Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the MacPhees!

L-R: John MacPhee (father), Gina MacPhee (sister-in-law), Julie Dahlgren (mother-in-law), Teresa MacPhee (wife), Scott MacPhee (your humble blogger), Dr. Nathan Meltzer, Dr. Julie Meltzer (friends), Kevin MacPhee (brother), Carol MacPhee (mother)

Reflected in the mirror: Craig MacPhee (brother)

We had the traditional Christmas Eve lasagna with lots of good drinks.

1/600 Ancient Ships

As a little distraction while painting Dutch, Orange, and Brunswick infantry, I built, rigged, and painted these 1/600 scale ancient naval vessels.  They are all from Xyston, and this was my first attempt at ancient ships.

In battle, the crews would have left the masts ashore, but I like the look of the sails.  Plus sail colors can be used to mark squadrons on the table.  I did my best on the crew and marines on deck, painting the highlights over a dark brown base coat.  These figures are only 3mm high!

I painted the ships with Vallejo's "old wood" and washed with raw umber oil paint.  I blocked in the sails with acrylic paint, washed with oils, and highlighted with thinned oils.

The bases are all from Litko.  I covered the bases with automotive putty then rolled toothpicks over them to create a water effect.  I painted the water with acrylics.

Greek Triremes

Phoenecian Triremes

Transports and Hemiolia

I enjoyed doing these, and I think they turned out pretty well.  The next batch, I will probably use Vallejo's "new wood," which I used on the hemiolia with the red sail.

Giant Commission -- Black Brunswickers

Black uniforms are always tricky, but the Brunswick contingent should stand out on the table top.  Glenn will have all three line and all three light regiments in his army.

1st Brunswick Line

2nd Brunswick Line

3rd Brunswick Line

1st Brunswick Light

2nd Brunswick Light

3rd Brunswick Light

This next week I will add the Leib and Avant Garde battalions.

And now, a word about attention to detail.

One of the hardest parts of painting the Anglo-Allied Waterloo army has been keeping the troops straight.  Glenn's order was huge, and the packages came in several waves.  The sheer variety of troop types is impressive.  Some (few) of the figures came mislabeled, so I have spent a good chunk of time comparing raw lead to the pictures on Eureka's website to figure out just what I have.

I think, and I am sure Glenn can correct me if I am wrong, that I have only made one mistake identifying troops.  In my last post, you may have noticed one solitary stand of the Orange-Nassau regiment did not have shako cords and had shorter plumes.  When I started painting the Brunswickers, I found one six figure stick was, in fact, Orange-Nassau troops that I had mis-sorted.  Of course I painted the new stand correctly.

So what I had painted as Orange-Nassau?  I am pretty sure they were Dutch line infantry in a bag labelled "Orange."  Whoops.  So Glenn will get one extra stand of mis-painted troops (at no charge of course; it's my mistake).

L-R: Dutch Line, Dutch Line painted as Orange-Nassau, New Stand of Orange-Nassau

I am on my last batch of Anglo-Allied infantry!  Since I started painting this army in August, I have finished almost a thousand infantry.

Giant Commission -- Duchy of Nassau Infantry

These 126 figures took a long while.  Only the highlanders have required a steadier hand!  The 2nd Nassau have one of the more colorful uniforms I have ever seen.

Orange Nassau Regiment, 2 Battalions

2nd Nassau Regiment, 2 battalions

Nassau Skirmishers

Now only the Brunswick infantry remains!  I hope to finish them up by the end of the month.

Napoleon Crossing the Alps

Every year our gaming group exchanges Christmas presents.  This year I painted this Foundry figure for our own Francophile, Kevin.

Austerlitz Game

Austrian Infantry Attacks toward Pratzen village 

Today Jon and Kevin joined me for our inaugural game in my new 600 square foot gaming room.  I built my own 9' by 5' table in the center of the room, with the table pedestal nailed into the floor!

Because today is the anniversary of Austerlitz, I dug into my scenario trove and came up with the initial French attack on the Pratzen Heights.  In the scenario, a small French division of veteran and elite troops was tasked with seizing the heights from a mixed Austro-Russian force of decidedly mixed quality.  We used General de Brigade for our rules.  It's a great set of rules for getting into the weeds.

Austrian Brigades 

Jon commanded the allies, and his force looked formidable ...

Austrian Battalions 

Until you looked at troop quality.  Jon would have to try to get these conscripts in position to slug it out with the cream of the French Grand Armee!

Austrian Guns 

Jon would have some Austrian light batteries, but he would have to get them into position.  Not an easy task.

Russian Brigade

His Russian brigade had better quality troops: mostly line and 2nd line, and a formidable 12 gun battery.

French Jump-off Position 

Kevin commanded the French, with three elite battalions, five veteran battalions, and 2 elite batteries.

French Shock Troops 

Could the Russians and Austrians hope to stop these elite units?

Russians Fall Back

Jon chose to have his Russian brigade regroup short of the scenario objective, the Pratzenberg.  His division commander was rated poor, and his orders failed to get through, but his brigade general rolled for his own initiative and passed!  Jon was able to deploy his vulnerable brigade out of immediate danger.

The French Advance 

Kevin ordered his troops to the reverse slope of the Pratzenberg where they would be sheltered from allied artillery.

Forward the Guns! 

Kevin moved the two elite French batteries into position and began hammering the Russian infantry.

Russian Counter-battery 

The Russian guns brought all their fire to bear on the French artillery.  Over the course of the game, the guns alone would chase both French batteries from the Pratzenberg.

Austrian Advance 

While the artillery duel carried on on the allied left, Jon was able to get his Austrian rabble moving forward.  He failed some command rolls, but within an hour of the scenario start, the Austrians were in position to do some damage.

Battle Lines Drawn 

On the Allied left, the Russian guns continued pounding away.  Both commanders were wary of exposing their infantry, and the objective remained unoccupied by anyone but French guns.

Mid Game 

The jockeying for position was over.  Now the day would be decided by bullets.

French Reverses 

The lead French unit, an elite battalion of legere, failed its morale roll and routed!

More French Reverses 

Jon was unhappy with his rolls, but his guns were still effective.  One elite battery routs!

Musketry 

The conscript Austrians moved up as the French steadily retreated.  Both sides racked up hits on the opposing infantry.

The Russians Pounce 

With half the French artillery chased off the hill and the other half nearing 50% casualties, Jon committed his Russian brigade.  Here he moves them toward the objective.

The French Lie in Wait 

Kevin's reverse slope defensive line prepared to attack as soon as Jon cleared the crest.

Russian Losses Mount 

As Jon's force topped the crest, French volleys toppled a few hundred Russians.  The stolid Russians held their position and returned fire: double sixes!  Kevin's brigade commander was captured, and the command paralysis that ensued kept Kevin's troops from closing on the objective.

Austrians Rout 

Just as the battle was reaching its climax on the Pratzenberg, one entire Austrian brigade failed its morale roll and routed to the rear.  It failed its rally roll, and the entire brigade lifted.  The pressure was off the French left, but those Austrian conscripts had kept the French too distracted to take their objective.

End Game

The French managed to inflict 3:1 casualties on the allies, but the Russians remained in possesion of the Pratzenberg.  This game ended in an allied victory!

As always, we had a great time.  The scenario was a very interesting example of undisciplined mass against very high quality troops. I was amazed that Jon, with poor troops and poorly rated leaders, was able to get his army to slug it out with the French at all, let alone snatch a hard-fought victory!  The fellows enjoyed the rules.  Everything went pretty smoothly, even though I was rusty with the rules.