18th Century Sojourn

Storm over the Nile

2012-01-03T12:25:00.000-08:00

Storm over the Nile is a multi-player campaign involving three major powers; the Kingdom of Fung, the Sultanate of Sennar, the Ottomans and three nomadic Beja tribes; the Bisharin, Beni-Amir and the Hadendoa.

The year is 1701, Europe would involve itself shortly in a long war and both India and Java would experience their own war of succession. Along the banks of the Blue and White Nile, the conflicts would not reach a level experienced as in those other lands, yet the forces involved will determine who triumphs over their hereditary enemies.

In the spring of 1701, the Fung seek to recover lands lost to the Sennar, while the Hadendoa and the Beni-Amir attempt to settle old disputes over grazing land by force of arms. The Ottomans had no wish to extend their boundaries further south and the Bisharin profited from peaceful neighbors to the North, yet keep watch on their frontiers.

Settling an old feud, the Beni-Amir and the Hadendoa

The Beni-Amir (at bottom) positioned their battle in the open ground to the left of the steep hill. Their plan was simple; archers and lights would wrap around the Hadendoa flank while the main line would progress slowly forward while the auxilia would secure the rough ground on the opposite flank.

With no skirmishers to speak of, the Hadendoa would close with their opponents as quickly as possible which left the one skirmisher element to occupy the auxilia in rough ground. For a time, the village would protect the left flank until time came to rush the Beni-Amir.

With very low pip scores, the Beni-Amir was laboring forward for the first three bounds.

The Hadendoa used this to their advantage to secure a foot hold on the right and close the distance between battle lines.

A lucky cast for the Beni-Amir offered the chance to extend their right and overlap the Hadendoa, but the Hadendoa on their bound struck first and wrecked havoc among the archers and half their battle line.

This windfall delivered the first casualty for the bound. 1-0 for the Hadendoa.

Subsequent bounds brought both lines back and forth with no break in either line. In fact many melees held their ground with the only ray of hope lay with the flanks. Despite the odds, the one lone Hadendoa skirmisher upset his opponents by not recoiling or breaking off.

In the end, the Hadendoa warband prevailed to bring a battle of brute force to a 4 – 1 result.

Regaining lost territory, the Sultanate against the Fung.

Dry terrain options, do not leave a lot of variation on the board; here two steep hills and a patch of rough ground were the only items on a featureless battle field. With both sides fielding 50% cavalry, the terrain would require a subtle approach.
Nearly identical in composition, the Sennar (top of photo) would use their spearmen to advantage as a shield while approaching the Fung battleline.

The Fung had other ideas, as they would quickly control the rough ground and steep hill, they would funnel the enemy in a killing ground where both flanks could be threatened.

The approach

Both sides experienced low pip scores in the initial phase. This did not hinder the Sennar too much as they moved forward in two broad divisions. The Fung suffered; having to choose which flank should move while the other remained inert for the bound.

In consequence, the Sennar gained a foothold on the steep hill, while the main battleline, split formation to let the spearmen advance ahead of the cavalry division.

This last maneuver, brought the Fung cavalry to halt as they want to maintain an unbroken line. With the cavalry in check, the flanks were being mauled.

This brought a close to the battle, with the Sennar wining 4 – 2, having stripped the Fung of their wings. The battle cavalry never came into contact.

Next posting, the Summer moves.

The Beja-Hadendoa of the 18th c. - final part

2011-12-29T04:49:00.000-08:00

This is my last post on the subject of the Beja-Hadendoa and I would like to cover the subject of flags, fortifications and a six nation DBA style campaign.

For the casual reader who missed the first installment, my Colonial Dervish army of the late 19th century had no opponents; no British, French or Abyssinian army. For the past five years, I have focused my efforts and collection around the 18th century and the challenge here was see what I could do with a very large Dervish army. As you will see from the photos, the collection pre-dates the Mahdist rebellion, as none of the Ansar wear patches and actually my saving grace.

Rebasing

The majority of “Ansar” were rebased to represent the hordes of the less inclined, while the “Fuzzy Wuzzy” to warband of the enthusiastic. In DBA terms, the rebasing project delivered; 6 Generals, 11 Cv, 3 LH, 16 Cm, 3 LCm, 24 Hd, 54 Wb, 13 Bd, 20 Ps/Sk/Sh, 2 Ms and 4 baggage elements, bringing a total of 39 mounted and 113 foot elements. Quite a number, so my initial research gleaned army lists from the Renaissance books and any other lists available on the internet to see what could best be used.

The Campaign

Looking at the first map, the major powers at the turn of the 18th century were the Sultanate of Sennar and the Kingdom of Darfur. The Ottomans I already have and Ethiopians were not in the planning, I needed to create my own lists for the “other”. These would represent Beja tribal groupings of the Sudan, chiefly the Ababda, Bisharin (eastern Sudan), Hadendoa (No. of Abyssinia), Beni-Amer (So. Coastal), Amarar (No. Coastal), Shukuria, Hallenga and the Hamran.

So for our campaign, the six nations will represent the Ottomans, the Sultanate of Sennar, the Kingdom of Fung and three Beja groups; the Bisharin, the Amarar and the Hadendoa. With the exception of the Ottomans, the remaining five will come from the generous pool of 152 elements. The infantry Hd and Wb are based 5, 4 or 3 to a base so as to add variation to army composition.

Army standards

I had posed a question about flags and would they have had religious themes or Arabic script. Although some enclaves held to their form of Christianity, the conversion to Islam on the whole had been accomplished by 1600 as all Churches had been converted to Mosques. Those areas which still resisted the change were far south and bordered Abyssinia. So, the Arabic text remains, despite my initial sketches of Saints on horseback or crosses.

Fortifications

This is what I would describe as a “you never know” project; although sieges are handled off-table, perhaps to set a level of ambiance it would be nice to have a fort or fortified position as a BUA. Massawa was the Ottoman Empire’s most Southern fort and my readings of military architecture of the area did find mention of “castles” and forts dotted along the length of the Nile.
With certainty, the Ottoman forts did have artillery, but I could find nothing for the Sultanate or the Kingdom of Fung. Generally, forts were constructed from mud brick and of a sufficient height to deter an escalade.

Campaign background

No actual start date has been set as early 18th century could be described as a period of internal warfare among the Beja tribes, a slow deterioration of the Sultanate as the Kingdom of Fung ascended while the Ottomans remained content sitting on the fence. For game purpose, Khartoum is central to all six kingdoms.

On to battle!
Cheers,

Beja-Hadendoa of the 18th century

2011-12-26T01:36:00.000-08:00

Of all my rebasing projects of this month, the Colonial Sudanese were the most difficult; not so much for the work involved, but how should they be rebased.

Originally used for the WRG rule system, I wanted to add these to our growing DBA horse and musket games. I did not want to use them for a 19th century Colonial anymore, but fit them some how into my collection of armies from around the world set in the 18th century. You have only to look at the Battlegames Magazine website under 18th century conflicts and you will find no shortage of possible themes from around the globe.

How do you fit a 19th c. Fuzzy/Ansar collection in the 18th century? Using the DBA-RRR book 3 lists as a benchmark, I searched the internet for more background information of the Funj Empire, Sultanate of Sennar, Kingdom of Darfur and the Beja-Hadendoa. The information I found more than substantiated the transition; not only did the Beja tribes fight amongst themselves, they did hire themselves out as mercenaries and had an occasional scrap with the Ottomans.

Size of armies

Armies were small by comparison to the European theater. Several factors restricted the movement of large numbers of troops; one, poor soil conditions produced insufficient quantities of grains to be requisitioned, two, the ever present disease which kept pack bearing animals to small number and basically, the population was not large enough to sustain a large army. A standard 12 element sized army would be perfect, however, I have more than enough for a dozen armies.

Typical armament

The tribesmen were typically armed with bow, javelin, spear and sword; not much different than what we see modeled as “Fuzzy Wuzzy”. By the early 18th century, trading matchlocks and later flintlocks for slaves brought small numbers of these weapons into the hands of the “Sudanese”. Further reading underscored the advantages of combining all weapon types as those forces solely armed with firearms were helpless against traditional weapons during inclement weather or night attacks.
Army list

As I mentioned above, the DBA-RRR offers a number of useful army list for the region; the Sultanate of Sennar and the Funj Empire, but the Beja are not to be found. Only do the Hadendoa appear as mercenaries on the Funj list (4Wb). For our purposes we need to create some tribal lists for rebel forces to fight the Sennar Sultanate and eventually the Ottoman garrisons (Massawa).

Beja/Hadendoa

The majority of the Beja tribes were pastoral nomadic folk. Infantry would be primarily armed with bow, javelin, spear and sword and with the exception of chieftains or leaders, none would be found mounted although some tribes would use camels to cover long distances and dismount to fight.

Bedouins could supply small numbers of cavalry as would mercenaries bring small numbers of firearms.

For campaign purposes, these could be added to an army as the prestige level of the tribe reaches a certain level. Likewise, the number of Hadendoa troops present as mercenaries on other lists would disappear when the prestige level descends.

A hypothetical list

The tribal force might have the following:
1 Cv or Cm or Bd (general)
6 – 10 Wb Tribesmen
0 – 2 Bd Swordsmen
0 – 4 Ax Spearmen
0 – 3 Bw or Ps Archers
1 – 2 Ps as Scouts or Cattle guards.

To add variation between tribes, I might base the Tribesmen as 3Wb, 4Wb or 5Wb. and their style of dress would add a further distinction; Arab clothing for the tribes along the Nile and traditional wear for the tribes of the interior.

Further, Bedouin allies can supply mounted elements (Cv, Cm, LH and LCm) and mercenaries, the firearms (3Sh or 2Sk)

Possible campaign participants: Funj, Sennar, Darfur, Beja, Hadendoa, Desert Arabs. Ottomans could replace the Kingdom of Darfur.

Cheers,

The Djinn are coming!

2011-12-22T01:17:00.000-08:00

Somewhere in the outer reaches of the Moghul Empire, between Bihar and Bengal, two rival prince-lings found the only resolution to their dispute was a force of arms. Both, minor princedoms, through coercing distant family ties were determined to build a sizeable force to overawe their rival.

In Calcutta, Not wishing to miss out on an opportunity to further their sphere of influence within the Moghul Empire, Archibald Claude proposed that the Company should send a representation to assist one of the parties. The French attaches were also alert to British plans made similar overtures to the opposition. The start of the 18th century in India began with a clash of arms around the little known village of Moniepoor.

The Company had send Claude with a small brigade (5 Ms, 1 Art) to show the colours and beat the drums. No daring do they said, “As that would cost” the Company dearly. The French managed a similar strength and so on that bright sunny day; both European forces would find themselves participants to a huge battle.

DBA-HX big battle.

Aside from the small European contingents, the Indians were rich with an assortment of weapons and units. Cavalry, Mercenary light horse, trained musketeers, and matchlock armed infantry, archers, Ghazis and hordes of followers. Adding the artillery, this brought the Indian total to 30 elements including two generals.
My war-game comrade and friend chose to defend and so had the option to add his magic to the terrain placement A large hill on the left and a smaller hill on the right secured his flanks. The village on Moniepoor was situated in a “no man’s land” between both forces. I had a hill within my own deployment area, but this would offer no advantage as we were moving forward.

Deployment

18 elements of various infantry plus 2 LH were under the central command and these deployed on the left of the battleline To their right, the British contingent was augmented with the entire Indian artillery bringing their total command to nine elements. On the far right the Sultan’s cousin assembled all the heavy cavalry.

Facing the cavalry and British were my Prince’s main command of 20 elements. From the village to the central hill were 5 Ms in line with 3 Art situated in between. Directly behind the guns were the hordes. The remaining six elements of matchlocks, bow and Ghazi faced the Djinns, while the only LH were set in a rear position to function as a reserve. Like our rivals, the French and cavalry mirrored their deployment by facing the Sultan’s main command.

Opening moves

Both sides moved forward at infantry speeds with respective cavalry wings keeping pace; the defender’s main command settling into position about the large hill. I edged my main battleline to use the village as flanking cover. Second turn, my two smaller commands advanced toward the enemy on the hill, while the our main battle split in two formations; all bow, shot and Ghazi trotted off toward the British columns while the remaining battleline of 5Ms and 3 Art began wheeling to the left.

My opponent could see the wheeling line would eventually deny him space decided to peel off two elements of horse to circle the village. Meanwhile, the British moved toward the cloud of bow, shot and Ghazi. The main command redressed their position on the hill and threw out the LH to harass the enemy right. On my bound, we wheeled further bring the guns in range of my opponent’s cavalry, my cloud of irregulars started shooting at the British columns, while the French and the first line of cavalry edged closer toward the Sultan’s main command. Directly behind, the second line of cavalry extended the flank while our LH screened the formation change.

During the exchange of fire between the Djinns and my “cloud” we lost an element.

In the next bound, the increase in fire exchange did nothing more than send elements recoiling, however, two events provoked the Sultan’s defensive position into action. My light horse charged his LH screen while supported by the second line of Cv. This prompted an adjustment of his defensive position.

Second, the “cloud” of irregulars overlapping the British column provoked them to charge. The British, with better factors were denied the expected result and remained locked in combat. The Ghazi bested their opposition and lack of space for the recoil sent one British element off to even the score.

This was critical, as both our flanks were exchanging fire with little results to show for the effort, but in the center, hampered by lack of space, Claude was cut down during a recoil. Oops!

In the subsequent bound, the British had one element remaining and the Indian artillery under their command was looking to return home, the cavalry wing was paralyzed by the lack of space. We stopped the game as my opponent had a long drive back home and although the casualties were not excessive (my 3, his 8), enveloping the Sultan’s hill position was the final stroke.

We shall definitely play this game again and keep the same composition. The array of weapon types, bow, shot, muskets and artillery kept us on our toes with the unexpected. My cloud of irregulars held the British and that was not expected. Killing their General was more surprising.

Epilogue

History had never recorded this minor clash and the loss of Claude and so many British troops. The bookkeepers at the East India Company were still able to keep things straight and as for Claude, well he had been given an attaché position to the Imperial court at Nippon. All, at the Company wished him a Bon Voyage.

Cheers,

Battle of Kill’crankie

2011-11-30T06:43:00.000-08:00

Word had spread through the highlands, Prince Charles had landed and raised the standard at Glenfinnan and called for all loyal Scots to rally. Not wanting to miss another opportunity, the local chieftains led by Earl James Erstwhile gathered the clans, but first they would settle an old score with the local garrison at Fort William.

Leader of the Jacobite forces, the Earl James Erstwhile (blue die)
Leader of the British-Hanoverian forces, Sir John Graham-Crankie (red die)

The first outing for the newly painted Jacobites turned out a nail biter. Jacobite forces comprised of mostly Highlanders (Wb) a few shot , skirmishers and one mounted unit. As battle plans whent, in true Scots fashion, the Jacobites had one objective and that was to get stuck in!

The British, armed for a fight, fielded 10 elements of line troops (Ms) and one each artillery and Dragoons (Cv). With a preponderance of fusiliers, the British were confident, if musketry did not bring the rebels to their knees, the bayonet would.
As defender, they would avoid the steep hill on their left flank and move to the open terrain to meet the rebels, artillery and Dragoons would cover the right flank.

One brigade deployed in column would take advantage of the road to extend the left flank further forward and form and oblique line. The intent was to funnel the rebels toward the main line, and awaiting artillery supported by Dragoons.

For the Scots no mucking’ about, just get stuck in.

For the most part, turns one and two for both sides followed their original plans, that is until Erstwhile split his force to advance toward the British moving along the road, while sending the remaining Jacobites toward Crankie’s main line.

By turn three, the British column deployed to a partial line to await the rebel onslaught. The main body conformed to the original plan and wheeled to the right leaving the artillery in position. The Dragoons wondering at the idleness of the rebel cavalry, moved out to investigate.

With a good die roll, the Jacobites double timed to strike against the half deployed line while the remainder of the Scots closed with the British main line; a smaller column moved on the artillery.
Further on the Jacobite left flank, the LH took literally their orders to defend the left flank and held their position. Nonetheless, first blood to the Scots, 1- 0.

The next few turns the Scots continually surprised the British by returning to fray after each recoil. Both sides were slowly inflicting casualties on each other, yet neither had a major advantage. The Dragoons decided the rebel LH would prove no further threat so turned to join the main battle.
Doing so, they helped even the score 3 – 3.

On the Jacobite right flank, Erstwhile joined the fray and with the help of nearby clans, increased the odds. In the hand to hand that followed, one British line recoiled leaving the remaining unit dearly exposed. Both die cast and it was a classic end to a hard fought battle.

The Rising lives on!

The Rising – 15mm Jacobites – ready for mayhem

2011-11-29T09:03:00.000-08:00

With a number of rebasing projects and construction of native villages for DBA use, I had no time to photograph the Jacobites. The extra elements allow for variation, such as skirmishers (Ps) for the dense firelock formations (Sh) and two Pike or Blade elements to field for the earlier conflict against the red coats.

The mounted commander for the Scots I substituted one with cloak and long coat. The tricorne was replaced with a feathered bonnet.

There is plenty of information on the web for flags and what I selected will do well for the leader figure and a few for the clans. The flags are slightly oversized (18mm x 18mm) as this will give me enough area to paint and suggest details. With all my banners and flags, I prefer to fix the brass rod to the base and not to a standard bearer. In this case, several standard bearers served as pike.

All that is missing is a suitable camp for the Scots.

Cheers,

18th c. Melnibonéan supporting cast

2011-11-04T01:26:00.001-07:00

Photo one is of a scratch-build rocket battery. Figures are standard French artillerists and the rocket, tripod and tubing are of brass rod of various thicknesses.

Selecting a colour scheme for the rocket tubes, I followed a well used a tried and true method for all Warhammer Elves – white and gold. Not shown are two elements of the rocket battery mounted on pack horses.

Fire Siphons or Dragon’s Breathe, of which I have only one pictured comprise of various artillerists with one carrying the “Greek fire” cylinders and the other team member the siphon.

I have yet to use these in a game, but their effective range will be short in comparison to other range weapons. A future project I will have a number of war wagons mounting siphons.

Inspired by Khurasan Miniature’s Sabretooth tigers, I decided to incorporate these with handlers. The figures have been remounted for DBA use, originally based for WRG use, these were very effective at disrupting formed troops and a follow up by supporting troops would send the enemy routing. I shall be experimenting with the army this weekend and see what works best.

Within the Melnibonéan organization I have magicians/sorcerers as an option for each of the commands. Experience level is not high, but they will function much as the characters in Glen Cook’s the Black Company.

Not clothed in black, but mid-blue, these figures are various ensigns and sergeants from the OG French fusilier pack. I did not think stars and crescent moons were appropriate, but opted for an appearance in keeping with the 18th century.

Next posting, the Guard.

18th c. Melnibonéan Cavalry

2011-11-04T01:22:00.000-07:00

All my 18th c. Melnibonéan figures are originally Old Glory 15mm SYW French. The infantry poses reflect a lot more panache than the other collections, however, this is just the reverse with the cavalry. I chose for both standard cavalry and light horse tricorne wearing figures. Somehow, I could not imaging a Dark Elf in bearskin hat or sporting a cap with floppy bag.

What I now have are mounted units that seem to be “waiting their turn”. Not at all aggressive and as I expand the mounted side I will add SYW Austrian figures have better poses.

In the photos are two types of mounted elements, standard cavalry (Cv) and light horse (LH). To increase the mounted force, I will add cuirassiers and lancers (Kn). One example of a cuirassier, with red breastplate, serves as an aide to the General .

Next posting will cover the support units.

Cheers,

18th c. Melnibonéan Infantry

2011-11-04T01:18:00.001-07:00

I have finished rebasing my 18th c. Melnibonéan Figures for DBA/HOTT use. I am very pleased with the final results; ground work turned out much better than the original effort. The photos show the various infantry units for a standard command; musketeers, skirmishers accompanied by artillery. I chose a standard colour theme throughout the entire command and as the viewer will note, even the tricorne hat is no longer remains black. I chose a range of pastel colour to offer contrast with the Dark Elf skin tone, even the gaiters are doe or buckskin shades.

The flags, I feel could be improved on. The general designs of dragons, wings, and stones was a temporary solution and I know some bright spark of creativity will bring about their change, but for the moment these will do.

Organizing the 18th c. Melnibonéan for DBA-HX use will follow the general line of 6-8 Musketeers, 2 Jager, a Cannon, with 2 or 3 Cavalry/Light Horse rounding off the mounted element.

Expanding the army for the big battle option will allow the use of more exotic units of beasts, fire siphons, rockets, and war wagons.

Next posting, I will have photos of the Melnibonéan Cavalry.

Cheers,

18th c. Melnibonéan Elves

2011-10-26T08:46:00.000-07:00

For those readers who have recently come into contact with this blog, my collections are primarily centered on the 18th century. Leave European armies to the side, you have a myriad of possible armies to collect from; South American, African, Indian of course and Far Eastern armies.

In creating my 18th century world, I did not want to exclude Fantasy. For this I created the Archipelago Ameri-go, a large island chain, and home to my Melnibonéan Elves. During their introduction, there was much discussion about their possibly supplanting mythical Atlantis.

Further advanced than 18th century man, the Melnibonéan Elves have remained relatively undiscovered, only the local natives trading with other tribes of mainland New Canada and New Spain relate tall tales of daemons and people of ashen coloured skin.

My large rebasing project took me last week to the box labeled Melnibonéan. 50 plus elements are now complete and these pictured here are the last group; rockets, flame thrower, magicians, Saber-toothed tigers with handlers and my Night Watchers.

Inspired by some of the work of Paul Potter of Fanaticus fame, I decided to elevate some figures to enhance their placement on the new bases. The Magician looks great on the outcropping and the tigers are now in a position to “leap out” as opposed to being herded.

The raised sections are from a placemat made of cork. Torn in irregular shapes, the sections were glued down on the base and allowed to dry. Next week I should finish the ground work for the entire collection. In the planning are war-wagons, some flying machines, galleys, and some fortifications.

With the re-release of Demonworld miniatures, I have finally located suitable witches:

Ice Witch Furies

Cheers,

SYW British and Civilians.

2011-10-13T05:03:00.000-07:00

As I have less time to spend gaming with large armies, I have been rebasing some of the larger SYW collections for DBA-HX (Humberside extension) use. Within an hour or hour and a half, I can resolve a large battle which normally took twice as long and did not reach a conclusion. This will suit the quick resolution of campaigns that I like to do.

The photos show only a partial conversion of British and Civilians to the new base size. The entire collection of British is large enough for three commands, but I will repaint two of these to represent Hannover, Brunswick and other “red coated” auxiliaries that served with Her Britannic Majesty’s army in Germany.
I shall add an extra command to represent Hessen Cassel as I already have standards for them.

The civilians were used during our Invasion of Britain game and will certainly be used again for a replay of that scenario. Their numbers will double in size and will include mobile transport in the way of carts and carriages. As civilians, they will prove useful for scenarios involving rebellions. This is the first time I have used the clumps of grass (Heki) and I must say, these really look great, especially for skirmishers which have ample spacing between figures.

Cheers,

WSS flags – part one

2011-09-05T02:10:00.000-07:00

There are a number of useful websites which have flags and standards for the WSS. These are:

Vexillologie militaire européenne

La Galerie de Royalfig

Praetiriti Fides, Exemplumque Futuri

Warflag

Venexia Miniatures (France and Savoy)

Additional information can be gleaned from bloggers covering the Spanish Succession.

Readers of the 18th Century Sojourn will have noticed I do not use standard bearers, but fix flags and standards to the base. This method avoids the breakage experienced with flag poles bending and finally breaking.

From the next photo, you will see bending a length to create a “foot” is an easier option than drilling through the base. Covered with sand and flocking, the “foot” is not that noticeable.

I use brass wire for my flag poles. These are 35mm in length and allowing an extra 15mm for the “foot” I can bend these.

After filing a point I can now glue the pole to its base and paint. What colour were the flag poles? I have not found much documentation, but have followed the paintins of the period. For my next post, I will describe the actual painting of the flags.

Cheers,

WSS - A very large work in progress

2011-08-20T12:01:00.001-07:00

I have recently purchases a new digital camera and this one will take some time to adjust to, especially when using artificial lighting.

Displayed on the table are 5 DBA sized armies whose bases need painting. I usually thin the paint mixture. After this dries I can lighten the effect by dry brushing with GW Bleached Bone followed with a bit of Skull White. You can see from the next photo, the box contains another 5 armies ready for flocking. I have another 10 at similar stages of completion.

Bases need painting.

These need flocking

Typical WSS DBA-HX army

From the DBA-HX lists, a typical command has Musketeers, Guard or grenadiers, artillery and assorted cavalry giving a ratio three foot per one cavalry element. Uniforms were easily found on the Internet; several manufactures offer painting guides, several bloggers have also posted more information and lastly the Vinkhuijzen Collection (link to the right) covers the majority of the combatants rather well. Considering the DBA scale, most of the elements could represent infantry battalions and mounted elements, a full strength regiment.

White and grey uniforms were worn by the majority of the combatants. Bavaria stood out in blue, the British of course in red, but then so did the Swiss, Danes, Hannover and Savoy wear red. There are some peculiar units, Austrians and Bavarians have cuirassiers with lobster pot helm, grenadiers for the most part wore either the bearskin or smaller miter hat. The best means to separate similarly uniformed armies is by their flags. As I near completion of this project, I should have at least four flags and standards per command.

At the moment, the Bavarians and British are closer toward completion. This coming week, I should be able to start on the flags.

Cheers,

War of the Spanish Succession

2011-08-13T09:06:00.000-07:00

I am currently rebasing my entire 15mm SYW French army for the early 18th century conflicts.

Let me preface this by stating, the “French”, all Essex 15s, are from the European Armies listing of 1660 to 1745 and better suited for the age of Marlborough. I bought these intended for the WAS conflicts of 1745 campaigns in Italy. Returning to the Netherlands, we started collecting the SYW, so I did took the expedient route to combine the entire WAS collection into one huge French army. As our respective collections grew, my British, Prussian and Austrian armies were bought from Old Glory. Compared to my Essex “French” these are robust (17/18mm) and very animated when set against my stoic Essex “French”.

Replacing the “French” Essex with Old Glory had always been a long term project and this vacation period I finally decided to take action and get stuck in.

This brings me to the project of rebasing. I now have 20 DBA sized armies which will represent, French, Bavarian and Spanish to fight against the allied armies of the Dutch, Imperial/Austria, Britain, Prussia and Portugal with auxiliaries from Denmark, the German States and some Italian principalities; a huge assortment.

Repainting the figures has been minimal, mostly socks and cuffs, as I had battalions of red coat Irish and blue coat Scots and Germans added to the hordes of pearl grey coated “French”. I have though upgraded the quality of painting as I plan to sell part of the collection. I do not need twenty armies.

I had spent a lot of time gleaning examples of uniforms off the internet, and it seems the only feature that will make these armies distinct from one another are their flags. So I shall add four or five flags and standards to each army.
As large as the project may seem, with good planning, I should need a minimal amount to time each day. This should make the task enjoyable.

For those of you considering the WSS as a new venture, I shall post as many of the resources I have found online as well as photos of the various nations as they are done.

Cheers,

Maps for the campaign

2011-07-20T13:02:00.000-07:00

Bautzen map:

One of the most time consuming aspects of campaign design is locating a suitable map for the intended area. Nowadays, the internet can offer so many resources from online libraries, blogs etc. I know I have spent a lot time sourcing the right map. Invariably, what I have found were either the correct area, but not enough detail, or quite the opposite, too much detail.

Silesian War map:

For the Bohemian Campaign of 1757, I was fortunate enough to find one map that fitted our requirements. The scale suited our recording of daily march moves from city to city and allowed sufficient maneuver room for additional columns. The forces for both sides were approximately 20 to 30 thousand strong.

Our Silesian campaign will have armies four times as large maneuvering over a smaller area, a corridor if you will. Between Glogau and Breslau, a distance of 61 miles (99 km). Duffy in his Army of Maria Theresa mentions armies marched on average 6 to 8 miles per day, with a full days rest after four or five days. In some cases this was exceeded, such as Hadik’s daring raid on Berlin.

The campaign opens on the 25th of August.. With the exception of the Prussian garrisons, the majority of Frederick’s forces are facing Charles in Lusatia. It is on this day that Frederick departs to Thuringia to deal with the Franco-Imperial army assembling there.

Dealing with Charles’ character.

Despite a very capable staff of Daun, Loudon, Lacy to name a few, the final decision to move against Bevern lay with Charles. One of the campaign goals is to simulate the indecisive nature of the Prince, the challenge for the Austrian commander is to create a few more victories before November 12..

Next week, the opening moves.
Cheers,

The Austrians

2011-07-04T09:40:00.000-07:00

Setting the scene.

Following the departure of the Prussians before Prague, Prince Charles resumed command over all the Austrian forces. Despite the advice of Daun and others, Charles delayed the pursuit of Frederick to allow for victory celebrations. Yet still wary of Frederick’s presence, the Austrians “escorted” the Prussians out of Bohemia toward the Saxon border.

At the end of July, Charles marshaled his forces to pound Zittau and destroy much usable supplies. For unexplained reasons, Charles remained inert on the Saxon border; sole activity was to enlarge the entrenchments and direct light troops to harass Prussian movement around Lusatia. The Prussians ever alert for such raids nearly trapped Nádasdy and Beck on the 16th of August. Thereafter, the Austrians could not be enticed from the impregnable position around Zittau.

On the 31st of August, the Austrians learn of Frederick’s departure and Prince Charles gathers his war council to decide upon options; follow Frederick and pin him between the French and Reich’s armies or move against the Prussian holding force and take Silesia.

Note: Maria Theresa and the Hofkriegsrath sent Kaunitz to stir Prince Charles to action.

We have brought the reader now to the start of our campaign. Below is an overview of the Austrian strength gathered at Zittau. Nádasdy corps is not listed below but should account for a further 6-7,000 troops; mainly Hussars and Grenzers.

Commanding Officer: Herzog Karl von Lothringen
2nd In Command: Feldmarschal Graf L. Daun

lst Line:
Left Cavalry Wing: General der Kavallerie Graf Serbelloni 47 sqdns
Left Infantry Wing: Feldzeugmeister Baron Marschall 18 bns
Right Infantry Wing: Feldzeugmeister Baron Kheul 16 bns
Right Cavalry Wing: General der Kavallerie Graf Lucchese 42 sqdns

2nd Line:
Left Cavalry Wing: General der Kavallerie Baron Gretlach 31 sqdns
Left Infantry Wing: Feldzeugmeister Baron Marschall 13 bns
Right Infantry Wing: Feldzeugmeister Baron Kheul 14 bns
Right Cavalry Wing: General der Kavallerie Fu"rst Esterhazy 24 sqdns

Reserve:
Left Cavalry Wing: General der Kavallerie Graf Stampach 20 sqdns
Division: Feldmarschal-lieutenant d'Arberg 5 bns
Division: Feldmarschal-lieutenant Graf Esterhazy 5 bns
Division: Feldmarschal-lieutenant Marquis de Clerici 5 bns
Division: Feldmarschal-lieutenant Baron Sincere 6 bns
Right Cavalry Wing: General der Kavallerie Graf Stampach 19 sqdns

183 squadrons, 82 battalions (27,450 + 61,500 = 88,950)

With odds approaching 3:1, one would expect this to be an easy campaign. If the reader wishes to follow the historical events, then I would recommend the Austrian Invasion of Silesia, 1757 under the campaign section of Kronoskaf.com.

Our goal as participants in this campaign is to play out the 14 week period and see how far we can conquer/defend Silesia before game’s end on 28 November. For the Austrians, this means beating the defending force, capturing the major depots of Schweidnitz, Breslau and a number of minor magazines and for the Prussians, they must deny the Austrians the key locations while remaining a viable force.

Next posting; Opening moves.

Cheers,

Resumption of Hostilities - Silesia, August 1757

2011-06-30T22:27:00.000-07:00

Our wargame projects and activities have taken us full circle to were we left our conflict between Prussia and Austria anno 1757.

Last year, we launched our Prussian Invasion of Bohemia and focused our campaign on one of the four columns; that of General Bevern and Austria's Konigseck. Within days of crossing the mountain pass, the first engagement at Reichenberg, Konigseck's goal was to delay as long as possible Bevern's column without being trapped between other encircling Prussian columns. The game ended before the walls of Prague.

Our next campaign, looked at the smaller operations in the period between the siege of Prague and the Battle of Kolin (June 18, 1757). Here, Austrian light troops harrassed Prussian supply lines and clashed with searching columns, while 10,000 plus survivors of the Battle at Prague made their way south to join Daun's relief column.

Part three.
We abondoned the idea of a third part centered on the Prussian retreat after Kolin as the Invasion of Silesia offered more challenges.

The primary challenge were the numbers involved. Gathered under Prince Charles were 95,000 troops encamped in Lusatia. Against this, Frederick assembled nearly 50,000 covering Lusatia but also to guard against Austrian raids. Our first two campaigns involved smaller forces, such that we could easily record regimental movement per day; hour of departure, encampment and rest periods. This proved very useful and we wanted to continue using it.

Larger numbers.
For administrative purposes, most SYW armies grouped regiments into "divisions" or "wings" and so we too we would move divisions/wings in place of individual regiments. Looking at the strengths from Nafziger's Order of Battle for 1757, the Prussian force would organized as such:

Commanding Officer: King Fredrick II of Prussia
2nd in Command: Feldmarschall Keith

lst Line:
Cavalry Left Wing: Generallieutenant von Penavaire, 25 sqns
Infantry Left Wing: Generallieutenant Prinz Heinrich v.Preussen, 9 bns
Infantry Center: Generallieutenant von Forcade, 7 bns
Infantry Right Wing: Generallieutenant Prinz Ferdinand v. Braunschweig, 8 bns
Cavalry Right Wing: Generallieutenant Seydlitz, 28 sqns

2nd Line: Generallieutenant Herzog von Braunschweig-Bevern
Cavalry Left Wing: Generalmajor von Normann, 20 sqns
Infantry Left Wing: Generallieutenant von Winterfeldt, 6 bns
Infantry Center: Generallieutenant von Brandes, 5 bns
Infantry Right Wing: Generallieutenant von Leftwitz, 12 bns
Cavalry Right Wing: Generalmajor von Stuchow, 20 sqns

Reserve: Generallieutenant von Zieten
Cavalry reserve, 40 sqns
Infantry reserve, 3 bns

Total strength:
133 sqns = 15,960
50 bns = 37,500

Setting the campaign.

On August 25, after a number of futile attempts to prod the Austrains lose from their entrenchments, Frederick leaves for Thuringia taking with him 15 bns and 23 sqns. Bevern and Winterfeld have now been given the task of watching Charles while guarding Silesia.

Austria drums are stirring again.
Cheers,

Mogul/Muslim Bombards

2011-06-19T08:19:00.000-07:00

I searched various manufacturers of bombards for my Indian armies and decided the best route was to scratch build. From the Osprey book covering the Mogul armies, there is one illustration of a bombard being pulled by oxen. Four solid wheels nearly the height of the crew with a flat-bed carriage (?) supporting a large barrel. There are many examples of this type of gun in Indian and Persian art of the period, so all I needed to do was look about for suitable materials.

The wheels are Games Workshop plastic shields. I had plenty of these extra. Balsa wood for the bed, dowels for the axels, I now needed only the barrels. This was solved by using the plastic sleeves from old paint brushes. All that remained was body putty to simulate the rings along the barrel length and rope to add extra support, gun was complete. In the evening, I spray painted an undercoating, let dry overnight and splashed paint on the models the following afternoon– done!

Excess body putty I rolled into neat cannon balls and coiled extra lengths as rope.

This coming week, I should have two orders of miniatures arriving. Now the work bench is cleared and ready for next.

Cheers,

Mogul/Muslim Indians – with photos

2011-06-19T04:18:00.000-07:00

The collection of Mogul and Muslim Indians are two/thirds complete. Based and some carrying standards, I have grouped the infantry and cavalry by type rather than separate them into their respective army. At completion, the composition will follow the DBA-RRR lists for Mogul and Muslim Indian with a host of options.

I lack now only the artillery, Rocketeers, Camel gunners and elephants which will account for another 24 elements. My goal is to have both armies complete, 36 elements a side, by the end of July. I have recently picked up another Essex army pack at the Fanaticus Bazaar; these will be painted as Afghans, mercenaries and other hill tribes.

In preparation for the last stage, I have started scratch building six bombards. Photos will appear in my next posting here.

Cheers,

These (Old Glory) represent the trained infantry armed with matchlocks.

Bowmen from Old Glory and Essex.

Levies, pikemen and Hill tribesmen. All Essex.

Hill tribesmen skirmishing.

Group photo with General.

Mansabar cavalry with Arab and Turkoman mercenary light horse.

Which ground work?

2011-05-18T03:26:00.000-07:00

I have now 50 bases of Mogul/Muslim cavalry and infantry with ground work ready for painting, wash and highlighting, but I am wondering what would be the best general earth tone for an Indian army. The empire would generally represent the northern part of India and spanning the breadth of the sub-continent. My guess is during a campaign season, the land would be dry and arid. I thought I would toss the question out to the reader.

I covered four used bases with a mixture of sand and glue. Pictured in the photo from left to right are bases painted with GW Desert Yellow, Bleached Bone, Bestial Brown and Scorched Earth. The darker spots are thinned GW Codex Grey to add some depth. With Bleached Bone, I dry brushed the top half of each and picked out the stones with Skull White.

Numbering the bases from left to right as 1 through 4, which would be suitable ground work. I will add small amounts of grass to the base.

Cheers,

General's new threads

2011-05-10T01:17:00.000-07:00

I received a number of useful suggestions for colour combinations, some sent illustrations and I would just like to say thank you. Sometimes, the best solution for a temporary block on creativity is a night's sleep. Looking at the figure, I decided to start with the chainmail and helmet and painted these gold. From there, the paint just flowed onto the figure. Using soft complimentary colours of yellow, biege and sand for the robe and turban, I highlighted with white. Wearing red boots, he will stand out amoung the mass of armoured cavalry.

Dry brushing the armour and shield were the final steps for the lancers. I do not use silver, but prefer picking out chainmail and such with white. Not a lot, but just enough to suggest shiney bits.

Core infantry and cavalry are now done and these will all be based this week. Next on the list are the incidental items that will add spice to the colleciton; bombards, rocketeers, and elephants.

Cheers,

General's clothing

2011-05-09T13:35:00.000-07:00

Clothing, harnesses, highlighting is complete for 32 Mogul/Muslim cavalry. Tunic and breech colours vary from orange, yellow, blues, green, lavender, vermillion and a few white. All that remain to complete the group is to highlight the armour, helmets and spears. Then varnish the lot.

However, among the 33 cavalry are two generals. I have started painting one with a lavender turban cloth and breeches with green coat. He can be seen fourth plinth from the left, front figure.

It is the second general I now have a problem with. He is the same figure, but located second plinth from the left, totally white as is his mount. I am now stumped as to what colour to paint him.

Any suggestions?

Mogul/Muslim Cavalry

2011-05-06T10:16:00.001-07:00

These cavalry figures are 15mm Essex. Taken from a variety of Arab/Persian/Saracen listings, they will represent the majority of the non-elite Mansabdar and Mamluks. At a later date, I will add similar figures but riding barded horses as elite cavalry.

As with all my painting projects, I started with hands and faces, then lances. Mixing black and gray I covered the helmet, mail and shields. Now for the tedious part. Mixing black and dark brown, I painted folds and outlined areas that would take bright colours; clothing, saddlecloths, bow cases, and quivers. As I undercoat all my figures with gray spray paint, I highlighted the areas between folds with white. When bringing colour for clothing or leather parts, I would do this with a thin wash. All 33 riders neatly done, I moved on to the horses.

With six horses mounted to a plinth I wanted nice range of colour from light to dark or dun to roan. Repeating the same colour on each plinth, I finished the basic horse rather quickly. Next, with thin black, I washed tail, mane, socks and nose for all the horses. What a difference. Last step, with bleached bone, I dry brushed the horse; mane and tail first, then the socks, body and last, the nose. This probably takes less than 10 minutes. Add a black lozenge for the eyes and the horse are complete. As with the rider, I painted harnesses, breast straps and belts in white so my colour will stand out better.

Next posting, adding colour.
Cheers,

More Mogul infantry - matchlock men

2011-05-02T05:37:00.000-07:00

Finished 52 “matchlock men” for my Mogul and Muslim armies. These were a delight to paint and I was able to experiment with colour and wash technique.

Before adding colour, I usually outline or add folds to clothing and turbans in dark brown paint. I will paint white the areas between folds so whichever colour I select will become vibrant (the undercoating is gray). After the colour, I would highlight the clothing and turbans with a lighter shade or feather the location with white paint. After varnishing the figures, this will look even better.

I left the “trained” battalion with basic white and coloured only the turbans and sash, but decided this looked too bland and quickly played with some colour combinations on a white card. The last photo shows the final “uniform”. I shall be basing these later this week as I am out of basswood. In the meantime, I can begin preparing the next lot; the Mogul and Muslim cavalry.

Cheers,

18th Century – Rajahs, Sultans and Nawabs

2011-04-30T10:09:00.000-07:00

Since my last posting, my dice and measuring sticks have been replaced by my paint brushes. I had been commissioned to paint a 15mm Early Medieval Russian army for DBA use; this can be viewed at my Agora Blog. I was so pleased with the results that I dived into my "to do" list for my 18th century period; Indian armies. In fact, I am looking at collecting three different armies, the Mogul, Muslim and Hindi armies.

The photo shows the finished foot which will represent the Hillmen, Archers and Levy. The figures are Old Glory figures from the Crusader period which have similar clothing style to Mogul and Muslim infantry. The colours are taken from contemporary illustrations and toned down a bit to give a bleached effect. I used similar technique with highlight and shading as I did with the Russians; again I was very pleased with the results.

Next on the list are the matchlock armed figures. These are also Old Glory, but from the Colonial series. I decided to purchase new packs than strip away Ansar riflemen from my Sudanese army and to my surprise, Old Glory have added bayonets. This actually is good, as if you wanted to add Sepoys to the European armies, these would be bayonet armed. However, mine would not have them, so I clipped them off.
TIP: clip only half the bayonet, and trim the musket to have a longer barrel (jezzails).
As you can see from the roster, OG deliver a variety of figures, so my Bunduqchis and Jezailichis will look animated.

If you are interested in 18th century India, I highly recommend looking at GreatWhiteZulu’s blog; Golconda Rising. There is a wealth of information and a treasure trove of lovely photos.
Cheers,

In the footsteps of Cambyses.

2011-03-22T08:44:00.000-07:00

Prince Selim Handan, fourth nephew to the Sultan of the Ottomans was not happy with his posting to the Ottoman garrison at Cairo. Given a rank that placed him in the company of principle leaders among the military, this still offered grim prospects compared to the Golden Port. The past campaigns against the Hapsburgs took place decades before, so any sort of adventure for a young officer were sporadic conflicts against Cossacks, occasional border disputes along the Balkans or joining the piratical raids off the coasts of Spain or France. All that was needed to make a young lad happy was a war and Selim had a plan.

Somewhere south of Khartoum.

Madness and pointless, thought General Yildiz, still fuming at his appointment to lead this expedition, all the while the Governor assured him, the campaign would bring riches while expanding Egypt’s southern borders and, the order came “directly” from the Sultan. In addition, if rumors were true, Egyptian forces could also deal with the current unrest lead by yet another prophet.

Militarily, General Yildiz was confident; any action against rebel forces would be dealt with and swept away like an irritating horse fly. He had under his command the finest cavalry and artillery, but he was not too keen to call those marching, infantry. The Janissaries were soft and the Azabs and Segbans were no more than bandits and just as likely to steal from your own camp as that of the enemy’s. His thoughts were disrupted when couriers from the advance column, were seen galloping toward him.

The irritating horse fly.

“Enemy approaching in large numbers General” and quickly presented a parchment from the commander of the advance guard. Three columns, two flanking columns are cavalry, several thousand each, and the central column 15-20 thousand. No guns. Two hours distance from you, signed Colonel Hakeem Altan. With the White Nile covering his left flank, hills to his front and open desert to the right, General Yildiz formulated his plan.

Composition of forces:

Ottomans

Colonel 1 x LH (Gen), 12 x LH
General 1 x MS (Gen), 5 x MS, 3 x Art, 4 x Sh, 1 x Sk, 2 x LH
Colonel 1 x LH (Gen), 2 x LH, 4 x Sh

Rebels of the Prophet

Emir 1 x Wb (Gen), 9 x Wb, 3 x Sk
General 1 x Wb (Gen), 9 x Wb, 3 x Sk
Emir 1 x LH (Gen), 6 x LH, 3 x Cm

Photo one Ottomans take up a defensive position with their left anchored on the White Nile. Due to the nature of the terrain, the cavalry wing was positioned closest to the Nile, with the Janissaries and artillery on the hill. In the village and screening the right flank were Segbans and Delli cavalry. With cavalry superiority, the Ottomans could spread mounted units in support of the center and right wing commands.

With a wadi cutting diagonally along their left flank, the Rebels were forced to deploy in two massive blocks facing the Ottoman center, while their cavalry deployed as best as they could to protect the tract of open space between them and the Nile.

Photo two The Ottomans chose to move quickly and deny maneuvering room between the two forces and secondly, to bring the guns to bear on the massive columns and pound them to dust with the artillery. The cavalry wing would do likewise, but keep pace with the central command, time enough to launch their lightning strikes.

Encouraged by their Emirs and mullahs, the Rebels surge forward, while the cavalry fanned out to counter the Ottoman advance.

Photo three The Ottoman formations now content to become one continuous line from the Nile to the desert village. The wadi, on the Rebel left had channeled their massive columns which were moving toward the muskets of Janissaries and the Ottoman artillery. In an hour this should be all over thought General Yildiz.

Photo four Muskets and artillery brought enough damage to disrupt the Rebel formations and a few more rounds would certainly leave the clustered formations easy prey to a general advance. On the Ottoman left, the cavalry became emboldened by the Rebel show of timidity, so the Delli cavalry moved forward sensing their moment for glory had arrived.

The Rebels were placing all their faith on coming to blows with the central Ottoman command, but heavy musket and artillery fire were bringing a number of formations to a halt. The Rebel cavalry formations were now approaching charge distance and certainly the next minutes would tell whose faith was the stronger.

Photo five Ottoman central and right wing commands were content to continue their volley fire while dressing their own lines. The general advance would be sounded soon.

With praise to the Anointed One on their lips, a few units closed and silenced a number of guns and further fortune came when Rebel Camelry destroyed numbers of Delli cavalry and others were sent recoiling. Ottoman dead were now piling up.

Photo six To counter the gaps appearing in the Ottoman line, reserve cavalry were sent forward, while the left wing, surprised at Fortuna’s feckless bearing were doing their best to hold some semblance of a formation. Elsewhere, the reserve cavalry were having an effect to preserve the Ottoman battle line.

Emboldened by their success, rebel skirmishers were brought forward, one to keep the Ottoman right wing from supporting the center and secondly to discourage the Ottomans from turning their exposed central command. With both flanks covered, the Rebel columns quickly bringing the Ottomans to Death’s door (13 – 2).

Photo seven Both Ottoman flanks were now demoralized and it was decided to make a determined stand on the central hill. The hail of lead pouring from the hill held the Rebel central command at bay. Only the Black tribes were able to slowly push the Janissaries back and begin the encirclement of the enemy positioned on the hill. Further comfort for the Rebel cause came with the slow eroding of Ottoman resistance on their flanks; this would surely force the Ottoman central command to surrender.

Epilogue It was a victory of blades, spear and shield over a modern Ottoman field army. No Generals or Emirs were lost, while many were seen on the front line sharing danger with their respective commands. The effectiveness of the Camelry was a surprise. It has been quite some time that I had last used an army with them. When the Camelry were able to breech the Delli cavalry line this opened opportunities for the Rebel cavalry to gain some local advantage in subsequent melees.

For the record, the final score was 19 – 4. With large quantities of weapons including all the guns we will no doubt hear of Rebel advances into Upper Egypt.

Cheers,

Britain and Spain clash in South America.

2011-03-09T00:31:00.000-08:00

This was part of my experimenting with the DBA variant for the SYW, an action between a British expedition into Spanish held Venezuela. The time period is correct, but historically, the two nations did not meet there. The experiment gave my collection of Tropical terrain pieces an excuse to come out of the box and be photographed.

The two forces were similar in composition, 2/3 rds line troops with the remainder Militia for the Spanish and Native auxiliaries for the British. There was enough disordering terrain to keep the auxiliaries and skirmishers happy and the line troops did their best to deploy with ample room for the artillery to be employed.

Photo one, the initial deployment. The British were hampered by rough ground and so had to deploy their strength on either side. Presented with maneuvering room on their left, the British would force the Spanish to wheel away from the village and pin them with their backs to the marsh. The Spanish plan was simply deny the British the room to maneuver and bring as many muskets to bear on their columns.

Photo two, despite low pip throws for both sides, by turn three, the Spanish are able to take advantage of the open ground and deploy their battle line from the marsh on their left and the village on their right. Spanish militia was able to counter any threat through the marsh, by Native auxiliaries and secure the village. The British, despite the terrain, were able to deploy into two lines and would bring pressure on the Spanish right. The British battery had a clear field of fire during the assault.

Photo three, for the next five turns, both sides would struggle to maintain their battle lines. The Spanish were quick to recover and maintain a steady volley fire along the entire line. Even the militia, covering the Spanish left was able to inflict damage upon the British auxiliaries. The British plan to push the Spanish onto the marsh had evaporated in the tropical heat and shifted to one of survival.

Photo four, turn nine and end of game. The Spanish wall held and the infantry methodically chipped away at the brick red line forcing the British to accept defeat. Behind the closed doors of the British Ministry, new plans were put in place to undermine Spanish holdings in the Caribbean; new raids were put in place, arms shipments to rebel enclaves and paid for by the goods shipments seized by the Royal Navy.

Cheers,

Hastenbeck?

2011-01-15T13:13:00.000-08:00

The Battle

The Allied signal gun of central command thundered across the valley followed a minute later by acknowledging signal guns and the steady beat of regimental drums along the line. The Allies moved forward. The Hessians to the left of the line, were inconvenienced by the intervening woods and made use of the roadway to accelerate their advance. The French responded by moving their entire line forward at a slow steady pace.

By turn two, the British moved their Dragoons to extend the line while covering the advance of the main battle line. The British Household cavalry wanting nothing better than to thrash the French, remained under the close watch of General Conway. In the center, the Brunswick troops of the were quickly approaching the crest while further to the rear, the brigade of Dragoons repositioned themselves to cover the exposed left until the Hessians arrived. General Witginau’s Hessian command in the meantime was forced to respond to the fast approaching French. Infantry deployed from column to line while the cavalry at the rear, would try to seize the high ground to cover the infantry lines.

The French left wing stopped their advance to let their massed artillery do their duty, the infantry waved their hats and raised a cheer as the central command moved ponderously forward toward the heights. Further to the right, a flying column comprising of infantry and Dragoons were moving into the void between the Brunswick and Hessian columns. Though the smallest command under the French were tenaciously holding back the Hessian advance by deploying their skirmishers to meet the head of the column while moving forward their main line to threaten the enemy flank. By this time, the Bercheny Hussars had reached the heights first and formed line in expectation of the approaching Hessian cavalry. In the scrappy firefight below, both sides lost an element each.

Turn four, found both sides seriously engaged along the entire length of the battle line. The British brigade of Dragoons was putting pressure on the French cavalry to fight and by now their primary role to protect the British line was quickly forgotten. Seriously outnumbered, the small British battery of artillery had to reposition themselves further back and to their left, the Brunswick infantry positioned on the heights were reeling under fierce musketry of the French. To add to their discomfort, the massed French battery and newly deployed infantry were clearing the Brunswick line off the heights. The French left wing lost their first element and the central command lost two.

After nearly an hour and half since the start of the engagement, the Allies were feeling the pressure of the French assault on the center and thought the British were pushing the French back, the Hessian were stalled by fierce French resistance. It was clear that the French were gaining the upper hand as the Brunswick line slowly crumbled. The order was finally given to both wings to withdraw and have the cavalry cover the retreat.

Epilogue

Although Allied losses were in total, six elements, four of these fell from the central command. French losses were slight, only two elements lost. I purposely fielded three separate commands for the allies as indeed in the early stages of the German campaign the cohesion was not present. As the war progressed, the Allies produced a number of brilliant commanders such that the Allies would fight as a homogenous force. The French also had their brilliant moments, but all too often the King and his council would hold a tight rein on the activity in Germany.

Some further thoughts

Another item worth integrating from the WRG 1685-1845 rule set are the characteristics of generals; mainly the Bold, Cautious and Rash qualities. I can see these as possibly influencing the point of demoralization for the individual commands. I shall test this option out with a Rossbach style game.

Cheers,

His Britannic Majesty's Army in Germany

2011-01-10T01:10:00.000-08:00

Somewhere in Germany 1760 – The French confront the Allies

In June of 1760, Britain sent their first contingent to support the Allies with their fight against France. Arriving at the port of Bremen, the British were a welcome addition to Ferdinand’s stretched forces. Within a fortnight they would be sent in against the French forces threatening Gottingen. If the reader wishes to follow the actual campaigns I can highly recommend Savory’s “His Britannic Majesty’s Army in Germany”, which has now be reprinted. A link to 18th Century Press can be found at the right hand side of the blog.

For this big battle, I used three separate lists for the allies; nr.97. British, nr.113. German States and nr.115 the Hanoverians form the DBA-HX. The 4Kn listed for the British and Hanoverian heavy cavalry I changed to 3Kn to suit our basing. Aside from that, the only differences among the three lists were the number of artillery and cannon. The French had a similar list, but could field only cannon, but could add light cavalry and light infantry.

Allied forces would meet the French as three separate commands of 12 elements; Brunswick, Hessen, and British, while the French would have the advantage of a unified command with two wings of varying size.

I think the reader may find David Kuijt’s Big Battle page: http://www.umiacs.umd.edu/~kuijt/BBDBA/Basics.html#Size a useful aid for terrain, command size, and setting up as attacker/defender.

The Allies
Left: Hessen, 7 x 4Ms, 2 x Art, 3 x 3Cv (blue die)
Main: Brunswick, 6 x 4Ms, 2 x Art, 2 x 3Kn, 2 x 3Cv (buff die)
Right: British, 7 x 4Ms, 1 x Cn, 2 x 3Kn, 2 x 3Cv (red die)

French (white dice)
Left: 3 x 4Ms,4 x 3Cv,3 x Cn
Main: 11 x 4Ms, 1 x 3Cv, 2 x 3Kn, 3 x Cn
Right: 4 x 4Ms, 2 x 2Jg, 1 x 3Cv, 2 x 2LH

The French defending, placed their left and central commands on the board followed by the complete deployment of the allied forces. If the allied commands display a nontraditional deployment I would refer the reader to Savory’s book. Much of Ferdinand’s strategy was quite similar to the French use of the corps system; combined arms moving independent of the main army. The French, during these campaigns followed suit as well. Completing the French deployment, right wing with the light forces were place last.

The French with a two to one advantage in cannon were determined to go for the jugular and focus on the central command; breaking it would force the other wings to leave the field. The Allies had no expectations of a quick battle, but would try force the wings to collapse on the central command.

Next posting, the Battle:

Prussians and Austrians clash - the BBDBA option

2010-12-18T06:15:00.000-08:00

Continuing further experimentation for our campaign in Silesia, I decided to explore the Big Battle option provided at the back of the DBA rule set. For those not familiar with it, it essentially increases all allotted troop types of a DBA-SYW army by a factor of three. The nice aspect of this option, you may divide your commands into three unequal sizes, each with its own task and general leading.

According to the terrain, both forces had similar size commands, but with some minor differences.

Prussians
Left: 2x2Lh, 1x3Cv, 2x3Sk, 5x4Ms, 1xArt Bp 4
Center: 4x3Kn, 13x4Ms, 1xArt Bp 6
Right: 2x3Kn, 2x3Cv, 2x4Ms, 1xCn Bp 2

Austrians
Left: 4x3Kn, 3x3Cv, Bp 2
Center: 2x3Kn, 13x4Ms, 2xCn Bp 6
Right: 2x2Lh, 2x3Sk, 7x4Ms, 1xArt Bp 4

The Prussians opened the game and moved their left and center in the direction of the Austrians, while the right wing would anchor the battle line from the hill overlooking the central roadway. Cannon on the right would essentially cover the center’s right flank while it moved forward and look menacing at the opposing cavalry from the comfort of their hill position. The Austrians were able to double their efforts and take an earlier advantage by seizing the hill top first. The center moved in formation forward to close the distance for their cannon. The Austrian left wing cavalry lengthened the battle line to attempt an encirclement of the Prussians situated on the hill.

The following two turns brought the lines closer together and both sides would taste musket fire. The Austrians responded by maneuvering an infantry wing to split the Prussian center from their right wing. This move brought both cuirassier reserves to readiness. To the Austrian left, the Dragoons with their General would further encircle the Prussian right while the main body of cuirassiers would pin the Prussians.

By the end of turn four, the Prussians pushed off the hill were now consolidating their position to make another attempt at the hill top. Musket volleys along the battle line, from the hill through to the center delivered breaks along the line. More Prussians were recoiling from effective Austrian musketry. Further to the Prussian right, the Austrian probe along the road forced the Prussians to launch their reserve cavalry earlier than desired. At the far right, the Prussian launched their cavalry at the oncoming Cuirassier attack in vain hope to avoid encirclement by piercing the enemy cavalry. Losses were now starting to accumulate for both sides.

Turn five and six, the Austrians were able to create enough gaps in the Prussian line, that subsequent pips were used to consolidate position rather than make any effective headway against the Austrians. To add difficulty for the Prussians, their right wing caved to the Austrian cavalry, who remained unscathed. Still, Mollwitz was a Prussian victory and all thoughts became focused to win the current battle.

Turn seven, the Austrians were able to maintain their dominance volley after volley as Prussian losses were climbing to which the Prussians would have to make critical decisions. With low pip throws, the Prussian reserve line behind the left wing and center were not utilized, while the reserve of Cuirassiers, committed since turn three, were performing heroic charges. Turn eight, cavalry trumpets were sounding off as the Austrian left wing cavalry the battle’s center. Continuing to outperform the Prussians, the Austrians formed a solid wall of bayonets and moved forward for a general assault to claim victory.

Synopsis

BBDBA victory conditions are met when either the CINC’s command becomes demoralized or half the number of elements of one side is lost. As we normally play battles within a campaign context, I thought about lowering the threshold, but make this dependent on the Commander’s character. We use the WRG 1685-1845 which allow commanders to be cautious, bold or rash. Using the Big Battle option, I believe characteristics could be a way to reflect the threshold in which a commander resigns and leaves the field; as an example, 12 elements lost would have a cautious general packing, 15 for bold and 18 for a rash general. These are some ideas to think about.

Next posting, I shall have our revised map done and hopefully the opening moves for our campaign in Silesia 1757.

Cheers,

Looking for a better topographic map

2010-12-05T12:20:00.001-08:00

Good readers,

I am re-reading Savory’s His Britannic Majesty’s Army in Germany. Although, the book has excellent maps for the various engagements and campaign areas, none offer a topographic overview of Western Germany. I have searched the internet and found one example, but this does not list all the cities. It does however, gives the reader an immediate idea why the campaigns developed the way they did.

For the French armies, lateral communications were a problem and the mountain ranges channeled their deployment. Operating from interior lines, the allies could be selective with their plans and keep French forces occupied with relatively less numbers.

My query to the readership, has anyone located a better topographic map of Western Germany better than what I already have found?

Cheers,

Chinese Warlords of the 18th century

2010-11-30T03:30:00.000-08:00

I expanded further experimentation with the DBN-SYW rules to utilize some of my armies that are not taken out for a battle, mainly the Poles, Cossacks, Ottomans, Africans, Chinese and Spanish for South America; small collections compared to my SYW French, Prussian, Austrian and British.

My 15mm Chinese are all from the Boxer Rebellion list; the Boxers have very generic clothing and weapons, but the Imperial troops, both mounted and foot needed some conversion to bring their appearance back to the 18th century. Soft caps were changed to the Mandarin style and painting took care of the anomalies. Troops were finished and maps were drawn up of China’s southern coastal provinces as I envisioned rebel troops and pirates fighting against government troops. Unfortunately, this project remained dormant as our interest in the SYW European armies grew. This past month, experimenting with the DBN-SYW variant, has breathed new life for the smaller collections.

Somewhere in Guangdong province.

The lists for both forces were taken from the Humberside extension found here:
DBN-Humberside Extension

Government forces: 2x3Cv, 3x2LH, 6x4Sh, 1xArt.
Rebel forces: 2x3Bd, 3x3Aux, 3x2Ps, 1xArt, 3x2LH

Photo one, (turn two) shows the Imperial center moving forward with a bit more zeal than the flank units. Left wing cavalry move cautiously forward as the opposition is a mix of troop types. The Imperial plan was simple, bring as many firearms and artillery to bear on the rebels and let the reserve cavalry take advantage of any openings while the left flank cavalry occupied enemy right and join in pursuit when the main line did its best.

The Rebel forces would place faith in their weapon skills with blade, sword, and polearms to create breakthroughs in the Imperial line. Speed was their best asset.

In Photo two, (end of turn four) the Imperial forces had been hampered by low pip throws and could only react to the rebel cavalry threatening the right flank, while the center maintained a steady volley of small arms and artillery fire. The left flank could do nothing more than pull faces and shout insults. Rebel forces concentrated their efforts on the Imperial right, turning their infantry while the main battle line moved closer to take out the Imperial artillery. One – zero for the Rebels.

Photo three, shows the desperate plight of the Imperial forces as they are again plagued with a low pip roll. Their volley fire sent enemy reeling back, while another counter-attack by the Rebels enlarged the divide between Imperial brigades. Two – zero for the Rebels.

Photo four, again with a bad pip roll, the Imperial forces were nearly immobilized and could only redress their lines to give steady volley fire. Fortune gave the Rebels a pass and with a pip roll of one, the blades turned the flank of an Imperial unit and bested it in combat. Three-zero for the Rebels.

Luck changed for the Imperial forces (photo five), the right wing infantry were able to form line and hope a concerted volley could bring a small victory. To add weight, Imperial cavalry moved to aid the discomforted infantry. The Rebels smelling victory threw in the left wing cavalry to turn the Imperial line and destroy the game winning element. Four-zero for the Rebels.

A few things that differ between DBN and DBA that need some thought adjustment are musket and artillery/cannon ranges effecting the alignment of your battle lines. Concentrated musket fire can be effective, however to be prepared to spend pips redressing your line so as to be able to fire with effect. The games can be slightly longer if your pip throws are low. If you are accustomed to playing with columns, then do keep sufficient space between them as they can be easily outflanked. This can be dicey if accompanied by the General. I have never lost a General playing DBA, but did see three die in one week of play testing due to the space problems I mentioned.

Cheers,

DBN – the Seven Years War option

2010-11-19T00:55:00.000-08:00

Before starting our campaign, we had taken an inventory of the Seven Years War collections from the various club members in our area. As a reflection of many clubs, there are gamers who have similar interests in the period, but may not prefer rule set X and would rather use rule set Y. So, we could expect a diversity of rule preferences in addition to base sizes and figure ratios differences.

Rather than find a common rule set, the solution seemed obvious, we supply the scenario and the club members would play out the battle using their preferred rules. The scenarios would illustrate the latest intelligence of enemy strength, terrain features would have a hand drawn out map of the battlefield and of the surrounding area, camp location, own order of battle listing the commands, general orders or guideline as given by their respective head of state. We receive the results and hopefully with some nice pictures that can be posted to the blog. We expect the campaign to offer two or three large battles, but certainly a host of smaller conflicts. That prompted me to explore the DBN-SYW variant. I had played a lot of DBA and collected nearly 80 full armies, but had never considered playing outside the 3000BC – 1500 AD period.

One evening, after reviewing the DBA Humberside expansion set, I played a few battles of Prussians and Austrians and looked at this as a viable option to deal with all the smaller conflicts. Resolution was quick and in an evening we could play out several engagements and continue our campaign without too much loss of time.

The following report is of one such small conflict between Prussians and Austrians. The composition of troops follow the army lists and for both sides this meant the majority were 4Ms, some 3Kn, a 3Dr a cannon for the Austrians and artillery for the Prussians. Flanked by woods, the deployment area offered sufficient space for lines of infantry and cavalry, but artillery required a good field of fire. Both sides deployed in near mirror image of the other, with both lights opting for opposite flanks.

Somewhere in Silesia 1757

From the opening, both lines of infantry forward with cuirassiers supporting. By turn 2, light troops were entering or hugging the woods and the Austrian cannon were ranging in on the Prussian line. By turn three, the Austrians had completed the wheeling of their line to allow a greater field of fire for their artillery and this brought them into Prussian artillery range. Turn four, both sides settled down to bombarding and musket salvos of each other’s line, unfortunately, the Austrians got the better of the exchange. Up one for white.

Turn five, the Prussians were not able to redress their lines well enough, but had enough pips to prepare for the Austrian cavalry approach by moving the hussars from the left flank and have the Prussian Frei battalion engage the exposed Austrian line. Musket volleys did prove effective enough to force gaps in the Austrian line.

The Austrians countered the light troops harassing the Austrian line by moving the Dragoons forward. On the opposite flank, the cuirassiers inched forward, while the Grenzers moved out of the woods to fire on the Prussian cavalry line. During this turn, half the Austrian battle line wheeled to concentrate their fire on an already disorganized Prussian wing. Up two for Austria.

Dogged by low pip throws, the Prussians were able to launch a desperate charge by the cuirassiers, while return fire disrupted the Austrian battle line. Prussia now behind by one.

That Mollwitz feeling

Despite the low pip roll, the Austrians were able to redress their battle line and move forward. Part of the Austrian line had to deal with the nuisance Frei battalion at the woods which now claimed the attention of the Dragoons and infantry. However, the steady musket volleys now delivered the decisive stroke. The Seydlitz Hussars, who had remained immobile due to insufficient pip numbers, became the cause the subsequent mayhem of the recoil, which killed their general. Game officially ended, but the Austrian cuirassiers added icing to the cake by delivering another casualty. Austria four, Prussia one.

I liked the DBN-SYW variant and have used this fielding other armies which we use for the 18th century Sojourn. As you may have noted, the base sizes are different as we use the WRG 1685-1845 rule set. With a slight variation, we opted for a 1:25 historical ratio to allow for double ranks and larger battalions and regiments. However, that no way detracts from the DBA system. I look forward to trying out the big battle option using three commands.

Cheers,

Campaign for Silesia – the opposing forces

2010-11-08T11:42:00.000-08:00

Using the Nafziger order of battles we can easily assign the number of battalions and squadrons for each side, but is this a route we want to take with the administration? Aside from Prince Charles and Daun, there were two or three other independent commands; Hadik and Marshal who shielded the operations against Frederick’s return and later Nádasdy operations. Likewise, after Frederick’s departure to the west, the Prussian defense was left in the hands of Bevern with Winterfeld assisting.

Keeping the administration simple was a high priority, as I did not want the campaign to die a quiet death due to paper work. The simplest approach is to look at the armies of the period and how they were deployed; by line of battle and by wing. The first line would comprise the best troops, musketeers, Grenadiers, Cuirassiers and the like. The second line would have supporting troops, but these would number less battalions and squadrons and finally, the third line would hold reserve formations of cavalry and infantry. Each line was subdivided into “wings”; the first line comprised of left wing cavalry, left wing infantry, right wing infantry, and right wing cavalry. The second and third lines following similar subdivisions. In some armies we read a “center” as an additional grouping. Lots of generals in need of employment.

Moving 80,000 troops into hostile country was done in columns similar to the formations that would be deployed on the battlefield. So as we approached the theater of war, our army would move in three columns with an extra column for baggage. The nearer the approach to the enemy, an extra column comprising of 1st line left and right wing cavalry would shield the army. Naturally, light troops would extend that shield further out.

I have linked the order of battle of the French forces at Rossbach which is well known to most enthusiasts of the Seven Years War. If you look at the right wing cavalry of the first and second lines, these took the initial attack of the Prussian cavalry under Seydlitz.

Battle of Rossbach

Take also note of the position of the famed “brick wall”, the Swiss regiments.

For our purposes, we will note the commanders of these “wings” as moving from point A to B. The order of battle for each wing is known, as is their placement in camp. The only additional information required for record keeping is the time of departure and the direction. The 80,000 troops I refer to were Prince Charles and Marshal Daun’s total forces at Zittau on June 30, 1757. These were organized in 24 brigades of infantry and 22 brigades of cavalry, exclusive the number of light troops. As you can read, this would not be an easy task to note the movement of all the brigades.

The next step is to annotate our map with the garrisons at Breslau, Neisze, Schweidnitz, Glogau, Brieg, Glatz, Kosel and Liegnitz and the great camps of Prince Charles and Frederick.

Next posting, the opening moves.

Invasion of Silesia 1757

2010-10-31T15:14:00.000-07:00

The next step in refining this campaign is to review the milestones from the Austrian crossing of the northern border into Saxony in June/July to the disastrous defeat at Leuthen, with the exception of Schweidnitz, Austria’s hold in Silesia ended. From Kronoskaf.com the reader can imagine three phases; the inert activity of Prince Charles in Lusatia, Frederick’s departure from the area and subsequent Austrian gains, and finally Leuthen. From a war game perspective, the first phase was not a pretty time for the Austrians as the inactivity brought disease, desertion and a diffusion of that optimistic mood set at Kolin.

Reading The Army of Maria Theresa, the period between the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years War, Duffy lists only five battles that the Austrians were on the attack; Chotusitz, Soor, Breslau, Hochkirch, and Liegnitz. Not exactly encouraging, but from challenging from a campaign design point. Do we infuse the Austrians with an unlikely killer instinct?

Following the completion of the Bohemian campaign, we find the Prussians recovering in Lusatia with Prince Charles and Daun deliberating the next phase at Zittau, located near the northern border of Bohemia. A quick glance at the Austrian order of battle, Prince Charles and Daun had 82 battalions and 163 squadrons ready on June 30, in excess of 80,000 men, by some records. Exclusive of the garrisons left in Silesia, and those forces pitted against the Russian and Imperial/French, Frederick had nearly 56,000 troop in the field. By the end of August, early September the Austrians would have nearly double the Prussian strength.

Next step, how do we make this campaign interesting enough for both parties? As with our Bohemian campaign, we did not play out the Battles of Prague or Kolin, but left them as historical benchmarks for our game. With that same idea in mind, 5 December will also serve as the termination date for our game, however, when do we start?

From mid July to 20 August, Frederick tried in vain to tempt Prince Charles to battle, but with no success. I can only guess Prince Charles’s hesitancy to attack Frederick, well knowing his ability to out march his Austrians. Moving to support the Imperial forces in Germany or to move operations in Silesia would risk the line of communication through Bohemia. Prince Charles had more than enough troops to parry each Prussian probe. Leaving Bevern and Winterfeld with more than 36,000 men, Frederick moved west to confront the growing threat in Saxony.

Phase one – the entrenched camp at Zittau (July/August 1757)
Anyone playing the Prussians would most likely find this period frustrating. Although your troops could literally march circles about the Austrians, it would serve no purpose. The Austrian player need only counter any threat to own supply by threatening Prussian rear areas with smaller columns and still not leave Zittau. So we look to our next option.

Phase two – Frederick’s departure (20-24 August 1757)
Plenty of options. I seem to recall an anecdote when Frederick was asked by his generals where should they hold if the situation were to becomes desperate, to which Frederick replied, “stop at Berlin”.

The Prussian player will be faced with at least 2:1 odds and must hold a number of important depots and magazines. The Austrians on the other hand, have the golden opportunity to take back Silesian after certain key locations are taken and the covering forces of Bevern and Winterfeld are dealt with. There is the threat of Frederick returning, so the Austrians must move with a bit more purpose.

From the map, you can view the region where all this will take place. The actual strengths and locations will be listed with the next posting.

Cheers,

The next campaign - Fall 1757

2010-10-18T12:41:00.000-07:00

I thought it might be interesting to have the reader look over the shoulder as it were, at our next campaign project. We finished the Bohemian Campaign with Frederick leaving the country and re-entering Lusatia with the Austrian army cautiously trailing after him. Our next project, is to play out the year, between the Prussians and Austrians, in the months of July through November.

A quick search of the Kronoskaf.com SYW project lists our next project as:

1757_-_Austrian_invasion_of_Silesia

This lists on near a day to day basis of the main armies and other columns assigned secondary roles. Naturally, to bring all this in its proper perspective, we need to be aware of events taking place in other theaters to have a good understanding of why decisions were made as they were. My first step was to gather as much information available and list it in chronological order, as I too, must have an understanding of the historical events in order to set turning points in the time line at which the gamers must make critical decisions. As an example, what prompted Frederick to take leave of the area and assign Bevern to watch the Austrians?

After gathering the information, the next step is to refine this for participant use. This is not meant to avoid the inevitable, but to give the players a better understanding to “role play” their participation. Would it not be a nice gesture, upon hearing of the death of Frederick’s mother, if the Austrian player sent his condolences and offered one day for a truce? Of course, unbeknown to the Prussian player, their raiding columns were out of communication reach and accidently raided Berlin.

After listing the events for a time line, the next step is to research the strengths and here, the Nafziger collection and Kronoskaf.com are good sources. I am only concerned with the relative strengths per side as even our collections are dwarfed by the actual numbers of combatants, but we can make a reasonable representation of the smaller events, such as the conflicts at Moys, Nadásty’s column and Schweidnitz.

Nafziger Collection

The next step is to search for suitable maps of the campaign area. The one which has been selected is to be enlarged and cut into sections needed for each respective months. This would give the participants a much needed focus for the immediate conflict as their control over peripheral events would be negligible or non-existent. The map would be annotated with “nodes”, DBA campaign players will recognize the term, these are simply points set a day’s march apart which the players would reference on their tracking or movement sheets. Last week’s posting handled marches, so with the allocation of starting points, strengths and turning point events, we are nearly set.

The last step is to further annotate the map with important information, such as any terrain difficulty which would slow marches, the location of one’s respective depots and magazines and in addition the creation of tables for the time of day and weather.

Looking at all the events that actually took place, there are too many minor conflicts for us to handle and have a reasonable life outside of the hobby. I have asked one of the larger clubs in the is country, with enthusiasts for the SYW to help us with playing out a number of engagements. They would be free to use their own rules, tables, and figures and all we need do is supply the players with a scenario with relevant information to play out the battle.

My good friend and war game comrade Lex and I will this coming Friday finalize the details for the start of the campaign. Hopefully, by then we will have heard from the local club here, otherwise we may have to ask you for help.

Cheers,

Marches - campaign applications

2010-10-12T14:23:00.000-07:00

In a recent TMP topic a reader asked if “marching camps” were a valid feature of 18th century warfare and I thought it would be nice to discuss how we handle this subject within our rules. We still use the WRG 1685 – 1845 rule set (1979), but with minor modifications; historical troop scale is 1:25 and linear scale 30mm equals 50 paces. All my quotations and references are from Duffy’s The Army of Maria Theresa.

In the Austrian army, it was the Generalquartiermeister who wrote out the marschzettel the evening before a march. This document listed the time of departure, route, number and composition of the columns. As our order of battle list all the regiments or battalions by seniority within the brigade, the marching order is now known. Altering the order of individual brigades within the column is not a problem as we need only list the names of brigade commander.

Following the doctrine of the times, approaching in close proximity to the enemy, our army would march off in four columns, which if the need arose could deploy from their march column to battlefield deployment; right wing of horse, main battle line of foot, second line of foot and left wing of horse by simply wheeling to the right. Other factors could influence the march column, such as, restrictive terrain, the column could be adjusted as the size of the force was small or the army was marching in pursuit or retreating.

Composition of the March

Light cavalry patrolled in advance of the main column. Following the light cavalry would be further light troops and detachments whose task would be to hold villages, crossings and with the presence of the Generalquartiermeister would secure an area for the next camp. Next came the main body followed by the baggage train. If the army were in close proximity of the enemy, the main column would be flanked by patrols.

The best roads were reserved for the artillery and baggage while the “rest marched across country in columns as wide as would be permitted by terrain.”

Early in the morning, the general and his column commanders would meet for a final conference followed by the army breaking camp. In 30 minutes troops could be formed in their respective columns and tentage could be packed away. During the summer period, breaking camp would be completed well before dawn so as to reach the next camp before the afternoon.

On the march a close watch was kept while passing through woods or villages, less some would make use of an opportunity to bolt and run. A casual march, with a rest every third or fourth day could make 6 to 8 miles per day. In some cases, force marching could cover a longer distance. The marches on Berlin by Hadik (1757) and Lacy (1760) covered 15 and 20 miles respectively.

Our campaigns

The rules we use do not cover a strategic game, so we had to create one. Prior to our interest in the Seven Years War, we both played DBA games and frequently used the campaign system. For its simplicity, we liked the nodal system and applied this to our maps for the SYW. Maps can easily be found for many of the SYW campaign areas on the internet and one of these we choose for our first 1757 campaign in Northern Bohemia.

As Prague was to be the Prussians main objective, we highlighted the towns and villages a day’s march from one another and extended the network toward the border with Silesia and Saxony. The next step was to make a record sheet to track the movement of our armies. As mentioned before, we organized our armies listing each of the brigades with the individual battalions and regiments listed by seniority. The listing essentially reflected the order of deployment and hence marching sequence.

The tracking sheets recorded the time we began our march, an objective and whether we moved at a standard march or force march rate. After three days of marching, the armies rested for a day. Force marching or doubling the distance covered counted for two march days which meant the required rest day was taken sooner.

As generals, we had a lot of flexibility with the system, as we could break camp earlier than our opponent, steal a day on your opponent with a force march, or begin our day’s march in the evening, which meant encampment was begun the following morning instead of the afternoon.

Next topic: From the map, to the table top.

Siphons or flame throwers

2010-10-05T02:39:00.000-07:00

In early correspondence about developing a Melnibonéan army set in the 18th century, we also touched on the subject of weapon development moving ahead of actual historical development. One particular weapon, Siphons or early flame throwers would not be out of the realm of conceivable possibilities as Greek fire or Naphtha was known to Muslim and Byzantine armies of an earlier period. Only the delivery of the liquid remained a problem as siphons were limited to use on board ships and in some cases during sieges.

Some of the illustrations seen here from a Google search depict Byzantine Siphons. Using this as a model, I decided to construct mine after a similar fashion. However, rather than individual flame throwers, I organized mine in teams, one carrying canisters on his back and the other the siphon, a hose connecting the dispenser with the fluid. For you Fantasy players, you may find this construction similar to a Skaven Warp team.

Materials used, brass wire, a staff from cotton swab and body putty. The swab was cut into appropriate lengths for my canisters and glued to a small piece of card stock. The brass wire was bent to form the forward grip and I followed the natural outline of musket stock with a short barrel. This required some practice as my first attempts were larger than I wanted. With body putty, I filled in the stock and added a shoulder pad to the stock. Further, I coiled the putty to give the appearance of fittings holding the barrel to the stock. For the canisters, I added caps and bottoms to close off the ends. When the putty has thoroughly dried, I shall fix the figures to their bases and add straps and the siphon hose. Unfortunately, none of the artillerymen could hold the siphon in a “ready” or “firing” position. A musketeer figure would have proved useful, but I had no spares.

Their use in battle would be limited to setting alight temporary fortifications, light buildings, woods, timber bridges and the like. For the moment, the Siphon teams are not part of my brigade structure, but independent. Other versions could be fitted to “war wagons”, river craft, or part of permanent fortifications.

Melnibonéan Military - Guards, Rockets and Auxiliaries

2010-09-09T09:16:00.000-07:00

“By Arioch’s grace, what is that odor? I hope it is not your evening meal? “ frowned the emperor.

“Sire, those are the natural gases emitted by my test subjects at this stage of my experimentation” the good Doctor came the startled reply. The Emperor was never known to make any visit to the laboratories and so the surprised good doctor quickly added “those odors just may have a debilitating effect on the enemy”.

In fact, the good doctor and his staff were at near completion with a cross-breeding experiment of what the old grimoires called Snotlings, into a new breed of warriors, code named Beastlings; an easily trained and hardier breed than their ancestors and the doctor’s team concurred, Beastlings would be more powerful. The doctor added further, these could be produced at very little cost and in mass numbers, which pleased the Emperor. In fact experimentations were under way to create a similar, but superior leader caste for these herds, the Doctor added.

My Beastlings were indeed GW Snotlings painted to look similar to Beasts and under our rules would be based as Irregular charging infantry armed only with hand to hand weapons. Indeed cheap points wise, these would be too dim witted to be influenced by magic, so no Beast Shaman would bother supporting such a unit, but a larger beast using the back end of a mace or axe would be just as effective.

Rockets

2010-09-09T09:14:00.001-07:00

Somewhere deep in the college archives rockets were known and used to some effect by the early Khitai. Fortunately documented, rockets were equally dangerous to their users as they were to the targets they were indented. The problem was not in the range but the risk once launched, rockets could easily change direction in mid-flight and turn on their gunners.

Far more effective and in line with their military doctrine, rockets were to be use in two fashions; pack horses lead by mounted gunners would be highly mobile and have the ability to traverse terrain not permitted to wheeled vehicles and larger batteries would be used for the defense of cities and on board ships.

Construction materials for the mobile rockets were brass rod for the legs, a cylinder taken from cotton swabs and trimmed to expose a trough, and body putty for the legs and chassis. The form is similar to the GW Elf repeating bolt thrower with Griffon like feet at the front and back supporting a rocket launching tube. Crew members are painted in a similar fashion to the artillerists and the launcher is painted white with brass fittings. To give the rocket launchers mobility, they are loaded on the backs of mules with a mounted artillerist.

I have plans, once a walled city is built, to have larger multiple rocket launchers located between the bastions. These would be similar to the “little Kate’s” of Russian fame but would be labeled Little Cymorils.

Guards Brigade

2010-09-09T09:11:00.001-07:00

One of the niceties of an Imagi-nation collection, you are not constrained with regulation uniform patterns or colour. The Guard were to exemplify a Dark Elf tradition through choice of colour, black and purple. For the figures, I selected Russian grenadiers for both foot and mounted units. The detailing on the helmet begged for something less conventional than a brass or silver plate.

Black coat, breeches and small clothes, with purple cuffs and helmet cloth and a lighter tint for the gaiters. I do not use black out of the bottle, but I wanted a warmer shade, so mixed GW Scorched Brown with Chaos Black. This gave me enough room for shading folds and highlighting. The plate was painted as bone.

As titular head of the Guards Brigade, the “Prince” has a mounted Grenadier as staff. I only lack the sorcerers, which will have a standard dress and not a uniform and the beasts, which will be Lions in place of the Sabretooth tigers.

Cheers,

A Prince of Melniboné – conversion, putty and too much coffee

2010-08-14T05:57:00.000-07:00

While waiting for my next order, I had decided to start on a conversion for one of my personality figures. I stumbled on a series of photos from a television show called Cleopatra 2525. Never seen the show, but one of the photos did catch my attention. Further searching I discovered the original painting which inspired the TV character; the Harlequin by Gerald Brom.

You can read more at Anathema Arcana blog:

From an Old Glory 15mm Imperial Roman Command pack, I had reserved a mounted Roman officer. Standard kit, Roman boots, bare headed right arm held high hailing his troops, wearing a minimal amount of body armour and a cloak. To date most of my conversions with putty and been simple additions of feathers, fur, but nothing like the figure I wanted, mounted, but seated on an animal skin, dreadlock sporting pale faced prince. The cloak was the first to go. This I carved away, which freed the left arm and I proceeded to trimmed the hair off and carve away the short sleeves of his tunic.

The putty had to be applied in stages, so I began with the animal skin, a sabre tooth tiger skin to be exact. After looking at painting of cavalry officers seated on animal skins, I opted to have the head placed at the rear. Draping the legs, moulding the head were not the big problem, but the teeth and tail were. Normal depictions of sabre tooth tigers have short tails and as I did not want my photos x-rated, so chose a longer tail curled across a rear leg. With a needle, I managed to detail the fur, ears, eyes, nostrils and moulded the teeth outwards so the head could lay resting on the horse’s rump.

Next came the boots, and fur trim for his long coat. I had imagined a billowing cloak, but that would cover the tiger’s head, so the prince is wearing a typical 18th century style coat. One thing I learned quickly is that such a project should be glued to cork or dowel, as in the course of applying more putty for the fur trim and boots, my animal head changed from tiger to badger, rat and ferret. This was nearly frustrating, but mustering some patience to let the putty dry, I would attempt the dreadlocks tomorrow.

Placing individual dreadlocks are a pain. Round one to experience. Rolling new threads of dreads, I paired them by simply folding a roll and placing it on the head. This worked! Unfortunately the lengths were different and not all locks were in the same direction. Round two to experience. Remembering the last time I was in a barber’s chair, I decided to work from the nape upwards. Shorter paired lengths at the bottom to longer lengths at the top. I liked the result.

I played with the large pieces of hair so they extended out and curled near the tips, adding the ears was the final step. With a moist needle, I proceeded to do a final check to control the texture of fur, spacing between claws and also to make sure the tiger remained a tiger. Satisfied with the fiugre, I would let this dry overnight and give this and figures of the entourage an undercoating.

Painting the Prince

2010-08-14T05:55:00.002-07:00

I chose to duplicate Brom’s Harlequin and wanted the face and hair to be the central focus. Coat remained the same colour, but painted the coat to simulate a brown/red velour trimmed with grey fur. Painting the sabre tooth tiger was no problem as I had done six Khurasan tigers the week before.
The rest was patient layering thin washes to create a gaunt look for what was originally a well fed Roman general.

At the end of day six, this was one of my longest projects, I decided this was enough. I am sure we have all that moment of regret when pushing on to the next step ended in a disaster. That feeling was very present, so I decided not to do the red make up and leave the Prince with a clean expression.

In between applications of wash, I did finish an escort of four musicians playing Roman cornu and one foot figure. I imagined, as the Roman Generals would be preceeded by musicians and lictors, I thought the least I could do was create a small group for the Prince. These would be based separate, as the Prince who would have a mounted escort of officers and staff. On order, I have a battalion of foot and a squadron of mounted Guard, plus more cavalry and artillery which will allow me to add rocket and siphon teams. Hopefully, these should arrive late next week, so I should have some time to experiment with an Elf village.

Cheers,

filler

2010-08-14T05:55:00.001-07:00

Audencia de Caracas - an Indian uprising

2010-08-09T10:09:00.000-07:00

The Melnibonéan war council convened and proposed that some form punitive action was required if the piracy by Young Kingdoms at the outer rim of the archipelago were to cease as neither the Sea King and his servants nor could the skills of the various colleges be expected to staunch every incursion. The Emperor agreed to some punitive action should be undertaken, but laid several conditions; no one must know must know from where the expedition was launched and by whom. This required finesse and the Emperor recommended this be a task for General Mak’velli, the Grey.

The following week, a Melnibonéan brigade with detachments set sail for Nuevo España.

Two weeks later, Father Ignacio had given his blessings to the Spanish troops auxiliaries ready to depart Caracas for the interior. Reports of an Indian uprising were filtering in from various directions. Even the Jesuits had sent their own priests with messages to send help as fire and destruction were seen taking village after village out near the Orinoco basin. Regular infantry, volunteer militia and Indian scouts were sent to capture the leaders and suppress any further out break by the Indians.

On the sixth day after departing Caracas found the Spanish marching along the King’s highway, regulars followed by the volunteers and loyal Indian scouts ranging further ahead, reported a small party of rebels were seen scampering away.

Conflict at Hua’attaca

2010-08-09T10:08:00.000-07:00

The Spanish column remained on the road to avoid the rough ground . In taking the secondary road in the direction of the rebel flight, the Prelate could see the more rebels forming up at the mouth of the valley. As the column moved forward, the regiment of Zamora would deploy to line while the Indian scouts would take to the flanks to secure the high ground. As space allowed, the regiment of Corona would deploy into line to support the first line. The provincial militia of Angostura and the Prelate’s guard would take a reserve positions on either side of the road.

The rebels at the valley’s entrance were also sending troops to the meet the Spanish scouts and other that the slow cadence beat of the drummers, the surrounding area was unusually quiet. At a slow and methodical pace, the three lines moved forward.

Then, the jungle seemed to come alive. All around, lines of infantry were moving out and threatening both flanks and rear. Bayonets leveled, the lines moved rapidly, without firing, without the roll of drums and without the usual cry of orders expected of battle lines, but as tidal wave.

First to be struck were the Prelate’s guard. They were cut to shreds by the war tigers and those that managed to avoid the savagery fled towards the safety of Corona. This also was too much for the Provincials who fled in the opposite direction. In the bound following, Corona broke as well despite the Prelate’s ranting, still who could fault them as enemy were threatening both flanks and the collapse of the third line could be seen.

Nonetheless, Zamora was resolute and determined to meet the immediate threat to its right flank and began to wheel to the right. Just as the Prelate road up to issue new orders, the severity of the situation hit home and they too broke leaving a resolute Prelate to see his opposite, looking like the Demon Lord, slowly riding toward him.

Epilogue

Only 1,600 Spanish were able to surrender as nearly half that number fell as casualties in short order. For the remainder who were able to surrendered and asked for parole, it was clear despite the foreign tongue, they would indeed be set free. Free to march back to Caracas or Angostura, but without their weapons, coats, belt and shoes. As terms were agreeable, each file deposited their equipment, were they marched off to another station.

Here, one of their priests was offering a blessing to protect their journey home, at least they understood this to be a blessing . Passing the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary, it seemed to glow and create a pleasant feeling as though a great weight were lifted from their shoulders. So marched the survivors homeward.

Assessment

2010-08-09T10:06:00.000-07:00

All Melniboné are classed as veteran regular under our rules, and therefore have no real dynamic changes. However, the scenario did provide a good test for the sorcerer and war tigers. Normally splitting a command into two operating wings, one wing without a general would have control problems; either launching an attack too soon or too late and experience problems making any subsequent order changes. The presence of the sorcerers therefore would provide that missing link with their telepathic abilities making them a de-facto subordinate commander. The point cost were the same as was the total points cost for both sides equal.

This came to good use, as after the initial attack by the tigers, the sorcerers could bring quickly under control and ready for a second attack; this next attack was directed on the provincial militia. I was happy with the results and balance of factors.

On a side note, the blessings administered to the departing Spanish, by the Melnibonéan “priests” participants spoke of an aura or glow emitting behind the statue of the Madonna, which was part of the Prelate’s baggage. Never would the Spanish realize this was the sun reflecting off the Mirror of Memory (smaller versions were made for field use) leaving the survivors with no recall of the enemy. In fact, the Spanish officers were of the opinion it had to be the Portuguese who attacked them.

Cheers,

Painting the regiments of Melniboné – part three

2010-08-05T10:13:00.001-07:00

I had been asked about the figures used and these are for the most part Old Glory 15mm figures from the Seven Years War listing. They are however, a collection of different nation’s uniforms. For example, the infantry are French fusiliers with no turnbacks, artillerymen are Austrian, cavalry are French Dragoons, Generals are mostly Austrians with full coats and I had been thinking about Russian grenadiers for a unit of Guards. The Austrian artillerymen are particularly useful as the packs come with at least 12 different poses, some ideal for beast handlers, doctors and sorcerers.

Uniform colours were chosen so as not to compete with the skin colour and a useful suggestion taken from a Games Workshop book , a theme colour for the entire unit Elves was used. I chose green, burnt orange and red for my three brigades and for accents I worked with darker and lighter shades of the theme colour. The basic coat for all the units were neutral colours; mostly light yellow , beige, bleached bone or desert colour. For one of the infantry brigades, the green hat and cuffs create almost an illusionary effect; one could think their coats are a pale green, which they are not.

Horse "tales"

2010-08-05T10:11:00.001-07:00

The cavalry horses with painted mane and tails are actually not a new idea. During the days when I competed in the World Team Championships for Ancients (7th ed. WRG) my Mongols rode horses with coloured mane and tails to distinguish the different commands. They were actually very well received, so I thought I would love to repeat that once again with the Melniboné. All horses are grays (white), but with mane and tail adding to the unit distinction.

Flags would be based on the facing colour of the brigade and looking through the various GW books on Elves, I thought I would follow tradition and use dragons and gems stone themes in place of eagles or crosses.

To finish the figures, all weapons, muskets, polearms, drum sticks and canes were painted red orange and gaiters, a soft mid-brown. Gold lacing for all ranks; hats, cuffs and for the officers, their waistcoats, sash and lapels. As I progress with the collection, I will no doubt discover new techniques in shading or with working with contrast colours

I am currently working on some personality figures and their entourage, more artillery and rockets and of course planning some form of river craft to support and transport the land forces. Further, I have spotted some ideal figures for civilians, witches and war dancers.

More later.

Melnibonéan Elves in the 18th century – What rules are you using?

2010-08-05T10:07:00.000-07:00

A frequently asked question and an answer that surprises most – the WRG 1685 – 1845 rule set. When we started with the SYW, we deleted all rules referencing the Napoleonic period. For us, the SYW was a period of linear formations, no squares, no skirmisher clouds and no horse artillery. I know of the exceptions, but we do not use them. In addition, we changed the scale and historical ratio to allow double the number of figures in a formation. That was all.

Now, with the introduction of the Melniboné and the archipelago, we are dovetailing as many of the exotic units in the standard classifications; War dancers, irregular fanatic charging infantry and Witches, irregular soldier skirmishing, to name two. Flyers (swarms) are more a nuisance factor, but have the potential of stalling an advance in its tracks. Battlefield magic, as done by apprentice sorcerers could influence morale or enhance communication, but would not create an imbalance between antagonists; not too dissimilar to the treat of French column bearing down on a Spanish line.

As new exotic units are painted up, we shall be evaluating their cost and coming to an agreeable value regarding their effectiveness and costs. At the moment, we have swarms of flyers and giant ants, Beastlings and Sabretooth Tigers which are currently being tested. The scenarios I have in mind at the moment will bring the Spanish in contact with Elves.

A friendly reminder for those who missed the initial postings, do check the link located directly under Followers:

Index 18th Century Sojourn.

This has been recently updated, so here you will find a listing of the Melnibonéan topics as well as past topics related to this period.

cheers,

Melnibonéan Elves in the 18th century – part 2

2010-08-02T05:00:00.001-07:00

I would like to thank all who have set comments to last week’s posts and to the topic Melnibonéan Elves in the 18th century at TMP.

Before I describe the military structure of the 18th century Melniboné, I would like to say this evolved not solely the Elric saga by Moorcock, but from my reading of a number of fantasy books. Games Workshop also made contributions into the realm of Elric when they introduced the primary characters from the Elric saga and included figures of the Pan Tang.

Although the saga takes place on an Earth of a different time, I transported the Melniboné, Pan Tang and Young Kingdoms to the 18th century to be pruned, shaped and cultivated on my archipelago. Named Ameri-go by western cultures, only seafarers from New France and Nuevo España have a suspicion of the archipelago’s existence. The legends that described fog shrouded peaks, sea monsters and turbulent seas were to be avoided if one wanted to see port again.

In this realm, there are no distinctions between Dark, High or Wood Elves, they are just Elves. The patron Gods are still as those described in the saga, but are quite active outside the archipelago; war, pestilence, famine and death plague the world outside Melniboné. For the islanders, the lack of response by the Gods was due to their need for deep meditation or so the high priests of Melniboné claimed.

With no barriers to restrict these Elves, I have taken the unique aspects of the old distinctions and brought them forward to the 18th century under the one empire whose heart beats at the centre of the archipelago. Sorcery is still present, but is now one of the many Colleges titled Science and Arts. About the ruling house and Melnibonéan society I shall save for a later post, but now to the military.

18th century Melnibonéan Military

2010-08-02T04:56:00.000-07:00

Those readers who have read the Elric saga are aware Elric’s journey to other planes and time and so it is through these same “portals” that priceless information has been gleaned and documented through the centuries. This “insight of knowledge” naturally propelled Melnibonéan development in advance of rival empires, if one could claim that title.

For the military minds, future tactics, weaponry and organization were studied fastidiously and as tempting thought the bizarre inventions were, cooler heads prevailed to restrain the need to progress too far. Finesse and subtlety were highly regarded attributes of the Melnibonéan and to use the advantages to deny the enemy success, was the art and not obliteration. After all, was war not the Sport of Kings, even with loaded dice.

Large land forces were not necessary to maintain order within the archipelago. Small, but highly mobile units were sufficient to do the much of the operations; these had the advantages of being easily transported by sea. Compared to western organizations, the Melnibonéan regiments were smaller, standard line formations had integral light troops and additional light troops were added to the larger formations. Guns attached to the regiments, as done by the other nations, were better organized in units or batteries and attached to larger formations. Some of these batteries were highly mobile.

The diversity of cavalry in most western armies would not be found in the Melnibonéan armies. With the exception of the Guards, standard mounted formations were either lance armed or carried muskets for dismounted action. Mounted regiments, like the foot regiments, were smaller so as to also be transported to other islands if necessary.

A sample brigade

2010-08-02T04:53:00.000-07:00

A typical “brigade” for foot or mounted would consist of the following:

Brigade
Regiment of line with skirmisher detachment
Regiment of line with skirmisher detachment
Regiment of light troops

detachment of First year Wizards
detachment of Beasts (Sabretooth Tigers and handlers)

As Wizards are not by nature equestrians and Sabretooth tigers are as likely to enjoy a pureblood steed as a Hue-man for a happy meal, these detachments are not found among the cavalry brigades.

Next post: Guns, Rockets and Auxiliaries

Cheers,

Melnibonéan Elves in the 18th century

2010-07-30T09:00:00.001-07:00

A background

I began this blog in December of 2008 to bring cohesion to my growing Prussian and French SYW armies. The direction also served to give new life to existing collection such as my Africans and Asians. Fantasy had also been set with the creation of the archipelago Amerigo. The maps gave the archipelago a location, but who inhabited the islands, the geography and wildlife would have to wait as we then focused our attention on the European armies and campaigns.

Periodically, I would find some kernel of an idea, an image or a figure on the Internet and add this to a growing file of links and documents. Over the past year, the ideas were taking shape as I knew I wanted the rulers of the archipelago (Atlantis) to be a cross between High Elves and Dark Elves, sorcery would be present but not dominant, weaponry and clothing would have an 18th century influence, but the technology would be slightly ahead of the other races. Some of these possibilities were discussed at the TMP forum.

Just last month I began reading again the Michael Moorcock classic series - Elric of Melniboné. After finishing the third book, I began to shift gears and actually ordered figures, sketching uniforms, flags and buildings. The Melnibonéan army was marching.

Evil, proud and arrogant race, very militaristic and one that still made use of sorcery. Within the six book series by Moorcock, I encountered the Pan Tang; an Island nation, much like Elric’s and are described in some detail as to colour, armour and use of sorcerers and in addition used in the field, Saber-toothed Tigers. My model army was taking shape.

The Army

2010-07-30T08:58:00.000-07:00

My first drawings of uniforms were based on colour schemes I found while surfing the internet for landscapes, architecture or fantasy stories. I knew I wanted my Islanders using 18th century clothing styles which were in harmony with the landscape; natural tones and colours that would complement the skin tones and hair colour of the Melnibonéan. I searched online pallet colours that would work well.

My first figures were generals, one cavalry and two infantry generals plus staff. Starting with the hands, faces and hair, I followed my normal painting sequence and just watched the first uniforms unfold.

Hats were no longer black, but multi-coloured. This also served for my facing colour. Next came the coat, a complimentary colour and all else, gaiters, gear and weapon were selected to compliment the last colour painted. I also followed similar techniques described by Games Workshop for painting their Elf regiments; use a theme colour.

For the cavalry figures, I was sure of one detail; I wanted all horse to be Grey (white) but with tail and mane distinct, perhaps following regimental facing colours. Oddly enough, this looks much better than one imagines. One item that was clear in the Elric novels, Pan Tang armour was red, which meant breastplates would, as a tradition, be the same.

Composition

2010-07-30T08:57:00.000-07:00

Looking at the various Warhammer books offered a guideline for building an army; shock cavalry, lancers, and scouts for the mounted arm, standard line troops supported by rangers or scouts, war dancers. War machines would be replaced with artillery, but I wanted no battalion artillery, but field guns and horse artillery grouped into batteries. As a later project , I would add fire siphons and mobile armoured artillery or war wagons.

In addition to the standard troops, the Pan Tang attached sorcerers to their fighting units. These will be present among the troops, but at this moment I have not decided what direction to take with them. I do not anticipate magic in the broad sense, but certainly these will be endowed with enough power to disrupt enemy units from being as effective as they could. This will certainly require a bit of work and amendments to our current set of rules.

A tentative organization will be the subject for the next post and a lot more photos.

Cheers,

Hedges, not necessarily French

2010-07-26T13:33:00.000-07:00

Just a short tutorial of how I quickly built some hedges for my 15mm terrain. As with the palisades for the generic native village, I used a dozen strips of 2 x 10 cm. lengths of 1.2 mm triplex. I trimmed these so the hedges like the palisades would match up nicely.

I have seem articles using a variety of materials for building hedges, but I prefer the scouring sheet the best. My sheet was of ample size and you could feel the gritty texture of the metal fibers. Caution, I highly recommend using safety glasses while cutting these as you do not want to have any particles flake off near your eyes.

I firstly wanted a finished hedge to be about chest high as when cut the material will be teased out to create and extra few millimeters of height. I cut out lengths that double the height. Next with the sections, I cut these in half but in a wavy fashion as the tops of my hedges would be irregular in shape. As you see from the photo, the clipped section looks like Kutuzov’s eyebrow.

Taking each section, I then made vertical cuts and teased the sections out to increase width and height. Gluing the sections was easy and I would advise keeping something with weight on top of the hedge while the glue is drying. Afterwards add sand an glue to the sides of the base and add paint as you would your bases.

For the final stage, flocking, I had a number of options, but chose Woodland Scenics Grass blend. It has a fine consistency, but the coarser blends would work equally as well. I dabbed white glue over the top half of the hedge and dipped this into a container full of the grass blend and let sit. Flocking twelve hedges took less than 15 minutes and the end result looks fine. From the last photo you can see a general layout with sheep and cattle in two enclosures. The next step would add a small base with a gate.

photos of the last project.

This photo of the generic village in a jungle setting were taken during our last game. The natives are leaving the village to meet the invading “whites”. I think the village palisade could use a gateway and possibly with some skulls decorating the entrance. More little projects.

Next posting will definitely cover the ImagiNation: Melniboné

Jungle vegetation

2010-07-12T10:09:00.000-07:00

Last year I had made quite a number of palm trees based together with long grass and other plastic leaf pieces. I still have a lot of palm trees, but also bags of leafy vegetation waiting for use. I found mine during the Christmas period as the shelves at most Garden shops or plastic flower section at hobby shops are full of them.

Small Wreath

These wreaths which come in various diameters and leaf types. Fixed to a plastic ring in clusters, the leaf sections can be easily separated from the ring or swapped with other leaf shapes. You will discover with one wreath, you have quite a stock and I had two of these.

Small pieces layed out

I decided one quick way to use a lot of these was to make clusters of vegetation that can be scattered about the wooded areas to complete the tropical look on your table. These would also come useful as backdrop for your photo shots.

Construction

The construction followed the same method as my palisades; triplex pieces cut in oval shapes with trimmed and sanded edges. I had thought about purchasing a hot glue gun, but as the leaf sections need not stand straight I used a standard two part adhesive glue.

Broad leafed pieces

I cut the leaf sections in half and laid them out on top of the bases to see how much would be needed. With two sorts of leaves I did not require that much, but the effect as you will see late is nice.

Clustered on one base

After both sorts were glued to their bases, I laid white glue on the base and covered this with sand. Following the same procedure as the palisades, the bases were given a wash of GW Scorched Earth mixed with some Codex Grey and later sparsely covered with electrostatic grass.

Ground work - complete

For all our games, we use large sheets of vinyl to define the area of built-up areas, woods or rough ground and scatter trees or shrubs’ to identify the terrain piece. As our skills building terrain improved, so did the quality of representation become better. As the weather improves, I shall add extra photos to this posting using all the pieces constructed to date for a tropical setting. All this green now begs a large primate.

Next posting: Fantasy comes to the 18th Century Sojourn

a space filler

2010-07-08T10:42:00.000-07:00

Generic village – palisades completed

2010-07-03T02:38:00.001-07:00

About this time last year, I had constructed a star fort for my SYW collection. Twigs were used and clipped, trimmed and glued to an embankment and excess twigs were stored away for a later project. I was thankful I did that as checking the area around me, the city Planting and Maintenance Department had done a clean sweep of useful materials.

With all the huts constructed, I would need well over a meter length of palisades and with an eye for eventual storage I decided on twelve 10 cm strips of basswood. Two centimeters wide would be sufficient for ground work on either side. So, clipping the twigs in approximately 20mm sections I laid these out to see if I would need to make a special trip for more.

I envisioned my palisade to be very crude work, so no trimmed points, varied thicknesses along the length and the height of each post would also be varied. Constructing the palisade for my star fort, I used strips of paper to keep all the posts nicely lined up. This was not the case here. I placed a line of contact cement down the center of base and proceeded to glue each post to the base. Insane? Yes, but the results were what I wanted, a primitive and crude palisade. As the outside temperature was about 30 degrees, the glue set rather quickly. By the time all the bases were done, I checked if any posts needed resetting. To further secure the posts I added more glue to where posts and base met.

Undercoating

2010-07-03T02:36:00.000-07:00

Later that evening, I undercoated the sections with Grey spray paint.

This morning, I proceeded to add ground word by using standard white glue and sand with a bit of model railroad gravel added to the mix. Requiring only an hour to dry, I spread a thin wash of GW Scorched Earth and Codex Grey. The palisades, I painted with a mix of GW Scorched Earth and Chaos Black. This is what I like about hot days, you zip through projects like these.

Next step, dry brushing the ground and palisades. I love GW acrylics, especially the cap with the lip on the inside. Dabbing an artist brush into a bottle GW Bleached Bone, I cleaned off the excess in the cap lid and used a kitchen towel for the remainder and proceeded to dry brush the ground work on both sides of the palisades. Dipping the tip of brush in water I picked some Bleached Bone from the lid and feathered the palisade walls. This blended with the darker walls and dried as a grey colour. One paint colour, two steps leading to two different results.

Completed village

2010-07-03T02:34:00.000-07:00

Now for the electrostatic grass. This last step brings the whole project to life. Leaving about 50% of the ground clear of grass, I spread the white glue in irregular patterns on both side. Dropping this into my plastic bag filled with grass, I give the bag a good shaking and leave sit. Proceeding to the next base I cover this with a bit of glue and swap with the covered piece in the bag. The whole process takes no longer that 10 minutes. Total time from applying white glue and sand, thin wash for the ground, painting, dry-brushing and application of grass about four hours. Life is good.

Clear the table surface, play with the composition – show time!

Cheers,

Generic native village

2010-06-30T06:07:00.000-07:00

Materials needed: toilette paper core, white glue, masking tape and modeling clay.

This was one of the items on my to do list that was a low priority. Our last F&IW game, we had British with colonial militia and rangers assaulting an Indian settlement. According to the scenario, the natives were gathering to organize a strike along all the settlements to the east. Unknown to them, the British were informed and planned a pre-emptive attack. We enjoyed the game so much, I felt inspired to build my own village, but something generic in a tropical setting.

The core material I had been collecting for a while and so started off by cutting them in half. The walls I would make 20mm high with the remainder cut into eight strips. As you can see from the series of photos, these will be glued and taped down to create a conical roof.

What kind of village

2010-06-30T06:03:00.001-07:00

I decided my village would have thatched roofs with mud covered walls. The huts would be placed on 1.2 mm basswood or triplex. This is sturdy enough for moving and storing, but thin enough that I could trim the base with ordinary scissors.

Sketching a doorway, the next step was to cover the walls with white glue and sand. Thank goodness for summer as these dried in no time. Gluing two huts to a base, the base was then covered with the same mix but more stones added. I then painted the walls (GW Scorched Earth and Bleached Bone) and later the ground work with a watered solution of GW Scorched Earth and Codex Grey.

The final product

2010-06-30T05:59:00.000-07:00

Dry brushing Bleached Bone to the ground and walls gave me two distinct shades of earth, now the roof. As I mentioned, I wanted a thatched roof and proceeded to build the roof to a sharper angle by using some modeling clay (white).

Later I fitted a conical cap which was trimmed off. With a modeling knife, I scored the roof with upward strokes. This had the effect of raising the roof to a nice point. As the clay dried white, with one thin wash the raised portions would dry a lighter shade than the deeper recessed areas. I chose a mix of GW Scorched Earth and Chaos Black.

The effect was very pleasing and in minutes I was done.
Adding electrostatic grass to the base, I am now ready for the outer wall.

Next time: palisades

Our SYW Strategic-tactical game

2010-05-25T07:25:00.000-07:00

It was not long ago that we started collecting SYW figures. I began with Prussians to help stimulate my war-game comrade Lex, to start painting his collection of SYW figures that had lain unpainted for twenty years. From that date on, our collections have grown from battalions to brigades to armies by leaps and bounds.

This expansion did bring with it a rather distressing thought, our armies had quickly outgrown our standard game table. Rather than expand the 4’x 6’ table space, we decided to solve this problem from another direction. Reviewing the major battles of the period, after deployment, one side would open battle in one sector and continue supporting that sector or probe elsewhere. Like the opening moves in a chess game this would shift from sector to sector trying to leverage an advantage during its middle game before moving to the decisive end game. We needed a simple method of recording the shift of action on the table top while maintaining an overview of the total battlefield while allowing us to play out a table top engagement.

Mark I

2010-05-25T07:24:00.000-07:00

Our first tests used a standard A4 sheet marked off in 35 x 35mm grid. The dimensions allowed us to use our infantry and cavalry Brigade Generals as moving pieces. We adapted a DBA-esque system of one die to move our brigades out of camp and deploy them into a battle line. Allowing a movement range of one square for infantry brigades and two for cavalry brigades this generally took about four bounds (four hours) for both sides to deploy. The only restriction to our simple rules, brigades had to be adjacent to one another as a simple form of command integrity.

From map to table top

To initiate combat we need only to move into our opponent’s square and both brigades would be placed on the table. Our deployed brigades would fit comfortably on our game table and starting 500 paces from one another we were quickly able to engage in musket fire after a few turns of movement. After completing four table top bounds we returned to our map for another round of grand tactical movement. Here, decisions were made to reinforce the current engagement or continue maneuvering or open another area of engagement to draw the opponent’s reserves away. Naturally, we anticipated Fortuna would not always smile our way, so we quickly discovered a good plan should anticipate bad die rolls.

Our first series of tests, we fielded 5 brigades of Prussians versus 8 brigades of French. During one game we did manage 20 bounds or five hours of combat after deployment and all within 3 ½ hours of game time. We knew we had solved our initial problem of space.

A few observations

2010-05-25T07:23:00.000-07:00

Our first map games, we expressly avoided terrain features, as it was assumed battle was chosen on arable terrain that allowed brigades to maneuver freely. Once we moved to the table top, we used random placement of low hills, farms, light woods for the table top features. Our goal was simply to test the overall control of battle, while having combat played out on the table top. Moving from one sector to another was not a problem, as we photographed each turn, we could quickly clear off troops and terrain for the next action or return to a previous sector if needed. As in the case of all our tests, we had not returned to a previous area of engagement as the battle had progressed in earnest elsewhere and eventually to a decisive conclusion.

During the map phase, our opponent could observe the movement of cavalry and infantry brigades but had no clue as to their composition until they moved to the table top. Nonetheless, we did set minimum and maximum strength per brigade so as not to create too large an imbalance.

Another major benefit of this system, opening new sectors and moving units helped focused our attention on the immediate engagement. No longer moving every piece of an entire army, which required a lot of tine and thought we saved a lot of time keeping our attention on the immediate combat. This allowed us to move quickly through a lot more turns than we had experienced before.

We also discovered a tendency to slowly build up our battle and hold reserves. We knew for example, cavalry actions were quick and resulted in one winner. Infantry actions took on a steady cadence and could be relied upon to hold an enemy’s attention for quite some time. So timing and pacing the battle became much like a chess match.

Through repositioning supporting brigades, this had our opponent by repositioning his reserves which worked just as well as a continuous slugfest. Likewise, after initiating combat in one sector a player had an option to break off prolonged musketry to drop back out of range; on the map, this would simply be a move out of combat requiring one pip to do so.

This last photo shows the French player has thrown a 5. French infantry brigades can move forward with supporting brigades and have a pip extra for some cavalry support. Perhaps only only brigade moves forward with its rear support and a cavalry wing moves forward to engage their opposite number. So many choices.

Some minor adjustments

Since the Bohemian campaign, which dominated the blog last year we made some adjustments to the basic map game. We did add terrain features and increased our battle area to two A4 sheets. This allowed maneuvering about entrenched or defensive positions such as at Zorndorf or Torgau. We also added the time of day, season and some national characteristics.

Next posting, variation on scale

Scenario: Drums along Lake Champlain

2010-05-11T07:28:00.001-07:00

The overall British strategic plan for 1755 called for an attack on Fort Saint-Frédéric on Lake Champlain. This endeavor was entrusted to General William Johnson of New York with Major-General Phineas Lyman of Connecticut. Johnson, an Irish settler, had no military experience. However, his influence over the Mohawk Indians explains why he was retained as commander of this expedition.

The militia force were gathered from the various colonies; Massachusetts Provincials, Connecticut Provincials, New Hampshire Provincials, New York Provincials and Rangers. Mohawk Indians served also as scouts for the column.

Vaudreuil, then governor of Canada, aware of British superior numbers called on the various allied Indian nations to harry the various colonies. This would undermine the militia participation with any British expedition, but also threaten the portage routes supplying the various columns.

One such gathering was assembling near Lake Champlain. The British regional commander, General Lyman, setting aside the original plan to attack Fort Saint- Frédéric, ordered the provincial columns to make a pre-emptive strike on the Indian camp.

2010-05-11T07:27:00.000-07:00

Strategic deployment:

The provincial militia have the option to deploy in one, two or three columns, about a day’s march from each other (see General Johnson’s sketch map). The number of columns allowed to deploy is dependent on the general’s rating . Cautious general, most likely use one column, a Bold, possible two or three, and a Rash, three. The militia are determined to battle the Indian confederation before they have the opportunity to strike at their unprotected homes, so their spirits are high. Nonetheless, surprise is paramount and as these are militia, there can be some experience of hesitation or unwillingness to fight the savages if the element of surprise is lost.

Game play:

Using the strategic map, mark the point of entrance for the possible three columns. Indian encampment is located in the center of the map. Other than the encampment, only the rivers will be labeled, as it the entire region is mostly hills covered with woods. As with The Sun Never sets, both participants play the Provincials and double leaders of the Indian confederation, but are fielded against the opposing player in the strategic map sequence.

2010-05-11T07:24:00.000-07:00

Victory conditions:

Complete: Village destroyed and Indian confederation broken.
Marginal: Village destroyed, but Indian confederation not broken
Anything less than a marginal victory will be seen as a loss for the provincials, as the Indians will turn and pursue and harry the settlements along the frontier in retribution.

Character roll.

Militia leaders.............................Indian leaders
General Lyman...............................Chief Joseph
General Johnson.............................Chief Manga
Colonel Blanchard...........................Chief Johnson

Austrian Cuirassiers – final part

2010-04-28T05:00:00.000-07:00

Within the 18th Century discussion group at TMP, I queried the mixing of Dragoon regiments with Cuirassiers. The replies noted that this seem to be the practice among the Austrians although there was not definable difference between the two. However, from a war-game standpoint there is. Initially one of cost, but also movement speeds.

2010-04-28T04:49:00.000-07:00

From the contributions I decided to revise my order of battle to reflect this practice.

Fml. Freiherr von Wollwarth
Brigade of Cavalry
CR 8 Pálffy trained 3 sqds
CR 21 Trautmansdorff trained 3 sqds
DR 28 Sachsen-Gotha trained 2 sqds

Fml. Graf zu O’Donnell
Brigade of Cavalry
CR 29 Brettlach trained 3 sqds
CR 33 Anspach trained 3 sqds
DR 31 Löwenstein trained 2 sqds

Fml. Marquis de Spada
Brigade of Cavalry
CR 14 O’Donnell trained 3 sqds
DR 26 Althann trained 3 sqds

Fml. Graf Plettenberg
Independent formations
Mounted Grenadiers elite 1 sqd.
Carabineers elite 2 sqds.

Not listed here are the 10 squadrons of Hussars, which form the advance guard along with 3 battalions of Grenzers.

Standards for the above listed regiments can be found at La Galerie de Royalfig

2010-04-28T04:44:00.000-07:00

Completing the Austrian array, are the last of the artillery which were ordered with the “French” infantry, now turned IR 44 Clerici.

These are indeed listed as “French” artillery from Old Glory, but are now painted as Austrian gunners. Note, some of the artillerist are in waistcoats.

The figures did not appear to have a sleeveless waistcoat with shirt exposed, so the entire figure has been painted as the other fully clothed artillerists.

The battalion guns will deploy with the two “Italian” regiments, Pallavicini and Clerici, while the heavier guns will be added to the reserve field artillery.

Cheers,

Austrian Cuirassiers

2010-04-20T13:44:00.001-07:00

At the opening of the Seven Years War, Cuirassier regiments were of 6 squadrons, including an elite troop of carabineers. Strength could vary from 800 to 1000 troopers, so using our figure ratio of 1:25, this would equate to between 40 and 50 figures. Far too big to form a line on our 4 x 6 table. However, battlefield conditions reduced this number to nearly half as at Kolin. (Osprey’s Kolin calculates 465/sqd.)

Using the approximate strength of 450, this brings the figure total per regiment to 18. So in essence, the three squadrons I have listed are in actuality 3 “divisions” of 2 weak squadrons each.

Sorting out three bags of Austrian cuirassiers; each row will be glued to a plinth for undercoating and painting.

Cuirassiers and WRG

2010-04-20T13:43:00.000-07:00

Of further interest, Duffy, in his Army of Maria Theresa, gives the squadron frontage as 60 yards (72 paces) for 50 files in 3 ranks, but also suggests the regiment deployed in two lines of squadrons with a minimum of 50 paces between squadrons of the second line. If this is so, then the regiments were in a sense self supporting.

With our modified WRG 1685-1845 rule set, we do allow Hussar regiments to form two battalions due to their large size. After some consideration, we just may expand this rule to include Cuirassiers. Any readers acquainted with the WRG 1685-1845 , we also restricted the use of columns and squares and we do not allow mounted heavies to fire from the saddle during battle. There were however, isolated incidents of even Cuirassiers firing at the enemy while mounted (Battle of Reichenberg for one).

The photo illustrates some of Old Glory's humor. These are extra riders, two wounded (one still sporting a souvenier) and a third with pistol. I like that one.

Nearly there

2010-04-20T13:42:00.000-07:00

In our rules, only irregular skirmishers may fire while mounted, so this prompts our SYW general to plan his charges well when fighting against Ottoman and other irregular cavalry.

My final order for Old Glory miniatures will bring my Austrians to a reasonable total of heavies; 17 squadrons of Cuirassiers and elites plus 8 of Dragoons and 10 Hussar squadrons totaling 35 squadrons in all. At the moment four squadrons are done, so within the next week there will be quite a lot of painting to be done.

Next posting, Austrian heavies in full glory.

The photo was taken prior to varnishing. Eight squadrons with a cavalry brigadier ready to the last stage.

Austrian regiment Clerici (IR 44)

2010-04-06T00:27:00.000-07:00

Austrian regiment Clerici (IR 44), raised in 1744 by the Marquis Giorgio Clerici. Duffy describes the regiment comprising of “2,300 vagabonds and ruffians”. Red facings, lapels and neck cloth were the uniform distinctions and turnbacks (white) were fastened back with red heart shaped fasteners. Raised in Milan, this regiment remained in Lombardy until the general call up of 1757. Theirs was the honour of storming the churchyard at Hochkirch.

Another regiment of white coats

2010-04-06T00:25:00.000-07:00

To be honest, I had not planned another regiment of Austrians, but was experimenting with converting French SYW fusiliers to “Atlanteans” for the Archipelago Ameri-go. The idea had been scrapped due to the impracticality of converting so many figures. So my search continues, but I have now inherited another pack of SYW line and French as well. Giving this some thought, as I did not need more French, I decided to equip an Austrian regiment with the coat hanging loose or no turnbacks. Everything else would be painted as per standard Austrian line or in this case an Italian regiment. All infantry are in assaulting positions which is a nice change from the universal march attack pose and ideal for two battalions of ruffians.

It took two days, but the regiment of Italians are now done and after the basing, I shall paint up flags. Having recently finished another Italian regiment, Pallavicini with an older standard as per the Rochling painting, I selected the second flag illustrated, the one with red/ white chequered border surrounding a yellow ochre field with a double headed eagle. The colonel’s flag most likely would have the same border on a white field but with the Madonna figure centered. A recent discussion at The Miniatures Page of Austro-Hungarian flags offered some tempting replacement of the Madonna.

Joining the ranks

2010-04-06T00:24:00.000-07:00

With the regiment completed, I can well imagine their march over the Alps, coats unfastened singing a merry operatic piece and speculating about the young maidens of Moravia. Reaching the staging, the officers discover all the heart shaped fasteners were offered as keep sakes on their journey from Milan to Brünn their first battle will have them appear as vagabonds and ruffians.

Cheers,

Next posting, Austrian Cuirassiers.

Another SYW Austrian regiment: Pallavicini

2010-03-16T08:05:00.001-07:00

Austrian infantry regiment Pallavicini (IR 15) was just recently added to my SYW Austrians. Raised in 1740, by Inhaber Lt. Gen. Gian-Luca Pallavicini (Genoa), they served well during the Italian campaign. Despite the Austrians being bested by the combined Spanish and Neapolitan army they particularly distinguished themselves at Velletri,. At the Battle of Madonna dell'Olmo, they made up part of the reserve formations.

During the start of the Bohemian campaign of 1757, both battalions were part of Koningsegg’s army facing Bevern’s Prussian. Both battalions served at the Battle of Reichenberg and the following month found themselves in the first line at the Battle of Prague. The defense of Dresden (1760) added further laurel’s to their war record.

More Austrians?

2010-03-16T08:04:00.000-07:00

My Austrian Army has reached an adequate number of battalions that adding an additional white coated regiment would not seem redundant. I have sufficient numbers of Hungarians and Croats to balance out the overall colour scheme, but there are just so many white coated red facing regiments you can have. Still, the Austrians should outnumber my Prussians by 4 to 3.

An older model flag

2010-03-16T08:00:00.000-07:00

Following the discussions we had about Austrian standards at TMP, I decided to follow a similar solution to an otherwise bland collection by letting my Pallavicini retain their older style flags of the 1740 period. As mentioned in Duffy’s book, The Army of Maria Theresa, prior to the changes, the fields were coloured uniformly within the regiment, whether yellow, green, red, or red-white-red. After the Succession war, many of the flags would be replaced as a consequence of the newer edicts with the well known yellow field with double headed eagle. I would like to think my regiment retained theirs.

For the older model, a fine illustration of the varied colours can be seen in the painting by Carl Rochling, the Battle of Hohenfriedberg, June 4, 1745.

Battle of Hohenfriedberg, Carl Rochling

cheers,

The Llaneros

2010-02-23T05:08:00.000-08:00

The irregular cavalry known as Llaneros are done and I thought I would devote today’s posting around the “Mongols” of the Audencia of Caracas. The Llanos is the plains area of modern day Venezuela and comprises nearly half of the land mass. A tall wild grass grown in the area gives an impression of a green desert. Unfortunately, during the rainy season, the hard ground offers no way to absorb the water, the entire area is mostly flooded. A very hostile area that is home to a fierce and hard folk.

Living in the saddle like their Asian counterparts, they herded cattle from sparse pasture to pasture. Largely blacks (runaway slaves), Indian or mestizo they were subject to no one but their own leaders.
It was in the following century that one leader was able to weld the Llaneros into a fierce fighting force that consistently troubled Simon Bolivar’s campaign in Venezuela.

José Tomás Rodriguez Boves

2010-02-23T05:07:00.001-08:00

José Tomás Rodriguez Boves knew how to harness their resentment of the “white man” and wield the savage Llaneros into an effective fighting force. His initial four thousand horsemen were designated the Legion of Hell (Legión infernal). Carrying a black flag or the pennant of death, the Llaneros loosed upon the enemies of Spain, massacring all they came up against. Using methods taken out of the pages of the Spanish Inquisition, they raised the level of atrocities that forced Simon Bolivar to use similar methods against Spanish forces.

Los Llaneros in miniature

2010-02-23T05:06:00.000-08:00

Bringing these participants into an 18th century context, the Llaneros would operate as an independent auxiliary command but without the penchant for extreme cruelty. As our game system is being developed, I envision the Llaneros behaving in true auxiliary fashion of showing up for battle, evaluating the odds of success and exhibiting a preference to renegotiate terms.

Figures are Irregular cavalry from Old Glory's American-Mexican War. A similar figure is offered on foot.

Audencia de Caracas

2010-01-23T13:22:00.000-08:00

An introduction

Creating a campaign module for an area which lacks detailed documentation in the English language can be rather daunting. What references I could find are taken from the book “Liberators” and from some online resources. The goal here was not to produce another military campaign but bring the players into an “empire” building period; each carving a niche in the new world competing with rival families to establish their plantations, ranches or shipping enterprises. Non-player activity would represent the Native Indian response, slave rebellions, piratical activity or the occasional visit by other powers; British, French, Dutch, Portuguese, etc.

As a matter of consistency I would want this game to start at the beginning of the 18th century, so all participants can have a reasonable amount of time to expand and consolidate their power base before the outbreak of the Seven Years War. As a few years later, Charles the III would make the fatal decision to side with France with repercussions to Spain’s overseas possessions.

Role of the military

From my readings, the military presence was not large but formal units were distributed among the key cities and augmented with militia. Military formations that were sent to the colonies were often rotated. This meant units arriving from Spain would serve to train the local militia for six months before rotating back to Spain.

See my last posting for a fictitious deployment along the Orinoco River. Aside from the small number of guns for field use, the armies were also ably assisted by the irregular formations from the ranches and plantations.

Aside from an occasional uprising or piratical raid, there were very little military expeditions. That would come after the Napoleonic wars and well after our time frame.

A Holy Order

2010-01-23T13:21:00.000-08:00

Historically, the Jesuit presence in South America and Mexico disrupted the political and economic direction of the Viceroys in the new world. That changed with the expulsion of the order in the later 18th century. For our game purpose, the Jesuits are replaced by a Religious Order whose dedication to the righteous path rivals that of Inquisition.

The spiritual leader is an extra Russian General officer, bald but covered with a cape. This was ideal to represent his holiness in a cardinal’s vestment with cappello (hat) and farraiolo (cape).

The Brotherhood are all Essex with a touch of Old Glory. The cream coloured robes have no historical basis other than looking nicer on green turf, plus the weapons stand out nicer. The banner was a suggestion from David of Not By Appointment, whose blog you will find in the listing.

Indians and Slaves

2010-01-23T13:18:00.000-08:00

From the below listed links, I have found the names of a good two dozen Indian tribes and general location within the country. For game purposes, I shall spread them about the map as best as I accurately can. For the greater part, many of these were pastoral and pacific tribes. Chances that some tribes would resist expansion by the Creoles seems rather slim.

Native Indians of Venzuela
Natives of the Orinoco

Regarding the runaway slaves and those generations that mixed with the native Indians, we have a different composition. In the following century, the Llaneros were to display a ferocity cruelty unparalleled in South American history of that time, I can only suspect that behavior was not unknown among earlier generations.

I have received my order of Llaneros (OG irregular lancers) and Native Indians. The lancers are from the Mexican American War listing and these I shall add ponchos, cloaks and chaps to add further variety as normally, there are two basic poses, plus a few command figures. The Native Indians come from the OG Biblical line; loin cloth, bare chest and wearing a head band. I already have a collection done and this latest addition will double the numbers.

Cheers,

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam

2010-01-01T07:01:00.000-08:00

“For the greater Glory of God”

As the Bohemian Campaign approaches its third phase, I would like to bring the reader’s attention from Western Europe to developments in Nuevo España. Two things inspired me to elevate an idea to a work in progress project. One, the movie the “Mission “with Robert De Niro and Jeremy Irons and two, the book, the Liberators by Robert Harvey, Latin America’s struggle for independence. I enjoyed the movie and its war game applications; tropical forests, waterways, native Indians, Spanish garrisons, mercenaries and of course the Church that played their role in the development of Nuevo España.

The film is set in the 18th century setting, which fits well into the “Sojourn”. However, the Jesuits pursued another direction than what I needed for my scenario (“nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition”).

Add to the religious order, line troops (garrisons) some militia to bolster numbers and auxiliaries, the latter serving as scouts for the Spanish and we should be ready for a fight. The opposition, simply a lot of natives.

Returning to the book, the Liberators and the struggles for independence, I found Venezuela to offer the best possibilities for an interesting campaign; geography, demographics, and history. In the east, plains, waterways and swamps while moving further west we encounter tropical forests and still further west, mountainous regions. Demographically, the Spanish a minority were outnumbered by not only the native Indian population, but Africans as well. Historically, the campaigns for Independence took place in the early 19th century. Not a problem as we shall bring forward into our 18th century, a lot of events which took place nearly 70 years later.

Captaincy General

2010-01-01T06:59:00.002-08:00

Audencia de Caracas (Frontier service)

San Juan de los Morros
2e bn. Corona 600
Artillery 10
Militia de los Morros 300

Garrisons along the Orinoco:
Angostura
2e bn. Zamora 600
Artillery 10
Militia de Angostura 600

San Juan de Payara
Militia de Payara 300

Independent formations
Los Llaneros 400

Total 2,820

Note: map is intended to show locations as our campaign will take place 100 years prior to those indicated above.

The Stage

2010-01-01T06:59:00.001-08:00

I just started this a few weeks back, so have not thought too much about names for generals or leaders. Garrisons are placed along the length of the Orinoco River, serving as a sword stroke deep in Indian territory. Two line battalions supported by local militias are at the heart of the defense and eventually, the coastal cities will have their own garrisons, with a central reserve located in Havana.

The last named on this list are irregular lancers, the Llaneros. Under the leadership of Boves, the” Legiones Infernales” were extremely ruthless in crushing rebellious regions and technically, auxiliaries of the Spanish, they were very independent and could equally turn on their master without the slightest provocation. In this scenario, they will not have reached that level of behavior, but will simply serve as scouts.

With the playing field laid out, the period is set for a time of commercial expansion, colonization, enforced migration or slavery of the native population, semi-annual treasure convoys harassed by raiders and signs of a distant conflict back home.

More later.

Campaign Bohemia 1757 – Phase Two

2009-12-25T04:22:00.000-08:00

On the 6th of May 1757, a defeated Prince Charles fled behind the walls of Prague and much to Frederick’s surprise, with only a small number escaping to the south and surrounding countryside the majority of the Austrian army were pinned. Within days, Frederick knew Daun would be assembling a relief force and so measures were taken to begin the formal siege of Prague and more importantly, establish a screening force to delay Daun’s arrival. Bevern was given that task.

His first priority was to clear the Elbe region of Croats, who were known to be operating between Brandeis and Kolin and prohibit the scattered remnants of Charles’s defeated army from reassembling. Unknown to the Prussians, these numbers totaled nearly 16,000 men.

Of the modern sources, this is about all that is recorded of the period between Prague and Kolin. What is definite, Frederick moved from his siege of Prague to reinforce Bevern on the 12th of June. Six days later, the Bohemian campaign reached a climax on the hills to the west of Kolin.

Phase two of our Bohemian campaign opens with Bevern assembling his command and setting out to fulfill his first priority, to clear both banks of the Elbe of Croats located between Brandeis and Kolin. Setting out from Anwal, outside Prague Bevern marches to the Elbe.

First reports give the impression that the fugitives have truly scattered. After a short war council, Bevern divides his force into two columns and proceeds on the 12th to Nunbung and Bolin Brod.

Fugitives of Prague

Of the two objectives, dealing with the Croats was a higher priority. Their presence was more a nuisance value as they could easily disrupt the supply lines and tie down troops which were needed elsewhere. After the Battle of Prague, the light corps of Croats and Grenzer Hussars had scattered toward the east along the Elbe river offering suitable protection among the foothills and forest areas.

In six independent columns, their goal was to rendezvous with other fugitives and eventually make contact with any armies coming from Vienna. Among the senior officers of the various columns, they did agree to a common goal of creating as much mayhem in the rear and lead the Prussians on a merry chase away other fugitives of Charles’ original army also trying to escape.

Conflict at Nunbung

2009-12-25T04:21:00.000-08:00

Galloping into camp, a messenger from a forward piquet sounded the alarm, the Prussians were a few hours march away. Beck called for an assembly of his officers and detailed his plan. The running would now stop, it was time to fight.

Approaching Nunbung in two columns, Major General Braunschweig had been given the task to establish a base of operations at Nunbung. The six squadrons of Dragoons would sweep the banks of irritant Croats and prod them into the direction of his awaiting infantry. Such a simple plan really and why had Braunschweig been given this task, he begged to be part of the siege of Prague, rather than here Croat herding. These thoughts were quickly dispersed when scouts announced the presence of a camp to the north of Nunbung and what appeared the enemy having a mid-day meal. Together with General Norman and their adjutants, they made their way toward a slight rise. Through their telescopes they could see Nunbung to their right, with a continuous line of woods extending in a crescent shape toward their left. Other than a pond on their left, the approach was fairly clear of obstacles. A perfect location for a trap.

At the base of the woods, furthest from their position were several hundred Croats gathered about campfires seemingly unaware of their position. An adjutant mentioned seeing drunken soldiers stumbling out of a building waving bottles in the air. Confirming the adjutant’s observation, Norman slamming his telescope shut declared, “Let’s get this done, so we can have our meal”.

The Dragoons were evenly split on each flank and the two battalions of fusiliers would march forward in line supporting the Dragoons. Meincke Dragoons would dash toward Nunbung, while Czettritz would follow the line of woods to encircle the encamped Croats.

Startled by the Prussians sweeping left and right, the Croats were moving toward the woods to seek shelter. Within charge distance of the scattered Croats, Czettritz Dragoons were quickening their pace when to the left of the column, out of a clearing, the peel of trumpets could be heard.

The lead troop of Meincke Dragoons could see the drunken Croats ducking for cover and in a few seconds they would making minced meat of these Balkan peasants. Just then, the air was filled with the all too familiar sound bullets whistling in around their ears, some dropping a horse or knocking a rider out of the saddle. The column quickly wheeled about, but in doing so they could see two columns of red coated Hussars. One heading directly for them, the other further forward to cut them off.

Click here: Battle as slide show.

A summary

2009-12-25T04:20:00.001-08:00

Nunbung was the first clash in our Phase two of the Bohemian Campaign. The fugitives from the Battle at Prague sought refuge to the south, while the light troops sought shelter along the hilly and forested region along the Elbe river. Mostly Grenzers and Grenzer Hussars, these split into smaller columns so as to be less detectable. Beck, before letting his command disperse would reassemble at Nunbung. Unknown to either side as we were writing our movement orders that they first clash would happen at the best possible moment for the Austrians. Although several hundred Croats could be seen, two thousand more were waiting in ambush or moving through the woods to ambush the Prussians. Grenzer Hussars were present in strength and were under cover, either in clearings or behind the hamlet. Because of the large number of squadrons, both regiments were divided into half battalions to create a flexible command.

Casualties were minor. None lost by the Austrians, but the Prussians did lose a hundred, as both Dragoon regiments were escorted off the field by the Hussars. The fusiliers were left alone, although the barking of a few Croatian artillery prompted their exit from the field.

When asked by a junior adjutant, why the General did not attack the fusiliers, Beck queried “Where did you study Herr Domenico?” “At the University in Milano” came a perplexed reply. “How many enemy foot did you see? “ the General continued. The General complimented his adjutant’s estimate and added, such a body of troops need not be feared as they would most likely seek shelter behind walls and buildings. Explaining further the advantage of mobility and speed would be keenly seen in the next few weeks.

Cheers,

“Bring on the empty horses”

2009-11-19T05:19:00.000-08:00

The quotation comes from David Niven’s biography. While filming “The Charge of the Light Brigade”, director Michael Crutiz, a Hungarian film director wanted a scene with rider-less horses galloping across the screen and is asks for the “empty horses”. Since reading the biography, that quotation lingers in my mind while painting cavalry. Good film and the biography is a good read.

Cavalry… four squadrons of Cuirassiers and one of Carabineers and augmenting my Austrian infantry are the two combined grenadier battalions and two battalions Sincere. Flags and standards were glued in place. Furling the flags helps when the glue is still drying. There is an elastic gold colour thread which is ideal for the cording which hangs over the flags. I shall check a few stores in town and ask about. This would set the flags off nicely.

Imperial Austrian Army (Frontier service)

2009-11-19T05:11:00.000-08:00

FzM Graf von Collorado

Major General Freiherr von Beck
GHR Karlstädter Gz. Hussars 5 sqds
GHR Slavonische Gz. Hussars 5 sqds
GIR 64 Warasdiner Creuzer 1 bn
GIR 68 Slavo.-Peterwardeiner 1 bn

Fml. von Puebla
Brigade of Infantry
IR 27 Baden Durlach 1 bn
IR 37 Joseph Esterházy (Hun.) 2 bns
IR 51 Guylai (Hun.) 2 bns

Fml. Graf zu Wied
Brigade of Infantry
IR 29 Alt-Wolfenbüttel 1 bn
GIR 60 Karlstädter Liccaner 1 bn
GIR 63 Karlstädter Oguliner 1 bn

Fml. Graf zu O’Donnell
Brigade of Cavalry
DR 26 Althann 3 sqds
DR 28 Sachsen-Gotha 2 sqds
DR 31 Löwenstein 2 sqds
Artillerie: Batterie 6 lbers

Fml. Freiherr von Wollwarth
Brigade of Cavalry
CR 8 Pálffy 3 sqds
CR 21 Trautmansdorff 1sqds + 2 sqds

Fml. Marquis de Spada
Brigade of Cavalry
CR 29 Brettlach 3 sqds
CR 33 Anspach 3 sqds

Fml. Graf von Arenberg
Brigade of Infantry
IR 43 Platz 2 bns
IR 54 Sincere 2 bns

Fml. Graf Plettenberg
Independent Formations
Plettenberg Grenadier Bn. 1 bn
Georgi Grenadier Bn. 1 bn
Mounted Grenadiers 1 sqd
Carabineers 1 sqd
Artillerie: Batterie 6 lbers.

Total strength: 9,600 infantry, 3,400 cavalry, 16 guns
Total nr units: 16 battalions, 26 squadrons, 16 guns

Those units in Italics when ordered and painted will complete this order of battle. As you can read, completion is not far off and one final order would do it.

The original composition was meant to offer a nice balance of light troops for le petite guerre. However, as our campaign commenced, I thought it prudent to add more weight to the list by adding Cuirassiers, Grenadiers and more German Line. As we move toward the third phase of the Campaign in Bohemia, the events after the battle of Kolin will require need of these troop types.

Why an order of battle?

2009-11-19T05:08:00.000-08:00

I found working with an order of battle was much like shopping with a list. As it the collecting and painting commenced the army slowly grew. This list offers a nice balance to front line troops, elite troops, lights and a variety of horse in a good ratio. Is this list complete? Good question, is an army ever complete?

I think if I were to add more troops to the Austrians, these may be individual regiments or battalions that would flesh out the existing number of brigades. Secondly, I would add more squadrons to each of the cavalry regiments. Another option could have an allied contingent, from Wurttemberg or Bavaria, but that is all future planning. What a joy collecting is.

Cheers,

Sinking your teeth into the Austrians

2009-10-31T03:22:00.000-07:00

My next project were the two battalions of IR 54 Sincere. I selected this regiment as it was present at Reichenberg and would historically fit in our campaign. Looking at the details I had some misgivings about handling the hat details, as unique to this regiment are the extra hat confection of bobs, pompom and scalloped hat lace.

Regiments with scalloped hat lacing, during the SYW, were certainly in a minority.

IR 3 Lothringen
IR 21 Prince d’Aremberg
IR 26 Puebla
IR 28 de Wied
IR 29 Loudon
IR 36 Kinsky
IR 41 Bayreuth
IR 54 Sincere

I fielded the question at TMP of how others painted scalloped hat lace. The response was nearly unanimous, seek another regiment.

Forging ahead
Painting the basic uniform took very little time. Painting the grenadiers and other German line I had developed a nice routine. Now the hat.

As the bobs and pompom were colours other than white, I painted these areas in thick white paint. Later, I would paint these as yellow and red, so I wanted a good background surface to work with.

Scalloped hat lace

2009-10-31T03:20:00.000-07:00

Looking at the Vinkhuizen Prints, the scalloped lace has a round lower edge. I would paint “teeth” around the rim of the hat. The rear was easy, however, the forward sections made deep curves and the edges were not a distinguishable as the rear. Application became somewhat a hit and miss. As always, the second battalion is better than the first.

Note: In the photo (an in-between stage) the lacing was smoothed out to give a rounded and even edge during the touch up phase.