Bavaria 1805 - A 28mm Blucher AAR

Recently, my friends & I gathered to play a large 6-player game of Blucher in 28mm. The scenario was a fictional encounter in Bavaria. The Austrians had 3 corps that were trying to break out north from Ulm into the French rear. Meanwhile the French had 3 corps, and were trying to contain the Austrians until the Grande Armee could complete it's encirclement of Austrian General Mack's army. To spice up the scenario & even the points, a flying column of Russians appeared to reinforce the Austrians.

Below is the order of battle we used for our game:

Austrian Army (411 pts, breakpoint 11):

Riesch's Corps, Poor, 1D6+4 activations.
8 x Veteran Line Infantry
1 x Veteran Grenz
1 x Hussars
1 x Uhlans
1 x Foot Artillery

Werneck's Corps, Poor, 1D6+4 activations.
8 x Veteran Line Infantry
1 x Veteran Grenz
1 x Hussars
1 x Uhlans
1 x Foot Artillery

Kienmayer's Reserve Corps, Hero, Inspiring, 1D6+7
4 x Hungarian Line (Impetuous)
4 x Grenadiers
1 x Curassiers
1 x Dragoons
1 x Foot Battery
1 x Horse Battery

French Army (453 pts, breakpoint 11):

Soult's Corps, Hero, Inspiring, 1D6+6
8 x Ligne/Legere Infantry
2 x Foot Batteries
2 x Lt Cavalry

Lannes' Corps, Inspiring, 1D6+8
5 x Ligne/Legere Infantry
3 x Grenadiers (Oudinot's Division)
1 x Heavy Battery
2 x Lt Cavalry

Ney's Corps, Inspiring, 1D6+9
8 x Ligne/Legere Infantry
2 x Foot Dragoons (Ligne w/o traits)
1 x Foot Battery
1 x Horse Battery
2 x Dragoons

Russian Flying Column (64 pts, breakpoint 2):

Miloradovich, Steadfast, 1D6+4
2 x Jagers
2 x Cossacks
1 x Chevalier Guard (Elite Cavalry)
1 x Dragoons
1 x Horse Battery

We again used a variant from the Honour Blucher forum for generating momentum by grading the corps commanders. The player would roll a die for their commander and add a factor unique for that commander, which would indicate the number of activations the player had for his corps. The factor is ghenerated from a spreadsheet which weights the number and quality of the command and the commander's historical ability. We did not use Corps or CinC activations as in the regular Blucher rules, as all activations are individual. The system is simple, fast, & effective. 

Pictures of the battle below:

The French are to the left, the Austrians on the right. Soult (near) & Lannes' corps (center) coming out of the woods and deploy. Ney's corps is top/center. The Austrians have approached, with all 3 Austrian corps leaving reserves behind (cards). Kienmayer's reserve corps is in the center.

Just prior to Kienmayer & Lannes closing into action. 

Kienmayer has inflicted heavy losses on Lannes (left center). The Russian flying column has appeared as reinforcements (far right). 

 The Russians deploy.

The end of the battle.

We played about 12 turns, with the Austrians holding an advantage in inflicting casualties & forcing retirements. Both sides had numerous brigades retire due to casualties, but neither army was near the breakpoint. 

Most of my friends were new to Blucher, but learned the game very quickly. One set of situations that arose during the game causing discomfort for some was that in Blucher when infantry is required to retreat due to a combat, it does so unless it is fighting any cavalry, in which case the cavalry retreats instead of the infantry. Sam Mustafa has argued in the Honour Forum that he believes infantry in real life would either stand or break to cavalry, and not retreat.

Some details about our game:

Figures are 28mm, mostly Victrix & Perry plastic, & Perry, Brigade Games, & Castingroom miniatures metals.

Bases are 60mm wide (DBN, HFG compatible).

Blucher cards - homemade.

Table dimensions: 6' x 5.'

Fatigue/Ammo recording: used small (10mm) dice to mark fatigue & ammo level next to stands.

Small Napoleonic Armies: French Army Ready

My French Army for my Small Napoleonic Armies project is finally where I want it to be. My figure painter gave me 36 painted figures last month, though he still has another 36 or so to go. In the mean time, I found some Essex 28mm figures that I had purchased over 25 years ago and had completed some and started some. I decided to finish these (36 figures) and now my army is ready for some large scenarios.

Above is the army as it stands now. I have 27 stands of regular infantry (about 2/3 Victrix plastic, about 1/3 Essex metal). The Essex figures are in the center infantry group between 2 groups of Victrix. In the background are 2 stands of dismounted dragoons (Perry plastic) & 3 stands of Perry Line Grenadiers (metal). To the right are 8 stands of Perry plastic Dragoons & Hussars. In the foreground are 15 gunners & 3 guns (Victrix plastic) and 2 metal guns (Old Glory). The Marshals are Perry metal figures. All the figures are mounted on 60mm frontage stands, originally intended for the HFG (Horse, Foot, & Guns) rules. This scheme (with each stand = brigade/grand battery) will also work for the following rules: DBA-HX 3.0, DBN 2.1, Volley & Bayonet, Grande Armee, and the Blucher rules by Sam Mustafa. The single 4 figure stands of infantry may not look impressive as a brigade. However, I can double up the stands to make 8 figure brigades for smaller battles, and use single stands for larger battles. My French army still needs cuirassiers & chasseurs a cheval, so that is something to do for the future, along with the Imperial Guard. That is the plan for now, anyway.

 
Above, I also completed more Austrians, a stand each of Cuirassiers and Dragoons. The figures are Casting Room Miniatures in 28mm. They were fun to paint, as well, with a lot of nice detail. This now brings my Austrian army up to 16 stands of regular infantry, 3 grenzer, 4 artillery, 6 cavalry, 5 grenadier, and 4 stands of General officers. I have 1805-7 Russians waiting in the wings to do next.

Summer Projects

So this summer, I've been busy with family activities, going slowly & intermittently with my miniatures painting. I am finally finishing more early Napoleonics in 28mm for my small Napoleonic armies project.

The first group are Russian Don Cossacks. The figures are Perry metal 28mm, and are very nice indeed. I have mounted them on 2 figure bases as Light Horse for the HFG (Horse, Foot, & Guns) rules. Don Cossacks were present at Austerlitz, Eylau, and Friedland.

The next stand of cavalry are the Kharkov (Russian) Dragoons, from the 1805-7 period. During this period, Russian Dragoon and Jager Infantry Regiments wore a pea green colored tunic rather than the more familiar dark green that they would wear later. After reviewing numerous illustrations & paintings of Russian Dragoons, I settled on Craftsmart Spanish Olive for the green color. The 28mm figures are by Brigade Games, sculpted by the same sculptor who did the Victrix 28mm plastic Napoleonic range. The Kharkov Dragoon Regiment had orange facings and fought at Austerlitz, assigned to Uvarov's Brigade in the 5th (cavalry) column commanded by Prince Johann von Liechtenstein.

The Chevalier Guard is the next stand of figures completed, with figures also by Brigade Games. The Chevalier Guard was a Cuirassier Regiment, but did not wear the Cuirass during the 1805-7 campaigns. During this period, they would be considered Elite Heavy Cavalry, on par with the Horse Grenadiers of the French Imperial Guard. Many illustrations show the Chevalier Guard with yellow & black stripes as trim around the border of the red horse blanket. However, my research has found that the yellow & black stripes did not appear until 1811. The Chevalier Guard was part of the Russian Imperial Guard Corps at Austerlitz, commanded by the Grand Duke Constantine. At Friedland, the Chevalier Guard was assigned to Kogine's Cavalry Brigade, attached to Osterman-Tolstoi's Division.

Russian Jagers are the next stands completed. They are also by Brigade Games. You get three poses in an 8 figure pack. The figures are "cast on demand" when you order them. The Jagers are in the same green as the dragoons, and also wear a unique double billed shako. The Russians were new to light infantry tactics at this time and not as advanced or experienced as their French opponents. In HFG terms, the Jagers would be considered inferior light infantry. There were 4 line Jager regiments at Austerlitz, and 8 regiments present at Eylau & Friedland.

Russian mounted officers are next, figures from Brigade Games.

The last stand I completed is an Austrian 6pdr "Wurst" (sausage) gun by Perry Miniatures. It is definitely one of the oddities of the Napoleonic wars, with the artillery crew riding on the "wurst" gun carriage. I'm guessing it was a rough, uncomfortable ride. I will use the model as a horse gun.

My source of information on the Russian Army of the Napoleonic Wars is Jonathan Gingerich, whose excellent website is here:

http://zaotlichiye.net63.net/allfacings.html