Friday 29 May 2015

Wot no cuirassiers

So May is nearly over and still no sign of a cuirassier squadron...

Well, there's still the weekend to go :-)

Tuesday 26 May 2015

2016 - For Mother Russia!

As I reached the half way point on my 2015 project, thoughts naturally turned to next year. The Twins have not yet got to Württemberg, so I decided to focus on doing the mainstay of the opposition to Ney's Corps at the Battle of Valutina-Gora (more on which another day), Konovnitsyn's  3rd Division.


3rd Div – Generalmajor Pyotr Konovnitsyn

1st Brigade – Tuchkov III

·      Muromsk Infantry Regt
·      Revel Infantry Regt

2nd Brigade - Voeikov

·      Tchernigov Infantry Regt
·      Selenginsk Infantry Regt (having swapped with Kaporisk)

3rd Brigade – Prince Chakoffski

·      20th Jæger Regt
·      21st Jæger Regt

Grenadier Brigade

·      2 combined grenadier battalions; 1 company each from the four Line and two Jæger regiments in the Division

Artillery Brigade – Tornov

·      III Heavy Battery (three 12pdrs and a licorne)
·      V Light Battery (three 6 pdrs and a licorne)
·      VI Light Battery (three 6 pdrs and a licorne)

Cossack Brigade – Generalmajor Karpov

·      Guard Cossack Regiment (two units of twelve horsemen)

Each regiment will consist of two 32-figure battalions drawn from Wargames Foundry (see above) with staff, mounted troops, and artillery coming from the Perry Twins, and flags from GMB. There are also some extra skirmishing stands in the pile for the Jægers.


Steve Hall has agreed to paint some of the line companies, whilst I crack on with the command and elite companies. So there’s a good chance we can crack this one in a year – less the Guard Cossacks as they remain on the Perry wish list J

Thursday 14 May 2015

Général de brigade Bruno

Adrien François Bruno was born in India in 1771. He joined the 4e regiment de hussards in 1193 (aged 16), making lieutenant two years later, captain in January 1798, and gaining squadron command in 12e regiment de hussards in 1801. Shortly afterwards, he was promoted to major and joined 10e chasseurs à cheval.




After stint on secondment to the Dutch Army, Bruno returned on 11 November 1810 as a général de brigade and was given temporary command of 5e division de cuirassiers before gaining a cuirassier brigade for the invasion of Russia, taking command of the 1re division de cuirassiers after his commander, général de division St. Germaine, was wounded. Thereafter, Bruno commanded various light cavalry brigades and was captured after the Battle of Dresden.



Here he is modelled with a trumpeter from 3e règiment de cuirassiers: the unit which made up his brigade. Unlike the musicians of the 2e règiment de cuirassiers, those of the 3
seemingly had the more usual black sheepskins over their shabraques. But more on the 3e règiment de cuirassiers later...





I've occasionally had issues with Perry metal horses being a little week at the fetlock, but have found a solution in superglue. I now put a dollop of superglue where the fetlock/hoof meets the base and this seems to strengthen it up nicely.







Tuesday 5 May 2015

Ball Buttoned Gunners

Artillery support to 1st Heavy Cavalry Division came in the way of 1st and 3rd companies of 5th Horse Artillery Regiment (5eme régiment d’artillerie à cheval).


First up is 3rd company, resplendent in their Hussar-type uniform of French blue with the red trim of an elite unit. These models by Alan Perry are dressed in the 1812 uniform. Although many units did not receive it until a year or two later, they will not be out of place in my c.1812 force.







French artillery regiments were administrative units comprising of six, later eight artillery companies. Each company consisted of between six and eight guns of which two would typically be howitzers. Companies were paired to form artillery squadrons and each regiment also had a depot company. By 1812, horse artillery companies were normally equipped with four six-pound guns and two 5.5” howitzers, and artillery pieces would normally operate in pairs. French officers used the term battery to describe the tactical grouping of artillery in battle and a battery could consist of gun pairs from several different companies. See this piece on the use of artillery at Auerstadt by Robert Burnham, for example, http://www.napoleon-series.org/military/organization/France/Artillery/c_3rdCorpsartillery1806.html




Black Powder traditionally calls for single models to represent batteries, but I’ve come to prefer two models for reasons both aesthetic and historical. Napoleonic artillery units, even horse artillery, took up a lot of space. Single gun batteries just seem too nimble in BP, especially when deployed without limbers. Moreover, two gun companies makes it easier for me to form batteries suitable for other gaming systems, such as General de Brigade.













As to the title, that harks back to the nickname for members of the Royal Horse Artillery, who to this day wear ball buttons on their dress uniforms.