Some more French Revolutionary War Austrians.....and others

I managed to get another three battalions of Austrians based up this week. Elite Miniatures, which I like but I know are not everyone's cup of tea. I also completed two battalion gun crews but the guns are not quite ready, but will be soon (like whenever I have a spare 30 minutes when I can paint my least favourite item). I really must get my Trent Miniatures Hungarians done but I need suitable officers, ensigns and the like.

First up though, and totally unrelated, a Russian Seven Years War commander for one of my cavalry brigades, with the general going one way and a dismounted dragoon going the other.

 Then, a little vignetter created with Eureka Miniatures French from their FRW range and a general from another manufacturer the name of whom I've forgotten who do a whole set of FRW French commanders on foot.

 Austrian battalion gun crews going through the motions while waiting for their guns.

 Three battalions of Austrian infantry. All Elite Miniatures and I think they look great in these largish units.

Wargaming my way. Miniature Wargames.

It has been many years since I last had an article published in the wargames press. In those days I was quite prolific for a while and wrote articles on such diverse subjects as the 1st Opium War, The Gwalior and Sind campaigns in 1840's India, the Mesopotamian campaign in 1914-15 and the US-Mexican War of 1846-48.

Now with time on my hands I floated the idea for my take on 'Wargaming my way' just before Henry left MW, and submitted the article to the new editor John Treadaway shortly after he took over. Issue 407 of MW dropped on my doormat today complete with my efforts.

I'm not going to say any more but hope readers find it an interesting article. It is meant as a positive message of thanks to all my wargaming friends over the years.

A quiet week, but a productive one.

It's been a while since I had a game, well for me at any rate, over two weeks! Of course, a visit to Prague last week was the main reason why, and a great trip it was too. Glorious sunshine, no wind, not a cloud in the sky and an almost tropical 5 degrees C during the day. Spent much of the time trundling over the cobbles between cafes, sampling the beer and quite excellent food, museums, a bit of culture listening to concerts, one in an amazing church, and seeing the usual sights of the city. I was very tempted when I saw a Frederick the Great v Maria Theresa chess set in a shop but it was overpriced  and I've since seen it on line for a fraction of the price. It would make a nice birthday present. Hint.

I have a game on a Friday evening with Peter and hopefully a game next week during the day either atuesday or Thursday. Paul has sorted out the three remaining battles of the War of the Austrian Succession to play using his 15mm collection and Honours of War. Fontenoy, Rocoux and Laufeldt.

Meanwhile, I've started to base up the latest additions to my Austrian and Russian armies for the French Revolutionary Wars.  Sorry about the photo quality but I had to use my iPad as my camera has disappeared somewhere. It'll turn up. I couldn't wait to show these figures off hence the incomplete bases but I am very happy with them. They're all Eureka Miniatures. The Hussars and Dragoons don't yet appear on their webstore (indeed there are lots of codes that need adding, such as the Russians in greatcoats and Austrian Grenz, but you can still ask for a list and Nic will happily supply them). I shall be sending him a Salute pre-order so I don't get hammered with postage and customs charges. Take that, HMRC! I was lucky enough to pick up several volumes of A.V. Viskovatov's works on the Russian army of the Napoleonic Wars, focussing on the uniforms at the time of Czar Paul I so plenty of information there to help build my Russian army.

 The battalion will actually end up being the Regiment Noble a Pied de Conde, a unit of the Conde's Emigre army that IIRC fought with the Russians and others before being disbanded at the end of the War of the 2nd Coalition. I've got to paint a flag for them yet but I have the info thankfully. 

 This pic is of Russian Hussars. Gorgeous figures. What more is there to say?

 Russian dragoons. Again lovely figures. In this case they are animated really well full of inaction. 

Lastly, a regiment if Austrian cuirassier, although I might redo the plume to make them Russian, as there's little real difference. (well  there is for the purist but in this scale...?)

So there, I hope to get these units based up by the weekend so they can take part in the game on Friday evening. If not, it doesn't matter. I might also manager to finish the bases on five more battalions of Austrians plus their battalion guns but I somehow doubt it. I have my painting and gaming mojo back at 100% but while the mind is willing the body isn't terribly enthusiastic just now. Hey ho, never mind! 

Dettingen

Slightly delayed no thanks to blogger and the internet not speaking to each other for a couple of days, or some other reason beyond the understanding of this Luddite, but finally we have the account of this week's game, kindly organised by my 40 plus years wargame buddy Paul. Some of the detail might have been lost to my memory since the game last week but hopefully it all makes sense. We used his gorgeous and venerable 15mm collection (some of which I sold to him 30-odd years ago), a mix of Peter Liang, Minifigs and others I think. Joining us for the day were Conrad Cairns, Paul Stevenson and painter extraordinaire Dave Jarvis.  We were going to use Honours of War, so I umpired and provided the usual refreshments, while the Paul S and Dave played the Allies and Paul T and Conrad were the damned Frenchies, not that I am biased. Actually I didn't need to do much umpiring as everyone was getting better with the rules.

Battle begins, the Allies on the right and a mass of French horsemen in the bottom left corner.

Allied horse, about to be enfiladed by French batteries across the River.

The French right, with the cream of French cavalry ready to sweep the Allies from the field....yeah! Not.

The French had several batteries and a brigade of infantry across the river. The latter were to try and cross the river behind the English line and engage their rear, which would necessitate the withdrawal of an Allied brigade to counter them.

Allied horse.

French horse.

The French across the river on route to the bridge further downstream (or it might be upstream). The English artillery managed to break one battalion with artillery fire but couldn't stop the brigade departing. This meant the Allies had to detach a brigade to our rear to head them off. Exit the Austrian infantry.

French and Allied horse closing to contact.

The first rounds of melee went the way of the Allies.

But the combat developed into a see-saw of a battle, which continued to favour the Allies, just, thankfully down to Allied quality being better than French quantity.

The Allied centre facing not very much apart from an expanding hole in the French line as Paul fed troops to his left to counter the Allied advance opposite.

The cavalry battle on the Allied left rages. Both sides have taken heavy losses but the reserve lines are about to crash into each other.

A rare sight. The French infantry in a nice straight line. It didn't last and in fact only happened by accident when some of Paul's dithering generals failed to move while the others managed to, slipping neatly into the gaps! Not so the brigade seen at the rear which was rooted firmly to the spot.

English and Hanoverian Guards ready to unleash some deadly volleys into the flank of the French cavalry and a brigade of infantry that was wandering too close.

Meanwhile, the Allied right wing, three regiments of dragoons managed to draw off a brigade of French infantry to cover the exposed flank of the French centre and left.

The Allied centre advancing as seen from the French left.

.....and the cavalry fight on the Allied left is still raging!

The last time the front rank of this French brigade was seen before the Allies unleashed a series of underwhelming volleys that broke them.

As the French tried to close with the Allies their nice neat line broke up and started to loose heavily in the exchange of musketry.

With much of their infantry broken, retreating or generally out of it a lone French battalion vainly charged the Allied line, and was blown away by an English 12pdr.

The French looking seriously outnumbered.

The French left was now in complete disarray and separated from the right by a good two to three feet of table.

The allied dragoons meanwhile took in the scenery.

The unbroken Allied line in the centre.

One last attempt by the French to break the Allied cavalry failed.

At this point we agreed that with the French centre gone, their left in retreat and their right wing neutralised or fleeing that the Allies could claim a glorious victory.

It was a great game. Very fast, cut and thrust, and enjoyable, especially as everyone played to the period rather than the rules, which in themselves again proved they could cope with a pretty large game. Thanks to Paul for organising it and to the chaps for coming round to play.

Next time we shall do Fontenoy again (but this time with HoW) or Laufelt I think.

Vapnatark. A grand day out.

Well, I went to Vapanatark in a York on Sunday. We stayed at the Marriott just over the racecourse from the venue the evening before so there was no pressure to get up at silly o'clock and I was able to have a bit of a lie in and a nice breakfast, which is always a bonus.

Katherine dropped me off at about 10:15 before heading back to the hotel spa for a few hours of pampering. There was no queue at the venue but inside the place was pretty busy. By late morning I'd say it was heaving, and it probably stayed that way till well after midday. Of course, using a wheelie-walker meant I was able to pick my route through the crowds and 'accidentally' run over the fewest number of punters possible in order to get round. I didn't get to go round the bring and buy or whatever it was called as it was a nose to back sea of humanity whenever I tried to take a look.

I can't really comment on the games as I know I didn't get round all of them, and only took a couple of photos of one of those that I did see. I have to say, in MY opinion, that with the exception of the WW1 Seige of Kut game on the ground floor which was very pretty and they were actually playing it, that the rest of the games on show were disappointing, some more worthy of a club night game than a prestigious wargames show. There were a couple of interesting looking fantasy-cum-Warhammer games but they're not my thing although the guys playing were having fun and some of the modelling, especially on the one that looked like a battle between Lizard,en and Conquistadors was pretty good. There was a really nice looking ECW (Covenanters on one side) game with some nicely modelled terrain and lots of colourful regiments on display. I walked past at about 10:30 and thought , " mmmm that looks interesting, I must come back and see how it develops" but when I did my final swoop (sorry, trundle) before leaving at 2:30 I remarked to the now plucked, preened and waxed wife that the troops were exactly where they'd been four hours ago!

In terms of loot, I was very good this time and only collected some pre-ordered French Revolutionary Wars English off Reiver Castings and I made the usual stop off to replenish my stock of mdf bases at Warbases. That was pretty much it. Now, had I been carrying a long shopping list around I wouldn't have been disappointed as there were  lots of traders, all the usual suspects in fact. I could have bought much more on the day but the internet is a wonderful thing!

The best part of the day was catching up with loads of friends and acquaintances from both near and far as well as striking up conversation with numerous others whilst battling for somewhere to sit in the cafeteria area. There are some friends (some of very many years standing) who I might not see from one show to the next, or even longer, but within minutes it's like there's never been a break as we talk about our vast collections of little men and our current/next game or project. I did miss a few people though, either due to their absence or because we passed like ships in the night.

Overall, the show met my expectations and more importantly, met my needs, especially from the social point of view. 

Friday night game and York tomorrow.

Last night Peter brought some beer down to accompany an impromptu game. I was being lazy so re-set the table for last week's game of the Russian attack in the Linth Valley in Switzerland. No photos this time though. Peter wanted to be the French so I was most gentlemanly when I decided to randomise where the Russian reinforcements entered the table. Predictably, all the infantry arrived on the western road while the Cossacks arrived on the eastern one.....just like last time. Unlike last time however the French deployed more of their troops on the eastern side of the river, which was to fatally weaken their defence of the other side, ultimately facing twelve battalions of Russians. It was still a hard slog though as the French were able to make good use of their superiority in artillery and hammer several Russian attacks back where they started before weight of numbers began to tell and the French retreated to a new line in front of the villages of Neffels and Mollis. Both armies had by now got one broken brigade, which the Russians could handle but the French couldn't as it represented half of their infantry and surviving artillery. The beer was finished by 10:30 so we called it a night and a narrow Russian victory, which was all that was required to restore their honour.

The amendments to troop characteristics still worked well as there were no re-rolls to either forget or to get frustrated at! Artillery representing two gun sections rather than a full battery have still to give any cause for concern which is pleasing. The potential and much feared consequence of fielding more  gun models, i.e. domination of the battlefield by massed artillery, just hasn't happened. Of course, were anyone silly enough to get too close to a full battery of three models then they deserve all they get!

Off to York shortly so we can be settled in time for the England v France Six Nations match this evening. Then its Vapnatark in the morning which I am looking forward to as a chance to catch up with lots of friends and acquaintances and perhaps buy some more little men.

Battle for the Linth Valley, Nefels-Mollis , 1 October 1799

This week's game with John 'The Red' was an attempt to refight the Russian victory in the Linth Valley as they continued their 'strategic withdrawal' north to link up with the Austrians. Earlier in the day the Russians had broken into the valley at the village of Netstal and driven the French off, only to encounter them again in the late afternoon. This was a relatively small game, as I was able to recreate both armies in their entirety (well almost) without having to scale the number of units down, so General Prince Pyotr Bagration's force consisted of two battalions of Jager, four of combined grenadiers and six of musketeers, supported by three sections of ex-Piedmontese 2pdr mountain guns and several sotnias of mounted and dismounted Cossacks. The French were under the command of General de Brigade Honore Theodore Gazan. Deployed in and around the settlement were four battalions of infantry and two sections of 8pdr guns. Marching to support them were a battalion of combined grenadiers, a regiment of chasseurs a cheval, two sections of 4pdr horse artillery and four more battalions of infantry. The question was, would the numerically superior Russians be able to break through the French on the table before they were reinforced? Back in 1799 they did, and also drove off the reinforcing troops. In 2017 it proved to be somewhat different!

The river was impassable except at the bridge between the two villages and the little streams were steep-sided and only passable by infantry; cavalry and guns had to cross using the fords. The thickly-wooded hills were steep and reduced movement to a quarter for close order troops and a half for skirmishers. John chose to be the French, and deployed his troops to cover both roads entering the valley.

 The French. One battalion and a gun on the eastern side of the river, with two battalions and the other gun on the western side. One battalion was held in reserve.

 The Leading Russian units arrive; two battalions of the 7th Jager covering the advance of two battalions of the Rosenberg (Moscow) Grenadier Regiment. In support is a section of mountain guns.

 General Lomonosov's four combined grenadier battalions are next to arrive, with two more sections of mountain guns in support. Out of sight (beyond the trees in the distance) on the eastern road are all the Cossacks.

 French chasseurs a chervil and horse artillery appear at the north end of the valley.

 Russian grenadiers push the French back from the stream while jager occupy the farm to their left. 

 The leading elements of a further six battalions of Russians arrive on the western road. That was my mistake. I will explain later.

 The ex-Piedmontese mountain guns deploy ready to bombard (lol!) the French over the river.

 The Russians stacking up nicely ready to assault the French position.

 Four more battalions of French en route to join their comrades.

 The French horse artillery deployed alongside the 8pdr section where they could enfilade the Russian columns with impunity.

 The battle at about turn 8. The French reinforcements have all arrived and the Russian advance is starting to run out of steam in the face of determined resistance.

 The situation is livened up somewhat by a furious bayonet charge by the Rosenberg (Moscow) Grenadiers. The French closing fire was ineffective and although they held their own for the first round of melee they had to take a break test and routed. Hurrah!!!

 The Russians then continued forward and assaulted the village which was held by a slightly battered battalion of infantry. The Russians were on a roll and again forced the French to take a break test, and again they routed, leaving the village in the hands of the twice victorious if now slightly dented grenadiers.

The Russians made several attacks but each was driven back. This was the final attempt, which like the others, failed miserably. Beset by artillery in their flanks the Russian columns were decimated. I therefore conceded defeat, er, accepted a minor setback, for the Russians.

My mistake of course was not employing infantry on the eastern side of the river. My Cossacks could make no headway against the single French battalion facing them as they were holding the only crossing point where the road spanned the impassable (to cavalry) stream. My reserve division of six musketeer battalions would have made short work of the French and would then have been able to head for the bridge over the Linth, diverting French reinforcements in the process. That would have forced the French on the western side of the river to retreat or face being cut off. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but I knew from turn 2 that my best chance of winning the game had been lost. 

Historically the Russian rearguard had routed the pursuing French at Muotatal (see earlier post), while Bagration had been mauling with Molitor and Gazan's troops along the length of the Linth valley, eventually pushing them aside. There would be more clashes with the French before Suvarov's army reached safety, and I intend to play them all out over the next few weeks, as well as the one or two that I've missed but can do now I have some Austrians.

I'm still happy to use Black Powder for this project, in the absence of anything better really. We managed around 16 turns which is pretty good as we were playing for about 4 hours. Good game.

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