Monsieur le Rosbif & Johnny Frog

2 ° Reggimento Fanteria - Fusiliers WIP

2012-02-28T21:53:00.000+11:00

Now the weather's settled down a bit, I've had a chance to finish the last 4 figures of my Italian project for the La Bricole painting comp.

Next up, basing and shading. They may even make it to the table-top this weekend!

A company of followers!

2012-02-26T21:41:00.000+11:00

Thanks to Benjamin of Wight I now command a Company of Followers, or more accurately, my blog has the honour of being followed by 100 people who find my ramblings interesting enough to do me the courtesy of signing up!

Thanks again to all my followers and all those who leave comments. I've said it before and I'll say it again; It certainly makes it all worthwhile having all this wonderful support form people all around the world who although I haven't met, say the nicest things about my Napoleonic wargaming efforts.

All the NWA chaps who I play with and against most weeks with much good humour also give me much welcome support in my online efforts, too, and are very patient in putting up with my photography during our games. I know they really vie with each other to play me to get their figures on the blog! ;-)

Battle for the bridges

2012-02-25T22:30:00.001+11:00

No posts for a week as I've been using my spare time before I go back to study getting the 1st draft of'the 8th edition of our club's Napoleonic rules, Cold Steel, finished. Finally done, and after a bit of tweaking in the next few weeks, and the addition of the charts courtesy of big Rob, it'll be all go! I'll add it to the blog as a separate page for all and sundry to peruse and use at your leisure.

Back at the club last night after a having to work last Saturday (boo, hiss!), and I played in a scenario officiated by our resident Scenario Svengali, John R.

Pete E. and I commanded a British/Portuguese force that held a Spanish town on the banks of a river. The river was crossed by 2 bridges, which were the key to the scenario; we had to deny them to the French, while the French had to capture them to win. We knew there were French in the area, but not where they were, so we had to make our dispositions blindly. We could mark on a map which BUAs our forces occupied, without actually putting the figures around them, so that the French wouldn't know which buildings were occupied until they came knocking. As we weren't sure of which way they were coming, I felt this was a little perilous, especially as I only had 1 Portuguese battalion and therefore I didn't want to tie up my best units defending BUAs.

Robin and Andrew S. commanded the French forces and diced to see which sides of the board they entered from; Robin ended up coming straight for me on my right flank, along the river. I had decided that they would be coming from the other side of the river, but luckily I was able to turn and face him without too much of a problem. Andrew approached the town from the other side, heading directly for the river through hilly, forested terrain. What he didn't realise was that a lot of the woods concealed swarms of Spanish guerrillas, controlled by John. As it was, after a brief setback with a 3lber gun, the Spanish didn't really slow Andrew down at all.

Andrew played another brilliant combined arms assault that had John and Pete in all sorts of bother as his heavy cavalry skirted the town, herding John's guerrillas ahead of him, and supported by infantry. Pete was focused on the rest of the French forces approaching the town, while hsi cavalry had to be brought back over the river, where they'd been in skirmish formation in order to slow down an approach that never came from that side.

Robin and I faced each other without cavalry and had a fun tussle for the flank of the town. Initially, I had the upper hand with my Portuguese guns doing steady work on his lines, although his skirmishers were steadily adding disorders to the Buffs's line. Robin approached with 2 lines behind his skirmish screen, and behind that , a column. When his column ended the turn ninety degrees to my line, with a nicely tempting flank pointing in my direction, I decided the time was ripe for a charge! The Portuguese gunners disappointed by missing everything, but the Buffs mad sure of things anyway. They steamed in and cleaned up the first French line, went battlemad and made short work of the second line, ending their move right on the luckless column's flank. Next turn, when Robin tried to extricate his threatened column, I fired into their flank causing a casualty and a morale check, but with the other 2 units running away it was fairly certain that they'd break, too. This was where I could have used the cavalry; They could have caused all sorts of bother to Robin, but as it was I couldn't exploit my gains and fell back to re-establish a defensive line, the bridge safe behind me.

Meanwhile, Pete's flank was enveloped and Andrew's dragoons reached the first bridge after smashing more guerrillas and the sole British cavalry unit. His dragoons then copped some flank and rear fire from Portuguese and Spanish troops, which caused them to flee the bridge...for now!

Next, Andrew's infantry dealt with one of Pete's British squares, which freed his hussars to put in a spectacular charge that cleaned up an artillery battery, a British line (in the flank!) and yet another Spanish guerrilla unit. This charge crossed no less than 3 barriers; 2 hedges and a wall. This equine avalanche put paid to Pete's resistance and my rear was exposed to Andrew's infantry once they gained the town, so my heroic resistance was in vain!

NOTE: This was my most economical game yet; I only lost one casualty all night, while Robin suffered at least half a dozen!

Pete sets up his forces in the village

My troops turn to face the threat from the left

For a moment it was French in line vs. British in column!

Andrew's hussars surprised by guerrillas in the mist!

Come 'n' git some!

The buffs in line next to the Portuguese artillery (actually Spanish pretending for the night!). The 50th form line in reserve.

A Frog's eye view.

Pete's Portuguese surprise Robin's column by announcing their presence in the BUA.

French guns fire...and miss!

The 50th foot in reserve.

Light Dragoons form before heading back over the bridge to their doom!

The vital bridge on my left. The key to my position; if it falls, game over. My Portuguese occupy the BUA on the left.

Robin's skirmishers come on with waves of French behind.

More guerrillas momentarily impede Andrew's progress.

Pete's British await developments.

The LD cross the bridge to take on the French.

A disorder on the Buffs courtesy of the skirmishers.

Pete moves out of the BUA to form his Portos on the Buffs' flank.

Andrew's French line enter the woods to flush out the guerrillas.

Skirmishers in the lead.

Time for some action! After the guns fire and miss, the Buffs charge, met half way by Robin's counter-charging French.

After successfully seeing off the first line, the Buffs go battlemad and crash into the second line, which also flees. Note the column facing the wrong way, presenting its soft flank to the victorious Buffs!

CRASH!

The French column takes disorders as the retreating line disrupts the formation, and the Buffs approach.

After seeing off the column, the skirmishers advance, racking up more disorders on the Buffs.

The 50th advance to protect the Buffs' flank.

Pete's light infantry in the village

On the right flank, Andrew's infantry shoo off the guerrillas, but decide the better of leaving the safety of the woods.

The Buffs fall back and the 50th side-step while the Portuguese guns fill the gap in between.

Robin's skirmishers still harass the line, but a dose of close range canister enforces a morale check , which sees them fall back to lick their wounds.

Stalemate!

Andrew's dragoons barrel over the hill and clean up the Biritish LD and head for the bridge, defended only by Spanish guerrillas and one battalion of Portuguese.

On come the dragoons...

...herding Spaniards like sheep over the bridge. The 1st bridge is in French hands! (But not for long...)

First the Portuguese fire in the dragoons' rear, but can't budge them...

...then the Spaniards try and send the dragoons packing. Huzzah!

I suffer my first casualty when Robin's guns knock off one of the 50th's figures.

Back on the right, Andrew charges Pete's square (Walloon Guards masquerading as British) and smashes them.

Pete tries to get into the flank of the victorious French column, but gives the hussars a perfect target.

Other French infantry surges ahead to the bridge...

...while the hussars crush everything in their path, only stopped by the river!

With Pete's forces crumbling, my rear is in danger!

2 ° Reggimento Fanteria - Fusiliers, Command & Voltiguer WIP

2012-02-19T13:11:00.001+11:00

Here's the latest off the workbench from my Italian project;. A couple of fusiliers, the command figures and the remaining voltiguer. The command figures are Kennington/SHQ again, while the figures are HaT set 8095.

The officer was sculpted in a surtout rather than the more formal double-breasted jacket, so I've done a paint conversion to make it look as though he's wearing the jacket. Not sure if it worked, though. I can't seem to find out any sources that show what a surtout would look like in this instance. I was thinking of just painting red piping up the front of the jacket, but didn't really like the result. Maybe I'll have to gently slice, or file, the buttons off the front of his jacket to really make it work.

Still some of the finer details to fix, then the last four fusiliers, and they'll all be ready for the shading/varnishing process and basing.

(Sorry about the lighting; I should only take pictures during the day with the help of artificial light, rather than relying solely on the lamp for illumination!)

2 ° Reggimento Fanteria - Elites WIP

2012-02-17T11:49:00.000+11:00

Due to an enforced day at home, thanks to various illnesses, injuries and appointments, has meant that while I look after sick Junior Rosbifs, I get time to show you the beginnings on the next battalion of Italian stallions.

So far, I've painted the grenadiers and one voltiguer of the 2nd Line Regiment. These chaps have red facings and piping with green cuff flaps. They're mostly finished, but I still need to add the national cockade to their headgear.

WTF??!?

2012-02-16T14:33:00.000+11:00

This was in today's online version of the Melbourne "Age".

I thought the French had more taste!

Edible Books!

2012-02-14T21:09:00.000+11:00

Work has an annual celebration of books and food by asking staff to create an edible version of well known (and some lesser known) titles.

This year I participated with my entry celebrating Leo Tolstoy's lesser known first draft of what became his Russian literary masterpiece. In an effort to break into Hollywood script writing about 70 years too early, Tolstoy had written an epic about mutated killer 50' pea pods unleashed on Napoleon's invasion of 1812 : War and Peas!

Fortunately, he listened to advice and scrapped the idea as too silly and wrote the classic we know today.

My entry illustrates this previously little known historical sci-fi narrative, which could rival the likes of H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds if more people become aware of its significance.

My misspent youth comes into play with classic Commando comic dialogue!

The Peoples' Choice winner: The Secret Garden by Sarah Charing

The judge's winner: Mr Men by Joyce Bowden.

The event was judged Australian foodie and healthy eating guru, Stephanie Alexander, and funds raised went to her Kitchen Garden Foundation which works with Australian primary schools to teach kids the joys of eating vegetables they grew themselves.

Italians on debut

2012-02-13T15:56:00.002+11:00

Last Friday night at the club I partnered John R. with his Italians against Tim's Spanish, Pete E. using a brigade of Tim's Portuguese and Andrew S. using my British. As Andrew and I faced each other I was guaranteed that my troops would win! (Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, so the pictures in this post are from my phone and may not be quite up to scratch.)

It was a great game with the result in the balance (at least on my side of the table) until Andrew's fateful cavalry charge towards the end of the night (but more on that anon!).

Andrew normally plays French (or Austrian when playing on the allied side), so he was in unfamiliar territory which I thought might play into my hands. I'd decided to go cavalry and artillery heavy, with both my Chasseur regiments as well as the 2nd Hussars, plus the 2x4lb horse gun batteries and 2x6 gun 6lb foot batteries. My plan was to threaten him with my cavalry, forcing him into square, pummel him with artillery, then then put in the coup de gras with the infantry.

With the pass in between two ridges as the objective of both sides, my immediate objective was to secure a village of 2 BUAs in the pass, before splitting the allied forces in half and proceeding through the pass to secure the road through. As the Allies won the initiative, Pete managed to get his Portuguese to the village by the 2nd turn. My veteran brigade of legere and line troops managed to secure the left hand BUA in short order, with the help of the foot artillery, but the remaining BUA remained in Pete's hands. The remaining Portuguese in the BUA caused my screening battalion considerable grief with their accurate shooting, but their time was limited.

Andrew steadily withdrew his infantry behind the crest of the ridge (as a good British commander should!), leaving only his artillery to dispute my advance. I replied with my 2 batteries of 4lbers, which again gave excellent service, knocking out 2 of his guns. Meanwhile, my hussars guarded my left flank, supported by one of the 2 chasseur regiments. The hussars were a little too close to Andrew's horse guns and suffered a casualty before they were persuaded to back off slightly.

I unformed one battalion of regulars in order to skirmish with Andrew's riflemen and although outnumbering them considerably, our skirmish combat was fairly inconclusive due his advantage in fire class. However, because he had so few figures, I managed to knock a couple of them off in a few of turns of combat, forcing a morale check, which he failed. I intended to push the skirmish screen up over the ridge to add disorders on Andrew's line, then attack with my infantry once they were sufficiently disordered, but events changed somewhat before I could implement my plan!

Earlier, I tried a coup de main with my 2nd chasseur regiment in the centre. I was hoping to clean up Pete's Portuguese to crack open the centre and from there get into Andrew's flank, hopefully rolling up his line. If I'd had better cavalry this possibly would have worked better, but as it was, Pete managed to get one of his infantry units into square in time (although the front unit failed and was routed) and my charge halted on the tips of their bayonets. If I'd had dragoons, and a favourable die roll, I may well have cleaned up both units and caused a panic in the allied centre. It was not to be, however, but I still think it caused a momentary raising of blood pressure amongst the allies!

Their center was vulnerable as Pete was forced to stay in square as my chasseurs still lurked in the background. I wanted to bring my guns up closer and pound the square, so I limbered and moved them forward, but ran out of functions to unlimber them. The limbered guns effectively blocked the cavalry threat. I would have done better to have prolonged the guns gradually each turn, shortening the range over time, but I wanted that square crushed NOW! Patience is a virtue in this game, and Andrew is the master at playing the long game.

I formed up the battalion in the left hand BUA in preparation for a combined arms attack on Pete's square, but in my tunnel-visioned state, I'd neglected to take account of a battery of Portuguese guns on the flank. Too, late I spotted the threat, but there was nothing I could do but suffer the consequences. They were forced to take a morale test which they failed, but luckily were only forced to retire to the other side of the BUA. This was enough for Pete to get his square back into column and begin another advance on the BUA. I hastily pulled the limbered guns out of harm's way to be able to resume pummelling Portuguese, and sent the recently defeated infantry back into the BUA before Pete could re-occupy it, finding myself back where I started, more or less. Andrew brought around a battalion of British line and Portuguese cacadores to hold the centre in support of Pete's Portuguese and the stir my cavalry had created was over. The 2 reinforcements were in closed column and, in our rules, more vulnerable to infantry than if in ordinary column, so I set my Italians onto them, hoping for a helpful die roll. I didn't get it, but it wasn't a disaster; He counter-charged with both units and got a kinder die roll, resulting in a draw.

Time was running out and my options were limited, so I decided to recall my skirmished regular battalion with the intention of forming them up behind the rest of the brigade, then charging Andrew's British on the ridge with the full brigade. I moved one of the 4lber horse batteries up in support, hoping to be able to exploit any gains once on the ridge.

Andrew had moved his cavalry out on the flank and set them at my hussars but with fairly even die rolls, both cavalry units bounced. Now that my horse gun batteries had dispersed, he aimed his cavalry at the lone 4lber battery still with the cavalry, basically charging at an angle away from my hussars. This was the point of crisis of the battle; If my hussars had done what they were supposed to, his attack would have been stopped in its tracks and my infantry could have attacked up the hill. As it was, I declared my intention of trying for an opportunity charge against Andrew's light dragoons and failed (bloody dice &^%$)! They sat there picking their noses, while the guns were forced to limber and flee. His charge carried on into the unformed infantry causing them to rout and then into my stationary chasseurs, who were blocked from charging by the retiring guns and the fleeing infantry. Needless to say, they were sent packing too, all because my hussars sat on their fat ar$es rather than doing their job!

From there, my flank was wide open, and his artillery and infantry rolled up my flank from left to right causing a whole brigade to collapse, including the brave Italians. All because of my lazy hussars! GRRRR!

John had a lot better luck against Tim's Spanish, so while he chased them off, I still retained the BUAs in the centre. Technically you could say that we were the only side to partially achieve the objective (that is if you ignore the devastation caused to one of my 2 brigades!). QED, we were the winners! ;-)

Italians on debut!

The thin red line on the ridge

The veteran brigade and the divisional general

The cavalry and my excellent 4lb horse guns

My regular brigade, including Italians

Andrew's anchored line with reserves behind

The successful attack on the first BUA

My skirmishers go head to head with Andrew's rifles

My chasseurs line up Pete's Portuguese in the gap between the ridge and BUA

In they go! The front battalion got squished, while the rear one just managed to form square in time

My limbered foot artillery move up to exploit the cavalry's gains, but now block the chasseurs from any further heroics.

On the other flank, the hussars face the Light Dragoons with the other chasseurs in support.

The second BUA falls to my veteran brigade

My infantry exit the BUA to take on Pete's square. Look out for the guns!

Guns go BLAM! and legere retire.
Pete's Portuguese advance to dispute the BUA.

The beginning of the end; My skirmishers scatter ahead of the fleeing horse artillery, while my chasseurs are caught flat footed by Andrew's light dragoons.

Chasseurs flee!

Andrew's horse guns at very close range in my flank. His infantry are about to swing like a gate off the ridge and roll up my line

PS. Apologies to all the folks whose blogs I've begun to follow over the last month. For some reason I can't fathom, Blogger doesn't allow me to update the list of blogs I follow and therefore these new blogs aren't displayed on my list. Hopefully this will change soon and the links will be displayed on my blog.

Guns, guns, guns!

2012-02-09T22:08:00.000+11:00

After showing the horse gunner conversions as works-in-progress, I realised that I haven't posted pictures of the finished products! They got used in the Wagram battle and proved fairly useful, too! Unfortunately, the guns were a bit of a rush job to be ready for the game, and I haven't got around to fixing the detail on them yet.

Also included is two batteries of foot artillery using the wonderful Zvezda French artillery set, which also got to see action in the Wagram game. I decided to use the less usual poses from the set, namely the dynamic ramming figure and the pair using the handspikes and sighting the gun.

1 ° Reggimento Fanteria - Finalmente finito!

2012-02-08T21:57:00.000+11:00

One down; one to go!

I'm quite pleased with the way they've turned out, even with the trouble I had early on. I think I've learned a bit from this lot that will make painting the second battalion smoother sailing, eg. test your varnish shade before you apply it to a figure and to give the spray varnish nozzle a good clean before squirting it anywhere near a figure unless you're looking for the 'marching through a blizzard' look!

This is the first half of my entry for La Bricole's first painting competition. I'm painting the 1st and 2nd Italian line regiments and this is the 1st regiment finished. Now to start on the 2nd with their red facings.

They'll get their christening this Friday and I'm expecting them to be ganged up on by Tim's Peninsula forces of KGL, Portuguese and Spaniards.

The battalion in column...

...and in line

The command figures

NCO and officer. HaT and Kennington go well together

The colour party

The seconda porta aquila

Marching fucilieri

Advancing fucilieri

Voltiggiore

Granatiere

1 ° Reggimento Fanteria - WIP

2012-02-07T09:00:00.000+11:00

I've finished the replacement grenadier and am now at the basing stage.

All figures are now stuck on their bases made from a layer each of cereal packet cardboard and fridge-magnet glued together, and a liberal amount of Reeves' Coarse Texture artist's gel applied around the figures' bases to disguise the 'step' where figure meets base.

Next step, after the gel is dry, is to paint the base and add a little flock and static grass and this lot will be ready for this Friday's NWA meeting where everyone loves ganging up on a new unit!

They still look like they're on the retreat from Moscow, but this time it's only the bases that look like they're covered in snow!

Replacement granatiere, still requires varnishing.

Daleks at the MCG?!

2012-02-06T18:09:00.000+11:00

Picture courtesy of BBC website

COMPLETELY off-topic, but it was such a cool event that I just have to share it with you all!

Last Saturday Junior Rosbif #1 and I went to the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Dr. Who Spectacular at the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre. The show was a performance of the music composed by Murray Gold from the last 2 series and conducted by Ben Foster, who also conducted the BBC Orchestra for the series. But it wasn't just music!

It was based on the Dr Who Proms of 2010, and was hosted by Mark Sheppard, who played the character FBI Agent Canton Everett Delaware III from the Impossible Astronaut / Day of the Moon episodes. It even featured a pre-recorded address by Matt Smith, who plays the present Doctor (complete with: "Helloooo Melbourne!" Audience goes nuts."I can't hear you; I said, HELLLOOOO MELBOURNE!!!" Audience goes completely bonkers.).

The music was played to the accompaniment of images on the big screens from the episodes they came from, including the last Christmas special that also included the dialogue from big chunks of the relevant scenes. A full choir and soloists accompanied the orchestra, too, giving a amazing aural rendition of the most spectacular moments of the series. Amusingly, there were some technical difficulties with the Christmas special where the AV equipment kept breaking down. The concert hall rang to the sound of hundreds of sonic screwdrivers while the auditorium was lit by the sparkle of blue and green screwdriver tips as the fans did their best to help fix the problem!

During the performace some of the monsters from the show made an appearance including the vampires from the 'Vampires in Venice' episode, Cybermen, Silurians, the Silence, the Ood, the Judoon, and the crowd favourite, the Daleks! ("Slave orchestra! You will play! You will play", while the conductor battle the Dalek with his baton).

Luckily, we hung around after the show in a vain attempt to reach the merchandise stand, because suddenly all the creatures from the show made an appearance in the lobby to pose for pictures with the audience! How cool is that?! I only had my phone, so not many are worth putting on the blog.

And no, there were no Daleks at the MCG; it's just the promotional shot ;-)

1 ° Reggimento Fanteria - Eagle bearer

2012-02-03T21:36:00.000+11:00

I'm slowly progressing with the Italian project.

I've attached the flag to the eagle now, so the battalion's getting close to finished. The flag's from this website, which I think produces some of the best quality free flags on the web. Pity it hasn't been updated for a while though.

Next up; basing and the replacement grenadier.

Book review - 13 Years Later & Beat the Drums Slowly.

2012-02-02T21:46:00.000+11:00

I read fiction over the holidays; a lot easier to dip in and out of while you're traveling or relaxing on the beach.

The first book is the sequel to Twelve by Jasper Kent, while the second is the sequel to True Soldier Gentlemen by Adrian Goldsworthy.

So, to review 13 Years Later first; This story happens in Russia in 1825, appropriately 13 years after the events of the first story. The main character is still Alexei Danilov, who now is employed by the Emperor in keeping a watchful eye on threats to throne. As the story coincides with the Decembrist uprising, Alexei has his hands full infiltrating the group while trying to isolate his now grown son from their influence. Into this political powder keg comes the appearance of a vampire using communication codes that Alexei and his long dead comrades had devised to leave messages for each other. How had this vampire obtained the code and why is trying to contact Alexei? Is he a threat, or is he a warning of someone, or something, far more dangerous? And how is the Romanov dynasty involved? Is the threat facing them even more immediate than the Decembrists?

Old characters and new take part in the story that tells of the last days of the reign of Alexander II. It explains why some people believe the conspiracy theory that Alexander didn't die and instead secretly renounced the throne to spend his last days as a wandering ascetic monk.

A perfect pot-boiler for reading at the beach (I'm now reading the 3rd in the quintet, this one set during the Crimean War).

The second book I read was Beat the Drums Slowly, the sequel to True Soldier Gentlemen. Whereas the first book spent a lot of the narrative establishing characters and setting the scene for the fictional 106th Regiment of Foot to prepare itself to be shipped off to the Iberian Peninsula, this book is strengthened by the fact that all the characters are established and no more development or back-story is required; This is a purely plot-driven story and is much the better for it.

The regiment finds itself in Moore's army on its heartbreaking retreat through the snows of Galicia in 1808. They are part of the Reserve Division that keeps the French at bay while the rest of the army disintegrates on its retreat to the sea. One of the main characters, Hamish Williams, now promoted to Ensign, after a starting his career as a gentleman volunteer in the previous book, is separated from the regiment and his friends in the grenadier company when he goes off in search of the Major's daughter, the love of his life. He eventually finds her and together they try to rejoin the main army, picking up stragglers along the way, including a new-born baby! The ragtag group of stragglers, injured and wounded link up with an artillery detachment and realise that they are all that stands between the main army being outflanked by a detached group of French cavalry and light infantry who have been specially tasked by Boney himself to cut the British off from the sea.

Can this little group of misfits hold off the cream of the French army and save the retreating British? Will Williams' passion be requited? Will the rest of the 106th foot make it back the the ships?

I enjoyed it hugely and am eagerly waiting for the rest of the series.

Remarkable recovery!

2012-02-01T21:32:00.000+11:00

In a previous post I showed the matt varnish spray disaster that happened to the NCO figure of my Italian infantry project. I assumed it was ruined forever and would have to start from scratch with new figure.

A couple of posts from followers recommended I try using olive oil on the blizzard-like layer of thick varnish spray. With nothing to lose and a figure to gain, I brushed on the oil and, hey-presto!, one Italian NCO returned from the Berezina none the worse for his ordeal!

Thanks for the tip PanzerKaput and FireMonkeyBoy!

Before :(

After :)

1st NWA meeting for 2012 - Anglo-Spaniards vs. French

2012-01-31T17:02:00.000+11:00

The wargaming year has started at the club, so with a virtuous feeling after paying my fees for the year, I joined in with Tim, Andrew S. and Robin (filling in for Ian, who was a late scratching) in a Peninsula game.

I came up with a mini-scenario to dress up the usual 2-a-side 1200 points each, 'there's your enemy; now at 'em'-type game. If I'd spent more time thinking about it, it could have been a bit more challenging, but for an impromptu game it was better than nothing.

Tim, who had a Spanish force, was tasked to watch over a road junction and warn his British allies if the French approached, then withdraw. But the Spanish general was having none of that and had occupied an old earthwork at the road junction, determined to bring on a general action and enhance his reputation with a glorious victory. The British force was compelled to support the Spanish as the road junction was important for their link with the rest of Wellington's army.

The French and British then came on the board determined by die rolls as to which third of their designated areas they rolled for. It may have made for a more exciting (or quicker!) game if we rolled for when the armies entered the board, but as we all wanted to have a decent game and not have the board wiped clean by one player before the rest got on the board, we decided on a simultaneous entry.

Andrew faced Tim and his Spaniards in the redoubt and adjacent village, while I faced Robin on the other side. As I had come on the board on the extreme left, I wanted to link up with Tim before the French could exploit the gap between out two forces. Robin had a lot more cavalry than I had (a regiment each of hussars and cuirassiers, and yes I know the British never faced cuirassiers, but there you are!) and had 2 batteries of 6lb horse artillery concentrated on the left, which set me a challenge from the start.

Tim's quantity over quality army seemed to be on a hiding to nothing over on the right, but he used the terrain wisely to protect his forces against the worst Andrew could throw at him. It didn't help that he didn't remember until about half way through the night that he'd forgotten to put on the last 600 points of his forces! Once the rest duly entered the fray,his natural cunning plus some appallingly bad die rolls from Andrew had the French on the run on that flank, including Spanish cavalry seeing off the cuirassiers!

Meanwhile, I had the British holding the left flank, while attempting to plug the gap between the two flanks. As Robin threw the bulk of his infantry and artillery as well as his hussars against my left, I was always under pressure on that side, but I didn't fancy his cuirassiers getting in between Tim and me, so I had to send some of my troops to plug the gap. It was a case of plugging the holes with as many digits as possible, hoping that a new one doesn't spring just out of reach! I did have a couple of battalions in reserve, but they were needed fairly quickly as the artillery and cavalry took their toll. In attempting to keep the line, I'd put the 92nd Gordon Highlanders in the way of the artillery, but had hoped to put the guns under threat of cavalry after having dealt with the hussars. That didn't happen as our first charge was an inconclusive draw, allowing the French infantry time to settle the French flank. In a frustratingly efficient use of combined arms, Robin held me there and eventually crushed the cavalry and the 3rd Foot(Buffs) in a daring hussar charge. I managed to stabilise the line by the end and his attempt at another combined arms attack broke on the battered but steady square of highlanders.

At the other end of the line, the 50th foot stood in square at the edge of the forest between a foot battery and the 71st Foot (GHLI) and resisted an attempt to break it when Robin's infantry failed to charge home after suffering 50% of the front line destroyed in an artillery and musket volley. They turned tail rather than take more punishment! The square inched forward and fired in the flank of another French infantry line in the woods that had previously been engaged in an inconclusive firefight with the 71st, which caused them to flee as well.

These satisfying events in the centre led me to a rash decision towards the end of the game when I advanced the 71st into the woods vacated by the French in an attempt to outflank the guns. Of course, if you drop your trousers and wave your backside around (metaphorically!) you're going to get it spanked, which is what happened when his guns pivoted in place and whacked the 71st in the flank, utterly destroying them.

Robin was strangely indecisive about what to do with his cuirassiers in the centre, which I was worried would cause a great deal of mischief, as I only had Portuguese on my far right flank beyond the foot battery. He initially formed them up in line to threaten the centre, but then sent them around the central woods as if to attack Tim. Tim's heroic defense of the central woods against Robin's infantry attacks I think caused Robin pause for thought, resulting in his cuirassiers returning to their original position. By then my Portuguese had managed to deploy and linked up with the Spanish, completing the line and denying Robin the chance to divide and conquer.

So while, I maintained a shaky stalemate with Robin (although if the game went another couple of rounds I think I would have been in big trouble), Tim won the day by forcing a divisional morale check on Andrew, which he failed, resulting in gongs and titles from the Cortes in Cadiz for Don Tim.

My British forces enter the board

As do Robin's

The redoubt and supporting Spanish infantry

More of Robin's forces deploy behind the protection of the light cavalry.

On come Andrew's infantry towards the village

His cuirassiers and horse guns attempt to outflank Tim's Spanish

My Portuguese set out to cover the gap between the woods as the French approach from the top of the picture.

Robin's guns deploy with cavalry support behind.

His infantry march into the trees while my brave riflemen give them disorders to add to those incurred by traversing the woods.

The Spanish guns await the advancing French infantry while the infantry moves in support.

The cuirassiers and guns appear on Tim's right flank

Robin's hussars charge, to be met by my light dragoons...

...but we both bounce after an inconclusive combat.

My foot guns deploy while the 50th Foot form square only to see Rob's cuirassiers head off to the right. Did I scare him off?! The Portuguese now have the opportunity to fill the gap between the guns and the woods to the right.

My highlanders left like a shag on a rock after attempting to get in the flank of the hussars after their charge. They withdrew, copping my fire on the way, but are now left facing the 2 horse batteries at close range!

The Portuguese brigade hotfoots it to fill the gap between the British and Spanish wings.

Tim's guerrillas have been expelled from the woods by Andrew's leger after a skirmish combat.

Peekaboo! Rob's cuirassiers tease the Spaniards, causing the nearest battalions to require a change of underwear.

Time for a flank shot on those cuirassiers if they don't do something soon!

Tim's Spanish light troops fire as Robin charges his infantry, but with the casualties and disorders, his charge fails!

Meanwhile the 50th get back into square and the guns prepare to fire on a line target.

After suffering infront of the guns, the 92nd pulls back to let the 3rd have a go.

My battered light dragoons charge Robin's advancing closed column, and stop it in its tracks while the horse guns shorten the line directly in front.

Robin seizes the opportunity and charges the light dragoons who were still in column, smashing them and the 3rd Foot who didn't manage to form square in time. The horse guns limbered and fled, narrowly avoiding the victorious hussars' breakthrough move.

The resulting nasty gap on the end of the line.

Meanwhile, the 50th repel the French column's charge, with a little artillery help.

And off they go!

Then, the square moves forward onto the flank of the French line in preparation to send it packing too!

The situation on my left flank at the end of the night. The 92nd have just gallantly survived the infantry charge on the sqaure, upsetting Robin's plans to roll up my line.

1 ° Reggimento Fanteria - Fucilieri

2012-01-29T14:43:00.002+11:00

The last 4 figures of the battalion painted and ready for the shading treatment, then all will be set for basing.

PS. I spoke too soon, though! I've totally stuffed up the grenadiers with the shading way too dark; It looks like they've been rolling in a pigsty! I've managed to save the command figures with a bit of highlighting in white, but I'll have to start again with the grenadiers.

PPS. I've given some of the already-shaded figures a coat of matt-finish spray, but the nozzle got all gunked up and I didn't check it before spraying the NCO! It looks like he's been caught in a blizzard on the way back from Moscow. GRRRRR! Another one to re-do

Marching fusilier

Advancing fusilier - front...

...and rear.

The second marching fusilier - front...

...and back.

Second advancing fusilier.

Shaded and matt coated voltiguer - front...

...and rear.

Kneeling voltiguer - front...

...and rear. He got a highlight treatment, too, but I like the muddy , dirty look as if he's been doing a lot of dirty skirmishing.

Marching figure with shading applied. I got the varnish proportions right for this one!

Muddy grenadier. Too grotty - will paint another one instead.

Blizzard encrusted NCO. GRRRR!

Wagram, or the Big Boys' Sleep-over - Part 2

2012-01-28T22:12:00.000+11:00

After promising to report on the second half of the Wagram re-fight early this month, here it is (finally!). Sorry it's taken so long, but real life has got in the way. With the fast approach of the end of my leave, I've decided to extract the digit and get the report out of the way.

As the original battle lasted only for one day out of the planned three (see Big Boys' Sleepover pt 1.), the consensus was for the clock to be rewound to the period when the Austrian III and VI Korps appeared on the board and everyone was on an Attack order; none of this poncy withdrawing and defending stuff! Quinny was in high spirits as this meant he (as Napoleon) had the Guard to play with!

Again it turned into a French victory with the French right wing under Garry with Davout's III Corps making light work of the Austrian Avant Garde and VI Korps. For the result of completely smashing these two formations, Garry lost the grand total of 8 figures! Never was a victory gained so economically on the tabletop!

The rest of us had a harder task of it, but nevertheless ended with our forces triumphant. Tim (VI Korps) gave his all against Robin on the left flank, but Tim didn't have enough troops of high enough quality to get past Robin's IV Corps and Tony's VII Corps Bavarians. Paul (II Corps) and Darren (XI Corps) didn't have so easy a time of it second time around, although they were putting steady pressure on Pete and John in the centre. Andrew S.' III Korps had some limited success against Jenko's IX Corps Saxons and coupled with Malcolm's spectacular cavalry charge into the midst of my Army of Italy, that's where the French were under the greatest pressure. That's also where the Imperial Guard where steadily moving towards, so I wasn't unduly fussed with my temporary setback, knowing that I had Boney's hard men just behind me. My greatest disappointment was that I couldn't put MacDonald's giant square formation into practice before I was recalled to make way for the Guard. I had it all planned out and had the whole corps ready to form up as it advanced, but it was being hammered by Malcolm's's artillery, so it probably would have melted like the snow under the sun before they reached the Austrians, as happened historically!

As it was, Malcolm's grenadiers tried to advance to follow up the advantagegained by his cavalry, but were stopped by a combination of the remnants of the Army of Italy and the fact that the Guard infantry were fast coming up the centre, while the Chasseur's of the Guard were about to envelop his flank.

With the Austrian left flank all but destroyed and the Guard about to punch through the middle, the game was declared another French victory after another enjoyable day and a half's play interspersed with much good food and drink and conversation (including the famous Panda Poker discussion; you had to be there!)

Paul's 'humourous' depiction of the previous day's fighting.

His converted artilleryman as a marker for destroyed guns. This chap's been using too many ACME products!

Another converted piece for dead/wounded generals

...and yet another! The French certainly needed that with the number of general casualties over the weekend.

The setup from the arrival of VI and III Korps on the far flank

Archduke Charles encouraging the lads

Malcolm's highly successful cavalry charge starts by smashing the Chasseur division...

...crashing through the guns immediately behind, whose gunners fled. Meanwhile the infantry get disordered by the fleeing cavalry and are unable to form square!

The cavalry sweep aside the 3 regiments facing them...

...and end their gallant charge facing Imperial Guard artillery , with Imperial Guard Chasseurs on their flank and a surviving Army of Italy regiment to the rear.

After that unfortunate event, MacDonald's corps advances ready to form up in the giant square, while the tiny Italian Guard cavalry have forced the right hand Austrian grenadier regiment into square. The accompanying Guard artillery are unlimbered and waiting for the cavalry to clear their front before giving them curry. Behind them come more Chasseurs of the Imperial Guard

MacDonald's battered corps stand fast against the grenadiers, while the Italian Guard infantry lend support on the right, their fire stopping the attack in it's tracks.

My trusty little 3 lber batteries move to the front to try and add their weight to the deteriorating Austrian position, accompanied by more Guard Chasseurs.

Boney's hard men steam in for the kill! Allez La Garde!

Quinny puts in the coups de grace with the Guard Chasseurs that rolls up Malcolm's line, spelling the end of the game.

Not the kind of Panda Poker that featured in our conversation!

1 ° Reggimento Fanteria - Voltiggiore e comando

2012-01-23T14:42:00.002+11:00

I had a painting spree yesterday and finished the voltiguers and command figures of the Italian 1st Line Regiment yesterday. The weather's heating up, so there won't be much more for the next couple of days; after a couple of seconds your brush is clogged up with gooey half-dried paint! Not very good for fine detail!

I think I've made a mistake in the metal colouring on the officers, and I think I should have trusted my instinct with the grenadiers' bearskin plates, too. It seems it should all be white metal, not yellow metal. I'll change at some stage soon, but for the moment, this is how they look.

The officer figures are wearing surtout, (although they have tails) which I don't have any information on how to paint, so I'm thinking of changing the paintwork freehand to make it look like they're wearing the usual habite-veste.

1 ° Reggimento Fanteria

2012-01-21T14:22:00.000+11:00

After returning from the beach all tanned and rested, it's back into the blogosphere with my entry in the 1st Annual la Bricole Painting Competition!

I chose to add to my Italian Guard figures with some Italian line infantry, namely the Italian division from Eugene's Army of Italy that fought Archduke John in Northern Italy in 1809. For the competition I'm painting the 1st batallions of the 1st and 2nd Line Regiments, but will probably eventually paint up the whole division from the OB of the Battle of the Piave.

So far I've only painted the grenadiers of the 1st batallion, but now I'm home with only one week of holidays left (cue much wailing and gnashing of teeth!), I'm planning to put what time I've got left to painting these chaps (weather permitting!)

The figures are HaT's French line infantry (set 8095) although I have metal SHQ/Kennigton figures for the command stand. I'm using the websites Napitalia and Histunif as my painting guides and will use the flags from Vexillologique Militaire Europeene to adorn the batallions' eagles.

I'll also be putting up the AAR for the 2nd Great Refight of Wagram from the recently passed Wonderful Wargame Weekend in the next few days, so stay tuned!

Blowing my own trumpet #4

2012-01-14T09:57:00.001+11:00

40,000 visits and 90 followers!

Once again, thanks to all for visiting and coming back again!

Wagram 2012 - The Big Boys Sleep-Over Pt.1

2012-01-12T20:41:00.002+11:00

The annual highlight of the NWA Napoleonics group (or the big boys' sleep-over, as my family calls it!) occurred the weekend just past down at Drouin in the bucolic surrounds of western Gippsland. Tim and Jill really turned on the weather for us, as it usually is in the high 30's centigrade at this time of year; Friday was very mild (in the low 20's), while Saturday and Sunday got slightly warmer and more humid, but it was still a far cry from the sweat box that is Tim's shed during the real heat!

Jill did her usual sterling job at feeding a horde of middle-aged wannabe Napoleonic generals let off the leash of domesticity for a weekend to gorge themselves at her table. I think we should award her the honorary title of NWA QMG, or at least Cantiniere-in-Chief! Much food was eaten and wine drunk and a merry time had by all. Oh, and a game was played too!

This year the extravaganza was Wagram, 1809, as a companion piece to last year's Aspern-Essling. We decided to start off with the historical dispositions as too much had occurred in last year's game (including Archduke Charles' death!) to be able to continue directly on. Commanders roles changed, too: John R. took on the role of Archduke Charles, while Quinny took the ultimate step away from his usual British tendencies by taking on the role of Bonaparte himself! As regular readers of the blog have seen, I took on the role of Eugene de Beauharnais in command of the Army of Italy.

As anyone with a passing knowledge of the battle knows, the Austrians needed to win the battle to recover Vienna and expel the invaders from the empire. Another close victory like Aspern-Essling might be enough to bring Bonaparte to the negotiating table, but a defeat would be fatal to the Austrian cause. On the other hand, the French needed to win to restore Bonaparte's reputation as a military genius.

Quinny's plan for the game was for the French to fall back, initially, to consolidate the French forces, especially Massena's IV Corps, spread around the western end of the board. Bernadotte's IX Corps was also ordered to withdraw from Aderklaa, so as not to waste energy too far forward which would necessitate reinforcements being deployed early once the Saxons broke (which were sure to do), in a place chosen by the Austrians. Consequently, the first few moves were rearwards as the French and allies consolidated their forces in the west and centre, while the eastern wing held the line and attempted to take the Austrian held villages in front their main line along the Wagram heights. My task, as the pivot point for IX Corps was to conform to their retirement, protecting their right flank as they withdrew, then forming a line from the ridgeline facing the Russbach and the heights, back to Neu Wirthaus. As the Army of Italy was one of the weaker formations, this was always going to stretch my forces. The plan was then for the Guard to come up and replace the IX Corps and advance to the front. Things didn't quite go to plan, though!

As I held the line, I faced Pete E. at Deutsch Wagram with his Austrian I Corps. He had a grand battery set up in front of the town that seemed to consist of only 12lbers, although apparently there were some 6lbers mixed in for good measure. It didn't seem to matter because even at extreme range he seemed to throw exactly the right number to inflict casualties on my line. There was speculation that Pete had sold his soul to the dice gods before the game started! When he didn't throw 1's or 2's he was throwing 0's, which in our rules scores general casualties. Rolling another high number causes the general's death or severe wounding. Pete managed to score 6 French generals' deaths or severe maiming during the weekend and is now known as Pistol Pete! As my batteries were only of 6lber calibre I couldn't even reply to the pounding I was getting, so I had to withdraw as best I could out of range while still conforming to my orders.

Meanwhile, Tim and Andrew S. made their appearances on the board as their respective Corps (the VI and III Corps) drove back Robin's IV Corps. Robin put in a spectacular charge at one stage, with Lasalle at the head, as Tim crept forward, ready to put pressure on Aspern. Robin sent Tim's gunners fleeing in disarray, forcing the escorting Austrian cheveaux leger to counter-charge the French hussars, but failing to stop their triumphant progress. Robin's hussars were eventually shot at in the flank and chased of by more of Tim's cavalry, but they'd done their job by stopping Tim's steady advance in it's tracks. HUZZAH!

Archduke Charles (aka John R.) seemed to be getting a bit antsy in the centre and ordered Pete to charge his cavalry at my guns.Only one of his cavalry brigades was in column, therefore able to reach my line in the same move, but my infantry had plenty of time to square up and see them off with a well aimed volley. His other cavalry were in line and ran out of tape-measure, ending up within close range of my guns which did their worst on the next turn, sending the Austrian cavalry packing.

Meanwhile, Andrew's III Corps were assembling menacingly in front of the Saxons, but angled towards the weak link in the French line; namely ME! I was rescued from having to withstand the concentrated force of one of the stronger Austrian corps by one of those moments in wargaming that throws the game on it's head. In a fortuitous misunderstanding of orders, Paul's II Corps started a flank march in the face of the Austrians on the heights around Baumersdorf. The original orders were apparently only for the corp's artillery, but Paul got the wrong end of the stick and sent his whole corps on a north westerly march waving its flank at the Austrians. Archduke Charles couldn't resist this apparent French fumble and sent past of Hohenzollern's II Corps off the heights to exploit the mistake. Only problem was, there were no more reserves, while the French had the Guard and the the heavy cavalry in reserve.

The II Corps attack was faced by Paul's II Corps which had turned to face the threat. the rest of his Corps were behind the ridge awaiting developments in front of them. My little 3lber horse batteries had trotted up to the front slope of the ridge unable to believe their luck at the nice big juicy flank target in front of them. The Austrian brigades charged the french who in turn counter-charged, but my little pop-guns both scored hits in the Austrian flank ( I rolled a 1 & a 2, thank you very much!)which I like to think tipped the scales against the Austrians, forcing them to halt 2" from the enemy, instead of charging home (They also had formed enemy in the flank which added some extra penalties, too). They were then repulsed in the French counter-charge, and a hole opened up in the Austrian centre exploited by the relieved commander of II Corps with the assistance of the Heavy Cavalry Reserve. By 10pm on the first night (roughly 11am game time), the Austrian centre cracked wide open forcing a concession from our gallant enemy.HUZZAH!

Rather than sit around drinking for the next 2 days (as pleasant as that would have been!), the next day saw us rewind the clock and play from the moment that the Austrian VI & III Corps entered the board, with the French on an all out attack order.

My next post will recount this epic battle where I tried my best to bring MacDonald's giant square into the game!

Army of Italy's starting blocks

The battlefield looking from the east from the heights towards Aspern and the Danube

And from the west with the dike and Essling in the foreground

The Army of Italy waiting for the morning start

The Guard and Heavy Cavalry reserve

The Guard and heavies again. A beautiful thing to have just behind you!

Enough already!

The first move. The Army of Italy leave the starting blocks and advance to cover the withdrawal of the Saxons.

First objective taken; the ridge to the front. Now to form line diagonally back to the left.

The battlefield from the west with Massena's command scattered all over the field prior to consolidation.

IX Corps steadily falling back.

Army of Italy covering their right flank as they go.

Army of Italy beginning to angle to the left in preparation to cover the front of the retreating Saxons. Just behind the edge of the table is the Guard on a separate table, just ready to be wheeled on if needs be!

Robin's heroicc light cavalry commanded by Lasalle, ready for their do-or-die mission. Note the open spaces on the IX Corps left flank!

Closer view of Robin's lonely Hussars.

Garry's III Corps on the right flank, ready to take Markgrafneuseidel to his front.

The Austrians behind the light works on the edge of the heights.

More heavy reserve. It's a beautiful sight; what can I say?!

The view from the east.

The Austrian position from the east.

Andrew's III Corps Schwarzenberg Uhlans

And here's the rest of III Corps!

III Corps takes up its position...

...countered by Bavarian guns...

...and Baden guns and infantry with some further French infantry.

The Army of Italy in position from the ridge to Neu Wirthaus.

All the tables put together looking west.

The comforting sight in the Army of Italy's rear; The Guard and Heavy Cav reserve!

Look at all those lovely Bearskins!

Blunder countered by blunder; II Corps facing the wrong way, but so are the Austrians! My little pop guns place themselves on the forward slope with a lovely flank target in the offing!

Pop!Pop! Halt at 2" , then reap the rewards Kaiserliks!

During a well earned break we dissect the day's fighting before dinner.

Team photo.
Standing (l to r): Your humble correspondent, Pistol Pete Ed., Garry.
Back row: Our kind host Tim, Paul (the class clown!), John R.(aka Archduke Charles), Jenko, Malcolm, Darren.
Front row: Andrew S., Robin, Tony, Quinny (aka that Corsican git), Jim.

The game continues with the Austrian assault throw back in disarray, with the rest of the attacking force awaiting the next bad news

The aerial view of the same scene. Archduke Charles crunching the numbers desperately trying to find a silver lining!

Paul follows up his victory, chasing hard on the heels of the vanquished foes, awaiting the arrival of the cuirassiers.

Robin's Massena figure. It looks like the driver's done a bunk, knowing that Massena is going to stiff him of his danger money!

Andrew S.'s Austrians in a quandry. While the centre has broken, what to do know?

Robin's stalwart chaps holding the left flank

The cuirassiers crest the ridge to spell doom for the Austrian centre, while Paul's reserves hurry to back up his breakthrough.

Essling held by the Badeners of IV Corps.

More Badeners in column.

IV Corps artillery with Bavarian horse guarding them in the background.

Andrew's Austrian cuirassiers behind the infantry.

The end is nigh; French cuirassiers approaching the hapless Austrians

Runaway, Austrian gunners!

Infantry in square, but infantry approach behind the cavalry!

On the right flank, Garry moves on the tower north of Markgrafneuseidel...

...but this was his high-water mark as he was bundled off the ridge unceremoniously!

Paul's infantry charge the squares; game over!

Hello 2012!

2012-01-03T21:56:00.001+11:00

We're back after a week and a bit in Sydney where the Rosbif family spent Christmas with relatives and saw in the New Year watching the fireworks on Coogee beach. In between we went to the Harry Potter exhibition with the rest of Sydney, spent a lot of time at the beach and went sight-seeing.

I had tentatively tried to organise a meeting with Dux Alanus of Homunculorum fame, but realised it was just not possible with all the things we'd planned and promised the kids we'd do. Ah well; next time!

Anyway, I got a bit of wargaming/blogging loot in the stocking this year; a camera tripod, book and some terrain from Mum; the next book in the Goldsworthy series with some cash from my Father-in-law; and lastly an engraved pocket knife from Mrs. Rosbif. How is this wargaming/blogging related, I hear you ask? Check out the photos below!

Also included are the finshed command stands. I need to get cracking tomorrow to get the last artillery stands finshed, but with the 40o + weather we've been having down here, I'll be racing to get them finished before the weekend! Cooler weather forecast from this evening onwards, thank God!

PS. It looks like the Italians have just squeaked in as the readers' choice for the La Bricole paintng contest. Thanks to you all who voted! I'll get cracking with them after the Wagram weekend coming up.

Eugene and friends "It's over there!"

Zvezda grenadier presenting arms, the rest Italeri with converted ADC.

Cavalry general wearing Italian colours; red, white and green!

"Do you understand, soldier?"
"Sir, yes sir!"

Head conversion of Italeri general with HaT voltiguer.

"What are we looking at again?"

General Severoli and Guard Dragoon offiicer

General is a Waterloo 1815 Nassau officer with Italeri head conversion

"Charge!!"
"Right-o, sir!"

Waterloo 1815 general with charging Zvezda Chasseur

Now my pictures should be a mite clearer!

Mrs. R's Christmas surprise!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-21T09:17:00.000+11:00

A box of Christmas treats sent to soldiers during WW1

¡Feliz Navidad

Buon Natale!

Frohe Weihnachten!

Feliz Natal!

Bon Nadal!

Joyeux Noel!

Gelukkig Kerstfeest!

God Jul!

С Рождеством!

Wesołych Świąt!

Glædelig jul!
Καλά Χριστούγεννα!

メリークリスマス !
Maligayang Pasko!

Thanks to my growing list of followers for your continued support throughout the year. It's great to feel my efforts are appreciated all around the world!

Stay tuned after the Christmas/New Year break for more Wagram command and artillery figures. Then wait for the Wagram battle report; It'll be bigger than Ben Hur!

Merry Xmas and Happy 2012!

Command 'Hangers-On' and Horse Artillery Gunners

2011-12-19T11:58:00.003+11:00

These figures will adorn the bases of the Divisional and Corps Generals figures for the Army of Italy in the upcoming Wagram battle in early January.

These are the horse artillery gunners that will accompany the Chasseur Division that is part of the Army of Italy. Both batteries are of 3lbers! Pop!

The figures are Italeri with Zvezda heads.

What a difference a spring clean makes!

2011-12-15T12:55:00.001+11:00

Before

After!

Shelves (a road-side find) put to good use for references and the pile o' plastic

Wagram command WIP

2011-12-14T12:48:00.000+11:00

The ADCs and generals are all now mounted awaiting basing and varnishing. I'm now painting up the 'hangers-on' to accompany the generals on their bases.

Next units will be the artillery batteries; 2 horse and 1 foot.

Austrians vs. French....again!

2011-12-13T12:25:00.001+11:00

The last club game for the year I can get to happened last Saturday at the Croydon venue. The Napoleonic crew had another series of 1:120 matches of...guess what?...Austrians vs. French circa 1809.

We're all getting to grips with our units and how to best play them for the upcoming January re-fight of Wagram and this Saturday past was no exception. We had 3 games going, all 1:120 scale and all Austrians vs. French. I was ably partnered by Darren and his Republican French army and faced a combination of Pete E. and Andrew B. using Pete's Austrian figures.

On my side of the board it turned out to be a fairly tame affair as Andrew wasn't in much of an attacking mood after Pete got into all sorts of bother due to Darren's early flanking move with his Chasseurs a Cheval. Andrew tried to put in a charge on my line in the woods, but due to a combination of failing to attach a general to his regimental charge, my firing as he came in and the disorders incurred charging into the woods, his charge failed and the regiment fled.

This failure caused him to use his small cavalry force to plug the gap on that flank, while his stretched infantry line in the centre was protected by his other small, but superior, cavalry unit. Once he moved this away to try and help Pete, I felt the time was right for an attack. I had one of my light infantry regiment skirmishing with his right hand regiment in the woods in the attempt to keep it busy and rack up enough disorders on it to prevent it from interfering in any major way from whatever I was going to do next. I wasn't sure if I'd be more successful with a cavalry or infantry charge on his line, but settled for the cavalry as they were ready; I'd have had to spend a turn at least getting my infantry ready.

I duly sent my Chasseur brigade in column at the line, allowing it to expand their frontage for maximum effect, but a combination of the chasseurs' rubbish rating, supporting artillery fire, a massed volley from the line and a pathetic pre-melee die-roll, the attack failed, resulting in a draw. How could that torrent of horse-flesh fail?!! Note to self - Chasseurs are rubbish; don't rely on them to smash the enemy, only to threaten them! I then decided to organise my infantry into attack columns in preparation for a charge, but by then Pete's position was untenable and the game was declared a French victory. Before the last turn, my horse gun battery had managed to inflict a morale failure on their Austrian counterpart in a minor act revenge for the failed cavalry charge. Huzzah!

My serried ranks of French. No room for the cavalry to start in column!

The infantry. A minor stir occurred when deciding who started because I failed to attach my general to a front rank unit; I rolled a 6 to Andrew's 5, but because his general was attached, he invoked a rarely used rule that states that attached generals add a +2 to the initiative roll!

My light cavalry brigade

Pete moves his Austrians on the first move, while the French await their turn

Andrew's forces advance

My French infantry champing at the bit

Darren's Republican French...

...march to the top of the hill, a la the Grand Old Duke of York!

Andrew's Austrians

Pete moves into the built up areas

My forces move up to occupy the space between the two woods; "Oh, so predictable!" my erstwhile opponent declared!

The cavalry moved up to the flank to threaten the approaching landwehr

The game-winning manouver; Darren's Chasseurs force Pete's infantry into square while the rest of Darren's forces approach.

Andrew's thin white line

My attempt at matching him with fire-power and hitting power; l'ordre mixte with artillery and rear support

On the other flank I occupied the woods and fired on the jaegers and artillery, keeping another regiment in reserve to protect against the landwehr getting any ideas about leaving the BUA.

A panoramic view of the Napoleonic games with Darren in red and Tim at the forefront and Robin, Paul and Jim in the background

Tim and Garry's game

Paul and Robin vs. Jim

Paul's method of depicting the loss of a gun from a battery; a pair of smoking boots!

My line in the woods fires on the jaegers

Huge 24 figure Austrian regimental block

My mixed order brigade...

...facing the Austrian line.

Andrew's Austrians charge into the woods...

...and out again!

The jaegers pull back to conform with the running regulars and to remove themselves from my line's devastating fire!

The Chasseurs a Cheval position themselves behind the unlimbered foot batteries for a charge against the Austrian line. THe legere infantry skirmished on the left flank

The right flank in the woods holds steady under the close attention of the Austrian artillery and the cavalry threat.

Andrew's right flank regiment advances into the woods, while the skirmishers prepare to meet them. Meanwhile, should I stay on the defensive, or get the line into column?

The cascade of cavalry is too tempting, though!

The generals discuss the matter...

... while the cavalry champs at the bit!

Still waiting!

The cavalry charge! The head of the column expands by 2 figures in the distance it takes to reach the line

What? A DRAW?!

The gunners' view; BLAM!!

Take that, Austrian gunners!

Run away!

"Les pinceaux de la guerre" - La Bricole painting competition

2011-12-09T11:39:00.002+11:00

Robert of "Serrez la Rangs", who also doubles as Olsuviev, Despotic Chastiser of the Serfs and Grand High Poobah of Forum Discipline and President of the Russian Army's IXth Corp Karaoke Appreciation Society (or moderator of the la Bricole forum) has hit upon the idea of a painting competition for January/February. The votes are in and the subject for the competition is "Bog Standard" (otherwise known as line units) and "Militia" (exactly what you'd expect!).

I've put my hand up to participate, but now face a quandry of what to paint. I'm stuck between Italians, of whom I've been hankering to paint some for a while (especially as I have a ton of surplus French figures!), and Wurttembergers, of which I've bought the HaT set recently and look forward to painting as the 1st non-Peninsular War army in my collection.

What should I paint, dear readers? Italians or Wurttembergers? (leave comments, or vote in the poll!)

Wagram Command & Artillery WIP

2011-12-08T11:11:00.000+11:00

More command figures for Wagram, this time divisional generals. To add a bit of variation, I've indulged in a bit of head swapping. The figures are from Italeri's French Imperial Command set and there's also a couple of figures from Waterloo 1815's Napoleonic Command set.

Also pictured is the first ADC mounted on his steed, ready for basing and varnishing.

Italeri figure with HaT chasseur head. This figure would probably suit a Chef de Batallion or Colonel, or at most a brigade general, but I decided on the conversion to add a little variation.

Waterloo 1815 Nassau general with Italeri head-swap to create another French general

Another Waterloo 1815 figure, again probably better suited to a regimental or brigade command

Original, unconverted, Italeri figure. Same pose as the 1st figure.

Another original, unconverted, Italeri figure.

The poor, brave, wounded ADC and his trusty steed.

My Wagram command also includes a couple of batteries of horse guns and a few more foot batteries. Below is my beginnings of the horse batteries using Italeri's French horse guns set with head conversions using Zvezda heads again.The original figures are wearing colpacks which suggests Guard artillery rather than line. I've done the head swaps to try to indicate line artillery, although they do still seem rather dandified wearing tight breeches and pelisses.

Book Review - True Soldier Gentlemen

2011-12-07T12:01:00.000+11:00

A bit of fiction on the Rosbif bedside table. That's a first! (Actually, the last book I read was also fiction - the latest by Russian author, Boris Akunin, but as it doesn't fall within the purview of this blog, I didn't review it. Highly recommended, though!)

Adrian Goldsworthy is better known for his non-fiction histories of the Roman Empire. This is his first venture into fiction and I found I enjoyed it a lot, despite some minor reservations.

Historical fiction set in the armies of the Napoleonic period has left me cold after trying to read the Sharpe series (can any character be so 2 dimensionally heroic, while all other British officers are incompetent fops and Frenchmen impossibly evil?). I enjoyed A llan Mallinson's Hervey books, but they mainly took place in the period immediately after the Napoleonic Wars. Then of course, there are all the naval novels like Hornblower and the Aubrey/Maturin series and all their imitators, which I've enjoyed immensely. But the army-based novels of the period that I have enjoyed have been few.

The book is written in 2 parts; the first concentrates on the officers of the fictional 106th (Glamorganshire) Regiment of Foot in their preparation for war during the period immediately before the expedition to the Iberian Peninsula, while the second takes place in Portugal where the characters find out what they're made of as they enter battle for the first time.

A lot of the book is spent establishing characters and the world they live in, with a lot of descriptions of training and barracks life. There is a brief interlude of Austen-ish manners and feminine charm with the introduction of the Captain's wife and daughter, and the establishment of rivalries and enmities that drive the narrative and look like continuing in further volumes of the series.

The battle scenes are described with brutal honesty, with the descriptions of waiting for a French artillery volley particularly gripping. The way the author describes the battles runs the gamut from the macro- to the micro-view; from the generals on both sides down to the British subaltern characters. I'm not sure if this works very well, as I'm never very happy when real life personalities are given the fictional treatment, but that's my personal taste.

The weakest part of the story, in my view, was the minor plot line of a vicious Russian (yes, Russian!)officer, who was out to regain his fortune that he'd gambled away in St. Petersburg, by snatching a treasure hoard that he'd found out about from the Portuguese whore with the heart of gold whom the British subalterns had sworn to protect and to reclaim the treasure for. The Russian was supposedly the Tsar's liaison between the French army and the Russian fleet, but did precious little except twirl his moustache and torture Portuguese. That he got his come-uppance so quickly left me thinking that surely there could have been a better plot device than him.

The strength of the book is the description of the world of the British Army subaltern and the battles they fought in, rather than characterisation. Hopefully the following volumes of the series will have more character development with the surviving characters becoming more rounded and believable figures and the plot a little more credible. Possibly the sheer number of characters in this book led to the dilution of characterisation. The next installment is called Beat the Drums Slowly and is set during the Retreat to Corunna. The main characters seem to be the newly minted Ensign Williams, who has risen from being a gentleman volunteer to subaltern in the aftermath of the Battles of Rolica and Vimiero, and his love interest, the Major's (previously Captain's) daughter, Jane McAndrews.

I'll be coming back for the next installment, so stay tuned for the review. Hopefully it'll be in Rosbif's Christmas stocking this year!

Oh, the silliness starts!

2011-12-03T12:46:00.001+11:00

In response to my last post regarding the French advantage in command and control, namely we have 4 messengers to the Austrian 1, Archduke Charles (aka John R.) sent me this response by email:

"Dear Beefy Boy,

I do like the messengers shown on your blog. My snipers will be given pictures of them for recognition. So thank you.
However, dear Froggy player. I would like to point out about our special messenger.We have 1 but he is VERY quick and uses sound communiques. See the picture attached."

WTF???

I responded thus:

"Sacre bleu et zut alor, Sir!

I knew that your empire included some barely civilised specimens of humanity, especially on your eastern borders, but recruiting half-naked, blue skinned savages is quite beyond the pale!

I see no shafts for the horses to pull the very odd carriage he is standing on. Could it perhaps be a stationary platform that is wheeled into position and then left for the duration of battle, for the savage to send his drum messages over the heads of your army? If so, sir, consider him a prime target of our artillery!

Your servant etc.etc.

Msr.le Rosbif et Jean le Frog"

(apologies to my eastern European readers; I was not actually comparing you to Smurfs! :-D)

French ADCs

2011-12-02T13:03:00.001+11:00

Just a few things left for the January Wagram 1809 game. I need to paint up a few more command stands and several more artillery batteries, both horse and foot.

Part of the game is the need for messengers to relay orders. The French have a much more efficient Command and Control system than the Austrians, so we get 4 messengers per commander, whereas the Austrians get only 1.

So far I have painted up only the messengers, using Italeri figures from the French Imperial Command set with head conversions using the wounded head and the shako rondeau from Lancier Bleu and the shako with cords and plumes from the artillery train figure from the Zvezda foot artillery pack.

French v. Austrians again

2011-11-30T15:34:00.001+11:00

John R. reckons he can write my AARs himself; "If only I'd done...", "I should have done...", "I didn't spot..." etc. etc. Funny b*stard!

Unfortunately he's right, though: Last Saturday's game at the Croydon venue turned out to be exactly this sort of game! Robin and I took on Jim's Austrians with our respective French forces at the 1:120 scale, but Robin's arithmetic let him down leaving him with the niggling feeling he'd short changed himself. Events were to prove that he was probably correct!

Robin went ahead like only he knows how; bull-at-a-gate frontal charge, while I tried to organise my forces and thoughts before committing myself. This caution and over-thinking led to my downfall, however. Robin's initial attack proved successful in that he pushed back the centre and left flank, providing me with the opportunity to launch my hard-core legere and Italian Grenadier Guardsmen at the Austrian line adjacent to Robin's attack. The combination of the Austrians having friends retiring and the high morale of my division resulted in that Austrian line being forced back, too. Things looked up for the French at this moment, but the fact that our success resulted in only Pyrrhic victories and neither Robin or I had reserves placed to exploit our initial success led to our downfall as Jim went on the counter-attack. I had placed all my reserves on the right flank as I was worried about his cavalry which was faced only by my light cavalry and horse guns, which were outclassed by the quality of horse-flesh and the number of guns available to the Austrians. Consequently I had nothing left in the tank to exploit my initial success. Robin's miscalculation of his forces now bit him in the bum as he faced the same problem.

The inevitable counter-charge came and Robin's forces were devastated, unable to stem the wall of white that collapsed on top of him. I was left with the option of pulling back my elites, charging on to try to capitalise on my gains, or fire on the flank of the nearest exposed Austrian unit while protecting the flank. This is where John R. and his "what I should have done..." comes in. Instead of whole-heartedly adopting any of the 3 options outlined above, I decided on adopting the last 2; charging and firing on the Austrian flank.

Initially, turning 90 degrees and firing into the flank of the nearest Austrian column resulted in successfully forcing it to retreat, but the charge by the remaining 2 French units just didn't have enough ooomph (that technical wargaming term) behind it, and with all Robin's troops fleeing from their flank, I needed a very good roll of the die to succeed. I didn't get it. My best units were forced into retreat. The succesful unit that had turned to fire in the flank of the nearest Austrian column was in turn charged on the flank by a Landwehr regiment that sent it hustling backwards to join its fellows in ignominious retreat

Next turn I tried a charge by another brigade on the right flank with 2 line units in column joined by a legere regiment in l'ordre mixte. Unfortunately, I'm not very good at judging distances and the line only just didn't make the distance, while the 2 flanking columns did. Of course, this was part of Jim's line that had the greatest concentration of artillery, as well, so the combination of the failed charge plus the losses incurred on the way in, combined with another appalling die roll caused the 2 columns to turn tail and run.

Meanwhile, I had bottled up Jim's cavalry with a combined arms defense of cavalry, artillery and infantry that would cause him severe discomfort if he unwisely launched a charge with his superior hussars. Into this scenario he sent a tiny unit of Jaegers to stir the pot. I was unwilling to charge them as they advanced in closed column, as that would most likely cause a counter charge too far away from my carefully positioned supports. The artillery was too distant to do anything effective to stop this threat, so inevitably, my chasseurs were pushed back by this pesky unit of jaegers. Incidentally, as the chasseurs' right flank was protected by the edge of the world (or table-top at least) they were in constant danger of being accidentally knocked into the void. Sure enough, the elite squadron figure ended up on the floor unknown to me, until I heard the sickening crunch when I trod on it! Oh, the humanity! (A little glue and reapplication of flock and he's good as new.)

I was a sucker for punishment and sent in my reserves after all the retreating and retiring units had rallied. Again the dice failed me in the most cruel manner imaginable; the pre-melee morale test resulted in me rolling a 1 and Jim a 6 and, guess what?, my units failed and ran before I came into contact with the enemy!

By this stage Quinny entered the field with the Imperial Guard to get a taste of glory.(He's our Boney for the upcoming Wagram game in January, so he gets to play with the supermen!). Like a hot knife through butter, his Horse Grenadiers and Chasseurs a Pied cut a swathe through the Austrian line. By that time it was all over anyway with a moral victory to Jim, as Robin and I tried and failed to penetrate his Cordon Blanc

Chasseurs on the right flank

My divisions at their starting point

My left flank unit and Robin's forces beyond them.

Jim's wall of white

Timid landwehr!

French 1st move

En avant, mes amis!

Chasseurs reviewed by the general

Italian Guard Grenadiers

Robin's brave chaps on the advance

My right flank securing the line

The weight of numbers in the centre. More reserves should have been pushed to the left. 20/20 hindsight!

My elite division advancing in the centre with Robin's forces to the left

Robin goes in...

...and pushes Jim back!

My elites form up into column for the impending charge.

Meanwhile, further to the right, l'ordre mixte takes shape

The view from the flank showing my numerous reserves.

The reserve not able to bring its weight to bear where needed!

Robin's cavlary charge the guns in support of his infantry, but thery were beaten back!

Pesky jaegers on the march with the elite figure before his untimely demise.

The jaegers eventually got close enough to force the chasseurs to retire after giving them a close range volley.

Robin's second thrust at the Hungarian brigade. His high-water mark!

My elite division charging the central line in support of Robin's success.

Success!

My division a la ordre mixte tries to emulate the others, but the line falls short and the columns get whacked on the approach!


Run away!

Hmmm; what shall we do with this useless bunch, Jean-Claude?

The legere in line await the invetible pounding they're about to receive.

Could have been worse: they were only forced to retire.

The reserve advances to shield the recovering units

The closed column supporting the horse guns on the right flank and holding the whole line from the threat of Jim's cavalry in the distance.

Desicisions, decisions. What to do next?

Why are we waiting...

...ooohhh, why are we waii-ti-ing?!

Jim's gun's drop back and fire into Robin's flank...

...while his infantry charge to their front, sending Robin's troops fleeing!

Run awaaaay!!

My succesful heavy mob with their associated disorders

The crisis point where my left flank is suddenly in the air; I fatefully decide to have a bit both ways by firing in the flank (successfully) of 1 Austrian regiment, sending it scurrying ...

...then charging the remaining 2 regiments (unsuccessfully)

Run awaaay!!

The landwehr can't believe their luck and kick me while I'm down...

...which results in that regiment being pushed back to join the rest of the line (plus disorders)!

La Garde enters the fray!

"La Garde meurt mais ne se rend pas!"

The chasseurs recover and move forward to support my final advance...

...which duly goes in...

...but fate...

...spits in my eye!

Run awaaaayyy!!

Time for Jim's cavalry to charge!

This time I roll nearly perfectly...

...and it's Jim's turn to roll crap! Why couldn't we have done this earlier?!

Quinny's Guard Chasseurs steam in...

...crushing everything in their path!

Book review - Wellington's Right Hand

2011-11-29T12:07:00.000+11:00

I was looking forward to reading this book ever since I read the reviews for it. They were obviously written by reviewers with little knowledge of the military history of the period. I was disappointed by the book, expecting it to be a lot more interesting than I found it. Certainly, I learned things about General Rowland Hill that I didn't know like his post-Napoleonic career, but generally the book was a let down.

The author is a descendant of the general, so I could accept the family history tone to the book, even if it did grate after a while (she refers to the Hill and his family by their first names as if she knew them personally, and writes in the present tense when relating the contents of correspondence between the family members, even though the rest of the book is written in the past tense).

However, as the object of the biography was a soldier who made his life the army, she displays a limited understanding of military matters and skips lightly over his most important achievements in battle. This really dulled my interest and even made reading the book a chore, when I was really looking forward to learning more about one the most able British generals ever to have served, outshone only by Wellington himself.

I found several mistakes or misunderstandings of military technology and tactics, such as claiming that the new shrapnel shells burst over their target showering it with metal fragments; While not totally inaccurate, it misses the main distinction between common shell and the new shrapnel shell (or spherical case shot to give it's formal name) which was that the new type of shell was packed with musket balls, ensuring that its destructive power was so much greater than common shell. To the lay reader this doesn't really matter one way or another, but it niggled.

The author also dropped a couple of clangers that totally rewrote history. The main misrepresentation was the confusion between the Infante Carlos and General Don Carlos d'Espana (translate from the Spanish using Google Translate) claiming that it was the king's brother who commanded the division in the field. The first shared his brother, King Ferdinand's, imprisonment by Napoleon in Valencay throughout the period of the Peninsular War, while the second was an emigre Frenchman who commanded a Spanish division and fought in battles such as Albuera and Salamanca. When obvious mistakes are made like this, I wonder about the rest of the facts in this book that I'm not familiar with. Is the author just as cavalier with history in other areas I know little about?

Not recommended for those who want to the details on the soldier, rather than the person.

Napoleon 1er cartes a jeuer

2011-11-24T16:52:00.001+11:00

Only marginally relevant to this blog, but they are Napoleonic and they are for gaming, only not war-gaming!

My in-laws went to Europe a couple of years ago and made a special trip to the Waterloo battle-site especially to pick up some tourist tat for me. Included amongst the battlefield maps and guides, they bought me this pack of cards featuring famous portraits and battle scenes from the Napoleonic era.

The King, obviously, features pictures of the man himself, while the Queen features pictures of the women in his life, from his 2 wives to his mother and sister Pauline Borghese, and the Jacks are his Marshals and generals including Kleber, Davout, Ney and Murat. My favourites are the Jokers featuring Talleyrand and Fouche! The Aces feature battle scenes and the numbered cards feature important dates from the history of the 1er Empire.

My schoolboy French doesn't stretch to knowing what the symbols stand for, though; I guess 'R' stands for Roi, but 'D' (Dame?) and 'V' escape me! Maybe some of my Francophone readers could help?

British dragoons WIP - and Soviet LMG crews

2011-11-23T18:06:00.000+11:00

Now that my academic pursuits are done and dusted for the year, I can devote my spare time to more personally satisfying activities!

Here's what's on the table at the moment; my 1st (Royal) Dragoons conversion project is coming along. I'm not overly happy with the results so far, although until they're mounted on their steeds and varnished, I can't really judge. I can't put my finger on it, but the results aren't totally satisfactory. I'm sure it'll work out in the end, though. Maybe I'm being overly critical; I should just enact Rafa's 3' rule and not sweat the detail too much!

The trooper firing the carbine has had his crest doctored, because I didn't think a flying mane of horsehair was appropriate for a rider on a stationary horse! I shaved off the crest and replaced it with good old Milliput, scored the surface to resemble hair and let it dry. It didn't turn out too bad, I think! I'm leaving the trumpeter's crest as is, though, even if it is highly unlikely that his crest would be flying out at 90 degrees to the direction he's traveling in! Maybe he has encountered a VERY localised cross-wind!

This is the latest mini-diorama for Jim's Soviets; one of the light machine-gun crews in action and movement poses

Small-scale Franco-Austrian clash

2011-11-21T13:50:00.000+11:00

It seems a long time since I last played a game, so it was good to get back in the harness, so to speak, last Friday night.

In preparation for the upcoming Wagram re-fight, we played a 1:120 scale battle French vs. Austrians.; Tim and Andrew S. playing the horrible Hapsburgs, while Tony and I commanded the Emperor's finest.

I hadn't really got my head around what 1:120 meant, assuming that for the same number of points, I'd have half the number of troops I'd usually have on the table-top, so Tony and I started out drastically outnumbered! When it was pointed out that the scale means the same number of troops as usual, but each battalion counts as a regiment, then I realised my mistake and we could get on with the game in earnest after putting the missing troops on the table. Ooops! My bad!

For my first game in over a month I'm surprised at how well I played the game, indicated by the fact that my new Chasseur unit survived the night and didn't even lose a casualty! Huzzah!

It was a game where the capriciousness of the dice decided the outcome of the combats, rather than the skills of the players, as Tim and I maneuvered around each other to put in flank attacks and frontal charges that gave one the upper hand, only to be countered the next turn by the other. Potentially game-winning maneuvers from both players were dashed by unco-operative dice rolls, leading to much amusement and head-shaking!

Playing Austrian you get a lot more bang for your buck, but at lower quality, while playing French the quality is there, but not the numbers. This meant that both sides struggled to exploit their opportunities as Tim's large units didn't have the firepower or morale to ruthlessly crush my smaller numbers, while I found that attacking his large formations was like punching jelly; they were so big that they just absorbed the damage I threw at them.

Tim and Andrew's objective was to take the village on our side of the table, while Tony and I had to prevent them. The French decisively won the roll to see who'd start first when I rolled a 6 on the d6. Tim tried an underhanded trick (dishonourable cad!) by responding with a d10, but still couldn't better my 6!

I started off by putting my Chasseur brigade and accompanying horse batteries out on the left flank, while I dadvanced the infantry into the centre of the field of battle. The terrain was devoid of any obstacles, so it was the perfect battlefield for a game of maneuver. As Tim's white horde advanced, I moved both cavalry elements to threaten his flank, so he responded by pushing his right hand formation in closed column to face me. This is where I was tempted to rush in in a headlong charge, but decided the better of it as my left flank would be hopelessly exposed if (as most likely) the cavalry charge had failed.

Tim extended this flank protection by putting his Jaegers into line, protecting his small cavalry unit form further artillery damage after I knocked off one figure and caused a morale failure, resulting in the Chevaux-leger retiring. The horse guns were then limbered and moved around the back of the cavalry line to exploit the gap in the Austrian line and fired into the flank of the advancing mass not causing damage, but a morale test on the artillery on the flank, which it survived, unfortunately.However, Tim was surprised as he wasn't expecting that move, so that was something I suppose!

Then came a couple of turns of push and shove as Tim's massed regiments charged and I counter-charged. The quality disparity was what saved me there, as I'd put my best troops in the centre ready to meet his expected attacks. His first attack bounced off my elite legere infantry, but he stil held the initiave with his greater numbers. I tried to extend my coverage by forming one of my line units into line, covered by the legere on the right and another line column on the left. This column on the left I had planned to charge at his battery on the flank of his formation, but when the time came, the combination of losses incurred in the resulting gunfire and an appalling die roll for my pre-melee morale check caused the column to halt 2" from the battery in all sorts of disarray! If this attack had succeeded, I would have cleaned up his guns and carried on into the flank of his central mass, possibly winning the game. C'est la guerre!

Instead of having Tim right where I wanted him, he now had me right where he wanted me! He formed up his Jaegers in column and charged my helpless column in the flank, causing them to retreat, before carrying on into the flank of the unit in line, causing them to retreat as well. On the other flank, his Hungarians tried to smash though my weakest line regiment, but fortunately the dice rolled well for me, and resulted in the Hungarians routing. The price was high, though, with the Austrian guns firing in support and the attack iteslf leaving the victorious French sadly depleted.

Tim tried his luck in the centre again, but even with the morale disadvantage of retreating friendly units, my tough legere stood firm in the middle, giving the retreating units the breathing space they needed to recover.

I tried to force things over on the left flank by charging my Chasseur brigade into the infantry mass in front of me, but even with artillery support, only mangaed to get them to retire. If I'd had better quality cavalry maybe the damage woulf have been greater, but ifs and buts don't win battles! At least this took some of the pressure off that flank. Tim's response was to put his depleted Chevaux-legere on the Chasseurs' flank, which I then countered by moving my horse guns to threaten the Austrian cavalry, ending in a bit of a Mexican standoff.

We were both fairly exhausted in the centre, while I still held the upper hand on the left flank. It the game had gone any further, Tim said he'd pull his infantry back to re-order them, sacrificing the Jaegers to their fate and try again. Meanwhile, my units that had retreated would have been fit for action again and could have supported or relieved the legere in the centre.My cavalry and horse guns would have dealt with his meagre cavalry threat and may well have proved the difference. Anyway, it wasn't to be, so we called it a night with a stalemate (although as the French still held the village, I call it a French victory!)

Chasseurs on debut supported by horse guns. A winning combination!

HaT French line regiment

Zvezda Leger with HaT elite figures leading

Same unit from the front

The might of the Hapsburg Empire!

The French ready for anything the Kaiserliks can throw at them!

Tony's command: foot guns, dragoons and infantry

Tim's white wall in the foreground, with Andrew's to the rear

The (depleted!) original French dispositions before reinforcement

The French move first

My first attempt at a flanking maneuver. Guns sitll limbered.

Austrian counter-move

Chasseur's eye view of the advancing Austrians

The horse guns change position, unlimber and fire down the Austrian flank

The white wall advances

Hungarians on the march

Austrians with artillery support

The first Austrian charge failed, with the victorious French legere claiming the central ground

The left hand infantry column sizes up the guns and the juicy infantry flank...

...and charges in!

They are now left high and dry, facing the guns' mouths and offering their flanks for an irresistible charge...

... which goes in...

...with the inevitible results!

Lots of casualties and disorders and facing the wrong way!

The line suffers the same fate.

The right hand regiment sees off the Hungarian threat while the general looks on approvingly.

Tony throws out skirmishers to slow Andrew's advance.

My valiant legere regiments require a dressing of the lines before resisting the continued Austrian pressure in the centre.

The Chasseurs move around and put in their charge which managed to catch the Austrians in the flank and send them packing...

...but the Austrian cavalry form up to threaten the victorious Chasseurs' flank.

The French horse guns come to save the day.


"You got to ask yourself one question. Do you feel lucky? Well, do ya , punk?!" What Dirty Harry would say if he was a was a gunner.

The Austrians' last hurrah; one last charge, met one last time by my rock-like legere.

The recovered line regiment forming up for a spot of revenge on the Jaegers' flank, while their other former victims pin them from the front.

How the battlefield looked at the end. The village still in French hands!

Tim's valiant, but battered, Austrian sledgehammer

Stalemate on the Andrew and Tony's side of the table, too.

Marsch!

Achtung, kavellerie!

They stood like rocks!

These chaps recovered from their ignominious retreat at the right time.

Heroic Chasseurs on debut

Docuwatch

2011-11-17T10:16:00.001+11:00

Thanks to Der Feldmarschall for putting me on to this one. Docuwatch is a website with hundreds of hours of documentaries on subjects like art, science and societies but also war. And in a sub-category of war is the Napoleonic Wars including one of my favourites, Richard Holmes' biographical series on the Duke of Wellington, The Iron Duke

At the moment our Interwebs service has a kink in the hosepipe that supplies us with mega-giga-hooziwhatsits and we're only getting one of them when we're supposed to get 6 of them per minute (or some such bally boffin speak). We'll be getting an interwebs plumber out to use his digital plunger to free the blockage, but until then watching videos.....is a very.....frustrating.....business as the......video feed......is very consti......pated!

Soviet AT crew

2011-11-14T22:38:00.000+11:00

I'm basing Jim's Soviets and indulging in a little landscaping on the larger, heavy weapons and command bases.

This is the 1st off the rank; an anti-tank gun crew making good use of the bushes and a couple of logs. They look a lot shinier in the photo than in real life, however.

Procrastination pays!

2011-11-13T15:18:00.000+11:00

After all the introspection of the last couple of posts, it's back to wargaming.

While I'm not much further advanced in my academic pursuits, my Chasseurs, I'm happy to say, are now finished!

The Last Post

2011-11-12T01:11:00.001+11:00

RAAF Chaplains' insignia

No, I'm not finishing this blog!

Remembrance Day has stirred up memories, as it and ANZAC Day always do, of my Grandfather the Rev. WFG* . At his funeral, the local sub-branch of the RSL (Returned Services League, Australia's version of the British and American Legions) organised a trumpeter to play the last post as his casket was lowered into the grave. At the end of a very emotional day having to keep it together to read Psalm 23:4 during the service and to be a pallbearer, that totally unhinged me and I let the tears flow uninhibited. Hearing the last post since always brings this memory back and leaves me a bit teary.

He was a member of the Royal Australian Air Force in it's infancy in the 1920s when he was an LAC (Leading Aircraftsman, equivalent to a private in the army, working as a clerk). In later life he was very proud to be presented with a copy of the order issued to found the air base at Laverton featuring his initials at the bottom of the order sheet as the man who typed the order. He left to become a minister in the Presbyterian Church, though he served in the pre-war Citizens' Military Force, the precursor to today's Army Reserve.

Grandpa served in the Royal Australian Air Force during World War II as a chaplain with postings to training bases in the N.S.W. Riverina like Narrandera and Wagga Wagga, to Darwin at the time the Japanese were bombing it with a regularity to suggest that invasion was imminent, and eventually to New Guinea towards the end of the war.

Grandpa's war service as a chaplain may not be as exciting as some others, he faced his share of danger; his first night in Darwin coincided with a Japanese air raid which sent a great hunk of metal through his tent just where he'd been moments before. Lifting his head up after the all clear sounded, he found he was sharing his slit trench with his older brother whom he hadn't seen for years!

He was also rostered to pastoral duties in the outlying Melville islands to minister to the Coastwatch stations and the Aboriginal communities. HMAS Patricia Cam was the ship on ferry duty at the time and my grandfather was rostered to take the trip to the outlying islands, but for some reason or other he swapped his rostered trip after a request from a Methodist chaplain. Luckily for my grandfather he agreed to the swap, as the little ship was bombed and strafed by a Japanese sea plane which landed and took the Methodist prisoner, never to be seen again. It turned out he was eventually beheaded. The randomness of chance prevented my grandfather from being the victim of decapitation by the Japanese. A chilling thought!

While posted in Darwin, he too often had to write letters of comfort to the wives and parents of airmen who disappeared on reconnaissance or bombing missions over the Japanese held territories. He held many funeral services where there were no bodies to bury. Like a lot of his generation, his antipathy to all things Japanese lasted a long time, to the extent that the family had to do a lot of hard arguing to persuade him to buy a Toyota in the 1970s. He mellowed in his old age, admitting that the current generations weren't to blame for the sins of the past.

After the war he returned to civilian life although he continued to serve in the CMF, rising to senior chaplain in the Victorian CMF with the rank of lieutenant-colonel.

During the 1960s he was the minister of the parish of Coleraine in Western Victoria which was in the electorate of the future Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser, who infamously engineered the constitutional crisis of 1975 resulting in the dismissal of the Whitlam Labour government. Fraser was then Minister of the Army in the Holt Liberal government and often attended my grandfather's services. While not sharing his politics, my grandfather had a lot of time for him as he did a lot for the struggling soldier settlers (veterans of WW1 & 2 who had been given grants of farmland by the government) of the area and was always shook hands with him after the services he attended. One sermon Grandpa gave in his presence criticised Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War and afterwards Fraser refused to shake Grandpa's hand!

My grandfather also served as chaplain aboard the Achille Lauro (later infamous for being hijacked by Palestinian extremists who executed some of their hostages in 1985) in 1966 ministering to British migrants (or ten pound Poms, as they were known, because that's all it cost to emigrate) on the long voyage to their new home.

He was full of stories about his younger days, most of which I'd heard multiple times, but on one occasion when I drove him to Melbourne to one of his last reunions of the Pre-WWII RAAF Association, he told me some rather racy stories about his youth, including one involving my grandfather, a medical student friend of his and a group of nurses going on a boozy picnic and all ending up skinny-dipping together in the Yarra River! I can tell you that I just about drove off the road in shock after hearing that one!

The mournful strains of the Last Post always remind me of my grandfather and all those of his incredible generation.

Lest we forget.

*name changed to protect the innocent, as per Mrs. R's request!

Rememberance Day

2011-11-11T09:37:00.000+11:00

There but for the grace of God go I.

Some say Eric Bogle's song is mawkish and overly sentimental, but it still makes the hairs stand up on the back of my neck.

The fact that we still have troops fighting and dying overseas for a cause that some feel is no longer worth the cost in lives makes it even more relevant.

Chasseurs project nearing completion

2011-11-09T10:08:00.000+11:00

This is the finished chasseur after application of the Wattyl matt estapol spray that I use to dull down the initial gloss shading varnish. He still looks a little glossy, but that's because he's in the direct glare of the halogen light from my lamp. Otherwise, he's good to go! All that's required is basing and he and his companions should be ready for my next venture onto the tabletop.

Speaking of basing, I've got quite a bit to do; the chasseurs, Jim's Soviets, my Royal Marines and dismounted French dragoons. Then after all that, I need to get stuck into my British dragoons! First things first, though; I REALLY need to pull my finger out and finish my dull and boring assignment and resist the urge to get distracted by much more satisfying activities like painting (even doing the dishes is more exciting!).

The first figure fully varnished awaiting basing

Home-made shading varnish and unwanted guests!

2011-11-06T14:50:00.001+11:00

I've created an AP Quickshade-type varnish for about half the price using a 250ml tin of Wattyl estapol and a small bottle of Prooftint. After decanting a small amount of estapol into a glass jar and adding about half a capful of prooftint I've got the shade I wanted for varnishing my creations. I toyed with buying some pre-mixed varnish, but not being sure of the shade in the containers I didn't feel like shelling out for something that wasn't what I was expecting. Plus the pre-mixed shades were all around the $AU35 mark (still cheaper than the $AU45 asking price for AP Quickshade).

My method, though, came in $AU26 ; the estapol was $16 and the prooftint $10. Substantially cheaper than the asking price for AP Quickshade.

I'm happy with the results too; the varnish pools in the folds and crevices, but where the surface is flat, the original colour is still clearly visible. Maybe I let my last can of AP Quickshade get too gluggy, but I found it was obscuring a lot of the detail, especially of dark colours. I'd have to compare it with some of my earlier figures using the AP product to make a fair comparison.

Some of this...

...plus a little of that...

...equals this...

...and this!

Below is one of the unwelcome guests I spotted in the shed when I opened the garage door. It's partner scuttled away under the lawn-mower, but this one stayed in it's nook pretending it wasn't there. I was going to put something close to it for a size reference, but thought the better of it seeing it's a venomous Red-Back Spider, related to the North American Black Widow, apparently!

This one is about the size of the end of my thumb, from knuckle to thumb-tip, approx. 2cm.

Whatever you do, don't tell Mrs. Rosbif as she'll probably burn the shed down to get rid of them and then fumigate the ashes before setting fire to them again, just to be sure ;-)!

Incy-wincy spider and her killer fangs!

It LIVES!!!

2011-11-05T13:37:00.000+11:00

Yes, la Bricole is back on the air after the server was migrated (whatever that means). It was hors de combat for a good month or so, but is now back for business!

The administrator, Robert, of Serrez la Rangs and West Tokyo Wargamers fame, has managed to resurrect it although cosmetically it hasn't survived unchanged, but full functionality is restored. It was a shame because it's the one wargaming forum that is totally dedicated to the Napoleonic period and has a bunch of keen devotees of the period who are very supportive and full of good advice and encouragement, not to mention good cheer. It was a bit like going cold turkey, not having access to the forum! I was beginning to think that the life-support system had been switched off and the poor old thing was struggling against the odds to come back, but in a remarkable Dr. Who like regeneration, la Bricole lives again!