Wagram - Battle Report. 28mm Napoleonics

On October 24th last, Quorn Wargames put on the Battle of Wagram (Napoleon rules). Fought around the town of the same name, each army had marched through fog to their positions unaware (initially) of where the enemy lay. As a French player I was told by Gary (the C in C) that "saxons were in the village" and that we were to support an attack by another French division on a village perched atop the heights on the right flank. When the fog lifted however, it revealed a different story! In fact the saxons had vacated the town hastily pursued by the Austrians.

Rather than a defensive tactic, the Austrian players made a much more aggressive play and came straight at us. As Gary desperately ran around changing orders I watched in horror as my division drifted off to the right and a large gap started to open up in our lines. Thankfully I was given what I needed and changed direction to meet the looming attack (whilst hoping that a couple of Bavarian regiments under the command of Ian on my left, would give me some relief). I blasted a good few of the Austrians with my 12lb cannons, but couldn't cover myself quick enough to stop a cavalry charge on the other side which decimated the artillery. This kept me in square for most of the ensuing game unfortunately. Shot ragged by Austrian Jaegers, and seeing them wheeling up their guns to finish me off I was lucky enough to see the Bavarians start to push them away.

Meanwhile on the right flank there appeared to be a huge cavalry clash as our dashing horsemen controlled by Darren hammered the enemy lines. After some spectacular charges the Austrians fell back and left the way open to capture the heights. On our left flank however it appeared slow going as our Frenchies struggled forward under two batteries of Austrian guns, whilst ours didn't get the necessary die rolls to maximize their effectiveness.

Then to our consternation a division of Landwehr with lancers in support appeared behind our lines. The latter of which engaged our own cavalry in that section from behind.

When we decided to finish the day it was still too close to call. We had the heights whilst the enemy had the town. Their right flank had completely collapsed, but our left was in serious trouble and could easily face the same fate.

The photos above are from the day, and also show some of the miniatures used (the Landwehr look particularly nice I think).

French vs Austrians Battle Report

Another evening of Napoleonics. This time French vs Austrians. In the middle picture you can see the small town held by the Austrians (mainly Landwehr) and some Jaegers thrown out in front. We had sizeable French force with a cavalry brigade in reserve. Although looking quite unbalanced, the Austrians had the chance to field their own much larger reserves at any time - and likely as not to appear behind us!

The first couple of turns saw the French wheel up their artillery in the center and start blattering away. One battery aimed at the barricade on the main street and another firing canister to scare away the Jaegers skirmishing to the left. A large hill to the right had an Austrian battery and some cavalry perched on top. As the French columns pushed forwards they were saved by some unlucky shooting/poor dice rolls whilst the French cavalry managed to receive their opposites charge and push them back over the other side of the hill. The French center (covered by artillery) made a rush into the village as the Landwehr vacated their barricade. Surprisingly however, they reformed and charged back in causing some serious casualties and pushing us back. Luckily the French left had by now circled the town and was likely to rectify the situation keeping the buildings firmly in our grasp.

More consternation was provoked when the Austrian reserves turned up behind us to our left-rear. The cannons that had originally faced the village were redeployed to face this new threat in double quick time, and our reserves of cavalry who had been hovering around for just such an eventuality managed to charge in with half their force (the other half standing around scratching themselves due to a failed command roll!). The end result was the Austrian artillery taking flight and leaving their infantry feeling the pressure of two batteries aimed at them and two brigades of cavalry turning their way. Not good.

We used the 'Napoleon' ruleset. The figures were mainly Perrys and Foundry. I took some pics of Simons nicely painted Austrians which I've also included here.

ACW - Chickamauga Photos.

Last Wednesday was the first time I'd ever wargamed the American Civil War. We used the 'Johnny Reb' rules which I found quite easy to pick up as we went along. The combat was fast...and extremely bloody. I guess that's also an accurate historical reflection. Firepower being the key thing here. The top photo shows Chris' Union men lurking in the woodline to meet our Confederate forces advancing up the road. I was a bit concerned about our starting point because it looked like we were going to be boxed-in from the outset. Our objective being a small crossroads just beyond, I could see Chris holding us quite easily. The second turn only seemed to confirm that as he blasted my artillery train and killed my horses before I could unlimber in the position I wanted. At the same time our left flank was raked with fire inflicting serious casualties. However, we managed to press the centre of his line and also caught a couple of his units with flank fire who were hanging a bit too far forward. The guns, even though stuck a distance back, managed to open up on the treeline and support our units moving forward who also unleashed their first fire at close range (giving us some nice bonus points). It ended with the Union army losing a third of their number and falling back.

Figures are by Battle Honors and Old Glory.

French Napoleonic Mounted Colonel

Above is the completed Victrix mounted French Colonel I've been working on over the last few days. I did the horse using layers - Vallejo Neutral Grey to start and then adding a slight bit of white for each consecutive highlight. I decided against using the Army Painter on this because I really wanted him to stand out. The flock and gravel are Galeforce Nine, except for the sprouting grass which is courtesy of Colgate (the bristles from an old toothbrush!).

28mm Napoleonics 'Republic to Empire' Rules. British Vs French

We had our first grapple with the 'Republic to Empire' rules at the Quorn Wargames Club (http://www.sonsofsimondemontfort.org.uk/) yesterday. I was feeling slightly daunted to begin with, this being my third introduction to a Napoleonic ruleset in just a few weeks - the previous being 'Napoleon' and 'General de Brigade'. I was actually quite surprised how quickly we began to pick it up. The point system for actions which was decided with the rolling of 4 average dice each turn made the system less rigid. So for example you could divide up 14 points with moving, changing formation, issuing new orders etc. Obviously there were still some restrictions (as experienced by Chris who voiced his frustration at not being able to unlimber his British 9lb cannons and fire at the Frenchies rapidly advancing up the hill towards him in the same turn - something only Horse Artillery and 6lb cannons could do). I also liked how swiftly we could make it across the board and begin to engage. Brilliant for a good size game that you could easily complete within 4-5 hours.

Another very good aspect was artillery fire. First shot on a new target was inflicted with a few minus points to the die roll, unlike in other games where you'd get plus points. It was deduced that the former was more realistic in that you'd have to range in the cannons with the first few wild shots, and then later increase your accuracy.

The second photo above shows another example of rash heroics (or "Raglan's Blunder") as the British cavalry decided to charge enemy artillery from the front. Accompanied by the immortal words "well, it might just work..." these chaps unfortunately were forced into a rout back to the medical tent to have the canister shot removed from their posterior.

It was an all round great evening, with lots of fun and a nice ruleset which deserves more testing and exploration in the future.

French Line Artillery 12lb Cannons and Crew

Finished these yesterday, just in time for our first game of 'Republic to Empire' at Quorn Wargames Club. The crew and pieces are all Foundry Miniatures. 12lb cannons and personnel all late line artillery in full dress uniform. I did some digging around in a couple of books (primarily New Vanguard 066 - Napoleons Guns 1792-1815 (1) Field Artillery) and found some pictures I managed to work from. The one thing that slightly threw me was the single fringed eppaulette on the left shoulder of the officer figures. All the pictures I found displayed both eppaulettes - maybe someone could enlighten me on why there may be just one?

The paints I used were all vallejo, using Dark Prussian Blue for the main uniform. The wood on the gun carriage was painted in Olive Drab with the metal details picked out in black (as shown in the New Vanguard book). I also used Army Painter again, but this time using a brush rather than the dip method.

15mm Napoleonic Battle ('General de Brigade')

The photographs above were taken from last night's battle at the Wargames Club using the 'General de Brigade' Rules for 15mm. It was a scenario taken from the rulebook and set during the Peninsular Campaign. Main feature was a huge hill with a horde of French perched on top and a smaller British force being tasked to hold them until reinforcements arrive later in the game and give them a bloody nose. The French were to wait until the weather conditions lifted (fog - lifted on turn 17 or on the roll of a 6 on d6) and then withdraw from the field.

The second picture shows the moment British skirmishers make contact with the French behind cover just on the crest. This particular British unit showed its mettle by later receiving fire from French muskets in the front and left flank, along with cannon on its right. A 'refuse flank order' had meant it couldn't step back and reform, but had to slug it out mercilessly. To their credit they made the French pay heavily, and only dispersed once they'd reached 50% casualties. An action that someone said would definitely have been recorded in regimental history!

The Foundry 12lb French cannons and crew are finally on the painting table. I'll post pictures after the weekend.....