French Division Legere Mechanique to contest the Fall of France

This week it’s been a day or two of tanks. French tanks. You have to hand it to them but they may have had their faults but their tank paintwork is really cool and quite easy. The hardest bits were (a) the decals, there are so many options, and (b) the decision about whether to outline the different colours on the camouflage pattern. 

Somua S35 tanks. They’re mainly 3d prints but the four at the back are die cast and maybe the two odd ones will be repainted to match one day. 

Hotchkiss tanks. Technically I could do with two more. These are either 3d prints or from Early War Miniatures.

In all their glory. As I’ve mentioned earlier  I ought to do a couple more Hotchkiss tanks plus another Somua  for the  regimental command.  Have the models so let’s see….

I’ve been busy painting some 20/28mm buildings, either for France 1940 or for more generic horse and musket battles. Should have some ready by the end of this coming weekend.

More BEF for 1940

I was supposed to be playing in a massive refight of Leipzig at the club this weekend but I’ve had a horrendous chest infection so had to give the excitement a miss. I did manage to finish a few more pieces for the 1940 collection in the shape of two Royal Artillery units, one with old-WW1 vintage 4.5” howitzers and the other with 6” howitzers. 

They’re a mixture of plastic, 3D resin prints and metal from a variety of manufacturers, but mainly Early War Miniatures in the case of the metals. Each battery or regiment has an FOO plus the required soft skins and tractors (those of the 6” regiment are not pictured). I’m pleased with their appearance and look forward to seeing them on the battlefield.

I might even get my French armour done for my DCL by tomorrow. 

No game this week as it’s the Stockton Battleground show this coming Saturday which I’m looking forward to.

Victorian Crusaders, a review

I’m absolutely certain this book will satisfy a wide range range and levels of interest, be it the military historian, the wargamer or the downright romantic. The idea of dropping everything and rushing off to Italy to fight with your co-religionists to defend the Pope is a very but not exclusively Victorian one, as plenty of similar examples can be found in the present century alone.

Romanticism aside, this book ‘Victorian Crusaders. British and Irish Volunteers in the Papal Army 1860-70 by Nicholas Schofield covers the volunteers’ involvement in fighting to defend the independence of the Papal States against the powers behind the Risorgimento, Garibaldi’s Redshirts and the Piedmontese. It is a thoughtful study of who these men were, their backgrounds and reasons for joining Rome’s surely doomed struggle. Fascinating stuff.

The book also covers the key battles of Castelfidardo and Mentana, as well as examining each of the campaigns, not forgetting the religious and political angles which weighed heavily on the reunification process. The author examines in detail the raising and campaigns of two key units in the Papal army, the Battalion of St Patrick and the famous Pontifical Zouaves. The author also describes the wider Papal army in terms of its reform and internationalisation.

Of course, the book is well provided for in terms of maps, orders of battle (for Castelfidardo and Mentana) and it is copiously illustrated with over 50 largely contemporary colour and black and white images. I was quite taken by the list of known English and Welsh Pontifical Zouaves but alas there is no sign of any long lost relatives! Even the incredibly wide ranging bibliography makes for fascinating reading, including as it does a wide range of contemporary archive material.

Overall this book well written and illustrated, and covers a fascinating subject in great depth. This is the author’s first book on military history and he has done an excellent job so I look forward to more from him in the future.

Wargaming the Risorgimento has always been a road I have managed (somehow) to avoid to date, with the exception of some Piedmontese for 1859 and 1866. You never know……

ISBN 978-1-915070-53-1 222 pages, Musket to Maxim No. 23

This week I am doing this…..Refugees

Another quiet week again. The plan had been to host a big game last Saturday for the usual Burrowers and the lads from the Like a Stone Wall group, but I couldn’t go ahead due to me being seriously out of sorts and Katherine had had a difficult couple of days in her long and slow recovery.

I finally got these refugees for the 1940 project finished, or as finished as they’ll ever be. They’re either 3D prints off Badger 3D Creations together with the odd metal miniature that I can’t remember the provenance of. Every Fall of France 1940 project needs lots of refugees. 

The variety of poses in the 3D printed set is tremendous. I have a few more to do which will make up a fourth base to clog the roads in any future games. They’ll do…..

Battleground 2022

My local show is coming up soon, and I shall be there. I'm not putting a game on again this time due to my ongoing health issues and indeed those of Mrs A. However, I am contributing lots of Italian Wars stuff for the Durham Wargames Group game, collaborating with their recreation of the Battle of Pavia in 1525. It will certainly be of epic proportions!

It's only 5 minutes from the Burrow so I have no excuse not to go along to one of the best shows of the year; lots of parking, usually some really good games, plenty of traders, ample refreshments and its FREE to get in!

If you are there then come and say hello at the Pavia game.

 

Franco Prussian War encounter

This week we had a mid-week game and played a FPW game here at the Burrow with rules based on Pickets Charge but with the obvious ACW references removed and replaced as appropriate with language and rules to accommodate and hopefully replicate the weapons and tactics of what I lump together in what is widely known as Bismark’s Wars. Neil had done a lot of great work on this transformation, and the rules worked well. We had all played Gen D’Armee in the past so the game mechanics were not a mystery to us, once the dormant muscle memory had been dragged  once more towards the forefront of our brains.

The French under Neil and myself were holding a ridge line, a ‘position [not very] magnifique’ with two weak divisions of infantry and two of cavalry. The Prussians (Conrad and Nigel) had the best part of a corps (less one brigade) supported by a cavalry division. The Prussians had a significant superiority in artillery which was to be a distinct but not critical advantage as they didn’t deploy their guns to the best effect. 

The French centre

The Prussian General von Clawswitz observing the French light cavalry division.

Looking down the table past the cat.

In order to divert the attention of the Prussian artillery from my infantry my light cavalry bravely exposed themselves on the left wing, attempting to outflank the enemy on there hill to their front. They nearly made it!

The Prussian dragoons wisely keeping out of the way.

Two regular battalions about to occupy the field. The third battalion of this regiment can be seen to the left in skirmish order, just before they bore the brunt of three Prussian artillery batteries and fled. Due to a bizarre stroke of luck I managed a double six so got to throw on the 'serendipity table.'  This resulted in the Prussian commander panicking and he ran to the rear causing his brigade to falter! 

Neil's troops in the centre.

The village was quickly occupied by two battalions of Colonial infantry.

Conrad's infantry in the centre advancing through the vineyards towards the French centre,.

Shortly after the earlier photo was taken the Prussian assault is halted in its tracks and the brigade falters.

The French right, facing a major Prussian thrust.

On the French right the Prussians were pressing forward.

Two battalions of infantry secure in the crops, with support from two battalions of  Colonial infantry in the village.

Von Bredow's brigade of cavalry prepares to advance, thoughtfully masking the Prussian artillery.

Nigel ordered his cuirassiers to charge the French guns. Predictably they were  blown away and fled.

While the cuirassiers were being shot to bits their sister regiment attacked a battalion of Zouaves. Guess what? The hussars were annihilated.

Prussian artillery on their left. Six batteries should have made a big impression on the French lines but they were not well placed and had limited fields of fire.

The final attack mon the Prussian right was repulsed and the now faltering brigade had to withdraw.

By this time it was clear that the Prussians were not going to dislodge the French from their positions, even with their left pushing the French back as two off their brigades were faltering and a further one (the cavalry) had been destroyed. The Prussians were slightly outnumbered but I had assumed their artillery would play a more prominent part, which it did not do.  Never mind, as in the overall narrative, the 'missing' Prussian brigade and their corps reserve artillery would appear on the French right flank and roll the line up.....in theory, but that's another game.

The adaptions to Pickets Charge worked really well and to be honest apart from the weapons and troops types/classes there was little to change beyond some of the ACW-related language. I look forward to trying these again, either another Franco-Prussian game or perhaps Austro-Prussian. And as I wrote this I remembered my plans to adapt Gen d'Armée to the Crimean War............

Every time I get these figures out I end up buying a few more or I dig out whatever I have that are unpainted and get all enthused for a week or two. Now, do I need to reorganise the armies? 

Thanks to Conrad, Neil and Nigel for playing, and also to Conrad for the scones  contraband.

On Sunday I went to FIASCO and other stuff on parade

John and I nipped down to FIASCO in Leeds on Sunday. It is held at the Royal Armouries which is always a bonus. I hadn’t been to FIASCO since well before lockdown and as I had missed The Other Partizan was keen for an expedition south.

First of all the show. Possibly (but probably not) because of my growing curmudgeonly nature I am struggling to find much actually good to report beyond having a good day out and plenty of hobby related chat with John, Richard, John Reidy and Robbie albeit briefly, and the few other friends and acquaintances I spoke to.The games were pretty average with the exception of an excellent Italian Wars game from Ken ‘Yarkshire Gamer’ Reilly (the only game played in natural lighting) and a 16thC(?) Chinese v Burmese game using the excellent range from Tiger Miniatures. Sadly, it was so dark inside that  it wasn't feasible to take any photographs, which is a shame. Even with a flash! The dim lighting also meant that browsing some of the traders' stands was extremely difficult and in a peculiar piece of unfortunate serendipity Badger 3D Creations were in a very dark unlit and Stygian-like corner. It was also difficult to browse many of the other traders stalls due to the gloom. 

I did manage to find my way round the hall and bought some MDF bases off Pendragon, a box of Atlantic Goth infantry (like I need any more!) and a vast amount of standing corn/maize crops that had been somebody’s last year’s Christmas tree. Overall not the best of shows but a fine day out nonetheless.

So, the other stuff referred to in this post’s title is a parade of almost all of my Allied forces for the Fall of France.

A battery of French 75’s

Royal Artillery,  and Morris armoured cars of 12th Lancers

AMR35 tanks and a Laffley truck with a 47mm AT gun on the back.

Royal Artillery again

Mortar carts for the Senegalese Tirailleurs.

4th Northumberland Fusiliers motorcycle battalion.

Two battalions of French Dragon Portee with attached armoured squadrons and motorcyclists..

Senegalese again.

Overhead view of elements of 50th Division. Not pictured are 6 and 8 DLI.
 

So that's it for now. I have a Franco-Prussian War game to write up from this week, which I shall get to shortly.