The Dutch-Belgians in action or Poirot's first Battle !

 

So over the last month or so I have been busy casting up and painting a Dutch/Belgian army using the 25mm Prince August moulds and now is the time for their first apperance on the 'Tabletop of Mars' 

Their Commander Brigadier H. Poirot (rumoured to be a distant relative of that detective chap!?) , rather a poor photo - must try harder !

The Dutch/Belgian force - the scenario is they must cross the table to secure a town - the French force will try to stop them .(the card is Poirot's trump card )

The Belgian 36th Chasseur Battalion , rather natty in their green uniforms.

Two Battalions of Dutch 5th Line 

Two Battalions of Dutch Militia , these are converted British Line - I  remodelled the Belgic shako into the older 'stovepipe shako with 'green stuff ' . I am looking forward to seeing how these chaps get on and will report back as the action proceeds.

Prussian Army reinforcements.

 

Got the recently cast up figures painted and based . These are the Prussian Landwehr Cavalry . They are a Pomeranian Regiment and wearing a grey uniform rather the more usual blue.

Adding 'green stuff' to alter the shako has worked well and was easier than a head swap.

Here is the Infantry , I haven't designated them a regiment yet .

The Prussian army is much more easy to paint up than the French with a plainer uniform . Having said that my next on the painting list are a couple Battalions of French Line Infantry and some more     Cavalry .

Friends bearing gifts .

 

My wargaming colleague 'A' called around as he had been doing some clearing out and brought me a large bag of old figures he had no use for , some of which are here .

The were of course for me to melt down and recast !

Some of the results of the mornings casting .

This weeks projects , another Battalion of Prussian Infantry and a converted unit of Prussian Landwehr Cavalry . Many thanks to 'A' for his kind gift which is being put to good use.

Finally the Horse Artillery makes an appearance.

 

I've finally finished off my Horse Artillery conversions , here is the Prussian one , I've added short tails to the coats and the heads are from the Prussian Infantry moulds . The cross belt should perhaps be black but white stands out better and adds a splash of colour to a somewhat boring uniform . The guns are French bodies with the smaller British cannon barrel used to look lighter.

The French ones next , again I added short tails to the coats and used the French Infantry heads . I have been a bit fanciful with the uniforms - the plumes add a bit of colour and they probably shouldn't have lacing across their jacket fronts but I wanted them to stand out on the tabletop . The guns are the same as the Prussians, French carraiages with the smaller British barrels to make them look lighter for Horse Artillery. 

Making Plans

 

Whilst on holiday I sat down and made a list of the O.S. Napoleonics I have already cast and painted and where the project was going - this is unusual for me I normally don't plan anything - they usually  'just growed' like Topsy !

THE PRUSSIANS 

8th Brandenberg Infantry 

1st Batt. - done 

2nd Batt - done 

Fusiler Batt - done 

Pomerainion Infantry

1st Batt - to do 

2nd Batt - to do 

Fusilier Batt - done

2 Jeager Companies - done 

2 Landwehr Batts - done 

Foot Artillery Bat. - done 

Horse Artillery Bat- to do 

2 Hussar Regts - done 

Dragoon Regt - done 

Dragoon Regt - to do 

Uhlan Regt - done

    Landwehr Cavalry Regt- to do

THE FRENCH 

45th Ligne Regt.

1st Batt. - done

2nd Batt - done 

3rd Batt -done 

2nd Leger Regt.

Ist Batt - done

2nd Batt - done 

3rd Batt- done 

Ligne Batt - to do 

Ligne Batt- to do 

Foot Artillery Bat. - done 

Horse Artillery Bat - to do 

2 Regts Chavu-Leger Lancers - done 

Chasseur a Cheval of the Guard - done 

Red 'Dutch' Lancers- done 

Polish Lancers - to do 

2 Cuirassiers Regts - to do 

Carabinier  Regt - to do 

Well that's a lot done and quite a few to do . I would like to do a Dutch Army and perhaps dabble with the British, all using as much as possible the Prince August moulds , this will mean quite a bit of conversions which I'm looking forward to . I keep you posted .......

My latest castings on parade !

 

Got a couple of French Chevau-Leger Lancers regiments done and was pleased how easily they cast up , getting the lances to fit the hands was a problem, but super glue and green stuff did the job 

The mounted Officer are Hinchliffe Models and rather nice, their style is still  brilliant after all these years (50 years ?)

Meanwhile what have these two spotted ?........

Historical guest apperence on a tabletop near me

In nearly 60 years of wargaming I don't think I've ever had a historical personality General and definately not the 'Corsican Ogre' , so I thought it was about time I did !, thanks to 'S' who has been supplying my mounted command . 

And his adversary Blucher 'Marshal Vorwarts' again a Hinchliffe model . I suspect they might be an guest apperance on the tabletop as I think my generalship might be lacking their skills . (click on photo to enlarge) 

 

New toys shinning in the sun .

I took the oppertunity of the return of summer to photo some of the recent 'fruits of the brush' , first up my converted Prussian foot artillery.

These are the Prince August French artillery which I have converted into Prussians. Luckily the uniforms are similar and I added rolled greatcoats and shako covers to alter them. Think they look suitably different ! 

Next are the Prussian Dragoons which are converted from some British Household cavalry with head swaps and the coats lenghtened using 'green stuff' 

There seems to be some disagreement of the colour of the uniforms , illustrations vary from navy blue to sky blue , I went for a mid blue . More conversions are in the pipeline .

 

Home cast problems and a problem solved !

So the problem with using the 25mm Prince August molds is the lack of Prussian cavalry . I have used a Hussar mould for their Hussars , but I had a problem with making some Dragoons !

I had a root amongst my moulds and found what I think was a British Household cavalry mould . I cast some up, cut their heads off and added Prussian infantry heads with the good old covered shako ( a VERY fiddly job of which more anon) .

I then added the longer coat using 'green stuff' 

Think they will look okay with a black undercoat , will report back when I get more done. 

 

A bit of varnishing .

 

One of the advantages of this spell of hot weather is that is ideal for varnishing toy soldiers. This is my latest batch - the last of the French Infantry (for now) , the 3rd Battalion of the 2nd Legere and a French Cavalry General on a new 'dramatic' horse care of my wargaming collegue 'S' who is the proprietor Hinchliffe models and has kindly provided me with the General Staff . Some better photos to follow once they are dry.

Hand crafted Prussian Artillery .

 

I've had these cast up for a while (before the heat-wave) and as Prince August don't do any Prussin artillery and crews I have decided to convert the French ones. Luckily if you squint there is not much difference between the uniforms (well nothing a coat of paint won't cover up)and the guns are similar. I've added Shako covers to the hats and a greatcoat roll around the bodies to give them that 'Prussian' look. The guns cast up well this time without a lot of failures and cursing and any imperfections repaired using 'green stuff' , they are next on the painting list and I'll update when they are done.

'Kugelhagel' The Battle for the Bridge (Part 2 )

 

The French get lucky ! reinforcements are on the way ! (Hinchliffe General and a Minifigs Artillery Officer)

Tramp , tramp, tramp ! 2 Battalions of the 2nd Legere march to the rescue !

Just in time as the leading French Battalion breakes and flees , however the Prussian elation is short lived !. The victorious Prussian Battalion comes under Artillery fire and breaks as well - and even worse their CinC is killed trying to rally them ! (rolled a double 6 on his wound chart)

The reinforcement move up and engage the enemy - just in time as another French unit breaks under harassing fire from the Prussian Jaegers . The newly arrived French General used his 'Jokers' to move his units up and into position.

The Prussian Landwehr Lancers move around the open flank but the bridge is held by a French Battallion . Time is ticking and we are on move 5 out of 6 .

The Prussians force forward breaking the leading Battalion of the Legere, the other forms square to counter the threat of the enemy Cavalry and the French General plays his 'Joker' cards to evacuate the Artillery towards the bridge .

The ' Emporer's Daughters ' are safe across the bridge as the remaining 2 Battalions come under pressure from the Prussians .

End game ! the rather battered French have held the bridge for 6 moves and so win the scenario. I think the French being agressive early on bought them time and disorganised the Prussians , they were also lucky getting reinforcements so early and the crafty playing of 'Jokers' allowed the French to retire and get the guns away . An exciting game ! which could have gone either way . I think I'm getting my head around the rules, which plays quickly , there are a few quirky bits which had to scratch my head about , but I'm going to play some more games as they are ideal for solo play.

'Kugelhagel' The Battle for the Bridge (Part 1)

 

As this is the first battle using these rules I decided to keep it simple . The Prussians have to push aside the French and capture the bridge within 6 moves . French advance units in the centre , the Prussians coming down the road in the distance . 

The initial French force 3 Battalions of the 45th Ligne and a Battery of Artillery - reinforcement will arrive on a D6 dice roll .

The Prussians march onto the table they hane a Fusilier Batt. (count as Light Infantry) 2 Musketeer Battalions , 2 small units of Jaegers and a unit of Landwehr Lancers - both sides are more or less equal points with a slight advantage to the Prussians .

The French decide to take the battle to the enemy and advance the 1st. Battalion and open fire on the Prussian Fusileers who are disordered by the volleys from the French.

The Prussians draw this card and get to move a unit 3 times .I'm using an old deck of Skat cards - you only use 7,8,9,10 and Aces. 7,8 = 1 move activation - 9 = 2 activations 10, Ace = 3 activations .

Towards the end of the first turn , the white markers show how many times the unit has been activated (can be activated twice per move) . The forwards movement by the French has rather halted the Prussian advance forcing them to deploy early and holding up the arrival of the rest of the column.

The Prussians the Fusileer Battalion has deployed in open order to screen the column but has been disrupted by enemy fire, the Jaegers are deploying to the flanks and the Musketeer Battalions are starting to form assault columns.

The French get lucky and reinforcements will arrive next move , the Brigadier has 2 'Joker' cards which he can use to disrupt the order of play and activate a unit 3 times - very useful ! - Part 2 soon !