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 ...

The Battle of Waterloo in 6mm Part 7

Please Note: This will be the last update before I go on holiday. I will be back on 2nd April raring to go! As it stands, I plan for this AAR to be in 10 parts plus a conclusion. The only proviso being that if one side or the other does not collapse before then!

On with Part 7:

5.00pm - 6.00pm

The next turn generated a considerable amount of drama around the allied ridge to the west of the crossroads. I will therefore start with the Prussians and then work our way around the battlefield from the allied left.

Watzdorf's cavalry arrives at the rear of the 15th Brigade. Landwehr from the 15th Brigade advance towards woods west of Frischermont.

Continued ...

The Battle of Waterloo in 6mm Part 6

4.00pm - 5.00pm

There was a lull in the action at 4.00pm as both sides sought to recover and reposition. There was activity on the Allied left flank where the French were continuing to attempt to exploit the weakness in the allied line. The 19th Division of 6th Corps also sought to consolidate it's position around Smohain and Papelotte in preparation of the arrival of the Prussians.

Vandeleur with the last of his brigade, the 12th Light Dragoons, sought to clear some of the French cavalry away from the Hanoverians. He charged the 9th Cuirassiers but at the last moment the confidence of the Light Dragoons evaporated as the 9th Cuirassiers counter-charged. They were caught at the halt by the Cuirassiers but nevertheless put up a good fight before being overcome. They were pushed back and the Cuirassiers had become unformed.

Continued ...

The Battle of Waterloo in 6mm Part 5

3.00pm - 4.00pm

Napoleon is now having to re-evaluate how to break the allied line following the severe mauling of the 1st Corps at the hands of the Union Brigade. For the 1st Corps itself, the 1st, 3rd and 4th Divisions are still in reasonable condition. It is Donzelot's 2nd Division that has suffered the most being reduced to just 2 battalions. With the 1st and 4th Divisions heavily committed on both wings of the 1st Corps there is not a great deal that can be achieved with just Marcognet's 3rd Division. 

He decides to focus his main effort on the allied right. Foy and Bachelu's Divisions supported by the Middle Guard will make a full frontal assault. They will be further supported by the 3rd Cavalry Corps, the Guard Heavy Cavalry and Pire's Light Cavalry Division. Jerome Napoleon's Division will continue to assault Hougoumont. There is a risk with only the Old Guard and the Light Cavalry of the Guard providing the reserve. With the imminent arrival of the Prussians though he needed to break the allies as quickly as possible.

On the French right, Bruno with the 3rd Chasseurs (middle of photo) were able to conduct half a charge move with their 'Superb Discipline' result in the previous turn's Pursuit Test. They used this to close the gap on the Scots Greys bringing them into charge range.

Continued ...