Paint your Wagon

The Royal Boursin Regiment of the Duchy Calvados received it new transport in the form of a home mad wagon. 

I added some more storage before making the tarpaulin out  of tissue and PVA glue. The wagon is painted in Calvadorian red with black ironwork. To reinforce the where rider connected to the wagon I wound some cotton with liberal dash of PVA - (life would be a lot harder without PVA glue)

The Grenz unit is about 75% done and should be completed in the next week.

I have all started re basing my small 30mm Imaginations collections on 19mm washers and I am making some 60 by 40mm bases out of cardboard and Magnetic sheet.  

Cuirassier for the Duchy of Calvados and other bits

First up the first 11 figures of the Pommeau Cuirassier unit using the classic Holger Erikkson mould. These reinforcements have been well received within the army and will now provide some heavier support for their lighter colleagues the Bechemal Hussars 

Having seen the wagon made by Little John on his  Blog I thought it was time to have a crack myself.

 http://littlejohnslead.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/productive-weekend.html 

I based the design on the 2 wheel wagon that graces the pages of Charge by Peter Young.  

The wheels are from a Nurnberger Meisterzinn mould as these are easier to cast than the Prince August ones. The running gear is a converted Prince August Limber and the horse and rider is also form a PA mould   

The body of the wagon is made from artist board with Costa coffee stirrers for the wooden bits. I have stuffed the wagon with tissue paper to make the tarpaulin although I think it needs to stick further out of the top. The base is a thicker board used in picture framing and is ideal for 40mm figures as it is about 1.5mm thick and I get all my board for free from my local art impresario - aka General Grecian 

And finally the next unit up for the Calvadorian army is a unit of Irregular Miniatures Grenz (i know this is cheating as I should have used PA figures) with a couple of PA Officers.  I am thinking of painting the unit like the Fusiliers de Moliere with brown coats and red trousers. Not sure what to name them yet.    

The is very little between the Irregular and PA figures and are fine mixed together even in the same unit

Lobositz - a Maurice game

For a change we had a game with Maurice - the new set of rules form Sam Mustafa - these being card based have a certain resonance with our group who have been into Piquet for a long time.  

Anyway I decide to put on a new school game of Maurice using my Old School Prince figures.  

Maurice is designed for play at any scale you like and it ideally suited to gaming big battles with between 12 - 18 units a side.  For our first game of the full rules (we have played a couple games of the lite version which is still available here  http://www.sammustafa.com/honour/downloads/ ) we decided an old school classic - the Battle of Lobositz.  

I based the map on the one found in the following Volley an Bayonet site but removed all towns/villages expect for Lobositz . This site a few battles for the period covered by Maurice -  http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/mcnelly/vb/index/index_scenario_18th.htm

Each unit of Infantry/Cavalry represents approx 2500 men and each artillery unit approx 25 guns.  In Maurice terms this gave the following orbats. 

Prussian 

4 Cavalry units (trained)

8 infantry units (6 trained and 2 elite)

3 guns

plus the national advantage cards - Lethal Volley and Oblique Order

Austrian 

3 Cavalry units (trained)

8 infantry units ( 7 trained and 1 elite)

2 irregular Grenz units.  

2 guns 

plus the national advantage cards - Skirmishers and Artillery Academy

Neither side had Notables and I did not give the Prussians a Great Capitan for Frederick as this was one of   the battles he quit the field early a la Mollwitz. The victory conditions are for the Prussians to capture Lobositz 

We used the weather card as the trigger for the early morning mist clearing and only allowed artillery to fire at cannister range until the card was turned. It transpired that it was turned as the first card of the game.    

Here are few pictures of the game 

Prussian Cavalry deploy and advance towards Lobositz as the mist clears

The Austrian artillery fire, despite having the Artillery Academy card, is ineffective and the Prussians crash into the Austrian Cavalry 

The initial melee forces the Prussians back, the Austrians counter attack but are in turn forced back. At this point the Prussians rally off their disruptions and charge before the Austrians can recover. The resulting melee is decisive and both Austrian units are destroyed. The Austrian player secretly rolls off for Morale point loss. 

The Austrian decide that with their centre crumbling to bring their infantry across the  Morellen Bach, taking disruptions, and threaten the Prussian Cavalry who wisely decide to retire to re-organise. 

On the Lobosch the Austrian Irregulars watch with grim determination as ...... 

The Prussian Infantry advance.  All 8 Prussian units moved as single force as they are in the same terrain, formation and all units are within 2 Base Widths (BW)

The Grenz open fire ....

Undeterred the Prussians volley fire and then advance and after a short melee crush the Grenz. The Lobosch has been secured. 

  

With the Lobosch secure the Prussians infantry in the centre advance towards Lobositz only to find a patch  of boggy ground in their way with Austrian Infantry deployed the other side.  Both sides enter in a bickering of musketry with the Prussians unable to gain and advantage despite the Lethal Volley Card.  An Austrian Infantry unit believing the Prussians are wavering Charge across the bog into melee only to find, to their shock a wall of Prussian steel, the unit wavers and breaks.  

The Austrian unit was forced to charge by an event card played by the Prussian player.  

Game to be resumed - tomorrow.   We have one more deck to run through and the game is finely balanced.        

Great rules really fun to play - thanks Sam

My favourite classic figure

Over the last few years I have collected about 20 Prince August moulds.  They are all charming in their own way however the one that really epitomises Old School for me is the older Holger Eriksson mould number 11. 

This mould is really the classic Old School classic pose and is one that Holger Eriksson used on other ranges. 

The classic Spencer Smith 30mm Cavalry figure and below a Holger Eriksson 30mm figure from the SAE range.  (both pictures from the Spencer Smith cataloge. see these and more  athttp://www.spencersmithminiatures.co.uk/index.html   

And finally a comparison shot between the older Holger figure and the new more rounded version.   

I know which one I prefer

A quiet day casting

I had the day off work on Monday with no family around so I decided to spend a few hours casting up some more Prince August figures. The morning session produced quiet a lot of miscasts figures. Frustrated I decided to have a spot of lunch and get some air.  

After Lunch however I really got into the swing with very few miscasts going back into the pot.

  

In all I cast up 28 Cavalry types, 18 infantry/gunners and 3 limbers and wheels.  In all I used just under 2 kg of metal. 

The Limbers are going to be converted so they have two single horses rather then a team of 4. I am also going to use the Limber cast to form the basis of the 2 wheel wagon with a single horse/rider. 

I did have problem casting wheels from Prince August moulds however the ones in the picture are from a  Nurnberger Meisterzinn mould and cast up a treat. 

Chotusitz - The Game

I have belatedly had time to update my blog with photos of our recent game at Triples.  The game featured figures from four collections and certainly looked impressive on the table.  The terrain boards and scenery are I think in keeping with the Old School theme and certainly we received a lot of good feedback on the game which seemed to hit a certain resonance with the public.  

We played the War Game rules with one to two house modifications, particularly around cavalry melees.  The players had only limited experience with the rules but after a few turns all found the game mechanics easy to play and they had fun playing the game.  

Overall the game was declared an Austrian victory with the Prussian Cavalry being out performed on both wings which sealed the fate of the Prussian Infantry in the centre.   

I spent most of the time discussing the game, rules and figures with the public and I would not be surprised if Prince August do not get a few orders for moulds as a result. 

Here are a few pictures to give you a taster of the game.  I hope to put on another game in the future. 

Old School - Heavy Metal

I have recently recruited some extra gunners to bring my artillery up to full strength ready for our big game at Triples next week.  

The Duchy of Calvados artillery are seen here calibrating their weapons ready for the impending game at Chotusitz where they will used as Austrians      

The Electorate of  Fusrtenburg-Lederhosen have not only been bought up to strength but have also had the artillery re painted in a natty black which complements nicely their blue coats.