"My First" Prussians make it to the Leipzig Tabletop

My Prussians finally make it to the tabletop in a battlefield formation! It has only taken them ten years to turn from silver legion wannabes to fully painted Prussian heroes with a flag (see below, as they march on to meet the French):

Meanwhile the Prussian maidens and womenfolk are left weeping as their menfolk walk off to war (see below, their view - "Will they ever see them again?") :

As part of the "map consolidation phase", the two separate battles being fought simultaneously are joined together on one table. An impressive Herculean task if truth be told as apart from the very "gingerly" physical movement of toys, much mental dexterity was required to rotate and merge the battlefield geography without teleporting troops in random directions (see the following photo sequence for full appreciation of the size of the battle):

My Prussians are part of a massive mixed  Prussian and Russian infantry XXX (see above top left, second formation down, the neatest formation bar the French "Old Guard" on table IMHO). On teh downside, they are headed towards a formidable line of French Artillery backed by infantry and cavalry. In short an "all arms" wall of death, not a nice wargaming christening (see below):

The panoramic view from the French lines on the main battlefield (see below, the Prussians/Russians are top, moving onto the battlefield and the French in the center of the photograph to bottom, ready and waiting, just off to the right would be a large formation of "Old and Middle Guard!" just emerging from the fields around Leipzig):

The view of the French dispositions across the blue river in the above photograph is shown below (see below, the French have a good combined arms force but are outnumbered, however the Guard Artillery 'park' and Cavalry XXX are within easy reach): 

The man himself, Napoleon, is now awake and talking to his beloved Guard, admiring their potent artillery pieces and the glint of steel catching the bayonet and cuirass of their infantry and cavalry (see below, ahem note the understated six figure command base as befits The Emperor):

I have a feeling The Guard may have to be committed early to crush one threat and then turn upon another in true Napoleonic genius for the French to win this one!

The Road To Leipzig Is Blocked by the French

The French infantry managed to deploy and squared off against the Russian/Prussian vanguard. Both sides view an attack across a defended river line rather unwise. The Blucher decided to take up a strong defensive position and use their artillery to good effect until the bulk of the Allied infantry arrived (see below):

Meanwhile the Russian heavy artillery (see below, top left hand corner) showed its teeth to the body of French infantry posing such tempting targets across the river (see below, top right hand corner):  

The French seemed content to "sit it out under the guns" until their own reinforcements came on. These happen to be a certain "Guard Artillery" formation. Time will tell if Blucher will appreciated the weight of this 'incoming cannon' as much as he was enjoying the 'outgoing'. This strange mismatch of "good troops in all the wrong places" came about from this simple enough looking board game (see below):

Note: Main battle to the LHS of the map, mini battle to the RHS of the map. Napoleon's counter is yet to be awakened from his slumber.

Meanwhile I am trying to paint a few more Prussians to make a complete "Age of Eagles" battlefield formation. Currently I am more spectator of other general's formations! The thought of literally moving my own troops is enticing ;)

Leipzig Continued ... the Allies Gather

As the opening phase of the main battle field draws to a close another meeting engagement sparks into life on a smaller table. Two French cavalry divisions (see bottom of the photograph) supported by integral horse artillery face off the powerful Allied vanguard. The river is fordable but the French cavalry are intent on denying the Allied artillery use of the bridge. This is very much a French delaying action (see below):  

The French cavalry are soon to be joined by a mixed force French infantry, cavalry and artillery on a road leading off from the right hand side of the above photograph (see below):

Blucher is rumoured to be close to hand, but no sign of the inspirational German as of yet! Will the Allies have the bottle to force a crossing or will they stall deploying and waiting for sufficent reinforcements?

A Dangerous Thing To Do: 15mm Napoleonic (1813 Leipzig)

I have been missing the gaming aspect of wargaming for the last few months (work/life balance thing), but I had a chance to pop into the local friendly wargame taverna and walked into the frenzied preparation for The Battle of Leipzig 1813 (see below, can you spot some harried looking Austrians, er or should that be Russians, looking for some decent hard cover):

It is a dangerous thing to pick up 15mm Napoleonics. They linger in your hand and start calling out to you "Where have you been?". I can hear my unpainted lead pining for me in the loft. We shall see what future posts will bring ;)

I have two  "ongoing" small Napoleonic painting projects (one French and one Prussian) started some ten years ago. All infantry, 15mm what was then Old Glory, but I think somebody else has picked them up now.

PS: The rule set is called Age of Eagles from the same people who brought F&F to ACW . If memory serves me correctly it plays well in "Big Games" although the artillery seemed too effective and deadly (more ACW than Napoleonic).