Hiatus

Some stinking realty problems forced my recent hiatus. Nearly a year later, I have gotten back into a small roll on the gaming front. I have a nice little agenda I have tried to create and successfully implement.

First, a local gaming store has relocated and it has provided a small impetus for me to get playing again, especially since they have a bit more tables, which will allow me to set up some real battles and recruit new interest. It also seems a local group who regularly meet on a typical work night for me has claimed many saturdays at this game store and will relocate some of their gaming up to my back yard. Yea! more people rolling dice!

Secondly, I have had lots of fruitful contact with the RTE crew (Clarence and Barry) and I hope to be providing a good chunk of my forces to help their gaming weekend. This will hopefully get me to complete some of my basing projects and flesh out my OOB. I have a large but quite amorphous collection that really needs a unifying OOB for each army to give me a natural boundry at which I can (gasp) stop collecting.

Thirdly, I had a great talk with a VERY NICE guy whom I drove down to the Williamsburg muster to meet, Rick O'Brien. He gave me an exhaustive amount of time on how to install the flags and had quick and apparently appropriate answers to my many either sophomoric and/or insightful questions. If it indeed proves that he moves up here to Virginia, then I expect I will enjoy inviting him up to play a fair bit of games. Creating a uniform look with my flags was/will be important to me moving forward with my collection. I will try to catch up with him again at Cold Wars. I suspect that if you many of you are aware he runs www.flagdude.com, and offers a very helpful and important, quality authentic looking flag with pole for your miniature units.

Fourthly, I have had some fruitful discussions with 2 painters, both of which should be sending me more painted lead over the next few days. Nothing gets a game going quicker then reinforcements who need to be christened in battle. I really look forward to 6 new battalions of French legere, and a host of Russian cavalry. I expect now to have enough Russians to create way too many divisions.

Lastly, I got an invite to play up at Keith Rocco's place to play some 15mm napoleonics later this spring. I will try to catch up with a AAR after the event. Before then, I will try to get a game of either RTE or CGII accomplished.

I will look to post some more scenarios, now that I have time to contribute that as well.

Order of Battle for Friday

2 Days until the game and I have yet to label the troops. However, I do have a detailed OOB now, and thats all that counts!

I have put this information together so that the sheets are not only an OOB, but also the roster sheet with player information. There are some huge glaring problems, but I can't fix them til I read the rules again. Though not perfect, it has the majority of useful information I need. As a word of explanation, the "clumped" O-s are the areas that I keep track of killed. I mount 6 to a infantry stand (4 on cav/art) and the colon marks seperate the bases. For example the following shows a base of 6 figures immediately adjacent of another base of 6 figures

000:000
000:000

Hope it helps someone who sets up a game!

Austrian Forces

Cavalry
Commmander: Feldmarschall-Leutnant Baron Karl Leiberich Mack
Poor leader

Feldmarschall-Leutnant Archduke Ferdinand de Este
Poor leader

3rd "Albert" Kuirassier Regt (Veteran)
00:00:00:00
00:00:00:00

6th "Mack" Kuirassier Regt (Veteran)
00:00:00:00
00:00:00:00

4th "Latour" Chevaulegers Regt (Veteran)
00:00:00:00
00:00:00:00

6th “Rosenberg" Chevaulegers Regt (Veteran)
00:00:00:00
00:00:00:00

Horse Artillery Battery (all Veteran)

6 pdr gun
0 Damaged 00
0 Low Ammo 00

6 pdr gun
0 Damaged 00
0 Low Ammo 00

7lb howitzer
0 Damaged 00
0 Low Ammo 00

This the a page I hand to the commander. I have 8 more for this battle. Filling out commercial versions is somewhat lacking in familiarity.
This preparation is both the most rewarding and agonizing part for me!

Game preparation

I have signed myself up to host a miniatures game for a batch of boardgamers. I have no doubt they have miniatures experience, I just believe they have less exposed then other crowds. Since I have yet to re-read RTE since my last post, I will be going back to using GdB. I figure to let each of the 4 to 6 people have a regiment or so of Austrian or French. I am expecting to have a blast.
I expect to try to model a game similiar in tactical situation to Haslach-Jungingen during the 1805 campaign. I'll look to give the French commands to the more mature and previously experienced commanders, let the Austrians have the rookies. I have the OOB posted below.

Haslach-Jungingen October 11, 1805 : Orders of Battle


Austrian Forces
FML Baron Karl Leiberich Mack

FML Archduke Ferdinand de Este
3rd Kuirassier Regt* (480)
6th Kuirassier Regt (480)
4th Chevaulegers Regt* (480)
6th Chevaulegers Regt (480)
Horse Artillery Btty (6x 6pdr)

Left Column
FML Prinz Karl Philipp zu Schwarzenberg
IR #8 : 3 bns (1800)
IR#11 : 2 bns (1800)
IR#20*: 3 bns (1440) Green
IR#54 : 2 bns (1200)
IR#54 : Grenadier bn (600)

FML Count von Reisch
IR#15 : 3 bns (1800) +battalion 6lb guns
IR#17 : 3 bns (1800) +battalion 6lb guns

FML Baron Franz Werneck
IR#18 : 3 bns (1800) +battalion 6lb guns
IR#36 : 3 bns (1800) +battalion 6lb guns

Right column Reserve
IR#12 : 4 bns (2400)
IR#12 : Grendadier bn (600)
IR#24 : 4 bns (2400)
IR#24 : Grendadier bn (600)
IR#42 : 3 bns (1800)
IR#42 : Grendadier bn (600)

*Denotes forces that recently took heavy casualties.


French Forces

1st Infantry Division: Général de Division Pierre Dupont de l'Etang

1st Brigade: Général de Brigade Marchand
9th Légère Regt : 2 bns (1200)
32nd Ligne Regt : 2 bns (1320)

2nd Brigade: Général de Brigade Rouyer
96th Ligne Regt : 2 bns (1440)

Divisional Artillery: 2x 12pdr guns, 2x 8pdr guns, 2x 4pdr guns, and 2x 7" Howitzers

(Attached) Général de Brigade Sahuc
15th Chasseurs a cheval Regt (480)
17th Chasseurs a cheval Regt (480)
this brigade is dragoons, but I dont think I can represent dragoons with my current figures

I have purchased Republic to Empire (RtE) and read through it now 2 times. I think all the information that I will need to play is present, but I find that the author and I don't mesh well when it comes to organization. I can find absolutely no fault with the book or contents itself. I find the structure and content is helpfully comprehensive....I just guess that I could never guess what was coming next. Often times when you read rules, you have a good idea with what is due for explanation next. I found in this case that the book and I just didn't click. The way this game seems to be developed and refined probably has a bit of a learning curve and perhaps this is why I don't quite follow along quickly. I have found myself wishing to do the rewrite so that things are more intuitively useful for me.
I reread the above paragraph and find that I too am also a bit guilty of writing with a bit of a ramble also.
Lets just say that I read the rules, found alot of good insight and useful rules mechanisms, but felt like there are a bit of conventions that were assumed that I followed and which didn't need to be explained. I would just get lost.
As I read futher along, I did find the section at the end where the writer saves himself. Just like so many instances as I have done, the writer assumes that we will all just put some figs on the table and go at it, sorting out things as they come. In this case, he basically gives you a narrative account of a scenario, implementing the rules, explaining the die rolls etc, all in an effective After Action Report. Basically a written out version of our afternoon rules exploration games. I found that this helps to tie things together nicely; although a bit of better organizational writing may have done it earlier and made the section less necessary.
Please don't misunderstand, the book is written better then I would be able to write a rules book. I think it may well be the game that I use for Napoleonics. I just find again that I have to wait for and or tease out the small bits and pieces that don't appear until a bit later in the writing.
My concern is that finding the applicable rules during a game might take a bit longer due to my perceived organizational issues.
I have not played a game where PiPs are used, nor have I played where I don't count individual soldiers for firing purposes (in a Napoleonic game). I like both concepts. I am aware that Clarence Harrison will be running a game at Historicon. Perhaps I can get up there to play.
As a post script, I had problems with the mail delivering my rules, and I received prompt and effective response by both Barry Hilton and Clarence.

2nd 1809 Scenario for French vs Austrian

Gebenbach April 11, 1809

The Austrians were trying to find Davout's location north of the Danube and had pushed back the French cavalry from Hirschau earlier in the day. This "what if" suggests that the Austrians have continued down the road in pursuit of the retreating French cavalry.

French Order of Battle

1st Chassuers
33e Ligne 1st Battalion
111e Ligne 1st Battalion
2 x 4lb guns

Austrian Order of Battle

Advanced Guard of the II Corps

Oberst Steffanini- commander of 7th Jager
7th Jager Battalion (800 men)
Mervelt Uhlans 2 squadrons (260 men)

Commetary and Map to follow.....

Scenario for 1809 French vs. Austrians

"The Bridge at Reisensburg"
Northeast of Gunzburg
October 9th, 1805

Scenario would appear to start at 730 p.m. 2 hours of game time before night stops the fighting. This seems to make little sense as October nights typically are "dark enough" to stop the fighting at about 7:30. Needless to say the actual game duration is 2 hours

French Order of Battle
GdB Mathieu deLabassee
Col. Lacuee

59th Ligne 1st Battalion (647 men)
2nd Battalion (647 men) see below
The typical composition of these battalions was altered after the divisional general removed the Grenadiers company, which were then made apart of an ad hoc command that had been sent Southwest of Gunzburg. Consider playing the 59th Ligne Regiment without grenadiers represented on the table.
The troops were Veteran and the officers are above average.

Guns available: 2 guns of 4lbs
4 guns of 8lbs
1 gun of 12 lb
1 gun of 6inch howitzer
Four guns are helping the Ganzburg assault elsewhere. Leaving 4 guns to support the crossing at Gunzburg. As my sources do not help identify the composition of each battery, I would play with 2 x 4lbs and 2 x 8lbs as the battery supporting this assault.
I would make the guns either average or veteran

Austrian Order of Battle
FML Gyulai
IR 20 Kaunitz-Reitberg 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Battalions (ave strength 800)
Chevaulegers-Regiment Rosenberg #6 was represented with 2 squadrons (150)
Ulanen-Regiment Schwarzenberg #2 was represented with 2 squadrons (150)
The infantry's elan and motivation has been questioned. I suppose below average/militia grade might be appropriate. The leader was also below average rating.
Austrian cavalry attacks were vigorous but ineffective; I would make them average to above average troop rating. They would certainly be considered light cavalry.


The battlefield is immediately adjacent to the Danube river. The best representation of the battlefield would be to have the French ("top") edge a "cannons width" of dry land. (Allowing the supporting French guns to be deployed.) The Danube river would then be represented by a river roughly 150 yards wide with a bridge through the center of the river. A main road leaves the bridge and heads straight overland to the opposite edge with a slight diagonal. I believe the whole of the table will be 1000 yards in each direction. On the Austrian right is a smooth contoured hill. No significant woods exist. The Danube is not fordable but is crossable at the bridge. Off the Austrian edge ("bottom") is the town of Gunzburg.
Point A is the road leading toward Gunzburg and is the ultimate objective of the French.
Point B is where the Austrian Cavalry will arrive 1 hour into the battle.



Historically, the Austrians had literally just repaired the bridge so that Mack could extricate himself from Ulm, when the 59th Ligne arrived on the north bank. Seeing their tactical advantage, the French infantry charged across the bridge promptly. This charge was carried across the bridge and into the Austrian battalions which were placed in battalion lines, one stacked after the other. As the first line broke, the rest were interpenetrated by the fleeing front lines, and soon the whole group fled. The Austrian cavalry then tried to charge the French units, but were held off by the French squares. The French were quick to send reinforcements and were able to hold the bridgehead.

Ebay frustrations

Just an obvious word of warning. I just purchased an item from Ebay, and had the figures sent off to the contracted painter directly. Weeks later, the painter examined the supposed "dragoons" and found them to be cuirassiers and carabineirs. I really wish that people would take the time to either take good pictures or actually know what they are selling. I know that everyone makes mistakes, I just hate wasting time now deciding if I want to pay to have "unwanted" figures painted into troops I may never use. Its quite a big expense to pursue this endeavor. I hate the idea that I am paying FURTHER for these figures.
Obviously, this is just good sense to look carefully at the picture when you buy off of ebay. Be rewarned since I am sure you have been warned before.