Napoleonic Command stands completed

 

Marshall Davout with ADC preparing the troops - lovely Wargames Foundry castings

Those who regularly visit the blog would have seen I was rearranging a few figures to represent some command stands suitable for 1814 style games which saw Marshall’s leading corps of not much more than divisions at times.   It was also a good opportunity to revisit the footprint of other command stands so they take up a more appropriate amount of space on the table.  

Marshall Bessieres in his resplendent green coat accompanied by two Lancers Legere Polonaise 
of the French Imperial Guard.  Wargames Foundry once again.

Perry French Imperial Guard Commanders - Generals Christianni and Friant

The man himself - one of five Murat Command stands I have!

Wargames Foundry General Massena, though I’ve changed him to Soult since this photo was
taken as I already had a Marshall Massena I had painted thirty years ago.

General Desvaux de Sainte Maurice and General Michel

Generals Cambronne and Duhesme  

I’m very pleased to see how they have all turned out. It’s hard at times to find the tight mix of castings to look the part on some of this stands however it worked out well at the find.

I have quite a few more yo get sorted as well as engineers  and pioneers sets to undercoat and paint up. Then a bit of work getting the marines of the Garde sorted as well. Should be some interesting painting ahead.

Napoleon and entourage

The Emperor points the way whilst the flurry of activity around him whirs through

Seven years ago, wow didn’t that guy, our club put on a refight of Waterloo for the bicentennial celebrations. Despite a few hiccups ( playing on terrain that looked like Panzer IV skirts) it was a tremendous success.

At the time we wanted to have done special stands and vignettes made up to help showcase the hobby to the public we anticipated through the door. The response was tremendous.

One of these stands was this Napoleon and staff.

An drone like view showing a number of scenes we can seperate

All the figures are from the excellent Perry Miniatures range and really look the part. However I have a desire to break the stand up and seperate them in more user friendly smaller groupings as I have seen on some other sites. They can still be brought back together however on several connected stands rather that one big one which may be a little too big for all practical purposes. 

They really are lovely sculpts - well done Perry twins!

So these will be a way of recording what the stand originally looked like for archival purposes. I’ll give an update on the final refurbishment and hopefully it’s a positive result.

Romes Revenge

The Romans look incredibly solid as the war bands engage

Great gun game with Steven on Wednesday night as we dusted off the ancients and decided on a To the Strongest battle on the fields of Gaul.  We have been a bit rusty recently as Steve has been flat out at work and I’ve been heavily concentrating on General D’Armee Napoleonics.

Last time we played these two forces the Gauls had a memorable victory over their stout Roman opponents.  Steve was determined to reverse  the tables this time around  with a bit of variation in his standard list with more light skirmishers.

Heavy action in the centre where the manipur swap rule serves them well

The bases help these games look incredibly aesthetically pleasing 

The plan on the right flank was to push through the Roman lights and cavalry and press
The central legions hopefully pinned by the war bands. Tough going though.

All fairly even here in the centre with no breakthroughs at all which suits the
Romans down to the ground. Tough to push through as it should be.

Now the war bands are  starting to run out of steam with the constant rotation of the Roman
lines wreaking havoc with brave warriors of Gaul

In the end this war and had to be diverted to the right flank to try, and the key word there is try, to 
deal with some bloody annoying Velites

These view shows the Gallic left flank with some lights in the distance looking to push against dome
slingers and bow.

It was a tremendous game with the professional Roman fighting man being able to outlast the impetuous Gallic forces this time around. Great set of rules and a wonderfully enjoyable battle.

Some Napoleonics projects on the table

 

Just a few quick photos of some command stands and vignette extras that I’m putting together.  I’m a very big believer in the little extras on the table that add a bit of “fluff” to the games we play. What’s the use of a barn without any cows being milked? The local piazza without a water trough and locals living life as normally as they can in the maelstrom which was warfare in the early nineteenth century.

I certainly have enjoyed putting these together. The wonderful Foundry Marshalls are preparing for done 1814 commands.