9th (Swiss) Division in Russia

M3 Lee's got sidelined a bit for a few days as I decided to empty my paint desk of half finished projects. One of them were the command bases for my Swiss and Croat forces for our Russia 1812 campaign. I didn't quite finish them for the last game where they were needed in May and as they weren't needed for a long while I more or less forgot about them. Well last week I finally got around to painting their horses and basing them. One more project finished and away from the desk.

When I got them finished I realized I hadn't taken any pictures of the force, so with the last minis finished from the project it was high time to take them out of the cabinet and take some pictures. So behold the 9th (Swiss) Division of the II Corps of the Grande Armee. I ended up painting only the foreign units of the division so it's missing four French battalions, but as there are plenty finished by other clubmates it wasn't really an issue. Technically the uniforms are actually wrong as the Swiss didn't use Bardin in Russia, but my manufacturer of choice Campaign Game Miniatures didn't have any suitable ones available I decided that the differences were minor enough not to bother with buying something else.

The 9th Division and Swiss troops in general were a nice subject that was quite close to me as even being a Finn I lived quite a few years in Switzerland as a youth due to my father's work. Being a history buff and interested in the Napoleonic period already back then I naturally stumbled upon the exploits of the Swiss troops. The Russian campaign does hold quite an important place in Swiss history symbolizing quite the sacrifices that Swiss mercenaries have made throughout history. A song based on a 1790s poem 'Die Nachtreise' is also popularized as a song called Beresinalied after the Battle of Berezina where the remnants of the Swiss troops held the Russians allowing thousands to escape over the river. Of the completely foreign rearguard force less than 300 survived the battle and only around 210 would be around when the regiments reassembled after the campaign.

First up the command stands representing Generals Amey, Condras and Coustard and a lone ADC. The ADC was painted up as halfway through painting the command stands I realized I'd accidentally taken an ADC model for a General and had to start one more mini. He'll serve as a disorder marker alongside wounded and dead soldiers. A rushing ADC should prove to be a good way to show a unit getting their orders mixed up. Most miniatures from AB as I find their command minis are better and far more varied than CGM. I haven't painted up the overall Divisional Commander Pierre Hugues Victoire Merle as we only use brigade commanders in our games. I still might add him later just to have him on the table for show if I need a quick appetizer project as I already have the miniatures ready.

Then the artillery park with 2 batteries of 6 pounders and 1 battery of 12 pounders. As far as I know the Swiss didn't have much integral artillery and their own artillery units were mostly stationed as garrison troops in Europe. Instead they had French artillery attached to them. All painted in the regular French artillery uniform.

The 3rd Provisional Croatian Regiment was raised in 1812 from the Croatian land ceded by Austria in the peace of 1809. Known as excellent skirmishers they were employed in that role in the French army as well and having a the same cut of uniform as French Light Infantry. Even though the Croats were not very enthusiastic about serving Napoleon two regiments still fought with distinction on the Russian campaign. Out of roughly 2000 soldiers of the 3rd Provisional Regiment only around 150 returned from Russia having fought in Polotsk and Berezina as well as multiple smaller skirmishes.

1st Swiss Regiment was the first regiment raised in 1805 according to the 1803 military convention between Switzerland and French requiring the Swiss to provide 4 regiments of all together 16,000 men for French service. The 1st Regiment would provide two battalions to the Russian campaign. The Swiss regiments saw heavy fighting in both battles of Polotsk against Wittgenstein's Russians before joining the rest of Grande Armee on the retreat where they would perform a vital rear guard action at Berezina.

2nd Swiss Regiment was raised in 1806, but only reaching operational strength around 1808. It participated in the Russian campaign with 3 battalions.

3rd Swiss Regiment was raised in 1806 as well, but as with the 2nd Regiment it would take until 1808 to reach close to it's official strength. Their strength in Russia was 3 battalions.

The final 4th Regiment started forming in 1807 initially with large amounts of Prussian prisoners of war. However when Napoleon discovered this an inspection of all Swiss Regiments was ordered in order to remove any Prussian soldiers from their strength. However by 1808 they had reached a strength of roughly 4000 men. As with the second and third regiments three battalions of the 4th Regiment served in Russia.

So there you have it, my little Napoleonic project from last spring and early summer. 13 battalions, 6 guns and some command figures all painted between March and May. It was really nice to build up a complete unit in a rather fast pace, but it did leave me quite uninterested in painting anything for a few months after that. Next time with the Saxons I'll leave more variety in between by painting other projects as well.

Russia 1812: Battle of Loubino

It's been a while since I posted anything related to our Russia 1812 campaign as I've missed a few games due to other commitments. However last weekend I was able to take part in the Battle of Loubino or Valutino Gora.

The real battle took place on the 18th of August after the battle of Smolensk when the retreating Russian troops needing to pass the crucial junction at Loubino fought a successful rearguard action against French forces commanded by Ney. Barclay de Tolly defended the river Stragan against a frontal attack by Ney. He was able to hold the assault long enough for most of the Russian forces to pass before withdrawing when dusk arrived. The French had an opportunity to trap the Russians as Marshal Junot had crossed the Dnieper with his forces and was in perfect opportunity to flank the Russian forces. However he refused to do this without explicit orders from Napoleon even when the sound of gunfire could be heard from a few kilometers away and requests for assistance were made personally by Murat.

Another account of the battle can be found on the blog of one of my clubmates Jaakko. Black Powder: Battle of Loubino (Valutina Gora)

Our scenario started with relatively small forces on the table immediately with one Russian division as a rearguard faced by 3 French divisions attempting to cross a river and drive them off before they could be reinforced. Some of Ney's divisions would arrive later as would Junot's Corps that would require a 5+ roll at the start of every turn to be able to activate.

The initial French advance on the left and center were fast with the stream being quickly forded and battalions pushing in to Russian positions and close combat. The French right flank was slightly lagging with the cavalry commander having difficulty understanding the rushed orders from Ney and Junot refusing to act.

The initial French assaults were very effective with the assault in the center and right flanks on the ridgeline devastating the Russians and pushing them back quickly. However on the French left a brigade of Russian Jägers however was holding on strong even while the French army bypassed them on the other flank.

On the extreme right flank a brigade of infantry had to be diverted to secure the flank against looming cossack and hussar threat as the French cavalry was still confused with their orders.

Just as the French are ready to push through to the second crossing point Russian reinforcements can be seen arriving from the direction of Loubino over the River Jarovina. They quickly form into a battle line waiting to repel the attacking French.

The lone surviving Jäger brigade from the first rearguard division continues to hamper French advances and even launches attacks against the rear of those French troops that have already bypassed them along the road.

With the first French troops crossing over to attack the Russians a fierce firefight breaks out between the opposing forces with artillery firing canister shot at near point blank range and both sides suffering heavy casualties. With darkness fast approaching the French renew their attack and try to push the Russians away with their bayonets. Casualties start to mount up with multiple battalions breaking on both sides as the close combat moves back and forth along the road.

The French cavalry on the right flank had finally shaken away their confusion and made good pace moving in to threaten the Russian right flank alongside Razout's infantry. However the timely arrival of a fresh Russian division of 8 battalions on the flank stopped the French advance.

With darkness coming down over the battlefield the fighting starts to quiet down as visibility drops. The Russians have successfully defended the road towards Loubino and denied the French any possibility of cutting off their retreat. However this came at a heavy cost with the Russians losses being high compared to any French losses. Junot's inability to act really hampered the French, but he did end up threatening the Russians in the end with his Corps moving up to striking distance. However it was too little too late and the de Tolly would be able to retreat towards Moscow ready to make a stand at Borodino.

Another great game with quite a lot of troops on the table (roughly 130 battalions). The next one will be fought in a few months time to allow for more troops to be painted as Borodino will really require massive forces. After that it's towards the retreat with at least Berezina to be played as a scenario.

Waterloo bicentennial game

After 11 hours of gaming, multiple hours of setup and cleaning it's finally over. Napoleon has conquered Brussels and is ready to face Austria and Russia.

We played our Waterloo bicentennial game last Saturday at the club with nearly all of the historical  forces present at the battlefield. The French were still missing some infantry and the Allies were missing  a few Regiments of cavalry. Still we managed roughly 6000 miniatures on roughly 11 square metres of gaming  area. Quite a bit of lead to be pushed around.

The battle commenced with both Reille and D'Erlon advancing their forces towards the Allied lines. After some fierce cannon fire La Haye Sainte was abandoned by the KGL troops occupying it. Sensing his chance D'Erlon immediately ordered his troops to occupy it only to see the lead Division swiftly move towards Houguemont and then retreating through the right flank of Reille's division (The wonder of two consecutive blunders in Black Powder). This was enough to allow the Brits to send in fresh troops to occupy the important farmhouse. Battle for it's possession would tie down one French brigade for much of the rest of the battle and finally lead to their destruction as well as that of the defending KGL troops.

On the French left Reille pushed back the British skirmish screen around Houguemont before ordering an assault on the farm itself. As at La Haye Sainte it would last for most of the battle itself before French forces would emerge victorious.

On the French right dire news reached Napoleon's ears. Blücher's advance guard had showed up around Plancenoit. Lobau was sent in to slow their advance. With the Prussians slowly making gains first the Young Guard was sent in to reinforce the beleaguered defenders and finally the Guards Chasseurs of the Old and Middle Guard were forced to lend their hand as well.

With the battle for La Haye Sainte in full swing the rest of D'Erlons corps advanced against the British lines slowly pushing the first troops away. This would prove to be a costly affair with both the Brits and French suffering heavily. Most of D'Erlons fighting power was spent and only the timely arrival of the Guard Grenadiers would save them and prevent the British troops from moving to reinforce their right flank and threaten Reille.

Even if D'Erlons attack proved costly he would in the end succeed in his objective to tie down one British flank and draw reinforcements there. While the battle was raging between La Haye Sainte and Papelotte Milhaud ordered his cavalry into attack through the ground between Houguemont and La Haye Sainte. The cavalry attack itself was of little effect, but forced the defending British troops to form squares. With them tied down French infantry was free to begin their work. Little by little the British right flank began to crumble and as the remnants of D'Erlons corps pushed through and captured the crossroads leading to Brussels there was little that the defenders could do. Even with the Prussians making gains in Plancenoit it was too little too late as the Allies had lost most of their cavalry while the French still had some fresh Regiments and controlled the important road to Brussels.

All in all a great game even if the result was not historically correct. Casualties were massive on both sides with the French finally gaining an upper hand. The French had managed to capture La Haye Sainte and Houguemont and cut the British army in two at separating them with the Brussels  road. Pursuit would be hot as the French had some light cavalry regiments fresh and waiting for the retreat to commence. With little allied cavalry left the pursuit would be merciless. Blücher on the other hand had most of his forces intact and could retreat towards Prussia in relative safety.

 D'Erlons Corps ready to commence attack.

  French left wing under Reille

 The Allied right flank hidden out of sight and in cover.

 D'Erlon commences the attack on La Haye Sainte and Papelotte

A firefight erupts between French infantry and British skirmishers screening Houguemont.

La Haye Sainte is cleared, but alas the French brigade  commanders misinterpret their orders and move towards Houguemont and finally retreat through Reille's corps when they realize their error. This  would provide the Allies with  enough time to reoccupy the farmhouse.

 The first French troops reach Allied  lines.

 Milhaud's cavalry moving through the fields ready to attack.

 The Allied right flank forms squares to protect themselves from the attacking French heavy cavalry.

 The Union and Household Brigades had some command issues, before they could start their attack on the French lines.

 Surprisingly even when failing to form squares some of the French infantry hold up in the face of the cavalry charge. Just enough to allow for Kellermann to come to their aid.

 French infantry bearing down on the British squares.

 Fighting in and around Plancenoit rages on.

 The Guard arrives! And this time it does not recoil even though it ends up being attacked in the side by Hannoverian Landwehr.

 With French cavalry breaking through the lines to threaten the Allied rear things are really starting to look dire for Wellington.

 The Brussels road is completely in French control and cavalry moves in to secure the area.

 

 Blücher has managed to take half of Plancenoit, but it's too late to save Wellington.