Fresh from the workbench

Painting
Update

I will try and do a painting update every so often, he says, in the full expectation that this may be a stand alone. Anyhow...

GzIR13 'Wallachisches-Illyrisches'

For those who know me they will be very much aware of my love of the Austrian army. For those that know me well they will be aware that I have a very soft spot for the Grenzer. So I am glad that IV and V Kolonnes have a battalion in each of Grenzer. For a start these guys are light infantry, indeed a lot of the innovations in light troops were as a result of the Habsburg Empire's ability to draw on such numbers of capable skirmishers in the 18th Century. Although looked down upon by many crustier officers as 'not proper soldiers' they were cheap and incredibly useful on campaign. One irony is many of the officers critical of them were the ones screaming for them on campaign. The Military Border that generated them was an ideal area and circumstance to raise this sort of light infantryman. Faced with a porous and insecure border with the Ottomans the Austrian government gave away land in return for military service. The Grenzer was a freehold farmer, in an era of serfdom this was a crucial step towards freedom. The Grenzer spent much of his time farming, with a period of time spent as in a small group in a border blockhouse, which left no time for formal drill. Efforts to introduce this always foundered on the need for agriculture and border security.

In terms of their performance they were tough, loyal and skilled soldiers, but were not really capable of close order maneouvres. In this case rules often only allow Grenzer to change formation like militia, but with high morale and ability in skirmish order. They did have a mass mutiny once, in 1799, brought about by rumours of poor agricultural conditions back home. The French respected their ability and they were maids of all work, seen as more expendable on campaign than the Jager who were pampered by Grenz standards.

In terms of numbers, well, there are 16 Regiments during the wars, more than there were Hungarian Infantry regiments. They also tended to field massive battalions although none comes close to GzIR9 'Peterwardeiner' which fielded 1229 men at Leipzig, which is at the end of a campaign!

Grenz 3lb Geschutz

This is the GzIR13 Geschutz section. I had been looking for crew that would be useable as Grenz guncrew, who seem to have worn a peaked version of the old pre 1798 Casquet until 1809 at least. Heaven knows what they wore by 1813, I suspect they had all worn out by that time. The Grenz retained their battalion pieces throughout the wars as a small gun would be a useful accompanyment to an outpost/avantgarde unit. The 3lb was extremely maneouverable which made it very useful in Italy with its ditches and vineyards, and that was where the Austrians generally deployed them. Although AoC does not use battalion gun figures I wanted to for other rules, notably my own for 1792 onwards. In this case I treat them like another company in the battalion that can be detached from the battalion like a light company: it can only go so far from its parent. When the section is in contact with the battalion it cannot be individually targeted. This allows historical tactics to be employed; dragging the guns out to bombard the enemy until they get close to musket range and then withdraw into the battalion to provide support for the musketry. I see the 3lb gun as the Napoleonic version of the mortar. Good for infantry support and very agile, which probably explains why Boney re-introduced them after 1809 (using Austrian weapons for the most part) in his army used to invade Russia, where they were all lost of course...

IR8 'Erzherzog Ludwig'

The three battalions of IR8 represent the backbone of the Austrian Army; the German infantry. The regiment was neither special or remarkable in any way, with the possible exception that its Inhaber for some of the period was an Archduke. But there is something special about it in 1809 and that is it's Colonel. Robert, Freiherr von Swinburne was born in York in 1766 (some sources say 17 July 1763). Swinburne began his 55-year military career at age 16 in Infantry Regiment Nr. 59. Promoted to Oberst in 1806 and to Generalmajor in 1809 (after the Battle of Aspern-Essling), his final post was as Governor of Milan with the rank of Feldmarschalleutnant. He died in Innsbruck on 20 January 1849. Now this character fascinates me: how the hell did he get from York to the Austrian army by 16? And that is just the first question. I am pretty certain that I will not find an Austrian mounted officer that looks like Warren Clarke (I love 'er more than any pig, and that's saying summat) but I am looking for a 25mm whippet. In seriousness the ability of an army, supposedly hidebound and traditionalist, to take in a 16 year old foreigner and allow him to rise to Divisional commander and governor of a major city on his death is remarkable and something you struggle to imagine happening. I really want to know more about this guy.

Artillery Pics

Here are some more pics from the growing Austrian artillery park. Enjoy

The Diary of General Ramble

Forces to date: 25mm Nappies

It has been a very productive couple of months on the painting front. Yesterday I realised that I am over halfway through painting IV Kolonne, and would be even further had I not spent time churning out French for the playtest games. Now I have six line infantry battalions, with one each of Grenz, Jager and Freiwillige, leaving 7 line battalions to go. In terms of cavalry I did make the Uhlans a little large (at 24) so I have cut back the others to 18. This means I am only six figures away from completing the HusR10 Stipiscz and that leaves 9 figures for ChlR6. I already have enough figures to do all of ChlR6, plus 3 battalions of IR2 and the Carneville Freicorps Hussars from V Kolonne. The latter are six figures taken from the HusR10 after going down from 24 to 18. What to do with the 6 figures from ChlR6 I do not know, either they will become staff dragoons for Rosenberg or become ChlR2, Dragoons...whatever.

In term of the artillery park I now have one cavalry battery, a brigade battery, a 6lb position battery and the Grenz 3lb section done. I only need to do one more 6lb brigade battery and I am complete. For Wagram I have a landwehr battalion already completed and a figures for a second. These are Lower Austrian Landwehr in corsehut. I also need 2 battalions of Moravian Landwehr, and I'll get them from Front Rank in broad-brimmed hat, as the number of 'country folk' was considerably higher.

The 1806 Prussians are more-or-less complete. Limbers are on their way. I need an ammunition wagon, but a SYW one will be fine, and some Schutzen for the infantry. To paint up I have 3 more dragoons which will give me a unit of 8. Floating as spares I have some grenadier command, half a dozen fusiliers and some more horse gunners. I think they are going to gather dust for a bit...

The French are in a similar state, insofar as they need a few bits and pieces to complete. As Front Rank does not do limbers or caissons I am having to get these seperately. But the upshot is that I have 9 battalions out of 15 painted, 2 out of 3 cavalry regiments and 2 out of 3 batteries. In other words this is more-or-less complete re; figures.

In the same way are the Spanish: one limber, an ammo wagon, 3 cavalry and 48 infantry short of completion. But these are going to be a slow burner, as I am not really interested in the Peninsular. But I can forsee them coming out later in the year. ATM all the Austrians mean I want to 'cut' them with something not in white, and that ain't the Spanish.

The Future

I have decided to spend no more cash on the little men other than what I can make from painting or sale of my own stuff that I no longer need. To this end £40 has already come from a private sale to Dave from Guildford and £70 has been made on ebay. I am currently painting and selling all my 15mm ACW and 30mm Flintloque stuff and a chum from the 200-ers has asked me to do £50 painting for him. Some of this will go to buying more little men: already on their way are two Prussian limbers for the 1806 mob, three battalion guns for the 1740's Spanish and some Wurttemberg samples. Also there are a few 15mm ACW bits to round off units to paint and sell.

The first priority is to get the Austrians finished for Aspern-Essling and Wagram next year. The way this is likely to run is me painting Austrians like mad up to the final whistle. If I can get IV and V Kolonnes done by Aspern I will be a very happy man. Wagram will be later that year so in that time I will be looking to add units (like the 3 landwehr battalions) to the mix. I reckon I am £300-350 away from getting all the figures I need.

But I cannot just paint up Austrians. Firstly, I will go snowblind. Secondly I will develop a Blofeld-style accent and look longingly at Persian cats. Of course it depends what comes up commercially and I want to get the Frogs completed too. But I am looking to a post French/Austrian future. I want a French ally that is not all in white or has masses of piping and has some military competence: Poles or Wurttembergers. I know David has some Poles so I am looking at Wurttembergers from Bicorne/Conoisseur/Firing Line. Professional, good all round ability and some good light cavalry in particular.

For allies to follow the Austrians? Well, that is easy: Russians. Borodino and later is going to want lots of them, but I am going to start with Stroganoff's Grenadier division. But I also have this hankering to do all of the Prussian Guard...

All this could, of course, be pie in the sky and a lot depends on sales on ebay and painting commissions but, well, lets see how far it goes.

The Final Battle.

Another French-Prussian Scenario

I had got some 28mm Marlburians to sell, and they were taken by an old chum (another David) from my old club at Guildford. He wanted to come over and collect them so I suggested that we have a game when he did. So I arranged a scenario using French and Prussians. This I felt would balance out the game as I would take the Raw Prussians with their elderly and flatulent leaders whilst Dave would get the Veteran French with their more capable and dynamic officers. It was a basic scenario, uncomplicated set-piece event (sadly I took no photos again) to make life easy for Dave as well. After all, I knew the rules...or at least reckoned to.

The terrain was (from the Prussian side) a wooded knoll on the right flank moving to an open plain in the center which rose again towards French lines and had a small BUA on it. This rise curled around towards the Prussian right.

Orders of Battle

French Order of Battle

Division: GdeD Friant

Charge: Aggressive +2
Morale: Popular +2
Order: Dutiful 1-2
Radius: 30

ADC to Friant

Charge: Aggressive +2
Morale: Popular +2
Order: Dutiful 1-2
Radius: 10

Brigade: General de Brigade Barbanegre

Charge: Rash +3
Morale: Average +1
Order: Average 0
Radius: 20

1/13e Legere
Str: 12
FD: Trained
XP: Veteran
M: B Class

2/13e Legere
Str: 12
FD: Trained
XP: Veteran
M: B Class

3/13e Legere
Str: 12
FD: Trained
XP: Veteran
M: B Class

1/48e Ligne
Str: 12
FD: Untrained
XP: Veteran
M: C Class

2/48e Ligne
Str: 12
FD: Untrained
XP: Veteran
M: C Class

















Colonel Guyardet

Charge: Average +1
Morale: Average +1
Order: Average 0
Radius: 10

Horse Battery
Str: 4 4lb Horse guns
XP: Seasoned
M: B Class

11e Chasseur a Cheval
Str: 12
XP: Veteran
M: C Class

5e Hussards
Str: 12
XP: Veteran
M: B Class

Brigade: GdeB Gilly

Charge: Average +1
Morale: Average +1
Order: Capable 1
Radius: 20

1/33e Ligne
Str: 12
FD: Untrained
XP: Veteran
M: C Class

2/33e Ligne
Str: 12
FD: Untrained
XP: Veteran
M: C Class

3/33e Ligne
Str: 12
FD: Untrained
XP: Veteran
M: C Class

Foot Battery
Str: 6 8lb, 2 Howitzers
XP: Seasoned
M: B Class

Totals

96 Infantry
24 Cavalry
12 Guns

Prussian Order of Battle

Division: Glt Graf Holtzendorf

Charge: Aggressive +2
Morale: Average +1
Order: Dutiful 1-2
Radius: 10

ADC to Holtzendorff

Charge: Cautious 0
Morale: Unpopular 0
Order: Capable 1
Radius: 10


Brigade: Generalmajor von Bila

Charge: Average +1
Morale: Unpopular 0
Order: Average 1
Radius: 10

Rosen Fusiliers
Str: 12
FD: Trained
XP: Raw
M: C Class

Werner/Valentini Jager
Str: 4
FD: Trained
XP: Raw
M: B Class

2nd Btn 'Gettkandt' Hussars
Str: 12
XP: Raw
M: C Class

Half Horse Battery
Str: 4 6lb Horse guns
XP: Raw
M: C Class

Brigade: Oberstleutnant Erichsen

Charge: Cautious 0
Morale: Unpopular 0
Order: Average 1
Radius: 10

Pelet Fusiliers
Str: 12
FD: Trained
XP: Raw
M: C Class

Erichsen Fusiliers
Str: 12
FD: Trained
XP: Raw
M: C Class

1st Btn 'Gettkandt' Hussars
Str: 12
XP: Raw
M: C Class

Half Horse Battery
Str: 4 6lb Horse guns
XP: Raw
M: C Class

Brigade: Generalmajor von Zweiffel

Charge: Average +1
Morale: Average +1
Order: Average 1
Radius: 10

1/IR 'Zweiffel'
Str: 12
FD: Trained
XP: Raw
M: C Class

2/IR 'Zweiffel'
Str: 12
FD: Trained
XP: Raw
M: C Class

1/IR 'Muffling'
Str: 12
FD: Trained
XP: Raw
M: C Class

2/IR 'Muffling'
Str: 12
FD: Trained
XP: Raw
M: C Class

'Herwath' Grenadiers
Str: 12
FD: Trained
XP: Raw
M: B Class

Foot Battery 'Bose'
Str: 6 3lb
XP: Raw
M: C Class

Totals

100 Infantry
24 Cavalry
14 Guns

Battle summary

This battle was akin to a study in dissipation of forces. As the Prussians I fully expected to lose gracefully, in fact I managed a very inexpensive victory. In terms of my deployment I placed Oblt Erischsen on the right with the idea of taking the village on the rise at some stage. In the centre I put Zweiffel, drawn up in two treffen and the Grenadiers in reserve and the Bose battery ahead of the line. On my right went von Bila. The French then deployed. Gilly was around the village with one battalion already in it (it was half inside the French deployment zone). Barbanegre was in the centre and Guyardet on their right opposite Bila, but also had the two battalions of the 48e Ligne under Friant's ADC.



The battle had several critical actions.

On the Prussian left Erichsen went forward with his two battalions and guns to take the village. This he eventually did with a combination of musketry from his own Fusilier battalion and his half-battery. The Pelet battalion, eventually confident of no French counterstrike here began to work around the right-rear of the village. Indeed the 1/33e Ligne had been badly shot up by the Prussians, had lost many men and was in considerable disorder. This meant it was unable to support 3/33e's attempt to regain the village, and the unsupported bayonet attack faltered under Prussian fire. The second battalion of the 33e had in fact formed line, anchored on the village as it faced the slow wheeling movement by Zweiffel. This battalion was taken under flanking fire from the village and then artillery fire from Erichsen's guns. It was soon compelled to retire.

On the Prussian right Von Bila was deployed on a rise which was, in part, wooded. Facing him were 2 regiments of French cavalry and 2 battalions of 48e Ligne. Things went wron for the French here from the start. Unable to see over the rise where von Bila had deployed the French sent a column of Chasseur a Cheval up the slope to take a look. Mounting the crest they got a face full on cannister from the half horse battery whilst the Rosen Fusiliers formed a square. The French elected to try a charge on the guns. I took, oddly for me, the correct decision and stood by the cannon, as the gunners could easily have evaded into the Rosen's square. Instead the blasted the incoming French, causing them to falter then retire with casualties and disorder. Meanwhile 1/48e Ligne also ploughed up the crest opposite the woods. Here the Valentini and Werner Jager were comfortably deployed, and soon began chewing up 1/48e and its screen. Charged, they evaded, and then kept firing, compelling a French withdrawal in disorder. This allowed Bila to move his Hussars to his right, threatening the French centre. to close off this threat, the 5e Hussards were detailed off to cover this open French flank and drive off Bila's hussars. There was a clash on the hill between the two units which was a draw, both sides withdrew winded and disordered. But the neutralisation of 5e Hussards and 11e Chasseur a Cheval left one untouched Prussian Hussar unit roaming around unmarked...



The centre decided things, as it often does. Zweiffel had been executing a ponderous wheeling operation to keep in touch with Erichsen to his right whilst at the same time face what looked like the main French thrust. This comprised the 3 Legere battalions under Barbanegre (who inidentally went mad after the war and had to be locked away) that were coming across the Prussian left-centre. Although it looked dangerous the French stopped until von Bila's hussars and 5e Hussards fought to a standstill. But by this time the hussars from Erichsen's brigade appeared in the centre, brought up by Holtzendorff's ADC. These forced the Legere into square where the Bose 3lb battery began to chew lumps out of them. The right-hand battalion was clobbered first and took casualties and elected to retire, at the same time as 2/33e retired on it's left flank, itself caused by the flanking fire from Erichsen Fusiliers in the village and the eventual rout of 1/33e, worn down by additional fire from the village. The next turn saw the 3/33e retire too, influenced by a neighbouring router and fire from the village, whilst Bila's half battery and Bose's 3lb guns turned their attention to the nex Legere square. The 48e was not having much luck either, with the first battalion driven back the second tried to make some headway, only to be met by a blistering volley from the Rosen Fusiliers, now out of square and in the woods.

It was all over for the French. They had dispersed their forces all over the field rather than keeping Barbanegre's brigade as a mass and using it to attack the Prussian line. The game had taken less than 3 hours, there was a clear result, I was a happy bunny, and not just because I had won. The game mechanisms had all worked wonderfully and the time taken was a fraction of what it would have been. No arguments from me as to what to look at next: Heavy Cavalry and Force Majeure....

K

Lessons Learned

3 Fights and...

Where had it got me? Well the charge sequence was proving its worth, that was for certain. Instead of a lot of melees taking place I had one. I was told by David from the 200-ers that things were at such a state lines were seemingly incapable of stopping columns and if we did not do something about it soon the British would all be defending in column at Vimeiro. Given what happened at the last French/Austrian game a reverse-sloped and screened British line will shoot charging French units to bits all things being equal. It will force the French to prise the Brits out of their positions if they are going to make any headway.

But there are other things too. The overwhelming power of artillery has had some members concerned. The only answer to this has been to use Cuirassier as panzer divisions (again, totally a-historical) and gamesmanship to attack when they are out of ammunition. So here is what I have slid into my set of AOC.

1. All guns can fire if charged no matter their ammunition state. This gets rid of the option that was, quite frankly, gamesmanship, of standing a unit in front of a battery to commit suicide whilst others waited until the guns were out of ammo and then piled in. This would happily nip that particular farce in the bud.



2. Instead of looking at what units in the game could deal with guns I went back to first principles and thought about what guns were neutralised by. Other than counter-battery the option of using skirmish troops was always good. In this light I have reduced artillery effectiveness against skirmishers (the latter would just lay down or take cover) and make batteries take a morale test if they come under small arms fire. A negative result would reflect a battery commanders desire to move his guns to a place of greater safety. In terms of skirmsh cavalry, the Wargames Holiday Centre have skirmish cavalry take half casualties from artillery. So maybe I should try this as well as make it easier for skirmish-order troops to charge artillery in any formation.

3. Adding a band for 6lb guns reduces their effectiveness. It seemed odd that a 6lb had as much punch as a 9lb, so I created a new band. In return 6lb guns, 7lb howitzers and smaller are much more mobile, which makes them more useful being prolonged with the infantry.

4. Formation changes. I think batteries with more than 8 guns should have to double the time they take to change formation. This is particularly aimed at the Russians, of course.


Past the Guns

There have been other things. The ADC/Staff Officer rule is a handy one. Often units were detailed off under a staff officer for a particular task, and this option allows for that. The staff officer himself is unlikely to give any benefits other than command range, or maybe allow minor benefits unless it is a significant staff character like Mouton, for example. Force Chiefs of Staff may be a little better, and I am also toying with the Artillery Commander, if there was one, acting as a second brigade commander for artillery assets only, so he can command the reserve guns and set up a grand battery somewhere. These are not AOC ideas for our large games, but to add interest to corps or division-level actions.

Then there is the hoary issue of National Characteristics. Now some years ago this went a bit too far and I have also been a bit hostile to the '+1 to British in Line' rule that still seems to appear everywhere. That said there is no doubt that nations, sometimes in certain periods, had quirks that should be reflected. But, where possible, I want to try and balance these out. So, Russian infantry may be incredibly stubborn, but all Russians shoot worse than would normally be the case. British and KGL infantry shoot better, but British cavalry is almost impossible to control. There are tactical limits too. Some countries should be barred from using attack columns (like the 1806 Prussians) whereas other units are incapable of forming anything other than a column (Opolchenie, Landwehr and so on) whereas others are just limited to skirmish order (Spanish Guerillas, Vendeans and Tyrolean insurgents come quickly to mind)



While I am dealing with formations I also introduced a difference between an attack column and a march column. Bizarrely, there wasn't one. I also have found it hard to explain that an attack column is still longer than it is deeper. I think this is an issue of English, everyone assuming 'column' as a term means something deeper than it is long. So I have introduced the idea that lines are 1 casting deep, attack columns 2 or 3 deep and anything deeper is a march column. The latter are the only formations that can strategically move, but suffer whacking great penalties if caught in combat.

And the Cuirassier/Panzers?

This is a hard one in a way. One player who adopted this tactic said: 'but they're a shock arm'. True, but only effective against already worn and uncertain troops. Against fresh, confident infantry the results would be D'Espagne at Wagram or Milhaud at Waterloo rather than Murat at Jena. Currently this is my next area of interest, as heavies were more of a one-shot weapon to break an already worn enemy, not a battering ram to take on 12lb position batteries with equanimity. Maybe one answer is to double disorder from charges in heavies to reflect their horses getting winded easier than lights? This would mean they would be worn quicker. A rule already exists to limit the frequency of their charges (not twice in a row) but if we are talking 6 minute turns it is hardly a major stumbling block to incessant offensives.


I also think that the rule that lights cannot charge formed heavies is silly. The current 'work around' is that units can charge if they are 2 morale grades higher, but this seems overly complex and silly. Lights did charge heavies and sometimes won (Austrian Hussars v Carabinier at Leipzig?) without a vast morale difference. As we only have 4 morale bands anyway it just makes it even more silly. As Major Tom, another 200-er commented: 'I do not see that it matters, if the lights are penalised in combat enough the player will judge'.

Anyhow, I am getting this out of the way as my next post will be a write-up of a French-Prussian game using many of these changes against an old chum from the Guildford club. 'Till then....

K

Games #3

Intro

For my third game I spent a week painting to increase the number of French. So by the time this game took place there were 3 btns of Legere, 5 Ligne, a foot battery of 8 8lb/How and a horse battery of 4 4lb. I also managed to paint up the 5e Hussards which balanced out the cavalry. In terms of staff I had not made much headway, there was still only GdeD Friant, GdeB Gilly and two staff officers.

I elected to have a very simple battle between these French and whatever Austrians I could muster. This amounted to 3 battalions of IR3, one battalion of IR8, a Landwehr battalion, the 2^nd Moravian Freiwillige btn and the 1er Jagerbattalion. In terms of cavalry there were two units of 12 UlR2 and 6 HusR10, and in terms of guns a foot battery, a horse battery and a small section of two howitzers. In terms of staff FML Klenau was in overall command with one ADC, with the force split into three brigades: the Uhlans, cavalry battery and Jager under Oberst Hardegg, the 3 battalions of IR3 and the howitzers under Oberst Steininger and the remaining infantry and guns under GM Grill. Klenau had the hussars with himself as a mobile reserve. Oh, and I took no pics of this so I can only illustrate it with pics from other games.

The Battle

The Austrians were deployed on a slight rise, with Grill on the left, Steininger in the centre and Hardegg on the right. The French, again attacking, elected for a heavy punch on their right launching their 3 Legere battalions and 2 battalions of the 48e Ligne and the horse battery under Gilly against Grill. The 3 battalions of the 33e Ligne to hold the centre with the foot battery under one staff officer, whilst another held the left with the two cavalry regiments.

The French right hook got off to a good start, the 5 battalions deployed into attack column and gave each other good support. One of the Legere battalions formed a screen for the other four and the horse battery accompanied.

Then it all went wrong. The French horse battery was small. It soon got into a duel with Grill’s foot battery and was driven off in disorder. This meant the Austrian guns switched their attention to the attacking infantry, and loosed off a fearful cannonade against 2/33e Ligne, not only stopping it but driving it back too. That left 3 attacking battalions. The French screen was unable to penetrate the Austrian screen formed by the Moravians but Gilly needed to launch his attack before the Austrian guns turned their attention on other units. So he launched his 3 battalions at Grill’s line.

French attack repulsed

As the skirmishers on both sides evaded out of the way the two Legere and single Ligne battalion ploughed forward, with Gilly himself attached himself to one of the Legere battalions. The Ligne battalion was aimed at the end of the Lieb/IR8 and the foot battery, the 2/15e Legere smack in the middle of Lieb/IR8 whilst 1/15e Legere plus Gilly were charging the end of Lieb/IR8 and a small Masse of the Moravians. The Austrians were fresh and undisrupted, and the results were almost a foregone conclusion.

The Ligne battalion charged, got canistered by the Austrian battery and lost 5 figures. This routed them. The 2/15e Legere was volleyed at point blank range by four companies of IR8 which blew away 4 figures. Carrying a level of disorder already they rolled poorly and routed as well. That left 1/15e Legere. With Gilly attached it had a slight morale bonus (he is not a great General) and attacking where they did they could only be brought under fire by one company of IR8 and one company of Moravians. So they lost 2 casualties, and although they had lost some previously from the howitzers and skirmishers plus some disorder the remnants made their morale (being B class and with Gilly attached) and actually breezed through the volley. IR8 was not particularly phased by this so a melee developed.

It turned out to be a draw, both sides taking one casting casualty each. The Austrians took theirs as a disorder putting them at ‘shaken’. The French, knowing a morale check was coming due to friendly routers, took the casting casualty. The morale check was a catastrophe, having two friendly routers in the same brigade, no supports, casualties and disorder the French dissolved into rout.

The rest of the battle was effectively an Austrian gradual ‘pursuit’ by Grill. Klenau waved his hat and the Austrians rolled ponderously forward in line. The truth was that the French were going backwards faster than the Austrians could go forward, even despatching his 6 hussars under his ADC they were unable to get forward fast enough before the French fled the table.

Conclusion

The Austrians lost virtually nothing. The French lost 5 battalions plus some from 33e Ligne that were shot up by the Jager screening an advancing IR3 at the end of the game. It was a good example of how not to attack. The Austrians were fresh, undisturbed and in a strong position. Any attack was going to struggle, and in this case the total Austrian casualties it inflicted was one casting and a bit of disorder. But, again, it was a quick and realistic result. In the Peninsular with more aggressive British leaders a bayonet charge after the French attack would have been the norm: indeed the French collapse was so total that and charge would not have caught them. But, if they had simply halted with disorder a charge by the defenders the next turn would have seen them off anyway.

Games #2

Intro

After the French-Prussian game I moved the clock on to 1809 and set up a similar scenario, although less of a meeting engagement. The French were all reduced to Seasoned and many of the Austrians were too, excepting the 3^rd btn of IR3, the Landwehr battalion and the Moravian Volunteer battalion. Also these 3 units were considered Untrained (as were all of the French Ligne) whilst the remaining three Austrian battalions were considered trained.

Sankt Polten

I used the same battlefield as I used for Rexdorf, with the plan again to use the French as the attackers. This time it was going to be a harder situation, with them being of lower quality than in 1806 with the Austrians being of better quality. The battle quickly developed into 3 distinct combats.

On the French left two battalions under an ADC was detailed to take the southerly part of Sankt Polten which was garrisoned by 3/IR3.



This was less a sensible attack but rather a ‘try it and see’ to work out how the changes worked on a BUA. 3/IR3 was raw and untrained but when 1eme 48e Ligne went in it was shot to pieces and withdrew. The damage was so great that it was unable to support the 2^nd battalion’s attempt so it never even made the charge effort. The upshot was that the two French battalions were pinned down by 3/IR3 and effectively neutralised.

On the French right the Austrians needed to cover the road leading to the table edge where their second brigade under GM Grill would enter. This would comprise 3 battalions, two squadrons and a foot battery. To do this Oberst Hardegg covered the road with his Uhlans and Jager. The French, unwilling to push here, balanced things with their Chasseur a Cheval and a battalion of Legere.

That left the centre. Here the 33e Ligne Drew up in attack columns screened by the second battalion of the 15e Legere and marched towards the two remaining battalions of IR3.



1/IR3 threw out its schutzen and the French took several moves trying to rip away the screen. Once they had done so they attacked the slightly debilitated 1/IR3 and threw it back through 2/IR3.



This was also attacked and its volley failed to stop the two charging battalions and it to fell back, this time into the northern part of Sankt Polten.

The 3e bn of the 33e Ligne had another issue, the cavalry battery to the left of IR3. Although the voltigeurs of 3e bn eventually compelled it to withdraw (a player rather than morale decision) the battalion itself had huge holes torn in it and was very disordered.

Grill’s men were arriving, and the Austrians prepared to use them for a counterattack. Hardegg launched 4 squadrons of lancers at the 33e Ligne and it pretty much collapsed. Grill directed his troops off the road and the Moravian Freiwillige and two squadrons of the HusR10 ‘Stipiscz’ continued the pursuit.

Conclusions

This game merely illustrated again the need for attackers to have reserves and superiority of combined arms. Although pushed back IR3 was not really damaged. The French were not too badly damaged either but disordered. The 3/33e Ligne was the weak sister as it had been battered by the cavalry battery enough so as to be very vulnerable to the lancers. Once it had disintegrated the morale effect on its sister battalions saw them go too, along with 1/15e Legere. The game also proved the real effect of stationary rifles, the tussle between JgBn1 and 2/15e Legere proving unequal and allowing rifle fire to drive off the French horse artillery too. In a stationary or predictable situation the Austrians are a very unpleasant opponent for the French, although given the command radius of their generals and the number of available ADC’s I would not want to try anything too dynamic.

K

Games #1

Playing1: Rexdorf

Intro

Although as gamers we like to focus on the game, we do spend most of our time painting, unless you can afford professional painters or are prepared to pack it all off to Sri Lanka. But, every so often, we get to play with those little men into whom we have poured so much time and effort. I got a chance a few weeks ago when the other half was back home visiting the family (and returned with numerous horror stories, as usual) to set up a decent sized table in the living room. I had been painting like mad to have a meaningful French force in particular so I could have some solo games.

Art of Command

This was also related to play testing some ideas I wanted to suggest for the 200-ers rule set ‘Art of Command’. Now despite having thought up the title, imposed some sort of C2 system and having an identifiable picture of my ample stomach on the cover I am still having ideas about them. The basic issue is to drag a rules system that has a strong whiff of the Seventies about it kicking and screaming into the 1990’s. The whole thing is designed by committee, which has the usual strengths and weaknesses of anything thought up in that sort of atmosphere, and as I have been ill I have missed the last two games and rules meetings. Another thing about this process is intensely personal. By comparison with the other members I am relatively young. I am also pretty impatient with the grinding nature of this type of debate. I also have a very clear approach to any rules set; it has to allow things that happened in reality happen on the tabletop. This means I am keener on an evidence-based approach to form the basis of rules than the ‘game’ approach that emphasises the ‘fun’ aspect of things at the expense of historical constraints. With characteristic arrogance I feel that these people would be better going off and playing fantasy games.

What is important is that my views are tempered by playability. I do have a tendency to overcomplicate anything that is put in front of me. Any rules set designed by me would read wonderfully, be totally grounded in evidence and research and allow for a wide range of circumstances. It would also take 4 hours to play a turn. So the ideas of David, in particular, are very useful in grounding me in the need for playability. Professionally I never thought I would be complimentary about anyone from the Defence Procurement Agency but I may have found the exception that proves the rule.

Play testing

So, the key thing to test was my suggested Charge Sequence. I have mentioned in other posts my worries about both the number of infantry v infantry melees in the open and their inconclusivity and had worked on a way of making things flow better. I had done some small-scale tests back in October but here was a chance to test them at divisional level.

Other things tested were a new artillery band for 6lb guns with mobility for 3lb-4lb and 6lb guns set out. I also gave Generals at certain levels ADCs to give them a bit more flexibility when it came to command radius. It allows the French in particular greater flexibility when it comes to apportioning units.

French-Prussian game: Rexdorf 1806

The first solo game I set up was a French-Prussian game from 1806. The French at this stage only had one cavalry unit ready (a significant issue in the battle) and I set up a scenario that tried to take account of this. The French were all Veteran, the Prussians were all Raw and I laid down pre-set objectives for both sides to allow me to act in a solo context.



What became clear during this battle was that the new charge sequence worked insofar as not a single infantry v infantry combat took place in the whole game. The French launched virtually all their infantry at the Prussian centre which was drawn up in two lines with the Grenadiers in reserve. They were able to wear down the Prussians with skirmisher fire and the initial charges, pepped up by attached leaders, and forced the Prussians back.

What also was clear was that although they could knock them back there were not enough battalions to break through. The attacking French were worn down by volleys and disorder, allowing the Prussians to stitch together a new defensive line.

Although I gamely tried to break this one the Prussians charged up the French flank with one Hussar unit, the French Chasseur a Cheval having been thrown away by yours truly in a ‘try it and see’ charge early in the game.


The conclusion was that, taking into account the cavalry imbalance, the charge sequence had produced realistic and quick results. The worn Prussians had been bounced back but the French did not have the reserves to exploit. This made sense, as the attackers should need a superiority in numbers to make a convincing breakthrough. There were two more lessons. Firstly, the veteran French, bunched together with good leaders were pretty much unstoppable by the raw Prussian lines. The second was that, after initial attacks, the French were disordered and debilitated which left them open to a counterattack, in this case by light cavalry.

There were personal things too. I am a pretty well-honed Austrian player so I was less aggressive with my artillery than I should have been.


A player more ‘French-focussed’ would have been more direct in their use of the guns.

K

Getting back to the Game

Apologia

To start with I am sorry for my absence over the past few months. To give the short story I have been unwell, for want of a better phrase, which put a halt to both gaming and painting. I’m happy to say that over the past six weeks I have managed a lot of painting and a couple of solo games plus a game against an old chum from the Guildford club. So this is by way of a catchup post, with pics of the most recent stuff off the workbench. I’ll try and get round to looking at some of the things in greater depth in later posts.

Painting

I have always found painting a therapeutic activity, and a great way of passing the time too. At the end of last month the other half went back home for Passover, so I took up the brush a few weeks earlier to get as much done as possible. With the place to myself I intended to colonise the living room and have a few games.

My 1806 Prussians are pretty much done. What I really needed to do was get my Frogs sorted out, or at least get enough done so I could have some realistic games. The ‘French Plan’ is to get a division completed plus a brigade of light cavalry and the supporting artillery. The result is that I now have 5 battalions of Ligne, 3 of Legere, a regiment of Hussars and one of Chasseur a Cheval plus a foot and a horse battery finished. Along with this I have figures to represent Friant, Gilly, Barbanegre and two ADC/Staff officers painted up. This was enough to evenly match the 1806 Prussians, and the 1809 Austrians I have done. Anyhow, here are some pics…..

Artillerie a Cheval and 5e Hussards

11e Chasseur a Cheval

1st Bn 15e Legere

5e Hussards

Arguably I should be focussing on the Austrians. Those who know me well will be totally unsurprised to find out that this is going to be my main army. The plan is ambitious, true. There is already enough lead to do the whole of IV Kolonne and this is well underway. I hope to do V Kolonne too; I already have six squadrons and three battalions of this force and will keep adding bits. The aim is to get all of this done for the 200-ers re-fight of Aspern-Essling next year. Yes, there is the issue of snowblindness. I am trying to do six German infantry and then six of something else; Gunners, Grenz, Cavalry or whatever. It helps things become less of a grind than they would be otherwise. Pullinger’s Art shop here in Kingston has been a good source of Acrylic colours, and their ‘Parchment’ Heavy Body paint has proved to be a great basecoat for off-white wool and pure white leatherwork. OK, pics time….

HusR10 'Stipiscz'

Lieb btn, IR8 'Erzherzog Ludwig' in Battalion Mass

There are other things. I am painting up some unpainted Flintloque stuff and some other bits and pieces in order to generate space and cash from ebay sales. These will all go into making more little men that I can use (more bits of V Kolonne). My one 28mm Marlburian Dutch unit has already gone to a mate. Also there are the Napoleonic Spanish and the WAS Italian period plus a 3lb battery for the 1806 Prussians. I have found, after a lot of looking, the Crusader 3lb guns ideal for this and as guns for the WAS Piedmontese infantry. As they are both mid-light blue they can double up. The figures that come with the Crusader guns become Spanish. Although you have seen the battalion before here is the Piedmontese Regiment ‘Diesbach’ with their newly painted battalion gun section…



Games, well, as this post is long lets leave them and the playtesting of suggestions for Art of Command to a later post.

K