Seminole Wars: Flags

Here are some flags that I created for use during the Seminole Indian Wars:

Marine Corps Flag

Little information is available on the flags carried by early U.S. Marines. Initially Marines may have carried the Continental Colors, also known as the Grand Union Flag. In 1776 it was considered the official flag of the American naval forces by the Maritime Committee of the Continental Congress. Although not officially recognized, this flag is considered to be the first American flag, influencing the design of the 13-star Betsy Ross flag.

In the 1830s and 1840s, Marines carried a white flag with gold fringe. It contained a depiction of an anchor and an eagle and the words "To the Shores of Tripoli." After the Mexican-American War, "To the Shores of Tripoli" was expanded to "From the Halls of Montezuma to the Shores of Tripoli."

 

In battles during the Mexican-American War and Civil War, field Marines carried a flag with alternating red and white stripes. An eagle perching on a shield of the United States was superimposed in the canton. A half-wreath was positioned below the shield, and 29 stars encircled the entire design.

Beginning in 1876, Marines carried the national colors (the Stars and Stripes) with "U.S. Marine Corps" embroidered in yellow on the middle red stripe.

Here's some of the flags on display during the march.

Here's my interpretation of the U.S. Marine flag based on the description above. 

Note that my marines are wearing the summer cotton uniform. 

Based on additional research, the regular Marine uniform may have been green with

white leathers, so may have to paint some up in those colors as well.

20mm Modern: Battle at the Haj Musheen Mosque, Fallujah, Iraq

I ran this game in February, 2011. It was a recreation of the battle at the Haj Musheen Abdul  Aziz Az-Kubaysi Mosque on April 7, 2004 in the Iraqi town of Fallujah.

For some additional info on the actual battle:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iraq/fallujah-az-kubaysi-mosque-imagery.htm
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iraq/fallujah-imagery7.htm
http://osd.dtic.mil/news/Apr2004/n04072004_200404074.html

U.S. Marines responded to insurgent gunfire coming from the mosque complex.  We again used 20mm miniatures and the 'Jihad!' rules set by Stan Johansen Miniatures. Here are the game photos:

 Here's an overview of the Fallujah neighborhood.  The Mosque complex is located in the upper left hand corner of the photo.

Terrain Note: Most of my buildings are made form foam-core board, sealed in PVA glue, then spray painted a dessert tan color. Each has removable roofs and 2nd floors, as well as most buildings coming apart into pieces to simulate bomb damage, if needed. The round domes are 1/2 styro-foam spheres, glued on and painted as well.

 A closer view of the neighborhood and the mosque complex.

Terrain Note: the roads are simply cut, black poster board with white pencil for lane markings. It works until I make something better.

 The Mosque complex.

As the U.S. Marines respond to the enemy fire coming from the mosque, the U.S. Marines are hit by additional attacks from adjacent buildings.  A lucky insurgent scores an RPG hit on one of the HUMVEEs.  Luckily the Trailing M113 and its 50 cal. gunner neutralizes the insurgents on the roof. Meanwhile, the U.S. Marines that exited the wrecked vehicle, toss a few grenades into the walled compound before proceeded to clear the building.

An insurgent take aim at an approaching HUMVEE with an RPG launcher, but misses, hitting the upper story of the building behind.

Terrain Note: The Mosque tower was a 'very quick' build out of an old flashlight tube and some bits.  The Door and windows (on other side) were simply printed and glued on. I'll go back and put a better 'top' on the tower. Thank goodness for fast dry paint.  It was about a 5 minute build. "Hey, I needed a tower, and needed it like yesterday.  That's what I get for no advance planning."  It's crude, but it works.

20mm/15mm Persian Rugs for your buildings

Here are some Persian rugs that can be printed out (or rescaled for larger/smaller scales) to add some variety to your buildings and making them a little bit more 'homely' in the process. It certainly makes a difference.

20mm Modern: Iraqi Insurgent HQ attack

I ran this generic 20mm 'Jihad!' game in May, 2010, but don't remember all of the specifics.  I think the U.S. forces entered the area and began questioning the local residents.  Reliable information pointed them in the right direction to find the local insurgent HQ and weapons cache.

 An overview of the game board.  The U.S. troops are already in town questioning the locals.

 U.S. Troops are questioning the townspeople on both sides of the street as an M2 Barley keeps watch.

 When the U.S. vehicles turned around to respond to the information gathered, one of the HUMVEES hit an IED, lost control and came to rest in the building. The crew did not survive the blast.

Here's another view of the accident scene.

20mm Modern: UN convoy through an Iraqi town.

Here was another game of 'Jihad!' run at my house in September, 2009.  The scenario called for a UN supply convoy to travel through town. However, the local insurgents had other plans and they need supplies. When the convoy was attacked, it force some U.S. troops nearby to render some assistance.  Here are the pics:

Here's an overview of the center of town.  The UN Convoy is making it's way through the streets, but being delayed by  a construction project. When the column stops briefly, an insurgent opens fire on the tail HUMVEE from the dry riverbed they just crossed, taking out the 50 cal. gunner.

 A view towards the riverbed hiding some insurgents.

 Off to the left is a U.S. vehicle checkpoint, when the shooting starts.

 An Insurgent technical eyes the UN convoy at the end of the street.

Another view of the convoy and the local terrain.

 Another insurgent technical gets ready to cross the bridge and enter the town, supported by several brothers in arms in the dry riverbed.

 The U.S. checkpoint staff has saddled up and proceeded to the scene in their HUMVEE. The Insurgent technical to the right has disabled the UN supply truck and caused more damage to the UN HUMVEE.  The UN M113 takes a defensive position.

The technical team and the adjacent squad start taking fire from several directions and a few heavy caliber weapons. A TOW missed the technical vehicle, but did hit the adjacent building, causing some havoc. The insurgency would be halted and the UN HUMVEE crew evacuated.  The supply truck was able to continue, but only long enough to get it out of harms way.

Terrain Note: notice the variety of palm tree styles and sizes.  

20mm Modern: Iraqi 'Factory' Raid

Again, this operation was based on actual events that happend in Iraq.  Reliable intelligence was gathered and passed on to the local operations group.  A 'Factory' was rumored to be holding some key insurgent individuals as well as a stockpile of weapons. Unfortunately the intelligence report turned out to be false and instead was an ambush trap for U.S. forces attempting to infiltrate the 'Factory'.

Here are some pictures from the game in February, 2009.

 Here's an overview of this part of town.  The 'Factory Complex' (old school) is located in teh lower right hand corner of the pic. (Bldgs. 10, 11, and 12)

A view down the main East-west street, and there's a McDonald's up ahead ('MaDonal' in Iraq).

 Here's a better view of the 'Factory complex'.  Note the fortified roof tops and ample firing positions.

An enemy RPG missed the Bradley IFV and hit the MaDonal restaurant. No Big Mac's today.

 A HUMVEE with a roof mounted TOW (off to the right out of the picture) takes out the building shielding several insurgents that were putting down a heavy fire on U.S. troops advancing on the factory complex.

 A TOW from the M2 Bradley takes out the upper story of Building No.11 in the Factory Complex that was hiding an insurgent with an RPG. That's what you get for messing with Ronald McDonald!

The U.S. troops hit the ground running east towards the Factory Complex.  As they are checking out the garage (with the red/blue delivery truck), an IED explodes, collapsing the flimsy roof.  Luckily there were no U.S. troops inside. 

As the M113 makes its way down the street, the infantry will scale the wall and around the smoking building to reach the Factory Complex.   After that, it will turn into a simple mopping up mission, rounding up any insurgents that are left in the complex.

20mm Modern: Iraqi Battle at the 'Alamo'

This game was based on an actual event in Iraq. (I've got to locate my notes for all of the details of this engagement and post it later.)  20mm minatures and the "Jihad!" rules by Stan Johansen Miniatures was used.

The summary of this battle is that the U.s. army has established an outpost in this part of Iraq, located at the south-west corner of the intersection.  On this day, the insurgents began an organized attack on the outpost.  The U.S. soldiers must hold out at all costs until reinforcements arrive.

An overview of the table.  The U.S. outpost is at the SW corner of the road intersection.  Across the intersection is a dry riverbed and bridge heading north out of the sector.

 

Here is the fortified compound, affectionately referred to as the 'Alamo'.

 

Insurgents eye the outpost from just past the dry river bed.

 

Form the south, the insurgents have a lot of hiding places and cover available to them.

 

A local shopping district. A few insurgents make their way across the street, heading towards the Alamo.

The U.S. forces, observing lots of enemy movement nearby, appear to be gearing up for the attack.

 

During the insurgent assault, an A-10 Warthog happened to be in the neighborhood and supplied some well needed aerial supression.  A well-aimed missile just took out one of the buildings harboring some intense insurgent firing. 

 

Despite heavy fire from the rooftops, the civilian car made it all the way to the gated entry and exploded in a fireball as it was packed with explosives. U.S. casualties were limited, but the U.S. forces were able to withstand the insurgent onslaught.

20mm Modern: Iraqi town skirmish

Here was a game that was both run at a game convention and at my house. It is a typical scenario where a U.S. Patrol comes into contact and fire from insurgent forces. Here are some pics.

 Here was the convention game on a larger table.

 A U.S. M113 makes it's way through the center of town.

 U.S. forces disembark from their IFV's and start to deploy on the right side of town. A group of insurgents gather on the left side of town. There are many distractions, including some street work being done.

 Here is a shot of the US forces beginning to deploy.  4 squads start to fan out from the M113 and the two Humvees. The other M113 is a medical ambulance in case wounded need to be evacuated.

A better view of the whole village.

Another view of the village.

20mm Modern Iraqi McDonald's Restaurant and Signs

I had to have a McDonald's in my Iraqi towns to show the western influence. Here are the pics:

 Here are the signs that I use.

 Here is the current McDonald's that I have. Another, better one is planned soon and I will change this building into another shop. Note the construction of the free-standing sign.  The 'extra' yellow rectangle above is to be cut into strips and wrapped around the exposed parts of the golden arches. My two sign halves are glued to a 3/16" thick foam core board.

 Here's one of the McDonald's Billboards. Look ma, it's only 0.2 km ahead on the right.

 Here's the McDonald's in town during a game.

Even insurgents need some directions to the closest Big Mac!  "It's over there, on the left."

20mm Iraqi Road Signs and Such

Here are some 20mm Iraqi road signs and such that I have created and use in my games.

Here are some road side, directional signs.

 

Here are some photos of actual roadsigns and a couple of the billboards (Iraqi Airways and Al Jazeera)

 Here are some signs for Iraqi checkpoints and such, including warning signs and flags.

Here are some photos of the signs in actual use.

 Here are some posters and signs to be placed inside or outside of buildings.  I placed the money images on a wooden table as part of an objective to find the 'money man' for the insurgent operation.  Some of the other ones include pictures or murals of Sadaam Hussein for the outside of Bathist held areas or as interior wall posters. Also are some Iraqi maps, perhaps to be used by the insurgents to plan attacks. (another one of my objective markers.)  The Pink one is for a child day care center.