Batoche battle site

I had a chance to stop at the Batoche settlement and battle site while I was on vacation this summer. Batoche is located about an hour’s drive northwest of Saskatoon.

The site is quite large with a few preserved buildings, including the church where Louis Riel proclaimed his second provisional government and a nearby rectory (with bullet holes from a gatling gun).

There are also a number of recreated rifle pits, a farm house that was burned and rebuilt, a cemetary. You can also walk to the site of the Canadian field camp and the view over the South Saskatchewan river is lovely.

There is an interpretative centre with artefacts. We opted to stay outside due to the pandemic so missed whatever content was here. Overall, a pretty visit with nice interpreters.

Bomber Command Museum, Nanton, Alberta

This summer we passed through Nanton, Alberta on our way to a family vacation in the mountains. I'd recalled that Nanton housed the museum of Canada's bomber command. My wife's uncle was a tail gunner in a Lancaster so we decided to stop in and see what the museum had.

Outside there are the usual "planes on a post" but also a very moving tribute to the 10,000 Canadians killed in bomber command operations. We were able to find her uncle's name. The sheer number of names is quite staggering (both sides of the monument above).

The museum inside was pretty interesting. The only exhibit picture I snapped was of this 1/72-scale model of a training base in nearby High River.

From the museum, you enter the hanger, which is full of planes. Some you can climb into (Jessica is inside the front fuselage of a bomber created for a movie). I was a touch too big and stiff to get in there myself.

The largest plane is a Lancaster (which still runs) set up with a dam buster bomb hanging below.

There was also an ME-109. I was surprised by how big the fighters were and how small the bombers were (relative to each other). The 109 was a big plane.

There were also several trainers, commemorating the role played by Canadian training facilities.

It was hard to get a decent shot of the Lancaster due to the short sight-lines. We paid an extra $5 and got the chance to tour the inside of the Lancaster.

Even with the adjustments made for tourists (e.g., stairs, equipment stripped out), it was a tight squeeze. I can't imagine doing in the dark, in -40, with all four engines howling.

Although access to the tail gunner location was blocked off, there was zero chance I would have been able to squeeze into the slot. Talk about a lonely posting.

We also passed through Vulcan, Alberta and stopped at the Star Trek Museum (which was most a giant gift shop with some cardboard movie cut outs and some old Trek toys.

I bought a few t-shirts but can't say it was worth the detour.

Fort Walsh, Saskatchewan

On my way back from a work trip, I took a detour to Fort Walsh, Saskatchewan in the Cypress Hills. This was more out of the way than I imagined (maybe an hour off the TransCanada highway) and involved some entertaining alpine driving (in the middle of the prairies!).



Fort Walsh has a nice interpretative centre (with canteen) up top that walks you through the Fort's history and purpose with a bit of background about the Cypress Hills massacre. You then hike down to the fort itself. You can go down the road (below) or the trail (end of post).

The fort is maybe 500 or 600 feet per side. None of the buildings are original as the fort was abandoned and its remains destroyed by forest fire. The site was later re-activated as a horse-breeding centre for the RCMP before being transferred to Parks Canada.

There are numerous buildings to explore plus costumed interpreters. It was cloudy and cold the day I was there but the parking lot was busy despite the remote location of the fort.

Above in the interior of the commander's house (I think). Below is a two-pounder inside the smithy (I think).

There are lots of barracks to walk through.

There is also a nice 1/87-scale replica of the fort at its peak. Sorry the shots are poor--the glass case and wicked reflections made shooting tricky.

Outside the fort were a few teepees and some Metis buildings. The original fort had quite a boom-town spring up for a few years. The only thing left is a cemetery and some stone foundations.

Below of the shot of the trail leading down to the fort. What is most striking (beyond the Cypress Hills themselves) is the isolation of this post when wagon train and horse were main transport mode.

I'm pretty sure I wouldn't go back here (it was a long drive) but it was a very interesting side trip.

Fort Battleford, Saskatchewan

Earlier this summer, work took me past Fort Battleford, Saskatchewan--one of the old NWMP forts from the Riel Rebellion era. Fort Battleford is located in Battleford, just off Highway 16. The signage is pretty slim so looking at a map ahead of a visit is a good idea.



The site itself is on a wind-swept prairie bluff overlooking the North Saskatchewan River. There is an interpretative centre, a wooden palisade, and five period buildings.

Outside the walls are barracks (that were originally intended as stables). I didn't get inside here because a school class was using the space. You can see some costumed staffers in the picture below. There are also foundations and cellars from various buildings that you can see from the frisbee-golf course but all of the signage is too sun-bleached to read.

The fort itself is pretty good sized for a prairie fort--maybe 700 feet per side? Below is a pano shot of the interior from the main gates.

There are four buildings inside plus foundation outlines of many more. Below you can see the guardhouse (foreground) and the sick horse stable (behind, with pagoda to improve air circulation).

The guard house was interesting, with cells, a small barracks room, and some period pieces (rifles) behind glass. The stable was, well, horsey-smelling.

There are also two residential buildings and some tents.

 The senior officer's building is half tricked out as a residence and half as an office space.

The commander's residence is basically a big farm house with summer kitchen out the back (on the right in the photo below).

The interior was nice and reminded me of my grandmother's house in Perdue.

Most of the inside of the fort is just grass. There is one small cannon on display.

Maybe a two-pounder?

This was a nice stop on a long drive. The cafeteria was not much so you'd want to get food in town or bring your own. I'm not sure I'd go back but it was a pleasant walk and the siting of the fort really illustrates how vast the prairies really are--you can see for 15km or more.

Punic Wars and the Trial of Louis Riel

Bruce and I got together this week for a few hours of gaming. We started out replaying The Punic Wars (as a campaign engine for Aurelian). I was again Rome and tried not to make the same mistakes as last time. Annoyingly, I ran into the same economic issue anyhow, with Carthage way out producing me.

I got a luck event (revolt in Spain) which helped me bridge the economic gap. About four turns in Hannibal decided to descend from Gallia to the coast to try and stomp Scipio's army. He has about a 3:2 advantage. Looking forward to trying my luck on the miniatures table against the dog's breakfast of troops that the Carthaginians have to field.

Bruce then brought out The Trial of Louis Riel, a new boardgame he got. Very fun game in four rounds. First round the players use cards to reveal information about jurors (randomly assigned traits). Then the players winnow the pool down to six jurors.

Then there are two rounds of card play representing the trial and here the players can fiddle the jury a bit but mostly they "make arguments" to sway particular characteristics towards their cause. This moves markers on the board and shapes the eventual scoring. For example, if the jury pool is heavily catholic, the each player seeks to move the catholic marker towards them.

The final round is summation and entails a hand of cards that the players have each set aside during the first two rounds. This gives players a chance to make last minute adjustments. Like most card-driven games, the lesson here is read the cards you put away carefully... .

At the end you score, revealing each juror's complete set of traits and scoring them as per the tracks on the game board. To convict, the prosecution needs 100 points. There are also two tracks allowing the players to seek a win through overwhelming evidence (crown) and insanity (defence). Louis got off this round, mostly because the jury was heavily catholic and mercantile.

WW2 Italian foot

I have a pretty large collection of 1/72-scale Italian foot from both Terry and Tim's respective closet clean-outs. I painted up 70 for North Africa. Some are from an old Airfix set (re-released by HaT) and the rest are from a Waterloo 1815 desert set.

I based 10 in groups of four and the rest (mostly Airfix) are based as singles for casualty removal. The Airfix singles are perhaps a bit too European in their uniforms (despite the desert colours). Lovely figures though, with lots of deep detail for the washes. Will do for the desert and maybe Sicily?

Up next: Some British 2 pounder ATGs for the desert and then onto some late-war British airborne troops. I also have a coupe of games with Bruce this week.

Fort Edmonton

I sometimes blog about historical Canadian military sites (for example, the Halifax Citadel and Fort York). I realized this summer I’d neglected to post anything about Fort Edmonton, which was the local Hudson’s Bay trading post.

There were actual five forts between 1795 and 1915 in various locations, the last of which was built on the flats below the eventual location of the provincial legislature. The remains of the fort were dismantled in 1915.

A recreation of the last fort (circa 1840) has been constructed as part of Fort Edmonton Park, about 5km upstream from the last fort site.

It includes the four story residence of John Rowand and several residences.

There is also a smithy and a York boat (as well as a new boat under construction).

The park also has a circa 1885 North West Mount Police Post (not pictured).

New tutorial: Painting vehicles using washes

Just in time for Canada Day, I have published a new tutorial about painting vehicles using a white primer and various washes.

As with the other painting and basing tutorials I have done, these are mostly designed to provide new gamers with some quick-and-easy ways to get troops on their table.

More NWMP

A snowy weekend found me back at the painting bench with more Riel Rebellion types underway. I added some firepower for our American cousins with three cannons (a fourth awaits basing). These are figures from an old game.

Apologies for the still-soft photos. I'm getting better with my borrowed camera but it is a tricky thing to manipulate. Below are some samples of the 28 additional Canadians I painted. Most I painted as NWMP but I did a couple of units in khaki. These could be green militia units sent as reinforcements (different uniforms means easier differentiation on the table).

Up next: I have a game scheduled with Bruce tomorrow night. On the painting bench are some 1/72-scale Indian elephants that I hope to finish tonight. Following them are 48 foot troops to flesh out the rest of the Indian army. Then maybe some ancient Germans.

EWG Club Night October 15

We had 10 guys out at the club last night with three games running. I hosted Scott in a NWMP game using the For Honor and Glory rules (DBA activation and CCA-style movement and combat). The scenario was that a NWMP patrol was ambushed on the way to Fort Whoop-Up by some locals.

As the locals were of the hit-and-fade, they needed some big hitters to even out the odds so look who decided to cross the border to help out. tsk, tsk.

We played three games, with the NWMP supply convoy winning twice and the indians/cavalry team winning once. You can see a lone gatling gun trying to pick off some fellows (wisely) hiding in the woods. The rules seemed to work s now I'll paint up a few troops and maybe think through a more historical scenario.

It took awhile to master the use of the indians, but Scott eventually managed to win with them by throwing out a pair of pincers, splitting my force and then using hit better activation to whittle down my units through volume of fire. Below you can see one attempt at flanking in the foreground.

Dan and Neil played a game of Battlelore.

Dave hosted Andy, Bruce and Jonathan in a game of Memoir '44 (it was a hex-themed night apparently).

 And Terry hosted Gord and Chen in a game of Zombicide.

Up next: I have some 1/72-scale ancient Indian cavalry and chariots that are block painted. Now onto the detailing! Maybe this weekend if the weather turns sour.