The Battle of Chimay, June 1815....Game Number 55 Part 1

The opening positions. The French are on the right whilst the Anglo-Dutch are on the left. The small Belgian village of Chimay is closer to the Allied start line than the French which should serve to help offset the small numerical advantage Napoleon’s men enjoy.

This is very much a cobbled together effort. In order to get a game in I had to use my 3ft by 2ft square grid with 3” squares (12 x 8) as my usual gaming table was occupied by various boxes and to be honest, it would have been a major hassle rearranging the man cave to accommodate a larger playing surface. I am planning on using the Brigade level rules from the Portable Napoleonic Wargame as written - mainly because I want to see how they work on a ‘clean’ basis before I start tinkering with them. I have some ideas of how I would be tweaking them - also a few other ideas I have seen on the net - so using them as written may well alleviate the need for any amendments or additions.

For the purposes of this action I have needed to adjust how the units are actually represented as my basing is different to that suggested in the rules. I am using the following:

Infantry - a single 50mm square base with four figures deployed 2 x 2
Cavalry - a single 50mm square base with two figures deployed side by side
Rifles - a single base 25mm x 50mm with two figures deployed side by side
Artillery - a single 50mm square base with a gun and two gunners
Command - a single 25mm by 50mm base with a mounted commander.

I will be removing individual figures to represent casualties but there are two caveats. The first hit a cavalry unit takes I will instead turn one of the figures around to face backwards. The second hit I will replace the movement tray with the single remaining figure. The Rifles will work in the same way.

The forces engaged represent small reinforced divisional sized formations. The French enjoy a superiority in artillery (2 guns to 1) and infantry (8 to 6) although the Allies also have 2 detachments of the famous 95th Rifles. Both sides have 3 units of cavalry - the French have 2 units of Cuirassiers and 1 of Dragoons whilst the Allies have 1 each of Hussars, Scot’s Greys and the Lifeguards.

The aim for each side was simple. They were to seize and hold the village against enemy action.

The Battle of Chimay, June 1815

The Anglo-Dutch initial deployment. The right flank has 3 units of British infantry and the two detachments of Rifles. On the left is a the artillery, 3 units of Belgian infantry and the cavalry

Anglo-Dutch

1 x Command - General Ignatius Montgomery Hyde-Bowned (1 x 6)

6 x Infantry (3 x 4 British, 3 x 3 Belgian)

2 x Rifles (2 x 3)

3 x Cavalry (3 x 3)

1 x Artillery (1 x 2)

Total Strength Points: 44, Exhaustion Level 14

The French. The artillery has taken up position on the hill with the Cuirassiers to their rear and in reserve. The two brigades, each of 3 Line and a Light infantry unit, are deployed either side of the small copse next to the farm in the foreground.

France

1 x Command - General Michel Enstarr (1 x 6)

8 x Infantry (8 x 4)

3 x Cavalry (3 x 3)

Artillery (2 x 2)

Total Strength Points: 51, Exhaustion Level 17

In the early light of dawn General Hyde-Bowned was tired but relieved with the progress his small command had made since it was hurriedly ordered to break camp and march out into the night. His objective was to secure the small but strategically important village of Chimay. The orders, direct from the Duke himself, had arrived shortly before midnight and so a frantic, disorganised stumble across largely unfamiliar territory had resulted. The Duke had emphasised the need for urgency and had neither the time nor the inclination for lengthy explanations - “Dammit Sir, let my order be obeyed!” He testily admonished Hyde-Bowned when he queried a point of detail. With that he hurriedly set to work to get his command moving.

After a long night of endless marching, grumbling, stumbling and cursing, Hyde-Bowned finally stared out at the small and sleepy village of Chimay, his immediate objective, that of arriving before the French, achieved.

Or was it?

General Michel Enstarr had originally been given very similar orders to his soon-to-be opponent but a combination of order, counter order and and counter counter order coupled with the threat of a court martial and possibly a firing squad, had left him cursing the inefficiency of senior commanders and staff officers. It had never been like that when Berthier was around but he was dead. 

His force finally got underway some four hours later than it should have but as the sun came up the small village of Chimay was thankfully on the horizon. Enstarr had no desire to fall foul of the Emperor.

The two sides arrived at more or less the same time but it was clear to both commanders that the Anglo-Dutch had the advantage. Enstarr immediately issued the requisite orders to commence the attack in the hope that he could secure the village before the cursed ‘Rosbiffs’ could settle in as he knew from his experiences in Spain that they would be very difficult to dislodge.

Hyde-Bowned saw the familiar blue columns in the distance and knew straightaway that he needed to act quickly or all was lost. With commendable speed he issued a flurry of commands to invest the village. 

Both sides moved into their respective starting positions as hurried final preparations were made, weapons checked and last minute instructions issued. The grumbles of a missed hot meal and a lack of sleep were subsumed instead into thoughts of the deadly business at hand.

To be continued....

The Hills are Alive....Part 2

The first ten hexes of my green hill selection

There they are. Finished and ready to use. Below is a rather staged shot just so as you get the idea of what they look like.

A sort of action shot - some Del Prado French holding a ridge (for a change) and supporting some artillery. Unit sizes as per Battle Cry - 4 infantry, 3 cavalry and a gun with 2 crew.

A ‘top down’ shot. Initially the labels were a little on the light side but with some varnishing and sealing they soon darkened up a little.

I shall be making a further five to go with these and will then be turning my attention to some other terrain items I am messing around with. I really wanted to get some 2 or 3mm thick MDF hexes sized at 100mm across the flats but given the current situation would not be able to order any for a while, hence the cut out card versions depicted yesterday.

Aside from getting a Napoleonic game in in the near future I also have the small matter of organising my 1:2400th ACW naval collection. This is all painted and ready to use but i need to add the ensigns and names. I am also planning to get a game in with t here as well as something a little different.

More to follow on that in due course.

The Hills are Alive....

Works in progress. The eagle-eyed amongst you will notice the Command and Colours Napoleonic Spanish expansion as well as a rather mysterious storage box under the labels - what could it be?

First of all a Happy Easter to everyone even though the world is not at its best at present. You would be forgiven for thinking that I had gone all bank holiday Sound of Music on you but no. The hills in question are those that I am currently making for use with my gaming mat.

The hills are 18mm think pieces of MDF and as you can see above they have been painted around the edges and with a border on the top surface. The sheet you see is a picture taken on a 1 to 1 scale of the mat and then printed out on an A4 self adhesive label sheet. By cutting the label smaller than the size of the hexes (you can see why there is a border now) there will be no problem with overlapping. If you recall when I was labelling the block armies I deliberately made the label smaller than the size of the block for the same reason.

The shade of green you see is Humbrol Satin 131 and assuming it has dried by this evening I will then be labelling them. A quick seal with some spray varnish (and yes, it works without causing the colours to run) and the first 10 hills will be ready to use.

The brown hexes you see (that is the original colour) have been cut out for some specific terrain pieces I want to make, including a sandpit.

I shall be undertaking a photo review of the Del Prado collection at some point (I originally planned to do so today) but for now I want to maintain the creative momentum and these hills are essential. I shall be making another five of them so will have fifteen in all. I also plan to produce another fifteen using the same method but in a desert hue.

It is all moving along nicely!

Planning a Napoleonic Adventure....Part 30 - THE END

A selection of Napoleon’s Guard. 

Done. Finished. Ready to - in the words of Private Hudson from the film ‘Aliens’ - “Ready to get it on!”

The figures you see above are the last of the rebasing undertaken of the Del Prado Relive Waterloo collection. Now that they are rebased they are are essentially ‘game ready’ in that I can use them for anything Command and Colours or Portable Wargame related. Any rules needing more traditional units will entail further work - which has been allowed for - and for sure there will be additional bits and pieces added over time.

I am planning to have a review of the collection over the weekend but for now I am merely going to pat myself on the back for a job well done. Considering that I acquired this collection at the end of January in a little over two months I have rebased some 150 odd mounted  figures and around 500 foot. I have seen it through to the completion of this phase - that in itself is rather surprising- and am now looking forward to the next which should be a lot more interesting.

Touching up ‘disk and scuffs’ and the all important paint conversions.

The Final Lap

French light and line infantry - the 16 fellows on the bottom left will be paint converted into line Grenadiers and Voltiguers.

Pictured above are the French Line and Light infantry (including the light infantry that are going to be paint converted into line) for the ongoing Napoleonic project. I have 48 infantry figures left to do - 24 Old Guard and 24 Young and then this phase of the project will be complete. The collection will be Command and Colours/Portable Napoleonic Wargame ready to use but but rules involving more traditional looking units there remains a degree of work to be completed. I also have to address the ‘dinks and scuffs’ but this can be dealt with at a more leisurely pace.

I plan to have the Guard troops completed tomorrow and so over the Easter weekend I shall be holding an Easter parade of sorts.

It is all looking pretty darned good if I say so myself!

Fifty (make that two) Shades of Grey (make that green)

The shed. Although it is the full width of the garden it is only 6ft deep and has a rather quirky internal layout.

It has been a busy day and work on the DIY list (of which SWMBO is the custodian) continues apace. Today I have spent a large portion of the day repainting the shed in a wonderful colour described as Forest Green. As you can see from the picture the two ends of the shed are rather cramped in that the fences are rather close. It took some advanced gymnastics to be able to not only move about in such a confined space but to manoeuvre a step ladder (essential to reach the apex at either end) and balance a paint tray - let alone actually brushing the stain on the wood!

Yes, it is as narrow as it looks....My svelte physique will certainly be hard pressed to negotiate this but I should be able to manage....I hope.....

After having tackled both ends I called it a day - the front will be tomorrow - and so what better way to unwind after such a concerted effort than to tackle some figure painting? You guessed it - Del Prado figure bases and guess what again? Humbrol Satin Mid Green 131.

French Light Infantry. The chaps on the right are destined for a repaint into line infantry. The standing firing types will be Grenadiers whilst the kneeling figures will be Voltiguers. I have not followed my planned sequence with the French infantry at all as these chaps were the first I came to!

My son - who is currently decorating his room - duly observed that after spending best part of a day painting something on a 1 to 1 scale basis in one shade of green that I was then painting figure bases in another shade of green.

Only in the wargamer’s world eh?

The Big Three for 1815

Wellington, Napoleon and Blucher from the Del Prado Relive Waterloo range

Whilst the Emperor is still waiting on his infantry and artillery both Wellington and Blucher have no such difficulties. The last of the collection to have its bases dealt with are on the painting tray and a couple of items of generic terrain are currently under construction. All being well I may be in a position to fight an inaugural action over the Easter weekend which would be just peachy if I can swing it.

I am also looking to get my Tradition order together which will enable me to finish up the collection. My basic rule of thumb is to only use figures that the Del Prado range does not provide and to keep any additional units to a minimum.

Having said that I have two Minifigs 20 figure strong cavalry units to incorporate - Dragoons and line Chasseurs a Cheval - and they do look rather nice alongside some of the cavalry types.

Going forward I will also need to think about storage.

Still a way to go then but thus far it is going well.