Leipzig Preliminaries - Prussian I and II Corps

Make Prussian figures can bascially make any of the three Prussian Corps at the battle of Leipzig, but one at a time.

Here they are ready as the I Corps:

And here they are as the II Corps:

The gap in the II Corps is for the 16PrHC which are on their way.

Prussian Napoleonic Cuirassiers – Part 2

I normally paint production line (all the brown followed by all the blue etc), but this time decided to do four in one go.  It turned out to but much more motivating and allowed me to work out a couple of options as in just how much detail I was going to paint and the specific colours I was going to use.

The result in both time spent, pleasure of the activity and the finished product I am very happy with.  Twelve to go.

Prussian Napoleonic Cuirassiers – Part 1

I have had these 16 AB Prussian Napoleonic Cuirassiers for a few years and schedule to be a 16PrHC brigade for Napoleon’s Battles.  They have been cleaned up and ready for undercoating and today’s the day (partner’s requirements to go and look at lights and daughters demands for homework assistance not withstanding).

A bit of research and study has identified these figures as being in the dark blue Litevka campaign dress.  I had thought they were in white uniforms which I always find tricky painting, but blue, while rather pedestrian, is straightforward – black undercoat all around.

This site was a good source of information: 
http://napoleonistyka.atspace.com/Prussian_cavalry_Napoleon.htm#_cuirassiers

This picture comes from that site and is how my figures will be painted:

 But for now this is what they look like:

800 point Napoleon’s Battles game – Part 3

Sunday 1:00 to 6:00 real time, 13:00 to 14:30 (3 turns) game time.

The battle continued for the hill on the Austrian right.  The Grenadiers and the rallied troops drove off the French after a very tough fight, including a strange round in which a French infantry brigade in square was found to be attacking an Austrian artillery battery – what is the combat factor the French should use?

In this picture can be seen the fighting for the vineyard and farmhouse in the centre, but the true situation can be seen by the position of a French cavalry brigade in the plowed field after it had ridden down many of the routed Austrians as well as dispersing the Austrian heavy cavalry division.  Luckily for the Austrians, it soon dispersed as well.

The French then launched a massive attack on the Austrian left after the Austrians had shifted two cavalry brigades and one Grenadier brigade to their right flank.

The French attack was well coordinated.  The Austrians thought they were okay with their cavalry on react, but when the time came found they couldn’t attach to an artillery battery, thus creating rules question number two.  Is it only artillery (and generals and wagon trains) that can initiate an attachment?

There then came two disasters.  The French had a breakthrough with a cavalry brigade and the Austrians failed to react or bring fire on it.  Doh!  This was question number three, but turned out to be well covered under the recall sequence in the rules.

The Austrians started their riposte when they suddenly realised ... Nooooooooo!!! The general who they had entrusted the two brigades of cavalry that they hoped would finish off the French on their right turned out to be from the wrong Corps.  With that the Austrians conceded.

800 point Napoleon’s Battles game – Part 2

Saturday 1:30 to 6:00 real time, 10:00 to 13:00 (7 turns) game time.

The Hand of Gamer preparing the French attack on the Austrian left, held by the I Corps and the 1st Grenadier Division plus the light cavalry division.  This attack took a long time to unfold and for nearly all the battle it was very quiet relative to the Austrian right.

The situation after the first French Guard attack.

This was the situation after the second french attack on the Austrain right.

Most action was on the Austrian right with two attacks by the French Guard on the Austrian 2^nd Division II Corps.  Luckily for them they had the support of the heavy cavalry division and a Grenadier division.

The fighting spilled over to the Vineyard where the Westphalians made a spirited attack. The neighbouring farm complex changed hands a number of times and looks like continuing to be a focal point of the battle.

The Austrian left was very quiet with only some skirmishing and long range artillery fire.  The Austrians are hurrying to regroup around the hill on their right where the French are now ready to launch a further attack, their third.

800 point Napoleon’s Battles game – Part 1

Getting time to play has been hard, but this weekend we had our chance.

I was to be the Austrians again and based my 800 point army on some of the Corps that were present at the battle of Aspern-Essling.  Here is the list:

Unit	Composition	Command	Dispersal	Points	Accumulated
Army	Charles	20"E(10)+2	[  18M ]	77	77
I	Bellegarde	7"A(6)+0	[ 4F ]	20	97
1/I		4"A(6)+0		10	107
1B/1/II	16AsGrz		[ 10D ]	11	118
2B/1/II	16AsGrz		[ 10D ]	11	129
3B/1/II	16AsGrz		[ 10D ]	11	140
2/I	Fresnel	4"A(6)+1		12	152
1B/2/I	16AsLN		[ 8D ]	13	165
2B/2/I	20AsLN		[ 10D ]	16	181
3B/2/I	24AsLN		[ 12D ]	20	201
4B/2/I	16AsLW		[ 11D ]	5	206
5B/2/I	16AsJG		[ 8D ]	13	219
I	As12#			10	229
I	As6#			10	239
II	Hohenzollern	7"G(5)+1D	[ 4F ]	21	260
1/II	Brady	3"A(4)+0		7	267
1B/1/II	28AsLN		[ 14D ]	23	290
2B/1/II	16AsLN		[ 8D ]	13	303
3B/1/II	16AsLN		[ 8D ]	13	316
2/II	Ulm	4"G(5)+1		13	329
1B/2/II	24AsLN		[ 12D ]	20	349
2B/2/II	24AsLN		[ 12D ]	20	369
3B/2/II	28AsLN		[ 14D ]	23	392
4B/2/II	20AsLN		[ 10D ]	16	408
5B/2/II	16AsLN		[ 8D ]	13	421
II	As12#			10	431
II	As6#			10	441
IR	Lichenstein	8"G(7)+1D	[ 7F ]	25	466
1/IR	Aspre	3"A(4)+0		7	473
1B/1/IR	16AsGN		[ 6D ]	22	495
2B/1/IR	24AsGN		[ 10D ]	32	527
2/IR	Prochaska	3"A(6)+1		11	538
1B/2/IR	24AsGN		[ 10D ]	32	570
2B/2/IR	24AsGN		[ 10D ]	32	602
1C/IR	Hessen-Homburg	3"A(5)+0		8	610
1B/1C/IR	12AsHC		[ 5D ]	16	626
2B/1C/IR	16AsHC		[ 6D ]	16	642
3B/1C/IR	12AsHC		[ 5D ]	16	658
1C/IR	As6#			10	668
1C/IR	As6#			10	678
2C/IR	Kienmayer	4"A(6)+0		10	688
1B/2C/IR	16AsLC		[ 8D ]	14	702
2B/2C/IR	16AsLC		[ 8D ]	14	716
3B/2C/IR	16AsLC		[ 8D ]	14	730
4B/2C/IR	12AsLC		[ 6D ]	10	740
5B/2C/IR	12AsLC		[ 6D ]	10	750
2C/IR	As6#			10	760
2C/IR	As6#			10	770
IR	As12#			10	780
IR	As12#			10	790
IR	As12#			10	800

This list used nearly all of Richard's Austrians with one brigade frrom my collection.

The only made up formation was the Grenzer Division, but the Reserve Artillery was also out of the ordinary for the Austrians.

The deployment was I Corps on the left and II Corps on the right with the Reserve in the centre.  My plan was simply to defend.

This is the extreme right of the Austrian line, where the brigade of my figures could be found.  The label should be 5B/2/II.

Set up of the terrain and Austrian army took an hour and a half on Friday evening.

50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division – Part 3

There has been slow progress with the 50^th as I was a bit demoralized with the fiasco that was my attempt to fix the trail leg of the 6pdr.  I’d considered using a bit of lead foil, but I couldn’t get it to hang right.  But Paul’s comment mentioning tissue paper stuck in my mind.

So I went to work on the base – this model was to be a diorama as well as game piece and as I was practicing building a vignette (especially one that would have the pieces physically attached), I felt I should persevere.  It actually is my first such detailed base (well, specifically with WW2 miniatures).  Knowing that the 6pdr would otherwise have been trashed, it seemed a good idea to experiment with it.

It’s not finished yet, I still have to complete the canvass and make some shells as Paul suggested.  I also intend to add a bit of foliage as I discovered another flaw in the 6pdr model – the front shield had been put on the wrong way round.  A bit of bush should act to hide that.

Doing this has been in little five or ten minute slots, which has worked well in building up the base.  The important thing is I’m actually pleased with how it is looking (enough to show it to the world at any rate).

So, you will have heard of a "bandaid job" - this one has been a "tissue job".