Fortifiying the Plan

 My last post indicated that Army Red would likely be seeing action in a desert campaign.  I have designed fortified walls to augment the buildings I had previously designed.  Some images showing all types of wall are below. 

I have built a corner tower, corners, straight sections, and wide city gates.  I believe I have succeeded in representing a desert fortified wall without adding so much detail that it limits its use to a specific historical setting.  These walls may fit from antiquity through the late 19th Century.  I may add a second story section to the city gates and an inside corner, but what I have is a good start.  Below is a sample 8x8 grid with my desert buildings.

The wall pieces can also be arranged using the corner tower and 3 corners to build a small fortress/outpost as seen below.  

I'll keep working on the terrain to include some sources of light cover like forests/vineyards and water features as well as developing a backstory for Army Red and its currently undeveloped opponent.

Desert Buildings

In keeping with my simplistic unit design, I knocked out some desert buildings.  They're pretty modular to accommodate different purposes/designs.  I think I should be able to adjust them to Mediterranean style by adding tile roof to each building.  I plan on extending the range to include wall segments that will have ramparts large enough to for the artillery and infantry to occupy.  I will also probably need to make rocky outcroppings and fields/vineyards/orchards to serve as suitable cover/concealment.

I guess this means that the campaign for Army Red will be set in a desert location.  I'm thinking that the first campaign could involve Army Red intervening in a civil war/succession crisis in a desert nation.  I assume that means valuable trade resources and/or strategic ports are at stake.  Perhaps Army Red's perennial adversary Army Blue will join to support the local opponent to Army Red's ally.    

 

Red Expeditionary Force

I've been daydreaming about getting the Colonial Portable Wargame onto the table for over a year at this point, but haven't gotten around to it.  I might attempt a virtual version on my computer using the 3D modeling software I designed all of my models with, Google Sketchup.  My laptop takes up much less space, is easier to get going in short notice, and I can leave a game up without my risk of my toddler daughter becoming interested in the game and "playing a few turns herself."  

Regardless of which medium the games get played in, I will need at least two armies, terrain, and a campaign backstory/narrative.  In my previous attempt at historical wargaming, I opted for imagi-nations and think I will likely do the same for Colonials.  This allows me to not worry about the minutia of the uniforms, historical army composition, or ensuring my games are historically appropriate.  An added bonus of doing Colonials as imagi-nations is getting to avoid the negative connotations/implications of the actual history.  

I'll go back and add backstory later, but the first army (Army Red) is inspired by the mid/late 19th Century British and Roman Republican armies.  Both forces featured a core of well trained and disciplined infantry and artillery, but were relatively weaker in cavalry and skirmish/light infantry branches compared to their rivals.  They also both relied on local forces to augment their core forces which fits well as an expeditionary force. Below is the force Red will bring on campaign.  The cavalry force comprises of a squadron of lancers, a squadron of dragoons, and a field artillery detachment.  The infantry force is a unit of light infantry (front), two units of regular line infantry and an elite unit of guard infantry.  Also accompanying the expeditionary force is a centralized field artillery detachment and two support/teamster units.  

Along the way they will pick up local reinforcements of local skirmishers, cavalry, and possibly Red military advisors will even be able to train up some locals into competent artillerists or drill the local militia into a regular infantry force.