This School has a British Battle Honour

 La Martiniere School Lucknow

This is an interesting little video. Made by a British guy. Typical YouTube stuff but nicely done. I make no claim for its accuracy but from what I know it is spot on. I certainly didn’t know the school had been awarded the battle honour.

Napoleonic Scenario Books

These two books were recommended to me by my friend Chris Gregg of  http://notjustoldschool.blogspot.com/ .

I emailed the author Michael to make enquiries. I ordered these two scenario booklets, which can be used for any set of rules, so very flexible. Some of the scenarios are of quite niche battles but they’re all well presented with maps, orders of battle and players’ notes.

They arrived about a week later, which is pretty good from Canada, but I was also emailed all the maps and scenario notes/orders of battle, including a couple of scenarios not included in either book.

Michael can be contacted through this email, log1cal.mh@gmail.com

The Destruction of the Imperial Army, vol 2 The Battles Around Metz.

I have been waiting impatiently and with great anticipation for this book to arrive. Like volume 1 it is a hefty tome, at 539 pages.

After the tremendous volume 1, (Click here) this new book in Helion’s ‘from Musket to Maxim’ series‘, The Destruction of the Imperial Army, Volume 2: The Battles around Metz by Grenville Bird is another absolute gem.

Volume 2 focusses on the the three major battles around Metz in mid-August 1870. A new book covering any one of these would be great but to include all three, Borny/Colomby, Vionville/Mars la Tour and the iconic battle of Gravelotte/St. Privat, all fought between 14 and 18 August, is a very welcome treat. The author has again used a vast amount of previously unpublished and translated French language sources and this materiel continues to offer a balance against the usual Prussian-focussed studies of the war. The author picks up where he left off in volume 1 and takes the reader on a deep dive into the detail of these three major engagements. The level of detail in insane (in a good way) and an almost forensic analysis of each battle down to minor tactical details in astounding.

There are 64 colour and black and white images, some contemporary and others are photos of features of each battlefield as they are to be found today. As in the earlier volume many of the battlefield photos show both the ground as it was in August 1870 and in the present day. Volume 2 contains 17 highly detailed colour maps showing the topography and the troops involved, which are helpful to refer to when following the strategic and tactical movements of the armies. Incidentally a visit to the Helion website will give you access to .pdf copies of all the maps in order to avoid too much flicking back and forth. An important factor for me is as usual the use of first hand accounts or contemporary correspondence which in my view always add an interesting insight into how the participants thought and felt at the time.

Fifteen appendices give us orders of battle for each of the battles covered in this volume as well as detailed casualty returns which reinforce what we already know about the shear scale of these battles, in terms of the numbers involved, the casualties  and the size of the battlefields, in particular Gravelotte/St. Privat.

My thoughts on this book are simply that it is jaw-droppingly awesome. It is a fascinating and engaging read, as I’ve said full of detail without being academically dry, and surely is a must for anyone with an interest in the Imperial phase of the war. I fail to see how I am going to resist painting up yet more figures for my already enormous Franco-German War armies. 

I understand volume 3 will be with us soon. By the time the final fourth volume of the series is with us I might have to get a bigger bookcase.

ISBN 978-1-804511-85-5 soft back, 539 pages.

Ekaterinoslav Cuirassiers: Now at Full Strength

Here are my 3D resin printed Russian Cuirassier for my early/mid Napoleonic army. I wonder whether doing all five squadrons was a sensible idea.....actually I know it probably isn't as it sets a precedent for the size of my other planned cavalry units. Oops! What the hell, they do look rather good. 

I decided to tone down the white of their coats with a very thin wash and then repaint the white belts, gauntlets and other bits in order that they stood out. After a few weeks on campaign in all weather I doubt the coats would remain pristine white. They were quite straightforward to paint and there is plenty of detail to cope with my inadequate painting abilities. I like them and look forward to seeing them thunder across the table to battle the French, probably next year now.  

You can click on the images to embiggen them.

That now makes three Russian cavalry regiments (cuirassiers, dragoons and uhlans) and I have another four in the box of doom to tackle (cuirassier, uhlan and two hussars) which is far, far to many but they'll go nicely with the 24 battalions of infantry I am well on the way to finishing.

I suppose I should do some Cossacks...........

Battle of Monday’s Lane, a War of 1812 game using Valour and Fortitude

John and Mike were here yesterday for another game using Valour and Fortitude, this time set during the War of 1812. I had drawn up a pair of army sheets using the template that can be found on the Perry website so after a cup of coffee and a catch up we began. John took the Americans and Mike and I the British and Canadians. The game objectives were to control Monday’s Lane by holding the two road junctions, and to defeat the enemy and send them packing back from whence they came of course.

The British deployed first, with the advance guard brigade consisting of the Glengarry Light Infantry, detachments of the Canadian Voltigeurs, a troop of HM 19th Light Dragoons and a 5.5” howitzer, on the left flank. They were also accompanied by a band of First Nation warriors including a company of Caldwell’s Rangers. The three other brigades were thinly spread across the rest of the table ready to advance. John’s Americans arrived with the Kentucky ‘brigade’ on his right, Scott’s brigade of regulars to their left, then a brigade of militia and anther brigade of US regulars. On the American left were a troop of US Dragoons, detachments of US Riflemen and a composite troop of militia cavalry. The Americans outnumbered the British somewhat, but the latter were largely better troops (famous last words). The American commander was also classed as cautious which made it sleigh harder for his brigades to activate.

I was too involved in the game to take many photos or even take note of what was happening in as much detail as when I umpire so I hope the photographs and brief narrative are easy enough to follow.

The American right flank.

The US militia brigade advance through the woods while a brigade of regulars head for the fence-lined lane.

My First Nations advance towards the Kentucky troops. They are accompanied by a detachment of Caldwell’s Rangers and an officer of the Indian Department (in the red coat).

Scott’s brigade advancing towards the road.  

Facing Scott’s brigade was my brigade, made up of a battalion each of Royal Marines and the West India Regiment, a battalion of Sedentary Militia and HM 1st Foot, supported by a section of Rockets manned by the Royal Marine Artillery.

This is the second US regular brigade as they reached the lane..

The First Nations warriors charged the Kentuckians in the woods.

My First Nations had charged the dismounted Kentucky riflemen in the woods but lost the melee and were routed, due to some unlucky dice rolling on my part of course! My light dragoons were also forced to retire after a brush with another unit of Kentucky Mounted Rifles.

By Rockets Red Glare. They actually hit the enemy once and scared our side several times!

Victorious Kentucky Mounted Rifles 

In the centre HM 49th were routed after a deadly exchange of musketry with two US regular battalions and a section guns. This made a big hole in the line but we survived failing the Fortitude test.

Our right was making good progress in their advance on the Americans although HM 100th just over the bridge would break under the fire of the US Riflemen and an 18-pdr gun just visible on the road..

The composite troop of militia, including the Boston Hussars, the 7th New York in the front and two others I can’t remember at the moment.

My left hand brigade had to take a Fortitude test when the First Nations ran, and three shaken units also routed, including the Glengarry Light Infantry shown here. Only a lone detachment of Canadian Voltigeurs remained. Thankfully the Kentucky brigade refused to advance for the remainder of the game.

The centre brigades of both armies were crumbling under intense musket fire. 

Another British regular battalion takes to its heels.

There are no more pictures sadly, but we decided that with two brigades almost annihilated, my remaining brigade pretty much all shaken, and a large hole in the centre of the line, the British conceded defeat and withdrew.

I have to say the rules worked well for this war. With troops capable of decent musketry and riflemen on both sides it was quite a ‘bloody’ affair, but it was also a decisive end to the game. The penny packets of artillery worked well, as they were not too deadly but they did whittle down their targets over time which was annoying and seemed about right. I’m warming to this set, but although they would undeniably work, I would still prefer something like General d’Armee for a big European-set game with multiple players. 

It was overall a good way to spend a very wet Saturday. Next week it will be Rome vs Successors if all goes to plan.

Russian Dragoon Regiment Completed

Finally, after much in the way of distractions and displacement activities, I have finished my early Napoleonic Wars Russian dragoons. As I’ve no doubt said before, these are primarily for the Russo-Swedish War project but of course they will do very nicely for the Austerlitz, Eylau, and Freidland campaigns should ( when) I go down that road.  

Also shown are two generals to lead my Russian army. 

Kesselsdorf 1745 - A review

From Reason to Revolution no. 117 is ‘Kesselsdorf, 1745. Decision in the Fight for Silesia’ by Alexander Querengasser. As the author states, this is not one of the great or widely known battles of the age of Frederick the Great, indeed what makes it interesting to me is that Frederick was not present and enemy were almost all Saxons, accompanied by a small force of Austrian troops.

The armies and leaders of both Prussia and Saxony are clearly outlined so my understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of both was reinforced, and to anyone new to the period this information will provide a useful starting point. We then move on to the campaign itself, under the redoubtable Leopold von Anhalt-Dessau and the moves leading to the battle itself.

A good 25 percent of the book is devoted to an account of the battle, so as can be expected, it is dealt with in detail and we get a blow by blow description of events as they unfolded on the field of battle. This is certainly the most informative account of the battle I have ever come across, and this alone makes the book an invaluable and interesting source of research be it by historians, the ‘interested’ lay reader or many a wargamer of the mid-eighteenth century wars in Europe. That the battle and its importance (the outcome led directly and almost immediately to the Peace of Dresden) was sidelined in favour of the overall political ramifications of the successful Prussian campaign, and perhaps because Frederick was not there, is a shame but this book will go a long way to bringing it to the forefront where it belongs.

As with all similar Helion titles, this book is lavishly illustrated with eight pages of specially commissioned colour plates by non other than Patrice Courcelle. They are as one would rightly expect gorgeous. There are also a good number of largely contemporary black and white illustrations and a number of handy maps of the strategic situation as well as of the battle itself.

So, an excellent well written account, one useful to a wide readership whatever their background or interest.

ISBN 978-1-804511-88-6. 190 pages, soft cover.