Enjoy!
Little update today...from the painting table. Currently working on 4 battalions of French line infantry to supplement the 6 I already have. I tried something new this time, did their trousers in several different colors. We'll see how that'll turn out. As you can see on their back side, I'm following my typical model of "looks good on the table, don't sweat the small stuff." I chose not to pick out the individual straps on the packs, and, honestly, once it's washed, it will still look good.
Enjoy!
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A few weeks ago my brother and I staged our standard 15mm Napoleonic game. Over 1000 pts on each side, Warlord's Black Power rules. I'm starting to get a handle on the Prussians after having mostly played my French. ENJOY!!! Opening the game, here's my left flank. Three landwehr infantry battalions and two squadrons of Uhlans. My center, with come foot artillery and an infantry brigade (2 battalions of musketeers and 1 of fusiliers). In the distance, might French brigades. My far right, more landwehr and hussars. mid-right flank, Saxon line infantry and their chevauleger support My center advances Nothing to see here...just some average French and Polish infantry, artillery, and cavalry... Opposing my right flank. My left flank advances hastily. This move away form center will prove disastrous. As usual, my Prussian regulars fail to form line, get stuck in attack column, and get hammered. The Saxons make a bold mass advance. They be key to turning this flank... ...however, their support is delayed, and they'll briefly take on the French alone... On my left, the landwehr are going to face down the well positioned French attack columns. Scary. My center fares somewhat better, going punch for punch with the Poles. The line is getting set up. I've pushed the right flank while my left is getting pushed back. Action from ground level... ....again... My favorite picture of the night. Those leger look nice firing over that hedge! Sadly for me that means my flank is being crushed. My right flank is still going strong. The landwehr have joined the fight, giving me a clear edge. And my center is at least holding, especially after they finally got out of column. My brother makes a crafty play and brings his 2 middle guard battalions against my right flank. Uh oh... However the brave Saxons will hold... ...but his Polish hussars will chase off my artillery. The French look ready to fold on my right flank.... ...while my own men abandon my left. At this point the lines have shifted greatly, and both sides have suffered many casualties. An uhlan strike tries to break the guard. And the French close up my flank. My left and center have evaporated...but I'm regrouping pretty solid around the fields. *especially compared to my last battle with the Prussians... My right is finally starting to press the advantage. No one's winning, no one's losing... And we're pretty much playing longways now! I've fully closed the door on the right flank (a moral victory, I might add) So as we draw to a close, I've realized the Prussians are actually capable of holding up against the French. I need to remember their "hatred" of the French in hand-to-hand! In the end, both sides are worn out after a several hour bout. Definitely one of the most fun BP games we've played to date.
As always, comments welcome and thanks for looking!! Today my brother and I played a small 500 point game of Black Powder Napoleonics. In their first outing, I played my untested Prussians against my own French, commanded by my brother. It was my first BP game not using my French other than a few 28mm games I played back in Pittsburgh with my small collection of Russians and Austrians. It was a challenge not having the French advantages to rely on. In the end, the Prussians were soundly routed...guess I need to go back to commander school! My deployment, with 2 brigades of Landwehr on the flanks, and a brigade of line in the center. The artillery is from Saxony and Wurzburg. Last, there are 2 squadrons of Hussars. The enemy's center. The flank advance had already begun! French infantry approach my right. My initial advance...the center battalion failed to act. His center advance... After a turn, the lines seem set. I thought I was lucky, his artillery was stuck in place. They'll be in the fray soon... Perhaps the fact that my men were commanded by Brits and Poles didn't help their motivation... A few rounds are exchanged as the armies come face to face. 2 highly motivated East Prussian Landwehr deploy into line and attack a French battalion that had formed square to repel a Hussar charge. This will prove disastrous for them, however...the artillery is about to be brought to the front! I tried to force the Legere into square...and unfortunately got stuck in! My middle was my weak link. The artillery took forever to unlimber (hence why it's turned around to represent to limbered) and the trained infantry wouldn't cooperate, form line, etc. The first battalion to fall...a brave Landwehr battalion. It's all downhill from here. Finally the Musketeers spring into action, but are too disorganized to form line. Though attempts to charge failed, shooting and bad rolling on my part are starting to weaken my right flank. Middle Guard battalions slam into the poor Landwehr... ...and a line battalion hits the Musketeers! The combat was surprisingly close...however several low rolls broken battalions. Prussian forces are collapsing! The right flank looks a bit more even, but it isn't... As the middle folds, it's about time to pack it in and head back to Prussia... One final combat. In the end, I think I committed to many unsupported battalions all around. My command rolls weren't great, and I also couldn't save anything to...well...save my life! Lastly, my battalions pretty much all broke when I was forced to test. That itself took out 1-2 additional battalions.
Overall, great fun as usual. Hopefully soon we'll get to play a much larger game. At this point, our collections together, we can probably field upwards of 1500 points per side. Thanks for looking! Today's after action report is of the largest battle myself and my brother have played to date. It was over our winter break (we're both history teachers, naturally) and amounted to over 1000 points. We use the Black Powder rules set. The fictitious battle takes its name from the local creek that runs near our local gaming store in the Pittsburgh suburbs. We have fought so many battles (all aptly named for the famed creek) that we simply can't come up with more creative names! The battle was between two multi-national forces. On my side, the French were joined but some Poles of the Vistula Legion as well as 4 battalions from various states of the Confederation of the Rhine. My opposition consisted of a mix of British, Saxon, and Prussian units. Enjoy! The French arrayed for battle. We used an 8x4' table with 2x4' deployment zones. We figured it would open things up for more maneuvering. The Prussians and Saxons begin the carnage, moving along their right flank. The motivated British charge forth to fill the gap between the hill and a small pond on the left flank. The French advanced in step, preparing to take on the coalition, however the supporting cavalry rolled poorly on their command check and remained to the rear. The Prussians advance to take the hill on the right flank, however..... ......their Saxon and British allies were less excited, and waiting this one out for a turn. The Prussians were left isolated and vulnerable. Time to strike! In a daring move, the Confederation of the Rhine battalions advanced on the hasty Prussians and prepared a volley. Unfortunately their Polish and French backup only made it one move, so were not in support. The more cautious French move up slightly, preparing to face the British. The Saxon brigade finally moved to support the Prussians, however the Prussians remained locked in attack columns. Luckily they had weathered the first volley. The British made a swift advance, deployed into line, and gave a volley to the French. It was far more effective that the under-performing Confederation of the Rhine.... The Poles and French guard move up to support the Confederation of the Rhine. It was about time! Which was swiftly countered by the Saxons advancing through the Prussians, forming line, and firing! Some of the French are deployed into line and fire back at the staunch Brits! Fast forward a turn and the scene is even more chaotic. The full weight of both divided forces has been brought into the action. Shooting has been indecisive, but has claimed the valiant Lippe battalion of the CotR. The battle rages on! Both flanks are now becoming even bloodier. A daring cavalry charge forces the Wurzburg battalion to form a square, but the Poles bail them out and form lines in front. The confederation has lost enough men for one day! A tricky situation for all parties. No one seems to have the upper hand. Some combined cavalry and infantry strikes finally begin to push the British back (though, it will be at the cost of the brave Polish Hussars!). An aggressive (and blurry, sorry!) advance by the Middle Guard is able to eliminate a squadron of Saxon Chevau-Leger..... ....only to have the favor returned by the other squadron, who fearlessly attempt to avenge their brothers! Adding insult to injury, the Prussian musketeers charge in the flank. The French on the opposite flank seem to be doing better, and a poised to overrun the British! Fresh reserves have shown up to make a fight of it. The fight across the board continues, as the Guard have held out against the odds! Sadly, the battle had to conclude here. With plenty of (worn and exhausted) battalions still on the table, the result was a draw. Though each side appeared to have the upper had at one point or another, no winner could be decided. Perhaps with time for a few more turns, things would have resolved more definitively.
All in all it was a good fight. Straight forward at the beginning, however some crafty moves on both sides, and strong use of reserves, made this one pretty interesting! Thanks for reading! Today's post will be picture heavy as I display the wide variety of units I have completed for 15mm Napoleonic French. All are based for use in Black Powder, and are painted to what I consider a passable standard of tabletop quality. I don't always shoot for extreme detail, but really just want the units to be easily recognized on the table. First, just some battalions of French Ligne. Next, some French Legere French Middle Guard Foot Artillery (guns need repainted the correct color) French Lancers French Commanders
For my next update, I'll bring in the French allies, which include Polish, Saxon, the Portuguese and Irish Legions, and my personal favorite, the Confederation of the Rhine. |
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