More Recovery Capers

The last lot of post Covid recovery capers has now been superseded by yet another another bout of health-related recovery consisting of mini-painting therapy (lots and lots of therapy!) after a Pacemaker implant. The whole thing was out-of-the-blue but after some unpleasantness and now no longer bed-ridden things are definitely looking up and generally speaking, much improved as evidenced by the amount of figures etc, I've managed to churn out over the past few months and weeks.  Well anyway - I was surprised as I literally had no idea. Anyway enough of this waffle and on with the show! 

The Imperial Indian cavalry officer is the last figure/conversion I did after painting my last commission job (Napoleonic Saxon Chevau Leger in the previous post). It finally gave me two units of Indian cavalry that fit in with colonial British forces from the 1880s right up until after WW1. I think the rest are Northstar (Artizan?) with Woodbine heads. The body was an early Japanese or Nationalist Chinese officer in flat cap so the head swap with some delicate Dremel carving kinda works. 

The next lot are courtesy of my mate Peter who gave me a ton of his extra lead some of which I've subsequently painted up for another pal. These are WW1 Turkish officers and a squad for Palestine (Artizan or Great War sold by Northstar?) The guy in the green with the Astrakhan cap could be a senior officer Kemal Ataturk or the like. The next lot (also Peter's 'extras') are Arab & Bedouin irregulars, soon to be reinforced by some superb Paul Hicks sculpted Arabs from Lon Weiss' redoubtable Brigade Games. Not so sure they were all as colourful as this lot but you know what? Don't care!!! They can be Abdul Bulbul Amir's 'Pride' squad!

The next I completed are my for intended Franco Prussian War (FPW) skirmish game project and follow on for the FPW Bavarians and Jaeger I posted previously. I decided that although I have a huge collection based three to a 60 x 25 for large scale battles (as once demoed at Cancon and posted years ago on this blog!) that I'm unlikely to put on any such large games again so will concentrate on smaller 1-150 figures per side larger-scale skirmish games. This requires individual basing but rather than re-base my entire collection I'll probably sell part off, re-base some and do the rest on single bases for the new Perry's plastics. Another innovation are the round casualty counters that I originally bought from the clever folk at Warbases UK for my Napoleonics but I've just finished for FPW games. Each counter can represent up to twelve casualties and look a damn sight better than the usual dice or markers. You can really do them up - a dead'un and a bit of flocking and you're good to go. Although probably more suited for the larger bases/big games I like the look of them so haven't decided whether to keep or sell them yet.

Also new were my Perry plastic Prussians! They are beautifully sculpted and show that Perry set the benchmark for extrusion molded hard plastic figures. They're part of the single based figures for skirmish games.  The idea is about 4-6 infantry, 1-2 cavalry and 1-2 guns per side. So far have two Prussian and four French units re-based as singles so just awaiting the release of Perry's FPW box of French. The flag is my own created with my CorelDraw graphics and my industrial-strength HP Laserjet colour printer. Woohoo! A decent printer at last!

 

Amongst the other figures I'm planning on selling are my old Foundry Württembergers and I have over 50 figures in seventeen stands (of 3 figures each) with three commands (and six unpainted with another command) plastered in markets all over the internet. I've also made sure to have the correct standard for the main command stand. It was done on my old inkjet printer so not quite the quality of the Prussian flag above but all matt varnished and guaranteed not to fade or fall off! Pedants may notice a slight 'frosting' on the finish of the Prussian flag. This sometimes happens when otherwise excellent Vallejo matt spray varnish contacts laserjet toner. It's a pain but easily remedied with a brush-on coat of Micro Flat Clear Finish for Models varnish from Microscale. 

I'm wanting $200 AU for them but will negotiate and split into smaller unit(s). They are the first of a number of Foundry FPW figures (the old 25mm?) I'm selling and a rarity  as they are no longer made and as I understand it the FPW range were amongst the first the Perrys sculpted when they worked for Foundry. You too can own a piece of wargaming history! ;-) 

The other project I've recently kicked off are my Back of Beyond armies for the terrific Setting The East Ablaze (ver 2) rules.  The first are the White Russians (in Chinese service) mercenaries. The beauty of these are that you can play them from early war Europe (1914) to the Back of Beyond scenarios in the Central Asia and the Far East until the 1920s. So far I've managed two units of infantry (Siberian Rifles), one of cavalry (Siberian Uhlans in flat caps) a Maxim HMG and an 18pdr Field Gun supports but my favourites are the Copplestone(?) Russian officers including the bemedalled General Fatsiev Bombatsky. His bloated eminence is a terrific pulp figure perfect for a White Russian mercenary commander! 

The Lewis gunner and bandaged head figure are conversions. The figure to the right of them is a Mongolian scout
(or Chinese bandit - take your pick!)

The White Russian mercenary force so far - with ACs

I've really enjoyed painting all of them. I've given the force a couple of Lancia Armoured Cars for good measure. Next on the list are Chinese Nationalist regulars, cavalry and a horde of warlord irregulars and bandits, followed by another horde of Buddhist Mongolian cavalry (a la Von Sternberg!) It promises to be a lot of fun when I finally get them all finished.

Russian Siberian Uhlans (converted figures of unknown make)

10th Siberian Rifles - Copplestone figures

Glad I've managed another post this year with everything that's been going on. My generous mate Doug is taking me out to my first wargame in months this weekend as frustratingly (but understandably) I'm not allowed to drive for a while. We're gaming 2nd Gaza (WWI in Palestine) and my Brits will have to advance across a mile of open ground against entrenched Turks. Yikes!  Really looking forward to it nonetheless.

That's it from Doc's 'Art of War' for now.

Doc Smith

The Lockdown Follies cont'd...

 Last month it was doing all the fantasy figures (farewell to my old LotR and a GoT commission) whilst in lockdown this year. After a brief interlude the *#%$ing Covid lockdown has extended curtailing all meetings and games although resulting in a corresponding range of projects being completed.  Some have been hanging around for years and now finally getting attention. 

That said the one that I was really enthused by was the more recently acquired Empress Miniatures Model T Ford scout with de-mountable HMG & crew. It is a really superb model of the first Ford truck with beautifully sculpted figures which come in several sets to enable multiple choices in your model set-up. Here it is all based up and good to go. Note that the NCO figure with the binoculars is a conversion of another Empress 'Jazz Age' figure using a Woodbine head, the actual crew consists of the two MG and the driver. 

Historically these scouting vehicles were introduced in the Palestine campaign in the Middle East in early 1917 and operated mainly by the Australian Light Horse as well as the British Yeomanry. Despite the mechanical difficulties of maintaining these machines in such a hostile desert environment they were remarkably effective - the Turks had no real answer to them. By the end of the war ALH Model T scouts were the furthest advanced of any Allied unit ending up in Aleppo, northern Syria just next to the Ottoman Turkish border. 

I was so impressed with how it eventually turned out (although fairly simple the Ford was a tricky build - and getting the MG and crew to fit together involved much superglue and bad language!) that I have acquired another (from my great kids for Fathers Day!) I'm in the process of doing it up now - after commission work that is. This Model T was (unbelievably) more of a challenge to build than the first one but here's what it looks like ready for paint:

Amongst the figures I've painted are a number of Revolutionary and Napoleonics I've had left over or waiting around (sometimes for years) for paint. These included some Trent French Revolution figures in tricorne for my French-in-Egypt army. Although many are in Kleber uniforms unique to the Egyptian campaign, the idea is to have a number of units in early Nap/Revolutionary kit that can also be used to fight in northern Italy etc. Note: Trent are a terrific range of figures who appear to have been bought out by Warlord and are now marketed by Skytrex. If you're into French Revolution or early Napoleonics these are definitely worth considering. 

As you recall from a previous post - they match in (ie. same make) as these guys:

Nicely animated and some fierce expressions! They also compare well and mix with other makes like Front Rank and Elite, speaking of which I happened to have an Austrian 'German' unit hanging around for years primed and ready for paint. So they too got the treatment! 

Lastly was this (old Perry?) figure of Marshal Ney - quite a challenge as it was in a very dilapidated condition. I tried to remove it for another base but no go - it was glued fast and in real danger of snapping off at the fetlocks! So with a bit of cutting back and pinning (cunningly disguised!) plus a good repaint the Marshal has been given a new breath of life on the wargaming table! 

I've been more productive than anticipated despite health concerns including a back injury that has limited the time spent at the painting desk. I've got to maintain my 5km walk per day too which means NOT risking the progress I'm making (oh so gradually!) by staying up hours every other night painting! Nonetheless I've managed all the above and a few odds and sods over the last six-eight weeks. 

Amongst the latest of these are the following Franco-Prussian War Bavarians. These are some of the original Perry's sculpts they did for Foundry back in the day (which was forty odd years ago!) - I have complete armies of them - but these Bavarians, like the Front Rank Austrians, have been waiting for years to be painted. I'd forgotten what lovely figures they are and found a regt. of Kuirassier to go with them (which still remain to be done). All of this was inspired by the recent release of the Perry's FPW range, particularly the boxes of Prussians. I'm hoping the commission work will fund a few boxes of them for skirmish games but I'm also eagerly awaiting their release of the French in plastic, hopefully this year. Meanwhile I've painted and based up the Bavarians as per my other FPW figures three to a 60 x 30mm base. 

Most of my commissioned work thus far (some lovely Calpe Saxons at the moment) are to pay for a unit of mounted Perry's Bashi Bazouks and some wonderful WWI French Hussars all of which will also need a good repaint. Until next time. 

Doc

PS: As usual feel free to comment!

FPW: Prussian allies - Wurttemburgers

I'm glad Foundry have decided to re-release parts of their Franco-Prussian War lines.  After all, they ARE the manufacturer of the largest and most comprehensive collection of FPW figures - and the most expensive!  Amongst those released again are the Wurttemburgers.  There are only four different figures including a mutton-chopped officer and a drummer.  The problem is of course for command stands - no standard bearer.  So I ended up making one myself.  He was originally an Austrian 1866 officer - but I gave him a pair of boots and cut some slots for the unique shoulder rolls with my trusty Dremel tool.  Fair amount of work but shaped plastic bits provided the flag and furry meal-bag.  The flag bearers sling & holster is made from paper and a musket butt!  I think the lot turned out OK - and Ian Croxal's Warflag provided a royal Wurttemburg flag for 1870.

In addition to the infantry I recently acquired some Foundry Chevau Leger - Bavarian - that can pass for the Wurttemburg version.  They are a considerable improvement on the old Foundry figures - and slightly larger.  Unfortunately all the figures I got were officers (with the two sword arm variants).  To make a command stand required I make one of them into a bugler (no problem - but I am running out of suitable plastic bugles!) and another into an NCO.  I replaced one sword arm with one holding a cavalry rifle.  Again, not unhappy with the results.

The Chev-Leger NCO

Der Truppen!

So still pushing out more FPW - still much to do, although the armies are now getting close to completion.  Frankly, I'll be glad when I've finished and can get onto some other projects including my beautiful Paul Hicks Duchy of Warsaw figures and my WW1 Belgian Minerva armoured car (the world's first!), to name but a few.

Cheers,

          Doc

Battle of Froschwiller at WinterCon 2012

As promised, herewith are the photos of the Black Powder FPW action at WinterCon.  As we had surmised, it ran its course over eight turns and after a pretty tough and even fight, ended with a pretty convincing Prussian victory by Turn 8.  The big difference this time was in the higher infantry casualties inflicted by the much bolder French this time round. This time the Prussians lost no less than 9-10 battalions of infantry and three regiments of cavalry. The French lost about 8-9 (or more?) battalions of infantry, three or four regiments of cavalry and all their guns save one - the equivalent of nine batteries (including the attached Mitrailleuse) in BP rules.  The fact that the Prussians didn't loose a single gun- even though half their eight batteries took casualties - says more about the effectiveness of the French artillery.   The French have more guns on the table, but they are less effective at long range than the Prussian ones - and the Prussians have three batteries off table firing at long range. While this aspect of the game produced a slight imbalance in Prussian favour, it did conform to historical reality where in the end it was the Prussian artillery that pounded the French into defeat and destroyed Froschwiller when the Prussian infantry couldn't take it.  Historically the Prussians lost over 9,000 battle casualties - slightly more than the French but the latter also lost an additional 12,000 prisoners.  In our game we didn't get the prisoners as the French withdrew but the casualties were about the same.

The French in the vineyards outside Froschwiller

The Prussians emerge from Worth and come under immediate fire 

- view from French entrenchments along the ridge from Froschwiller to Elsasshausen

The Zouaves next to Froschwiller

The Turkos in reserve just behind the town

This time the Prussians came under heavy Chassepot, artillery and Mitrailleuse fire from the outset, with predictable results!

The Prussian tactic was to target the French gun batteries and take them out before they could inflict too much damage on the successive waves of infantry coming across the open ground in front of the town.  For the most part, it worked.

The first wave of attackers destroyed, the second and third waves spread out and engage the French in the vineyard.

On the other side of the table Dom's second and third waves attack the Niederwald and advance on Elsasshausen in the French centre.

The successive waves of Prussian attackers bunch up at the end of the vineyard - but can't break in!

The French Chasseurs a Pied (closest) beat off no less than three attacks by battalions twice their number.

The situation by Turn 5. 

Note the two battalions and artillery battery that were across the road into the town have been eliminated - but so had three battalions of Prussians!

The situation at the Niederwald, Turn 5.  Dom's massed Prussians had made sustained attacks but had been held off with heavy casualties by outnumbered but resolute Zouaves and Chasseurs.

The pressure on the Niederwald position was intense with the French threatened to be driven out by sheer weight of numbers.  To relieve the pressure, the French in front of Elsasshausen left their entrenchments and supported by the Chasseurs in the Niederwald, drove into the advancing Prussian columns, bringing them to a sudden halt.

Perhaps inspired by the success of the counterattack in front of Elsasshausen, the French lancers had a rush of blood to the head and charged unsupported into the mass of Prussians advancing up the road to Froschwiller.  The usual fate in FPW of cavalry who attempt to frontally charge infantry is to be cut down but perhaps the sheer audacity of the move unsettled the Prussians who failed to stop them with shooting and still couldn't defeat them in three rounds of hand-to-hand! Similarly to the Cuirassiers, they were finally wiped out by a flank attack by a fresh regiment of Prussian dragoons.

Meanwhile in the vineyards next to Froschwiller, the relentless assaults by Michael's Prussians had slowly ground down Mark's French who were reduced to the plucky Chasseurs and were forced to bring up their reserves as the Prussians gradually expelled them from the trampled vineyards.   

As the French attack next to the Niederwald swung in the balance sucking in more French  including their cavalry brigade which had been in reserve behind Elsasshausen village.  Now a hole opened up in the centre of the French line which the Prussian cavalry - which didn't arrive on the field until Turn 5 - quickly  exploited, with three of the four regiments galloping in.  In the background the French Cuirassiers made another desperate 'deathride' into the middle of the Prussian line opposite the Niederwald but they were on their own as the unfortunate French Dragoons on the other side of the forest had been destroyed attempting to charge the Prussian guns.

The French armoured heavies should have punched through but the combination of Prussian Needlegun rifles and sheer numbers meant they found themselves, similar to their lancer brothers on the left flank, held up in debilitating rounds of hand-to-hand. 

The situation Turn 7 - the final phase of the battle.  The French Cuirassier had failed to break through and trapped in front of steady Prussian infantry, they were simultaneously charged in the flank by a fresh regiment of Prussian Dragoons and destroyed. This proved to be a decisive point as with that and the loss of a supporting battalion of infantry, the French counterattack in the centre failed.

Must be something in the water at Froschwiller as this battle inspired a number of  heroic and desperate cavalry charges. In this the Prussians were slightly luckier. The two regiments of Hussars charged through the now nearly empty centre of the French position - against one reduced French battery which they destroyed - and ended up doing a break-through charge against a second, which proved an entirely different proposition.

Instead of riding down the remaining French battery, the French artillerymen fought back with trailspikes and rammers, not only holding the Prussian hussars but inflicted casualties on them. Some of the remaining French infantry then charged them in the flank to make it an all-in brawl, eventually destroying one regiment of Prussian hussars.

On the extreme French right they had run out of reserves to feed into the Neiderwald and with only three battalions of Zouaves and Chasseurs remaining, Dom's Prussians started to clear the woods.

At Froschwiller Michael charged in his Prussian infantry, finally taking the vineyards and fatally reducing the reserve of Turkos, two battalions of which had moved up through the burning village under artillery fire to face a furious final assault.  

Doug had threwn everything forward in a last desperate attempt to break the Prussian attack but the second regiment of Prussian hussars and another of dragoons destroyed the remaining French guns and Doug's last infantry reserves in the centre.   Facing annihilation, the French in and around Froschwiller were eventually forced to withdraw.

At the same time Dom's Prussians were finally successful in driving the remaining French out of the Niederwald - although at a very high price.  At the end of Turn 8 the French had two small units of Chasseurs and one depleated battalion of Zouaves left in the woods - but it had cost at least four battalions of Prussians destroyed to take the woods.

The final scene, Froschwiller.  The Turkos are holding out to the last - covering the French withdrawal.  (Doug) MacMahon's command is under the tree at the top of the ridge in the middle.  Immediately in front of him is a victorious regiment of Prussian hussars and to his left, another battalion of Michael's infantry.  Time to call it a day.

Eight turns of action and the battle in the balance right up until the last.  After fighting this twice now and tweaking the scenario & rules etc for this, its remarkable how close the final result matched the historical one.  The introduction of cavalry to the scenario was a good touch.  Historically they didn't have much to do with the battle - the most significant part was the trapping of the French Cuirassier inside the town of Morsbronn to the left of the Niederwald, where some 700 were massacred within minutes by close range Prussian rifles - which does not exactly lend itself to our little scenario!  

Doug has masterfully condensed a huge battle directly involving two Prussian corps - the XI and the V - with the one and a bit French corps.  We couldn't quite match that number of figures but I think what we have managed to field worked well. At present we would have close to 500 pieces per side, which makes a Black Powder game of eight turns do-able.  Thanks go again to those who participated in our demo game in particular Dom (who helped test it out too) Mark and Michael.  

I think that just about does it for FPW posting on this blog for the time being.  While I still have dozens of figures to paint, we don't plan any more games until CanCon itself next year, by which time both our armies will be completed.  

Cheers,

            Doc