Landgraviate of Hesse-Fedora

You fight a war with the army you have…

2011-10-09T19:40:00.001-07:00

A quote from Don Rumsfeld? Well, actually, Ross Mac got me started by this post at Battle Game of the Month:

“Like many another Autocrat who has come to power with absolute right over the life and death of his subjects and control of the army, I find my power over my armies of Toy Soldiers less absolute than one would expect. Once the bands have played, the soldiers have paraded by and cheered and the senior officers have pledged their allegiance, I find myself not starting from scratch to build an ideal army according to my reveries but dealing with an existing infrastructure, a limited treasury, shortages of barracks and men and the enemy pressing at the gates.”

My 28mm Napoleonic collection started out from a desire from my friend Ray and I to put on a “cool” Napoleonic participation game at our local convention, Millennium. We started with 120 or so figures per side, playing Le Petit Empereur. Then we used those armies to expand to 30:1 ratio, using Wellington Rules. Then, megalomania set in.

My French-Allied army was based loosely on Marshal Suchet’s Army of Aragon in the Peninsula. For Wellington Rules, figures are singly based in order to use the game’s main mechanism, called “straggling.” I won’t go into that now, but suffice to say I have a French corps at 30:1 based singly. Oh, and a British division, too.

Now, my “French” army only had a single French infantry division. So I recently contact Neil at Reinforcements By Post and contracted for another French infantry division, 12 battalions of 24 figures each of Old Glory 2nd Edition. But without a game, I never based them.

This year I am helping to put on a game at Millennium. So it was time to base these troops. Oh, did I mention I also picked up a brigade of Perry Nassauers from the talented Roger Murrow? They needed based, too. That’s another five battalions of 30 figures each, plus some Neapolitans!

So this weekend, armed with a nice drinkable Italian red, I have done the deed:

Sadly, and back to the topic indicated by the title, we have decided to move on to 20:1 units. Arrgh. I guess these will just be small French battalions!

Cheers!

Raising an army takes time

2011-09-19T18:06:00.001-07:00

It has been since June 25th??! Really? Yikes!

During this time I have managed to play several games of The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game at the new GW store. Thanks to all involved, especially Charlie and Art. I won a game, too!

LOTR motivated me to finish a few figures to have a completely painted, 500 point army. I got four (4) whole figures done! What, you want proof?

I have also been plodding on the Prussians. I have to admit: those of you out there that crank out dozens and scores of figures? I have no idea how you do it.

I don’t like painting, even though I love fielding a force that I have painted myself. I can even get into “the groove” on occasion and get some serious painting done. But not right now.

I tried to do production-line painting, but that was just depressing. So I am now working on the Prussians in 8 figure blocks. I have 16 complete and have just finished putting black on the next group, which includes the command figures. I had to stop because I was getting tired and sloppy. Still, I am progressing, if slowly.

I also took an evening to assemble and prime a box of plastic Warlord Landwehr. You can see them here with the completed Perry figures.

I primed them with ArmyPainter Navy Blue, as in the article on the Warlord site. I think they are not dark enough blue, but will see when they are done.

Thanks for stopping by. Hopefully more interesting stuff in the (near) future!

One down. How many to go?

2011-06-25T19:07:00.001-07:00

So here is the first Prussian after his bath in white primer. I had hoped to use ArmyPainter blue spray, but it was not dark enough. I note, however, that they just came out with a darker shade that I might try for the Landwehr.

And here he is with basic colors blocked in. I can’t believe that it has been FOUR YEARS since I painted a figure! Let’s just say my brush skills are somewhat atrophied. Anyway, I decided on the unit will be the 10th Line (1st Silesian), so yellow collar and cuffs with white shoulder tabs.

And here it is with a brushed on coat of ArmyPainter Quickshade Strong. I am very pleased with how it looks at this stage, although these multi-megapixel cameras sure point out the spots you miss! It will need to be completely dry before I do a few highlights and the coat of Anti-Shine.

All in all, I’m quite pleased. I’ve never been a fast painter, nor a high quality one. But I will be proud to have a new unit from my own workbench for my games.

Cheers!

Part the second, or “He’s kept his focus for 24 hours…”

2011-06-19T18:52:00.001-07:00

First, let me just say that the current score is:

Perry Brothers: 46
Ed: 0

It took four (4) hours to assemble the first box:

Even then, I still need to get the belly pouches onto the Jäger. You can see the pouches in the lower left of the pic.

My compliments to those of you who like to model with plastic. This was tedious work, made bearable only by the CWF interview with Henry Hyde that was my listening companion.

Anyway, I’m beat and my eyes hurt even though I was using my brand new, nifty Ott High Definition Craft Light with magnifier. So, now I’m sipping a nice Sangiovese wine that reminds me of our trip to Tuscany.

And then I remembered the REST of the lead pile. I completely forgot about the three boxes of Warlord Games Landwehr. I think I need to decide on which units soon!

Now I just need for all the new Perry and Warlord goodies to arrive at the US distributor, Architects of War, to REALLY put me behind the curve!

A new direction—to Waterloo!

2011-06-18T16:50:00.001-07:00

Here it is, the 196th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo. I have been fiddling around with various projects the last few weeks, but I have finally made a decision:

I am going to build a 28mm Waterloo Project, and I’m going to do all the Prussians myself.

There. THAT is a line in the sand table.

So, over the next few weeks I’m going to do some plotting and scheming here on the blog, while I also get started in the painting department.

“The WHAT department??” I hear you ask.

Yep. I have one other project that I have done all my own painting, and that is my Lord of the Rings project with the Games Workshop figures. The Prussians will be my second.

I already have a respectable amount of 28mm Napoleonics, including 24 battalions of French infantry, each of 24 figures. I have a small force of British, too. Plus my good friend and gaming partner-in-crime Ray has more Brits, plus most of the Brunswick contingent.

The plan is simple, if daunting. I will buy and paint all of the new Perry Miniatures releases. I have three boxes of the plastic line infantry now, which will become the first regiment. Which regiment? Good question. I’m not sure yet.

The very first historical miniatures I ever purchased and painted were 15mm Minifig Prussians. I painted them as the Leib Regiment. For some reason, I have always been fascinated by that particular unit. Problem is, it wasn’t at Waterloo! Leib was in III Corps at Wavre.

So what units to paint for Waterloo? I have several books on the battle to help me decide, including Adkins Waterloo Companion, Bowden’s Armies at Waterloo, Haythornethwaite’s The Waterloo Armies, Hofschroer’s two volume The Waterloo Campaign, Linck’s Napoleon’s Generals, and Nofi’s The Waterloo Campaign, as well as Robinson’s The Battle of Quatre Bras and Uffindell’s The Eagles Last Triumph. Oh, and plenty of Ospreys.

My next problem is to decide how I’m going to paint all of these. I am interested in using the Army Painter method, as I’m not a very good or fast painter. However, based on some pictures I’ve seen, their dark blue is not dark enough for Prussian blue. Something I will need to consider.

Finally for now, I want to blame—I mean thank several people whose sites have motivated for this project. In no particular order:

The League of Augsburg, both for their interesting rules Republic to Empire and their forum with LOTS of great eye candy.

Martin Kelly’s Befreiungskriege blog, good for all things Napoleonic Prussian.

Martin is very partial to Calpe Miniatures’ exquisite Prussian figures. I like them too. They will probably be added to my force as well, especially if I can get ahead of the Perrys’ release curve and need cavalry.

Von Peter Himself, and his lovely and entertaining blog.

And the always amusing banter at the WD3 forum.

And of course Ray, whose fault it always is, no matter what is wrong.

OK. Let’s get this thing started. Here’s the “lead pile” so far:

A gaming table!!

2010-05-09T11:13:00.000-07:00

There has not been a lot to report over the last few months, but hopefully I can start adding some interesting bits over the coming weeks.

Ray and I have been bit by the Perry plastic Napoleonics bug, and I've also been investing in the start of a French Revolution collection from the marvelous Eureka Miniatures range.

But the exciting news (for me at any rate) is the installation of a gaming table. A friend of mine built a rough 4 foot by 8 foot table for his children in their play room, but now that they are teenagers he dismantled it and gave it to me. For a couple years, I had it in the garage, where it was used for gaming purposes exactly twice: the solo run through of the BAR rules known as the Battle of Konigstor and then again when I paraded the troops for the Big Battle SYW game a couple years ago.

But now I rearranged our upstairs "bonus room" and found space for the table in front of the windows! Hurrah! A permanent game table:

I am going to set up the table to play some learning scenarios for the various rules I have purchased lately. I am going to use the scenario Clarence posted for Republic to Empire.

I don't have Spanish, so I will probably use my Portuguese brigade as a stand-in. The scenario is intended for a 4 x 4, but I threw out a table-full of scenery just because I could! I does show that I need to get some 25mm battalion-scale hills, though.

Here's a couple other pics for fun:

Creaking Along

2009-12-06T17:54:00.001-08:00

I had hoped to have the entire SYW backlog finished up this weekend, but don’t. [Insert various lame excuses here.]

However, I did get the bases for all these fine fellows base-coated. My technique, shamelessly stolen from a White Dwarf article a few years ago, is:

1. Cover base in glue (white/PVA) or similar, then dunk in sand. I use Woodland Scenics fine ballast.

2. After thoroughly drying at least over night, paint with Apple Barrel “nutmeg brown” and again allow to thoroughly dry.

3. Drybrush with Apple Barrel “antique white.”

4. Stipple with white glue, then dunk in Woodland Scenics blended turf.

5. Optionally, add one or two tufts of static grass.

It ends up looking like this shot of Landgraf Bogey reviewing his troops:

What I’ve accomplished is up through step 2 for the following:

Dutch:

Musketeer Regiment Crommelin, 54 figures
Musketeer Regiment Walloon, 54 figures
Grenadier Regiment van Pallandt, 54 figures
Regiment te Paard Roncour, 24 figures
2 x 3pdr with 8 crew
5 mounted generals

Saxon:

Chevaulegers Regiment von Bruhl, 24 figures

French:

Arquebusiers de Grassin, 18 figures

Austrian:

Infantry Regiment de Ligne (IR 38, Netherlands), 66 figures
Infantry Regiment Fürstenberg (Swabian), 66 figures

Obviously, the Imperial forces are receiving a large reinforcement! So what does that work out to? About 320 foot and 53 mounted figures. So I’ve been doing something! Now I need to base my Napoleonic Portuguese brigade, too (another 120 infantry, 24 mounted, and 4 guns with 20 or so crew).

This week’s purchases were the new books by Charles Grant and company: The Annexation of Chiraz, The Wargamers Annual Volume 1, and Wargaming in History Series: Charles Grant's
The Seven Years' War Krefeld, Sandershausen and Lutterberg – 1758. My Eureka order arrived, with “Ragged Continentals” and the various new SYW vignettes—wonderful figures! I’m looking forward to the new Battlegames, which hopefully will arrive Monday.

Status Report

2009-11-28T14:56:00.001-08:00

This morning saw the first figure-related gaming activity in months. I took a couple hours to start basing the figures that have been piling up over the last few months. Not exactly a thrill, but I was listening to the third installment of the View From The Veranda podcast.

This episode was about what is the inspiration behind wargaming. Some of the discussion was, as they say, “spot on” for me, while other parts were not the same as my experience. In particular, I came to miniature gaming from board wargames via Dungeons & Dragons. The first miniature game I played was a hypothetical post-Waterloo scenario using the rules Pas de Charge be George Nafziger.

So what have I accomplished, gaming wise? Not a whole lot, really, but today I got the sand glued down onto the bases for about 200 SYW figures for BAR. I have three regiments of Dutch WAS infantry, with two guns and two squadrons of horse, a regiment of the new Saxon Chevaulegers von Brühl, and a small force of Eureka Arquebusiers de Grassin all from Eureka Miniatures. I also have two regiments of Minden Miniatures Austrian infantry, one in pink facings and the other in red but painted as the Regiment von Fürstenberg.

Once this whole lot is ready, I’ll share some pics. The Mindens in particular look fabulous!

My reading stack has been piled with new rule books lately. I have Foundry’s Napoleon, Warlord Games’ Black Powder, and Sam Mustafa’s Lasalle. Hopefully when Ray visits over Christmas, we’ll give them all a test run.

On the technological side of the blog, this is my first entry using Windows Live Writer to compose the blog. So far it is very easy to use.

Ray and I attended Millenium Con XII in Austin, Texas in early November. The highlight of the con was playing in a Sharp Practice game by Faron Bell:

Ray and I definitely plan to play a few more games of Sharp Practice.

I have found what I think may be a “sweet spot” in my schedule: early Saturday and Sunday mornings. I hope to get in more basing, some painting, and weekly updates about them and whatever else is going on in gaming. See you then!

The lead pile stirs

2009-07-18T15:22:00.000-07:00

Note to self: No more saying/writing/blogging/thinking that things are getting better. It is best not to tempt fate that way.

That said, I have come to the conclusion that painting big battalions is just not going to happen any time soon. I'll be doing good to get the ones I have based!

So, the lead pile was raided today. My Eureka Arquebusiers de Grassin and two regiments of Austrians from Minden Miniatures are packed and will head off for painting on Monday. That reduces the pile by 152 figures. Although I need to order some mounted colonels from Frank.

Sending off this order leaves a regiment each of Minden Prussian fusiliers and musketeers, and two regiments of Old School Miniatures Prussian musketeers from Fighting 15s. Oh, and the newly-arrived Eureka Saxon horse.

Once these all get done, I would love to get more of the Minden Miniatures of various flavours, and some more Crusader Miniatures too. Of course, there are always plenty of other options out there, so we'll see. Checking the relative sizes of the Homburgers and their allies compared to the Landgraf and his allies reveals that the Electoral force needs more cavalry, the Imperials need more white-coated infantry of several flavors, and both sides are fairly even in the artillery arm.

Blogging about my armies just reminded me of one of those "Doh!" moments I recently experienced.

I was reading Charles S. Grant's various new books, The War Game Companion, Battlegames Table Top Teasers Vol 1, and Raid on St Michel. I was pondering how I could use them for some games, and was wondering the best way to represent the militia units in the books. (Quick summary: the militia units are half the size of regular units.) I contemplated ordering some of the Eureka "Ragged Continentals" and painting them up in various colors; that way they could stand in for any country that needed them.

That's when I realized that I already HAVE half-strength units (other that the obvious ploy of splitting "regular" units): my collection was originally for 24-figure units, and I have combined them into BAR-sized big battalions or purchased new ones at larger size. But I have four old units that were only 24 figures strong that I never up-sized. Voila! Instant militia! One is a Prussian Freibattalion, one is the Wurzburg Red battalion, and one each generic French and Spanish units. That was a satisfying discovery.

Which reminds me of my next game purchase: more bases. I must go count how many I need to order for the Dutch.

Cheers,
Ed

Blog? What blog?

2009-07-14T17:47:00.000-07:00

I think we have finally reached a modicum of stability in the realm of family and health issues. No boring details here, though, since this is an ImagiNation after all!

So, what has the Landgraf been up to on the gaming front? Plenty of different things with no guiding principle.

First and most enjoyable, Ray came and visited. In the weeks leading up to his visit, something got us directed at Memoir '44. This WW2 board game with miniatures is a lot of fun, but I had not played it in years and Ray not at all. Well, we took care of that!

Ray now owns everything put out for the system, and I'm not far behind. During the weekend he was here, we played at least 12 games (six scenarios, swapping sides after each game). We thoroughly enjoyed it.

M44 is one of Richard Borg's Command & Colours series. I had bought the C&C version of Battle Cry at Cold Wars 2001 after playing it under Mr. Borg's guidance all afternoon. So I pulled it out for Ray and I to try.

Somehow, eight years later, the game is still mint: figures on sprues, counters unpunched, heck even the dice stickers are still on their sheet. Ray informed me that the game is being sold on Ebay and other places for a tidy sum. So, punch out and play or save and sell?? We decided to leave it for now.

But that led to all kinds of C&C-related excursions. We went looking for Napoleonic versions, especially ones we could play using our 28mm miniatures. I almost bought myself a set of Kallistra Hexon for my birthday to make into a miniatures game. Ray and I are still discussing it.

Our interest in GW's War of the Ring faded quickly. Even though I actually sat down and painted a dozen figures or so. Really!

I have made several book and terrain purchases (the Landgraf's pontoon train arrived today from PMCGames, for example), including the reprint of the classic His Britannic Majesty's Army in Western Germany by Eighteenth Century Press. And now I'm anxiously awaiting the third and final volume of Jack Gill's history of Napoleon's 1809 campaign.

On the ImagiNation front, my preorder of Eureka Miniatures' Saxon cavalry has arrived. Beautiful figures! The Empress will no doubt be please by this accession to her strength: 8 squadrons of cavalry, two each of cuirassiers, dragoons, chevaulegers, and hussars, plus a dismounted squadron for each of the two light regiments.

I did run my Le Petit Empereur game at ChimaeraCon 2009. It looked good, but only played through once or twice. See a couple of pics here.

I am working on some plans right now for the rest of the year. My Saxon cavalry, Mittel-Nirgendwo infantry, and various Minden Miniatures are all crying out to be painted, but I am sorely tempted by my Napoleonic lead pile. Hopefully, another post will follow soon with real progress to be noted.

Thanks for stopping by.

Ed v. H-F

A Message from the Landgraf

2009-02-26T14:39:00.000-08:00

This year has not started as one of the Landgraviate’s best. Suffice to say that due to familial health issues there has been zero gaming activity.

Which is not the same as “no gaming scheming.” I learned long ago that whenever you spend time at a doctor’s office or (especially) a hospital you must have books, magazines, rules, or some such to keep you occupied. If you don’t have them, you will be sitting for a long time. If you DO have them, either you spend less time waiting or it at least goes by quicker.

So I’ve done a fair bit of reading (Napoleonic history, the wargames magazines, all of the new C S Grant publications), and an even greater amount of thinking and planning.

In SYW units and armies and countries, I’ve made up lists using Minden, Battlescape, Fighting 15s, and Eureka figures. In fact, my Eureka Dutch were sent off to a painting service before Christmas and have returned. They look wonderful, but still are not based or terrained. That’s 3 battalions, 2 squadrons, 2 guns with crew and some generals all at BAR big battalion strength. And I’m waiting for the release of the Eureka 100 Club Saxon cavalry to make a big order there, too.

I’ve been looking at my Napoleonic collection (30:1 in 28mm) and drew up a list of units (of up to corps size!) from Calpe, Foundry, Perry, Victrix, Steve Barber, Front Rank, Eureka, and others. I have also committed to putting on an all-day demonstration (in 28mm) of the game Le Petit Empereur at a local San Antonio, Texas game convention, ChimaeraCon, on 7 March.

I picked up some Games Workshop stuff as well: the 40K Assault on Black Reach starter (to play against Ray), additional Lizardmen for my WHFB army, and I’m eagerly looking forward to the War of the Ring book as well.

As you can see when I don’t have an actual project in hard I tend to wander quite a bit! Note, however, that with the exception of reading books and opening boxes of miniatures, that I have not actually painted or gamed any of this. I hope that putting on the LPE demonstration will help, as it is reprise of a game Ray and I put on at MillenniumCon 2006. So I have all the parts and just need to put on the game.

So what are my plans for 2009? At this point I really don’t know. Hopefully ChimaeraCon will inspire me. Napoleonics and SYW are tied for most likely, with Lord of the Rings running a close third.

I’ll let you know how CCon goes!

Mustering for departure

2008-11-09T16:00:00.000-08:00

The two columns converging on Frankfurt both have taken the opportunity of a small defile to have a quick review of the troops. They have been told off into their brigades, and various contingents have been combined to form grenadier battalions, horse grenadier squadrons, and the like:

The Imperials:

And the Fedorans and their allies:

All in all, it took 14 boxes, most of them with two infantry or one cavalry brigade in them, to prepare the armies for the march north to Millenium Con!

Sorry for the blurry pictures...someday I'll figure out how to take a clear picture.

Raising a new unit!

2008-09-24T18:17:00.001-07:00

For those of you who haven't picked up on it yet, I really don't like painting. Sure, the figures I have actually painted don't look bad, and I am usually happy in the end. But the process is not usually pretty.

But, hold your breath now, I'm going to paint a brand new unit in time for Millennium Con in November. I've had the Fedoran Landgrafin's Fusiliers staring at me for too long, but they're moving to the back of the line. The Imperium needs help!

So, I will paint up a 66-figure regiment of Minden Austrians. By the way...FANTASTIC figures, Frank!!

Here they are in their naked, just mustered-in glory:

They will be painted as the Furstenthal Regiment of Graf Prosper von Furstenthal. Who, amazingly enough, has this interesting red-vested look going for them:

Wish me luck! I will post updates as to their progress.

OSW weekend

2008-09-21T18:36:00.000-07:00

Over on the OSW Yahoo group, it was asked what people were up to this weekend.

In my case, I was rebasing troops. LOTS of troops:

Four 60-figure 30:1 Prussian regiments into 4 BAR Germanian Battalions (2 musketeer, 2 fusilier with grenadier companies included)

One 24-figure Prussian Standing Grenadier battalion into half of a BAR Germanian battalion

24 Prussian cuirassiers

30 Austrian cuirassiers

16 assorted mounted general officers

They look marvellous, and once I get the table cleared, the photos will follow.

I also made up ~40 movement trays for BAR out of thick card, paper steel, and green paint.

Note to Jean-Louis:

Snibor-Renraw is the ImagiNation of my friend Ray. The troops will be Eureka Dutch War of the Austrian Succession.

Soldiers of Gallia

2008-08-03T15:44:00.000-07:00

General Chevert-Protz has ordered Louis Renault, Comte de Maison-Blanche, to take charge of a column and move into Mittel-Nirgendwo. Renault's orders are to offer his assistance to the Imperial general von Blei-Sammeln, and to sustain his soldiers from the bounty of those lands.

Although the Comte de Maison-Blanche was not himself able to attend, his units paraded before departing.

Regiment Conde

Regiment La Sarre

Regiment Royal Allemand

Regiment Raugrave

Royal Artillery

The Britannian Contingent

2008-08-03T15:21:00.000-07:00

Major General Sir Harald Dawes reviewed his command on this hot Sunday afternoon.

11th Foot, with Sir Harald.

20th Foot is reviewed by Sir Harald.

The 37th Foot gets their turn with the commander.

The combined grenadiers--the cream of this little army.

And finally, Sir Harald looks at the artillery.

37th Foot and Fedoran Hussar Patrol

2008-08-03T09:46:00.000-07:00

Just a couple pics to see how the set up looks.

Two New Brigades Ready for Action!

2008-07-29T19:24:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend I was able to finish rebasing my British and French units for BAR. Well, apart from the French cavalry. Those are based with some unknown rock-like immovable substance from the UK and short of sawing the horses off at the feet, they are NOT coming off!

I hope to add some pics this weekend:

Brigade of Major General Sir Harald Dawes

11th Foot, 36 figures
20th Foot, 36 figures
37th Foot, 36 figures
Grenadier Battalion, 36 figures
Artillery Battery, 2 6pdr, 8 gunners, 1 officer

Brigade of Louis Renault, Comte de Maison-Blanche

Conde, 1 battalion, 48 figures
La Sarre, 1 battalion, 48 figures
Royal Allemand, 1 squadron, 12 figures
Rougrave, 1 squadron, 12 figures
Royal Artillery, 2 4pdr, 8 gunners

The Army of Saxe-Jungbach

2008-07-26T09:13:00.000-07:00

Infantry
1st Musketeer Regiment Prinz von Saxe-Gotha
2nd Musketeer Regiment Prinz Maximilian

Each regiment of one field battalion

Each battalion of four musketeer companies of 12 figures (10 privates, 1 NCO, 1 officer), one grenadier company of 13 figures (8 grenadiers, 1 pioneer, 1 drummer, 1 fifer, 1 NCO, 1 officer), and a regimental/battalion staff of 7 figures (2 drummers, 1 fifer, 2 standards, 2 officers)

Total, 68 figures

Total force = 2 battalions, 136 figures

Cavalry

1st Cuirassier Regiment
2nd Dragoon Regiment
3rd Chevauleger Regiment[*] Graf Brühl
4th Hussar Regiment*

Regiment of two field squadrons

Each squadron of 12 figures (8 privates, 1 drummer, 1 trumpeter, 1 standard, 1 officer; chevaulegers have no trumpeters and replace with privates; hussars do not have standards or drummers and replace with privates)

Total, 24 figures

Total force = 8 squadrons, 96 figures

Artillery

1st Artillery Company

Company has 8 figures and 2 6pdr guns
The artillerists are supplemented by infantrymen from the battalions (4 figures)

Total force = 2 guns and 12 figures

[*] Chevauleger and Hussar regiments can each dismount one squadron (12 figures plus horseholders)

The Army of Hesse-Fedora

2008-07-24T18:02:00.000-07:00

The Army in Review

Infantry

Leib Regiment, 1 bn and 1 grenadier co

Musketeer Regiment von Blaine, 1 bn and 1 grenadier co

Musketeer Regiment von Earle, 1 bn and 1 grenadier co

Musketeer Regiment von Spade, 1 bn and 1 grenadier co

Each musketeer battalion has 4 companies of 12 figures (10 privates, 1 NCO, 1 officer), plus a staff of 6 figures (1 private, 2 drummers, 2 standards, 1 officer)

Each grenadier company has 12 figures (10 grenadiers, 1 drummer, 1 officer)

Total 66 figures.

Normal-Infanterie-Regiment (Fusilier Regiment Landgrafin Loren), 1 bn and 1 grenadier co

Battalion of four musketeer companies of 12 figures (10 privates, 1 NCO, 1 officer), one grenadier company of 12 figures (9 grenadiers, 1 drummer, 1 NCO, 1 officer), and a regimental/battalion staff of 6 figures (2 drummers, 2 standards, 2 officers)

Total, 66 figures

Grenadier companies of the first four regiments are converged into Grenadier Battalion von Dobbs; grenadiers of Landgrafin Fusiliers are not converged.

Total force = 6 battalions, 330 figures.

Heavy Cavalry
Garde du Corps, 1 squadron

Karabinier Regiment von Marlowe, 2 squadrons

Each squadron has 12 figures (9 troopers, 1 trumpeter, 1 standard, 1 officer; 2nd squadron of Karabiniers replaces trumpeter with trooper)

Total force = 36 figures

Dragoons
Dragoon Regiment von Gunn, 2 squadrons

Each squadron has 12 figures (10 troopers, 1 standard, 1 officer)

Total force = 24 figures

Artillery
Artillery Company

The artillery company has 20 figures and 4 guns

The artillery company supports each infantry battalion with a 4pdr battalion gun

Total force = 4 guns and 20 figures

Light Forces
Jägerkorps, 3 companies

Hussar Regiment von Steele, 2 squadrons

Each company has 10 figures (1 officer, 9 jägers), no colors

Each squadron has 12 figures (all troopers), no colors

Total force = 54 figures

Mittel-Nirgendwo

2008-07-23T16:36:00.000-07:00

I plan on doing some housework and tidying up on the blog over the next few days.

I have decided that, among other changes, the links section is getting a makeover.

Originally I planned to link to all of the ImagiNation blogs, but that just isn't working. Besides, Emperor vs. Elector is doing it already! So, except for some personal favorites I will give just the link to E vs. E.

There are a few sites that I feel compelled to keep here, for various reasons. Mostly, though, they are the ones that most fire my own ImagiNation:

Stollen
Pils-Holstein
Hesse-Seewald
Battlegames
and some others

Personally, I am using Google Reader as my main blog source. Since it automatically tells me when there are new posts plus has folders for keeping things organized, I find it very useful. Now, if someone can just tell me how to read blog comments in Reader...

Since I use Reader, I can export my full blog list to anyone interested.

Also, I will be doing Army-specific posts showing each ImagiNation's order of battle with embedded uniform templates from the Not By Appointment plates, and also digipictures of the corresponding miniatures as they are completed. This will be an ongoing work for a few weeks.

In the meantime, here is my working map of the Imperial Circle of Mittel-Nirgendwo, where all of this lace and thunder is taking place.

Cheers!

Awarding Battle Honors (Honours)

2008-07-22T15:17:00.000-07:00

So far I've only been able to get in two (2) games of BAR. The first was a solo run through, the second was the game I hosted at ChimaeraCon 2008. Several units had noteworthy performances, and I was writing up some fluff for battle honors when it occurred to me: the Hesse-Fedorans LOST at the second battle.

So, what to do? No army wants to memorialize a defeat that served little purpose. But two units of the Fedoran army distinguished themselves during the battle. (We won't mention one that, ahhhh, did not.)

So, are "honours" just for the unit, or must the army do well in order to recognize the individual?

Two months?! And a request for help

2008-06-30T16:20:00.000-07:00

Wow, where in the world has two months gone? I've got a bunch of troops based up over the last few weeks, but not much else has been accomplished on the ImagiNation front.

I wrote up a post on my favorite wargames articles, but must have left it on the other thumb drive. I'll post it tomorrow.

In the meantime, does anyone have a copy of Military Modelling Manual 1983? I would like to get a copy to peruse Charles Grant's article, 'Generals, their Personalities and Staff in Wargames.'

Also, I'm looking to get a copy of Practical Wargamer, September/October 1994 for the article on 'Mainz 1792.'

Finally, can anyone give a comparative review of Don Featherstone's "Solo Wargaming" to Stuart Asquith's "The Partizan Press Guide to Solo Wargaming?" The Asquith version is much more accessible, and I'm looking for some pointers in this direction.

Thanks,
Ed

So...to which "Saxe-Gotha" are you referring??

2008-04-21T19:33:00.000-07:00

During my collecting of Seven Years War miniatures, I have somehow managed to pick several units that are all identified as “Saxe-Gotha.” Having just recently noted this, I thought it would be interesting to see if these units were all, in fact, named after the same proprietor (Inhaber or Chef depending on country).

Here are the units I have discovered with the name Saxe-Gotha. In German, it would be Sachsen-Gotha, but I will use “Saxe-.” Actually, at the time of the Seven Years War, it was technically Sachsen-Gotha-Altenburg.

The ruling Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg in 1756 was Frederick III, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. His consort was Luise Dorothea of Saxe-Meiningen. Their only son of military age, Frederick, died on 9 June, 1756.

Austrian IR 30, Saxe-Gotha Infantry Inhaber ?? Raised in the Netherlands

Austrian DR 28, Saxe-Gotha Dragoons Inhaber Field Marshal Prinz Johann August prince of Sachsen Gotha, brother of the ruling Duke

Hanoverian IR 9A Infantry “Herzogin” von Saxe-Gotha Originally a Saxe-Gotha unit, then under British subsidy, then absorbed into the Hanoverian army in 1759. Later known as Saxe-Gotha von Wurmb.

Electoral Saxon IR Prinz Gotha Infantry Inhaber Johann Adolf, Prinz von Sachsen-Gotha youngest of the Duke’s brothers; captured at Pirna; reformed 1757 in Hungary and then transferred to French service

IR Saxe-Gotha Infantry Diocese of Münster Inhaber??

Ducal Saxon Regiment Infantry Upper Saxon Circle Inhaber??

DR Saxe-Gotha Dragoons Upper Saxon Circle Inhaber??

I have been unable to find a list of the full names of the Austrian Inhaber, to confirm which “Saxe-Gotha” was Inhaber of IR 30.

Any help, on any of these units, would be appreciated.

Da Lead! Da Lead!

2008-04-15T18:56:00.000-07:00

It certainly can build up when one isn’t paying attention, can’t it? As usual, my ambitions and toy soldier-acquisition have far outstripped my painting speed and contract painting service budget!

My Brunswick/Fedora project is mostly complete except for the Landgrafin’s Fusiliers still are unfinished, and some basing is left for other units. However, my other projects are not so far advanced.

I have been rebasing my figures from six figures in two ranks onto single bases. That way I can play any of several rule sets simply by using movement stands. Most of the Austrians and roughly half of the Prussians are rebased, but the British and French are not even started.

Then there is the Pile o’ Lead. On top are the Landgrafin’s Fusiliers, which are at least started. Next is a company of Eureka Arquebusiers de Grassin.

After that, I have three battalions of Eureka Saxons with guns, a Minden Prussian battalion that shall become the first battalion of the Prince-Bishop of Zwischen-Andere, a Minden battalion for Hesse-Homburg, and a newly ordered brigade of Venture Miniatures Hanoverians. That’s around 500 foot and over 50 mounted.

Plus I have my Eureka 100 club figures that will be delivered over the next few months: 4 regiments of Saxon cavalry and a big force of Dutch.

So much lead…

Some more eye candy from ChimaeraCon

2008-03-23T17:22:00.000-07:00

These pics were taken by Lloyd von Zolms-Braunfels, who led the right flank of the Homburg-Imperial Army.

Here's a pic of the Imperial right flank. The Serbelloni cuirassiers (Old Glory figs) are closest to the camera, with the Ferdinand cuirassiers (Crusader miniatures, painted by Old Army Painting Service) behind. These were Lloyd's brigade. In the distance, the Imperial reserve made up of IR Salm-Salm and IR Neipperg have changed to column and are marching to the Imperial right flank.

This one shows the Ferdinand cuirassiers just before their ill-advised charge against the Fedoran Leibregiment. They were shot from the saddles, almost to a man. I think 4 figures survived the volley, and amazingly passed their morale check. Only to be destroyed the next turn.

Finally, here's a pic of the Fedoran-Germanians. In the foreground, Germanian (Prussian) Dragoon Regiment Schorlemer (Old Glory figures) just before the Serbelloni cuirassiers charged. In the background, the Fedoran (Brunswick) Karabiniers are about to change into column formation to move behind the dragoons, while the Leibregiment takes post near the town of Balcones. Leib and Karabiniers are RSM95 figures painted by Fernando Enterprises Miniature Painting Service.

The ground we fight on…

2008-03-17T20:04:00.000-07:00

I have been asked how I made the ground sheet used in my latest battle report. The answer is that I stole ideas from other gamers!

Back in the days of The Courier magazine, there was an article by a gamer who made 6mm Franco-Prussian maps that were just gorgeous. I actually saw them at Cold Wars and they were even better in person. He used T-shirt material, dyed and airbrushed, stretched over Styrofoam--or expanded polystyrene if you prefer.

Now, for Big Battalions I needed a big map, which was portable, relatively small, and relatively cheap to make.

I grabbed one of my wife’s 40% discount coupons and trotted off to Jo-Ann Fabrics. I bought a piece of 100% cotton muslin, in a single piece that was 96 inches wide and 11 yards long. Cost was about $20 with the discount. I also picked up four bottles of green Rit Dye.

After washing the muslin to get rid of sizing, I poured very hot water into a 20 gallon rubber container, and mixed in the Rit with a wooden stick. Note the directions for Rit say to do it in your washing machine, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do that. Then I slowly layered in the fabric.

Two things here:
1. I used rubber gauntlets up to my elbows. Rit will dye ANYTHING it touches. You have been warned.
2. Do this outside, in the grass or somewhere that you don’t mind sloshing the dye on. Rit will dye ANYTHING it touches. You have been warned again.

I left the fabric in the container for 4 days, occasionally stirring it, unfolding the fabric, and mixing again. The washing machine would have been faster, but I did not want to risk staining it green (or having my wife kill me for doing so). After 4 days, I poured out the dye, and let the cloth dry for a week.

Then I bought a variety of cheap green spray paints, plus brown and blue. I laid out the cloth in my garage and taped out the patterns.

Two more lessons:
1. Put newspaper under the cloth, as the spray paint WILL bleed through since you have to apply a lot.
2. Use three times wider tape or paper than you think is necessary to prevent overspray. I thought 2-3 inches wide would be enough but as you can see in the final product there was more overspray than looks good.

I worked from a map for our Napoleonic battle at the Millennium Convention 2007. For the green fields, I just randomly picked areas to give that look you see from an airplane.

So, voila! One 7 foot by 33 foot reusable green ground cloth. You can even fold up unused portions underneath without a problem.

For hills, I place 3 inch Styrofoam underneath and use T- or U-pins to mold the cloth over the hill. For towns, I put my buildings down on gray felt, cut to the shape of the building, so that if necessary the buildings can be removed but the location is still there.

You could even do smaller pieces and then piece them together just like most gamers do with their 2-foot or 4-foot terrain boards.

Here is one last photo of the final product.

ChimaeraCon 2008--San Antonio, Texas, USA

2008-03-15T20:52:00.000-07:00

ChimaeraCon 2008 is over, as far as “The Big Battalions” are concerned. And it was a complete success! Unless you are a Fedoran, that is.

C-Con has a larger portion of the Crossroads Mall Convention than last year, providing plenty of space for all of the various events. Sadly, turnout looked to be down. My guess is that Spring Break started this weekend and lots of people left town.

I showed up plenty early to see the sights and visit with the club members. My game wasn’t scheduled until 1400 but in another unfortunate turn for C-Con, the games scheduled for my table were cancelled due to the Game Master being injured. I took advantage, however, and set up my game early--by 1100.

My idea was that I could take my time and visit with passers-by. I also hoped to recruit some players since there was not a single person pre-registered for the game. Soon, the table looked like this:

My plan worked wonderfully. Maybe too wonderfully.

The scenario was indeed CS Grant’s “Table Top Teaser 3: Advance Guard.” I planned on 4 players initially, but had units for all of the possible reinforcements. Each side had 5 infantry battalions, 4 cavalry regiments, a jager or grenadier detachment, and a couple battalion guns. Infantry had 48 figures each, and cavalry had 24.

A number of club members stopped by, and a surprising number of non-historical gamers did also. I attribute that to the sheer “Wow!” factor of big battalions of “28mm” figures. One of the con’s guests, actor Marc Singer of “BEASTMASTER” and “V” stopped and asked a few questions.

At least nine people decided to play. My first reaction was “Uh oh!”

So I threw out the scenario and just threw all my troops on the table. There were two small brigades of cavalry on each end, with two infantry brigades in the center.

None of the players had played BAR before. Two, Lloyd of the Zolms-Braunfels blog and Rusty of the local club, had copies of the rules. Rusty even brought his Austrian battalions and a couple guns…but there was no room on the table!

At 1400 I gave an overview of the rules. That took 20 minutes, and the one thing I learned later was that I did not give enough information about the methods to change facing and formation as given in the “Drill Manual.”

The game began at 1425 after a brief planning session by the players.

Things went quickly due to the small size of the board. The sheer size of the movement rates and firing ranges is daunting, even on a table 6.5 feet by 10 feet.

Both ends of the field had traffic jams, due partly to terrain, partly to set-up, and partly to not explaining as mentioned above. But the players worked it out soon enough, and the game quickly started with Fedoran and Germanian hussars tangling with Imperial dragoons. You can sense the scale of losses by the amount of bare magnet visible on the movement trays!

In the center, the infantry engaged in some horrific firefights. Most of the units held their fire and caused around 15 casualties per volley…and that is AFTER the saving rolls!

We had a few questions come up, but the rules answered most of them with a little digging. The cavalry scrums ended up in Imperial victory on both ends, with about one squadron surviving out of four. These two squadrons were preparing to intervene in the center when the Fedorans withdrew.

In this photo, Germanian IR 9, which was the Fedoran reserve, is moving up to fill the hole left by the rout of a Fedoran battalion. In the middle distance you can see the melee which ended in the destruction of the Imperial Esterhazy battalion, and in the far distance you can see a fresh Imperial battalion preparing to drive the Leib regiment away from Balcones.

The Imperials held both victory objectives (Balcones town and the Olmosbach bridge), and also inflicted more casualties.

Overall, the players seemed pleased and I may have recruited a few new BAR players. One, Sherrill, is soon moving to Illinois and I have already aimed him at Herr Alte Fritz and company!

Some more eye candy, and then it’s off to bed. Thanks for stopping by!

How NOT to prepare for a game convention

2008-03-13T21:07:00.001-07:00

Monday it rained here in San Antonio; the first substantial rain in months.

If you live in the desert, you know that after an extended period without rain, things are VERY slick when it finally does rain.

And so, despite this knowledge, when I attempted to descend the tile staircase at work after lunch on Monday, my feet took a different route to the bottom than I had intended: over my head.

After landing on my back right ribs and before bouncing the last 8 or 9 steps, I lacerated my right elbow. The doctor took one look at the road rash on my ribs, poked once or twice to see how high I jumped, and pronounced "at least 3 broken ribs."

Fortunately, the X-rays showed no fractures at all (although apparently rib fractures frequently don't show up). So after 3 days on pain pills, I have returned to the gaming prep, albeit having lost all of the "cushion" I had built up over the weekend.

So, while everything is drying tonight, I will return to "better living through chemistry" and hope to finish it all tomorrow night. The game WILL go on, but some of the troops may not be quite as "finished" as I had planned.

Cheers, (ouch...darn elbow!)

Ed

Quick question for local readers

2008-03-02T11:53:00.000-08:00

Is anyone besides Lloyd von Solms-Braunfels planning on attending my BAR game at ChimaeraCon on 15 March?

Just curious if I need to rebase more troops quickly!

Ed v. H-F

First pics of the Fedoran hordes

2008-02-25T20:07:00.000-08:00

Just a few snaps. I am NOT a photographer!

The von Steele Hussars

The grenadiers of Regiment von Earle

Generalmajor Norris' pride and joy: the Jagerkorps!

Back home...and packages were waiting!

2008-02-24T15:26:00.001-08:00

Hello, and thanks for still dropping around.

I have just returned from a week visiting with my mother to help out while she recovers from a fall. She's doing well, although she has little short term memory and becomes confused when she's tired.

On a MUCH more cheerful note: there were packages awaiting my return:

1. Eureka Saxon infantry (the Duchy of Saxe-Jungbach's recruits)

2. A BUNCH of painted RSM Brunswickers...I mean, Fedorans. Yes, I "outsourced" to get the troops done quickly!

3. A check I made out to a painter. Oops. I was so excited about getting the troops (Crusader Miniatures Austrian dragoons and horse grenadiers) that I forgot to put a stamp on the envelope.

More pics and info to follow.

Cheers,
Ed v. H-F

Lack of Updates

2008-01-28T18:12:00.000-08:00

I'm sorry to say that 2008 has not started well on the ImagiNation front.

Although I've been slowly rebasing units for the BAR game in March at ChimaeraCon, I have not got much else accomplished. Add to that a bunch of business travel and some familial health issues which have already forced me to cancel plans to attend the SYWA convention.

Oh well, hopefully February will be better. At least I have a huge parcel from Eureka Miniatures for which to look forward!

Ed

Unexpected Tidings

2008-01-20T14:13:00.000-08:00

Landgraf Bogey frowned and looked up as a disturbance in the reception chamber to his office intruded on his thoughts. The noise of voices rose to a crescendo, followed by thumps and bumps, and then the door to his office burst open. A large overcoated man, hat pulled down low over his face and carrying a large package lurched into the room. Servants and officers attempted to hold the man back, but he shrugged them off and stumbled toward the Landgraf.

“You’re…eeka…” the man mumbled, dropping the bundle onto the desk with a thud and collapsing into a nearby chair. Bogey was on his feet, moving to the man and gesturing to the crowd at the entrance.

“Shut that door!” he commanded.

Fräulein Effi, one of the ladies of the court, quickly pushed the door closed, but with herself still in the Landgraf’s office. She placed her back against the door and turned to Bogey, who was peeling open the wet coat of the stranger.

As she realized that the wetness was the man’s own blood, Effi sharply breathed in, making an “Ohh!” sound that she tried to stifle with her hand.

Bogey, shot Effi a stern glance, and turned back to the man. Or rather, he turned back to the body. Reaching inside the inner coat, covered in blood and worse, the Landgraf plucked out a folio of soaked papers, then turned to the frightened young woman.

“He could not have come far with all those holes in him,” Bogey stated matter of factly, gently peeling the red-stained papers apart before tossing them in the fireplace. “Why could he not live long enough to tell us something?”

Bogey strode to the desk and tore open the cover to the bundle. Effi, despite herself, could not resist crossing the room to her Landgraf’s side to look at the contents: toy soldiers, dozens of them, painted in white with various trims. Some kind of bill of lading lay beneath, but she could only see a few letters that read, "..eka Miniatures, Victoria..."

“Do you know who he is, Your Excellency?” Effi asked in a hushed whisper.

“Ja. He was Herr Jakoby, master of the ship Der Vogel.” Bogey lifted one of the soldiers and then glanced at the lists beneath. More to himself than to Effi, the Landgraf muttered, “So, Saxe-Jungbach is contracting with Herr Robson to raise an army, eh?”

Bogey rolled the bundle together and thrust it under his arm. He grabbed Effi by the arm, causing her to wince. “Forget all about the bundle. You got that? You can tell anyone about what happened here, but don’t mention the bundle!”

Effi twisted painfully, “You’re hurting me,” she cried.

Bogey released her arm. “You’re an angel, Fräulein. Now get me General Norris.”

The Regent of Hesse-Homburg presents Her Greetings and Compliments

2007-12-31T08:27:00.000-08:00

The Regent has spent the early winter months closeted with her advisors and with emissaries of Her Imperial Highness and His Most Gallian Majesty. The problem of the secessionist Landgraf of Hesse-Fedora has, of course, been the most common subject of these discussions. Neither of those monarchs, although eager to help in Homburg’s righteous cause, is able to provide additional armaments to support it.

To that end, the Regent of Hesse-Homburg hereby lets it be known that She is issuing warrants and regulations for the raising of Her own military force to better protect and secure Her son’s domains.

The Regent invites officers of noble family and upright character to submit their resumes to the Hesse-Homburg Kriegsrat for consideration. The Regent needs large numbers of qualified officers for the new army, the details of which are listed below. In particular, please note that Regimental Inhaber positions are available for most of the new units, those which are depicted with numbers instead of titles.

As the duties of Inhaber can only be carried out by the most responsible of individuals, the Regent offers immediate promotion to the rank of Generalfeldwachtmeister to those whom She entrusts the care of Her son’s soldiers. Further, Her Imperial Highness’ military has promised to respect those so promoted as having the same rank when operating alongside their forces.

It is only right that prospective candidates understand that their units will be composed of only the finest recruits available. The Regent envisions that the army will be recruited almost exclusively from the upstanding and well-proportioned inhabitants of the Kingdom of Leder-Hosen. Since that district is still sculpting its inhabitants, there will probably be some delay in fielding the army.

Please address your resume to:
The Office of Personnel, Casualty Notification, and Remains Disposition
Select Corps of Army Personnel Entering General Officer Acceptance Testing (SCAPEGOAT)
Hofkriegsrat
Hesse-Homburg

Or via Imperialmail to the officer in charge of SCAPEGOATs: ed_youngstrom at yahoo dot com

Proposed Army of Hesse-Homburg

Infantry
Leib Regiment, 1 bn and 1 grenadier bn (Leib-Grenadier-Battalion)
1st Regiment, 1 bn and 1 grenadier co (red)
2nd Regiment, 1 bn and 1 grenadier co (dark blue)
3rd Regiment, 1 bn and 1 grenadier co (dark green)
4th Regiment, 1 bn and 1 grenadier co (rose)
5th Regiment, 1 bn and 1 grenadier co (black)
6th Regiment, 1 bn and 1 grenadier co (light blue)
7th Regiment, 1 bn and 1 grenadier co (light green)
8th Regiment, 1 bn and 1 grenadier co (purple)

Each infantry battalion has 4 companies of 12 figures, plus a Stabs-Standarten-Garde of 6 figures. Total 54 figures.
Each grenadier company has 9 figures. Regimental total 63 figures.

1st-4th Regiments’ grenadiers and 5th-8th Regiments’ grenadiers are formed into 2nd and 3rd Grenadier-Battalions, respectively, each of 36 figures.

Leib-Grenadier-Battalion has 4 grenadier companies plus a Stabs-Standarten-Garde of 6 figures. Total 42 figures.

Total force = 12 battalions, 600 figures.

Heavy Cavalry
Leib-Kurassiers, 2 squadrons and 1 carabineer squadron (Leib-Karabiniers)
1st Cuirassiers, 2 squadrons and 1 carabinier company
2nd Cuirassiers, 2 squadrons and 1 carabinier company

Each squadron has 12 figures.
Each carabinier company has 6 figures. Regiment total 30 figures. (Leib-Kuirassiers 36)

The two carabinier companies are formed into a single squadron and then combined with the Leib-Karabiniers to form another, 2-squadron regiment.

Total force = 96 figures

Dragoons
Leib-Dragoons, 2 squadrons and 1 horse grenadier squadron (Leib-Grenadiers zu Pferde)
1st Dragoons, 2 squadrons and 1 horse grenadier company.
2nd Dragoons, 2 squadrons and 1 horse grenadier company.

Each squadron has 12 figures.
Each horse grenadier company has 6 figures. Regiment total 30 figures (Leib-Dragoons 36).

The two horse grenadier companies are formed into a single squadron and then combined with the Leib-Grenadiers zu Pferde to form another, 2-squadron regiment.

Total force = 96 figures

Artillery
Leib Artillery Company
1st Artillery Company
2nd Artillery Company

Each artillery company has 10 figures and 4 guns
Each artillery company supports an infantry brigade with three 4pdr battalion guns (2 figures each) and one 6pdr brigade battery (4 figures)

Total force = 12 guns and 30 figures

Light Forces
Jägerkorps, 1 battalion Jäger zu Fuss and 1 squadron Jäger zu Pferde
Freikorps, 1 battalion infantry and 1 squadron Hussars

Each battalion has 4 companies of 9 figures, no colors. Total 36 figures
Each squadron has 12 figures

Total force = 96 figures

Regiment Inhaber
Leib Regiment His Excellency the Furst of Hesse-Homburg
1st Regiment vacant
2nd Regiment vacant
3rd Regiment vacant
4th Regiment vacant
5th Regiment vacant
6th Regiment vacant
7th Regiment vacant
8th Regiment vacant
Leib-Kurassiers His Excellency the Furst of Hesse-Homburg
1st Cuirassiers vacant
2nd Cuirassiers vacant
Leib-Dragoons His Excellency the Furst of Hesse-Homburg
1st Dragoons vacant
2nd Dragoons vacant
Regiment of Artillery vacant
Jägerkorps vacant
Freikorps vacant

2007 in review, with a look forward to 2008.

2007-12-30T10:41:00.000-08:00

Looking back at 2007, I see that I was all over the wargame map! Of course, why should 2007 be different than any other year, but this time it was a trifle better documented than before.

I kept a written games “diary” from 1998 until June of 2006 when the journal was full. During that year I started keeping loose pages in my appointment book, and also started my first blog (Huzzah!) as a resource for my friend Ray and I to plan and track our big Napoleonics game for MillenniumCon X.

Then in March of 2007 I started this blog, mainly for my rekindled interest in “big battalion” Seven Years War gaming. That first month, as in many new hobby activities, was a flurry of activity, which has dropped off over the year. My plan (let’s not call it a resolution) is to update weekly in 2008.

So what did I accomplish in the past year?

The main project for the year, and which was a complete success, was the Napoleonics project mentioned above and documented at Huzzah! Ray and I were joined by Paul Bishop, who contributed enthusiasm and a fresh view on the project and the rules. It is always a pleasure to find someone that so fits in with your outlook. Thanks Paul!

The “big game” involved collecting essentially an entire Napoleonic corps at 30:1 in 25mm. Many orders were made to various miniature companies and painting services. In no particular order:

Old Glory Miniatures
The Miniature Service Center (GMB Flags, Front Rank Figurines)
DJD Miniatures
Fernando Enterprises
Philgreg Painters
Big Battalions
Charles Van Norman
Reinforcements By Post
Flag Dude
Litko Aerosystems
Hinds Figures Ltd
Dragon Painting Service
Bicorne Miniatures

Ray and I live quite a distance apart (Warner-Robins, GA and San Antonio, TX), so we don’t get together often. But in 2007 we got in three practice games for the project, as well as a couple other games such as Wings of War and Victory at Sea.

Wings of War (“WoW”) was one of those side roads. Ray and I discovered the game while meeting Paul for the first time at the Houston game store, Little Wars over the Memorial Day weekend. Between charge and counter-charge, we did some shopping and found the WoW airplanes. Both Ray and I have played WWI air games in the past, and the beautiful little plans and the fun game mechanics launched a flurry of collecting frenzy. We each have the complete set now and look forward to the delayed release of the new sets.

I spent a lot of time preparing my Napoleonic armies for the convention, but nevertheless found time to catch the “Big Battalion” and “ImagiNation” bug for the Seven Years War. I have collected SYW figures for several years, and had even put together the beginnings of an ImagiNation plan before, but something really triggered me to start this fresh. And then I found all of the other people similarly engaged in the Emperor vs. Elector crowd. Thanks to everyone for almost a year of fun and frivolity.

My plans for the SYW Brunswick army, masquerading as the Landgraviate of Hesse-Fedora have been remarkably consistent. At one point I was thinking of representing every battalion at 10:1, but decided on just one battalion and two squadrons per historical regiment. But I did add the hypothetical Landgrafin’s Fusiliers.

Along those lines I picked up Bill Protz’s new rules: Batailles de l´Ancien Régime 1740-1763, as well as copies of the classics Charge! Or How to Play Wargames and The War Game. Reading about Bill and Jim Purkey’s (of Der Alte Fritz fame) big games has inspired me greatly, and together with Bill McHenry launched a plan for a Big Battalion game at MillenniumCon XI in November 2008.

Preparing for the next big game, and big battalions in general, has been fun. Like Hal Thinglum in his editorials in MWAN, I truly enjoy planning my wargames armies. Right now my projects include Minden Miniatures, RSM95 figures from Dayton Painting Consortium, Arquebusiers de Grassin from Eureka Miniatures (not to mention orders for literally hundreds of figures for the 100 Club Saxons, Dutch, British, and Spanish!) and Crusader Miniatures Austrians being painted for me by Old Army Painting Service. Oh, and I picked up a few extra figures from GAJO to fill out my units bought from them years ago.

I also plan to put on a BAR game at the local San Antonio convention, ChimaeraCon, in March, 2008. This is to get some experience with the system, but also to support the convention and to drum up enthusiasm for the project at MillenniumCon.

All of this lead bingeing has a price, though. I have considered a massive sell-off of my various miniatures, but in the end sold only my Flames of War and 15mm SYW collections.

Finally, I added bits and pieces to various projects, including figures and books for my Games Workshop Lord of the Rings collection.

Next year I plan to paint more SYW figures for the Big Battalions projects, and to expand my ImagiNations and their characters. Right now, the Hesse-Fedorans have received most of my attention, but the forces of Hesse-Homburg, Saxe-Jungbach, and Snibor-Renraw wait in the wings for their turn.

Thanks for visiting. I hope you have enjoyed it even a fraction as much as I have. I look forward to 2008, and wish you a prosperous New Year.

Plans are afoot

2007-12-11T19:43:00.000-08:00

And horse and guns, too, for that matter.

First, apologies for lack of updates on the painted figures front because there isn't any.

Plotting and scheming has been my major wargame activity, since it can take place during such mundane activities as company Christmas parties and the 45 minute commute to work. Painting just doesn't work as well.

I was able to get the figures to flesh out my British battalions to 48 figures each, including 8 grenadiers per battalion. I have managed to rebase another couple cavalry units onto single bases, but none are terrained yet.

News has reached me of potential additions to the recruits from the Kingdom of Lederhosen. In a message to the UK Big Battalions group, Frank let slip the imminent release of Austrian infantry figures. So, the Prince of Hesse-Homburg has taken to updating his order of battle. This is purely wishful thinking at this point until I get the other projects cleared up.

I'm also looking forward to delivery of my copy of the new edition of "The Wargame" by Charles Grant, released by Ken Trotman Books. That will definitely fire up the motivation!

Look for a press release from the Homburgische Kriegsrat soon.

Two pictures to whet the appetite

2007-11-24T20:44:00.000-08:00

Germania's IR18 is currently reorganizing to the BAR doctrine, as seen in these photos. These are Foundry figures painted by John Price.

You may be surprised just how much the ImagiNations fraternize during the "off season." In the background, you can see the Imperium's IR Salm-Salm as it enters the area for reorganization!

And so it begins...

2007-11-22T09:20:00.000-08:00

Sixty-six of the Landgrafin's Fusiliers, newly drafted from the Minden (Miniatures) district, on parade before being issued their undergarments (primer):

Crazy idea?

2007-11-21T20:00:00.000-08:00

I've been wondering about the Reichsarmee and their...shall we say "polyglot"...appearance during the Seven Years War. Much of this is due to the units being made up of contingents from multiple countries.

It's difficult enough in these days of the Internet to get people on the same page. Imagine what the tailors and outfitters of literally dozens of small towns had to do.

Which really got me to thinking. What if I painted a Reichsarmee unit, using castings from all the different companies? Then, what about asking different people to do so?

For example, the Baden-Baden regiment was made up of 42 (yes, Virginia, forty-two) different contingents. They had a uniform cut in the Prussian style, with white small clothes, trousers, and facings.

So, give THAT information to a dozen or three gamers. Ask them to paint ONE figure from their lead mountain and send it to a single person to base (the basing will "tie them together").

So, everything from Minifig to Stadden via Foundry and Front Rank, all in one battalion. Do the "size forward, size right" drill, with the largest at the flanks.

And then I find out the Kapiti Fusiliers did so, albeit with all Front Rank French Napoleonic figures. See http://web.mac.com/nataliendpeter/Site/Napoleonic_Fusiliers_Batt.html

Anyway, said regiment could then become a traveling show, going to Big Battalion games or conventions. It would probably be best given to an organization, perhaps the SYW Association.

So, crazy?

Troops for Big Battalions in Texas

2007-11-19T19:45:00.000-08:00

You may know about our planned Big Battalions game at next year's Millennium Con (if not, see http://texasbigbattalions2008.blogspot.com/

Here is the current order of battle that I will be bringing to that effort.

Germanian Column
1st Brigade
Infantry Regiment von Itzenplitz (IR 13), 48 figures
Infantry Regiment Prinz von Preussen (IR 18), 48 figures
Infantry Regiment Alt-Braunschweig (IR 5), 48 figures
2nd Brigade
Infantry Regiment Jung-Kleist (IR 9), 48 figures
Infantry Regiment Prinz Heinrich (FR 35), 48 figures
Infantry Regiment Alt-Münchow (FR 36), 48 figures
3rd Brigade
1st Grenadier Battalion (13/18/5/20), 48 figures
2nd Grenadier Battalion (35/36/GR3/GR4/NGR), 48 figures
Cavalry Brigade
Cuirassier Regiment von Seydlitz (CR 8) (2 sqd, 24 figures)
Dragoon Regiment von Schorlemer (DR 6) (2 sqd, 24 figures)
Hussar Regiment von Puttkamer (HR 4) (2 sqd, 24 figures)
Artillery
2 x 12pdr with limbers
2 x 6pdr with limbers

Imperial Column
1st Brigade
Infantry Regiment Neipperg (IR 7) (48 figures)
Infantry Regiment Salm-Salm (IR 14) (48 figures)
Infantry Regiment Gaisruck (IR 42) (48 figures)
2nd Brigade
Infantry Regiment Kaiser (IR 1) (48 figures)
Infantry Regiment Moltke (IR 12) (48 figures)
Infantry Regiment Esterhazy (IR 37) (48 figures) (Hungarian)
3rd Brigade
1st Grenadier Battalion (7/14/42/52), 48 figures
2nd Grenadier Battalion (1/12/37), 36 figures
1st Cavalry Brigade
Cuirassier Regiment Alt-Modena (CRiii) (2 sqd, 24 figures)
Cuirassier Regiment Serbelloni (CR12) (2 sqd, 24 figures)
Converged Horse Grenadiers (DR9/19/31/X) (2 sqd, 24 figures)
2nd Cavalry Brigade
Dragoon Regiment Zweibrucken (DRX) (2 sqd, 24 figures)
Dragoon Regiment Savoy (DR 9) (2 sqd, 24 figures)
Dragoon Regiment Prinz de Ligne (DR31) (2 sqd, 24 figures)
Artillery
2 x 12pdr
2 x 6pdr
2 x 3pdr

Gallian Column
1st Brigade
Infantry Regiment Conde, 48 figures
Infantry Regiment La Sarre, 48 figures
2nd Brigade
Cavalry Regiment Rougrave, 12 figures
Cavalry Regiment Royal Allemand, 12 figures
Artillery
2 x 6pdr

Hesse-Fedoran Column
Avantgarde Brigade
Grenadier Battalion von Dobbs, 48 figures
Fusilier Regiment Landgrafin, 60 figures
Jägerkorps von Norris, 30 figures
Hussar Regiment von Steele (2 sqd, 24 figures)
1st Brigade
Infantry Regiment Leib, 48 figures
Infantry Regiment von Spade, 48 figures
Infantry Regiment von Blaine, 48 figures
Infantry Regiment von Earle, 48 figures
2nd Brigade
Garde de Corps (1 sqd, 12 figures)
Karabinier Regiment von Marlowe(2 sqd, 24 figures)
Dragoon Regiment von Gunn (2 sqd, 24 figures)
Artillery
4 x 3pdr

Electorate of Weisspferdheim Column
1st Brigade
Weisspferdheim Leibgarde (2 sq)
Herzog von Beverforden (2 sq)
Der Blauens (2 sq)
2nd Brigade
Weiss Hussars (2 sq)
Rot Hussars (2 sq)

This unit may make it, if I can recruit the units up to strength. However, they are low on the priority list:

Brittanian Column
1st Brigade
11th Foot (1 bn)
20th Foot (1 bn)
37th Foot (1 bn)
Grenadier Battalion (11/20/37)
Artillery
2 x 6pdr

Almost everthing above is already painted, except the Landgrafin's Fusiliers. I also want to add a Hesse-Homburg column of 4 infantry units (54 figures each plus grenadiers), 2 each cuirassier and dragoon regiments of two squadrons (total, 24 figures per regiment) and artillery.

That's all. :)

MConX big Napoleonics game

2007-11-11T10:57:00.001-08:00

Here's a teaser from the big game this weekend. We hope to post more over the next couple days over at http://huzzahm10.blogspot.com/.

This is a picture of the table just prior to the game starting. Sadly, it was 8 feet shorter than intended.

The Landgrafin’s Fusiliers

2007-11-01T17:06:00.000-07:00

It has been widely known for some time that Her Excellency Landgrafin Loren has been expressing an interest in the country’s military establishment. Unable to directly influence her husband or the military, she has decided to use her family’s not inconsiderable wealth to raise and equip her own regiment.

The unit is organized in a manner unlike those of the “regular” establishment. The Landgrafin and her advisors scientifically determined the structure of the regiment, rather than simply accept military traditions. They settled on a structure of twos, as can be seen from this chart:

Zug (60 sergeants and men, 1 lieutenant)
Company (2 züge, 1 captain)
Division (2 companies, 1 major)
Battalion (2 divisions, 1 lieutenant colonel plus one grenadier company)
Regiment (2 battalions, 1 colonel)

So, a battalion has 2 divisions, or 4 companies, or 8 züge, for a total of 480 men, plus staff.

The grenadier companies are organized in the same manner as the line fusiliers, with the regiment’s two companies commanded by a grenadier major. Theoretically, as the scientific precision of this system becomes recognized by the hide-bound generals they will adopt the superior organization for the main army.

In an attempt to impose Her Excellency’s ideas on the army, the official title of the new unit is the Normal-Infanterie-Regiment, which translated from the German means “The Infantry Regiment which sets the Norm,” or more precisely “the Model Infantry Regiment.” In day-to-day use, it is usually referred to as “the Landgrafin’s Fusiliers.”

For uniform, the Landgrafin wanted a uniform distinctive from musketeers of the line. A green coat was adopted, as Her Excellency is quite convinced that her soldiers would be just as capable as that parvenu General Norris’ jägers in any situation. However, she picked a shade slightly lighter, and added burgundy distinctives and cream small clothes. A fusilier mitre was chosen as giving the soldiers an improved martial stature, without insulting the sartorial prerogatives of the grenadiers.

Winter Quarters...

2007-10-29T16:23:00.000-07:00

Schloss Schlüssel-Largo

As General Larrabee and Ambassador Lorre rose from their chairs to take their leave, the Landgraf’s secretary appeared at the door.

“Major Generals Norris and Marlowe to see you, Your Excellency.”

The three men looked at each in other in surprise. “Show them in,” said Landgraf Bogey to the secretary and then turned to the others. “This is either very good, or very bad.”

As the door opened, the two generals strode in together. They could hardly have been more different: Norris wore his begrimed green major of jägers uniform still, and his face showed the redness of much wind and cold. Marlowe, taller and thinner, was resplendent in the sky blue full dress of the Fedoran Hussars, with every button and buckle freshly polished and boots that mirrored the weak autumn sunlight coming through the windows. They both halted before the desk and saluted.

“Report, gentlemen,” Bogey said after returning the salute.

“I met ‘General’ Norris as I was leaving the building, Your Excellency.” There was a slight emphasis on the title that showed Marlowe’s disdain for the newly promoted Norris. “Despite his ungentlemanly appearance and without any papers explaining his mission, he insisted on seeing you at once, Your Excellency. I thought it prudent to escort him to see you, rather than see him detained by the staff.”

Tugging at an earlobe, Bogey motioned the two generals to be seated. “And what is this urgent mission, General Norris?”

Norris remained standing as Marlowe began to sit down. “The Snibor-Renrawians have withdrawn from Fedoran soil, Your Excellency. They and their Dutch hirelings have all recrossed the frontier. I met Lieutenant Colonel von Wilmer in Ballaswein, observing their retreating columns. I do not know if they had become aware of my force, or if they acted for their own reasons.

“We enquired of the locals and found that there had been no molestation of our citizens. They paid for their lodging and victuals, enforced rigid discipline, and respected Your Excellency’s laws and officials. It was almost as if they thought they had been invited to an affaire, and when they discovered had entered the wrong house, made their apologies and left.”

Bogey turned to Lorre. “Pay a visit to my esteemed neighbor at his chateau in Maconga, Herr Lorre. Find out what he thought he was doing. Play it however you like, except make clear that we do not like unexpected guests.” The Landgraf turned to the generals.

“Gentlemen, this gives us our chance to set things straight again. The army will return to quarters. I want everything renewed, reorganized, and prepared for next campaign season. In particular, I have something with which I want all of you to become familiar.”

Turning to his desk, Bogey opened a drawer and pulled out a stack of thin, blue-covered folios. He handed several copies to each of the generals, and set the balance down next to Larrabee.

“This is the latest treatise by the renowned M. Guillaume de Protz, fils. I’m sure you are all acquainted with his work on the English Civil War? Well, he recently has returned from writing of that nonsense in the New World and put his talent to work describing real warfare.

“You will ensure that every unit is reorganized according to this drill book. Take the opportunity to renew the unit colors, issue new bayonets and swords, everything. I want a well-equipped, well-drilled machine when we take to the field in the spring.”

“That will be all, gentlemen.”

Norris, who still stood in the center of the room asked, “If I may, Your Excellency? I have another message of importance.”

“Yes?”

“There are five regiments of cavalry on our border. Their commander, General Piepenbrink states that he brought them here at M. Protz’s suggestion and your invitation, and 1,200 veteran horsemen are looking for a bivouac.”

Larrabee exclaimed, “Where am I going to put them? Much less feed them?”

Bogey barked out a laugh. “You’ll make do, Linus. Perhaps these veterans will help us whip our lads into shape!”

33 foot by 7 foot "map"

2007-10-27T13:46:00.000-07:00

This is the table cover for MillenniumCon 2007. We are putting on a corps-size Napoleonic game, with 24-figure battalions.

There will a styrofoam ridgeline in the center where the big monochrome light green splotch is, and of course it will be decorated with trees, lichen, buildings, and a thousand or two figures!

A ground cloth may not be the most beautiful thing, but it beats plain felt in looks and is a lot more portable than terrain boards when you drive a Honda...

Hobby musings; or megalomania sets in

2007-10-24T19:38:00.000-07:00

I've been toying with my figures and various catalogs, when I should be off basing figures.

Anyway, I'm kind of enamored with M. Chevert-Protz's "have you and your buddies build a small force idea." Obviously, the Big Game at Millennium Con in 2008 will have lots of participation.

But I'm thinking about my own collection, and adding to it in "brigade" size chunks.

Disregarding my previous collection, my plan is to build up the Hesse-Fedorans to 4 big battalions, a small jager contingent, 4 guns, and 2 squadrons each of Karabiniers, Dragoons, and Hussars. Basically, the Brunswick army.

The Hesse-Homburgers, who look suspiciously Austrian, will be about the same size.

That's where things started getting out of hand.

I have enough Eureka War of the Austrian Succession Dutch ordered to make 3 battalions of foot (54 figures each), 2 squadrons, and 2 guns.

Next, I think I'll be getting the Eureka Saxons, but with an extra cavalry regiment.

So, what next? I don't have any Russians or Hanoverians at all, and no British, French, or real Prussians specifically for this scale.

And part of me is just screaming to do a 10:1 Reichsarmee battalion from Franconia or Swabia. You know, the ones with 40 or 60 different contingents? I'm thinking of buying ones and twos of extra figures from every manufacturer, and clumping them together into one rather ugly battalion...

Anyway, I've now ordered or dreamed of ordering enough figures to keep me busy for a couple years.

Ed

The Ambassador Reports

2007-10-19T20:02:00.000-07:00

“So they finally got married, Peter?”

“Yes, Your Excellency. The ceremony was on the 14th.” The Ambassador Extraordinaire of the Court of Hesse-Fedora partially hooded his large eyes, trying to judge his Landgraf’s reaction.

“Any news from Zolms-Rottenwald or -Gruenewald?”

“No, Excellency. However, if I may be permitted to pass on a matter of rumor?”

“Meaning, yes there is news, but you cannot confirm it?”

“Yes, Excellency, that is an excellent summary of my…source.”

“And this rumor is?”

Ambassador von Lorre rolled his eyes to the other men in the room. Lieutenant General Linus von Larrabee, Deputy Minister for War, Quartermaster General and holder of various other crucial positions, folded his arms across his chest and looked impatient. Major General von Marlowe, the realm’s cavalry commander, was pretending not to listen and shammed looking at a muster return. Oberst von Leland, the army’s chief gunner, simply returned the Ambassador’s gaze.

“They are trustworthy, Herr von Lorre,” Landgraf Bogey said into the uneasy silence.

“Of course, Excellency. I simply do not wish to alarm anyone unduly.”

Bogey glanced at Marlowe. “Out, General von Marlowe. You too, Herr Oberst von Leland.” He turned back to von Lorre. “Minister von Larrabee stays.”

Marlowe rose slowly, looked distastefully at Lorre, and saluted Bogey. “As you wish, General,” and then he stalked from the room. Oberst Leland, unsuccessfully hiding a smile at the old hussar’s pique, gave his own salute and followed the general out the door.

Bogey turned to Lorre. “What is so secretive and important that you just insulted two of my highest officers?”

“Excellency, Solms-Rottenwald and the now united grafschafts have been ordering uniforms from the mills, and placed orders for additional soldiers to be recruited. Numbers for at least,” Lorre interrupted long enough to pull a scrap of paper from his breast, and to adjust a pince-nez, “two battalions, a squadron of cavalry, and battalion guns.”

“And the reason for this armament?”

Lorre shrugged. “Perhaps a wedding gift, Your Excellency?”

Larrabee spoke. “If I may, your Excellency? It will take months to reorganize the army after the last battle.”

“I know that, Linus. And Norris is off chasing those Dutchmen out of the northwest of the Landgrafschaft.” Bogart tugged at an earlobe.

“Thank you, Peter. See what else you can learn. Linus? Draft an order for Major General Marlowe to relieve Major General Norris in command of his column, and for Norris to report back to here with the hussars and jagers.”

Aftermath

2007-10-19T20:01:00.000-07:00

Norris’ horse picked its way warily through the debris and bodies, while the rider watched for any movement among the corpses. Nearby, some women from the local village were already stripping the valuables from a pile of fallen Imperial soldiers.

The wind blew through the Königstor and left the battlefield clear and sharp to the eye. Norris was able to spot the group of officers gathered along the road and once clear of the former firing line, he urged the tired horse to a canter. Nearing the group he was overtaken by the sound of a galloping horse coming up the road from behind him, from the direction of Fedora. A hussar mounted on a lathered horse thundered past with a barely heard, “By your leave, sir!” and the messenger sawed at his reins to halt near the party. As the hussar reported to a dismounted infantry captain, Norris drew up to the group.

The captain led the hussar to several officers standing near a makeshift litter made from what looked to once have been white Imperial coats. Now they were red with blood. On the litter, a pale-faced young lieutenant gasped ragged breaths. Landgraf Bogart leaned down next to the dying man, holding one of the officer’s hands in both of his own.

The captain addressed the Landgraf. “Your Excellency, we have urgent news from the capital!”

“In a moment, Captain.” Bogart never turned his face from the lieutenant. “Go on, von Bellem.”

Lieutenant von Bellem tried to smile, but the pain was obviously too much. “You were right, Your Excellency! I am proud to be a soldier. I will remember…”

A short, sharp intake of breath cut off what the lieutenant wanted to remember, and when it was gone, so was he.

The captain looked at Norris, puzzled. “Remember what, Herr Major?”

The Landgraf answered instead. “I promised him he would remember this day.” Bogart stood up straight, and faced the hussar. “For the rest of his life. And you, trooper, what do you have to say?”

“Your Excellency, General von Larrabee has sent me with this dispatch,” he said, holding out a small envelope to the Landgraf. “I was instructed to deliver it to you immediately, and to let no one delay its delivery.”

“Very well. Captain, take this man and his horse and get them some water. Norris? Do you have anything to report?”

“Nothing new, Your Excellency,” replied Norris, saluting smartly despite his fatigue. “The Imperials are withdrawing across the border.”

“Running, more likely!” snorted General von Blaine.

“That’s enough, General,” Bogart said mildly, looking up from the note. “We have another problem. Major, how many troops do we have on the northern border?”

“Just one battalion, sir, along with a squadron of hussars and the third company of the jägers.” Norris knew that the Landgraf knew as well as he where the troops were, but Norris also realized when to play along to his commander.

“It would appear that our neighbor has decided to try and take a little piece of Fedora while we were occupied with the guests from Homburg. The Prince of Snibor-Renraw has moved soldiers into Harweiss and Ballaswein.

“It will take some time to reorganize the army that fought today. Major Norris, you are hereby promoted. Major General Norris, you are directed to proceed immediately to Arlesburg. That’s to where Larrabee reports the northern garrison has retired. When you reach Fedora, you have authority to order the first battalion of the Leib, and the Garde du Corps to accompany you.

“Stop the Snibor-Renrawians from coming any further. If they appear weak, push them back. Keep me informed. Dismissed.”

General Norris, who still rode his tired horse, saluted again. “It shall be done, Your Excellency.”

As the new general rode off over the pass, Landgraf Bogart turned to the officers and glanced down at von Bellem’s body. “Another memory for the rest of his life.”

Fedora: Two Generals Meet

“General, there is an…officer…to see you.”

Generalleutnant Linus von Larrabee, Deputy Minister of War, Quartermaster General of the Army, and Commander of the District of Oberfedora, placed the edges of both fists on the edge of the paper-strewn desk and pushed back. His broad forehead creased as he scowled at the clerk’s head peering around his office door.

“And which ‘officer’ would that be, Werner?”

“He introduced himself as a general, Herr General, but he is wearing a rather soiled jäger officer’s uniform.”

“Werner, did the officer state he was on the Landgraf’s business?”

“Yes, Herr General.”

“Then show him in.”

The clerk’s head hurriedly withdrew, and then Werner pushed open the door and announced, “Um, General Norris to see you on the Landgraf’s business, Herr General.”

Norris strode through the door, his face betraying nothing. He was indeed still wearing his major’s rank. And his uniform was sweat-stained and smelled of saddle leather. But he strode to the center of the room and cracked a salute that made Werner scurry to retreat, shutting the door behind.

“Major General Norris reporting at His Excellency’s order, General von Larrabee!”

Linus still sat with his fists on the desk and looked Norris in the eye. There were not many men in the Landgraviate who could do so without flinching. Norris’ answering gaze was not challenging, but it was penetrating and powerful. There was force behind those eyes, and force could be dangerous if it was not properly controlled.

Linus returned the salute without rising. “Sit down, General.” Raising his voice, Linus cast his words at the door, “Werner! Bring the schnapps. The good schnapps!”

“Immediately, Herr General!”

“We should toast your promotion, Norris. Judging from your appearance, I doubt you have had time to do so yet.”

“No, Herr General. I rode direct from the battlefield. Königstor is held, but at a high price. When His Excellency received your message about the north, he gave me the command of the border and ordered me to report to you en route to the area.”

Werner knocked discreetly at the door and entered bearing a silver platter. A fine crystal decanter with two glasses already poured indiscreetly full rocked as Werner approached the desk.

“Werner, His Excellency has promoted Herr Norris to the rank of Major General. So recently, in fact, that the good general has not had time to equip himself with the proper regulation blue general’s coat. I do not believe we have time to determine the proper cut of the coat for a general of jägers, but please prepare a commission with that rank for my signature.”

“Yes, Herr General. Is there anything else?”

“No. Dismissed.”

As the door again closed on Werner’s bowed back, Norris said, “Thank you for that, Herr General. It will be useful up north.”

“Not as useful as some real intelligence, Norris, much less some real forces. Did our Landgraf acquaint you with the situation?”

Norris, who despite his appearance was extremely aware of rank and privilege, noted the use of his name without the honorific normally used even between two generals. “Landgraf Bogey told me that Snibor-Renraw has sent troops across the border and occupied Harweiss and Ballaswein. I was ordered to report to Arlesburg to take command of the units ordered there by you, and to take the first Leib battalion and the Garde du Corps with me. I am to prevent further incursion, and if the situation warrants, to push them off Fedoran soil.”

“That might be more difficult than you realize. Snibor-Renraw is being quite underhanded. The troops who crossed the border are not actually Renrawians. They made the push with their brigade of Dutch mercenaries. There are at least two and possibly three battalions of Dutch, along with some cavalry and guns. I’m not sure what the Stadtholder will think of this, but in the meantime those Dutch are your problem now.”

“And besides the Leib and Garde du Corps, just with what tools do I have to work?”

Standing, Linus turned to the wall behind him. An oversize copy of the flag of the Leib regiment hung there, obscuring a large portion of the wall. Linus reached to the side and pulled a cord, drawing up the flag to reveal a large map of the Landgraviate with slips of paper pinned across it. Most of the slips were clustered around the Königstor, with just a few others around the map.

As Norris rose and walked around the desk, Linus gestured at the slips pinned on the map near Arlesburg. “You will have the second battalion of von Blaine, the third squadron of the hussars, von Blaine’s regimental artillery, and your third company of jägers. All under strength, of course. The last returns came before the Dutch crossed.

“I have two reports since the incursion. The first reported the loss of Ballaswein, the second reported the fall of Harweiss. Some of the Dutch even crossed over the river at Harweiss and hold a bridgehead on the south side. Lieutenant Colonel von Wilmer, commanding the battalion there, withdrew without contact, but lost a few score men to desertion. He ordered the jägers and hussars to join him, but I have no confirmation that they did so.”

Norris traced his ordered route along the map. “From Fedora, to Arlesburg, to Harweiss forms a triangle. If I could cut straight across here,” pointing to the hills northwest of Fedora, I would be there in half the time.”

“You know as well as I do, there’s no road across that ridge. What looks like a gentle slope on the map is much steeper, relatively unpopulated, and completely impassable to artillery. I doubt the troopers and horses of the Garde du Corps would be very happy, either.”

Norris pressed his point. “I have taken this route myself, with the jägers. In fact, I would not be surprised in the captain of the 3rd company ‘misinterpreted’ his orders from von Wilmer and withdrew up onto the slopes to keep an eye on the Dutch. If I cross here, close to the lake, I will save 35 miles at least.”

Linus turned square to the newly minted general. “And what exactly will you do when you get there, Norris?”

New Historically Colored Uniform Templates

2007-10-13T13:33:00.000-07:00

David has given me permission to upload historically colored versions of his SYW templates. You can see them at a new blog:

http://sywtemplates.blogspot.com/

Prologue to Battle

2007-09-11T17:23:00.000-07:00

The color party snapped to attention as the mounted officers approached. Near the back of the group of officers a figure, conspicuous as the only one in jäger green among the sea of blue, could not help but notice the ill-fitting uniforms on the musketeers, or the lack of any trace of a beard on most of their faces, except on those who sported gray mustaches.

As the brightly-garbed general in the lead returned the regiment’s salute, Lieutenant von Bellem turned to the dour jäger officer. The lieutenant’s red facings matched those of the regiment. “They are quite a sight, are they not Herr Major? Fine! Simply fine!”

“Indeed, quite a sight lieutenant. How many marched with you this morning?”

“We mustered 474 as we left the camp, Herr Major. Over four hundred muskets marching at our Landgraf’s call!”

Norris, as personal aide to Landgraf Bogart, made a quick comparison: 474 men and boys of the Leib Regiment of Hesse-Fedora stood in ranks for their sovereign’s inspection instead of the 1,260 that the decree which created the regiment had called to the colors. And it was the same in the other regiments they had inspected in the cold light of the new day.

According to the paperwork which he sometimes helped his prince struggle to control, the Landgraviate’s army contained no less than 12,000 infantry, almost 2,500 cavalry, and a suite of 8 artillery pieces. But on this field at this moment there were less than 3,000 muskets, 500 sabers, and only 2 cannon. And of his beloved jägers, only Norris himself was present.

The lieutenant, oblivious to the major’s thoughts, went on. “It makes you proud to be a soldier. Just look major. Just look!” As he spoke, his arm waved across the field. Three other small regiments stood alongside the Leib. Dragoons and hussars sat their mounts opposite the infantry, having already been reviewed.

A different voice interrupted whatever Norris may have thought to reply. “Indeed it does, Lieutenant von Bellem. You shall remember this moment for the rest of your life.”

Von Bellem, flustered at the Landgraf’s attention and thrilled to be addressed by name, replied, “I will, my prince, I will!”

“Very good. Major, if I may have a moment of your time?” Turning, the Landgraf addressed the generals beside him. “General von Blaine, deploy your men as we discussed. General von Marlöwe, return to your troopers. I think our Habsburg friends await.”

As the generals and their aides rode away, Bogart again faced Norris. “Any new information?”

“None, sir. Hesse-Homburg does not appear to have received any more reinforcements. His force is almost—.” Norris bit off the end of the sentence.

“Is almost what, Norris?” Bogart asked tartly.

“--is almost as sorry as ours,” Norris finished.

Bogart’s mouth twitched. “Maybe. We’ve done well in the time we’ve had, but you can’t create an army overnight. We are fortunate that Hesse-Homburg and his Imperial leaders underestimate us. They’ve given him a handful of understrength battalions and squadrons to deal with us. Once we’ve seen them off, it will take time to put together a second expedition. By then, the rest of our army will be ready.”

“Assuming we don’t have some passing Gallian or Imperial general decide to win some favor with the Empress by stomping us into the ground.” Norris turned as a shout went up from the infantry. “It looks like your idea is well-timed, my prince.”

Marching down the road from Fedora was a new addition to the army. Sun glinted off polished muskets, fixed bayonets, and brazen mitres. The Landgraf had assembled the grenadier companies of the regiments together and formed these veteran soldiers into a single unit. Now it marched into position as the army’s reserve: fierce, proud, warlike. The recruits in the other ranks stood taller and threw their shoulders back.

Landgraf Bogart von Hesse-Fedora raised an eyebrow at Norris. “It’s a fine day Norris. You will remember this.”

September already?

2007-09-03T16:55:00.000-07:00

Although obviously intended mainly for my Hesse-Fedora project, I also intended that this blog would cover my other gaming interests. Now, here it is September already, and I had only a single post in August! So, what's been happening on the toy soldier front?

First, I have spent most of my gaming time preparing for the big Napoleonic game that my friend Ray and I have scheduled for Millennium Con X in Austin, TX on November 10. To that end, I've been basing figures and making movement trays. Sadly, we have decided to make one modification to the rules, and are using 2-deep figures to represent a line, that changes the basing for columns as well. Of course, all of my movement trays were already built for columns using the original rules...C'est la guerre!

I am fielding a reinforced French corps at 30:1. There are 25 battalions, 30 squadrons, and 21 miniature guns, about 800 figures all told. A complete OB is at Huzzah!

Here are some of the Napleonics:

Hussars

French 13th Cuirassiers

Most of the corps...

RSM Fedorans

2007-08-18T10:53:00.000-07:00

A grenadier from the von Spade regiment, and the Garde du Corps!!

"Final" Uniform sets

2007-07-08T17:20:00.000-07:00

Of course, seldom is anything "final" in the Landgraviate. But for now, here is the complete portfolio of Hesse-Fedoran uniforms.

Continued Work on Uniforms

2007-07-03T20:55:00.000-07:00

I have found that playing with the templates at "Not By Appointment" can be addictive! Here are the results so far:

Bogey's Own

2007-07-01T09:57:00.000-07:00

Herr Linienblatt's templates (available at Tippelbruder) are extremely useful. A few minutes with his templates, and here is the splendour of the Hesse-Fedoran Leib Regiment, "Bogey's Own."

Uniforms of the Landgraviate

2007-07-01T00:02:00.000-07:00

Like many of the Zwergstaaten of the era (see Emperor vs. Elector), Landgraf Bogey has retained David Linienblatt of Tippelbruder to prepare templates for the army's uniforms.

Herr Linienblatt even presented the Landgraf with a set of uniform designs at the Landgraf's express request, for which Bogey presented the first issue of the Cross of the Legion of the Maltese Falcon to a non-Fedoran.

Sadly, the Landgraf has been forced to whip the secretary who delivered the request, as the newly presented uniforms have the "Prussian" cuff. It turns out the Landgraf did in fact want the "Swedish" cuff for his troops.

Here Linienblatt's templates remain the basis for the Landgraviate's uniforms, and herewith are presented the first results of the design.

Somewhere in the wilds of eastern Hesse-Fedora

2007-05-21T18:54:00.001-07:00

Norris peered through the driving rain, trying to make sure he didn’t miss the crossroads. He was as familiar with these roads as if he had been born here, or as if his life had once depended on it. But in the darkest of nights, with a heavy downpour, even the strongest memory can fade over the years.

He missed the crossroad, even as he drove the carriage through it. Only the neigh of the horses of another carriage, parked under a spreading linden tree, showed him that he had passed the appointed meeting place.

Wheeling around at a wide spot in the road, Norris brought his seemingly plain carriage back to the tree. A highwayman would have recognized the quality of the wheels and the bloodline of the horses, but most people would have noted the lack of any coat of arms, indeed of any identifying markings, and ignored the rest.

The other carriage, the one under the tree, gleamed with the crest of a noble family. Norris, trusted as he was, had not been informed of the identity of the person they were meeting, but only the time and place. He glanced at the ornate coat of arms, and while one eyebrow raised in admiration, his free hand checked the pistol under his coat again.

Pulling the coach close to the other, Norris studiously avoided looking at the other coachman, who did the same. Once the brake was set, Norris thumped his elbow against the cab twice, paused, then twice again.

Light lanced into the darkness as both carriages’ doors opened. From behind Norris, a figure swathed in a heavy overcoat stepped into the mud, then up onto the rung of the waiting carriage. Norris, now clasping his pistol firmly, shot a look into the other carriage.

A woman, dressed in an elaborate court gown, powdered and bewigged with an enormous jewel hanging from a heavy chain between impressive décolletage, but wearing a painted mask across her eyes, offered her hand to the man in the overcoat. Another figure, wearing what to Norris’ eye appeared to be the uniform of an officer of the Garde Suisse, closed the door on the scene.

Five minutes later, the door swung open again. The overcoated figure stepped out, then turned suddenly. His hand was thrust under his coat, and he pulled out a parchment envelope. He glanced at the packet even as the rain poured from his hat, making the ink run, then handed it to the masked woman.

“You’ll miss your ball. Here you go, all official. Good luck, Ilsa.”

The Garde Suisse officer reached out for the door, and for just the slightest moment locked eyes with Norris. Even across ten feet, in a pouring rain with almost no light, the officer recognized what he saw in the coachman’s eyes. He shuddered, and shut the door.

“Home, Norris. The guard will be worried,” said Landgraf Bogey von Hesse-Fedora, as he climbed back into the coach.

Norris shook the reins, and the plain coach pulled back out onto the muddy lane.

More flag musing

2007-05-19T15:27:00.000-07:00

Here are some reduced-size pics of the various infantry flags. I'm not sure this is the final design or not.

Das Material dem Träume von gebildet werden

2007-05-18T16:22:00.000-07:00

His Excellency has taken the opportunity of reviewing his latest recruits to present the Leib Regiment with its new standard.

The golden inscription from the coat of arms of the House of Bogart reads:

Das Material dem Träume von gebildet werden.

"The stuff that dreams are made of."

Shocking discrimination!

2007-05-16T18:59:00.000-07:00

In a travesty of bureaucratic, bean-counting, penny-pinching height discrimination, the Landgraviate's Ministries of Defense and Finance announced today the shocking news of the divestiture of the realm's veteran 15mm battalions.

Nineteen assorted regiments of horse, thirty-two battalions of foot, and fifteen guns of battle-proven Gallian, Germanian, and Imperial troops were shamelessly sold out of service in preference to larger 25/28mm soldiers. There were even sixteen general officers "let go."

Officials weren't commenting on how well they were bribed, but staff officers were in late night conference poring over diagrams, defense plans, and RSM95 catalogs. One adjutant was heard muttering, "...and now Crusader has gone and released dragoons and cuirassiers..."

Lone Star Historical Miniatures SYW Rules

2007-04-25T18:01:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

Just a quick note. Not much going on: busy at work, busy at home, and not feeling too well.

BUT...I finally decided to post a PDF of our local rules for the SYW.

So without further ado, take a look and enjoy.

Old eye candy

2007-04-19T18:41:00.000-07:00

I was able to find one last shot of the toys from a club game night that I have not already uploaded.

The infantry are French Old Glory 25mm, with Front Rank French behind them. The Austrian cuirassiers to the right were on the same side as the French, but were trying to get out of the way!

RSM recruits arrive

2007-04-17T18:11:00.000-07:00

Ah, the joy of that simple little box in the mail! I came home from an extended weekend trip to the coast (no computer, no phone) and found the first shipment had arrived from RSM.

These are beautiful castings. Well, duh, everyone has been saying that. And I even have a few in my collection already (British guns, gunners, and limbers that I bought from RSM at Cold Wars back in "double aught"). Now if I can just motivate myself to paint them!

Over the weekend my miniature gaming-related activity was limited to two areas: reading and planning.

The reading material was Christopher Ward's reprinted The War of the Revolution, which was recommended over on TMP. The book is a single-volume reprint, available at most local Barnes & Noble stores in the "value" section. I also had Greg Novak's two-volume The American War of Independence: A Guide to the Armies of the American War of Independence which is from Old Glory. Although I enjoyed the information in Novak's books, it is sadly full of typographical errors in the prose, which tends to make me wonder how many there are in all of the tables of organization and orders of battle.

The other activity, planning, might be more properly termed "plotting and scheming." Among the topics were, in no specific order:

1. How to get to Little Wars or the OSW Big Battalion game
2. Whether or not 4 regiments of Austrian infantry, BAR-style, would be a good start (since the Fedorans will hopefully muster 4 line, 2 grenadier, and a jager battalion, it sounds good!)
3. Hope impressive a BAR battalion from the Reichsarmee would look...or not

But, first things first. Let's get one unit painted!

The First Order for the Army of Hesse-Fedora

2007-04-02T18:06:00.000-07:00

To His Excellency the Landgraf von Hesse-Fedora,

Per your Excellency's instructions dated March the 14th, 1757 (2007 by Hesse-Fedora reckoning), I have this afternoon ordered the smithies of RSM and the Dayton Painting Consortium to provide the raw materials for the Leib Regiment of Foot and the troopers of the Garde du Corps.

I will keep your Excellency informed of the troop's arrival and progress in fitting out.

I have the honour to be your loyal servant,

Linus von Larrabee, QMG

63 figures...and counting!

2007-03-29T16:36:00.000-07:00

I got a chance to go over BAR, and I must admit to being intrigued. The idea of maneuvering a 63-figure battalion has me itching to give this a try. However, until the Landgraf's drafts arrive, I will have some of the Prussian battalions demonstrate to me.

A note about the rules: they are not presented in the common manner. After the introductory information, unit composition, and army building guidelines the rules are laid out alphabetically. Yep, that's right, alphabetically: from Aides de Camp to Wargames Tables.

This is not a criticism, just an observation. The rules are intended to be played with the Quick Reference Sheets, and not the book. But I wonder that this might be a set that needs to be taught by someone experienced with them, rather than learned straight from the book. Hopefully I will get a chance this weekend to try.

I almost broke out Microsoft Excel to start scheming my armies. Oops, don't let the Landgraf see that! But I have always been a little like Hal Thinglum in his sadly defunct MWAN, in that planning, plotting, and scheming new wargames armies and their organization has been a big part of my enjoyment of this hobby.

Now the tough decision will be to rebase any of my existing figures!

BAR Arrives!

2007-03-28T15:25:00.001-07:00

Woo hoo! Break out the reading glasses and the RSM order forms...more to follow later tonight (I hope!)

Flaky Flakiness...

2007-03-27T18:59:00.000-07:00

Do you have the wargamer's ferret syndrome? Where you chase after bright new shiny things even though you have plenty of projects awaiting completion?

Right now I'm waiting to receive my copy of Bill Protz's Batailles de l'Ancien Régime 1740-1763. Once I have that, I will put in my RSM order, making sure the figures will meet both the BAR requirements and our local rules.

BUT in the meantime I've ordered a copy of Might and Reason, and several books about the American War of Indepence. This all started when I picked up a copy of Washington's Crossing from the library. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, and am now casting about for another Lace Wars book that would be a good read. Any suggestions?

So I have also been browsing online AWI resources, and admiring the Perry Miniatures AWI line. So many figures, so little time!

The Patented Flash a Bright Light in the Opponent's Eyes Trick

2007-03-20T16:51:00.000-07:00

Snickering made the mistake of asking for more pictures. I trolled the hard drive looking for pictures of the SYW toys, but didn't find much.

Except for this one photo of the Landgraf's favorite general, maneuvering his troops while blinding the enemy with reflected light! :)

Another interesting fact: I always assumed "Fedora" was an Italian term, but it turns out that it was really the name of a Russian female character!

The Army of Brunswick (Hesse-Fedora)

2007-03-14T17:57:00.000-07:00

Here's the plan. Using RSM figures, I want to build the entire army of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel, usually known to English readers simply as "Brunswick."

I intend to use RSM SYW Prussian figures from Dayton Painting Consortium.

I want the figures to be dual-use: 24 figure battalions for our club SYW rules, and 60-figure "Big Battalion" rules a la Charge! and The Wargame, or the soon-to-be available rules from Bill Protz, Batailles de l'Ancien Régime 1740-1763, or BAR for short. I will use two battalions of our rules to form a single unit in BAR.

Here's the proposed structure:

Type	Brunswick name	Hesse-Fedora name	Figures
Infantry
	IR Leib (2 bn)	Leib (Bogey’s Own)	60
	IR von Imhoff (2 bn)	von Blaine	60
	IR von Behr (2 bn)	von Spade	60
	IR von Zastrow (2 bn)	von Earle	60
	GB von Stammer (Leib/Imhoff)	von Dobbs	48
	GB von Redecken (Behr/Zastrow)	von Parry	48
	Jagerkorps (3 “brigades” of 85 jagers each)	??	24

Cavalry
	Garde du Corps (1 company)	Les Noirs	12
	Karabiniers	von Marlowe, Der Grossschlafen	24
	Dragoons	von Gunn	24
	Hussars	von Steele	24

Artillery
	2 light companies (1 gun/reg)	von Leland, von McCloud	4 guns, 12 figures

Note this is draft, especially since I have not seen BAR yet!

My main source is R. D. Pengel 's German States in the Seven Years War 1740-1762: Supplement: Brunswick-Luneberg (Hanover), Hessen Cassel, Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel, Schaumberg-Lippe. This lists several other infantry formations, including a Leib-Grenadier-Garde, which I have not found elsewhere. Does anyone know if these are really different units, or just renamed previously existing ones? I know the book by Bill Biles considers at least some them to be renamed.

Either way, this is a serious amount of lead and will take a while to accumulate.

In the meantime, here's a pic of my armies in action at a club night.

Gaming at the Local Store

2007-03-11T15:17:00.000-07:00

Where do you do most of your gaming? I know lots of people with game rooms, or other places at home, where they can lay out fantastic settings for their battles.

Lone Star Historical Miniatures-San Antonio does most of its gaming "out." By that I mean we meet at either a local game store, or in a restaurant. Meetings are usually weekdays after work. Currently, the group meets Tuesdays at Dragon's Lair, and some of us meet Thursdays at a local restaurant, EZ's.

In both cases, games have to be relatively portable and quick to set up and tear down. For the most part that means felt battlefields. Thus the bright green fields as seen here.

I have recently invested in some of the "European Fields" mats from Hotz Artworks. Although intended more for an aerial game, I think they work better than monochrome felt.

Either way, they allow us to get to the game faster and play longer, before the establishments kick us out at 10 pm.

SYW Austrians

2007-03-10T08:38:00.000-08:00

My idea for the Austrians is to have about a 25-33% numerical superiority over the Prussians. But as my interest in the period or specific units waxed and waned (“Oooo! Look at the pretty facings on THIS one!!”), I have not kept well to the plan.

1st Brigade (3 battalions)
	IR1 Kaiser (2 bn)
	IR Rot-Wurzburg (1 bn)
2nd Brigade (4 battalions)
	IR7 Neipperg (2 bn)
	IR14 Salm-Salm (2 bn)
3rd Brigade (4 battalions)
	IR12 Moltke (2 bn)
	IR37 Esterhazy (2 bn) (Hungarian)
4th Brigade (3 battalions)
	IR16 Konigsegg (1 bn)
	IR42 Gaisruck (2 bn)
Cuirassier Brigade (15 squadrons)
	CRiii Modena (5 sqd)
	CR12 Serbelloni (5 sqd)
	CR4 Ferdinand (5 sqd)
Dragoon Brigade (10 squadrons)
	DR9 Savoy (5 sqd) (not yet complete)
	DR31 De Ligne (5 sqd)
Artillery Brigade
	1st Artillery Battery
	2nd Artillery Battery
	3rd Artillery Battery (not yet complete)

Again, the base battalion is 24 figures on four stands, plus another stand of grenadiers. However, I have not converged the Austrian grenadiers and therefore a four battalion brigade of Austrians is 120 figures strong, as opposed to 96 in a similar Prussian brigade. In addition, IR1 Kaiser is over-strength at 72 figures and is therefore brigaded with my Wurzburg battalion which has no grenadiers.

Figures are predominantly Old Glory, but include Hinchliffe, Crusader, Front Rank, and Falcon.

The Austrians field 14 battalions compared to 17 Prussian, but have 420 figures compared to 408 Prussians. Still, I need to beef up the Austrian infantry. They do enjoy a substantial cavalry advantage of 25 squadrons to 14.

Flames of War and Standing Like A Wall

2007-03-09T20:24:00.000-08:00

I hope to make a larger post about H-F tomorrow. In the meantime, here's the "miniature gaming news" segment of the blog!

Thursday I played a pick-up game of Flames of War with two friends from LSHM. Tigers and StG IIIs make short work of Shermans. Yawn. I'm tempted to just sell it all.

And I bought Ioannis' PDF rules, "Standing Like A Wall." I really enjoy Ioannis' website, and recommend it to anyone who likes to look at nicely painted miniatures, or with an interest in the Seven Years War. Well done Ioannis!

Ed

SYW Prussians

2007-03-08T15:36:00.000-08:00

I'll be posting more about Hesse-Fedora, including the first initiates of the Grand Order of the Maltese Falcon in the coming days. But right now, I've only got time for a description of part of my SYW project:

SYW Prussians

My current SYW project grew out of the SYW games played at the local club, Lone Star Historical Miniatures. LSHM uses 15mm figures and home-brew rules adapted over the years.

But several years ago I got hooked on the spectacle of 28mm gaming, especially using “Big Battalions.” I decided to start a Napoleonic project, but in the end opted for the SYW instead. I have been acquiring figures for several years, and have now amassed a pair of substantial armies.

1st Musketeer Brigade (4 battalions)
	Infantry Regiment (IR) 5 alt-Braunschweig (2 bn)
	IR 9 jung-Kleist (2 bn)
2nd Musketeer Brigade (4 battalions)
	IR 13 von Itzenplitz (2 bn)
	IR 18 Prinz von Preussen (2 bn)
3rd Fusilier Brigade (4 battalions)
	Fusilier Regiment (FR) 35 Prinz Heinrich (2 bn)
	FR 36 alt-Münchow (2 bn)
4th Grenadier Brigade (4 battalions)
	Grenadier Battalion (GB) 13/18 von Finck
	GB 5/9 von Billerbeck
	GB 35/36 von Scheckendorff
	Standing Grenadier Battalion 1
Cavalry Brigade (14 squadrons)
	Cuirassier Regiment 8 von Seydlitz (4 sqd)
	Dragoon Regiment 6 von Schorlemer (5 sqd)
	Hussar Regiment 4 von Puttkamer (5 sqd)
Artillery Brigade
	1st Artillery Battery
	2nd Artillery Battery
Other Troops
	Frei Battalion Le Noble

Battalions are 24 figures on four stands. Each musketeer and fusilier battalion has a fifth stand of grenadiers, which are converged to form the grenadier battalions listed. Sadly, I wasn’t paying close attention when choosing units, and the grenadiers don’t all match historically. IR5 should be with IR20; IR9 should be with IR10; IR13 should be matched with IR26; and IR18 should be with IR15. I did get it right with the fusilier regiments, as FR35 and FR36 actually did form a battalion under Major von Scheckendorff. The Standing Grenadier Battalion 1 is made up of the grenadier companies of its historical counterparts: Garrison Regiments 3 and 4 and the “New” Garrison Regiment.

The cavalry is made up of 6 figure squadrons, with 3 figures to the base. My original intent was two stands per historical squadron, keeping a 30:1 troop ratio. However, I made a math error along the way, and while the dragoons and hussars both have 30 figures, my Seydlitz Cuirassiers have detached a squadron somewhere en route and have only 24 figures present and ready for duty.

The artillery consists of two batteries, each of 2 model guns with 3 gunners per model.

The figures are a mix of Front Rank, Foundry, and Old Glory.

The entire Prussian force is therefore 17 battalions, 14 squadrons, and 2 batteries.

The genesis of the Landgraviate of Hesse-Fedora

2007-03-06T18:18:00.000-08:00

The cadet branch of the ruling house of Hesse-Homburg, due to irreconcilable differences over the proper type of headgear, has exercised their right to assert their independence from the rest of the family. Effective immediately, the Landgraf Humphrey Bogart von Hesse-Fedora declares his principality independent of Hesse-Homburg.

The secession is expected to be peaceful. In fact, when questioned, the current Landgraf of Hesse-Homburg replied, “Who? Did what?”

Nevertheless, the Landgraf of Hesse-Fedora (the troops call him “Bogey”) has announced the raising of an army and the launching of a navy so that he can both provide for the defense of his realm, and procure lucrative contracts from Britannia, the Imperium, or Gallia.

Immediate plans call for the raising of the Leib Regiment of infantry ("Bogey's Own"), the Garde du Corps, and the construction of the gunboat “Santana.” Major General Richard von Blaine has been appointed Inspector General of Infantry, Major General Philip von Marlowe Inspector General of Cavalry, Oberst Richard Leland Inspector of Artillery, and Captain Philip Francis von Queeg made High Commissioner of the Admiralty.

The Landgraf's economy is based on large herds of sheep which are used to produce high-quality felt for the principality’s primary industry: hat making. Also, wine from the Nahe Valley provides suitable distraction to the felt- and hat-makers.

Other gaming

2007-03-06T18:09:00.000-08:00

Placeholder for miscellaneous gaming, including fantasy using Games Workshop Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game and Warhammer Fantasy Battles, or Hordes of the Things, plus any other relatively one-off projects.

World War II

2007-03-06T18:04:00.000-08:00

The placeholder for gaming the Second World War. I have always had an interest in the naval side, and recently got interested in Mongoose Publishing's rules Victory at Sea. On the land side, I have a passing interest in Flames of War, and also in some 28mm skirmish gaming with Combat Command.

Napoleonics!

2007-03-06T18:01:00.000-08:00

My first era of wargaming, and the one I to which I always come back. Right now I am deeply involved in a large 28mm game to be presented at MillenniumCon 10 in Austin, TX. For specific details, see the Huzzah! blog.

Seven Years War

2007-03-06T17:59:00.000-08:00

This is a placeholder for gaming the Seven Years War, including fictional games in the spirit of Brigadier Young's Charge! or Charles Grant's The Wargame.

War of the Spanish Succession

2007-03-06T17:57:00.000-08:00

This is a place holder for stuff about the War of Spanish Succession. Right now I'm not really set on rules, but have based my figures for various sets.

Ancients

2007-03-06T17:56:00.000-08:00

This is a place holder for my stuff about wargaming ancients, using De Bellis Antiquitatis (DBA) or Warhammer Ancient Battles (WHAB).

Welcome to my Miniature Wargaming Blog!

2007-03-06T17:48:00.000-08:00

Hello,

I've always wanted to have a journal to record all of the myriad miniature wargame ideas, plots, and schemes that I come up with. And the couple that actually come into existence.

So that's what this will be: a journal of ideas, old and new, together with links to things I find interesting.

So pull up a mouse or some other pointing device and look around. It's just getting started, so it will take some time for me to add things.

See you around!

Ed