Battle Report - Essling 21 May 1809

 We had a busy few days wargaming this week.  Phil paid a visit on Monday - Wednesday and Will joined us on Tuesday.  We three enjoyed a few days of wargaming, eating along with some beer and wine.  In all we fought Essling, Balaclava, an 1866 Austro Prussian engagement and a Spanish Peninsula War action.

Our first battle was Essling.  

The French having crossed the Danube were counter attacked by the Austrians under Archduke Charles, and the pontoon bridges required by the French for supply and reinforcements were destroyed by the Austrians.  The French that had managed to cross the Danube established a defensive bridgehead using the two villages of Aspern and Essling as anchors.  Huge numbers of Austrians advanced to eliminate the French army. Several French attempts to break out had been beaten back.  

This game concentrates on the action in and around the village of Essling. The central feature is the village of Essling itself, with the enormous stone granary, forming a massive strongpoint:

The view from the Austrian side:

The battle began with some probing attacks by the Austrians; with some infantry that were raked with artillery and musket fire and light cavalry on the left, being driven off by French horse artillery:

The French light cavalry charged into the disorganised Austrian infantry sending them reeling:

The situation on the left is temporarily restored, but the Austrian heavy cavalry charge forward:

They are met and destroyed by French Cuirassiers and destroyed.

Austrian attention shifts to the right flank.  Three large columns advance towards the walled area known as the Long Garden, held by French light. The assault by the Austrians is checked but the French light suffer heavily.

The Austrians pour in more troops and eventually the French light are overwhelmed, giving the Austrians control of the French right. The French begin to organise a counter attack.

Supported by artillery, a second French light battalion advances on the long garden.

The Austrians counter attack and despite causing some more French casualties, they are destroyed.  A similar assault against the French artillery fails as the Austrian column is torn apart by close range artillery.

The remnants of the Austrian column pulls back into the long garden and is finally finished off by French infantry and artillery.  For the time being the Long Garden is secured once more.

Over in Essling village the French mount a small counter attack with two fresh infantry battalions, pushing back the Austrians before them.

The French counter attack is successful but they begin to suffer in the open ground outside the village.

The Austrians counter attack with their heavy cavalry causing more French casualties. The surviving French retreat back into the Granary.

The Austrian heavies are met by French cavalry and horse artillery, as well as musket fire from the buildings.  The Austrian horse dissolves

Suddenly it is all over.  Archduke Charles is shocked by the unsustainable level of casualties and begins to pull back.  The exhausted French take the opportunity to withdraw back across the Danube.  With a score of 8 - 4 to the French it is a resounding victory, however, most of the French units have casualties.

This was a great game that somehow reflected the historical action of 1809.  

All the figures are Warrior castings, originally from the collection of Jef, who was responsible for the wonderful painting.  The rules were used were Command and Colors, using the game cards rather than our usual action points methods.

Anyone Remember These? - Clydecast

 I was having a rummage in the roof space of my garage and found a box, within a box that I had not seen for decades.  It was a box of 25mm French Napoleonic infantry by the company Clydecast.  Most will be aware of the ship models from this now defunct manufacturer, but I wonder if anyone has examples or remembers this brief foray into the wargame figure world (at least I assume it was brief).  

I did have some cavalry too, but they were sold or swapped long ago.

I seem to remember liking the figures when they arrived, but not doing much with them as they were a bit on the large size for my existing collection.  Here are a few samples from the box:

And here is a comparison picture with an early Hinchliffe British Fusilier (on the right).

The figures are about 27mm foot to eye when measured:

I believe there were some British figures too, but I did not buy any.

I would be interested in any views on these figures and if there are any still around in collections.

Ros 25mm French Imperial Guard

 Every once in a while I have a bit of a purge to clear the backlog of Ros figures waiting to be painted.  I sent a load of command figures to figure painter Lee, which he has now returned.

The latest batch off the painting table are some Ros 25mm French Imperial Guard.  The three command figure are by Lee and the troopers were painted by me.

I am quite pleased with the results:

Peninsular Warriors - French Line Chasseurs

Another French unit from my Warrior Miniatures collection takes to the field. Something a little different this time - French Light Infantry Chasseurs.  These are basic line infantry painted in the distinctive all over blue of the light infantry:

Peninsular Warriors - French Veterens - Grenadiers

Thes figures are Warrior French line infantry, painted as line grenadiers; however, I have decided to list them as veterens, partially clothed in locally sourced uniforms.  These guys have been in Spain for many months and are seasoned campaigners:

Peninsular Warriors - French Horse Grenadiers

It has been a while since my last post, but my gaming room was taken over by guests during Christmas/New Year, which led to a flooded bathroom, which affected the gaming room, putting it out of action for even longer. Workmen will be in this week to sort things out. As a consequence production of painted figures and games have been very limited.

However; I found some very old and battered cavalry figures that came with an ebay purchase. I had almost discarded them, when I realised that in fact they were by Warrior and were early versions of their French Guard Grenadiers a Cheval. I bought two more to make the numbers up and repaired some broken swords. Here they are after a lick of paint:

Peninsular Warriors - More French Troops

Here is the First Battalion, with their green over white plumes:

This unit gives me enough troops to form my first wargames Division; consisting of a couple of line battalions, a light battalion, a grenadier battalion, a field battery and a light cavalry regiment. My aim is to have three of these division, to form a corps sized force.

Here is a picture of such a division deployed; they are all Warrior figures:

In the pipeline I have two more French battalions, French horse artillery and two Spanish cavalry regiments.

Peninsular Warriors - French Artillery

Having completed the bulk of the Allied force, I am now turning my attention more towards the French, with this batch of  figures covering the foot artillery.

My plan is for the French to initially have three foot batteries and one horse artillery battery.

The French line foot artilley, all by Warrior Minitures:

Battle Report Part 2 - Tchernaya River

Apologies to those who may have followed this blog, but domestic chores and a funeral have kept me away from posting.

In part 1, we saw the Russian Corps led by Read storm the heights driving off the French on the allied left and orders to Liprandi's Russian Corps sent his columns towards the allied centre to secure a second crossing of the river.

Heavy fighting around Telegraph Hill finally saw the resolute Sardinians being forced off this key feature.

Part 2
Taking stock of the situation, the French commander was stunned by the speed, tenacity and success of the Russian assault on his left flank (as was I). He sent a dispatch to the Turkish and Sardinian commanders requesting that they secure the centre and right by meeting the threat from Liprandi's Corps, which by now was beginning to cross the river in strength. The Turks and Sardinians began to adjust their line to meet the threat:

Meanwhile on the left, Read's Russians began to swing around to assault the French left flank which was defended by the guards, some zouaves and line infantry, supported by batteries of artillery that poured cannister into the Russian columns. There then followed a series of Russian assaults and the battle swung back and forth.

On the allied right flank the Sardinian Bersagleri retook Telegraph Hill and the bitter struggle for the position continued:

For a while it seemed that the French line would crumble, however the elite French regiments took a toll on the Russians and a charge by French dragoons scattered one of the enemy columns:

 At one point the Russians push a French line regiment off the crest, threatening the Guard's rear, but a counter attack restores the situation.

On the allied right the Sardinians and Turks form a solid line along the river and engage Liprandi's Corps:

The battle for Telegraph Hill continues with the Russians taking very heavy losses here. However, Liprandi's leading units storm over the bridge towards the wall of Sardinians:

This point is the high water mark for the Russians. On the allied left the Russians cannot dislodge the French guards, supported by deadly artillery and heavy cavalry; while Liprandi's Regiments are beaten back by the Turkish and Sardinian firepower. The Russian army has reached its exhaustion point and the attack begins to falter. The Sardinians on Telegraph Hill drive off the last of the Russian columns and Read's Corps pulls back across the Chernaya. Both armies are worn down, but the Russian commander conceeds that his forces will not be able to dislodge the tenacious Sardinians in the centre. At this point the battle ended.

The rules gave a very interesting action, with surprising results. I think it might have been different if I had given the three allied components their own exhaustion points, as the French may well have collapsed. The heroes of the day were the Bersagleri, who clung on to Telegraph Hill. The rules made capturing a hill with earthworks a very difficult nut to crack; and the French Guards were also remarkable, fighting off four Russian regiments and holding firm.

This is a battle I may revisit in the future.

Battle of the Tchernaya River 16th August 1855 - War-game

This was to be the last major land battle during the Crimean war, fought between the allied French, Sardinian and Turkish forces against the Russian field army. The Russians launched their attack in the early hours of 16 August 1855 with around 58,000, mainly infantry, troops. Their plan was to attack the allies in the rear across the Tchernaya River in an attempt to break the siege of Sevastopol. This would be their third and final attempt to do so, having failed to succeed in doing this at Balaclava and Inkerman.

The allied force consisted of mostly French troops, supported by Sardinians and some Turks, that were positioned along the North edge of the Fedioukine Hills. The photo below gives an overview of the main part of the battlefield, with allies at the top of the map and the Russians at the bottom:

For this game I am using a gridded board, with 5 inch hexagons. The rules I will use will be an adaptation of Bob Cordrey's portable war games system. Here are some further views of the battlefield and opposing forces:

Off to the right, not shown above, are the Turks, the Sardinians can be seen in the background:

Forward of the allied line is a small hill, known as Telegraph Hill, which covers one of the river crossings. This was defended by Sardinian light infantry behind some field works:

 This is the allied centre, with French troops guarding the key Tractir Bridge.

 The French left, with the Tractir Bridge in the background

 An overview of the allied centre from the left.

 Now the Russians:

On the Russian right is Read's Corps:

While in the centre and left we have Liprandi's Corps:

From the Russian left the Telegraph Hill feature can be seen in the background:

Finally a look along the Russian line from the left:

Some notes:
The Tchernaya River was a deep wade, with difficult banks. There was also a second water obstacle; an aqueduct which ran parallel to the river. I have not included this using the river to represent the complete valley floor, as in reality there were also ditches and dykes. To reflect this the river will restrict movement, taking a complete turn to cross, except via the two bridges.

The hills are quite steep giving the defender higher up an advantage.

In the real battle the command and control of the Russian forces was poor, leading to a piecemeal attack before they were properly prepared. I will reflect this at the outset.