble an army. Since then, I have amassed ten line/grenadier battalions, five light/militia Bn's, eight cavalry Rgt's, and eight field batteries. Whew! It's been many a year since I started down this road, and it's a relief to know that I'm not the only one who has traveled it.