Veteran's Day 2025

It's Veteran's Day on November 11th in the United States and Remembrance Day in other countries. I'm proud to have served with the men and women of the following combat units of the United States Army:

2nd Battalion, 47th Infantry Regiment (Raiders)

2nd Brigade, 9th Infantry Division (Bad to the Bone)

1st Battalion, 52nd Infantry Regiment (Ready Rifles)

7th Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment (Regulars by God!)

4th Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment (Warriors)

2nd Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment (Regulars by God!)

Task Force Badger, Joint Special Operations Command

Epic Revolution, Part 2: Musketeer Regiment von Bose

Musketeer Regiment von Bose (sans Grenadiers) marching through Philadelphia

After Part 2's cliffhanger about when I discovered that the Hessian regiments had all of their grenadier companies detached to form composite battalions, I was left in the lurch as I need two more musketeer strips to complete my planned three stand unit. I really (at the time) was not interested in buying the Hessian and Allies Brigade so I just bit the bullet and bought another issue of Wargames Illustrated that had the Hessian sprue.

One command strip and one musketeer strip.

I decided to paint the Hessians as the Musketeer Regiment von Bose (which was originally the Musketeer Regiment  von Trümbach when they arrived in America) because it was a regiment from the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel that participated in numerous battles of the American Revolution to include campaigns in the North and South. In this scale (and often in other scales!) my philosophy is to paint the figures so they look good at gaming distance. These figures are designed to be "generic" Hessian figures so I am not too worried about the Regimental details. In addition, with smaller figures, I have found it to make darker colors a shade lighter than what you would think they are so they show up better on the table. That is also why with smaller figure I usually prime in white so the uniforms are brighter.

Two musketeer strips. The NCO on the right is a nice touch. 

Due to the number of conflicts Britain was involved with globally at the time the American Revolution broke out, Britain found itself in need of more troops to quell the rebellion. As was the custom of the time, it signed a treaty with several German Principalities to essentially lease their armies for the duration. These troops, from several German states were commonly referred to as Hessians, because the largest block of troops came from the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel. The total number of German troops committed to the conflict eventually reach about 33,000- almost a full third of the total Crown forces. The Hesse Cassel army was based on the Prussian army of the time and was among the most professional in Europe. 

Comparing the size of the 12.5mm figures with a 28mm Highlander from Warlord games.

Von Trümbach/Bose participated in many of the major events of the war, including the actions in New York, Stone Ferry, Eutaw Springs, Savannah, Charleston, Guilford Courthouse and Yorktown. At Guilford Courthouse the regiment received special note for its bravery as they fought back-to-back to battle foes on both sides. The main body of the regiment surrendered with Cornwallis's army at Yorktown. The red neck stocks worn by the regiment signify it is a veteran regiment.

 

For the basing of the stands I used watered down white glue and added fine model railroad ballast to the bases. Once dry I put clumps of watered down white glue in various areas and added green static grass. Once that was dry I sprayed a flat, clear protective coat to protect the figures and bases.

A new "shiny new toy syndrome" monster is forming in my mind . . .

Epic Revolution, Part 1: Marketing Works!

 Yep. The ole Marketing scheme worked with the free sprue of Epic Revolution from Warlord Games that was included in a issue of Wargames Illustrated. In the past I have used the sprues for new armies for One Hour Wargames. The Sprue I received was the Hessian sprue which includes Hessian Musketeers, Hessian Grenadiers, British Grenadiers, Hessian  Jägers, Indians, and 2 figures of British Cavalry. I've been sucked in. I'll explain in another post why and what I am planning to do.

For practice as it's been a while since I painted horse and musket and figures smaller than 28mm I decided to paint them on the sprue and then later on the bottlecaps (trying to figure out which is easier). The figure in the middle on the right was my practice figure for Musketeer Regiment von Donop. I'm going to have two strips on each base and three bases for a unit.

Musketeer Regiment von Bose.

They are coming along nicely. My philosophy is to paint to what they would look at gaming distance, so I will not be adding super detail.

I am pleased with how they are coming out. The figures I have officially determined that they are 12.5mm measuring from the bottom of their feet to the top of their heads - not their headgear! Also I forgot that it takes about the same amount of time to paint 12.5 - 18mm figures as 28mm figures.

Now to do some research. OH DANG IT! The grenadiers were detached and four seperate Grenadier Regiments were formed. They got me. I need some more musketeers.

The German Division in the Peninsular War, Part 3: The First Step for The Grand Duchy of Baden

Okay. I'm making some progress on the contingent from the Grand Duchy of Baden. I haven't quite decided which table of organization I'm going to use for the German Division as the it depends on the "point" in time. I'm probably going to go with a standard organization that will be the generic organization. Either way, there will be 4 units of Baden infantry. Above is the first unit that is complete. The basing, though relatively simple, is being delayed by (GASP!!!) another miniature project, water colors and of course my pride and joy grandchildren.

Uniform plate from Knotel.

Bonus look at troops from Nassau.

Two more units that need their bases finished.

 

Starship Troopers: The Annual Read

 "I always get the shakes before a jump . . ." thus starts one of the greatest military science fiction novels of all time, Starship Troopers, by Robert Heinlein. Even today, the book has stood the test of time, and was a big influence on my decision to be an Infantry officer.

When I attended the Command and General Staff College, I was pleasantly surprised to see the novel on the required reading list. Today, the novel is still on the reading list for the US Army, Navy and United States Marine Corps.

The overall theme of the book is that social responsibility requires individual ownership. Social responsibility is an act of self acceptance of that responsibility along with the concomitant commitment to the debts that are incurred. 

Juan Rico begins the novel with no thought of his personal responsibility or of any particular group's responsibility to self or others. This theme is obliquely addressed in the novel's opening: "We had all inspected our combat equipment (look, it's your own neck -- see?), the acting platoon sergeant had gone over us carefully after he mustered us, and now Jelly went over us again, his eyes missing nothing." "Now I was going to have a hole in my section and no way to fill it. That's not good; it means a man can run into something sticky, call for help and have nobody to help him." "I've heard tell that there used to be military outfits whose chaplains did not fight alongside the others, but I've never been able to see how that could work. I mean, how can a chaplain bless anything he's not willing to do himself? In any case, in the Mobile Infantry, everybody drops and everybody fights -- chaplain and cook and the Old Man's writer."

 The theme is repeated through flashbacks to High School and Officer Candidate School in a required class called History and Moral Philosophy. In this view, everything from the right to vote to the punishments for various crimes are depicted as part of a larger effort to recognize society's needs and improve society, as distinct from self-interest. The service Heinlein envisioned was an all-volunteer service, long before the US military had changed to an all-volunteer model. Other than the rights to vote and hold public office, there is no other restriction between service veterans and civilians.

 

In the course of both the "current" plot and flashbacks Rico learns to take responsibility for ever increasing groups: himself, his comrades, and eventually all of mankind (a shared responsibility), and accept that as the reason for remaining in the service. Further, Rico is seen to develop from a relatively powerless citizen, to a very dangerous fighter: "There are no dangerous weapons; there are only dangerous men. We're trying to teach you to be dangerous -- to the enemy. Dangerous even without a knife. Deadly as long as you still have one hand or one foot and are still alive."

I just finished my annual reading of the book . . . something I do annually!

Now for the Warning!!!

This is a poster for the movie directed by Paul Verhoeven who admitted that he never read the book (that bastard)! Not only does the movie miss most of the points of the book and, as a retired infantry officer (Regulars By God!), it's embarrassing to watch. 

Please don't get me started on how they portray Lieutenant Rasczak, the epitome of the servant leader in the novel that leads the Roughnecks.

One of the worst scenes in the book is when the platoon is defending an outpost and the bugs are coming. I can see the nuclear rockets strapped to the backs of the (so called) Mobile Infantry! So what do they do? Break out the SMALL ARMS (sigh). How about the scene when the platoon surround a bug in a circle, and then they all fire at the bug! In a circle? They would have hit each other. (Note: That's a safety violation) And please

Do not watch the movie!



The book sums it up nicely: "For the everlasting glory of the Infantry . . ."