Note to Self: Painting 28mm French Napoleonic Infantry - Painting Guides Material

I will need these painting guides at some point in the (near) future to paint these French Napoleonics for Sharpe Practice  (see below, my assembly of some of my plastic legions): 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZSjGYOFepM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbPsNCvNg-0

Also of interest - Ranking/Rating 28mm French Napoleonic Plastic Box Sets:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8NMKlBvKT0

The Start of my "Sharpe Practice" French Collection - A Simple Man of the Line

He is a Perry 1812 to 1815 lad and has been cut from his spue and undercoated (see below, from these small beginnings huge things are expected): 

Viva La France! Well until Waterloo.

A Napoleonic Trip to Portugal : Sharpe Practice

The Frenchman on the horse at the rear of the picture (see below) is the rather flamboyant deployment marker for the French forces. The French Commander Colonel La Panne had only recently arrived in Spain and was still getting accustomed to the rather hot climate. To his distress all of his classmates, the intelligent and ambitious ones, were seeking glory on the "enterprises of enterprises" in Russia. There it would be a much more sensible climate. 1812 was going to be a glorious year for the Emperor, one knew that he would confirm the place of France as the rightful superpower of the world. Yet, here he was in this hell-hole of a Spanish backwater. Rivulets of sweat poured down this face and again he dabbed his brow. Damn them, he knew the Portuguese were watching his every move, but he could see nothing of them (see below, like the books told him to do, skirmishers to the front and main body behind. Trouble is he did not know what. if anything, was hiding in the scrub ahead):   

They approached the nondescript scrap of scrub and the danger seemed to have passed. Then it started. Seemingly harmless clouds of white smoke appeared to his front from the scrub. Birds flew up into the air. The smoke grew cloud grew and obscured his front, musket balls whizzed by like angry swarms of hornets. At least his skirmishers, the Voltigeurs, handled themselves well, taking this "shock" in their stride, they were his best trained troops. They could fight and fire like demons under the experienced eye of Big Pierre - he called their mechanical actions Sharpe Practice (see below, at least La Panne's men seemed to be more numerous that these Portuguese, but worryingly they were matching Big Pierre in his professionalism):     

To La Panne's horror a regular line of brown clad infantrymen approached in line to the sound of a monotonous drumbeat. The sound rolled down towards them, for a moment he thought we was back in Austria fighting Grenzers. The moment passed as a crackle of gunfire swept into the French skirmish line and brough La Panne to his senses. His skirmishers were looking a tad ragged now. Big Pierre was shouting encouragement but twice as much fire was incoming than outgoing. La Panne barked orders to hasten his own troops forwards, but his boys could barely keep stride and keep their lines properly dressed. To ask for more much speed would be asking for chaos (see below, march to the sound of the guns and into the smoke):  

The French were being badly pressed and losing the firefight. With two units to fight Big Pierre could not bring either unit under telling fire and his best was to "hold his ground" - to the Portuguese this was good sport, they were dropping Frenchmen (see below, then suddenly the Portuguese skirmishers to the right withdrew after being caught by an accurate volley, briefly they was a ray of hope, but then a second unit of Portuguese skirmishers now appeared to Big Pierre's left, curse these phantoms):    

Big Pierre's skirmishers dropped back to reform behind the main French Line, they were a sad and bloodied sight. The two regular formations faced off against each other. Crashing volleys spoke out across the battlefield and brave men dropped dead while others fought off the shock and confusion of battle. The French had won the better position through Big Pierre's bravery, it provided a small difference in cover, but the Portuguese Line unit outshone its French counterpart. It seemed to fire three volleys to La Panne's every two. The men were beginning to buckle and also the Portuguese skirmishers had rallied quicker than the French. La Panne cast an anxious look at his second formation of French Line down in the valley, they would not get to him in time. It was time to retire (see below, there are more holes and more shock on the French forces, with great difficulty La Panne escaped, even if his forces were depleted they would still be useful): 

Musing in the cool of his tent, after touring the charnel house that the Regiment called a hospital, it was clear that his opposition was well drilled in the art of war. Old Sergeants shook their heads in disbelief and told him that the Portuguese were different this year. They now "meant it" when they came to fight, the British had instilled some of their "Iron" in the Portuguese bellies. La panne ruminated that he had truly missed the boat when he missed a posting to Russia. If he was not careful Spain would be his grave.

Another good outing for Sharpe Practice. I am getting rather fond of this set of rules. I need to start painting my own Frenchman now!

Hello 2025 and I am Hoping it will be a Good Year - Social Media New Years Reduction Resolution (Working so far) and Enjoying Sharp Practice

The first thing to say is that a New Year's resolution to cut back on Social Media (aka senseless nattering and mindless scrolling) seems to be working. I am off "Twitter", aka "X", and feel none the worse without its "wear and tear" of the soul. With some hesitation, nay trepidation, I took down "Facebook" but again, the bark was much worse than the bite of its passing. I may listen to the news on the radio slightly more, but I find "filtered" news far better than the "chasing the unvalidated story" elsewhere - it takes less time too out of my day. "WhatsApp" and "Messenger" are survivors though only because of the personal connection to people on the groups and the ability to arrange wargaming play dates. Blogging has taken a back seat too! I have rediscovered 28mm Napoleonics (see below, my [borrowed] French troops v Renko's Austrians, my fine Voltigeurs fending off the Austrian formation in the act of deploying): 

So in getting out and about slightly more in January/February I have picked up this Sharp Practice itch. It is very contagious. I am playing with other people's toys at the moment, but I have unpainted Perry's and Victrix 28mm French (1812) and British to field two infantry sides, with small attachments of cavalry and artillery. I do like the combat system, but am less interested in winning the Two Fat Lardies "game within a game" than seeing if the basic mechanism of "shock-killed-morale" plays fair with the period (see below, the weight of fire delivered by the Austrians is simply too much): 

So much so the French decided to go home early. I think it played the period very well. I have to say it was also the friendliest Napoleonics game I have ever had, because from past experience, Napoleonics brings out "the worst in the rules [national characteristics]" and "players interpretations of the rules [ways in which the national characteristics have to be used to win]". Played two games so far as 1812 French, lost them both, but had a great time, which is a good sign IMHO. 

Dunkirk 1940 the German View - Audible Book

Although I have not been posting I have been listening to "wargaming stuff" throughout February. I can highly recommend this book to get a much needed German perspective on the fighting around Dunkirk (see below, a valuable item to my understanding of the early 1940 campaigns): 

Like a lot of the factual Audible books I listen to, as soon as I was getting into it, I could not resist getting a hard copy - there was too much detail I knew I would want to go back to, even though it was still at a hardback price! That in itself is a complement to the quality and standard of the careful research that went into the book. The RAF got a better press than usual, as the German infantry also did not like being attacked from the air (no "superhuman" soldiers there) and the almost comical German command and control problems were highlighted.

Well worth the read if you can get it!

Waterloo 1815

The second December 2021 major historical battle refight was none other than Waterloo itself, the big wargaming granddaddy of them all, played under Sam Mustafa's Blucher rules. Myself, I am an inexperienced but enthusiastically keen Blucher player (with a grand total one play-test game under my belt) so I was really appreciative of some old hands "on-side" to assist me. I was playing "Allied" (aka British) and hopefully we expected to see some Prussian colleagues appear at some point to supplement our Dutch and Germanic comrades in arms. "When" was shrouded in the scenario designer's "Fog of War" card turning "chilling suspense" mechanic. To win the French had to hold at least three out f four of the Victory Points (Frischermont, Papelotte, La Haye Sainte and Hoguemont) at the end of any one of the Allied turns (which stops the French player from ignoring one half of the battlefield). 

My part of the line was on the Allied left, from Frischermont, Papelotte to behind La Haye Saint, hence the focus of my few snapshots there which quickly developed into a fierce cavalry combat, one the Allies "had to win" (see below, the French push hard at Frischermont with a whole corps of infantry and a cavalry corps in support, they clearly hope to sweep round the Allied left [while Papelotte off camera to the right is being invested by French artillery]): 

The highpoint of the French cavalry attack was to make a bold and audacious charge that was left "high and dry" as Allied committed its cavalry reserves, including horse a flanking unit of artillery. However because of this sacrifice, the French infantry was given the clear run in to assault Frischermont, a costly soak-off for sure (see below, the Allied success was still costly in strength points and commitment of "key" reserves): 

Frischermont is assaulted by the French infantry corps, but the French are beaten back at heavy cost to both the defending garrison and the attackers. The garrison is now critically weak and the Allies know that the French will come again, they have to. The stout hearted British (as there are Scottish in the mix here) infantry ready themselves for an inevitable bayonetted counter-attack with full highland swirl (see below, this is the end of "thin read line" that cannot allow itself to be curled up from its flank, the only remaining chance of reinforcements are Prussians "when" [or "if" the come]): 

To buy the garrison some time it is now the turn of the British cavalry to charge forward, in order to finish off the remains of the French cavalry and more importantly pin the French infantry into a static defensive square formation, though in so doing so, paying a "blood price" for this gallant gesture (see below, still no news from the Prussian - where are they? Grouchy seems to be doing his job properly today!): 

Across to the Allied centre and right of the battlefield a huge cavalry flanking attack to the far right of Houguemont has come nought, both sides fighting themselves to a standstill. The heavy French infantry attack is commencing at Hoguemont proper, La Haye Sainte has been pounded mercilessly by the Imperial French Artillery Reserve - its garrison being destroyed and now La Haye Sainte is occupied by British infantry, with a French infantry assault bearing down on them. Papelotte is also being assaulted after the garrison was bombarded by yet more French artillery. The battle is reaching a "critical moment" (see below, note how more French cavalry tussle with the Allied cavalry near Hoguemont to allow the infantry clear line of attack to go in):  

Frischermont is taken by the French infantry but they are immediately thrown unceremoniously back out again by a bloody British counterattack, lead by Pictons "devil's handmaidens" the Highlanders, Picton falls mortally wounded in teh front line as the last French cavalry unit is destroyed. The left Allied flank has now been successfully stabilised, but at a high cost (see below, off camera Papelotte was attached, it falls to the French infantry but Maitland's Guard follow the Scots fine example and quickly retake Papelotte - still only 'bad news' from the Prussians as Grouchy is seemingly stopping their arrival on the battlefield):   

Hoguemont was attacked and lost, but retaken by Allies the following turn, a literal blood-bath and the French are exhausted on the Allied right flank. This means with the advancing passage of 'game time' "night is coming" for the Allies and will arrive well before any reinforcements from Blucher (Wellington did say he would take "either" in the film). With this in mind Wellington now orders a central infantry advance to stymy the dangerous French infantry attacks from taking any of the four strongholds, as tomorrow he will surely be joined by the whole of Blucher's forces for sure (after Blucher gives a sound telling-off to Scharnhorst and Gneisenau for prevaricating on this day). Note: La Haye Sainte had fallen but it too had been retaken by spirited counterattack, the French Artillery Reserve was now "out" of ammunition and being hastily withdrawn and the French Imperial Guard was as yet still uncommitted on Napoleon's baseline (see below, with less than a hour of daylight even if the Guard is committed it will not be able to achieve the three VPs required): 

Night falls and Napoleon retires conceding the battlefield and his fate. A great game, an Allied win, even without Blucher. All told this was my fourth full blooded attempt at a Waterloo refight and I think it pulled it off best, partly because of the rule-set (Blucher) and partly because of the attitude of the players themselves. A spledid day out .. I will play more of Blucher in 2022 methinks .. perhaps in Epic Scale though ;) 

Ramillies 1706

Well I managed to get a couple of big games in during December, one of which was Ramillies, a great Marlburian bash of epic proportions in 15mm (see below, a confident [Umpire Driven "Bot"] French General surveys his dispositions - he may be facing the feared British but he has two line of solid French infantry defending a water obstacle, backed by fortified villages and with "life" insurance of the finest French cavalry behind them - over to his right securing flank is the Elector of Bavaria and his army, what could possibly go wrong?):

John Churchill meanwhile has it in mind to unsettle the Frenchman with his superiority in artillery to both counter battery and bombard the French strongholds before his "obvious" assault with his dreaded British infantry (see below, this activity completely transfixes the Frenchman): 

Meanwhile the Duke of Marlborough has amassed the most cavalry seen on a European battlefield facing the Elector of Bavaria's forces. He intends to smash the Bavarians while the French stand transfixed at the British flags; the French haunted by the thought of Blenheim and fixated by Louis XIV's instructions to defend sturdily against the British - aka not be beaten by "them" (see below, the Allied cavalry will soon hurl themselves forward in a desperate gamble): 

There are columns of Allied infantry to back up the cavalry by assaulting the Bavarian held fortified villages on the Allied left (see below, a lot depends upon the tenacity of the Dutch infantry):  

Meanwhile the British artillery continue to pound away (see below, they are keeping the French artillery quiet with some "good rolling"): 

In fact the defenders of Ramillies find themselves situated n a place far too hot and give way to fear and panic (see below, the [yellow counter indicates a] routed unit disrupts the unit [indicated by an orange counter] behind it - in so doing "fixating and worrying" the French commander away from the Bavarians plight, somehow the village needs to be garrisoned again): 

Meanwhile the Allied cavalry are trading blows with the Bavarian cavalry away on the other [Allied left] flank (see below, the disruption this leaves the defenders in will be seized upon by the next fresh Allied wave of cavalry): 

Before the French can re-garrison an Allied infantry unit takes opportunely enters Ramillies (see below, the French commander in incensed and it will be immediately counterattacked): 

All hell has broken loose on the Bavarian flank. Ramillies is being fought over in the background but the Allied infantry have stormed the far right Bavarian village and flanked the Bavarian cavalry line to make a crushing "L" (see below, the Allied cavalry have the upper hand and Elector of Bavaria commits his reserve and hastily sends a note to the French commander pleading for additional help): 

The Bavarian flank must hold or the combined French/Bavarian army is lost. The Bavarian infantry has been forced to hold defensively against the cavalry in square which is perilous given the proximity of the advancing Allied infantry - in particular an elite Dutch regiments (see below, the cotton wool smoke indicates how much of a battle there is, all along the line, the majority of it being a head on cavalry-on-cavalry engagement): 

The battle swings back and forth. Ramillies had been re-taken by the fierce French infantry counterattack (see below, routing [yellow] and disordered [orange] Allied infantry stream away from Ramillies, however note, the battalions of red coated Danes forming up to the left of the routers. They have secretly countermarched from the Allied right flank to the Allied centre and will again attack Ramillies - another testament to the brilliance and planning of the Duke of Marlborough): 

The Bavarian infantry is fighting at hopeless 3:1 odds and the first line of Bavarian cavalry has been swept away - the Bavarian reserve is committed but is ground down by waves of fresh Allied cavalry. There were even sightings of the Duke of Marlborough himself leading the attack in (see below, at last the French commander has sensed something is amiss with the Bavarians - so he is committing French reserve cavalry in, but alas it is only in "penny packets" which is too little too late. By the time it takes to reach the Bavarian flank it will be all over): 

The Bavarian infantry breaks and routs away and the remaining cavalry (French and Bavarian) are hopelessly outnumbered as fresh Allied cavalry are ready for a third attacking wave (see below, the second column or rather lined mass are ready to attack Ramillies the hinge of the Bavarian/French line): 

The Allied infantry in the centre retake Ramillies (for the third swap in ownership for the day), this time it is the brave Danes who unpack their suitcases and take up lodgings (see below, the French seem to fear every form of "Red Coat" in Marlborough's army): 

The Bavarian side of the battle is where all hangs in the balance. Confusion and disruption reign on both sides of the battle lines, the only difference being the Allies can pull their disrupted units out and send in plenty more fresh units (see below, over half the French cavalry will not move or engage in a meaningful way today as it is in the "wrong" place whereas all bar a token force is exactly where John Churchill needs it): 

The Elector of Bavaria stands transfixed as powerful formations of  Allied horse hold him in square and a line of fierce Red Coats (again not strictly British but lead by an enigmatic character some swear was the Duke re-horsed from a "previous adventure" with Bavarian cavalry) assault the Elector in close quarter fighting (see below, the Bavarians in a tight spot, vexed with both numbers and tactical dispositions against them): 

The Bavarians are crushed, the Elector falls badly wounded and is captured, this event causes the first of several French/Bavarian morale checks as the Allies have delivered to date, through crushing routs and combat losses, that are 20% of the total French/Bavarian forces (see below, this game mechanic is an additional "line of sight" morale check that makes some "Fresh" units go to "Disordered",  "Disordered" to "Rout" (see below, for atheistic reasons I really think there really should have been more "cotton wool" used at this point to convey the tragedy of the situation): 

The Bavarian right flank (aka the Allied left) has crumbled and "gone". It no longer holds any of the fortified villages, its general has been captured, most of its infantry has routed off table and further resistance depends upon reconstituted "disordered" units outnumbered 4:1 (see below, the writing is well and truly on the wall and in actual fact running, kicking and screaming off the battlefield): 

The next round causes another army level morale check (25% and 30% checks come in quick succession). The Allied cavalry have pushed the Bavarians completely off the battlefield (see bottom left of the photograph) while Ramillies itself is convincingly held by the fierce Danes and the British infantry (although outnumbered) are now walking up to the water obstacle unopposed (see below, as the French Army now starts its withdrawal in a completely different direction to the Bavarians (see below, this is a strategic disaster, the French King Louis XIV will be most displeased [sent into a fit o rage], even if his "orders" were followed "to the letter" by his Marshals):

The battle of Ramillies thus falls into the strategic category of an Allied "major win", as per history which felt right. The rules were a house rules set and are designed to play very quick (combat and morale factored into one spreadsheet driven dice roll) - in total it took five hours to play the game, so it was able to complete the battle  in a single Saturday afternoon (which I consider a major accomplishment). My previous club attempt of refighting Ramillies using "Under a Lilly Banner" rules in 25mm literally took months of actual calendar time (the battle area left set up) and had a playing time of weekends and evenings that tallied in upwards of twenty plus hours. Although that was a beautiful spectacle, "doing the deed" in an afternoon is an Olympic Gold result IMHO ;)  

Small but perfectly formed in 2mm: Napoleonics

A long time ago this wargaming project was started .. and now perhaps its time has come to finish. The 2mm Austrian army seeks a small French opponent (see below, the Austrian army had progressed quite nicely): 

2mm certainly gives the impression of numbers (see below, which to me defines an essential aspect of the Napoleonic period) : 

All that remains to be done is give the Austrians some decent French opponents (see below, they are even based up but currently "a study in black", to the top right of picture you can see a "column" of troops moving up):  

There are also plenty of "silver legions" to add to the cast of thousands (see below, the troops in question came from the Irregular Miniatures range): 

Alongside the bases were cryptic notes to a couple of 1814 battles in France I had made!

New Arrival: Command and Colours Napoleonic

Fresh from the GMT 500 reprint Napoleonic Command and Colours (see below, the wooden counters also saves "me" painting a lot of Napoleonic figures):

This may influence development of our hex based Napoleonic gaming system! Plenty of of winter play testing ahead!

Command Magazine #11: Hougemont "Rock of Waterloo"

I have always wanted to play this classic early Command Magazine game, "Hougemont: Rock of Waterloo" (some say the early Command Magazine games were the best). I had the chance to bring it 'out of the packet' to play with some wargaming friends the other day in a "get our collective heads round the rules and play test of mechanics" mode. By the end we were getting there but I am sure another read through is required to fully grasp the colour and "hex terrain" considerations. It played well though (see below, a mere thirty years old and still ready to play fresh out of the bag with the counters still in mint condition):

There are plenty of French (see below, three waves of them in fact):

And pitiful few British, Nassau and Hanoverian defenders (see below, these are the reserves released or rather drip fed into the action):

The original on the board units are eight British Guards at the back and twelve German lights sent forwards (see below, top marks if you can spot them all - extra counters are their leaders):

Please excuse the angle of the photograph but the French move from a released row, to a advancing row and then to the board proper. You literally see them coming towards you from afar - with nothing you can do about it (see below, "Thousands of them Sarge!")

Given the numbers a column tried to run round the outside of the board but were caught by a neat game mechanic of off-table artillery - losing 50% of their number (though note, casualties is not one of the victory conditions - capturing objectives is). The other Frenchies chase the Germans away from the hedge they were defending and further into the woods (see below, there is a nice little game mechanic which is a defender reaction (when within eight hexes) in the attackers phase, which allows the defenders to fire and move (back) first so they are simply not "overrun"):

Trading space for firing works well until you run out of space to trade. The German troops are now pushed back as far as they can go. The French have taken enough casualties for Napoleon to commit another "wave". Whereas the British have not quite convinced Wellington of their dire state - this will come soon). The "other" Allied defenders are roving Howitzer batteries lobbing [guessing where the French troops are going to be with an interesting scatter rule] down air and ground burst (see below, only turn two out of ten and it is looking tight for the Allied troops):

We stopped there so we could re-read the fortification rules of the Chateau and 'a thing or two about gates'. There is plenty of chrome and flavour yet to come. I like the thought of transferring this to the tabletop with miniatures somehow!

France 1940 - Panzer Blitz Rules (Play Test) - Hexes and Models (Part 3 of 3) The Germans Pull Back

The French seem to be having the run of the Random Number Generator today (see below, following the laws of statistics this top end result means another burning Panzer):

A last futile attacking gesture is made on the flank of the S-35s but to no avail (see below, the German numbers just don't seem to be coming up today):

In return a burning Pz II lights up the battlefield (see below, the S-35 Company seems to be a mobile part of the Maginot Line ensconced on the hill top):

The German Commander decides to gather the surviving German Panzers and retire behind a hastily constructed PAK screen (see below, getting what you can out of the fire is what counts now):

Even in this manoeuvre the German strength is frittered away by lucky parting French shots (see below, the German armour being hindered as there is no effective cover to use):

A German Panzer Grenadier Company occupies a French village so at least the Germans have a secure "jumping off point" for next time and a good FOO position (see below, it is reassuring to know armour is very poor at wrinkling out infantry from solid cover - but this time the German PAK gun line  suffers from the French 75mm back in its indirect fire role):

With one Panzer Grenadier Company holding the town the German Motorcycle Company mounts up to hold a wood on the flank of the town [off camera] and protect itself from being overrun by the French armour (see below, the German "high point" is strewn with burnt out German Panzers):

In hindsight the French were a far superior force with good tank and artillery. The Germans took on too tough a nut and did not back away pouring "good money after bad" into what was a lost cause. The only consolation the German player can take from the battle is that the French are now in fixed known defensive positions. The Luftwaffe and Heavy/Medium Artillery should soon pay them a visit. Battle honours go to the French here!