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.

Battle of Flodden, Sept 9, 1513

A few weeks ago, six of us played using a variant of the Big Battle DBA rules for a re-fight of the Battle of Flodden. My friend Bob has the figures for this battle, and we also used his modifications of the DBA rules. Modifications included:

• Allowing the English artillery to fire in the enemy bound because many of the English artillerymen were sailors experienced at naval gunnery.
• Penalizing archery due to the rain.
• Scottish Highlanders were treated as 3Wb, with a 3Bw ability to shoot.
• Adjusted the break point for commands and winning the battle to 50%.

The historic battle was fought on Sept. 9, 1513 between the English & the Scots. You can read more about the historical battle here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Flodden 

Above: A map of the battle.

Below are a series of photos of our game:

The initial deployment for the battle. The English are on a low ridge at the right in the photo, the Scots on the left.

Another view of the initial deployment. The ground cloth we are using is called "Teddy Bear Fur," which really makes the miniature battlefield look like grassland.

A photo from behind the English right flank & the Howard's command, as the Scots begin their advance.

A close-up of King James's command group.

A close-up of the Earl of Surrey's command.

A close-up of the Lord Admiral's command, with Baron Dacre's horse in reserve.

Lord Home's Scots advancing on the Howard's.

  Errol's Scots (right) advancing on the Admiral's forces.

Lord Stanley's force appears on the far left English flank. Baron Dacre's cavalry has moved across the stream ahead of them to threaten the Scot's right flank.

A view of the developing battle. The fenced area is a dice box.

Errol's & the Admiral's troops outflanking each other.

Errol's & the Admiral's troops turning/facing in a new direction as the rest of the Scots try to close. The square walled area is another dice box.

An overview of the previous picture.

The remains of Howard's command.

The Admiral's command has broken while the Scots close on the Earl of Surrey.

Baron Dacre & the Stanley's have not closed fast enough with the Scottish right to effect the battle.

A win for the Scots this time around.

Epic History TV Napoleonic Videos

I came across some YouTube videos on a channel called: Epic History TV. They have some well done videos on some famous Napoleonic battles: Jena 1806 (includes Auerstadt), Austerlitz, Toulon, & Waterloo. Below is the Jena 1806 video:

A link to the Epic History Channel is here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvPXiKxH-eH9xq-80vpgmKQ

They also have videos on other subjects. The ones on Alexander the Great look promising.

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

Obscure Battles Blog

In recent years I have enjoyed reading the "Obscure Battles" blog by Jeff Berry. Jeff is a professional writer who loves military history and writes about particular battles in history that interests him. Jeff writes with the perspective of someone who has worked in military intelligence, and provides his own, as well as other opinions regarding the battle. In each blog article, Jeff creates his own maps of the battle, which often include the actual units and their positions, as well as complete orders of battle and estimated strengths. He also includes suggestions for wargaming the battle. At the end of each article is a complete bibliography for further study. What makes some of these battles obscure (if not already well known) is Jeff's take on the battle, which is always insightful & entertaining.

Below is a link to the Battle of Friedland, and I've included a link to the main page on my links list on the right side of the page. The maps Jeff created for Friedland include the positions of every unit that fought at the battle.

http://obscurebattles.blogspot.com/2018/03/friedland-1807.html