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.

Ireland and Gaming

So the family took holiday to Ireland. We didn't see much gaming related (although I did stop in a few game shops in Cork including on really cool, old model shop), but there were some things that touched on gaming.

For example, I was surprised to find Guinness Hitler during a tour of the brewery in Dublin (seems off brand, somehow).

There was also this cool mural in Dundalk.

We took a tour of the town of Carlingford. The ruins of King John's castle were close for renovation.

The town had lots of other medieval buildings though, including this merchant's manor house.

On the west and south coasts, we saw a few castles, including (below) Blarney castle.

I managed to get out to the club despite my rather messed up clock this week. Terry hosted me in game of Imperial Settlers.

Chen and Brandon played some Kings of War. Chen brought out his dwarf war dogs, which were very nice models.

Terry slaughtered me at Imperial Settlers (total rout).

And I left before the KoW game really got going.

I spent yesterday finishing up some Ware of 1812 rebasing after finding a tub of static grass in a box.

These foot include some Canadian irregulars (above) and militia (below).

I also found enough for three units of British regulars. I plan to run a test game with Bruce this coming week before bringing this out of the club.

I'm present rebasing a few US cavalry and I had to order some Indian allies from Irregular as I think I sold my plastics with my AWI figures and the good Italeri set is OOP.

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.

Port-la-Joye, Fort Amherst, and Prince Edward Battery

A family vacation took us to Prince Edward Island. Not much there gaming related but we did get to walk around a couple of fortifications. Port-la-Joye (later Fort Amherst) is located just west (across the bay) from Charlottetown. French settlers arrived in 1720 and a small number of structures for were built to house a garrison and civil authorities on a hill overlooking the harbour.

The picture above is looking east from the fort site to Charlottetown. British troops took possession of the site and burned the French fort in 1745. In 1758, the British took possession of PEI and built a new fort on the same site. You can still see the earthworks. The picture below looks east towards the Fort Amherst earthwork.

The fort site is about 100 feet by 150 feet (at a guess--I didn't pace it off) and is surrounded by an earth berm and ditch. Inside the fort (below) you can see the remains of cellars from the buildings.

While the fort sounds small, walking around it gives you a different impression. The outside ditch is substantial. Below you can see me looking up to top of the berm (which presumably would have had a palisade on top of it) as well as a profile shot of the berm and ditch.

The site itself commands the surrounding area. Landing would require scaling a substantial cliff and then advancing 200+ meters uphill across a large open area. The forts 18 guns would command the harbour and its entrance. There were a number of very interesting monuments discussing the Acadian deportation.

In 1768, the British moved across the bay to the site of present-day Charlottetown and eventually constructed three batteries there (salvaging the Amherst guns, which later went to Crimea). The Prince Edward battery remains today (in Victoria Park). Looking out the gun port below, you can just see the site of Fort Amherst on the right (above the sail boats). This battery covers the entrance to the bay.

The site of George's battery now seems to hold a combination of housing and a Canadian Forces building. Here you can see some old vehicles (a Sherman, a Lynx, and a Ferret) and some artillery.

The gaming scene in Charlottetown was a bit slim. There are two comic stores (Comic Hunter and Lightening Bolt Comics and Games) in downtown Charlottetown. These have mostly CCG and CMGs, although Comic Hunter also had some board games and Warhammer. There was also a boardgame cafe that I didn't get a chance to visit. Charlottetown itself was lovely.