Russians and French

I'm still expanding my 15mm Napoleonic Württemberg army, and intend to add more now that, at the time of writing, Warrior Minatures has commenced trading again (urrah!).

Russian Uhlans (Polish), Warrior Miniatures

In the meanwhile, here are some Polish and Tartar Uhlans in Russian service I finished recently.  

Russian Uhlans (Tartars), Warrior Miniatures

They can be difficult to distinguish, except that the shabraques are different and the Polish penant is blue above red, whilst the Tartar penant is the other way up, although the Tartars do also have red czapkas.

French Dragoons, Warrior Miniatures

The Württembergers also got some French allies, in the form of a regiment of dragoons.  These will eventually be supplemented by some French infantry, this time from Magister Militum, bought, sadly, in their closing down sale (whilst Warrior was offline).

Artillery limbers, Warrior Miniatures

Finally I have some artillery limbers.  These are actually Warrior ACW limbers, normally with two horses, which I modded slighly and then added more horses.  I painted them as Russian artillery, but they could be used for anything really.

Next up will be some more Württemberg cavalry and probably the French infantry, but I need to get around to painting them first.

The Russians are Coming No.5

Just a quick update with another addition to my collection of 15mm Napoleonic Russians.  In this case I painted another general, to add to the four I already have.

This is a 15mm Warrior figure, in fact a Prussian general, but I thought it was quite a nice model so he was transferred to the eastern front.

As you can see he is riding past a French casualty.  This figure is actually from Peter Pig's AK47 range, sent back 150 years and painted up to pass as a fallen French officer.

One-Hour Wargames 14: Static Defence

We are currently running a simple campaign comprising linked scenarios from Neil Thomas' book One-Hour Wargames.  The outline of the campaign is described here, with the idea that whoever won the first game would get to choose the next scenario from a limited but branching list.  As recounted here, I won the first encounter, a 20mm Napoleonic French versus Prussians affair, which meant I got to select the second game we would play.

The scenario I chose was No. 14 Static Defence, where the defender was required to occupy two objectives (a hill and a built up area (BUA)), whereas the attacker only needed to hold one of them by the end of the game (15 turns).  Furthermore, to add to the defender's woes he would at all times have to keep at least two units within 12 inches of the hill and two units within 12 inches of the BUA.

For this game we stayed in the Napoleonic period but I was able to field my new, 15mm Warrior/Roundway Russian army for the first time.  My opponents would be French with some Bavarian allies and the rules used were our trusty WRG 1685-1845.  Order of battle was as follows:

Russian (6 units)
1 x Murmansk Musketeers (Lithuania Inspection)
1 x Rostov Musketeers (Lithuania Inspection)
1 x Tomsk Musketeers (Siberia Inspection)
1 x Ekaterinoslav Grenadiers (Lithuania Inspection)
1 x Emperor's Cuirassiers
1 x 6th Jägers

French/Bavarian (6 units)
2 x French Line
1 x Old Guard
1 x Bavarian Line
1 x French Cuirassiers
1 x French Foot Artillery
 
The scenario puts the defender in the difficult position of having to defend two objectives but not knowing which one the attacker will go for.  The obvious objective would be the BUA, because it is closer to the attacker, but that's not how I decided to play it.  The map below shows the terrain and also what happened...

My plan was to attack the hill at the defender's side of the board, bypassing the BUA altogether.  I would advance directly to and assult the hill using my cuirassiers as a screen, whilst my jägers would invest the central wood to harass the enemy from there, thus securing my flank.

The French plan was to defend the BUA in strength (with the Old Guard and the artillery in attendance) and use the cuirassers as a mobile defence in the centre.

My plan went well.  As my infantry advanced in column up the left towards the hill, my curassiers surged forward to engage their French counterparts, whilst my jägers marched into the central wood.

The cavalry quickly engaged and the French found that they were no match for my newly painted Russians.

Meanwhile, the French, realising that the BUA had been completely bypassed, desperately started to move the defending troops out and towards the other side of the table, forgetting (perhaps) the requirement to stay within 12 inches of that objective.

In the centre things were going very badly for the French cavalry.  Being forced to flee they were pursued (and eventually caught) by the Russian cuirassiers (note hastily redeploying French artillery about to be trampled).

As for the Russian infantry, they stoically (and inexorably) continued their advance towards the hill changing into line formation for the assault.  The two defending French infantry regiments looked on, nervously.

And so to the attack.  As the Russians got closer, the French fired and forced the Tomsk regiment on the right of my line to halt.

But the regiments of the Lithuania Inspection continued forward, returning fire, when something rather unfortunate (for the French) happened:

This resulted in the French regiment on the left being all but blown away and its tattered remains turned around and fled.  The Ekaterinslav Grenadiers then moved forward putting foot on the hill, menacing the remaining French infantry.

Meanwhile, the Bavarians and Old Guard were moving towards their collapsing right flank (the Russian cuirassiers having chased the French cavalry off the table in the background), but we all knew it would be too late.

And so it proved, as a full volley from the Tomsk Musketeers punched holes in the last French regiment on the hill and the grenadiers moved in for the kill.  It was all over.

So, a resounding victory for my new Russians and a great start to their career.  I would take credit for the win, but perhaps their general deserves most of the glory.

And with two wins under my belt, my thoughts turned to the next game in the campaign.  According to the system I'd set up the choice was between No. 13 Escape and No. 18 Counter-Attack.

I swithered a bit between the two, but considered that as I'd won two games in a row I ought to make the next one more of challenge for me, so I decided on No. 13 and that will be the next AAR in this series.

The Russians are Coming No.4

OK, last post about my newly painted 15mm early period Napoleonic Russians (until the next lot are ready, probably).  Just some generals and artillery.  There was a bit of a mix and match going on with these artillery units.  The guns are actually from Naismith (Navwar used to sell them) but the figures are either Warrior or Roundway. 

Warrior figures; Naismith guns (Russian 12lb)

I paired the Roundway crews with Naismith "Licornes", which I believe were a sort of cross between a cannon and a howitzer.  These have some odd zoomorphic handles on the top (i.e. they look like animals) and apparently Licorne is Russian for "unicorn". 

Roundway figures; Naismith guns (10lb Licornes)

I have four more guns (with crews) to paint and base and these will have Warrior cannons, which are noticeably larger than the Naismith guns.  And just to note that the Russian crew have black collars and cuffs piped in red.  To do these I painted the facings red and then over-painted in black to leave the piping along the edge.  Quite pleased with that which is why I mentioned it.

Warrior: Russian general

The generals are all Warrior and I apologise for the photos being a bit blurry/far away.  I like these figures as they're quite jaunty (well I think so).

Warrior: Russian general

This last one is actually a Warrior Prussian general (probably supposed to be Blücher) that I painted in Russian campaign dress.  Being a bit of a dull composition on his own I added a spare standard bearer (flag still to be added).

Warrior: Prussian/Russian general

Anyway, that's it for now you'll be relieved to learn.  I've a few more infantry regiments, artillery, dragoons and more cossacks to paint (one can never have enough cossacks), plus some (surprise!) German allies to supplement Geoff's French.  I expect I'll be busy over the Christmas holidays getting those done...

The Russians are Coming No.3

Having shown you my new 15mm Russian infantry I thought you may like to see the cavalry as well.  As with the infantry these are a mixture of Roundway and Warrior, mainly the latter.

Warrior - Don Cossacks

My favourite cavalry figures are the cossacks by Warrior, in their long blue kaftans and massive busbies.  I think they're really cool, so here's another photo of them.

Warrior - Don Cossacks again

In addition to these I painted two regiments of heavy cavalry, specifically the Emperor's Curassiers (blue facings) and the Ekaterinoslav Curassiers (orange facings).

Warrior - Emperor's Cuirassiers

Of course in this period Russian curassiers didn't actually wear the cuirass.

Warrior - Ekaterinoslav Cuirassiers

In addition to these I painted some dragoons, in this case the Kurland Dragoons.  These are Roundway figures and the helmets are a bit bulbous compared to the Warrior figures.

Roundway - Kurland Dragoons

I still have a few more regiments to paint include some Warrior dragoons and uhlans plus a few more cossacks.  One can never have too many cossacks I always think, particularly as the one thing I've always been short of on the table is light cavalry, especially cossacks.

The Russians are Coming No.2

I've been meaning to post some pictures of the 15mm Russian Napoleonic army (pre-1812) that I have been working on this year but kept delaying because I was trying to get better pictures.  However, I've decided to go ahead and post this anyway because a) I don't have a decent camera b) the figures are actually quite small (being 15mm) and c) I'm not very good at taking pictures.

Roundway - Lithuanian Inspection, Murmansk and Rostov

As discussed in a slightly earlier post I decided to go for a mixture of Warrior figures with some Roundway.  They are pretty much compatible on the table although I generally didn't mix figures in the same regiment (exceptions apply, see below).  My intention was to have an early Russian army which means that regiments would still be organised into 'inspections' instead of divisions. 

Roundway - Lithuanian Inspection, Ekaterinoslav Grenadiers

This was party because I was using figures with earlier uniforms (especially Roundway) but also this meant I could paint different facings on the regiments, instead of them all just being red, as in later uniforms.  Furthermore, at that time the NCOs of different regiments carried halberds with different colour hafts (black, coffee or yellow) which applied to the drumsticks too.  Also, I don't like the kiwer much.

So, I started off with the Lithuania Inspection and painted them as the Murmansk & Rostov Musketeers and the Ekaterinoslav Grenadiers.  This worked fine until I realised that all of them would have the same flag, being similar to the green and white version that was adopted universally in the 1812 reforms (flags are all hand painted by the way).  So I decided to mix things up a bit going forward.

Warrior - Siberia Inspection, Tomsk regiment

And here are some examples including the Tomsk regiment (which naturally was chosen partly to honour a certain childrens' programme from the 1970s), and the Kazan regiment from the Caucasus Inspection.

Warrior - Caucasus Inspection, Kazan regiment

The idea was to get a variety of flags and facings and also, crucially, that the names of the inspections and/or regiments should be easily pronounceable for a non-Russian speaker like me.  Finally, I added the iconic Pavlov Grenadiers (flag still to be done).

Warrior - St Petersburg Inspection, Pavlov Grenadiers

Someone was telling me that the mitre continued in use in other grenadier regiments as well as the Pavlovs, but for now these will be the only guys sporting this impressive headgear on the tabletop.

Pavlovs advance purposefully

Having painted these I still have a few more infantry regiments to do (mainly Warrior) which will span various inspections and regiments including Kursk, Riga and my particular favourite the Astrakhan Grenadiers, which despite being from all the way over on the Caspian coast is, oddly, in the Moscow Inspection.

5th Jagers (turquoise facings)

To complete the infantry offering I also did some bases of Jagers.  At this time they wore uniforms of a paler green than the line regiments and sported rather natty top hats. The advancing figures are Roundway although the NCOs and officers are Warrior and as you can see they are a little more chunky.

6th Jagers (orange facings)

The drummer here is actually a spare musketeer with a modified shako.  I filed this down to be more cylindrical and added a brim at the back made from a sliver of plastic from a biro inner which was just the right radius.

For information (and so I won't forget when I come to paint the next batch) for the line regiments I used Tamiya JA Green (XF-13), which is the same colour I had previously painted some T-34 tanks.  For the Jagers I used Tamiya NATO Green (XF-67).

Finally, I would like to draw the reader's attention to the basing.  This was my usual coarse shelly sand painted earth brown then flocked.  However, for the Jagers I thought I'd do something different and have them advancing through broken ground, with the trees, stumps and fallen logs all being made from some dried cloves I found at the back of a kitchen cupboard; variety, as they say, being the spice of life.

The Russians are Coming No.1

I've been planning a 15mm Russian Napoleonic army for some time, particularly as my regular opponent (Geoff) has various 15mm figures including French and Austrian, as seen in a number of One Hour Wargames AAR (see here and here).  Having never had a Russian army (I was always the French since our early Bruce Quarrie days) I thought this would be a good opportunity to try something new.  Also, green uniforms are cool.

15mm Warrior command on left, Roundway command on right

As Geoff's 15mm French are generally early period, I thought that matching Russians (i.e. pre-1812 reforms, no kiwers) would be best.  Having decided on a period I started looking for figures, and consequently I decided to do a comparison between suitable figures from Warrior, Roundway and Minifigs.

Warrior (L), Roundway (M) & Minifigs (R) 15mm Russians

A quick review of the infantry indicated that the Minifigs were not for me, being too skinny and for some reason cast in exceptionally light order (no packs).  What was interesting, however, was that the Roundway figures (grenadiers in this case, with massive busch) represent the 1805 uniform with the unreinforced shako and cylindrical valise carried diagonally across the back.  Nice.

Warrior (L), Roundway (M) & Minifigs (R) 15mm Russians - rear view

Meanwhile the Warrior figures are slightly later (1807-1809 reforms) with the reinforced shako and square backpack.  These figures are a bit stockier (and shorter) than the Roundway figures but do have a lot of character.

15mm Curassiers: Warrior (L) & Roundway (R)

As for the cavalry, the curassiers (and dragoons for that matter, because at that time Russian curassier regiments did not in fact wear cuirasses) are very similar.  Both figures have the 'caterpillar' type crest representing the pre-1812 period.  However, the helmet of the Roundway figure is oddly bulbous compared to the Warrior trooper.

Cossacks: Warrior (L), Roundway (R)

The cossack figures are really quite different, with the Warrior figure equipped with a sword and wearing a long kaftan and wide busby compared to the Roundway figures with lance.

Russian generals (Warrior)

Finally here are some Warrior Russian generals which are quite serviceable.

Overall, it came down to a toss-up between Roundway figures and Warrior.  I liked the early Russian infantry from Roundway with the valise instead of a backpack.  The Warrior cavalry I really liked, particularly the cossacks.  Overall, the Warrior figures are good and let's face it are considerably cheaper than Roundway, so they will form the bulk of the army.

Warrior RUS2 - true 15mm

Subsequent posts will show how my army has shaped up (with the addition of jaegers and artillery), and they might even feature in an AAR or two...