Retreat 1812 - French Cuirassiers

During the last weeks it was rather quite on my workbench but nevertheless I wasn't completely idle:

These six chaps are part of the 1er Régiment de Cuirassiers which accompanied Napoleon on his Russia campaign in 1812. They suffered heavily during the battle of Borodino and lost many horses during the retreat from Moscow. Nevertheless the remaining few of them gathered at the western bank of Berezina river after the crossing and participated in a desperate cavalry charge to dispers the Jäger units Admiral Tschitschagow sent to seal off the French bridge head. Employing the last ounces of their strength they enforced a corridor to allow further retreat for the remainders of the Grande Armée.

The miniatures are from the excellent plastic box by Perry miniatures. They are easy to assemble and a real joy to paint. Only the faces are slightly better at the metal miniatures.

For the beginning I put together five troopers and an officer leading them. Somehow a trumpeter and an eagle bearer seemed too much for such a small unit. Additionally they most likely didn't have an eagle during the battle at Berezina river since the emperor ordered to burn them earlier.

As usual I painted them with Vallejo Model Colors. I primed them with my airbrush gun and applied the base colours - especially on the horses. Then usual, old-fashioned brushwork followed.

 

Special feature are the bases which I created exchangable. Therefore I cut and sanded the horses directly beneath the hooves and attached some small neodymium magnets there. These stick very well on the metal bases I mounted the horses on. Unfortunately I forgot to take of photo of the exchangable bases and now the figures are in the works of a friend whom I lended them. Anyway I'll hand some in later.

Please excuse the bad quality of the pictures this time. Somehow I didn't recognise their blurriness before I saw them on the screen this very morning... 

Will they leave Russia? - More 1812 Frenchmen...

Still Tactica rules my workbench and so here come a couple of Perrys' excellent 1812 Frenchmen and allies once again. This time I chose a couple of figures from their infantry and cavalry sets. Actually they were meant to be a group of heroes for the last bonus round in Curt's painting challenge but unfortunately I wasn't able to finish them on time.

Actually I tried to paint them slightly unusual. More precisely I wanted to represent as many soldiers as possible from my home area: The Grand Duchy of Cleve-Berg and the Kingdom of Westphalia.

These are my humble the results:

An officer from some kind of cavalry unit. Actually all of his clothing besides the coat is civilian. But this coat is the pattern usually worn by cavalrymen of the Grande Armée. On the table he'll represent an officer from the 1st Regiment of Dragoons from the Grand Duchy of Cleve-Berg.

An artillerymen from the French or allied foot artillery. Actually he is from the infantry set but the greatcoat is hidden enough to resemble the double-breasted version which was worn by the artillery as well. His shoulders are covered with a civilian blanked which I painted in a checked pattern so his epaulettes aren’t visible. Actually he might be from my home the Grand Duchy of Berg as well…

Another infantrymen with rather average equipment. He’s wearing an army greatcoat and a civilian jacket and cap. Once again this guy could be used as a soldier from every regiment of line infantry or any other unit. In Hamburg he'll serve as Fusilier Albert Bordelaise from the 72e Régiment d'Infanterie de Ligne which was part of famous Ney's IIIrd Corps.

A soldier from Napoleon’s Légion Portuguese. Clearly recognizable from the very special hat. In addition he’s wearing an army greatcoat and a couple of civilian scarves. For playing reasons I christened him Frederico Gonzales.

A very nice figure of a hussar having lost parts of his kit and wearing a kind of blanket. I chose to paint him greenish since he should represent a soldier from the 1st Westphalian Hussars. Who ever will visit us at Tactica will see this guy in the roll of Segeant Florian vom Bocketal.

Just a grenadier from a line infantry regiment. He’s wearing a combination of mostly civilian clothing and an army greatcoat. Therefore special characteristics aren't recognizable and so I like the idea that he is from a unit from the Grand Duchy of Berg. Just as Grenadier Carl Lautermann from the 1. Bergisches Linieninfanterieregiment which served with Napoleon's Grande Armée in Russia and with in Hamburg.

Cavalryman from the 1st Carabiniers. This regiment served with four squadrons in the 4th Cavalry Division under General de Division Jean-Marie Defrance at Borodino. This guy here seems to wear a rather full kit under his greatcoat although he obtained some civilian clothing as well. Anyway he looks fierce wielding his two pistols and therefore I use to call him “Django” in a friendly way.

Most difficult part was of course his face behind the scarf. I didn't want to underline it too much but I got eager to paint the eyes. To me they turned out well...

As usual I employed Vallejo model colours. It was great joy to paint these figures since they are as excellently sculpted as the other miniatures I know from that range. Especially the hussar general (the heroe entry) and the hussar with the blanket have extraordinarily detailed faces. 

But when I varnished the minis great havoc came over me. Carelessly I used Army Painter Anti-Shine for the final layer and stuff partly dissolved the paint and caused it to wrinkle partly. Fortunately most defects are rather small but the Portuguese infantryman and the Frenchman with the purple cap are rather filthy. I was so angry yesterday because Anti-Shine caused me to repaint a dozen horses two years ago (reports here and here) so I should have known better than using it again. But in between I used it on some other miniatures and it worked well. Anyway that stuff will never touch my miniatures again!

 I hope you like the results nonetheless. Up to this point I couldn't bring myself to decolour them because some of them are just the best painting standard I'm able to produce…

Another 1812 game

Last friday at the club we started the final act of our preparation for the Tactica convention in Hamburg this February. This year we'll present a selfmade ruleset for Napoléon's retreat from Russia in 1812. It'll be a scenario driven skirmish game that will make the special situations come alive which French and allied soldiers faced on their way back home. The game is based on an idea of our fellow club member Bernhard Hennen who realized it during the last year with some help from other team members here and there. Holger who is a professional graphic designer formed the layout, Robert one of our most gifted terrain builders prepared the board and I had the pleasure to contribute some humble text work.

Anyway last Friday we played the first test match with the -for the moment- final version of the rules and here's what we experienced:

It's late November 1812. Napoléon's Grande Armée fell at the last hurdle when they found Moscow plundered and burning. They started their imperative retreat much too late and were suffering from hunger and cold from the very beginnings. After they reached Smolensk around 11th November they had no other choice than proceeding because the city was empty of rupply and the Russian forces were gathering to prepare the final blow against the French. A few days later the enemies met near Krasnoi. The Russians tried to surround Napoléon's forces and block their way. From 15th to 18th November there were several skirmishes fought and only a daring attack of the French Imperial Garde made an escape possible because their fierceness and audacity let Kutuzov hesitate. But not all of Napoléon's troops were able to use the chance. Ney who commanded the rearguard was cut off with his corps by Russian troops. So he had no choice but seeking another way. He turned down the Russian offer of honourable surrender claiming that a French Marshal would never surrender. On 18th Novemver he managed to enforce a gap in the Russian encirclement and by night he withdrew over the frozen Dnieper River.

Our scenario starts on the very next morning. Our warbands (called 'companies' in the game) were roaming around in the woods at the Northern banks of Dnieper River. During our nightly passage our corps lost all its heavy equipment including all of its guns and all heavy wagons. In addition a lot of our comrades broke through the partly thin ice and found their freezing deaths. 

But we made the way over the river. Now we are wet, confused and disoriented but at least alive. The land is cloaked in thick morning mist. Behind us there are sounds of others. Are there other French stragglers or the ever-present cossaks chasing us? Not knowing whether these are friend or foe we're stumbling forwards to find a warm and dry place to take breath.

The scenario board... In the middle the first figures, at the bottom our unknown followers and on top the space to discover.

The board was set up rather simple. Because of the fog our sight distance was reduced to 6". We started vaguely in the middle of the table with a lot of unknown things behind us (represented by markers which are labelled on the back) and some unknown terrain in front of us (the empty space on the other side of the table). Our mission was to recce the terrain and find a place to take shelter for a few hours.

My Old Guard company fighting side by side with some ragged cavalrymen.

So on the one hand we wanted to advance quickly to find out what's at the unknown part of the terrain but on the other hand we didn't want to plunk into an ambush. So we split our forces. While Heinz and me represanting some Old Guard troops went forward Holger and Axel covered our backs. Luckily Axel found out that at least a part of our chasers were stragglers which we didn't discover aerlier because of the limited range of sight.

At least one group behind us were stragglers...

While he tried to help some of these unlucky comrades, Heinz and me made our way to the edge of the woods. Meanwhile a well known personality joined our vanguard. Marshal Ney the "Bravest of the Brave" took lead of our band and gave us moral support.

Some Old Guard chasseurs exploring the clearing.

So after the first one or two turn our four companies had spread widely over the gaming board and we were a bit confused where danger and were shelter might lie in wait.

Hoping that all of the guys behind us are just French stragglers we turned downwards to the clearing across the woods.

Here are some further impressions of our approach:

My grenadiers forming a line to be able to stop any surprising assault.

Some of Holger's cavalrymen supporting some weak stragglers.

Finally we discovered that there was a small hamlet in the woods. Although it didn't seem to be very luxurious it looked large enough to provide shelter for our ragged soldiers which were chilled to bones. Suspiciously there came voices from the cabins which sounded Russian somehow...

Carefully we advance...

Actually we wanted to be careful but one of Axel's officers was too chilled to wait any longer. We ran to one of the houses and looked inside. Unfortunately a bit too careless because the cossacks inside spotted him the very same moment he caught sight of them.

The unlucky officer and some upset cossacks...

So hell broke loose. Alarm cries echoed through the village and out of each and every house there were cossacks appearing. Within moments our comrads therein were surrounded and faced grim melee combat. Fortunately Heinz had the presence of mind to rush towards the sled gun which was located in the middle of the hamlet and fired it at the advancing foes. Well, Old Guard chasseurs are no artillerymen. Somehow he managed to hit a single cossack only but at least the canon was discharged and no danger for now.

The Old Guard chasseurs near the large sled rush towards the gun.

So for now the hamlet was save. This was the chance for Holger and me to stormed into the croud of cossacks and slice to pieces. While Axel's German allies were clearing the front of the buildings our two companies charge the Russians which had no chance against our skilful fighters.

We're gaining the upper hand.

Ney cheering bravely.

The Russians last stand.

As fast as the quarrel started it was over. A dozen cossacks lay lifeless in the snow which was dyed red meanwhile. We completed our mission and found safe shelter for the night. One of the rare chances to dry our clothes and rest our exhausted bones.

But luckiest of all was Colonel Marbot the leader of Holger's company. Somehow he managed to catch one of the cossacks' horses and safed a new mount for himself.

A cossack holding the horse which will be caught by Marbot later.

At our next fortnight meeting we'll play another game and will practice another scenario for Tactica. Besides that our collections are growing steadily. Most of the excellent stuff you see above is from Bernhard's collection with a small couple of additions from myself. Figures mostly by Perry Miniatures, houses from Grand Manner and trees mostly selfmade.

From Russia without love - Part 2: Five retreating Frenchmen painted

Some weeks ago I converted a couple of Victrix Old Guard Grenadiers for a skirmish game during Napoleon's retreat from Russia 1812 (older post here). Meanwhile they are finished more or less and I had the great pleasure to have them on the battleboard once. Since a friend of mine is working on a new ruleset for such games I participated in the first testing game.

However I'll have to add some minor details (e. g. the officer's buttons, some dirt...) but on the whole I like the result of my humble efforts with greenstuff:

The only thing I have to find a replacement for is the snow. I used Citadel Snowpowder and after several days it turned a bit yellowish-beige....

Having finished this quintet I'm really looking forward to lay my hands on  Perry miniatures I ordered recently. Hopefully they'll arrive tomorrow and the lot should include the two first sets of the twins. Meanwhile the released even more promising Frenchmen on retreat and I cannot wait to see Marbot's sleds available. There's a lot to come for Russia 1812. Have a look at their workbench here.

From Russia without love: Grande Armée retreating in 1812

Currently Bernhard, a wargaming fellow of mine, is working on a ruleset for Napoleonic skirmish games. More precisely it will be a game broaching the issue of the retreat of the French Army from Russia in 1812. To support this I decided to prepare a small force of scattered Frenchmen. I used parts from the Victrix Old Guard Grenadiers, from the British Line Infantry and some greenstuff to make these five fellows:

Some scattered veterans of the Grande Armée

Although I'm really humble with greenstuff, it was great fun to alter those miniatures. I'm very curious how they will turn out painted. However there'll be more conversions to follow. My goal is to get about a dozen of those guys which should be enough for Bernhard's skirmish game.

By the way Russia 1812 seems to be an issue for several professional manufacturers at present. The Perrys as well as Westfalia Miniatures will make some nice and impressive figures soon. Here are some preview pictures:

Perry greens for retreating French infantry (look at their site here)

An excellent Napoleonic sledge from Westfalia which should be available end of January (here is their site)

You all probably know the Perrys since they've been making excellent miniatures for years but have you heard from the second company?
Few of you must have. For example Michael Awdry from 28mm Victorian Warfare Blog excellently painted some of their funny rude Highlanders (here). However Westfalia is a very small Germany based manufacturer who makes very special miniatures and models which the "Great Ones" don't offer. The quality as far as I have seen is great and the atmosphere of the models is awesome. When you're interested in Napoleonics, then you should definitely have a look at their homepage (here).