From the German 'Kabinettskriege' - Cabinet Wars: a period of limited conflict from the Peace of Westphalia (1648) to the French Revolution (1789).
Showing posts with label Old School. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Old School. Show all posts

Peninsular War - Spanish Mules and Oxen

Just a quick post to show off my Spanish Peninsular draught animals to get 'The Gun' to Ávila while avoiding the French.  It's not their first appearance as they did get a walk on part in my first ever post.

First, an overview of the whole baggage train.


The ox-carts.


The mules.


The postillions on the mules, like this figure ...


... were all fairly straight-forward conversions of the Jacklex Colonial figures inspired by Suhr's contemporary illustrations of Romana's Spanish Division in Hamburg, 1807-08. 


And the reason for it all, The Gun, complete with Cary Grant, Sophia Loren and Frank Sinatra.


Yes, the gun is ridiculously over-scale being a Warhammer Great Cannon, but the Hollywood version is even further over the top.

In C S Forester's 'The Gun' it's only an 18-pounder, and in the historical event on which the story is based it's a 12-pounder.  

The Combat of Dva Mosta

[Pre-Cabinette Archives c.2017]

I had been hoping to round off this month's posts with a final Chain of Command (CoC) AAR wrapping up the Caesar's Camp campaign.  Unfortunately, John, my opponent, has had to postpone the final showdown while he fights off a bout of 'the Lurgy'.  

So instead, I've dug out, what I think is the last of the pieces I wrote for the short-lived Wargamer's Notes Quarterly (an e-magazine), and here it is from back in 2017:

The Combat of Dva Mosta

Ignoring parental warnings about the dangers of meeting up with ‘e-friends’ I took the plunge and invited a fellow Spencer Smith Miniatures (SSMs) fancier over for a game with my collection.  Iain and I had met up online and corresponded courtesy of Henry Hyde after I spotted Iain’s figures in an issue of Miniature Wargames and asked Henry (the editor) to pass on my compliments.   

With a game looming, I cast about for a table-top teaser not wanting to present Iain (of Gateway Alliance and General E Pickled fame) with a ‘fair fight’.  Scrabbling through my bookshelves I came across my copy of Bruce Quarrie’s Napoleonic Wargaming.  

Like many rules this contains a short description of a game to illustrate the rules ‘in action’, albeit the game is not played to a conclusion.  I had always thought that the scenario was unbalanced, which was just what I was looking for.  Perhaps I should explain my philosophy: one, war is seldom fair, so why should wargames be any different; and two, imbalanced games can help keep the level of competitiveness in check, not a bad thing with an untried opponent.  Surprisingly, Iain, when offered the choice, opted for the challenge of trying to cross the river crossing; an impulsive act of bravado that was later regretted.

The Scenario: involves a Russian force attempting to cross a river in the face of strong French opposition posted behind the two bridges from which this battle takes its name.  The book does not list the orders of battle so, going from the various photos, like that below, I substituted CHARGE units (infantry battalions, light companies, cavalry squadrons and artillery batteries) for the units in the book. 

Order of Battle (OOB): owing to the, MUCH, larger unit sizes in CHARGE this resulted in fair sized game involving about two thirds of my infantry and artillery and a third of my cavalry.   The OOBs are as follows.

Russian – General E Mal'chik 
1. 3 sqn.s Rostovski Dragoons (30 fig.s)
2. 1 sqn. Grouzinski Hussars (10 fig.s)
3. Novyy Rossiya Inf. Regt. (60 fig.s)
4. Shveytsarskiyh Inf. Regt. (60 fig.s)
5. 1st Bavarskiy Inf. Regt. (60 fig.s)
6. 2nd Bavarskiy Inf. Regt. (60 fig.s)
7. Khorvat Pandour coy. (15 fig.s)
8. Zheltyy Freikorps coy. (15 fig.s)
9. 2 Artillery batteries, (4 x 6 pdrs)

Mal'chik and the 2nd Bavarskiy Inf. Regt.

French – Comte de Grasse
A. 1 sqn. Gendarmerie du Roi (16 fig.s)
B. 3 sqn.s Condé Cuirassiers (30 fig.s)
C. 1 sqn. Berry Horse (10 fig.s)
D. Converged Grenadier Bn. (60 fig.s)
E. D’Eu Inf. Regt. (60 fig.s)
F. Soissonnais Inf. Regt. (60 fig.s)
G. Los Rios Inf. Regt. (60 fig.s)
H. 2 coy.s Arquebusiers de Grassin (30 fig.s)
I. 2 Artillery batteries, (4 x 6 pdrs)

The French force has an edge in the quality of their cavalry and a slight numerical advantage from the large Gendarmerie squadron.  As the Russians have to force a river crossing in the face of such odds, I upgraded the morale (but not firepower) of all their infantry to ‘grenadier’ status, i.e. units become ‘defeated’ when reduced below third-strength (as opposed to below half-strength).

Deployment (see map): was based on starting positions from the original game, or at least as far as they could be inferred from the available photographs. 

The units on the map are labelled as per the orders of battle and the location of the opposing generals is shown by a star.  As can be seen from the map (which I think is more squashed toward the right than it was in the game), the French (mostly Austrian figures) under de Grasse heavily favoured their right while General Mal’chik had more evenly spread his Russians between the two bridges.  Here's the reality (back in the day before I got my cabin).

The Game: started with the Russians pouring across the bridges and ford as rapidly as possible while the French advanced to deny them space to deploy. 

While most of the opening moves were aggressive, an element of caution generated some confusion, and curses, amongst one company of Grassins.  Their orders were to advance to the river to bring the enemy artillery under effective fire however, they were also tasked to maintain a safe distance from any enemy cavalry.  Like some bizarre form of the game ‘Twister’, these conflicting requirements saw the Grassins squashed like the jam in a Russian cavalry sandwich.  

Mal’chik’s amused grin was soon wiped from his face as both sides artillery fired their opening rounds.  The Russian fire was largely ineffective but the French dismounted a gun with their first shot.

The inevitable charge declaration by the Grouzinski Hussars against the Grassins saw the Arquebusiers dismayed to find their ‘safe distance’ ineffective against cavalry that can move 30” (having none, the French had overlooked the fact the Russians had Light cavalry)!  

Charge declarations were rounded off with the leading squadron of Condé Cuirassiers charging the Rostovski Dragoons as they emerged from the ford.  Nearby, the Novvy Rossiya infantry having crossed the western bridge reformed for the inevitable confrontation with the white-coated Los Rios infantry awaiting them on the ridge ahead.  With the artillery supporting the Austrian infantry already inflicting losses it was clear the Novvy Rossiya were in for a rough time.

The Condé Cuirassiers attack on the Rostovski Dragoons proved indecisive, a second round of combat being required to determine the victor.  The Languedoc Dragoons did better, thrashing the Rostovski squadron that had crossed the eastern bridge.  To complete a trio of unexpected results, the Arquebusiers de Grassin rolled a splendid set of dice to hold the Grouzinski Hussars to a draw despite odds of two to one!  A further die roll then forced the hussars to rally back and reconsider their options[1].  The end result of all these shenanigans can be seen in the photo below of the table after two moves, with Mal’chik frantically scribbling orders for turn three.

The game continued with the Russian left and French right glowering at each other across the eastern bridge, but neither prepared to risk crossing under fire.  On the Russian right, the advancing Novyy Rossiya took heavy losses from artillery fire while the Shveytsarskiyh Regiment crossed to form up behind them in support. 

Mal’chik, disinclined to force the eastern bridge, decided to double-down on the western crossing and ordered the 2nd Bavarskiy infantry across to reinforce his right flank (they can be seen in the distance below marching from right to left).  

In the centre, the Grassins rallied in place after unfairly escaping the attentions of the Russian hussars and the Languedoc Dragoons rallied back in readiness to charge again.  The Condé Cuirassiers and Rostovski Dragoons both rallied back after another drawn mêlée opening the way for their supporting squadrons to get to grips with each other.  The resulting combat between these squadrons was overshadowed by the bloodbath resulting from the Russian infantry advancing to exchange volleys with the Los Rios regiment on the ridge.  


This resolved the infantry contest on the western ridge as both sides went understrength[2] and were consequently forced to retire for two turns.  This result reflected more credit on Mal’chik than de Grasse as the latter had failed to hold his nerve and withdrawn his artillery from the ridge in response to an imagined threat.   

Mal’chik also managed another bloody draw in the nearby cavalry mêlée thanks to an adroit move allowing the Russian infantry to assist their dragoons with a timely salvo.  The 3rd squadron of the Condé cuirassier promptly charged the infantry responsible and wreaked a terrible revenge courtesy of some exceptional combat dice.


There was now lull in the action as both sides rallied in western half of the field and brought over more troops from the east.  These manoeuvres effectively saw the Russians abandon any attempt to cross the eastern bridge as the last of their infantry marched off to reinforce the western bridgehead, here being held by eth recently arrived 2nd Bavarskiy infantry.  

As the strengthened Russian right flank prepared for another attack Mal’chik realised that the French had responded in kind.  Surveying the field, he realised he was facing odds of two to three in infantry, two to one in artillery, and while nearly at parity in cavalry his surviving dragoons were close to their defeat threshold while the elite French Gendarmerie were as yet untouched.  

Against these odds and with his army dangerously close to its break-point (50% losses) Mal’chik conceded and yielded the field to de Grasse.

The Victorious Comte de Grasse

Digging out this old account has made me realise my SSMs don't get much play these days; I really must squeeze in some more games.


Notes:

[1.]  This was mistake: cavalry only dice to determine if a second of mêlée is allowed when fighting cavalry.

[2.]  The CHARGE rules are exceptionally bloody, and I do now use a modified set which, while still pretty deadly, means units do hang around a bit longer.

Bring on the Empty Horses

Just a quick progress update on my Hinton Hunt French hussars which have suffered from a number of distractions slowing progress.  The latest distraction from the hussars is their mounts.  As I've no doubt said before, I enjoy painting horses a great deal more than their riders, and the net result is that I've finished their mounts while making little to no progress on the hussars themselves.

I'm pleased with how the horses have turned out so thought they deserved a quick post.  So here are the 'empty horses'.


And some close-ups of the different painting schemes / markings - some of these show up some of the casting flaws in some horses that escaped my clean-up and fill process.







That's all for now, but for anyone following the Caesar's Camp, Chain of Command, campaign the next game is now scheduled for the 15th of the month.

Lasalle & Drumming Up a Special Figure

A while ago I posted a WiP piece, the French 4th Hussars, and a personality figure of Lasalle.  As I find painting one-off figures much more enjoyable it's no surprise that Lasalle is the first to be finished.  I present: General Antoine-Charles-Louis, Comte de Lasalle.


The figure is a Hinton Hunt (HH) casting except I added a pipe in his right hand, as he is so often depicted with one.  I painted his uniform, horse colour, tack and shapbraque based on an illustration by Patrice Courcelle (I think) showing him leading a charge by chasseurs á cheval.  


I'm guessing the picture is meant to depict him at the Battle of Medina de Rioseco (14 July, 1808), and as my collection is primarily Peninsular War focused that seemed most appropriate.  Anyway, that's why he's not on a tiger skin as in the famous painting of him by Detaille.

Give us a twirl Antoine ...


... and then a curtain call in close-up.


In the meantime, while Lasalle has been hogging the painting table, and now the limelight, the lack of progress on the 4th hussars is getting embarrassing - see below.


But, Lasalle doesn't deserve all the blame for the sluggish painting on the hussars, as I've had a fairly ambitious conversion job running in the background.  

---

For some time now, I've been rather taken by this Knötel image of a Prussian drummer mounted on a coach horse during the Prussian pursuit of the French army after Waterloo.


The story goes that the sound of the drum convinced the fleeing French that Prussian infantry, as well as cavalry, were on their heels and thus they'd keep running.  Whatever the reality, I wanted to make this figure, and here he is.



He is an amalgam of an artillery draught horse (unridden), a pair of hussar legs and, from the waist up a Prussian drummer courtesy of 'Wellington Man' from 'The Hinton Spieler' blog.  I had all but given up on this conversion after working on the separate bits, but while cleaning up Lasalle and the hussars I put the bits together and realised it looked much better when assembled.  This was enough to revitalise the project, and it, together with Lasalle, then claimed most of my recent painting / modelling time.

So first, as I'm rather proud of him, a couple more photos ...


... and yet more.


This was a pretty ambitious conversion as removing the drummer's legs while keeping his coattails attached was a long drawn out and fiddly job.  Other challenges included: rebuilding some of the detail on the drum (it had to be repositioned for a riding figure); adding straps on which the drummer is resting his feet for balance; and, building a more animated horse tail out of solder.  The following montage shows some of these points in close-up.


Now he's off to find a Prussian army that needs him to help them whip the French and chase them all the way back to Paris.


WiPs and Butchered Bits

With the WW2 items finished it's time to do some more vintage 20mm Napoleonics; in this case the French 4th Hussars, courtesy of a very kind gift from a fellow blogger (Hinton Hunt Odyssey).  I had been trying, without success, to obtain some of these figures since I had been seduced into this vintage madness by 'The Hinton Spieler' back in 2017.   So, having finally obtained some, they have been fast-tracked to the front of the painting queue.

Now, as is ever the case with vintage OOP figures, comes the inevitable cleaning up and repair of the castings; plus, converting some rank and file into command figures that were sadly lacking in the Hinton Hunt range.

First up the horses.  These have been cleaned of any flash and had any holes from in the castings filled with Milliput. 


The filling is rather simple but cleaning out the excess metal between the horses back legs would be a real bore without my trusty Dremel rotary tool and grinding bits.  As I didn't take any 'before' photos of this process, here's one of a handy one-piece casting showing the problem next to one of the 4th Hussar horses that was free of this flaw.


The troopers, seen in the first photo, now need cleaning up and the following photo shows the figures selected for conversion into an officer and trumpeter, ...


... together with one trooper who needs his sword repaired, the photo below showing the missing point that needs replacing.


The 'butchered bits' in the title to this post are standing by to be cannibalised for these figures; including a Newline Design trumpeter - trumpets are just too fiddly to fabricate from scratch.



To command these hussars, I've included a personality figure in this painting batch, and who better to command a regiment of hussars than the man himself, General Antoine-Charles-Louis, Comte de Lasalle.


I hadn't originally intended to do any mods to the figure but his right hand resting on his thigh was just begging to have a pipe added as I've never seen an illustration of him without it.  

That's all for now, but these will take some time to complete so there will probably be another WiP post before they are completed and ready for a full-dress parade. 


Modified Vintage 20mil Naps Complete

At last, my 2nd Burgos Regiment is finished, this was quite a long job given the amount of modifications made as covered in earlier posts.  That said I'm rather chuffed with how they turned out so now it's time for their curtain call:

First, the regiment in line, accompanied by a previously painted Major General.


Then some drill practise in formations less used by my Spanish troops, such as attack column[1] ...


... and square (I have a habit of relying on musketry to stop cavalry).


And, finally a close up of the command group.




Notes:

[1.]  In this photo an interloper can be seen behind the general - this was the test figure I did first just to be sure I could pull off the conversions before beheading an entire unit's worth of figures.  When I did the unit's rank and file, I did an entire unit's worth in case one of the conversions failed - they all worked so he's now a handy spare.