I have rebased my Argentine Army of the South American Wars of Liberation on Big Bases. All infantry and cavalry on 80mm x 40mm bases. 12 figures per infantry base; two bases to a battalion. 6 figures per cavalry base/squadron. Guns stayed on 40mm x 40mm bases; one gun per base.
Liberators
During the period 1810 – 1824, the Spanish colonies were wracked by revolution. By 1824 Mexico and all the South American Colonies were independent. The Portuguese had their own problems and Brazil was independent by 1825. You might want to check out Overview, Timeline, my 1817-18 Chilean Project, 15mm Figures, Painting Guide and Resources.
Using Big Base Liberators Figures of 1817-18 for 1815
A while ago I put together some thoughts on Using 15mm Liberators Figures of 1817-18 for 1815. That was for my old armies on bases 30mm wide. I’ve now gone for Big Bases so I thought I’d revisit what I need to do for the third campaign in Upper Peru (Jan-Nov 1815), featuring the Battle of Viluma / Sipe Sipe.
Maipo – A Liberators Portable Wargame Battle Report
Back on 10 Oct 2012 Andrew Coleby and I had a go at Bob Cordery’s Portable Wargame. I didn’t write it up at the time because I was busily converting this site to WordPress. Nominally the game was for the Battle of Maipo. I like the idea of wargaming on a chess board but the rules themselves need refinement.
Cavalry in Rough Terrain – Musing on a Lasalle House Rule
I’m interested in using Lasalle for the South American Wars of Liberation. In that theatre infantry, when faced by superior cavalry, would often head for rough terrain. But the standard Lasalle rules don’t encourage this – the cavalry will just charge into the rough after the infantry. So I’m exploring a house rule to rectify the problem.
Gavilan – A Liberators HOTT Battle Report
Back in December 2012 I played the Gavilan scenario for Liberators HOTT. I didn’t write up the battle because I was in the midst of converting this site to WordPress. But I recently rediscovered the photos and thought I’d share a few.
Necoechea – Lasalle for Liberators / South American War of Independence
Francisco Erize did some thinking about Lasalle for South American Wars of Independence. He called the result “Necoechea” after Mariano Necochea, an Argentinean general of the wars. The words are Francisco’s.
Converting from Liberators QPR to March Attack
I gave March Attack a go for Liberators when I fought Alternative Chacabuco. March Attack are a battalion level set of Napoleonic rules from Crusader Publishing. They appeal to me for a variety of reasons, not least because each unit is two stands, just like my big base armies.
But to do the refight I had to translate the orders of battle from Liberators QPR, the game I’ve used most for big battles in the Liberators period, to March Attack. The main issues are Troop Quality and Commander Ratings.
Alternative Chacabuco – A March Attack Battle Report
I quite like the Alternative Chacabuco scenario from Fletcher (2006). It isn’t historical but it is small and reasonably balanced so is a good choice to try out a new set of rules. As it happens I’ve been wanting to try out March Attack by Crusader Games for a while so once again Chris Harrod and I faced each other around Chacabuco Farm. Chris was the Royalists / Spanish. I was the Patriots / Argentineans. It was the first outing of my Liberators armies now they are all on Big Bases.
I’ll describe the battle and then make some observations on the game, March Attack and the scenario. The summary about March Attack is that the rules are optimised for Corps level actions and hence gloss over of details at the level of the manoeuvre unit (battalion, regiment). That speeds up the rules but at the cost of flavour that is significant for the small South American Wars.
Alternative Chacabuco – A March Attack Scenario
The Liberators supplement (Fletcher, 2006, p. 10-11) has an Alternative Chacabuco scenario. These are my notes for playing the scenario with the March Attack. See also the Battle Report.
Painting Guide for Viluma 1815
A painting guide for the Battle of Viluma / Sipe Sipe of 1815.
Simulating Politics in a Wargaming Campaign with Political Tokens
War is merely the continuation of politics by other means
Maipo – A Liberators HOTT Battle Report
Chris Harrod and Kevin Pridgeon played my Liberators HOTT scenario for Maipo. Chris was the defending Royalists and Kevin the attacking Patriots. It was Kevin’s first try with historical wargames and Liberators HOTT in particular. A good fun game but the HOTT timescale didn’t work.
Gavilan – A Liberators QPR Battle Report
Chris Harrod and I played the Gavilan scenario for Liberators QPR. I was the defending Patriots and Chris the Royalists. It was great fun but another epic in terms of play time. The Patriots won. We’re not sure the Royalists can win even with beefing up Morgado’s forces.
Setting: Gavilan Hill, Conception, Chile; 5 May 1817
Maipo – A Liberators HOTT Scenario
This scenario is in the Liberators book (Fletcher, 2005, p. 66-67). These are my notes for playing the scenario with the Liberators HOTT.
Wargaming the Battle of Gavilan 5 May 1817
John Fletcher has published a scenario for the Battle of Gavilan (5 May 1817). I’ve got supplementary notes related to wargaming that scenario in various places and this post points to them.