 |
| Battle of Sheriffmuir |
Graham pulled out his 1/72nd Jacobite collection and we took to the fields at Sheriffmuir for the Tuesday game. As I commanded the Jacobite right under Mar, my scope of the entire battle was somewhat limited and myopic. Therefore, for a full accounting of the battle, please visit Graham's post, And we ran, and they ran.
In our engagement, the action on the Jacobite right is recounted in the following Ode to Sheriffmuir.
We threw down our muskets,
Unsheathed our swords
Flying down slopes with screams
The enemy stood shocked
Our momentum not blocked
Floating like ghosts in their dreams
From afar, battle is ne'er as seems
 |
| photo courtesy http://wargaming4grownups.blogspot.com/ |
Their cavalry came on
With their sabers drawn
Resolve not as stout as deems
With their sabers drawn
Resolve not as stout as deems
Many buckled in fear
As our Highlanders drew near
The broadsword overhead it gleams
As our Highlanders drew near
The broadsword overhead it gleams
From afar, battle is ne'er as seems
 |
| photo courtesy http://wargaming4grownups.blogspot.com/ |
Scots against Scots, melees raged
Hacked fore and aft, none disengaged
Bravery and honor, redeems
Hacked fore and aft, none disengaged
Bravery and honor, redeems
Limbs cleaved clean as mighty sword falls
Men stare aghast as horror appalls
From afar, battle is ne'er as seems
Men stare aghast as horror appalls
From afar, battle is ne'er as seems
 |
| photo courtesy http://wargaming4grownups.blogspot.com/ |
Cut down where they stood
No commands could be heard
Bodies piled high in extremes
Bodies piled high in extremes
With Argyll high on plateau
Blind to the carnage below
From afar, battle is ne'er as seems
Blind to the carnage below
From afar, battle is ne'er as seems
While his right had been battered
His left had been shattered
Torn asunder by Highlanders furloughed
His left had been shattered
Torn asunder by Highlanders furloughed
 |
| photo courtesy http://wargaming4grownups.blogspot.com/ |
and battle is ne'er as seems.
-- Johann Freytag, wounded Sheriffmuir, 1715
-- Johann Freytag, wounded Sheriffmuir, 1715
Oh bravo! A magnificent posting, and considerably more comprehensible than most Scots poetry.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sir! Consider this channelling of RB as a possible first draft...
DeleteTo get closer to RB you need more apostrophes- ne'er for never, for example - and the odd word that sounds like muckle. But mostly lots of apostrophes. And some lassies who are greeting (that's crying) in the glens.
DeleteDon't get me wrong - I like haggis and needs, but I went to one Burns Night Supper and that was enough. Apparently lots of it is meant to be taken seriously.
That should read neeps not needs. As in parsnips.
DeleteNoted! Does the poem capture the feel of the battle on the Jacobite right?
DeleteIt did to me.
DeleteMaybe the mention of tatties on top of the neeps. (Cannae serve one withoot t'other!)
Good!
DeleteAnd Neeps are turnip, not parnips, if we are being technically accurate - bashed Neeps an' chappit tatties is fit Ye hae wi' haggis, min!
DeleteYes, and parsnips should read turnips. What was I thinking?
DeleteJust off to fry myself a Mars Bar.
Nice touch, a romanticised narrative to the description of battle.
ReplyDeleteThat certainly looks a very do-able action for the home table.
Thank you, Norm. I hope you enjoyed my bit of poetry.
DeleteWith little terrain required except rolling hills, this is a very approachable battle for the gaming table. Oh, add to the difficulty the requirement to paint hundreds of Highlanders.
Making hills is always a challenge to get them the right shape, and also to ensure that figures will actually stand on the bits you need (hence my preference for stepped hills made from blocks of chipboard).
DeleteThe tartan plaid is a bit of a challenge, but not that bad in this period. The clan tartan thing only dates from late 18th/19th century, so any plaid will do, more or less. Being not even a journeyman painter I can get away with a lot, but basically its a dark background overlaid with a wide grid in a medium colour and then a thin "frame" painted on that in a light colour. I have a table made out pinned above my painting desk with the various combos I use. Of course that's for 15mm/20mm. It probably won't pass muster with the 28mm perfectionists.
I do love me a Jacobite rebellion and written in poetry to boot. Very clever and well done mate! Thoroughly enjoyed that!
ReplyDeleteVisited Culloden with my grandfather when I was a lad and the museum there was great at describing how the battle went, the troops involved described in great depth along with some fantastic relics to boot. Always thought that would be a fun game to make a gaming project for.
I am very pleased that you enjoyed my poetic rendering of the battle, Dai!
DeleteWalking the ground of Culloden with your grandfather must be a cherished memory.
This would be a very interesting period to game if one was not taking into account having to paint all of that tartan.
Went to Culloden with my parents and older brother in my mid teens. It's very evocative, and I bought John Prebble's classic "Culloden" (dated but still a good read). Mrs T and I were going to revisit the Highlands last year on a driving tour, but alas that all went to hooey for obvious reasons.
DeleteIf you aren't happy with my tartan painting guide above, you could always do it in 6mm. You could get most of the battles on a tea tray if you did.
I miss the Highlands and visiting my grandparents when they lived there. A serene beauty that is not found anywhere else in the world I think.
DeletePainted Tartan en masse is a lovely sight to behold, but looks like a hobbyist's nightmare to get done and done right.
Sounds like a wonderful place to visit or grow up in, Dai.
DeleteFantastic aye!
ReplyDeleteT'was a wee ode to Jamie that had me rollicking.
(ok - rollicking is not Scots...but it was all i could come up with - fantastic stuff from the most underrated wargaming period of all :) )
Aye, thank ye Sir!
DeleteSpeaking as someone who only writes rules for under rated periods, I think the competition is tough for that accolade.
DeleteGraham, you do take the path less traveled in your attraction to obscure Wargaming periods.
DeleteI was going to call my rules imprint "Wargaming off the Beaten Track" at one time. I don't know what it is, odd stuff just seems to find me. To be fair, I also have big piles of Ancient Greeks/ Persians/ Macedonians/ Romans/ Carthaginians etc, as well as WW1, and WW2 (although those are XIVth Army in Burma, and they're West Africans as well).
DeleteWho wants to be normal anyway?
As long as you stuck to the genre of obscure conflicts, that would have been a great title.
DeleteI won't be publishing anything mainstream in the near future, as I can't think why anybody would buy a set of rules off me for periods which are really well covered, like Ancients or WW2. Plus I haven't written any for mainstream periods.
DeleteActually, I've got a card based Ancients system, called "Rapid Raphia", which is my answer to the likes of DBA and OHW, in that it plays on a 2' x 2' playing area with limited units a side.
Very inspiring gaming, Jonathan!
ReplyDeleteMuch appreciated, Dean!
DeleteI have always found Scottish poetry hard going but that was a pleasure to read. Looks like another fun game there Jonathan.
ReplyDeleteSince I am no Scottish poet, perhaps I failed to capture the proper essense of it?
DeleteGlad you enjoyed it! Transforming the battle report into poetry was a fun break from normalcy and tradition.
Scots Wha Hae! Ye’ve done Robbie Burns proud! Thumping fun read!
ReplyDeleteThank ye, laddie!
DeleteNicely done, touch of the heather in'nit.
ReplyDeleteMuch obliged, Joe!
DeleteAs to the actual game, as far as I recall, Sherrifmuir was a bit if a draw and after it, Mar retired and the 1715 rising of the Old Pretender fizzled out? You do seem a bit paranoid about the tartan though Jon...in this era, it's just plaid really, not that hard...or do it in 15 mm and just paint the base colour!
ReplyDeleteI cover the aftermath on my blog that JF posted a link to. Yes, it was a draw, but in effect that was a Government win, as Mar needed to win to keep the rising going. So it all, as you say, fizzled out and Mar went into exile. All a bit sad, in a way, as it all started with Mar's grievance over his pension.
DeleteKeith, having painted Highlanders in both 15mm and 25mm, I know it is a task I do not relish.
DeleteFabulous Ode and nice looking game!
ReplyDeleteMerci!
DeleteExcellent - I'm all in favour of specially-commissioned battle poetry. Because I was sure there was such a thing, I looked up William Topaz Mcgonagall's epic on the subject, which ends on an enigmatic note:
ReplyDeleteThe success on either side is doubtful to this day,
And all that can be said is, both armies ran away;
And on whichsoever side success lay it was toward the Government,
And to allay all doubts about which party won, we must feel content.
[Old Wm Topaz never allowed himself to be restricted by any inconvenient traditions such as meter]
Good to receive your approval on my special poetry commission. If the opportunity arises again, I may give it another go.
DeleteGreat batrep Jonathan! Putting the pics to poetry is a novel and entertaining twist giving a real feel for the period.
ReplyDeleteCheers, Ross
Glad you enjoyed it, Ross!
DeleteBrilliantly executed idea, AAR
ReplyDelete's will never be the same again.
Thank you, Phil! This was a fun and off beat exercise.
DeleteAn interesting battle and report. My sons went to Queen Victoria military school in Dunblane whose sports grounds are right next to the battlefield.
ReplyDeleteHave you ever been up there? I understand it is now mostly forestry commission plantations.
DeleteDid you have a chance to walk the grounds while your son attended school there?
DeleteI used to pass it twice a month when working offshore, I think the road actually went through the battlefield. Back then it was still pretty much open moor, it has been twenty years since I was up that way. I didn't walk the ground as it was just outside the school area, I suspect the approach march would have been through school grounds.
DeleteFascinating, George! It’s a small world when the topic of an obscure battle is discussed and someone responds with “I’ve been there.”
DeleteThen there's
ReplyDeletethe auld song, sung here by the Corries:
Sherrifmuir
Great find. Excellent performance and really interesting images. I did not realise the sides of the muir were so steep!
DeleteWhat is also interesting - and I've had this in a discussion elsewhere - is how the comments afterwards and in terms of what people think was going on are now framed in terms of English v Scots, which (with both armies commanded by and containing Scots) was not the case.
Very good, Ross!
DeleteFantastic looking game sir!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Michal! Game is Graham’s. Poetry is mine.
Delete😀😀. Nice one.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Stew!
DeleteNicely done Jon another string to your bow. It is a battlefield I haven’t visited. Although as you might imagine only living 30 mins from the scottish border means I am (when not locked down) a fairly frequent visitor my father still lives in Edinburgh, the highlands are without question one of the most beautiful places. I will check out the battlefield if I am up that way.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Matt!
DeleteWhen the urge and opportunity strike to travel into the highlands, please send back more of your magnificent photos from the region and battlefield.
Whilst I agree that the Highlands are very beautiful, I feel I should point out that Sheriffmuir isn't actually in the Highlands, but just outside the southern edge. Dunblane is one of those places called "gateway to the Highlands". At the time, before the Clans received their romantic makeover, I would think that people in the area thought of themselves as lowlanders, and would have been Covenanters (they have a copy of the Covenant in their museum). There is a tendency to equate Scotland and the Highlands, but whilst the Highlands are Scottish, not all of Scotland is Highlands.
DeleteWow! Very impressive post! From afar, your hobby is ne'er as seems :)
ReplyDeleteGood one, Dmitry! You are an attentive reader.
DeleteFun post,nice poetry, you're expanding your range, we will expect an ode with every AAR! Had to nip up to Scotland last week for work, good looking country I think you'd like a bike ride there!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Thank you, Iain! I bet I would enjoy cycling there.
DeleteHow much do you like mosquitos?
DeleteMosquitos? I like them not so much!
DeleteYou'll be on first name terms after a week of generating a sweat in the Highlands. At least they don't carry malaria.
DeleteTim did Sheriffmuir at Historicon a couple of years back. There were plenty of bad puns, but no poetry, alas. Although we did have a lass play in the game.
ReplyDeleteBravo, Jon!
Thank you, Peter! Do you have photos from your Historicon game?
DeleteI maybe should show it to a friend who wants to paint a Jacobite army to fight my British units... Very nice to see 1/72 miniatures on your blog. I initally thought that Sheriffmuir must be a very onesided event for wargamers.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Graham ("Trebian") games with a number of 1/72 armies. If you visit his blog (http://wargaming4grownups.blogspot.com/) you see many of these armies and battle reports on their use.
DeleteWithout the correct scenario design, Sheriffmuir could be very one sided...only joking. With both sides running away it's very balanced.
DeleteThere are some good Jacobite figures in the Redbox range for lowland militia, and the Strelets Jacobites look a bit odd, but paint up okay. As Jon says, there's a load of pictures on them in my blog back pages.