Farewellensburg: A MAURICE AAR

ABOVE: The Battlefield as seen from my Right Flank. I attached one notable to my Guard Du Korp Cavalry Regiment. Just prior to the the start of the battle an additional Regiment of Foot joined the Grenadiers on the right. The 'Green' Regiment of Foot Musketiers

 

Hi Team

I thought I'd take the opportunity to share another After Action Report (AAR).

This time it’s another MAURICE Game report. Stan and I decided to use two late 18th century Imagi-Nations. For this game I'll be using my 1806 Prussians as the Imagi-Nation '1780ish Germanic' State you may recall as 'The Electorate of Clements Unt Edwarts'.

My 100 point Army will look like this:

3 REGULAR ELITE Infantry (1^st 2^nd and 3^rd Grenadiers)
3 REGULAR TRAINED Infantry (The Red, Yellow and Blue Brigades)
3 REGULAR TRAINED Cavalry (Guard Du Korps, the White Dragoons and the Blue Dragoons)
3 Artillery Battery’s

My National Advantages are (and with suitably 'Germanic' renames):

LETHAL VOLLEYS (or "Tod Feuer")

STEADY LADS (or “Hold Fast Mien Kinder”)

La BAIONETTE (or “VORWARTS”!)

Notables:

Two each. :)

Some notes on Army composition. This Army is a re-think of my previous version where I had more Artillery (4 Guns) and an ‘Irregular Infantry’ unit. Again I have made INFANTRY my dominate arm as I believe they are more powerful and versatile in this period than cavalry. Six infantry Units (Regiments or Battalions) will give me ample firepower when combined with 3 Artillery units (Batteries). Add 'LETHAL VOLLEYS' to the mix (the ability to 'Re-Roll' and failed disruption) and I think defensively the Army's firepower is quite deadly. All this firepower does come at a cost, and it means only 3 trained cavalry could be purchased. I upgraded 3 of my Infantry to ELITE and exchanged ‘CLERICS’ and ‘ARTILLERY ACADEMY’ with ‘STEADY LADS and La BAIONETTE. Total cost 99 Points. What you end up with an army suited to both the DEFENCE as well as ATTACK in my humble opinion. If I did end up as an attacker, then as such I would be entitled to the support of a Mercenary unit of either Infantry of cavalry so could increase my stock of horsemen that way. As it turned out for this battle I took an extra Regiment of Infantry.

Stan created the Free State of Northern Virginia, (FSoNV) looking very much like a mix of American Revolutionary War British and Continental Regiments? Apparently they have no issues with taxation without representation, meh.
His Army consisted of:

1 REGULAR ELITE Infantry 
5 REGULAR TRAINED Infantry 
1 REGULAR CONSCRIPT Infantry
1 REGULAR ELITE Cavalry
2 REGULAR TRAINED Cavalry  
3 Artillery Battery’s
1 Irregular Infantry Unit of Rangers (the town Garrison)

The FSoNV National Advantages were:
OBLIQUE MOVEMENT
MASION du ROI
and
LETHAL VOLLEYS

ABOVE: The battlefield as seen from my left flank.

Stan won the toss and decided to defend, so I picked another Infantry battalion to add to my force, (the Green Brigade).

The objective for me was to seize the town of Farewellenburg. My plan was rather straight forward. Break Stan’s Army or take the objective.

Stan massed his horse on his left. This was also the most likely approach to the Town for me, as attacking up hill in the face of three Artillery batterys wasn’t terribly appealing for me. Cavalry don’t shoot and in a headlong charge at my Infantry I was confident my chaps would have the better of the confrontation. I massed my Grenadiers together with the Green Brigade to lead the attack on the right (Stan’s left). My Artillery would sit behind the rough ploughed fields and support the attack on the right or aid in the defence of my left, which I decided to refuse.

My Cavalry would support the assaulting Grenadiers.

Success depended on how well my ‘Shock’ troops would do. If I could crack the FSoNV Cavalry and the infantry before Farewellenburg then I stood a reasonable chance of driving the enemy from the town. If Stan was forced to bring troops from his right to sure up his left then I might rout enough of them to break his army and make capturing the actual town irrelevant.

The battle opened with an advance by my force of Grenadiers on my right. Stan immediately charged them with is Regiments of Horse. After about three or four rounds of combat I had lost one Regiment of Grenadiers, but all of the FSoNV Cavalry was destroyed, and both of the enemy’s notables were either dead or fleeing the field. Stan started with an Army Moral of 13, but it was already down to about 6 or 5!
My Army Moral was still in rather good shape, with a fall from 13 to 11.

As the FSoNV Cavalry was battering away at my Grenadiers, Stan marched almost his entire infantry force from his right flank across to his left to confront my victorious Grenadiers.

BELOW: Stan's cavalry charge my Grenadiers,......

BELOW: And the results are: Scratch three regiments of Horse and one Regiment of Grenadiers. Stan's Infantry move 'Retrograde'. soon they will be engaged by my Grenadiers also.

Not content with destroying just Cavalry, my Grenadiers charged forward with the Bayonet. The use of a couple of “For The King” cards and a very appropriate “Grenadiers Forward” card saw the FSoNV infantry on Stan’s left flank swept away, for the loss of another regiment of Grenadiers. This was almost enough to push Stan’s army over the edge, with his Army Moral at 1. It was at this point a much beloved noble in the FSoNV Army was carried off with a shot to the head from Feldwebel Stammer of the 1^st Grenadiers, (I played the 'DEATH OF A HERO' Card). This proved too much for his army and they routed just as his infantry from his right flank redeployed in preparation to repulse the battered Grenadiers. I ended the battle with my Army moral at 8.

ABOVE and BELOW: My Grenadiers close in on the FSoNV infantry as more of their Infantry redeploy from their right flank to the threatened left.

BELOW and BOTTOM: The situation at the end of the battle.

FYI, my army is all AB MINIATURES 1806 Prussians. Stan's army is a mix of Minifigs and Old Glory. There might be some ESSEX miniatures in there also.
As usual another fun game of MAURICE. All over inside 3 hours. We were left with enough time to get a game of Dux Britanniarum in. More on that in my next post.

Comments Welcomed.
Cheers

M777A2: Into Service- Into Action Print.

 Hi
Well now I'm just showing off, but I recently posted out of my unit the School of Artillery.
The CO and I had our farewell from the School today and were invited up to the Soldier's Club to say farewell.
I was very pleasantly surprised to be presented with a farewell gift from the Soldiers and Junior Non Commissioned Officers.

 I was presented with a wonderful framed print of the M777A2 155mm Gun we've recently introduced into service. It also came with a Certificate of Authenticity.
The original painting hangs in the School of Artillery Instructional Block and was painted by the very talented Barry Spicer.

 This print now proudly hangs on the wall of my study.
I was gobsmacked to get this farewell gift.

The soldiers at the School of Artillery really are a great bunch.

Front Rank Bavarians & a Eureka Hussar

 Hi Guys
I recently picked up six painted FRONT RANK Barvarin Light Infantry up on EBAY. A quick re-base and they are ready for a game of SHARP PRACTICE (SP) or maybe SONG OF DRUMS AND SHAKOS (SDS).

 I also finally got around to painting a EUREKA MINIATURES dismounted Hussar. He's not painted to represent any particular regiment, just a bit of fun really. He's a nice miniature I think.

 I'll call him Captain Fleshman! I'm sure he'll make his way into a few SP games.

As usual comments are welcomed.
Cheers for now.

CALPE MINIATURES: Prussian Landwehr WIP (Part 1)

 Hi Guys
I purchased a HUGE amount of CALPE MINIATURES last year whilst I was overseas and was impressed with the quality of these 28mm miniatures. I have enough to build a Lasalle Prussian Division with a couple of supporting Brigades. I should add I've got a few Warlord Games miniatures added for some variety, though it's not really required as the variety in poses in the CALPE range means I can have a Battalion of 24 miniatures with every miniature different!!!
You might also notice the mounted PERRY MINIATURES officer. He will be an ADC, so not part of this battalion.
I thought I'd try a different technique painting these guys.
I start off with undercoating them in a matt black, (citadel in this case) and then dry brushed them with Prussian Blue paint from Vallejo.
Next I fill in the 'block colours' such as exposed flesh, white / brown on the pants and grey blanket rolls etc.
Once I've done that I'll probably dip and spray just as with the Army Painter method.

Anyway, in short they are excellent miniature and a real joy to paint (so far). These guys are right up there with the PERRY's. Maybe even better.
I'll keep you posted on their progress.
Early days, but I hope to have them painted withen a few days. A big ask as it's a busy time for family commitments. We shall see.

Comments Welcomed!
Cheers

SAXON WARBAND: for Dux Britanniarum

ABOVE: A relaxed Saxon Lord (Eureka Miniatures 'Beowulf' Character)
Hi All
Well I've been busy. I always get busy after discovering a new set of rules from the guys at Too Fat Lardies.
This time I've been working on my Saxon Warband for TFL's Dux Britanniarum rules. The rules aim at simulating (or gaming) the situation as it stood in England after the departure of the Romans when the struggle for control of the island was between the Romano British ('Romanised' Brits) and the 'Raiders' / invaders from acros the sea, (in my case the Saxons).
To build my Warband I've used a mix of EUREKA MINIATURES and FOUNDRY MINIATURES. There is also a couple of BLACK TREE DESIGN (BTD) Miniatures included.
I used the EUREKA Minis to provide my 'BIG MEN' (Characters such as the 'Lord' and his two trusty subordinates / Nobles. The Beowulf Collection has some cracking good figs, and you an see they come in both 'Casual and attacking poses. Consequently I've painted doubles of my Lord, Nobles and Champion.
BELOW: A not so relaxed Saxon Lord (Eureka Miniatures 'Beowulf' Character). He means business!

 ABOVE AND BELOW: My 1st Saxon Noble in both relaxed and attacking poses. He kind of reminds me of the Saxon Lord / Chief from the move King Arthur

 ABOVE and BELOW: Saxon Noble number 2. Again relaxed (above) and attacking (below).

 ABOVE and BELOW: My Champion! Ok, he's a bit out of shape, but he's a scraper.

 ABOVE and BELOW: The 'Command Team in both casual and Attack poses.

 Next we have some photos of the Saxon Hearth Guard. These two bases of six miniatures each are my 'Elite'. about a 50-50 split of both Eureka and Foundry miniatures. They mix rather well.

 Finally here are some photos of my 'Warriors. Three bases of six miniatures each. You'll notice one base can accommodate 8 miniatures. This base is the one that I would use for a group of 6 miniatures and The Lord and his Champion (totalling 8 miniatures).

 These guys are almost all Foundry, but there are two BTD and a Eureka Miniature in amougst them.

I should add I painted them thus:

Start by undercoating in Matt black. Make sure the miniatures are completely covered, (this is important).

Dry Brush 'silver' on those minis in Chain-mail

Now block colours are applied, including ‘Dark Flesh Tone’ to skin areas, Reds, Greens, Off Whites, Greys and Tans and 'British Khaki' etc on clothing, and painted spears, swords and helmets etc.

I then applied a single 'Highlight'. For example a 'Lighter' shade of skin tone to the forehead, cheeks, back of hands etc. I also added some nice little 'trimmings to a few of the minis, such as the blue trim on this chaps shirt tails below.

Dipped.

Sprayed.

Based.

Shields painted using method above and attached.

Bases flocked.

DONE!

I wanted these guys to look like they had been campaingning / raiding for a while.

I painted these guys up very quickly, (about 4 days) using the ARMY PAINTER method. Probably took in real time about 6 hours, including basing.

Finally I've uploaded a photo of my Romano British Lord, together with two of his subordinates and his standard bearer, (nt needed in the game but a nice bit of eye candy all the same).
I'll get to work on the Romano Brits and the Saxon skirmishers (I need four) very soon.
The guys below are FOUNDRY miniatures

As usual, comments are welcomed.
Cheers

Trojan War Notables

 Hi All
I thought I'd share some photos of some of my Trojan War 'notables'. All the miniatures were painted by 'Gunner Dunbar'. They are all either Wargames Foundry or Redoubt Enterprise miniatures.
I've based these individually as I think I'll use them for some kind of variation on Two Fat Lardies Dux Britanniarum rules.
BELOW: PARIS and HECTOR.

 BELOW: Paris comes a cropper,... thank goodnes for dodgy chinstraps. (For those that don't know the story, Paris comes off second best in a duel with the King of Sparta, but his chinstrap on his helmet 'snaps' and he's able to do a runner back to brother Hector)

 BELOW: King Piram of Troy and Helen of Troy, (late of Sparta).

 BELOW: Piram, Helen Hector and Hector's Chariot Runner, (who shall remain nameless for now).

The Foundry miniatures are really nice but OUTRAGOUSLY expensive for an historical 28mm miniature. The Redoubt Enterprise miniatures are also very nice.
Comments Welcomed.
Cheers