Nap Campaign: Map Moves 21st March - nightfall 22nd March 1808

Nightfall 21st March

Nightfall 22nd March

Nap Campaign: The Battle of Rosenheim (Hanover) Part 2

An overview of the battle.

Bottom left: Hulsen still cannot clear the French 2/13th Light Infantry out of the wood who steadfastly repulses all attempts to defeat it. The battle rages in Rosenheim with no side gaining a clear advantage.

Middle: The French cavalry charge continues to make headway pushing through the allied centre and splitting the Prussians from the rest. Bylandt's Brigade within the walled field forms square due to the close proximity of the French cavalry. 

Top: The French infantry continue to hold the woods but their cavalry on the far left of the French position looks increasingly precarious.

On The Workbench: Desert Terrain

Various hills are going to be required for my next WW2 battle in N.Africa 'Into the Gap'.  In the past I have used a felt cloth over various objects to make hills. This has been ok for make-shift terrain but I would rather have something that looks a little more interesting. Desert can be boring terrain but with waddis, mountains, and various rough rocky surfaces it can be made to be more appealing for wargaming. This terrain will also be used for my 15mm Colonial games.

I decided to make a combination of mountains and sandy hills of various sizes. 

Nap Campaign: The Battle of Rosenheim (Hanover) Part 1

The night before the battle:

Grouchy had decided that he now had to make a stand having already surrendered almost all the ground gained. Now reinforced by the Young Guard and the 7th Division he was determined that the allies would be repulsed before they step foot on French soil. With messengers arriving bringing news of Napoleon's victory over Blucher, additional pressure is on Grouchy to recover lost ground.

For the Prince of Orange, glory is beckoning. At long last he has a sizeable force thanks to the Prussian arrival that will enable him to push on to France. 

As his troops make camp for the night, an exhausted messenger arrives at the Prussian commander, Ziethen's tent. A sealed envelope is passed to Ziethen containing a hastily scribbed note from Blucher. "Army routed by Napoleon at Ainsworth. Falling back to make a stand at Grissburg (capital). Make with all haste to my position. Prussia in mortal danger."

Ziethen is left with a horrendous decision to make. He knows that if he abandons The Prince of Orange now it will mean certain defeat for him the next day. After consulting with his Brigade commanders he decides that he will stay for one day only. He calculates that if the Dutch/Belgians lose badly it could clear the way for Grouchy to advance on Prussia. Therefore, they must defeat Grouchy the next day after which he will march to join Blucher.

Nap Campaign: Map Moves 18th March - nightfall 20th March 1808

Nightfall 18th March 1808

My Collections and Projects

Here you will find information about my wargames collections together with current projects and those under consideration for the future. It will be updated regularly as my collections change and projects progress. 

PROJECTS

Currently Underway

1.  6mm Wars of the Roses:

     Kingmaker campaign

     Next Battle: Ludlow 

2.  10mm AWI:

     Working through British Grenadier Scenario books.

     Next Battle:  White Plains  28th October 1776

3.  6mm Napoleonic:

     Peninsular War playing all the notable actions from 1808 in chronological order. Initially British

     army involvement but in due course hope to include all Spanish actions.

     Next Battle: Oporto  12th May 1809

4.  6mm Napoleonic:

     Fictional campaign as a means of bringing into action all the Napoleonic forces I own and have

     painted.

     Next Battle: Battle of Erfurt  (Prussia v France)

5.  6mm ACW:

     Working through Guns at Gettysburg and Fire & Fury Scenario books.

     

     Next Battle:  Big Bethel  10th June 1861

6.  6mm ACW:

     Day 2 Battle of Gettysburg from scenario in original Fire & Fury rulebook but using Guns
     at Gettysburg rules.

7.  6mm WW2:

     Refighting actions in chronological order in N. Africa using Blitzkrieg Commander

     Next Battle: Into the Gap 19th Nov 1940 (8th Army v Italians)

8.  6mm WW2:

     Scenarios from Rapid Fire Op Market Garden book with intention of fighting entire 

     operation as a campaign when appropriate forces have been painted.

     Next Battle:   Battle in the Woods (Brit Paras v Germans)

On the Workbench: 6mm WW2 & Terrain

This is the start of a thread to provide the reader with regular updates on what is currently on my workbench and progress towards various projects.

After Waterloo my first job was to rebase the command bases and all skirmishers that were still on 3 figure bases. This is now complete apart from a few additional command figures to be painted. Here is the finished Prussians.

My Wargaming History

I find it fascinating to hear how wargamers got into the hobby and how their interest developed over the years. The profile section of the blog is limited, so to give readers an idea of my wargaming background I provide this history of my hobby.

I can probably trace the start of my wargaming to the mid 1960's when, as a 7 or 8 year old, my pocket money was just enough to buy a box of Airfix figures. My friends did likewise and we had some rather violent battles in the garden rockery or in sandcastles made in our sandpit. This normally consisted of us throwing stuff at them. As technology improved we introduced a rather more sedate rolling of marbles. This was followed by the discovery of cannon that fired matchsticks in our local toy shop. Life could not get any better!  

Then for Christmas 1970 my Grandparents bought me Introduction to Battle Gaming by the late Terry Wise. This was a revelation to me. I read the book in its entirety several times marvelling at the games Terry was playing and the rules he used.

This kickstarted my 'serious' wargaming. No more subjecting my figures to various missiles. It was dice and tape measures from now on. My early games attempted to emulate those in the book and using Terry's rules. And those periods in the book, Ancients (Romans and Carthaginians), ACW and WW2 have been a constant for me ever since.

The Battle of Waterloo in 6mm: Figures and Terrain

During the course of reporting on Waterloo I received a number of queries on facebook and TMP about figure painting and my terrain. It seemed sensible therefore, to provide details on the blog addressing these issues.

I would firstly point out that I am not a natural artist and will never be able to paint figures that win competitions. Neither am I a talented model maker, so what follows should be achievable by all including novices.

The figures and terrain are specific to this game. I will in due course add my techniques to other scales and periods. 

The Battle of Waterloo in 6mm: Conclusion

For some obscure reason I waited 48 years to play Waterloo! So now I have played it how did it go?

Rules:

I have a high opinion of General de Brigade and it achieved precisely what I hoped it would, a very enjoyable game with, for the most part, realistic results. It was not designed for this level of game unless multi-player but it does provide for drama at battalion level.

When playing a game of this or similar size, organisation is important when using GdB. It would be easy to lose track of the sequence of phases or forgetting which units have fired, moved, charged etc. I used the same procedures as my campaign with casualties recorded on a roster. Different coloured micro dice were used as markers to indicate which units had to take a morale tests, units that had to move in the compulsory move phase, which units could not fire etc. The 'smoke' indicated who had fired.

I did overrule the dice results on a couple of occasions where the outcome would have been bizarre. e.g. a cavalry unit had charged another unit who had retreated prior to contact. The charging unit now had the opportunity to continue it's charge into the flank of a faltering cavalry unit. It failed to charge home (I recall it was a double '1' thrown). There were no external events to stop it from charging and it made no sense.

The Battle of Waterloo in 6mm Part 10

8.00pm - 9.00pm

The call by Blucher for all commanders to attack and stressing the urgency in which his orders should be carried out received a boost early in the turn. The Prussians won the initiative and nearly all commanders passed their command and control tests. With much of the French now pulled back to their new defensive line, opportunities arose for Tactical Marches by several formations.

At Plancenoit, Pewels ordered his 3 battalions of 2nd Pomerania Landwehr to attack the village (middle of photo). The 3rd battalion on the left had just recovered from falter when it came under fire from the 1/1st Volitgeurs and a half battery of Guard artillery. It suffered a further 4 casualties generating a morale test which it passed.

The 2nd battalion lead by Pewels himself attacked the half Guard battery at the main entrance to the village. The French guns fired a salvo of canister at the Prussian battalion inflicting 3 casualties. They charged home and bayoneted the crews wiping them out completely for no loss. 

The 1st battalion on the right charged group of Young Guard defending the perimeter of Plancenoit but halted when it came under fire from them and also from an adjacent building.

Continued

The Battle of Waterloo in 6mm Part 9

7.00pm - 8.00pm

The 7.00pm turn began with a significant number of command failures across all 3 armies and one in particular would have serious ramifications.

The Prussians again won the initiative followed by the Allies and then the French.

The Guard artillery battery within Plancenoit had been seperated to two half batteries. Each fired canister into the advancing columns with 4 casualties inflicted on the 1/15th Infantry and 3 on the 1/11th Infantry with the latter faltering as a result.

Continued

The Battle of Waterloo in 6mm Part 8

With the break over and several real life issues sorted on my return, it is now back to Waterloo:-

6.00pm - 7.00pm

A significant feature at this stage of the game was the arrival of more Prussians. Here the entire 4th Corps has now arrived. The French have begun falling back to prevent themselves being outflanked.

Continued ...