Prussians Vs Russians - Battle #3

It took three battles but my Prussians finally triumphed over my Russians. (My guess before it started was that this would end up the other way around, but it was not to be!)

The Prussians (and allies) on the left of the picture. Prussian cuirassiers are in white and hussars in blue. Russian cuirassiers in white with a black iron breastplate for protection. Russian hussars and Guard Cossacks are both in red, but the hussars have a blue jacket. The infantry (foot soldiers) clash is between Poles in blue and Russians in green.

(The Poles are Napoleonics and historically fought with the French. Given the performance of my French against my Austrians last weekend though, they've probably done the right thing in siding with the Prussians in the campaign I'm currently running!)

Enjoy!

Austrians Vs French

I didn't get any good shots of my French from last weekend's battle, but these are a few of one of my Austrian infantry regiments.

Hopefully over the next few weeks) I will be adding gun limbers and ammunition wagons for each of my Austrian battalions, so the next time you see these guys in action the photo will be a little more crowded.

For the record, the Austrians scored a very decisive win. My (French - not American) Revolutionary War French army used to be almost unbeatable, but they've taken two nasty hammerings now. They held up okay when challenged by Austrian infantry and cavalry, but the minute Austrian guns started firing in their direction, even if they weren't doing any damage, the French got very jittery.

Anyway, enjoy these pics. This weekend my Prussians crushed the final Russian resistance, and I have a couple of neat pics from that to post also. Not sure when they will go up though.

"Special Request" - Jessica and Heather Vs The Hittites!

I don't usually do (or even get) special requests from people who want to see models of themselves in battle, but I got one last week so here goes.....especially for Jessica and Heather!

I'll let them figure out which of the two girl fighters they are, but they seem to have got themselves into a bit of strife with the local (Hittite) city guard while wandering around the town from my "Battle of Kadesh" setup.

(I was planning to fight this battle this weekend, but it has been overtaken by other stuff - a combo of work and events in my horse and musket campaign, which will almost certainly mean my next battle will be between my French and Austrian armies. Maybe I'll be able to try Kadesh again in a couple of weeks!)

The two female figures are from Cesar's set of "Fantasy Adventurers". Hittites also by Cesar and buildings by Hovels.

Prussian vs Russians (Post #4)

This time I'm focusing on my Prussian (and Saxon) heavy cavalry.

All these figures are cuirassiers - a full regiment of Prussians on the left, with a lone squadron of (Napoleonic Wars) Saxons on the right. The Saxons wear a (black) metal breastplate to provide extra protection. It wouldn't have been very effective against gun fire, but the main role of the cuirassier was to sit out the bulk of the battle - presumably somewhere safe from gun fire - and charge in at the decisive moment and hammer a hole that had opened up in the enemy line, hopefully to the point that the damage scattered the enemy. Against swords and bayonets, this breastplate would have been effective.

This was actually the first battle for my Saxons, and they performed very well.

After this defeat, the Russians sued for peace, but the Prussians don't appear likely to accept, so it looks as though I'll be preparing for a third clash between the two over the next week or so. It could be a busy time for me as my Austrians have also decided to go to war with my French, so I have at least one battle their to arrange. I had been hoping to give my Hittites and New Kingdom Egyptians a run but that might have to be pushed back a bit.

Then, of course, I still have all those other figures still waiting to be painted....aaaarrrrgggghhhh. I need more free time!

Prussians Vs Russians (Post #3)

Having withdrawn from the field in good order after the first confrontation, the Prussian general dug into a strong defensive position in a narrow pass, with his flanks protected by hills.

Eager for a result, and encouraged by oncoming terrible weather (which would limit the damage the more numerous Prussian guns could do to his troops) the Russian general decided to launch a full on attack.

It all started well enough for the Russians. The Prussian hussars couldn't repeat their heroics of the first day and were themselves scattered by a squadron of Russian dragoons enabling the Russians to get a foothold on the entrance to the pass. As the rain began to fall the Russians pressed forward. The Prussian guns got off a few rounds before having to cover the powder, and inflicted some heavy damage on the advancing Russian infantry regiments - just enough that when the two sides infantries came together, the Prussians had the edge.

With a gap emerging between the infantry melees, the Russian general threw his heavy cavalry forward to try and bust the line completely open. Unfortunately, as they forced their way trough the gap, they found the Prussian heavy brigade and its Saxon allies waiting for them. Seeing his cavalry overwhelmed, and his infantry beginning to give ground as the Prussian foot were finally able to use the numerical advantage their guns had given them, the Russian general decided it was time to flee the field.

A decisive win therefore for the Prussians.

Pictured above are:

1: The initial skirmish between the Prussian hussars (again in black) and Russian dragoons (in dark green)

2: A view of some of the Prussian infantry, again as seen from the Russian lines, lined up to protect their side of the pass.

3: Russian (green) and Prussian (blue) infantry come to grips.

Prussians Vs Russians (Post #2)

The above pics give a closer look at how a (Seven Years War) Prussian infantry regiment deployed for battle.

The two grenadier companies of each (of the two) battalion are combined on the far right of the front rank, with the battalion guns between (and about 20 paces in front of) them and the lieb battalion of infantry. The oberst battalion is deployed at the back, covering the gaps in the line, but far enough back to provide a clear path for the limbers (that tow the guns) and ammunition wagons (that keep the guns supplied) that would normally accompany the regiment to access the guns as needed.

The officers in charge of each battalion occupy the far right of the rear rank, while the mounted colonel (and his assistants) would be wherever they were needed the most, but generally somewhere between the two.

Pictures and summary of battle #2 from this series to follow......

Prussians Vs Russians (Post #1)

I didn't get too much painting done during April, but the 1700s campaign I'm running to playtest my campaign rules threw up a couple of battles pitting my (7-Years War) Prussians against my (Napoleonic Wars) Russians. This wasn't an historical matchup, but given the Prussian army at the start of the Napoleonic Wars wasn't much different to that of 50 years earlier - it was the defeat at Jena that woke the Prussians up - this was a "could have happened."

Originally I expected this to only be one battle, but it split itself into two, and both armies are gearing up for "Round 3" as I write.

The Russians were a little quicker off the mark and began to arrive on the field first. The Prussian commander took a more cautious approach though, and rather than commit his full army from the outset, sent ahead a small advance guard, comprising one of his infantry regiments and some (hussars) light cavalry to test the water. This advance guard performed extremely well; although both battalion guns of the infantry were destroyed, they took out one of the two guns the Russians themselves had, and after a downhill charge and a short melee, they scattered tree times their own number of Russian hussars, killing the Russian colonel and effectively taking most of the Russian light cavalry division out of play.

As the day wore on, the numerical superiority of the Russians began to tell, and it looked as though the Prussian advance guard would be surrounded and overwhelmed. Just in time the main Prussian army arrived on the scene, and was able to secure a route of escape for their colleagues. Seeing the Russians pretty securely lodged in a strong position, the Prussian general decided to content himself with having done some serious damage to the Russians, and withdrew from the field under the cover of nightfall.

Pictured above are:

1: The Prussian advance guard as seen from Russian lines

2: The grenadier battalion of one of the Russian infantry regiments marching forward into battle

3: The small group of Cossacks that were helping the Russians - they got themselves wiped out trying to scatter the Prussian infantry.

4: The hussar melee with the Prussians in black on the right of the picture and the Russians in the red jackets.

Trees, glorious trees!

I've always had a problem with a shortage of trees for creating woods etc on my battlefields - until now.

I found a bunch at a local model railroad shop and am in the process of getting them ready for battle. As you can see, I now have a variety of different types.

Celebrating the arrival are one of my Celtic druids, and some of my Picts. Their options for ambushing my Romans have skyrocketed now!

Scythians

Well, a slow start to the month meant I only got some Scythian Horse Archers done, with no supporting Heavy Horse to accompany them.

I was planning to work on my Japanese Civil War armies during April and I can't see them voluntarily standing aside to let me continue with the Scythians, so they may have to continue as part of my Persian army for now.

Some horse archers attached as the pic!

Carthaginian elephants

Maybe this side view gives a better look at the elephants in action....

Carthage and its allies (Part 3)

Oops...mustn't forget the Numidian (African natives) or the elephants (seen here in action against some Roman light infantry who also fought for Carthage.

Carthage and its allies (Part 2)

......and this time we have some of the Spanish mercenaries that fought for and against Carthage.

The Carthaginians also used mercenaries from Gaul (see previous pics of my Celts) and the various Italian cities that weren't totally happy under Roman rule - no pics of them at present.

For March, I'm working on some early Scythians, which is quite appropriate given the current news headlines, as the Scythians were the first people in recorded history who lived in the Southern Russia/Ukraine area that would include the Crimea. They are mostly horsemen, so there wasn't a lot of variety in the army, but hopefully I'll have some pics for next month.

Carthage and its allies (Part 1)

Had a busy February work-wise so didn't get much time to work on my soldiers, but in recognition of African History month, I did some tidying up on my New Kingdom Egyptian and Carthaginian armies.

I've posted pics of the Egyptians before, so will focus on the Carthaginians (from Hannibal's war with Rome) this time. First up it's the Poeni and Libyan troops that formed the core of the Carthaginian army. From top to bottom we have the General and his bodyguard, a unit of cavalry, heavy infantry and Libyan tribesmen.

Vikings

And pics of my Vikings....

Thirty Years' War Swedish Artillery

....and the artillery.

Thirty Years' War Swedish Army

Photos of the cavalry and infantry components of my Thirty Years' War Swedish army: