More Austrians

 The bank holiday provided the time to rebase more Warrior Miniatures Austrians.  On this occasion the batch consisted of six battalions.  Two are German line infantry, two, with the blue breeches are Hungarian line infantry, then there are two Reserve units.  One is Austrian Landwehr in campaign dress and the other (I believe) is the Salzburg Landwehr, the guys in green.

I also found two spare gunners, so I painted a commander and made up another battery.

A Hungarian battalion:

Landwehr:

Next will be another batch of Landwehr.  After that it will be a case of forming some more units from the odds and ends left from the reorganisation.  That should provide another 4 or 5 battalions.

Austrian Army Review, Grenadiers, Staff and Artillery

 The bank holiday presented the opportunity to finish off the next tranche of Warrior Austrians, originally painted by Jeffers. This time, I reorganised and based three combined grenadier battalions, another two line battalions, the staff officers and all of the artillery.

The combined grenadier battalions are those with white flags, with two more line battalions in the foreground.

A view from above gives a better impression of the grenadiers.  They are made up from the grenadier companies from the line battalions.

The complete Austrian staff.looking splendid as they survey the field.

And finally the artillery.  There are currently seven batteries, but I found some more gunners and will make up an 8th unit.

As I put these away I am soaking another load of infantry.  There are more line battalions plus some landwehr units to come.

Austrian Army Review - The Infantry

 Over the weekend I completed reorganising the first tranche of the Austrian infantry.  

So far, I have rebased 10 battalions and they provide a colourful mix of shako and helmet line infantry, Grenzers and Jaegers.  All of the figures are by Warrior Miniatures and have been beautifully painted by Jeffers:

I have taken a look in the spares box and I have found sufficient command figures to provide the right structure for the odds and ends left from the rebasing exercise. There could be quite a few extra battalions.

My next tranche will be the combined grenadier battalions.

Austrian Army Review

 In what I think was a moment of madness, Jeffers handed over many box files of Austrian and French troops to me.  The deed took place in the carpark of the Warfare show a couple of years ago.  Since then the armies have made an appearance on the table, but there are probably too many to have them all deployed at once.  Whilst the bases are lovely, the units are a bit too big for my hex based games.  

After a lot of thought, I have decided to restructure the armies and,where necessary, rebase them to conform with my other armies and the terrain.

All of the figures are by Warrior Miniatures and the painting is exquisite. They really show how Warrior figures can be turned into little gems in skilled hands.

To start off with, I have sorted out the cavalry.  They are pretty much as Jef painted and based them.  I have just changed to colour of the base and organised them into two divisions, a heavy and a light.  They look splendid on the table:

There is a general figure and each division has a battery of horse artillery.  I plan to add two more commanders in due course, one for each division.  The light cavalry are nearest the camera.

Here is a view from the other side with the heavies nearest:

Here are some closer shots of these lovely little figures:

I have started on the infantry, but that is going to be a more lengthy process.  I will do a brigade at a time - there are a lot of brigades!

25mm Napoleonic Spanish Army

 I recently revamped my Spanish army, after acquiring a few more battalions off eBay.  The additional five units has increased my organisation to 10 battalions, four cavalry regiments and a couple of batteries.  

The new troops were credited to belong to the former collection of the late George Gush.  I purchased them as I could see that they were by Warrior and that Spanish troops are quite hard to find now. I must say they are lovely figures, which when given a coat of varnish, a bit of touching up and new bases, blend in well with my existing troops.  

The George Gush figures are the rear five infantry battalions.

All the figures are from Warrior Miniatures and I think they look quite business like when painted:

Battle Report - Essling 21 May 1809

 We had a busy few days wargaming this week.  Phil paid a visit on Monday - Wednesday and Will joined us on Tuesday.  We three enjoyed a few days of wargaming, eating along with some beer and wine.  In all we fought Essling, Balaclava, an 1866 Austro Prussian engagement and a Spanish Peninsula War action.

Our first battle was Essling.  

The French having crossed the Danube were counter attacked by the Austrians under Archduke Charles, and the pontoon bridges required by the French for supply and reinforcements were destroyed by the Austrians.  The French that had managed to cross the Danube established a defensive bridgehead using the two villages of Aspern and Essling as anchors.  Huge numbers of Austrians advanced to eliminate the French army. Several French attempts to break out had been beaten back.  

This game concentrates on the action in and around the village of Essling. The central feature is the village of Essling itself, with the enormous stone granary, forming a massive strongpoint:

The view from the Austrian side:

The battle began with some probing attacks by the Austrians; with some infantry that were raked with artillery and musket fire and light cavalry on the left, being driven off by French horse artillery:

The French light cavalry charged into the disorganised Austrian infantry sending them reeling:

The situation on the left is temporarily restored, but the Austrian heavy cavalry charge forward:

They are met and destroyed by French Cuirassiers and destroyed.

Austrian attention shifts to the right flank.  Three large columns advance towards the walled area known as the Long Garden, held by French light. The assault by the Austrians is checked but the French light suffer heavily.

The Austrians pour in more troops and eventually the French light are overwhelmed, giving the Austrians control of the French right. The French begin to organise a counter attack.

Supported by artillery, a second French light battalion advances on the long garden.

The Austrians counter attack and despite causing some more French casualties, they are destroyed.  A similar assault against the French artillery fails as the Austrian column is torn apart by close range artillery.

The remnants of the Austrian column pulls back into the long garden and is finally finished off by French infantry and artillery.  For the time being the Long Garden is secured once more.

Over in Essling village the French mount a small counter attack with two fresh infantry battalions, pushing back the Austrians before them.

The French counter attack is successful but they begin to suffer in the open ground outside the village.

The Austrians counter attack with their heavy cavalry causing more French casualties. The surviving French retreat back into the Granary.

The Austrian heavies are met by French cavalry and horse artillery, as well as musket fire from the buildings.  The Austrian horse dissolves

Suddenly it is all over.  Archduke Charles is shocked by the unsustainable level of casualties and begins to pull back.  The exhausted French take the opportunity to withdraw back across the Danube.  With a score of 8 - 4 to the French it is a resounding victory, however, most of the French units have casualties.

This was a great game that somehow reflected the historical action of 1809.  

All the figures are Warrior castings, originally from the collection of Jef, who was responsible for the wonderful painting.  The rules were used were Command and Colors, using the game cards rather than our usual action points methods.

A Clash in Spain - Battle Report

Will came to visit over the weekend and we managed to play a couple of games.  the first, and the most enjoyable, was an encounter between a French force against an Anglo Spanish army.  The terrain was very simple, with the action being fought across a shallow valley with the armies poised on the higher ground on each side of the table.  A few small woods broke up the otherwise open battlefield:

Each army consisted of around 10 battalions, four gun batteries, two heavy and two light cavalry regiments.  On the Allied side all of the cavalry were Spanish:

I played the Anglo Spanish army and Will the French.  I decided that I was going to glue myself to the line of small hills and allow the French to come on, which they did with an advance on my left flank, with some light infantry, supported by cavalry taking the small wood.  I deployed my horse artillery forward to harass  the french light infantry, but they were soon chased off:

The French light in the wood would be a pain for the rest of the battle.  The French attack developed and soon a major engagement began on my left.  Whilst all this was going on Will pushed some more of his infantry into the central copse, supported by his horse artillery.  My infantry and artillery blunted this move:

To maintain momentum, Will pushed forward his heavy cavalry brigade to threaten my centre.

One of the French dragoon regiments charged up the hill to take one of my gun batteries, but were beaten off by heavy fire.

The close proximity of the French cavalry forced my infantry to form squares  but the allied cavalry counter attacked.  I lost a Spanish Cuirassier regiment and Will's troops were pushed back, losing his horse artillery in the process.                                                          

Over on my left, more French infantry infiltrated the woods and fired upon my exposed British battalions:

The slow attrition of the battalions on my left flank continued but despite the heavy casualties the British battalions clung on as Will brought his cavalry across to support that flank.

All the time the guns from both sides pecked away at any exposed troops.  The french attack in the centre melted away following a stout defence and some effective counter attacks by Spanish cavalry

Over on the left The British brigade had been reduced to just one effective battalion and so I moved a Spanish regiment across to bolster the position.

Although my left flank was very much reduced Will was weakened too, especially in the centre, where his attack had all but failed. Attention now shifted to my right flank, which up until now had seen no action, with the Spanish battalions largely untouched. Will threw his cavalry forward with three battalions, but my two artillery batteries and  Spanish infantry regiment Muerte blunted this move.

With the French centre now exposed Spanish dragoons thundered forward and swept away a French battery.  This led to the French reaching their exhaustion point and they began to withdraw from the field

This was 'a close run thing' for the allies, as someone else said.  The result was an Allied victory at 8 - 6.  All the figures used, apart from a couple of generals were by Warrior Miniatures.  The rules were our own adapted Command & Colors set.  It was a fun game that had us both engaged until the very end.