Storming The River, 1632

A most enjoyable game was had by all at the Wargamer Show last Sunday, as the Wyrler Retinue demo'ed another Thirty Years' War bash, with the Swedes attempting to force a river crossing in the face of a growing Imperialist presence.

Both sides were hampered by poor command rolls, the Imperialists by some poor morale as time wore on, but the Swedish cavalry (eventually!!!) got across the river at the marsh and began rolling up the Catholic forces, helped in no small part by the infantry who had finally got across the ford.

Men of the Match??? A close run thing between the Swedish Yellow Regiment, who stormed the ford under heavy musket and artillery fire and destroyed the Munich-Ebersberg Regiment, and the Swedish Blue Regiment, who stormed the heavy artillery battery on the hill opposite the ford and then, though shaken by their casualties and totally unsupported, took on and beat Jung-Tilly.

The Swedish Blues take it, as they refused to break, but the Yellows finally suffered for their losses and broke.

A resounding Protestant victory.

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The Swedish Brigade stacks up ready to storm the ford

The Foreign Brigade of Hepburn's and Schlammersdorf's Regiment ready to storm the plank bridge

One of the new cavalry regiments painted for this game, Schaffmann's Bohemian cavalry -  Warlord figures in the main, with a couple of Redoubt thrown in

The two contenders for men of the match

Hepburn's struggle across the plank bridge - those bad command rolls again!

Imperialist reinforcements arrive, but those command rolls are causing trouble again

The crucial fight that saw the shaken Blue beat the Jung-Tilly

Having finally ploughed through the marsh, the Upplands cavalry plough into the Imperialist commanded shot 

And the majority of the Swedish Brigade is now across the river, having held up the  cavalry for most of the morning!

Hepburn's was beaten on the bridge, but Schlammersdorf's took up the fray. A desperate Imperialist general kept throwing in his cavalry, with predictable results against pikes, even in march column.

The other new regiment for this game, which I shall call the Kaiser Arquebusiers. They are Warlord figures, the flag simply called "after de Waggky" on the leaflet in the box.

Schaffmann's again

Holtzmuller's dragoons storm through the Imperialist artillery camp on their right flank 

Catholic League Regiment, 1631

One whole base of figures does not a regiment make (unless you are playing one of the Polemos variants or similar perhaps), but one base of figures enabled me to finally stop mixing Jung-Tilly and some Catholic League troops and give the latter their own identity at last.

That one base, of just four figures, formed the second command element and is made up of a couple of Warlord plastics, a Renegade Scots pikeman masquerading as an Irish mercenary and an Assault Group officer. The rest of the regiment is made up of Renegade figures.

I still have a good six (at least) regiments of foot figures available to paint for this era, along with some more cavalry, some dragoons, artillery, generals and sundry bits and pieces.

I "need" some Protestant Germans, a Spanish regiment or two (for Nordlingen???)................

I will get around to some of this sooner or later and post some pics.

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The base in question.

The left flank of the regiment, preparing to give fire.

The original command element that shared duties with the Jung-Tilly one in the original hybrid regiment.

The right flank, with more muskets preparing to give fire.

A closer view of the Warlord ensign with (overly small) furled standard and Assault Group officer.

A Long Time Coming

Yet another unit that has taken me a while to get around to basing is this one, Jung-Tilly, circa 1631. I did the bases at pretty much the same time as I did Montpuillan's and Sarsfield's horse regiments (see previous posts earlier this month), as I tend to - batch base that is.

One of the main reasons for the length of time taken over finishing this pike block is the considerable annoyance I felt when the Leibfahne flag I painted up earlier this year flaked and was ruined (see much earlier post). Thus, I had to paint another, settling on something a little simpler for ease.....and promptly wishing I had just done the Leibfahne again, because that is the one I really wanted!!!

I also fell away from the Thirty Years' War. I have certainly not fallen out of love with it, but since the "Pike & Shotte" game at Stafford Games a couple of months ago, have been doing other stuff.

This regiment is not finished, however. I have no distinct musketeers for it as yet. I can also build it as a large unit a la P&S, so might get that Leibfahne after all. Up to now, the white flag in the unit has partnered a Catholic League one in a sort of generic unit. Alongside Jung-Tilly, I have also painted up a separate command stand to flesh that regiment out into a separate entity too, and the original, shared pikemen and musketeers went with that stand, allowing me to create Jung-Tilly anew, a sort of Junger-Tilly. I will photograph and post on the Catholic League regiment soon, but, for now, meet the meat in the JungTilly sandwich.

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My usual (for this period) mix of Renegade and Redoubt figures. The original flag I painted when the unit was a hybrid Jung-Tilly/ Catholic League one is the white one. The Virgin Mary icon is almost visible.

Head on view. I prefer more active poses, with pikes levelled in the front ranks, but they are a total b**ger to store!

The blue flag is identical on both sides. This view shows the motto on the white flag, which reads "Jesu Deus" vertically and "Maria" horizontally. How much more Catholic a regiment does one want, especially with the Virgin mary on the other side of the flag?

Stoutly defending a hummock.

My usual ill-advised close up....

DISASTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Or, at least, considerable annoyance)

I have been fleshing out my Thirty Years' War figures, slowly but surely, starting with additions to my Jung-Tilly and Catholic League regiments. To that end, I painted another 20 pike and command figures and it was time for the standards. I bailed out on one figure, giving him the (overly small) furled banner from the Warlord Games plastic ECW/ TYW command sprue, but Jung-Tilly was getting the Leibfahne.

Jung-Tilly Leibfahne, 1631

Here it is in all its "glory". It took me several hours yesterday to do. Apart from final shading, which I would do once hung and flapping, so I could add the relevant highlights, I was happy with it.

I carefuly peeled it from its backing (it is painted on a sticky label), having first bent it a little to better attach it to the staff...................................AND THE PAINT STARTED FLAKING OFF!!!!!!!!!!!

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

I have used these labels before without issue and have started again with the necessary flag. This time, however, suitably chastened and ever so totally miffed, I have gone for a basic blue with red crossed staves. Right regiment, easier flag.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

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Piccolomini Arquebusiers

Another solid enough performer, Old Glory figures again, flag sourced from the same German site as Hagen's. The link I have is http://www.hz-forum.de/30_krieg_fahnen/alle_fahnen.htm, but you may do just as well with "fahnen und standarten". I think the link was defunct last time I checked, but give it a go and see. Lots of lovely flags for units from both sides and different contributors to the respective Catholic and Protestant armies.

I chose this unit as something a little distinctive from several other Imperialist units. Not only does it have a distinctive name (famous in fact, to those who know their later 17th Century Austrian/ Hapsburg history), but a distinctive flag too, without a crossed stave, Madonna or eagle in site.

That village again, with yet another cavalry unit cantering through it.

More of the column, as seen from the perspective of a small boy sitting in a largeish tree.



Trying not to trample an errant sutleress as they emerge from the siege camp outside Steinkirche, the Piccolomini Regiment advances to try to head off the newly-arrived Swedes.

 Definitely time for another thread now. Swiss, Swedes, Burgundians, AK47 Republic, Punic Wars, Fantasy, WH40K and others will all feature in due course, so stay tuned.

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Croats

And now for something completely different.........

Well, not quite, as they are still Thirty Years' War, but different in that they are Easterners, skirmishers, do not speak German as a first language and dress funny.

I wanted some of these iconic light cavalry, but do not have a good feel for using such types in any period (do not get me started on the Numidians in my 15mm Carthaginian army!). However, the Imperialists had them and so do I! I usually race them up the table to draw out enemy horse, shoot a few figures with their carbines/ musketoons/ arquebusses, and then chase off somewhere else to do the same again, assuming there are enough of them left. They are nuisance rather than menace, gnat rather than dirty great wasp. As I have said before, I am a Kurassier/ Cuirassier at heart.

One day they WILL be glorious. I will post their glory for all to see when that day comes!!!

Again, these are Old Glory figures.



This flag is unique amongst my Thirty Years' War armies in that it is painted on calico. I did this firstly to try out the technique and secondly because of the odd shape leaving me dubious about being able to recreate it with a sticky label. I wish I had used cloth flags from the start, as I love the technique now I have tried it for my 1690 regiments.



Slightly closer and less glare from my usual gloss varnish on the flag is another bonus.

Steinkirche again, with the Croats arriving late along with the Schwarze Kurassiere. They did their job however. The Imperialist hearts leapt at the reinforcements (carefully timed to be largely useless!) and the Swedish hearts sank at the enemy to their rear. I love a bit of psychological warfare in my wargames!

I will add a few more entries to this section of the blog shortly, but feel a move back in time is in order soon. The Swiss are coming. Can Charles the Bold withstand the shock?

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Schwarze Kurassiere

Another unit of Old Glory figures, and the second I painted of Kurassiere, this is 16 strong at full strength. I have used a mix of mainly "ordinary" Kurassier figures with a smattering of Eastern armoured ones for variety, such as the figure on the grey horse on the right of the front row in one or two of the pictures.

Whereas I grade Pappenheim's as veteran, I tend to tone these down a bit and have them "Trained". They do not seem to perform any worse than their "superior" colleagues, now Pappenheim's are on their downer. They did a fine job in a game back in November at Stafford Games, when they shot down so many Swedish cavalry from the Vastgota regiment by caracoling the unusually static Swedes that they effectively won the left flank of the battle by themselves. Generally solid and dependable.



The Easterner figure mentioned above is closest to the camera




A slightly clearer shot, which I hope helps to show the variety with the basic Old Glory castings. This variety is helped by the separate right hands, so you can adjust poses a little within the same basic figure.



Kurassiere in a proper formation. Ideal for caracoling some enemy foot (or any enemy horse daft enough to sit around and let you do it!)




Another shot from the Steinkirche demo. The Schwarze arrived late in the rear of the Swedish lines, but were faced off by an about facing Swedish Blue Regiment in hedgehog, so spent their time on table trying to shoot the Swedes down, unable to get through to the main engagement.

  And now for something completely different......

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Hagen Arquebusiers

This, without a shadow of a doubt, is the worst unit in my Imperialist army. I can remember just one occasion when they did not either fail a morale test and flee without a shot being fired (by or at them) or were beaten in combat and fled. It does not seem to matter whether I armour them, support them, stick a general nearby or anything else, they underachieve massively. More than once has the flank of my infantry line had to form a hurried hedgehog or two as these lightweights flood past them for an early shower.

The good news is that I now expect it so can plan accordingly. The bad news is that I do not paint figures to leave them in the box! Also, a certain Colonel Hagen, head of Von Sparr's Kurassiere at Lutzen, along with other officers and several men from the same unit, was executed after the battle as his unit fled the field rather too early (source: "Imperial Armies of the Thirty Years' War (2)" by Brnardic, published by Osprey). I wonder.......I have recently painted a Jesuit priest vignette for the collection, so perhaps a 28mm exorcism is in order?

The flag shows one of the traits of Imperialist (and other) flags, namely that the two sides are not identical. Later Austrian flags have this trait also, which is a great way for we wargamers to not have to worry about symmetricality! How many times has a symmetrical flag been anything but on a wargames unit??? Bonus!!!

The figures are Old Glory.

The head of the column, showing one side of the flag. The arm from the cloud motif is a quite common one in 17th Century regiments.

Maximum variety is again in order - they are Imperialists!

Deploying into line at the head of the village has allowed us a glimpse of the other side of the flag, with a crucifixion scene. The flag was sourced from a German website, the address of which I have tried hard to rediscover. I will post when/ if I find it again.



Having surprisingly survived the loss of a couple of figures, they are still in the fight. Sadly, it did not last......they routed when Pappenheim, to their right flank, was routed in its fight with Baner's Lifeguard. Aldringen and Jung-Tilly, to the top of the picture, were also getting smashed by the Swedish Yellow Regiment at the time, so perhaps I am being a little harsh on them on this occasion.

More pictures later. Time to feed my kids......(human ones, not caprid. I do not even keep goats).

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Pappenheim Kurassiere

The first of the Imperialist cavalry I have painted was this unit, a few years back now. They are Renegade figures and, identical horse poses aside, are not bad figures. If I were not in an indescriminate haste to get started on this project, I would probably have mixed and matched a little, but hey ho!

These too are a bit of an enigma on the table. They started their career well, but I think the odd defeat in combat has got to them and they are on a bit of a downer at the moment.......This came to a head during the Steinkirche demo game. They were uphill, they were at full strength, they were fresh, they faced Baner's Lifeguard reduced to 67% through casualties, Baner charged, they countercharged, they routed! A full strength, veteran, Kurassier unit trounced by a few measly Swedes! Verdammten Schwedische!!! A pep talk is in order.............



The command section at the head of the column



And again

The tail of the same column, somewhere in Saxony perhaps. I have tipped a quick nod to the most basic level of uniformity with the sashes, but breeches, saddlecloths, leatherwork, etc., are as varied as I fancied, as with all my Imperialists.



That battle, that ignominious defeat.......Baner's Lifeguard offstage to the right. Shame on the novice (aka Nephew Paul) who deployed them in a long, thin line. Given their recent performances, however, I doubt a more Kurassier-friendly formation would have helped much.




And crumch!!! (And defeat......) At least Nephew Paul arranged them in a more reasonable order first.




Another head of column shot

I love Kurassiere/ Cuirassiers in any period. They are probably why I only field Continental European armies in Horse & Musket games. That and the fact that I hate painting red.

I noticed in the penultimate photo above that Pappenheim were flanked by the Hagen Arquebusiers. I wonder if contagion really is an issue for wargames units............see the next post for more on this line of thought.

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Aldringen Regiment

Plastic figures by Warlord Games form the Aldringen regiment, the flags again sourced from the excellent articles by Mark Allen many years ago in Wargames Illustrated.

This regiment was "finished" in a hurry immediately before the Wargamer show last December, so that I could add a few more figures to the Steinkirche demo. I say "finished", but in fact I have not yet done the musketeers specifically for this unit and it fought (valiantly as it turned out) with shot borrowed from Loebl and my Swedish Red Regiment (both also composed of plastic figures).

For that game, we graded the regiment "Raw", which means what it basically says, and they were one of the first units to rouse from the slumbering Imperialist camp to face the advancing Swedes and allies. They appeared alone on the Imperialist right, formed up and awaited, of all units, the veteran, well-equipped Swedish Yellow Regiment. As well as a "Raw" classification, we also gave the poor Aldringen soldaten no armour to help them, but still they held after casualties from shooting and when the Yellow Regiment ploughed into them. They held again after a beating in that first round of melee, but could not hold out after a second and routed into Jung-Tilly, stationed immediately behind them. Trained, experienced Jung-Tilly lasted just one combat against the veteran Swedes and the Imperialist right collapsed.

Aldringen had outperformed expectations, however, and earned itself a place in my heart, as well as a likely upgrade when next they take the field.



I again used some metal command figures in an otherwise plastic figure unit. The size differential between the Renegade standard bearers and the Warlord pikemen is perhaps a little too much close up, however.




I love this flag and hope I have done it reasonable justice. It epitomises Imperialist flags for me, with both sets of Hapsburg colours featured (yellow/ black and red/ white), as well as the classic crossed staves, and the modern Austrian flag on which the staves are imposed leaves no doubt as to their origin and allegiance.



Having said all the above, the other, reclined flag is halved horizontally, red and white, so perhaps they should be Poles........I am still not sure what the two standard bearers are arguing about, but "Talk to the hand" could be the caption.



Their greatest hour (though most of the regiment did not live to relate their tale). Alone and ready, Steinkriche, 11/12/11 (aka Summer 1632).

Perhaps some cavalry next time round.

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Loebl Regiment

Round 3 of a scheduled X round contest sees the Loebl Regiment take centre stage. This was not actually the third regiment I painted, that being a hybrid of Jung-Tilly and an unknown Catholic League one, but I have now chosen to thresh both of those out into full regiments, so they will feature later, once I have finished them (about a year next Tuesday then.....)

Loebl was my first foray into using the Warlord Games plastic figures and, slight size variation between them and the earlier Renegade pieces aside, they are decent if generic figures for the period. The annoying thing is there is too much variety in headgear for my chosen subject, so I either make do with various Scots bonnets and monteros, or leave figures in the box. I have used all the options for Loebl, with the Scots bonnets in my own mind being used for troops I imagine to be Irish. I like the heft of metal figures and plastics will not feature massively in the collection overall, but I have now painted one regiment of cavalry (Vastgota for the Swedes) and three regiments of foot (Loebl, Aldringen and the Swedish Red Regiment) all composed for the most part of plastics with the odd metal figure for specialist types. I have a couple more I can do also, when I get round to it.

The flags are again courtesy of Mark Allen's work in WI, painted by me onto sticky labels as I have for almost all of this collection, but the unit ratio has increased from 1:1 to 2:3 pike to shot, with the complete regiment coming in at 16 pike and 24 shot, though I do sometimes pare a few shot off as a forlorn hope or to help out elsewhere (with Aldringen mainly, as I have not yet painted their own shot).

Metal interlopers in the form of the standard bearers (one Renegade, one Assault Group) in an otherwise plastic figure unit



Four-fifths of the full regiment



Metal and plastic side by side. Largely indistinguishable?



Another option to get around the less useful headgear options in the Warlord box is to leave it off!



Another day, another shot, as the head of the column splashes out of the ford on the stream board I made for the Steinkirche demo game from last month's Wargamer show



And with a friend or two in support




Final shot, more of the same

For the uninitiated, the Warlord Games boxes for this period come in different forms, including a starter army, all at very reasonable (in my opinion) prices. Moving on from Royalist and Parliamentarian foot and cavalry, they added Imperialist and Swedish foot boxes, Swedish horse, Imperialist Arquebusiers and generic cuirassiers and dragoons, with use of metal riders in many cases on plastic horses. I have examples of all and recommend them for a quick and easy way to get started in this period. I do prefer metal figures however, but pay your money and make your own choice.

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