Building Empires at War kit of Fly's photography studio

If you are going to do wild west gaming at some point the gun fight at the OK Corral is going to appear on your 'to do' list. Empires at War are the only supplier I'm aware of which do buildings in 28mm for the OK Corral.

The first thing to say is that the Fly's studio kit scales almost exactly to the ground footprint on the Sandborn map which is a big bonus to me and the kit looks great when completed.  Delivery turn around was excellent, I received my parcel within a week of ordering even though I used the cheapest postage option, Royal Mail second class post.  I bought two buildings, Fly's  lodging house and photography studio and the Harwood house because those two buildings define the space the gunfight occurred in.  In this post I will look at building Fly's lodging house and photography studio, I will cover the Harwood house build in a second post.

Unpacking the kit, there are over 90 parts.

The kit itself is rather nice although it is a more complicated build than either the Warbases or Sarissa Precision MDF items I have previously put together.  It also features an interesting double wall construction system.  All of the outer walls of the building come as two parts that glue together back to back, which means laser etching inside and out when completed.  There are decent instructions with photos which give a step by step walk through of the building process.  Although these images give enough detail to build the kit, I would have liked them to have been larger to allow the trickier  construction details to be clearer.   Perhaps adding them to the online store would be an option?

These are the four supports for placing the end panels on the hipped roof.  I was puzzled by them for a while!

Clamping the two part gable end walls together

I only have two minor points about the physical components firstly there are no internal walls (possibly because we don't know what the internal layout was) and second the roof assembly is rather fiddly.  That is because the flat roof panels are finished off with sets of separate slats.  Those are an exact match in shape and size on the two main roof panels but need trimming for the porch and the roof of the photo studio itself.  It's not a major issue with a set of side cutters, but I would have expected that with the precision of laser cutters those parts could have been pre cut to be an exact match.  Again to give the benefit of the doubt this may be because it reduces the risk of breakage when popping those parts out of the MDF sheet as they are rather thin.  What I do like is that they are laid out rather like the teeth of a comb with a spine holding them the correct distance apart which makes positioning fairly simple.

Here you can see the roof slats prior to trimming

As I mentioned the build itself was a level of difficulty higher than the previous kits I have made up but even then with a bit of thought it came together well.  I'd say that this is a kit where a dry run to make sure you are certain that you know where everything goes is vital.  Time spent there will ensure a good build.  I also found that it was necessary to build one part of the building and then clamp it and put it aside while the glue set rather than trying to do the whole thing at once.  However, by doing that I ensured a good fit on things like the two piece walls and roof sections (but see below).  If you are in any doubt, the photos on the web site of the finished model are a really useful aid to checking how things should go together.

Fixing the roof panel to the underlying frame

The only part of the build that gave me problems was the roof of the small photo studio to the rear of the main building.  This is a hipped roof where there are four roof panels two that form the main roof coming together at a ridge and two triangular end sections that lean inwards and are joined to the sides of the main sections (see image).  After building this I found some of the fit I had achieved wasn't great, this was down to me not the accuracy of the kit's parts though.  The best advice I can give is to build the underlying roof frame and then to use blue tack or double sided tape to test fit the four outer roof sections before getting busy with the glue!  I made a mess of that but was able to use some bits of the MDF 'sprue' to fill in the unwanted gaps I had created.

The roof of the photo studio.  I should have mounted the big roof panels so that the tops touched 

I only really ignored the instructions on one point which was the placing of the windows.  The instructions seem to be saying to fit the windows to the internal wall section with the window frames to the outside panel.  I did this with those on the smaller photo studio part of the building.  I found that it made any minor mismatch between the inner and outer wall sections really stand out.  So for the main building I set them into the outer wall section but with the rear of the window frame flush with the back of that part (see the sketch below).  I much prefer the look that way.

Sketch of my window placement looking in cross section from above

Overall this is a very nice representation of the actual building.  The double wall panel system creates a really robust basic structure.  The pre-painted parts show a bit of laser burn staining but I don't mind that as it looks like weathering.  If I hadn't liked it, it would be easy enough to touch up.  I didn't feel the need to add anything, other to hide my errors on the studio roof and a ridge piece to the main roof.  The only paint I needed to apply was some grey to the ends of the roof slats to hide where they had been trimmed.  This model will take pride of place on my table anytime a western shoot out game is played and I wouldn't hesitate to buy other kits from Empires at War.

One in, one out.

You may recall that back in January I posted about a new rescue dog; Mina.  The idea was that we would adopt her, but sadly it didn’t work out.  While things started out well, as Mina became more settled and her confidence grew issues started to surface.

Initially it centred around resource guarding, especially with regards to food.  It then escalated to guarding the house against men coming in the door, including me!  Finally she started attacking our other dog, Barney, to stop him getting to his food.  At that point we accepted defeat and that she had to be returned to the rescue centre.

We were once again a one dog family until a couple of weeks ago when our daughter asked us to look after her 18 month old working Cocker Spaniel; Mabel.  Mabel and the other dog in the their house don't get on so they needed to be separated.  Whether this is a permanent arrangement remains to be seen but for the moment double doggie life is happening once again at Chez Elenderil. 

Mabel, looking like butter wouldn't melt...

We have been forcibly reminded that an18 month old working Cocker is a lot more energetic than a 10 year old Kooikerhundje or even George at his prime for that matter, and don't get me started on food!   She even makes the late great George look like he was watching his weight.  George used to wait to eat Barney's left overs, well I say eat, hoover up is more accurate.  Mabel doesn't wait, if Barney turns his back for an instance she is in (like Flynn as we used to say).  Other than that they are getting along really well.  We are also back to some aspects of puppy training, but she is a bright girl, keen to please and the training is going well enough that we can let her off lead for a run in the local park secure in the knowledge that her recall is good (as long as the dog treats hold out).  I'm currently having to get up a couple of times each night to let her out to wee, but that seems to be due to a bladder infection which she is having treatment for and does seem to be reducing the trips to the back garden in the wee (see what I did there) small hours.  For the last few nights there have been no 'accidents' so that seems to be going well too.

It's nice having a second dog around the place even if she is currently on my side of the bed sleeping snuggled up to Mrs E!  Dogs eh?

The OK corral - analysing the fight

In the last post I looked at the 'Geography' of the shootout, in this one I'm going to look at who was present and where they were during the critical moments as well as how they performed.  This is much less cut and dried than the location details and even Wyatt Earp himself seems to have misidentified locations in his later life.  However, the majority of sources and witness statements are clear that the shooting started in the space between Fly's Lodging house and the Harwood house.

The Earp party comes into play walking along Fremont Street at the corner of the Union Meat Market (AKA Bauer's) Sheriff Behan attempts to stop them claiming to have disarmed the Cowboys.  The Earps ignore him and continue towards Fly's.  While this is happening the Cowboys are lounging along the wall of the Harwood house and out into the vacant lot.  At least one and possibly two have horses with holstered Winchester rifles (Frank McLaury for certain and possibly Billy Clanton) as they have just ridden into town having been alerted to trouble between the Earps, Ike Clanton and Billy Claiborne earlier in the day.  Cowboy Wes Fuller is stood by the corner of Fly's Photographic Studio deeper into the lot and Billy Claiborne is between Wes and Ike.

Rough positions of the participants and routes taken by those who fled the fight

My take on the positions is that as the Earps came around the corner of Fly's the Cowboys started moving with Ike Clanton, Frank McLaury, Tom McLaury and Billy Clanton pivoting forward in a rough line.  After a few words along the lines "we have come to disarm you" or possibly "You sons of bitches have been looking for a fight, now you can have one" from the Earps two shots rang out almost at the same time.  Cowboy supporters claim that the Earps fired those shots without any provocation, while Earp supporters took the view that Billy Clanton went for his gun and fired at Wyatt, with Wyatt drawing and shooting at Frank.  Wyatt later said that he knew Frank to be good with a gun and a dangerous man which is why he shot at him rather than Billy.  At this point the firing "became general" and the vacant lot must have become thick with gun smoke (remember these guys are all using black powder revolvers).  

In the midst of this Ike Clanton runs towards Wyatt telling him he is unarmed and doesn't want this fight.  He is told "get to fighting or get away".  He chooses the latter option and flees past the Earp's  line through Fly's lodging house front door and out of the back door and away towards the OK corral.  Wes Fuller is also getting clear of the shooting at this point.  Billy Claiborne also decided that discretion was the better part of valour running into the lodging house through the back door to hide.  While all of this is going on Sheriff Behan is also moving through the lodging house.  It must have been getting crowded in there!

Who shot who isn't entirely clear as 30 -40 shots were fired in around 30 seconds so there was a lot of lead flying.  Frank Mclaury at some point crosses the Earp's firing line and reaches Fremont Street.   He  tries to draw the Winchester from the saddle holster but without success.  His horse bolts and he is shot dead on the far side of Fremont somewhere opposite the Harwood house.  Virgil and Morgan Earp have sustained one gunshot wound each and Doc Holliday has been grazed.  Wyatt has had very near misses but is unwounded.  On the Cowboy side Frank McLaury had been hit twice and killed, Tom McLaury is mortally wounded from a shotgun blast and Billy Clanton is also dying from three gunshot wounds.

We know that the Earp party all had a revolver and Doc also had a short barrelled shotgun (A Coach or Messenger's gun).  Assuming that their revolvers only had five rounds each loaded (a common safety technique before reliable safety catches) that gives the Earps twenty pistol rounds and two in the shotgun.  We don't know if all of those pistol rounds were fired off though, and assuming both shotgun barrels were fired (as Doc tossed it aside to draw his pistol) but if they were then twenty two rounds fired at close range generated six or maybe seven wounds (assuming the shotgun wound to Tom McLaury was from both barrels).  That is an overall hit rate of  just under 32%.

The cowboys had inflicted three wounds but it is not fully clear how many rounds they fired.  We know Billy Clanton's gun was empty after the fight and that Frank McLaury's still held two rounds.  Assuming each was loaded with only five rounds for safety from eight shots they inflicted three wounds are hit rate of 37.5%.  However there was, and still is, uncertainty as to whether Tom McLaury was armed or not.  He had been disarmed earlier in the day but several witnesses claimed they saw a bulge in his pocket which could have been a pistol, alternatively it is known that he had just collected $3,300 and receipts for stolen cattle from Bauer's Butchers which may have been what was seen.  No pistol was found on or near his body but Wyatt was convinced Wes Fuller removed it. If he was armed then lets add another 5 rounds to the mix.  That makes the hit rate three from thirteen or 23%.

No matter how the numbers fall out the chance of hitting an opponent in a very short range encounter in a location with little room to manoeuvre is much lower than the game rules would create if all participants have a pistol rating which doesn't create any negative modifiers.  In the old west rules the range is 1 - 10 with ratings below 7 creating a minus 10% chance of hitting per level below 7 and a plus 10% chance of hitting for each level above 7.

So assuming that everyone is on a seven.  This fight starts with pistols 'holstered' actually they were in pockets or waistbands but the effect is the same.  They were drawn and 'snap fired' at short range.  The basic chance of a hit at short rang shooting at a man walking or carrying out any action is a whopping 75%, snap firing at short range doesn't change this although the shooter walking or carrying out any action does reduce the chance to 70%.   I'd argue that once a couple of shots were fired the smoke would obscure things enough to count as soft cover reducing the hit chance to 20%.  So it's the initial two shots that have a worrying high chance of hitting although Wyatt did hit Frank with his first shot while Billy missed.  Maybe I should deduct another 15% for shooting at an appearing target for the first round of shooting.  Alternatively maybe I should drop the pistol rating of Virgil and Morgan on the Earp side and Tom and Billy on the Cowboy side.  Time for some play tests.

Next up I have to build the shootout site.  I have a Fly's Lodging House and Photography Studio and a Harwood House on order from Empires at War and can proxy the other buildings for now.  I have already marked out a foam sheet with the actual scale building foot prints, hopefully the MDF kits will be close to those dimensions.  More to come on this test once the models arrive along with details of the weaponry.

The gunfight near the OK Corral

Having completed the additional house rules for "The Old West Skirmish Rules" I needed to test them which I did with the game at the local modellers club.  The results were far too bloody so I decided to re run a historical fight where there is a lot of information to hand to give me a bench mark in case more adjustments were required.  That fight would be the Gunfight at the OK Corral, Tombstone, Arizona Territory, October 1881.  Except it wasn't at the OK Corral it was near the back gates to the  corral, along the street some 80 yards or so and into a vacant lot.  I suppose "The Gunfight near but not actually adjacent to the OK Corral" doesn't have quite the right ring to it.  

In fact a lot of what I thought I knew (mostly from movies to be fair) is wrong.  Luckily as the most iconic gunfight in western history it is pretty well documented and a lot of useful details are easily found online.  The best starting points, for me at least were the Sanborn Insurance map of Tombstone (dated 1886 so five years after the shootout) and a couple of web sites; The Wyatt Earp Explorer (John D Rose has put a huge amount of work into this site), and (believe it or not) an academic site with the trial transcripts of the attempt to convict the Earp's of murder for the killings.  The main Wikipedia article is also useful in establishing a basic narrative to hang more detailed information on.  This was enough for me to be able to create a scale recreation of the immediate area where the fight occurred.

The layout of the building plots in block 17
(image from John D Rose's excellent website)

The things we know for certain are that the fight took place to the southside of Fremont Street between Third and Fourth Streets in a vacant lot.  We can gauge the size of the building lots from an 1881 Map of Tombstone which shows the layout of building lots on the city blocks (see above).  I was interested in block 17 bounded by Fremont Street to the North, Allen Street to the South and Third and Fourth Street to west and East respectively.  The action was amongst the buildings in lots 1- 4 with lot 6 giving a rear access to the OK Corral.  The blocks were 300' square and had ten building lots along the north and south sides and two lots in the centre of each of the east and west sides.  All of these lots were 30' wide and the majority were 120' deep.  The exception are two "key lots" on each of the north and south sides (lots 11, 12, 23 and 24 above) which were 150' deep.  

The relevant part of the Sandborn insurance map

This is confirmed in part by the 1886 Sandborn map (above) which clearly shows the building in this block.  This in conjunction with period photos allows for a fairly accurate picture of the site of the gunfight to be put together.  The area of the gunfight is highlighted in green above showing the action spilled out onto Fremont.  The brown buildings are adobe construction, the yellow ones are timber framed.  The number in the corner shows how many floors and each building has a brief description of it's use.  For example Dwg for dwelling and Gro for grocery.  Buildings with a cross running from corner to corner are stables.  The Sandborn maps are accurate scale drawings which give these details of the construction, roof type, windows and use of buildings etc as this information was important for fire risk assessments and is pure gold for recreating the fight site.

All of the contemporary records place the fight in the open space between Fly's Photographic Studio and lodging house and the Harwood house with the action spilling out onto Fremont Street.  Wyatt Earp drew a sketch map in the decade before he died placing the action further east along Fremont but this is at odds with all the other evidence. and that was over forty years after the event.

After this things become a little more hazy, but this period photo helps a little.

Another excellent item from Wyatt Earp Explorers
This partially shows the buildings along Fremont Street

Note that in the above picture there are two houses between Fly's and Third Street on lots 1 and 2 (confusingly numbered 3 and 3a) rather than the single dwelling shown on the Sandborn map.  However, I'm sure that this image is fairly contemporary with the fight as the recorders office (marked 10) was replaced by a brick built City Hall, in 1882 I think, and definitely by 1886 when the Sandborn map was drafted.

The information above was sufficient to allow a start on building the terrain.  The really confusing part comes next determining who was stood where and what weapons were used on that fateful day.  So thats what I will cover in the next post.

Murder on the Streets of De lancy

Murder on the Streets of De Lancy

Things have moved along in De Lancy following the events detailed in this post Small but Perfectly Formed: De Lancy's Reckoning - May 1869 (elenderilsblog.blogspot.com).  Jake died of complications from his wounds, but Roscoe Penny survived albeit with the loss of his left leg at the knee.  Henceforth he will be known as 'Peg leg' Penny!  Still in pain but no longer at Death's door 'Peg leg' has been transferred to the custody of the county sheriff and lodged in the town lock up to await trial.  Colonel De Lancy needs him to lie low for a while which is difficult while he is locked up in jail, so a plan has been devised to free him.  This involves Little Ned Tice and associates breaking Peg Leg out of jail.  

"From the De Lancy Star for June 1869.

Two slain in shoot out many wounded not all expected to live.

The streets of our fair town ran red with blood today as desperados attempted a rescue of one of their own from incarceration within the town lock up.  The infamous bandit Little Ned Tice is amongst those slain in a violent exchange of pistol, rifle and shotgun blasts on Main Street and it's surrounds.  The fight commenced just after sunrise with Tice's company of desperate brigands riding into town intent upon forcing the release of Roscoe 'Peg leg' Penny.  Witnesses state that the bandits dismounted outside of Read's Corral and attempted to approach the jail.  It was fortunate that an eagle eyed Deputy Henry Hall posted on the roof of the jail spotted the group of armed men approaching and was able to open fire.  His first shot hit Tice in the leg throwing him to the ground as well as alerting Sheriff Fred T Jeffries and members of the town Vigilance Committee who were within the lock up.

A veritable fusillade of shots then rang out forcing the few bystanders abroad at the time to seek cover and seriously wounding a second desperado.  Matters were not entirely one sided with the deputy who fired the first shot being wounded but continuing in the fight.  Sheriff  Jeffries and our brave citizens advanced down Main Street firing as they came.   It was at this point that the first fatality occurred when an outlaw, named locally as Ezra Bradshaw, fell to a well aimed pistol shot from one of the Vigilance committee.  Sherriff Jeffries was hit multiple times in the exchange which followed as was local man James Ewell who was unfortunate to jump over a fence directly into the sights of a Desperado skulking at the rear of the newly erected town bath house.

Matters now took a more serious turn with Tice's death.  He was felled by a shotgun blast to the chest but managed to wound his assailant with a final shot.  His partner 'Mexican Bob' was severely wounded at this juncture and is not expected to live.  This was more than sufficient for the surviving outlaw band who fled the town.  Our gallant defenders were unable to effect a pursuit as all were carrying significant wounds of their own."

My two willing participants

This was a short demonstration game using the Old West Skirmish Rules fought at the first weekend meeting of our modelling club.  I apologise for the lack of a detailed AAR explaining game play and looking things up meant I didn't get many pictures.

I umpired and two club members took five characters each.  Their respective parties started out at opposite ends of the table and moved towards each other.  Both sides sent men around the back of the buildings on Main Street, but the critical advantage was the guard on the roof of the jail.  He had a clear line of sight along the length of Main Street and a Sharp’s Carbine to make best use of that advantage.  I was using one inch to the yard as a ground scale and with hindsight that would have been better reduced to two yards to the inch.  I’d also reduce the skill levels as most shots hit their target even those from shotguns.  That said the important thing was the two players really enjoyed the game.  For almost 60 year old rules they stood up remarkably well and played reasonably quickly.  All in all well worth the effort of making the buildings.

Looking down Main Street

I just need to break up the mat with some small splodges of green and darker brown and a street grid.  Plus there is no where near enough street furniture or clutter either, so it's back to the crafting table for me.