"F&IW Blockhouse question" Topic

I am thinking of getting an MDF blockhouse for my F&IW game, and after doing a did of looking around I have a questions.

Where block houses to be found by themselves, or were they always part of a fort?

And would they have been built without a palisade around it?

Some of the images of other peoples' games some times show a block house sitting by itself on the table, whilst others are part of a fort.

Again, some images show no palisade, whilst others do.

Please bear in mind these images are of wargames, so I have no idea if they are based on how they were historically, or whether based on a gamer's budget etc.

thanks in advance.

Not so much based on a gamer's budget but on the settlers' budget.
It takes a lot of labor to clear a lot of land to make the deluxe edition, with palisades and corner blockhouses.
A nice blockhouse would hold a few settler families long enough for the Indiana to give up and move on down to Shickshinny.

I agree with Winston. Both were used, full forts with palisades or in small settlements, just blockhouses.

Yup….forts required more effort and troops. Blockhouses could be used for smaller communities, for protection, or were set along trails in between forts to protect lines of communication.

In my FIW collection I used blockhouses in both ways… stand alone and as part of larger forts. You can see my uses in diorama form in my FIW Gallery at link

Not all blockhouses had an overhanging second story. Many were simply loopholed log cabins. The loopholes were usually placed high enough to prevent an attacking enemy from sticking his musket through them to fire into the cabin.

Thanks Guys – your answers are very helpful in more way than one.

And thanks for the link to the photos War In 15mm – some lovely eye candy there to draw inspiration from.

Where I grew up in Ohio the F&IW blockhouse is still standing. It's the typical overhang type and never had any palisade.

shelldrake,

I am about to post an 18th century collection in 28mm for sale. It includes a scratchbuilt block house and three cabins, along with figures.

Nick

Cheers Nick – I am on a fairly tight budget, so I am guessing the postage to Australia alone would hurt. Thanks for the though though.

True, I didn't see you location before I posted. Still, a pretty easy scratch build.

link

The one in Merrickville, Ontario was always free standing

Good luck with your project… the FIW is a wonderful period to be working with. Richard

Were the blockhouses of the FIW usually all wooden construction like the OG Stockade Blockhouse, or would some have been wood and stone, like the OG Fort Ripley Blockhouse?

Not a blockhouse, in Port Jervis is an old stone house called Decker Fort. During the AWI, old man Decker and his son fired muskets while his wife and daughters loaded. One raider killed and one wounded was enough to convince Brant's raiders to leave the Deckers alone.

Hello PentexRX8!

Both were used, all wood or wood and stone. They also built fortified cabins that were generally all of wood. A lot had to do with materials that were available, how much time did they have to build it and how long did they want it to last.

Best regards,

Glenn

the old marx playset is the most accurate

By blockhouse are you thinking a military post or a fortified civilian post? I am having trouble finding any F&I period civilian block houses in the links provided. Not aware of any on the western PA frontier during the F&I period. Not sure about NY. Again, talking civilian vs military posts.

Historygamer – I can't really answer the question sorry, as I know next to nothing about blockhouses for the period.

I am mostly going on the title of MDF products that are called blockhouses.