Richard Houston and Chris Ferree have, again collaborated to bring us San Juan Hill 1898, a complete game in a box, The Richard Houston Collection, PO Box 14522, Oklahoma City, OK 73113. It includes in 15 mm - 46 Spanish figures and three gun sets, 223 American figures and seven gun sets, plus 4 die, map, cards and an original set of rules all for $85.00. This price is as good as, if not better, than Old Glory figures once you factor in dice, cards, map and rules.

The dice are two red and two white, the cards are a regular card deck until the officer/unit cards are available. The 8 1/2 x 11 inch map is a detailed topographic at a scale of 850 feet to the inch and shows the immediate area leading to San Juan and Kettle hills along with the disposition of American units in front of the hills. Very useful.

The Figures

The units all come in plastic bags, which I assume will be available later individually. The figures measure between 15 and 16 mm from bottom of foot to eyes. The Spanish forces bag consists of:

S/AA 10 Spanish 7.5 Mountain Gun with a crew of four.
S/AA 11 Spanish 8cm Mountain Gun with a crew of four. (2 bags) All Spanish crew are similar.
S/AI-13 Spanish Talavera Reg. 3 battalions of 3 officers and 12 men. Four men firing, advancing with bayonet and advancing at high port, the officers are advancing with pistol in hand in two positions. These men are dressed similarly to the traditional view of FFL.
S/AI-14 Spanish Talavera Reg. 3 battalions in reserve (close) of 3 officers and 12 men. Four men firing, advancing with bayonet and advancing at high port, the officers are in two different position both advancing. The uniform here is very different compared to 13 above. These are wide brimmed hats withbedrolls over their shoulders.
S/AI-15 Porto Rico Reg. 1 Bn. One officer and 4 men. The officer is drawing his revolver, one man firing, 2 advancing at high port as another in different pose. The men have bedrolls and pith helmets.
S/AC-16 Mounted Guerilla Co. (dismounted) in close reserve. 1 officer and 4 men. Advancing at ready with bedrols and broad brimmed hat.
S/AI-17 1 Co. of Volunteers, 2 men advancing with bedrolls and broad brimmed hat.
S/ai-18 1 Co. of sailors 2 men, advancing at ready and carrying swords.
S/AO-19 General Linares Commander at San Juan, the general is pointing with left hand, has his gun in his right hand, and giving orders.

The American forces bag consists of:

S/AA 01 US 2# Hotchkiss Cav Mountain Gun with 4 crew (2 bags). All the American gun crews are similar.
S/AA 02 US 3.2" Breechloading Field Gun with 4 crew (2 bags).
S/AA 03 US Gatling Gun with a crew of 4.
S/AA 04 US Colt Machine Gun with loader.
S/AA 05 US Dynamite Gun with 2 crew.
S/AI-01 2 Bns of the 6th US Infantry, 1st Brigade, 1 Div, 2 officers and 14 men.
S/AI-02 2 Bns of the 16th US Infantry, 1st Brigade, 1 Div, 2 Officers and 22 men. Two poses for enlisted men firing and advancing, two officers in two poses
S/AI-03 3 Bns of the 71st New York Infantry, 1st Brigade, 1st Div. 3 officers and 30 men. Enlisted men advancing at the ready, two poses for officers two advancing, one with rifle.
S/AI-04 2 Bns of the 9th US Infantry, 3rd Brigade, 1st Div, 2 officers and 14 men. Enlisted men advancing at the ready, officer pose advancing.
S/AI-05 �2 Bns of the 13th US Infantry, 3rd Brigade, 1st Div, 2 officers and 14 men. Enlisted men firing, one officer advancing, one with rifle.
S/AI-06 2 Bns of the 24th US Infantry Colored, 3rd Brigade, 1st Div, 2 officers and 18 men (two bags). enlisted men advancing at the ready, two poses, single pose for officers.
S/AC-07 2 Bns of the 3rd US Cavalry, 1st Brigade, Cavalry Div, 2 officers and 12 men. Enlisted men firing, similar officers.
S/AC-08 2 Bns of the 6th US Cavalry, 1st Brigade, Cavalry Div, 2 officers and 12 men. Enlisted men advancing at the ready, single pose for officers.
S/AC-09 1 Bn of the 9th US Cavalry Colored, 1st Brigade, Cavalry Div, 1 officer and 6 men. One man firing two advancing at the ready, three advancing high port, officer advancing.
S/AC-10 2 Bns of the 1st US Cavalry, 2nd Brigade, Cavalry Div, 2 officers 16 men. Enlisted men firing, two different officers advancing.
S/AC-11 2 Bns of the 10th US Cavalry Colored, 2nd Brigade, Cavalry Div, 2 officers 14 men. Enlisted men 3 poses advancing at the ready with two different officers advancing one with arm raised the other with rifle.
S/AC-12 2 Bns of the 1st US Volunteer Cavalry, 2nd Brigade, Cavalry Div, 2 Officers and 18 men. Enlisted men 2 poses advancing at the ready with two different officers advancing.
S/AGO-23 US Command Personalities: Shafter with mule, Wheeler with horse, and Teddy mounted and foot. No problem telling who Teethodore is or Fightin' Joe Wheeler, if I didn't know it was Shafter I'd think it was a reporter. To me Shafter should be bigger, weighing in at 300 pounds.
S/AGO-24 Div & Brigade Commanders, 3 mounted Generals 3 standards and 1 Officer foot (two bags). The mounted and the standard bearers are similar.

Even though some Spanish figures generally look alike they do have different hats, even within the broad brimmed variety. The detail is sufficiently raised that the figures should paint up very well and easily.

On the whole I'm very impressed with these 15 mm figures. The figures are cast very clean. There is no flash on the men, no little lead pieces sticking out of different places on the guns. Very Nice. The figures should paint very well, easily and look good with a little dark washing and highlighting to bring out details and creases.

The figures are scanned so you can have an idea of what they look like. Unfortunately, my printer can't print enough dots per inch to give a really sharp image for 15 mm. However, you can see enough detail to know that these are very good figures and the only ones available for the Spanish-American War. Now if we just had some 15 mm Moros we'd be in hog heaven.

The Rules

The rules to "A Splendid Little War Game" come on three sheets of paper, a deck of unit cards, plus a sheet of tables. These are easy to follow rules and once you know the sequence of play all you need are the tables. I have not yet played the rules so I can't say too much more than they read well and are as good as any colonial rules to come along in a while.

The sequence of play:

Draw a card. That unit makes an adversity test, basically this is a morale test to determine the units reation to its situation. The cards determine the order movement and firing. Continue until all units have moved and fired. Determine if victory has been achieved, if not repeat steps.

This sequence is pretty similar to other rules except that here firing immediately follows movement before the next card is drawn.

I only have two small problems with the rules, both very minor and easy to fix. First, the rules say you nominate an enemy unit to charge. I don't think so you charge the enemy unit closest to you front. You can't go running across the battlefield looking for that right unit to charge passing others by. Yeah, I know, I'm over analysing. My second problem, slightly more important is the ground scale of 1"=100'. Personally, I would halve this to 1"=50' and the whole game will play better and seem more realistic.

Large Photo (very slow: 227K)

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