Gaming the French Revolution

2011-02-27T19:51:00.000-08:00

No. This is NOT the French Revolution. But I have added this so I can enter Pendraken's painting competition!

2010-06-20T15:24:00.001-07:00

I have finished the first 'group' of French for Sharp Practice. Only the leader has a name. I call him "Depanneur", which I believe is the French word for "Handyman" and also the name of a Canadian convenience store chain that sells liquor 24 hours a day. The miniatures are from Trent. Four are from the "Tattered" pack and four are from the loading/firing pack. The officer is from the command pack that includes two officers, a drummer, and a standard bearer. They are wonderful figures for Sharp Practice because each is a unique character with loads of personality. They are the same height as the Eureka, but more beefy and more 'cartoon like'. I will mix the two in games, but not in the same group.

Better Photo of Hungarians

2010-06-01T15:49:00.000-07:00

I managed a better photo of the Hungarians. They are so white that it freaks out the light settings of my digital camera. This shot give some idea of the level of detail I was able to pack into the Eureka miniatures. They really are remarkable.

First Group of Hungarians

2010-05-31T17:56:00.000-07:00

The first Hungarians are finished. Yes, I named each one of them. I do like the way they turned out. Now if I can only make better photographs. You can see the photo better if you click on it.

Eureka "Test" Soldier

2010-05-29T11:50:00.001-07:00

I finished my first "test" soldier for Eureka 28mm. This is "Otto", of IR#51, "Baron Splenyi"; a good "Hungarian" regiment from Transylvania. The results were very satisfactory. Yes, I know powdered hair was regulation pre-1798, but the Baron decided the men would be fiercer if they were allowed their own hair color.

Unreleased Eureka Miniatures

2010-05-27T16:16:00.000-07:00

Nic at Eureka was kind enough to send me photos of yet to be released 28mm French miniatures from their French Revolution Period line. As you can see they are all superb. You cannot buy any yet, but when they are available I will be buying some to play Sharp Practice.

And yes, I am still working on my 15mm Armies. I still lack about 3 brigades to get started but I am closing in on that project too. These 28's were just too nice to pass up.

Enjoy the Sneak Peek.

Four New French Line Brigades

2009-07-18T07:13:00.000-07:00

I have finished four French Line Brigades. They are at 'two-thirds scale' (2" wide bases instead of 3"). I increased the depth of the bases to 2.5" to allow two formations per base. Volley and Bayonet allows for the increase in base-depth to accomodate the figures. Most of my brigades have a skirmish line standing before a line formation. One brigade has two lines.

I tried to make each brigade base into a small diorama. To make the figures look 'Revolutionary' I used a variety of poses (including some dramatic 'hat-wavers') while trying to make the close order formations look like they were (mostly) in-step. I varied the trousers (white, grey, beige, striped), and plumes, epaulets, etc to reflect the dodgy supply situation.

It was a lot of work, but just a few generals and eight more French Legere and I can game Montenotte using Volley & Bayonet. I am roughly half-way to having the French army at Castiglione. I already have what I need for the Austrians.

French Legere

2009-06-07T16:35:00.001-07:00

I have finally managed some French. I started off painting them similar to the Austrians and was quite dissatisfied. I realized that I wanted these figures to look heroic, the way I imagined them when I read about the battles. So I 'raised the bar' and did things I have never done before: washes; especially outside the cross straps in black. I like the result, but it was a LOT of work. Hopefully I will figure out how to get this quality faster.

Pictured here are two 'Volley and Bayonet' skirmish bases representing a Demi-Brigade of Light Infantry (Legere). I went for maximum variety for my French skirmishers. They all have light-infantry coats, but different trousers and different plumes, epaulets, leggings, shoes, etc. This is to reflect the sad state of supply.

A quick review of the figures: I used both Battle Honors and Chariot. I think the Chariot are better. After painting so many excellent Battle-Honors Austrians, I was surprised to find the Battle Honors French so lacking. They appear to me to be suffering from old and worn molds. Here is a quick comparison:

1) The Chariot I've painted so far (and the Battle Honors Austrians) have 'raised' turnbacks and other crisp, exaggerated features, making them far easier to paint. The Battle Honors French have relatively 'flat' turnbacks that are sometimes hard to even see clearly.

2) Chariot has a lot of 'heroic' poses, included a pack of "Enthusiastic" French that are waving their hats. They also have figures with bare feet, no hats, etc. Battle Honors have nice poses but none are 'heroic'.

3) Battle Honors have more consistent size and quality. The one draw-back of the Chariot is that some of them are significantly smaller than others. One Chariot pose (the bare-headed shooter in the front rank, center-right) is so much smaller that he must be quite a young lad. As you can see, I made it work. I put him on a tiny hill to reduce this effect.

Austrian Artillery

2009-05-30T03:39:00.000-07:00

I have finished some batteries of Austrian Artillery. Not many artillery models were needed, since under the rules most of the artillery of this period is called 'battalion guns' and are not actually given models. The 'battalion guns' increase the firepower of the infantry units.

My friend 'd6 Junkie' has finished the Austrian Cavalry. I need only a few more generals and I will have an Austrian Army for Volley and Bayonet for 1796.

My attention has thus shifted to the French Army and terrain. My initial assessment: the French will be much harder to paint, but I really like the army so I'll give it my best shot!

Hungarians

2009-05-24T17:57:00.000-07:00

I added a regiment of 'Hungarian' Infantry. This one is IR#19 (Alvinczy). In this post I'll discuss the complex relationship between the Kingdoms of Austria and Hungary. But first, a word on research:

A necessary part of historical gaming is research. It can be complex and difficult work at times, but I enjoy it. My approach is similar to that of a movie producer. I try to find interesting characters of the period, get to know their motivations and their world as they understood it, and then use this information as a guide to create entertaining game-plots (i.e. scenarios). I accept that I will never fully understand the details. However, all I need is enough detail to make a good scenario and I always end up learning something. Hopefully my players will learn something too.

The complex Austra-Hungary relationship began when the King of Hungary, Louis II, died fighting the Ottomans at the Battle of Mohács, leaving no heir. I see the aftermath of his death like one of those messy estate-settlements after the billionaire dies with no will. Hungary was a very rich and powerful nation at the time and there were many who wished to be its ruler. Ferdinand I, the Habsburg ruler of the Kingdom of Austria was Louis' brother-in-law and claimed the throne through his wife.

The Hungarians were not exactly thrilled about having a Habsburg as their king, so to make the arrangement more acceptable Ferdinand (and all future Habsburgs) treated Austria and Hungary as separate nations. Each nation would have it's own army. The troops raised by the Kingdom of Austria were called "Germans" while those raised by the Kingdom of Hungary were called "Hungarians". The actual nationality of the troops had nothing to do with these titles. Both armies included troops from lands that had been conquered many years previously that were neither German or Hungarian. This must have led to some legendary "office-politics" which also must have affected the ability to work together as a team.

The uniforms and training of the two armies were somewhat standardized to allow them to fight together, but it was never a perfect relationship. The biggest difference in appearance was the trousers. The Hungarian Infantry Regiments wore medium or light-blue trousers while the German Infantry Regiments wore white ones with dark-grey or black leggings.

Here's a link about Hungarian History. I had no idea they had been such a powerful independent nation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Hungary

The important finding for me from all of this is that players controlling Habsburg forces should be treated as the army of two allied nations. There should be more than one player. Communication between them should be made difficult. They should worry about casualties for "their" soldiers first. Hungarians should be more motivated to fight Turks, while Austrians should be more motivated to fight the French. They both should have "non-player-character" subordinates who likewise are hard to communicate with and have their morale and performance ratings vary with the mission.

Converting Grenz

2009-05-20T10:41:00.000-07:00

As I said in the last post, I had to covert Battle Honors miniatures into skirmishing Grenzers. I began by cutting off all bayonets on my skirmishers.

The firing Grenzer was a German fusilier. I used 'green stuff' to modify his head-gear into a Grenz-style shako. I used the same procedure to convert a fusilier standard-bearer into a Grenzer standard-bearer.

In the center-rear is the one and only pose offered: "at the ready". The reloading Grenzer was converted from this pose by simply cutting out the musket at the wrists and using green stuff to fill everything back in and reconstruct the hands. The ram-rod is green stuff rolled very thin and glued into place.

Battle Honors Austrian Miniatures Review

2009-05-20T10:14:00.000-07:00

I have been requested to review the Battle Honors 15mm French Revolution miniatures. I think they are excellent. They are very detailed. The raised features make them easy to paint. They make very heroic looking soldiers when finished.

Pictured here is a close up of a recently purchased (last month) Austrian 'German' fusilier straight out of the bag. You can see it has an insignificant amount of flash. I removed this flash effortlessly and probably could have painted up the miniature quite nicely without bothering to remove it. I have found a few to have a little more flash between the legs, but that is rare. I bought this miniature directly from http://www.oldglory15s.com/. That may have made a difference.

I also bought some French. They are of lesser quality.

My only complaint about the line is that there is only one pose for the Grenz infantry. I therefore had to modify the one pose and also convert some fusilier figures into Grenz in order to display them as skirmishers. I also had to modify the standard-bearer from a fusilier to a Grenz. More on that in the next post.

Grenz

2009-05-18T17:57:00.000-07:00

Grenz is the German word for border. The Hapsburg Empire inticed Croats and Serbians with offers of land and other incentives to settle along the dangerous border with the Ottoman Empire and serve as a first-line of defense in the 'Grenz Infantry' . Their military service was not limited to fighting just the Turks however. They were also sent to fight the French during the Revolution.

Although they were not highly valued by the Hapsburg generals, Napoleon considered them worthy opponents. Their experience against the Turks made them comfortable with the kind of irregular skirmish combat that the Armies of the Republic employed successfully against the Hapsburg 'regulars'. Their uniforms were brown or white coats with 'Hungarian' trousers. I like the brown because it makes them very distinctive.

Here is a pretty good link at wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grenz_infantry

Pictured is a Grenz Regiment and 'skirmish' base for Volley and Bayonet. You may notice there are fewer figures per regiment than in past photographs. I have switched to 'two-thirds' scale and halving the figures per base. The reasons are:

1) I can finish two armies (Austrian and French in 1796), this summer, and be gaming campaigns by Labor Day (in September for those unfamiliar with this holiday).

2) I can game most battles on my kitchen table or even a card-table. This is a real necessity in my very small home.

General Eugène-Guillaume Argenteau

2009-05-06T12:35:00.000-07:00

I finished my first general. I gave some extra effort because of his rank and am pleased with the results. Battle Honors figures paint up very nice.

I named my first general after the officer commanding the Hapsburg forces at Montenotte, General Argenteau. His biography makes him sound quite competent. Sadly he is best remembered as the dude who first got beat-up by Napoleon. Anyway, he looks good.

Here is his biography as shown on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eug%C3%A8ne-Guillaume_Argenteau

All I need now is an artillery stand for the Austrian forces at Montenotte to be complete. ******************************************************************************

A footnote on the photography: I'm finally using the 'macro' setting on my digital camera, which is designed for 'close-ups'. Unfortunately I still had trouble getting the camera to focus on the general instead of the formation in the background. My solution was to hold the lighting just right while my rock-steady-handed-7-year-old son Kyle took the shot. He has a natural appreciation for good photography and should be a big help over the next few years.

Painting Austrians

2009-05-05T16:15:00.001-07:00

I added a new 'regiment'. This one represents IR#10 (Baron Kheul); but there are several regiments who had similarly 'parrot green' facings. It could stand in for any of them.

I took the picture from above to better show the figure lay-out. My model formation is only two ranks preparing to fire instead of the historical three. I removed one rank because it looked more like a 'line' formation and also saved on figures (and painting). Had there been a third rank, it would have been kneeling in front of the formation.

One note about the photo. The white balance setting was for 'cloudy' but I had to use a regular indoor lamp to get enough light for the shot. This made the grass look more 'yellow'. It illustrates a good lesson: Always check your white balance before shooting!

Here's a good web-resource on Austrian uniforms: http://www.napolun.com/mirror/web2.airmail.net/napoleon/Austrian_infantry.htm The best thing about this site is that it shows the facing colors of the Hapsburg Regiments. Book sources like Osprey say nothing or give cryptic descriptions like 'Parrot Green' (as opposed to 'Apple Green' or 'Grass Green' or 'Steel Green').

Here's another link for free paper flags for Austrians: http://www.warflag.com/napflags/flaghtml/austria.htm

Getting Started

2009-05-02T18:18:00.000-07:00

I started this blog to motivate myself and my friends to keep working on our project to wargame the French Revolution Period using 'Volley and Bayonet'.

The models pictured are 15mm Battle Honors representing IR#16 (Terzi) of the Hapsburg Empire. They are some of my latest work. A simple dry-brush of off-white and white on top of grey primer. The faces are also dry brushed shades of flesh-tones I mix together.

There are four reasons why I am doing this project:

(1) I want an excuse to hang out with my good friends.

(2) I like to play simple, quick, and fun strategy games.

(3) I wish to create the kind of heroic scenes that art of the Napoleonic Wars is famous for.

(4) I like researching the military history of this period. The generals include many fascinating iconic personalities. The opposing armies have different strengths and weaknesses that reflect the social-order of the nations that built them.

So far I have four 'regiment's of Austrians. That's enough for a small 'division'. One more regiment, and a general, and one battery and I will have enough Austrians for Montenotte, Napoleon's first victory in Northern Italy in 1796. I think I'll be ready for battle soon!