Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Age of the Big Battalions => Topic started by: Diablo Jon on February 13, 2023, 06:41:23 AM
-
I’ve had a desire to do something Horse and Musket for a while I wanted horse, foot and guns to push around the table and some pageantry and fancy uniforms . I toyed with the Seven years war, the war of Spanish succession even ACW but in the end Napoleonics seemed to trump the others either because it was more colourful (than ACW) or much easier to source the miniatures and cheaper due to the availability of plastic sets (than WSS or SYW).
Once I’d decided to go for Napoleonics I then needed to decide what theatre and year. My first thought was the Peninsular war mostly thanks to Messrs Sharpe and Harper however I’ve had a long standing love of Austrian uniforms ever since I had a set of ESCI 1805 Austrians and Prussian as a kid. So when I saw the Perry and Victrix plastic Austrian sets I was sold. I wanted my Austrians in helmets (which are way cooler than Shakos imo) so that meant 1805 or 1809. Frankly the Austrians were crap in 1805 while 1809 they gave the French and their German allies a much harder fight. Having settled on 1809 I was trying to workout what division from each side, from the frankly huge armies fighting in the main theatre, to represent when I jogged a memory of the Battle of Gefrees.
Gefrees was a very small battle by Napoleonic standards and was the main battle in a side show that happened in Bohemian, Saxony and the Bavarian Bayreuth region. As a side show the forces were small and of a very mixed bag. The Austrian forces included only two regular infantry Battalion and a regiment of Grenz regular border troops the bulk of the Austrian forces being made up of Bohemian Landwehr battalions. The Austrian cavalry was cobbled together from reserve squadrons of various light cavalry regiments. On top of that Austrians were supported by some small Freikorps made up of German rulers and their followers who lost their lands after Napoleon created the Confederation of the Rhine the main one being the famous Black Brunswickers of the duke of Brunswick.
Against this ragtag Austrian force was arrayed the Kingdom of Saxony. Unfortunately for Saxony the vast Majority of their army had been sent to support Napoleon in Bavaria. Which meant the defence of Saxony fell on Johann von Thielmann with another scratch force including 2000 men combed out of depot battalions many of who were invalids although he did have a regiment of the Zastrow Cuirassiers. Along side Saxony was the newly formed kingdom of Westphalia under Napoleon’s younger Brother King Jerome on paper the army looked quite good but many of the men were quite raw and king Jerome had already had to weather two uprisings, one lead by one of his own trusted officers, in his kingdom so there were questions over the loyalty of these German soldiers to their French King. Jerome could also call upon some Dutch troops from the short lived Kingdom of Holland who had already help put down the uprising of the Prussian hussar officer Ferdinand Von Schill in Northern Germany in early 1809.
The French also had forces in Northern Bavaria in the form of the reserve corps made up of a division of 4th infantry battalions which were made up of raw recruits and the elite companies of the old French regimental depot battalions, some scratch artillery crewed by infantry and some horse artillery gunners and two provisional Dragoon regiments cobbled together from the 4th squadrons of various different Dragoon regiments (and allegedly so raw that hadn’t even been trained to charge mounted yet). the French were also supported by a small forces of Bavarian infantry and artillery drawn from local depot companies.
The more I looked into this campaign side show the more it appealed the lack of elite formations, the smaller sizes of the battles (or almost battles), the fact the Austrians did quite well and the variety of different units involved really spoke to me. Now I had sorted out my theatre of operations I need a rule set. I decided I want something simple and quite old school my children had brought me a copy One Hour Wargames by Neil Thomas for my Birthday a while back but I hadn’t done much with it. Revisiting the rules I decided they would fit my needs really well. The rules are very simple but the simplicity allows to me add a few house rules for flavour with bog everything down.
Now I have a plan nailed down to build several small forces in 28mm based on the forces in Bohemia in 1809 I will try to stick to units in the various orders of battle but I may have to play around with numbers especially in the case of Austrian cavalry reserve squadrons, various depot companies and German freikorps to turn them into useable units under my chosen rules. I may also bath tub some of the larger forces because, for example, I don’t want to paint 14 battalions of Austrian Landwehr or the whole Westphalian army. To kick off I painted a test battalion of Austrian regulars though I've painted many different miniatures in almost 40 years of painting these are my first ever Napoleonic miniatures. I've tried to simplify my painting technique on these miniatures as I figure mass effect is more important than detail. Even though my units are smaller than most I've seen online (mine are 16 figure units many seem to like 24 or 32 figure units) as I'm painting up both sides I'm still going to have to paint a fair few miniatures. This is the 3rd battalion of IR 10 who were part of the Austrian XI corps in Bohemia in 1809 hopefully the first of many.
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/02/img_20221222_152005053.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/02/img_20221222_151920047.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/02/img_20221222_152144729.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/02/img_20221222_152307076.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/02/img_20221222_152328007.jpg?w=1024)
-
Nice idea, logic & start.
I wish you well with this & will follow with interest.
-
Great start to a very interesting project.
-
That's a good start.
-
Brilliant! 👍
-
Lovely :)
-
I very much like the way you parsed it down through a process of elimination to a workable size project that is meaningful to you, that will sustain your enthusiasm I am sure.
-
I like those guys. They look great!
-
Thanks guys.
My second unit for my Napoleonic project is some Austrian Landwehr. I’m modelling my Austrian forces off the XI corps in Bohemia (Czech Republic today) which contained 11 battalions of Landwehr (in contrast it only contained 2 battalions of Regular infantry and 2 battalions of Grenz infantry). The Landwehr were 2nd line territorial units called up in war time from men not in the military. They were equipped by the state and were meant to be uniformed but from what I can tell this wasn’t always the case. When I found an order of battle the Austrian XI corps I was pretty chuffed as it gave me the names and battalion numbers for all the Landwehr battalions for example 4th Koniggratz. Rather naively I thought this would make tracking down the uniforms and flags of the units easy but it turns out Landwehr uniforms and flags, in 1809, is a bit of a murky area.
Firstly Bohemian and Austrian Landwehr had different uniforms. Those from inner Austria tend towards grey uniforms with red facings those from Bohemia, which is were all XI corps Landwehr originated, tended toward blue trousers with Hungarian knots, long boots with Brown coats and red facings and black equipment. That’s when uniforms were available it seems some units actually wore civilian clothing under a long grey coat (possibly with blue epaulettes) to give some uniformity. For head wear the corsehut, the round hat which seems to have the most popular in Bohemia and various civilian style hats were in use however in the case of the Prague volunteers they wore a shako. There is some suggestion that some Landwehr units adopted the facing colours of the infantry regiment recruited in their area rather than the standard red so the Saaz Landwehr might have adopted orange facing to match Infantry regiment No.42 for example. On top of this, other than some units from Prague (none of who where in Xi corps), there doesn’t seem to be any info on what individual Landwehr battalions were wearing. Where with regular Austrian infantry regiments you can easily find facing colours and button colours with a quick internet search or in numerous books when it comes to the Landwehr (at least the Bohemia ones) there doesn’t seem to be the information out there.
Flags are another issue there is some debate about whether the Landwehr carried any, and if they did, if they were old pattern flags from before 1806 or possibly special flags bearing any Austrian Ordinärfahne on one side and a local coat of arms on the other. Honestly by now my head was starting to hurt. To compound my stress slightly more my kids had brought me some lovely Victrix Landwehr that are very nice but their uniform is more suited to inner Austrian Landwehr (for example they don’t have long boots, Hungarian knots and only have an option to wear the corsehut) than Bohemian Landwehr that I wanted to use. In the end I just decided to say b*****ks to it I’d paint up my Victrix Landwehr as best as I could to represent Bohemian Landwehr. They might not be quite right and they might give button counters the cold sweats but they will do the job. It’s the same thing with the flags I’ll give them normal Austrian flags because frankly its the easiest thing to do.
So here are some pictures of my second Austrian unit some (maybe not quite right) Bohemian Landwehr
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/02/img_20230212_151655950.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/02/img_20230212_151726535.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/02/img_20230212_151738706.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/02/img_20230212_151742522.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/02/img_20230212_151804856.jpg?w=1024)
-
Another great unit! 👍
-
Brill :)
-
Another great unit! 👍
And a hearty +1 to that!
-
Great looking models!
-
Great looking troops! They're ready to get stuck in!
-
This your simplified painting technique? Holy Moley.
Great choice for a project, all those landwehr and the sweepings of the depots. I assume you've found the OHW groups.io folks, should you want to bolt an extra rule or two onto the basic framework. Waiting to see your first battle report. With OHW, hopefully you can get your kids involved.
-
Thanks guys appreciate the nice comments 👍
This your simplified painting technique? Holy Moley.
Great choice for a project, all those landwehr and the sweepings of the depots. I assume you've found the OHW groups.io folks, should you want to bolt an extra rule or two onto the basic framework. Waiting to see your first battle report. With OHW, hopefully you can get your kids involved.
I found the Neil Thomas rules Facebook page. The guys there have have been super helpful and friendly. They've given me some good ideas on using hits as a way of showing troop quality. I also had a good discussion and some ideas on adding a simple command and control rule to give some friction if I play solo.
-
Having painted a couple of battalions of Austrians I decided to switch it around and paint some Bavarians from the very nice Victrix plastic set my kids brought me for Christmas. If you remember back to my post a couple of weeks back I’m planning to do the 1809 Saxony/Bohemia side show. The Bavarian presence in this theatre was very small basically consisting of a single battalion made up of the depots companies of the 4th and 8th infantry regiments and the 5th light infantry battalion and a small artillery battery of 2 captured Austrian 3pdrs manned by gunners from an artillery depot company from Forcheim all attached to Junot’s French forces.
Now this was a bit of a problem as the Victrix set contained 50 odd miniatures and I’d be using about 16 of them seemed like a waste so I decided to errr… play with history a bit and make the Bavarian battalion into a small Brigade instead turning the depot companies into battalions. So I picked up a few extra Front Rank metals for an artillery battery and some officers. On a side note I like that Front Rank are still available as single miniatures rather than having to by 6-8 metals in a pack which seems the normal now.
Here is the first battalion finished this is the 1st battalion of the 8th infantry regiment I have to say I really struggled to paint these guys the Bavarian uniforms look very cool in my opinion but aren’t very painter friendly (or maybe its just me). In the end I think they came out ok but they certainly aren’t my best work.
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/02/img_20230212_152116418.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/02/img_20230212_152146448.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/02/img_20230212_152157726.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/02/img_20230212_152205386.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/02/img_20230212_152213068.jpg?w=1024)
-
Wonderful start to a well-researched force. Being immersed in my own "build a battle" adventure right now, I love the thought that went into your choices. If I ever get done with my project, I think I might follow your idea. It would be a great way to add a few of the other nations that my Waterloo project won't cover. I wonder if there is a smaller scale battle involving Austrians, German states, Italians and Russians but not that many French/Prussians as I likely won't relish the thought of painting more of those after Waterloo.
-
Them fellers look great! Well done!
-
Wonderful start to a well-researched force. Being immersed in my own "build a battle" adventure right now, I love the thought that went into your choices. If I ever get done with my project, I think I might follow your idea. It would be a great way to add a few of the other nations that my Waterloo project won't cover. I wonder if there is a smaller scale battle involving Austrians, German states, Italians and Russians but not that many French/Prussians as I likely won't relish the thought of painting more of those after Waterloo.
Thanks having just checked out your Waterloo thread I think it's safe to say your project is a little bit bigger than mine lol and hugely impressive.
By way of comparison to Waterloo the biggest battle in my chosen Campaign is Gefrees which saw 7,500 French and Bavarians take on 6000 Austrians and Black Brunswickers. Meaning there were less men at this battle than were in just d'Erlons corps at Waterloo.
-
This weeks offering in my 2023 project is some skirmishing light infantry. In my chosen rule set of Neil Thomas’s One Hour Wargames infantry are split into.. err infantry and skirmishers. The Victrix Bavarian set, like a few of the plastic Napoleonic sets, contains a majority in march attack which I like and wanted to use for all my formed infantry battalions and a small number in more action oriented poses which to me look better as skirmishers. Now I had enough of these miniatures to do two units of eight miniatures as skirmishers the only decision was what type of unit to use as skirmishers.
The Bavarians unlike most other nations didn’t have a light company in their battalions instead each fusilier company had a small number of Schutzen armed with rifles that could be deployed as a skirmish screen they looked much like a fusilier except with the addition of a green plume this would have been a decent option but the Victrix miniatures all have musket and bayonet which wouldn’t be correct for Schutzen. The second option was to use some light infantry these gave me the option to paint some green jackets, instead of blue, and the muskets were correct. As I mentioned in my last post I’ve changed a composite battalion that took place in the 1809 campaign into a small brigade made up of the units that formed the composite battalion in real life in this case there was a company of 5th light infantry battalion so I decided my two skirmisher units would be light infantry.
I decided to put my skirmisher units on round bases as I like the look. Only having to paint eight miniatures made this unit a bit of an easy win and I liked the way they turned out now back to another infantry battalion for next week.
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/03/img_20230212_151919930.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/03/img_20230212_151941882.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/03/img_20230212_151956969.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/03/img_20230212_152007552.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/03/img_20230212_152020030.jpg?w=1024)
-
They’re delightful - well done 8)
Edit. And having now read the entirety of the thread, a great project too.
-
They look fantastic! Great looking skirmishers.
-
They look fantastic! Great looking skirmishers.
+1 to that. And that big rock came in handy for those 2 chaps...
-
Thanks guys on to the next battalion.
This is the 2nd battalion of the 4th infantry regiment to accompany the 1st battalion I’ve already painted. As the 2nd battalion there are some subtle differences to the 1st battalion. The Grenadiers red plumes were actually halved white in the 2nd battalions of Bavarian regiments. The other difference is the flag there were a few variations during the Napoleonic wars but in 1809 the 1st battalions carried a white Leibfahne and the 2nd battalion carried a blue Ordinarfahne (personally I prefer the Ordinarfahne). I also decided to make the 2nd battalions officer walk instead of riding a horse. Right more Bavarian light infantry to paint for next week.
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/03/img_20230212_152325455.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/03/img_20230212_152425149.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/03/img_20230212_152417172.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/03/img_20230212_152352994.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/03/img_20230212_152337059.jpg?w=1024)
-
Great work! 👍
-
Great work! 👍
Thanks
-
I like your Blue and Green units of Bavarians, I think they are your best so far!
I know you went for the musket armed Light Infantry, but if you had decided to convert some Schutzen, what sort of rifle did they have and does anybody make some in 28mm?
-
I like your Blue and Green units of Bavarians, I think they are your best so far!
I know you went for the musket armed Light Infantry, but if you had decided to convert some Schutzen, what sort of rifle did they have and does anybody make some in 28mm?
I'll be honest and say I don't know exactly what type of rifle they used I do know Wargames Foundry, Perry and front rank all make Bavarian Schutzen armed with rifles. The rifles seem much shorter than the muskets and lack a bayonet . Compare the musket armed grenadiers with the rifle armed Schutzen from Perry miniatures
Perry Schutzen marching
(https://www.perry-miniatures.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/BAV-9.jpg)
Perry grenadiers marching
(https://www.perry-miniatures.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/BAV-8.jpg)
-
Stunning work will be a joy to see these in a battle report in the future. Like the idea of picking a manageable backwater be good to see the rest of the project developing. Keep up the good work as they say.
-
Stunning work will be a joy to see these in a battle report in the future. Like the idea of picking a manageable backwater be good to see the rest of the project developing. Keep up the good work as they say.
thank you sir
Another week and another batch of Bavarian infantry. I’m guessing people might be getting a little bored of them now but I’m finding the once a week blog posting is helping to keep my output up so I will keep posting pictures of yet more Bavarians for the moment. With these guys done I have one more battalion of 16 infantry, an artillery battery and a command base and some casualty markers left to paint. I think next week I will paint the artillery as a change of pace from all the infantry I’ve been painting. Not a lot to say about these miniatures really they are basically the other eight action pose plastic Victrix infantry again painted up as the same light infantry 5th battalion as the first skirmishing unit.
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/03/img_20230319_193807246.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/03/img_20230319_193820564.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/03/img_20230319_193828270.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/03/img_20230319_193837003.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/03/img_20230319_193845879.jpg?w=1024)
-
They look great! 👍
-
To take a break from Bavarian infantry I decided to paint up some artillery. In reality the single Bavarian battalion in my chosen campaign were supported by two captured Austrian 3pdr guns crewed by some men from an artillery depot company. Seeing as I’ve already turned the one battalion in a four battalion brigade I figured I would make the artillery into a regular 6pdr battery.
The guns and gunners are all Front Rank and really fun to paint. It was interesting having painted a number of hard plastic miniatures recently how much easier the metal ones were to paint. I think there were a couple of reasons for this the metal miniatures have much deeper or raised details than the plastic miniatures and the Front Rank miniatures being of an older era have exaggerated features as opposed to the more in scale plastic miniatures all of which just makes it easy to pick out the details..
With the Artillery painted I just have one battalion (half plastic Victrix half Front Rank metals), which will be this weeks project, and then a command base and some causality markers for games to finish my Bavarian contingent.
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/03/img_20230319_200044144.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/03/img_20230319_200104733.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/03/img_20230319_200115854.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/03/img_20230319_200136976.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/03/img_20230319_200146126.jpg?w=1024)
-
Fantastic looking figures! I especially love the discolored muzzles!
-
Fantastic looking figures! I especially love the discolored muzzles!
Thanks 👍
-
Brilliant work, really enjoying to see your Bavarians. 👍
-
Brilliant work, really enjoying to see your Bavarians. 👍
Thanks they are almost done now I'm half way through the last battalion and then just have a few casualty markers and a command base to paint.
My order of Black Brunswickers from Steve Barber arrived in the post so I need to stay disciplined and avoid the temptation to start on them until I've finished the Bavarians.
-
Well it took a bit longer than expected but here is my last Bavarian Battalion despite having some time off at Easter I actually found less time to paint than when I’m working (thanks garden and house and all those annoying things that needed sorting). This is the 2nd battalion of the 8th infantry regiment whose uniform was pretty much the same as the 4th regiment except for the buttons which were gold rather than silver. This unit used up the last of the plastic Victrix miniatures with the numbers made up with Front Rank metals. I had to do this because, unlike the Perry brothers, Victrix don’t sell their command frames separately which is a shame and I think missing a trick on Victrix’s part. That’s the Bavarians just about done now with just a command base and some casualty markers left to paint this week. I love the Bavarian uniform but I’ll admit I don’t enjoy painting it that much so I’m kind of glad these guys are finished now.
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/04/img_20230416_191057093.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/04/img_20230416_191314607.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/04/img_20230416_191113789.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/04/img_20230416_191322791.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/04/img_20230416_191335154.jpg?w=1024)
-
Huzzah! 👏🏻
-
Excellent!
Congratulations on completing your project, they look great.
-
You have some great-looking minis in this thread. i especially like those Bayerischers.
-
Thanks for the nice comments chaps.
The final finishing touches to my first finished force are a command base and casualty markers for my Bavarians. As mentioned before I’m planning on using Neil Thomas One Hour Wargame rules for my solo games. In these rules units take hits rather than casualty removal to show the gradual degradation of units now I could have used paper and pen or just placed counters by units to record this but I thought I’d jazz it up a bit by having dice holding bases with casualties modelled on it to record hits. I realised when I was taking photos I didn’t do a base for the artillery battery so that’s a job for another time.
The One Hour Wargames rules don’t require any command bases but I have a few ideas for house rules one of which is to bolt on the old classic DBA D6 command and control rule to add a bit of friction to the rules. To allow me to do that I’ve painted up a command stand with a couple of junior officers and a General der Infanterie having a chat.
As mentioned before in this thread, in my chosen campaign of Bohemia/Saxony/Westphalia in 1809, the Bavarians had a very minor part to play contributing a scratch battalion made up of three depot companies from the three different regiments and a small battery of two guns. As I had so many Victrix Bavarians and I felt it was a waste not to use them I’ve ended up expanding the Bavarians into a small brigade of four battalions (the light battalion acting as skirmishers) and a artillery battery. I now have to decided what nation to paint up next I have Victrix French and Austrians that I could start on but my 1809 Black Brunswickers from Steve Barber have recently turned up in the post and I’m itching to get started on them.
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/04/img_20230416_190836572.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/04/img_20230416_190935108.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/04/img_20230416_190950252.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/04/img_20230416_152528635.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/04/img_20230416_152544533.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/04/img_20230416_152608211.jpg?w=1024)
-
Brilliant work, truly inspirational.
-
Lovely job, & as to which army to do next... go with your gut feeling, Black Brunswickers. :)
-
Splendid 8)
-
Very nice :-*
-
Absolutely fantastic work! Your Bavarians are incredible!
-
Another update on the Napoleonic project. Having taken a short break to paint Zanzibaris for my never ending Darkest Africa project I’ve jumped back in to the Napoleonic era with the first battalion of Black Brunswickers. The Brunswick Free Corps were heavily involved in the Bohemian theatre in 1809 and then famously after the peace treaty between Austria and France, to end the war of the fifth coalition, the Duke of Brunswick refused to make peace with Napoleon instead marching, and fighting several engagements along the way, his men to the North German coast to be evacuated by the Royal Navy. The Duke of Brunswick hated Napoleon with a passion his farther was killed fighting with the Prussians in 1806 and his Duchy was then mostly incorporated into Napoleon’s Kingdom of Westphalia under its King Jerome Bonaparte. He continued to resist Napoleon right through to 1815 were he died at Quatre Bras.
The Brunswickers are a great little force for using with 1 hour wargames rules due to their small size. Initially in 1809 they consisted of a regiment of hussars, two (under strength) battalions of infantry organised like Prussian fusilier battalions, a company of rifle armed Jäger and a horse artillery battery equipped with Austrian guns. Later a third battalion of infantry was added. During the march to the sea the Brunswickers picked up a squadron of Uhlans who seem to have been Austrian regulars as well as swelling their ranks with captured Westphalian soldiers after the Battle of Halberstadt.
1809 Brunswick troops wore a different uniform to those that served with the British in the Peninsular war after 1809 and in 1815 during the Hundred Days which is a slight problem as most 28mm ranges of Brunswickers are for 1815. The Perry’s do a limited range of 1809 fusiliers but luckily Steve Barber Models has a nice range of Infantry, Jäger and hussars in 1809 uniform (with artillerymen in the works) So that’s were I decided to get mine.
Uniform wise the main thing (regardless of year and uniform details) is Black is the predominant colour of Brunswick troops, which quite honestly sped my painting up no end, compared to the Bavarians I painted these guys uniform is so uncomplicated my main challenge was to highlight the black items in more than one colour to stop them looking to monotone. To achieve this uniforms were highlighted with a warm grey while belts pouches and Shakos were highlighted with a cold blue. I think it worked quite well so I’m happy how these miniatures turned out.
Next up I have the Hussars to paint….. though I was so enjoying painting the Mark Copplestone Zanzibari Regulars that I’ve now found myself painting two projects at the same time alternating between the two… so errr… next weeks painting might not be Napoleonics at all.
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/05/img_20230503_202409544.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/05/img_20230503_202513904.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/05/img_20230503_202524145.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/05/img_20230503_202537808.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/05/img_20230503_202548374.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/05/img_20230503_202043292.jpg?w=1024)
-
I like those guys. Well done!
-
I like those guys. Well done!
Thanks 👍
-
Very nice :)
-
Black can be difficult to get to look right and you succeeded!
-
This week I slipped back into Napoleonic’s and painted my 1809 Brunswick Hussars. In 1809 the hussars formed a substantial part of the Duke’s forces. At the battle of Gefrees they numbered around 300 sabres which is the same number of men as both the, admittedly heavily under strength, Brunswick infantry battalions could muster at the battle. The hussars seem to have a good reputation though noticeably they came off second best in a couple of early skirmishes, along the Saxony-Bohemia border, against Johann von Thielmann, due to poor scouting or failure to place pickets when in camp.
These miniatures are from Steve Barbers miniatures which currently includes 1809 infantry, Jaegers and hussars with artillery apparently in the works to make them probably the most comprehensive range of 1809 Brunswickers in 28mm I can find. As with the infantry I painted up painting these miniatures was really an exercise in trying to paint black so it doesn’t look flat.
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/06/img_20230604_185948787_burst000_cover.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/06/img_20230604_190011479.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/06/img_20230604_190028924.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/06/img_20230604_190106000.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/06/img_20230604_190115930.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/06/img_20230604_190053899.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/06/img_20230604_185633433.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/06/img_20230604_185725976.jpg?w=1024)
-
Now, those chaps look good, too!
-
Now, those chaps look good, too!
Thanks I appreciate the feedback 👍
-
Man those Hussars look great.
-
Lovely :)
Can I ask what your black recipe is please?
-
Man those Hussars look great.
Thanks 👍
-
Lovely :)
Can I ask what your black recipe is please?
Sure it's two different highlights blue black (50:50 Vallejo medium blue and black 1st highlight, then 75:25 blue and black 2nd highlight, add white to 2nd highlight colour for 3rd highlight) on boots, belts, horse harness and Shako.
Trousers and jackets are highlighted in grey black (same ratios as above but using army painter uniform grey with black).
Finally because the highlights can be a bit stark I desaturate them with black glaze using Vallejo black wash watered down with Windsor and Newton flow improver. hopefully that makes some sense?
-
Yes, that’s great, thank you :)
-
Beautiful. I am facing a division of Brunswick troops on my shrinking "to do" list so this is great inspiration!
-
Warning if you are a button counter of Napoleonic uniforms you may want to skip this post.
I had to stop painting Brunswickers because either I was waiting on a few more miniatures for the 2nd infantry battalion (I now have them) or I’m waiting for Steve Barber to release the rest of his 1809 Brunswick miniatures range. In the mean time I re-visited my Victrix plastic Landwehr and built another battalion and a skirmisher unit to be painted up as Bohemian Landwehr to match the first battalion I have already painted.
That left me with enough miniatures for two more units. As I may have mentioned before I’m a bit of painting butterfly and I really don’t enjoy painting loads of miniatures who look the same. So while I was idlily flicking through a book I’d purchased on Austrian Landwehr and Grenz I came across the City of Prague Landwehr (see picture below they are the guys in the Shakos) they looked suitably different to other Bohemian Landwehr units to peak my interest.
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/06/eder-prague-landwehr.jpg?w=1024)
The Prague Landwehr units weren’t involved in the Bohemia theatre but as far as I can work out were actually involved in the main campaign against Napoleon. Still I wasn’t going to let a little detail like that stop me. Much like the Bohemian Landwehr the Victrix set wasn’t exactly right in some details for the city of Prague Landwehr (only the officers seem to have had turnbacks for example) but modelled with Shakos instead of Corsehut and a paint job they kind of work. They certainly are not a perfect representation but close enough for me though more picky button counters might call them fantasy..
I should point out here in the UK we’ve been having some rather warm weather (up to 30 degrees Celsius 86 in old money I believe) the last couple of weeks. Now if you are reading this in a country which habitually has hot weather you’ll probably laugh at this but us Brits aren’t generally good with hot weather. We spend all winter moaning about the cold but after a couple of days of hot weather we’re done. My painting suffers because my hobby space is also my garage which with its flat, black, tar roof just soaks up heat like a sponge. My paint dries out to quickly to highlight and blend properly, I get tired really quickly (I actually fell asleep with miniature and paintbrush in hand one evening) and I really struggle to motivate myself in the heat. As such these miniatures took way longer than normal to paint and the paint job is a bit sub par. Still they are done now and hopefully the weather will break before I start my next unit.
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/06/img_20230627_192602185.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/06/img_20230627_192621406.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/06/img_20230627_192656568.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/06/img_20230627_192630421.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/06/img_20230627_192641893.jpg?w=1024)
-
Looking good yet again mate!
-
Looking good yet again mate!
Thanks mate 👍
-
I don't normally like Brown uniforms, but they are nice.
-
I don't normally like Brown uniforms, but they are nice.
Thanks. Because I'm doing Bohemia 1809 the majority of the Austrian troops were Bohemian Landwehr who seemed to like Brown coats. On top of that of the four regular battalions available to the Austrians two were Grenz so more brown uniforms by the time I've finished I may have the brownest Napoleonic Austrian army ever 😆
-
Thanks. Because I'm doing Bohemia 1809 the majority of the Austrian troops were Bohemian Landwehr who seemed to like Brown coats. On top of that of the four regular battalions available to the Austrians two were Grenz so more brown uniforms by the time I've finished I may have the brownest Napoleonic Austrian army ever 😆/quote]
It's nice to see some of these less popular units getting some love. I look forward to the group shots of your completed brown army. :)
-
It's nice to see some of these less popular units getting some love. I look forward to the group shots of your completed brown army. :)
thanks
-
Those fellas look really good!
-
A slightly different, and very long (sorry), blog post this week. More of a state of play and where am I going post than a look at my pretty pictures post. In January I stated I was starting a Napoleonic Project, for 2023, based on the 1809 side theatre of Bohemia/Saxony. Halfway through the year I thought I’d take stock of what I managed to paint so far based on my chosen unit sizes of 16 infantry (battalion), 8 cavalry (regiment), 8 skirmishers (undetermined bunch of skirmishing infantry), 2 cannon and eight crew (battery), 2-3 officer command stand and single figure casualty stands
1 battalion Austrian Regular infantry
1 battalion Austrian Landwehr
3 battalions of Bavarian infantry
2 Bavarian Skirmishers
1 Bavarian Artillery battery
6 Bavarian command and casualty stands
1 battalion Brunswick infantry
1 regiment Brunswick cavalry
so including command base, casualty bases and mounted colonels that’s a total of a 124 infantry miniatures, 12 mounted miniatures and 2 cannon, built, painted, based and varnished in half year roughly that works out at 1.2 miniatures a day. Slower going than I’d like but in fairness I have at times been distracted by my Darkest Africa project and have used it to take a break from painting Napoleonic uniforms. The uniforms of Napoleonic troops are a boon and a curse it’s hard to not be attracted to all the bright colourful uniforms (Just try flicking through a Funcken uniform book and not get the urge to paint up Engineers of the Guard or Spanish infantry) and when painted they look great. On the downside I have never, in 35 years of painting, painted anything as fiddly and time consuming as Napoleonic uniforms.
I always had a plan, in my head, of what a finished version of this project would look like but I’ve never written it down so I thought it was time to commit it to paper(screen) so I could use it to measure my success (or lack of) in the future. Below I’ve listed each nation involved in the Bohemian area of operations including where I can what their real forces were in 1809 and then what I planned to paint up for gaming purposes. in general I never planned to paint a whole historical force for any of the nations unless, like for example the Brunswick contingent, they were very small. The reason for this is a combination of money, storage, my butterfly nature when it comes to painting and my chosen rules work best for about a brigade sized (6-10 units a side) forces.
I’ll give brief background for the 1809 Bohemia-Saxony campaign to give the protagonists below some context. With the main focus of the war between Austria and Napoleon focused further south and west of Bohemia, and with other side shows in Poland and Italy, initially the Austrians looked to defend the Bohemian border from French and their German allies with a force of mostly Landwehr and depot troops. In truth the French and their allies weren’t in much of a position to attack Bohemia either. Saxony’s army bar a few depots, garrison troops and a regiment of cuirassiers had departed to join Napoleon’s main army leaving the kingdom barely defended let alone capable of aggressive military action. Westphalia was a newly formed Kingdom still building its army. King Jerome’s position wasn’t totally secure as as not all his subjects were inclined to accept a French king and Westphalia saw several attempted uprisings in early 1809. Further North the Dutch and French troops garrisoning the Northern coast of Germany had recently had to deal with a more serious uprising when Major von Schill and his Prussian hussar regiment deserted the Prussian army and invaded Germany in attempt to stir up a rebellion against the French. Further south the Bavarians were fully engaged in Tyrol and with Napoleon’s main army and weren’t in any position to threaten Bohemia.
Initially there was some cross border Skirmishing the Duke of Brunswick’s men launched a small raid in to Saxony that caused the Saxons some panic but were were beaten off by Johan von Theilmen . Meanwhile Austrian forces crossed the border into Northern Bavaria in series of raids that had to be counter by local forces. After the Battle of Aspern-Essling in May. The Austrians decided to try and build on their success at the battle and worry Napoleon’s line of communications with diversionary attacks into Northern Germany from Bohemia. Am Ende lead a force into Saxony driving back Johan Von Theilmen’s command and going as far as to capture Dresden before King Jerome and his Westphalians arrived and linked up with the Saxons and chased Am Ende and his forces back into Bohemia. GM Radivojevich marched into Northern Bavaria capturing the town of Bayreuth before General Junot gathered the French reserve corps and a few Bavarians and launched a counter attack. The now outnumbered GM Radivojevich slowly fell back towards Bohemia. At this point General Kienmayer arrived in Bohemia to take command of XI Corps he ordered GM Radivojevich to hold his ground took some of Am Endes troops and ordered him to guard the border against an attack from the Saxon-Westphalian forces (who as it happened were enjoying the comforts of Dresden to much to threaten Bohemia). Kienmayer now now marched to GM Radivojevich’s aid and linked up with him at Gefrees turning to to fight the French on 8 July 1809. Defeating Junot’s French and Bavarians Kienmayer then turned and marched to fight Jerome’s forces. Jerome who now marching to support Junot panicked and retreated once he realised he was facing the Austrians alone. Jerome was saved from defeat and the Austrian’s denied further success as the main Austrian Army, defeated further south at the battle of Wagram on the 5-6th of July, was forced to sign the The Armistice of Znaim was signed on the 12 July 1809 ending the war.
The Austrians had fought hard but had lost in every theatre they had faced the French in 1809 in southern Germany, Italy, Hungry, Poland even in the Balkans. Arguably the only theatre they were winning in when peace was signed was the Bohemian one. There was one final chapter in the story though. The Duke of Brunswick was outraged by the armistice and vowed to keep fighting. Taking his small army, now using the the moniker Schwarze Schar or Black Horde, he marched into Germany and seized the city of Brunswick perhaps hoping to spark a Germanic uprising. As the forces of King Jerome’s X corps closed in the Duke decided to abandoned Brunswick and March to the North sea coast and rescue by the Royal Navy. thus the black horde marched from Brunswick to the mouth of the Weser river fighting to pitched battles against Jerome’s forces before sailing to Britain to carry on the fight against Napoleon in Spain.
Austria
The Austrian XI Corps in Bohemia, at its strongest, under Michael von Kienmayer, consisted of
IR 10 / III
IR 42 / III
2nd to 5th Leitmeritz Landwehr
5th Koniggratz
6th Bunzlau Landwehr
1st Jager Btn / 5th comp.
Merveldt Uhlans
Schwarzenberg Uhlans
Klenau Chevaulegers / Res sqn (1 sqn)
8 x 3pdrs 2 x How
Deutsch-Banat Grenze IR 12
1st & 2nd Tabor Landwehr
4th Koniggratz Landwehr
2nd Crudim Landwehr
Merveldt Uhlan (1 sqn)
Res sqn /Schwarzenberg Uhlans
Res sqn / Rosenberg Chevaulegers
Res sqn / Blankenstein Hussars
4 x 3pdr
3rd Tschaslau Landwehr
5th Bunzlau Landwehr
Scwarzenberg Uhlan (1 sqn)
which gives 12 battalions of Bohemian Landwehr, 1 Jager company, 2 Regular 3rd infantry battalions, 2 battalions of Grenz, 5 Uhlans squadrons, 2 Chevaulegers squadrons and one hussar squadron and 14 guns in two batteries divided between two forces under Am Ende and GM Radivojevich. I don’t want to paint 12 units of Landwehr and for ease I’ll probably divided the cavalry down to a couple of units. I basically I want two Austrian commands so somewhere between 12-15 units divided up as follows
2 regular infantry battalions
2 Grenz battalions
3 skirmisher units (1 of Jagers, 2 of 3rd rank Landwehr men)
1 Chevaulegers regiment
1 Ulhan Regiment
2 artillery batteries
4 battalions of Landwehr (possibly up to 6 at a later date)
Quite a lot of stuff to paint but not beyond me. I already have all the miniatures in plastic for the Landwehr and regular battalions (some of which are on my painting table right now)
Brunswick, Kur-Hessian Legion and Franconian legion
Attached to the Austrian corps were these three Freikorps the biggest was the Duke of Brunswick’s forces that consisted of
2 (later 3) infantry battalion
1 regiment of Hussars (Later with an added squadron of Uhlans)
1 horse artillery battery
1 company of Jagers
the Kur-Hessian legion consisted of
1st Grenadier company
Jager company
Fusilier company
Leib Dragoons squadron
Hussars squadron
The Franconian Legion was raised by a Prussian officer, in Hessian service, uniformed as Austrians and consisted of
1 Jager company
1 Uhlan Squadron
From my point of view while the Kur-Hessians are interesting their numbers are to small to really form into units. The Franconian legion is the same. The Brunswick contingent makes a perfect sized force for my needs so I will include it in its entirety with the added benefit I could use to refight the Duke of Brunswick’s March to the sea. I’ve already painted a couple of units and have the miniatures I need for a couple more ready to go. at the moment I’m waiting on Steve Barber miniatures to release their 1809 uniformed artillerymen (that I’ve seen WIPs of) to finish the whole force.
Moving on to the French and Allies side we have
Saxony
Almost the entire Saxon Army was sent to join Napoleon’s main forces in Bavaria leaving Saxony almost undefended apart from a regiment Zastrow Cuirassiers. Luckily for the Saxons the energetic Johann von Thielmann managed to cobble together some sort of force from depot troops, garrisons and troops returning from Poland to defend Saxony from the Austrians. At their strongest the Saxons could defender their land with the following force in 1809.
Grenadier battalion von Einsiedel
Combined Bn (2 grenadier & 2 line co.)
Battalion I/von Oebschelwitz
Detachment of Burgsdorff Reg’t (101 men)
Two foot batteries — 14 guns
Zastrow Cuirassiers — 4 squadrons
OTL v Gablenz Hussars — 3 squadrons
von Polenz Chevauxlegers — 1 squadron
One horse battery — 8 guns
Realistically I’ll leave out Burgsdorff detachment, the Chevauxleger squadron and some of the Artillery and build a Saxon force of
3 Battalions of infantry
1 regiment of Hussars
1 regiment of Cuirassiers
1 artillery battery
Edit: thanks to a chance discussion on TMP I found today I found out the Saxons raised a number of new units of Schützen during 1809 to help with the defence of the kingdom so I will add a unit of Skirmishers to the above force as well now.
Kingdom of Westphalia and X corps
Napoleons younger brother had recently become king of the newly formed kingdom of Westphalia. King Jerome Bonaparte was commander of X corps which consisted of the army of Westphalia which was still in the process of expanding to its full size this was further hampered by some of its regiments (including its light battalion and regiment) being sent to fight in Spain. A Division from the Kingdom of Holland and detachments and garrisons spread across northern Germany that consisted of troops from France, Berg and Poland. On paper it looks a powerful force but in reality the whole corps was never mustered in one place. The Dutch troops played a part in putting down Major von Schill’s rebellion in Northern Germany. While the bulk of the 1809 Bohemia-Saxony campaign involved Westphalian troops. The Westphalians were also the main opponent of the Black Brunswickers in late 1809 and as they marched to the sea and into exile in Britain. leaving out all the minor garrisons and detachments of X corps the Westphalian’s could muster the following 1809
Westphalian Division:
lst Brigade:
Guard Grenadier Battalion (l)
Guard Jäger Battalion (l)
5th Line Regiment (3)
2nd Brigade:
lst Line Regiment (3)
6th Line Regiment (3)
Jäger-Karabinier Battalion (l)
Cavalry:
Guard Chevauleger Regiment (4)
lst Cuirassier Regiment (2)
Artillery:
4 Artillery Companies (l6 guns)
The biggest problem I have at the moment is a lack of 28mm Westphalian miniatures. Westphalian uniforms were just different enough to be hard to proxy with miniatures from another nation. Luckily Steve Barber has started a range so I can at least have Westphalian line infantry and Jäger-Karabinier miniatures so for know I will create a a stunted 2nd Brigade of
4 line infantry battalions
2 skirmishers (Voltigeur and Jäger-Karabinier)
1 artillery battery
Its a bit sparse but until I can find miniatures for the guard units of or Cavalry it will have to suffice. The short lived Kingdom of Holland also added a Division to X corps
Dutch Division: General Gratien
lst Brigade:
6th Line Regiment (2)
7th Line Regiment (2)
2nd Brigade:
8th Line Regiment (2)
9th Line Regiment (2)
Cavalry:
2nd Cuirassier Regiment (3)
Artillery:
3 Artillery Companies (l2 guns)
Their main contribution was the defeat of Major Von Schill’s uprising on the 31st of may 1809 at the battle of Stralsund. The Perry’s make some lovely Kingdom of Holland miniatures so while I don’t want to paint the whole division i will add a small brigade to support the Westphalians something like
3 infantry Battalions
1 Artillery battery
1 cavalry (cuirassier regiment)
Bavaria
In the Bohemia/Saxony/Westphalia campaign in 1809 the Bavarians had a very minor part to play contributing a scratch battalion made up of three depot companies from the three different regiments and a small battery of two guns. As I had so many Victrix plastic Bavarians and I felt it was a waste not to use them. I’ve ended up expanding the Bavarians into a small brigade of four battalions (the light battalion acting as skirmishers) and a artillery battery. Much stronger than their Historical counterparts but offset by me reducing the size of the French contingent below.
French
The main French contingent in this campaign was the reserve corps, under GD Junot consisting of lots of new recruits and depot troops they also incorporated the Bavarians above into their command
6 battalions of line infantry (all recently raised 4th battalions)
12 guns in two batteries (manned by a mixture of horse artillery and infantrymen)
2 provisional Dragoon regiments (maybe up of 4th/depot squadrons)
I already have a enough plastic Victrix dragoons and Artillery to make a battery of guns and two dragoon regiments and one box of Perry plastic French with a couple of extra command sprues will allow me to form four battalions of infantry giving me a French contingent to paint up consisting off
4 battalions of infantry
2 regiments of cavalry
1 skirmisher unit
1 gun battery
So were does all that leave me? Well with a lot of purchasing and painting ahead. At my current rate I’m not getting this project all wrapped up, with a neat little bow, by the end of 2023 I’ll certainly be moving into 2024 before I’m done. The plus sided is, maybe bar the Austrians, each of the forces is a self contained brigade size group and a manageable little project in itself so if I can just pick a nation at a time to work through it should be do-able. The Bavarians are already done, the Westphalians and Brunswickers I have all the miniatures for apart from sourcing artillerymen. I have quite a bit of Plastic to give me the bulk of the Austrians and French but more miniatures are required. while the Saxons and Dutch I haven’t even brought a miniature for yet. So there we go I think I’ve made a decent start to this project but there is a long way to go yet.
-
Less of a “ohh pretty pictures” post today’s blog post instead is a bit of a ramble and introspective look at my hobby sorry about that. A few weeks back I published a post called Assessing and Updating the Project Plan for 2023. The post mostly dealt with what I had collected, what I had painted and what other miniatures I wanted to add to my collection based on the theatre I had chosen for my Napoleonic project. I’d shared the post to a couple of wargames sites and received a few nice comments but one comment in particular gave me pause for thought.
“Well, if painting a figure or two a day is the objective, looks as though you’re set for many years to come. Congratulations! The finished castings look good. If this is for a game, I’d have expected to hear about rules, table size and intended battles. Possibly covered earlier on the blog? My entirely unsolicited advice would be to figure out what you need for a small game, and focus on getting two sides to that level. This is a long-term project, and a few games may keep up your enthusiasm.”
The commentator brought up a really interesting point. Playing the game is a big part of wargaming yet its also the part I rarely do. This meant the way I looked at the project was very much geared towards the painting and modelling side of it. I had some vague Idea I might play some solo games but in terms of the project it was all about the painting and collecting.
I have been in the hobby since I was 9 making it 40 years this year and during that time I have periods in my life were I gamed often and regularly either at clubs, hobby stores or with friends. These days however I practically never game there are a variety of reasons, some good, some probably just excuses on my part, as to why that is the case. Oddly when I gamed a lot I had very little interest in painting and modelling. Armies of grey lead and tan plastic over some green towels and a few model railway trees were a frequent site in my early gaming life it didn’t matter, to my friends and me, at the time we had fun. My secondary school and college years were filled with endless gaming both historical and fantasy including miniature gaming, board gaming and RPGs sadly after college in the early 90s our little group went their separate ways. Working for Games workshop in the late 90s increased my interest in the painting and modelling along side gaming. As red shirts we had to paint up and model stuff for the store. The guys I worked with were a talented bunch of painters and terrain makers and passed a lot of good knowledge on to me during my short career in GW retail. That period I also played a lot, exclusively GW stuff, but I could be playing two or three games a week. I was part of a club in the late 00s which was fun and good motivation to get stuff painted but in truth after a hard day at work coming home grabbing my armies and then humping them up the club on public transport (I’m one of those rare adults who doesn’t hold a driving licence) on a Tuesday night was exhausting. I guess in the end the chance to play a game was outweighed by an easier night at home and my attendance at the club just dwindled. Since then I’ve become more of a collector than a gamer in truth that hasn’t been a problem for me I enjoy painting and modelling a lot. The last decade or so has seen me acquire a lot of new hobby tools and try a myriad of different paints and painting techniques that younger me would have been gobsmacked by. Still there is a nagging doubt that if I’m a wargamer I should at least occasionally play a game.
A couple of weeks back I had to book a day’s leave off work, I had a tradesmen coming to fit a new garage door and wanted to be around in case of any issues. I also quickly realised I had the house to myself that day as the wife and kids were at work or college. I decided I was going to use the day to play a solo wargame (in the end I actually managed two games in one day). Looking through my Napoleonic collection I had 12 units painted up since January, when I started my Napoleonic project, 6 Bavarian and a 6 mixed Austrian/Brunswick units. I had planned to use Neil Thomas’s One Hour Wargames rules horse and musket version for my Napoleonic solo gaming and the rules recommend 6 units a side so I had what I needed.
I should discuss my rules choice here. Mr Thomas’s One Hour rules are very simple, they are not by any stretch of the imagination a simulation of warfare, in the book are offered several different period specific rulesets each around 3-4 sides of A5 in length. They are also what I would describe as old school using IGO-UGO, lacking morale rules, using D6 dice and sticking with fixed movement rates. They are very much in the mould of rules written by Don Featherstone or Stuart Asquith in the many “Beginner Guides to Wargaming” I had in my youth. The simplicity is deliberate, as the rules name suggests the idea is to get a wargame played in an hour, and this actually part of the appeal for me as I never seem to have enough time in my life for things these days. I also liked the simplicity of the rules I have played enough slow, complicated, maths heavy rules in my youth (I’m looking at you WRG 6th edition ancients, Newbury Fast play Medieval and Empire 3 rules) that I have no desire to play such games again. The simplicity also allows me to tinker, add and try out house rules. As I said above the rules suggest 6 units a side (though this can be modified by playing the extensive number of scenarios (30 in all) provided by the author in the book which is also a benefit, as I have to collect and paint all the miniatures, a smaller number of units is obviously easier on my budget and hobby time.
Having decided to go for it I looked around to see what else I needed to get a game on. Mr Thomas has a small two page section on Solo play at the back of his book where he suggests using chance cards as a way of giving solo games some unpredictability. I liked the idea so I popped on a few wargames sites and asked for examples of unusual things that had happened in Napoleonic battles. I got a big response and chose ten of the suggestions and made a deck of custom made chances cards using my wife’s laminator. I also wanted to try out some house command and control rules to try and make some friction to my solo games. My first idea was to basically to steal the tried and tested DBX style command dice and the other idea was to try a card driven movement system breaking up the ridge IGO-UGO. I made a custom movement card deck using national flags and my wife’s laminator (at this point she was giving me some odd looks). To go with the DBX rules I needed command bases so I had to quickly paint up a Duke of Brunswick command stand. I came up with with a simple scenario set on the 1809 Bohemian border. I felt I needed a few buildings so I knocked up three paper building (they weren’t great but they’d do a job)
On the day I got I set up a table. Where I realised my old gaming terrain could probably do with a bit of a face lift. I actually knocked out two games one using the DBX house rule and one using a card deck movement house rule. Both games were good fun and I hope to post up AARs for both games on the blog soon so I won’t go into details here. In the mean time I can’t finish off a blog post without at least a few nice photos so here is my Duke of Brunswick command stand I speed painted up for the first game.
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/07/img_20230716_090022289.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/07/img_20230716_090035379.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/07/img_20230716_090040569.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/07/img_20230716_090029983.jpg?w=1024)
-
I admire your many skills mate. Your thorough research and attention to detail. Your painting. And your ability to articulate your thoughts. I empathize with your hobby situation as it echoes my own.
-
Great thread! Love the OHW rules for similar reasons, give a good fun wargame especially when using the scenarios most of which give a tight game. Have doubled forces playing one scenario on each table but allowing troops to cross as required, works ok. Have fun, that’s what it is all really about!
-
I admire your many skills mate. Your thorough research and attention to detail. Your painting. And your ability to articulate your thoughts. I empathize with your hobby situation as it echoes my own.
Thank you.
Great thread! Love the OHW rules for similar reasons, give a good fun wargame especially when using the scenarios most of which give a tight game. Have doubled forces playing one scenario on each table but allowing troops to cross as required, works ok. Have fun, that’s what it is all really about!
Thanks
-
As I mentioned in my previous post in preparation for some solo games using Neil Thomas’s One Hour Wargames I prepared some chance cards based on suggestions I received on various wargames message boards. I typed these out in a word document, printed them off, cut them out and glued them on to some blank playing cards I brought off Amazon. Totally unnecessarily I also found a a painting of Marshal Jean Lannes being shot and printed that off as the rear side of the card for extra durability I then laminated the cards.
The 10 random events I came up with I’ve listed below
That’s the Enemy Fire! Whoops
In the smoke and confusion of battle one unit (chosen by random dice roll) is hit by friendly fire and takes d6 hits.
Who put that there?
A unit stumbles on a hidden drainage ditch. One unit (chosen by random dice roll) can’t move this turn and takes D3 hits due to confusion and injuries.
What Are My Orders Dammit!
A unit (chosen by random dice roll) hasn’t received any orders and can’t move this turn as messengers are sent to higher command. The unit can still shoot if a suitable target is available.
The General Wants Us to do What?
A unit (chosen by random dice roll) receives the wrong orders roll a D6.
1-2 unit moves full move straight ahead.
3-4 unit falls backs in a straight line a full move.
5–6 unit halts to redress ranks no movement or shooting this turn.
The Heavens Have Opened!
A sudden unexpected downpour turns the battlefield to mud and dampens powder. Next turn all units move at half speed and all firing damage is halved.
Vive le Vin!
A Unit’s (chosen by random dice roll) officer is drunk. This turn the unit actions are randomised before the officer is replaced by a (sober) junior officer next turn.
1-3 shoot at the nearest eligible unit (friend or foe) cavalry no movement instead.
4-5 fallback unit makes a full move straight backwards.
6 Charge the unit makes a full move straight forward entering melee if they can.
All is Lost!
A unit (chosen by random dice roll) receives false news that the battle is lost. The unit automatically falls back a full move straight backwards.
The finest cavalry in Europe and the worst lead.
A unit of cavalry (chosen by random dice roll) goes into an uncontrolled charge. The unit charges the closest enemy unit doing double damage if it wipes out the target of its charge it makes an immediate second charge fighting normally this time. At the end of the turn the cavalry unit itself takes an additional 2d6 hits.
The Colonel is Dead!
A unit (chosen by random dice roll) loses its commanding officer roll a D6.
1-3 confusion in the chain of command unit may do nothing this turn.
4-5 Anger the unit tries to avenge his death unit makes a full move towards the nearest enemy unit if they can enter melee they will.
6 Panic the unit temporarily falls back this turn the unit makes a full move straight backwards.
Boom!
An ammunition wagon of one artillery unit (chosen by random dice roll) catches fire and explodes. That artillery unit cannot shoot or move this turn as it recovers from the confusion and lack of ammunition.
The way the cards worked was slightly different in the two games I played. As in each game I used a different command and control system and the Random event cards were tied into these systems in different ways I’ll explain more in the upcoming AARs.
Speaking of different command and control systems I also made up a set of cards for random unit activation I found some national flags (in this case Bavaria and Austria) printed them off and stuck them to the same blank cards as my random events. I added a Napoleonic battle scence to the back and laminated them for extra durability. In this case I made eight of each of the flags and a single random event card which when drawn triggers a ….err.. Random event. Below are a couple of (not great) photos the first is the activation cards the second is the random events card.
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/07/img_20230720_205550181.jpg?w=872)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/07/img_20230720_205651780.jpg?w=768)
-
As mentioned in a previous blog post I finally got my new Napoleonic Project on to the table for a Solo game. I wanted to use Neil Thomas’s 1 hour wargames specifically the Horse and Musket version of the rules. These rules give small and simple games you won’t be using them to re-fight Leipzig or Waterloo and if you want an in depth recreation of Napoleonic battles you’ll need to look elsewhere. For me though the simplicity, old school feel and and speed of these rules were attractive especially when playing solo.
Having said that I couldn’t resist the urge to tinker with the rules in particular I wanted to play with some command and control ideas to make solo play a little more unpredictable. As mentioned in my previous blog post I took on the rule author’s idea of adding random event cards to spice up solo play but for this first battle I also added what can be best described as a DBX command and control system. The rules for which are below
Each army has a command stand. The command stand has no combat value and can’t be attacked or attack. The command stand has a move of 12″ and can use a road bonus. The command stand moves at the end of an army’s turn after all other units have performed any actions.
at the start of each turn the command stand rolls a d6 to see how many command pips it has that turn.
If a natural one is rolled for command pips a random event card is triggered pulled from the deck and played straight away before any other actions.
Command pips can be used to move units. Units within 12″ of the command stand require one pip to move. Units beyond 12″ require two pips to move. A command stand can also use command pips to rally one unit per turn, that is within 6″ of the command stand, each pip spent removing one hit from the unit.
Next up I needed a scenario the One Hour Wargames book actually comes with 30 scenarios but for this battle I was inspired by a paragraph in John H. Gill’s With Eagles to Glory. Gill writes about a small incident along the Bohemian and Eastern Bavarian border in June 1809 when a number of small Austrian (mostly Landwehr) raiding parties crossed the border and raided the area around the towns of Zwiesel and Regen the Bavarians sent a depot battalion and local militia to the area to drive off the raiders. After a bit of skirmishing the Austrian’s fell back into Bohemia. Taking this incident as inspiration I upped the size of the forces from a few companies to a couple of small brigades and came up with the following scenario.
June 1809 the Duke of Brunswick has lead a mixed Brigade of Austrian and Brunswick units over the Bohemian border into Bavaria raiding the area between the towns of Zwiesel and Regen. Having split his brigade up, to raid further afield, the Duke receives news that the Bavarians have cobbled together several infantry battalions and a battery of Artillery and are moving to intercept his forces. The Duke occupies Zwiesel with a battalion of Brunswick infantry, his Black Hussars and a detachment of Tabor Landwehr and sends orders for the rest of the brigade to re-unite on his position. The Bavarians, surprisingly rapid, march catches the Duke still waiting for the rest of his command to join him leaving him no choice but to hold Zwiesel and hope the rest of his command marches to the sound of the guns.
The two sides were as follows
Bavarians
3 battalions of infantry (4th and 8th infantry)
2 skirmishers (5th light battalion)
1 Artillery Battery
Austrian/Brunswick
1 battalion infantry (Brunswick)
3 battalions of Infantry (Tabor Landwehr, Prague Landwehr, IR 10)
1 Skirmisher (Tabor Landwehr)
1 cavalry (Brunswick Hussars)
The Bavarians started the game with their whole force. While the Duke of Brunswick started with only the Brunswick battalion, Brunswick Hussars and Skirmishers. The Duke’s other three battalions would only arrive later in the game their arrival being determined by a dice roll on a d6 (6 on turn one, 5 on turn two and so on until a 2+ from turn five onwards). Reinforcements would arrive by one of three roads determined by a d6 1-2 southern road (by the manor house) 3-4 eastern road (through the town) or the Northern road (between the river and fields). Below are a few pictures of the set up I managed to cobble together from my available scenery (which is something else I need to work on at some point).
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/07/img_20230723_160052193.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/07/img_20230723_160040896.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/07/img_20230723_160110214.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/07/img_20230723_160106271.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/07/img_20230723_160112039.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/07/img_20230723_160143366.jpg?w=1024)
-
The game lasted nine turns rather than give a dice by dice blow I’ll give the highlights of the battle
Turn 1-2. The first two turns were mostly about the Bavarians trying to get up the road to the bridge. The Bavarian Artillery were quite active in these early turns firing on the first turn at the Brunswick infantry in the town though not causing much damage. On the second turn a natural 1 on the Bavarian commander dice saw a random event in which the Bavarian artillery received “The battle is lost” card and retreated from their hill top position. Turn 2 also saw the Bavarian skirmishers reach and secure the bridge. The Austrians were even less active holding their positions in turn one. In turn 2 IR10 arrived by the northern road. The Austrians also rolled a natural one in turn two triggering a random event on the Hussars of the “Colonel is Dead” resulting from them moving directly towards the enemy looking for revenge they weren’t close enough to charge but they were now nicely exposed. The Austrian skirmishers fired on the Bavarian skirmishers at the bridge to little effect.
Turn 3-4 saw the action hot up two decent command rolls of 5 allowed the Bavarian commander to push one unit of skirmishers beyond the bridge towards the manor house while the infantry battalions started to cross the bridge. The artillery returned to the fray by setting back up on the hill. The Bavarians mostly manoeuvring to form a battle line meant only the Artillery and skirmishers were firing and they concentrated their fire on the exposed Brunswick hussars starting to whittle them down with minor damage. The Austrians had a stoke of luck when all their remaining reinforcements turned up in turn 3 both battalions arriving by the southern road. two good command rolls for the Austrians allowed them to manoeuvre their reinforcements into a battle line along side the Brunswick battalion that left the town and advanced towards the bridge. The Hussars launched an attack on the Bavarian skirmishers heading towards the manor house.
Turn 5-7 The height of the battle and the Bavarian’s luck deserted them the Bavarian commander roll to ones in a row for his command dice. This resulted in a Random event card of “The heavens have opened” in turn 5 this downpour would half both sides moving and shooting during turn 6. To make matters worse a second random event card saw one of the Bavarian battalions discover a hidden drainage ditch stopped them moving through turn 6. The Austrian commander enjoyed much higher command rolls which allowed him to destroy the lead Bavarian battalion at the bridge under fire from three Austrian battalions and push forward his battalions as a unified battle line. Bringing his whole battle line to bear on a second Bavarian battalion on turn 7 that was destroyed in the ensuing firefight. The Brunswick hussars destroyed the Bavarian skirmishers near the manor house but in turn were finally dealt with by a combination of skirmisher fire, artillery and fire from the southern most Bavarian battalion. The Bavarian commander tried to concentrate his fire on the Austrian regular battalion during this phase of the battle inflicting a large number of hits.
Turn 8-9 The death throes of the Bavarians. The Bavarian commander finished the last two turns with command rolls of six but having lost two out of his three infantry battalions and half his skirmishers there was little he could do he poured most of those command pipis into rallying his remaining infantry battalion and concentrated all his fire on the Austrian regular battalion that was already badly beaten destroying it in turn 8. That still left the last Bavarian battalion facing three Austrian battalions and after using turn 8 to manoeuvre his three battalions into position in turn 9 he unleashed them of the last Bavarian battalion in an uneven firefight that saw the Bavarian battalion melt away. With only his Artillery and some Skirmishers left against three infantry battalions and a unit of skirmishers the Bavarian general conceded the field leaving the Austrians victorious.
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/07/img_20230723_160309625.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/07/img_20230723_160347693.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/07/img_20230723_160739554.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/07/img_20230723_160743366.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/07/img_20230723_160753461.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/07/img_20230723_160800972.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/07/img_20230723_160804672.jpg?w=1024)
It was a fun game, the rules worked well, and I felt the DBX command and control plugged in seamlessly as did the random event cards. After six months of painting it was really nice to put these miniatures on a table and roll dice with them. On the game side I made the rookie mistake of putting the river and bridge in which really hampered the Bavarians from bringing their early numbers advantage to bare. I was also a bit generous with the Austrian reinforcement rolls meaning all the Austrian reserves were on the table by the time the Bavarians arrived. That was coupled with the Bavarians getting some awful command rolls just as the two armies clashed making this whole game an uphill struggle for the Bavarians. Not including setting up the table the whole game took me an hour and twenty minutes to play (including taking notes, photos and a mid game cup of tea) which is just what I was looking for. In fact the game time meant after lunch I was able to fight a 2nd battle that day the AAR for which I will save for another post.
-
This was my second Napoleonic battle using Neil Thomas’s One Hour Wargames (OHW) rules. The Forces and the scenario were the same as the first battle but I made some changes to try and give the Bavarians a better chance. First I re-jigged the terrain removing the river and bridge hopeful giving the Bavarians more room to manoeuvre. Second I changed the reinforcements roll for the Austrians I used the same dice rolls as the first battle but didn’t allow a roll on the first turn (so on turn 2 units would arrive on a 6 and so on) in an effort to avoid a repeat of the first battle were all the Austrian reinforcements turned up very early in the game. For this second battle I also wanted to try a different command and control system from the DBX system I used in the first game. Instead this time I used a card deck system.
The rules for the card deck were very simple. Each side started with a number of cards equal to the number of units it has in play at the start of the battle . So in this battle three cards for the Austrians and six for the Bavarians. During the course of the battle the number of cards in the deck will change a new card being added, to the deck, for any units that arrive as reinforcements and a card being removed for any unit that has been destroyed. In addition in any scenario where there is a clear attacker vs defender (like this battle) the attacking side will receive one extra card to represent their greater initiative on the offensive. If playing a historical scenario you could also add an extra card to the deck if a historical general was particularly good on the day. The final card in the deck was the Random event card.
Now instead of each side taking it in turns in a ugo-igo system both sides share a single turn. The cards are pulled from the deck one at a time and the side whose card is drawn can activate (move, shoot or melee) one unit once both sides have activated all their units the turn is over. If the random event card is pulled a second card is drawn from the deck, to see which side the event affects, and then a random event card is pulled from the random event card deck just like the first battle (in hindsight there was an issue with random events but I’ll return to that later). at the end of the turn the deck is cleared up by adding or removing any cards for reinforcements or destroyed units and then shuffling the deck.
Below is a picture of the initial set up as you can see no river this time the patches of scrub are just for visual effect and had no impact on the game Also unlike the previous battle no command stands, which is more in keeping with the original One Hour Wargames rules, because in the card system they have no use.
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/08/img_20230711_130443370.jpg?w=1024)
-
This game flew along and actually lasted a turn less (eight in all) than the previous battle. The whole game taking 54 minutes not including set up and tidying up the dinning room table afterwards. Below is a quick rundown of the key events.
Turn 1-2 was mostly the moving up of the Bavarians to the crossroads while their artillery tried to soften up the Brunswick battalion in Zwiesel town. An early Random event saw the Austrian skirmishers take 4 hits from friendly fire.
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/08/img_20230711_131130500.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/08/img_20230711_131133584.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/08/img_20230711_131138723.jpg?w=1024)
Turn 3-4 Turn 3 saw one Bavarian battalion head towards Zwiesel, ready to engage the Brunswickers there, they were helped out massively when the Brunswick battalion in Zwiesel pulled a random event card of “The Colonel is Dead” and left the safety of the town to promptly advance on the lead Bavarian battalion desperate to exact revenge for their dead officer. Turn 3 also saw the Brunswick Hussars manoeuvre onto the flank of the leading Bavarian battalion and the Austrian regulars arrive by the southern road. Turn 4 found the officer of the Bavarian artillery was a drunk (another random event) which put them out of action for two turns as the manoeuvred up and down the hill. Meanwhile the Austrian and Bavarian skirmishers on the northern flank took pots shots at each other to little effect. In the centre the lead Bavarian battalion was destroyed by a combination of firing from the Brunswick infantry and a flank charge from the Brunswick hussars. the rest of the Bavarians managed to form a solid battle line. The Austrian regulars occupied the manor house.
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/08/img_20230711_132924947.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/08/img_20230711_132908822.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/08/img_20230711_133330486.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/08/img_20230711_133307152-1.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/08/img_20230711_133538692.jpg?w=1024)
Turn 5-6 Turn five saw the arrival of the remaining Austrian Landwehr battalions from the Northern road which now meant the Bavarians were heavily outnumbered. The Austrians spent turn five and six mostly trying to bring their infantry battalions into a battle line while under fire from the Bavarians. The hussars spent turn five manoeuvring into position to launch a charge on turn six. One Bavarian battalion found itself without orders due to a random event card but the impact was mitigated by the fact they enmey was right in front of them to be fired at.
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/08/img_20230711_133609690.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/08/img_20230711_133754859.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/08/img_20230711_134043437.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/08/img_20230711_134319332.jpg?w=1024)
Turn 7 – 8 with the Austrians greater numbers the writing was on the wall for the Bavarians. Although they managed to destroy the Brunswick infantry battalion they lost both of the remaining infantry battalions the Brunswick hussars delivering the coup de grâce with a charge into the flank of the final Bavarian battalion. One unit of Bavarian skirmishers was destroyed in an uneven firefight with the Austrian regulars occupying the manor house and with that the Bavarians called it a day.
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/08/img_20230711_135154066.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/08/img_20230711_135352457.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/08/img_20230711_135401377.jpg?w=1024)
Despite the changes the Bavarians lost the 2nd battle much like the first. looking at the two games I think one of the reasons is not all units are created equal under the rules. Infantry battalions are king and are the real battle winners while cavalry can be devastating under the right circumstances. Meanwhile artillery and skirmishers are useful auxiliaries, that have their uses, but don’t hit as hard as the infantry and cavalry. In this particular scenario the Austrian side had more harder hitting units (4 infantry battalions and a cavalry regiment) and thanks to being the defenders didn’t have to work to hard to assemble them into battle line. The Bavarians on the other hand found it harder to move up the battlefield organise a battle line and bring their three infantry battalions to bear in a meaningful way. Mean while the Bavarian skirmishers and artillery struggled to whittle down the Austrian units strength enough before the main battle lines engaged. Noticeably once the Bavarians lost their first battalion the battle would quickly go down hill as the Austrian infantry battalions ganged up on the lesser number of Bavarian battalions in one sided firefights. I suspect if I re-fought the battle a third time with the Bavarians as the defender they would stand a better chance using their skirmishers to slow down the Austrian advance and give their artillery more time to work on the Austrian infantry also occupying the town and manor house would have given the Bavarian infantry far greater staying power even if outnumbered.
For this second game in particular the command and control card system worked well turns moved along at a brisk pace and as a solo player it brought in far more unpredictability than the DBX system. If a side could get 2-3 cards in a row it could really give them the initiative to change the course of the battle. The adding and removing of cards due to reinforcements and losses worked well. In this game I saw the Bavarians have the initiative for early parts of the game but slowly lose it as losses mounted and the Austrian reinforcements showed up. The one thing that didn’t work quite so well was the addition of a random event card to the deck. Firstly it pretty much guaranteed a random event every turn unless the random event card was in the bottom two cards of the deck along with the Bavarian spare card for being the attacker. Second because the card could be drawn at anytime during the turn (rather than at the beginning of the turn in the DBX system) it could find itself being played on units that had already taken a go that turn which didn’t quite sit right. My choices here are either to only randomly dice for units that haven’t yet had a go that turn or play the random event as first thing that side does on the next turn.
I’m not sure where the project goes from here rule wise I very much enjoyed the OHW rules I think they worked perfectly for what I wanted of the two Command and control systems I tried out I think the DBX style one has the more potential. I have a few more tweaks and house rules I’d like to try out to give the horse and musket rules a more Napoleonic feel especially in regards to infantry formations, infantry and melee and assaults on built up areas. On the broader project front I need to give my scenery a shot in the arm especially I need to get some trees/woodlands sorted. Miniatures wise I now feel the need to add some allied French to the Bavarians especially some dragoons. As two provisional French dragoon regiments operated with some Bavarian infantry and artillery in the build up to the battle of Gefrees. This seems like a good way to add more power to my Bavarian forces (who are already way over strength for the 1809 Bohemian theatre) while still being quite historical. for the Austrians I already have another Landwehr battalion on the painting table but I probably need to bulk up their skirmishers and add some artillery.
-
Not the most exciting of posts, and the more eagle eyed may have spotted them in my recent battle reports, but a little while back I finished up these skirmishing Landwehr made from the plastic Victrix Austrian Landwehr set. Most of the miniatures in the Victrix set are in march attack poses but a few on each sprue have separate arms allowing you to create firing poses sadly there is no kneeling miniature in the Victrix set as I do like a kneeling skirmisher. The NCO pointing is actually a spare Perry miniatures from their Austrian infantry set.
When I started this project and was looking at the various armies I was confused to find that the Austrians only had a single Jager company and seemingly no other skirmishers. This had a lot to do with my limited understanding of Napoleonic warfare and seeing that Austrian units didn’t have light companies, like the French or British, I assumed they had no skirmishing ability built into their battalions until I found out that in Prussia and Austria the 3rd rank men were extensively used as skirmishers and often were detached from their companies. On top of that I also found out that every Landwehr battalion was also expected to form a special section (I haven’t been able to track down how many men comprised this section) of snipers (Scharf-schützen) supposedly armed with rifle but in reality armed with what was available. So it seemed reasonable to paint up some Landwehr skirmishing to increase the number of skirmishers available to my Austrian forces.
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/08/img_20230820_152002494.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/08/img_20230820_152013608.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/08/img_20230820_152026375.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/08/img_20230820_152041613.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/08/img_20230820_152051065.jpg?w=1024)
-
A. Nice battle reports. Even if the Bavarians went 0-2...
B. Can you combine the 2 C&C systems? Issue cards as you did in the 2nd fight, but also add a card for each leader? When the leader's car comes up, he may issue an order to a unit (maybe 2 units depending on a die roll...) to give it an extra activation as well as move about the field...
C. You could also keep the Random event card in the deck, but make 2 blank Random Event Cards so that there is the possibility of nothing notable happening in a turn...
D. Letters B and C are just suggestions, hopefully helpful ones...... :D
E. I like those Austrian skirmishers. Well done!
-
A. Nice battle reports. Even if the Bavarians went 0-2...
B. Can you combine the 2 C&C systems? Issue cards as you did in the 2nd fight, but also add a card for each leader? When the leader's car comes up, he may issue an order to a unit (maybe 2 units depending on a die roll...) to give it an extra activation as well as move about the field...
C. You could also keep the Random event card in the deck, but make 2 blank Random Event Cards so that there is the possibility of nothing notable happening in a turn...
D. Letters B and C are just suggestions, hopefully helpful ones...... :D
E. I like those Austrian skirmishers. Well done!
thanks yes plenty of options for command and control to play with but in my next games (when I can find some time) I'm hoping to try out some formation house rules to give a more Napoleonic column, line and square feel.
-
Continuing my Bohemia 1809 project I’ve painted up this French Provisional Dragoon regiment. Napoleon tried to increase his dragoon numbers by joining the 4th (depot) Squadrons of the existing French dragoon regiments in to Provisional regiments consisting of 4 squadrons. Two of these regiments, the ended up in the Bohemian area of operations under the commanded of GD Jean Delaroche in 1809 and went on to to fight at the battle of Gefrees making them a must have for my project.
The two provisional regiments were the 1st (squadrons of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Dragoons) and the 5th (squadrons of the 18th,19th,20th and 21st Dragoons) in theory these regiments were 1000 men strong but in practice the two regiments number about 1200 between them. These two regiment’s linked up with a scratch force of Bavarian artillery and infantry before joining up with GD Junot and his French infantry Division to go on and fight at the battle of Gefrees.
I naively thought French dragoon uniforms were pretty simple but turns out there was a lot of differences between regiment’s, of the same colour facings, with regards to pockets, cuffs, collars etc than I’d realized. I’ve tried to paint each base as a different squadron which makes the 4th squadron of the 18th really stand out as the only squadron in the 5th provisional regiment who wore dark pink facings the others all wore yellow facings in different configurations. Miniatures are 28mm from Victrix fiddly to put together but nice miniatures. These dragoons could be fielded alongside my painted Bavarians, with historical justification, giving them some badly needed cavalry next time they face off with my Austrians.
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/09/img_20230905_193655377.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/09/img_20230905_193717336.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/09/img_20230905_193726159.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/09/img_20230905_193736077.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/09/img_20230905_193743788.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/09/img_20230905_193753467.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/09/img_20230905_193800545.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/09/img_20230905_193828611.jpg?w=1024)
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/09/img_20230905_193852040.jpg?w=1024)
-
Looking good mate! 👍
-
Looking good mate! 👍
Thanks
-
Nice thread! :-*
The dragoons are inspiring! Well done.
-
Holy crap, those Dragoons look great! :D
-
Ace dragoons 8)
-
The dragoons look lovely! Makes me want to add some Victrix dragoons, but I still have some Perrys to paint first.
-
Thanks for the nice comments chaps 👍