Campaign Eckmuhl 1809

[Marshal Lannes]

So - I have learnt that you can only attach 10 files to an individual thread post. Hence the new one. .

After going for some groceries ; I popped into a homeware store and lo and behold ; an exact size dice rolling wooden tray was found- at least that is what I am using it for. I can now make my very own, bespoke, plush velvet lined dice rolling tray.
My motto is ,... Only the best for the best ...

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1815 Campaign - Ney vs Wellington

" All is in readiness, Sire ; the map-sheets have been gummed down, units have been bagged and individually labelled. We await better weather conditions and your orders !".

100 + small plastic baggies for Quatre- Bras; 200 for Ligny and 200 for Waterloo - a logistical quagmire.



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1815 Campaign - Ney Vs Wellington

Headquarters at Frasnes - night 15th June - morning 16th June

Along with the artillery, using small 6mm metal figures ; I will also be using Italeri 1/72 figures for the main commanders in the 1815 Campaign to give it a cool 3d feel. Fortunately the French Imperial General Staff figure box have Napoleon and as shown; what is a dead ringer for Michel Ney and even a hatted Grouchy. I forgot I also had the Allied General Staff which has Wellington , Blucher and other Prussian officers to choose from to represent Thielemann at Wavre or whatever. Will have to be painted up eventually. These little things add to the immersion and experience.

There is also no reason why the Battle of Quatre-Bras cannot start an hour or two earlier. We know that three written orders were given by Soult between 6.00 and 11.00am, with one verbal order direct from Napoleon via Flahaut of which the content is unknown but can be inferred to have arrived well before 11.00am.....regardless; Ney could move out from Frasnes at 10.00am to take the crossroads and begin formal battle at around 1.00pm or slightly before without being too ahistorical. " La " !..............

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Winter's Victory - New England Simulations.

Acquired..............the Deluxe version which contains above accessory pouch and is slightly more pricey than the regular version but since there is a total print run of only 500; I am guessing that this version is only 100 copies which worldwide makes it more coveted in value terms.

Nothing to whine and whinge about here.........a luxury treat for Nappy fans. I take back what I said earlier about the woods graphics. With an actual copy and close up examination - they are fine. Some will whinge about the thin paper maps, especially if you have big stubby fingers which would make a cave troll proud. Respect the game and it's contents and it will respect you......

Similar to the 1815 Incredible Courage games - the buildings graphics are top down roof views which I prefer to hobbitown building graphics. The counter colours are very good and stand well to the maps bluish and white snow-scape hexes.

Game system based on the original Frank Davis - SPI Wellington's Victory - this is definitely the supercharged version...........with extensive modification; skirmish companies have 2 steps as with artillery , so , no stupid one hit wonders or over reliance on large stacks.
Weather and wind play a strong part and lots of extra goodies packed in.

The overall map is big.........a bit bigger than I thought it would be..........so a small dining room table is a no go..........Good production value and very nice to have.......worth the dough. Happy Bunny times!..........I hope another battle is covered.... Aspern-Essling will do.............?

( P.S. - the back of the box lists counter content of 2592 counters which is a misprint ; there are 11 counter sheets with a total of 2300 counters ).
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Addendum - Clarification - I swear these goobers read my posts and deliberately update/change the info on their website - the print run is possibly 800 based on sticker label on a box cover. The deluxe edition could still be 100 though.

There is also an errata of counters sheet on the Boardgame geek website ........ Not too extensive but a bit naughty nevertheless.

 

[Marshal Lannes]

Evening in southern Belgium countryside....................................................................................................................



( Dbl Click to enlarge ).

Evening of 15th June 1815. Frasnes. 6.00pm.

General Lefevrse- Desnouettes approaches the town of Frasnes from the south-east heading along the main road towards the crossroads at Quatre-Bras. He is in command of 5 squadrons of The Imperial Guard Lanciers. Initial scouting shows some Dutch - Belgians still occupying the North-eastern section of the town with a further enemy force arrayed in line before the Balcaque farm further north. This initial scenario is 7 turns long- 6.00pm t0 7.00pm. The Dutch - Belgians have to defend the Delsot farm which is a mile further behind their main line while the French have to take the crossroads at Quatre - bras for a Decisive Victory.

In your dreams- my objective is to cause maximum casualties to the Belgian turncoats. .

I still have to reread the rules for the umpteenth time and find out from this scenario how effective lancers are and what is the best force weighting to use......i.e. ; how much damage can a single lancer squadron inflict relative to 2, 3 , 4 or 5. With new system rules - you have to learn as you go along. I also get to use Fog of War in the first turn by using red counters until I have a unit next to the enemy or attack them.

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Rorke's Drift Hospital Building - assembled. The furry effect/thatched roof is worth it's weight in gold....it looks really cool. ( If you want to set it alight - it will burn realistically ) . I do not like the outer staircase edging in the other store room building but it can be modified. It also has second level roof space for the evacuation by ladder from the side; which is historically accurate. There are also delineated wall sections inside that were cut through by the defenders and bullet holes in the outside walls. Also looks like the brickwork facade needs to be redone in light grey or sandstone colour for a more rugged look......................... Coming along nicely !. .




As for terrain - I have a shoe box full of the trees above which are more than adequate. You can buy different colour undergrowth in any hobby shop. Unfortunately the cows I got are a bit small and do not have horns and will have to be painted light/dark brown and considered juveniles. I do have 3 sets of wagons that are pulled by horned cattle and they are bigger ; so it will be a mix. .





Got some rocky terrain; and will probably need more for Isandhlwana recreation. I managed to buy some odds and ends Napoleonic cavalry and infantry in a job-lot bag very cheap, simply because I wanted to use them for testing paint colours and coverage. Found the above early Russian Imperial officer amongst them who will stand in nicely for Lord Chelmsford - he had a big hat at his side which I cut in half and will have to be chiselled down and replaced with either a white pith helmet or a map. ( although it looks a bit like a map at the moment from the front ). .






" Yoose reddneks had bitter skidaddle owt ........ov heer. ......Zooloooos !.... ......... thousands of em; .... hedding diss waay..........if you staay,.....yeel be fur.......... der chop . !..."..


I have an actual 1879 Henriy Martini rifle bullet that was used at Rorke's Drift. ( hence the missing lower cartridge ). Cooool !........my middle name. .


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Adding some map sections from The Ligny game so I do not feel hemmed in. Unfortunately , I cannot join them properly as they need to slide under the Quatre- Bras maps which are gummed in place.

I have only checked the components of the Ligny game and will only bag and label the counters when I have finished the Quatre - Bras playthrough.
The good news is that I can fit the entire Ligny map space on my table or Quatre- Bras and two thirds of Ligny. Lots of ahistorical options available with the extra battle space. .

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Ha Ha ! , My Boer infantry arrived yesterday - 56 figures will do for the battle of Isandlwana. Also will be used for the Cattle ranch scenario , wherein the wife of a Boer cattle rancher is the sister of a prominent member of the British Parliament and so a detachment of British rednecks have to be sent to escort her and her children out of harms way .

The local Zulu chief know about it as well; as it could be good leverage for them in future negotiations.

Really want to change the Storehouse stairs to a wooden trellis effect because dog-dooism must be kept to a minimum. .

This has only been uploaded last week... The Battle of Ulundi - 9000 regular infantry and 7000 others.......Lord (Custer) Chelmsford learned his lesson it seems....and even two gatling guns along with 1 bunch of artillery pieces. Even Chard is involved............would have thought they would have given him leave for a week. Maybe Lord Chelmsford thought he might be eradicated as his esteem was already eclipsing his own after Isandlwana............ " God Bless Queen Victoria ! "...

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[Marshal Lannes]

I was not going to do the Rorke's Drift bridge but it is iconic and adds a sense of theatricality. Need to get some large round timber posts for the main uprights; some tight string for roping and I have a number of plastic ( grey ) bits for the side handrails. Bought a small section of river but it is not wide enough; as with all products available, so I am going to use a large painting white canvas , which I already have and paint the river which has to be at least 22 inches wide to look even remotely realistic for 1:1 scaling.

Also solved the problem for the wooden staircase to the store-house as you can buy a castle mdf cut out; it is 2 steps too high but can be easily cut down to size. .

" All right then ,.....nobody told you to stop working ! ".

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" There laid out before us is Lord Chelmsford's army,.............What a marvellous adventure,........What a jolly spree,...............jolly japes will be had by all until our guts are hanging out of our bellies in the noon day sun ! ". .




Lord Chelmsford's 3rd Column is bivouacking a few miles south of the Buffalo river. In the morning; they will march towards the Rorke's Mission Station and there cross the river into Zululand and take the road to Isandlwana.

The next phase is painting the Zulus..... " a thousand of em. "...... or at least the base paint.

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Managed to get some paint canvas stuff which are lighter and cheaper than normal painting canvas boards, even bigger in size - they have a 5mm foam insert and are double-sided, so you can use either side for different terrain color.
There is a yuutub video which shows you how to do DIY wargame rivers and you can get stuff which makes the paint shine and glisten like the surface of real water; so will have a go at that. I have only done the base paint for the camp stuff which has increased in size......again; dog-dooism has to be mitigated. Still, fairly long term project..............no rush. The canvas stuff will also be used for landscape background, sky and clouds which I have seen other people use to good effect.

The good news is that this is not going to be a complete crock as I thought it might be.....I am not a figure person/wargamer but have painted a house inside and out about 6 times or so; which is some experience..........



Winging its way to me......super duper bargain price..............388 pages...................Tick !... 34 Books......

Quite a chunky book - I think they used a heavier paper type as it is heavier than others of the same size. Lots of B & W illustrations ; perhaps too many. The battle map colour plates are a bit dull and basic which does not do this tome justice. There are 60 pages devoted to Orders of battle at the back.

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I have been away from La Bataille games for quite a while. Did not realize that this site existed..... ( la bataille.us ). You can pick up a lot of Free stuff related to the games and contributor made maps and counters for battles that are not commercially available.
A bit rough and ready but good base for doing your own improvements. Aboukir battle map as well as Vimeiro counters seem to be faulty to download.

Marie Louise rules are also available. Freeeeeeee !.

Do not forget about the ( Napoleon series ) for free articles too. .

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[Marshal Lannes]

The Rorke's Drift river is coming along nicely. This was a make or break moment as getting or achieving the right colour is very important. I am quite pleased with the preliminary result. This is phase one and there will obviously be improvement with stippling effect using pva adhesive and toilet paper and beyond that - the surface application of the water glistening material. ( I might leave this out as acrylic painting alone is acceptable ).

The embankments can easiliy be built up with cut out cardboard and filler for gradating terrain which will be overpainted and topped off with flock material and arid grass vegetation and rocks etc.

I have put a figure in for scaling - the river is roughly 14 inches across which is better than the commercially available junk which only goes to about 4 or 5 inches at best and is in small strips and is not fit for the purpose required.

" All right then ,.....nobody told you to stop working ! ".






Actual 1879 Roster Roll Sheet for men stationed at Rorke's Drift

 

[Marshal Lannes]

More theatricality - which does actually work very well. Got some figure flags for opposing armies. Very rich in colour and add a bit of 3D seasoning to things. Will have to make bases for them and possibly put commander figures on as well. They work fine by themselves. A monumental 1815 Campaign deserves some embellishment.

The small French flag is the actual replica flag for the Imperial Garde Lanciers a Cheval, 1815.

( Point of note - the 1st Squadron ( A ) was with Napoleon at Elba ); hence nicknamed , " the Elba Squadron.......".
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( Napoleon after Aspern - Essling - from an 1894 book ) .


I still have not gone through the Napoleonic collection of old books I bought cheap on disc. Those that were printed about the 1900's. Need to trawl through for interesting pics and info...............................................................add that to the endless list of things to do.

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What has brought this on - you may ask......Well ! - Martial Enterprises has currently sold out of La Bataille de Heilsberg and is currently selling La Bataille de Eggmuhl 1809, which is the only one in print.......( Booooring ! ). All previous games have sold out - especially one or two that I would like to have.
But there is a policy of no reprints and a puny print run. I suggest that the only reason Heilsberg went OOP was because it was the only thing really available. Not much choice............there.

To cap that; one of the games I really want ( OOP ), has 3 copies currently selling online for almost 4 times their original purchase price....which is freakin' ridiculous.

The quality of these products is somewhat lesser than COA games............and these Board-game speculators are rubbing their greeasy ,plump fingers with ravenous glee while genuine Nappy fans have to put up with this bloated flatulence. It just gets on my nerves.................! Apart from that - these bloated prices do not really sell and only encourage a more reasonable Nappy fan to ask more than is acceptable for a game in pricing which also puts people off buying.......in essence; nobody wins. " LA ! ".
Liberte , Egalite , Fraternite for all and not for the few......................( Mr Angry from Lyons ). : .

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Grognard Simulations - Wavre

Here we have the mini scenario map-sheet for the March to Waterloo from Wavre - the reverse side has more specific details of unit deployments, etc. The placing of units by pictographic hex area rather than by hex co-ordinate numbers seems to work- it only saves a few brain cells though. You can still write them down for future plays.

I have said it before and I'll say it again - the main battle-maps are super doooper. .

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The scratching never stops.......I was not going to get another board game until Xmas or thereabouts. The price was too good to resist. Much less than an unpunched copy. Cheep ! Cheep ! Cheep ! . .

My only reservation was the map design. I was pleasantly surprised on receipt that it is not as bad as I thought it would be.........I am definitely not going to get the complete set of games on the Battle of Austerlitz. This will be a stand alone purchase as it portrays Davout's attack along the Goldbach stream which to my mind is the most interesting part of the battle. My previous AAR on this section of the battle confirms this viewpoint.

Nice that they colour code the dice; this, like Quatre - Bras is a very compact battle but with a quite high unit count. Small enough but big enough at the same time.

As I have the 1815 Campaign ; I can use the updated markers. .

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Battle for Gros-gorschen. ( Battle for Lutzen Solo - 72 turns) Game Turn 10. French Human vs Prusian A.I.
French cavalry north-east of Gros-gorschen held for quite a good while but became disordered. Isolated, regrouped regiment chase down enemy supply wagons and attempt to take out some enemy gun batteries which will have some effect. Commendation for the 10th Hussars.

Continuous enemy forays against the French wall defences are driven back . Unfortunately by GT.6.; one French battalion routs and three others are low on ammunition.

The Prussians have blocked the road from Rahna.........replenishment of ammunition is now not possible, hence the desperate attempt to hunt down enemy supply wagons which denudes valuable horsemen from the area, north of the village . Situation perilous....... Napoleon has arrived on the northern map edge.........continuous stream of French reinforcements from the west.

Very good battle map size compared to La Bataille de Lutzen board-game which stops at edge of Sarstedt.



Can you do better in French defence by GT10. ? .

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There are 3 scenarios in the Telnitz game. Each consisting of 66 turns. Starting at 7.00am and ending at 5.50pm ( 10 minute turns ) or whenever you choose.

Viewing online - there seems to be a rulebook glut which may or may not be factual depending on interpretation and the lazy mindset of some players. Another good reason for the ability to use the more streamlined 1815 campaign rules set. .

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( Attack on Shevardino ).

I have for quite a while been scratching on the possible purchase of the La bataille de la Moskowa 200th Anniversary edition board-game; which is very annoying but that said, the Tiller PC version of the battle has got to the stage where it looks a more polished and enticing prospect for the recreation/simulation of the battle, so I now have no need to.

La bataille takes a secondary role and as I already have the PC version; an extra big ................Hooray ! . La Bataille can only tempt me to a degree...........I am almost cured of Batailleism .

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[Marshal Lannes]

Here we have the area of Braine L'Alleud - north-west of Hougomont as portrayed on the Incredible Courage Waterloo ( Company level ) game map.

Stationed here were two brigades of Dutch-Belgians.

Two outlying settlements and a nearby large farm are included and named unlike in Wellington's Victory where a cluster of brown rectangles are surrounded by white hexes.

A convert - you betcha !........................

Also noticed that the counter sheets are starting to bend a little bit, so will have to label and bag everything pretty soon , 5700 +counters or so. I have started to use baggies liberally as you can store the game boxes vertically which prevents creasing and even squashing and if you drop the bugger , a chunk of counters do not fly out as with trays.

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...................................." They will chain you, like Prometheus to a rock , where the memory of your own greatness will gnaw you ! "....................................

 

[Marshal Lannes]

" Ha Ha , Ho Ho , Hee Hee ! ".

I have finally found my 24th regiment flag. It went missing for over 5 months. Dammit !. .

Also got an original Film score cd of the Zulu film....that will be listened to while painting. Yes ; I can listen for free on the Internet but I do not have to listen to the computer fan as well.

Still have not decided whether to use coins or cut out cereal box bases for figures........no worries , as the cereal box cut-outs make good grip for painting purposes.

Winging it's way to me is an extremely fine Army Painter brush for super intricate detailing. Niiice !..................................................... Uzzoooo !.

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Winging it's way to me.. ....an epic canvas of Austerlitz. This has been on the maybe buy list for over 6 years.........Not anymore. ! .The evil consumer itch finally beat me down and caught me unawares after a miserable weekend.. .............all it takes is a simple mouse button........Click !........and you have a smile on your face and a dent in your wallet;................... " wallets are incapable of emotions " ( John Paul Getty )...........