French Commanders - Part 2

Last week I finally finished all my French officers and so I took some pictures.

A  French mounted colonel

A typical 1813-1815 senior officer wearing regular uniform with the waistbelt specified for mounted officer.

Other two cavalry officers

On the left a Carbineer and, of course, on the center a Dragoon. The cavalry suffered more than other corps for the loss of experienced aristocratic officer due to revolutionary purges. Napoleon worked very hard to recreate new officer staff dividing the cavalry in two different group: heavy (ie carbineers and cuirassiers) and light (ie dragoon). In the picture above there are a 10^th  Carbineer Regiment and a 22^nd Dragoon Regiment commanders

An Old Guard captain. This Corps was composed by veterans who had served three to five campaigns in Napoleon's army.

I painted an half dozen of officers, someone on foot and other mounted. But the pieces I prefer are the models below.

It is mainly a group of Perry miniatures. The originals are below:

[Copyrights Perry Miniatures]

A changed a bit the structure and so I created two different commands: a CiC with Napoleon and second with General Drouot.

The first is compsed by Drouot, an hussar ADC with 1815 uniform and a major 

The second base is the CiC: Napoleon, the bravest of the brave Marshall Ney, Marshall Soult, and  Colonel Gourgaud 

New Year … new projects

I insert into the blog some photos of my future projects hoping that in that way I’ll be more incentive to complete them.

The first project started after that Ezio M. has recruited some La Piccola members to prepare miniatures for French Indian wars scenarios. Thanks his usual skills he is coordinating four of us to  prepare a English/French regiment each.

My duty is to prepare La Sarre regiment.  The regiment was risen with Lorraine boys in 1756. It was sent to Quebec and participated to Fort Oswego and Fort William Henry siege. It served under the mythic Gen Louis de Montcalm during Battle of Carillon. Using other words … it was one of the force strongly involved into French Indian wars.

I have to prepare also some compagnies franche de la marine … another typical French-Indian wars peculiarity.  I was very surprised to understand that this force was created by Cardinal Richelieu in 1622.

Finally a dozen of Courriers de Bois and some civilians.  Totally 73 miniatures.

At today I finished 6 marines and three Indians. Last order (around 30 miniatures) arrived only four days ago … a Christmas present that I just received even if December 25 will from two days.

The second project  is a trip down memory lane … I started my hobby twenty years ago. My favorite period is the roman age so the first army I bought was a box of 15mm essex miniatures. I painted them … or better I thought to have painted them. The problem is that twenty years ago I had not the same ability to paint that now I have.

Last Sunday I decided to take the army again … and so I decided to re paint all the miniatures … around 300 pieces.

The target  for next year is to prepare a DBMM late imperial roman army. Casually last Saturday I assisted to a DBMM battle between a late imperial roman and a Tamerlan army.

I have a lot of Osprey publications for both  Roman and Byzantine period and I started to brush up the Notitia Dignitatum.

Presently I finished only four cornutii seniors auxilia. Now it remains 296 small pieces of lead ...

War of the roses

Last summer, during one my usual “visit” to my favorite miniatures shop, Goblin Torino,  I saw some War of the Roses Perry boxes. The miniatures have excellent poses and they are in plastic … the material I prefer.  So I decided to buy three boxes: two war of the roses and one of mercenaries.

It was the first time I painted war of the roses and, so, I bought some Osprey publications to be sure of choosing the correct colors schemes for the different liveries.

I concentrated my attention on the first period of English civil war 1455-1461. The period that ending with one of the bloodiest battles of the war: Towton.

Two weeks ago I played with Saga rules: the tomahawk studios wargame. There are no official Saga armies for those battles and, currently, I’m the only club member with the war of the roses miniatures but I designed my “warbands” using this game system

Twelve Yorkish archers with their warriors

The first struggle of the war can be considered the fist St Albans battle. It was a Yorkish victory even if Edward IV had around 7,000 men against the 2,000 Lancastrian troops.

Henry Beaufort men

Other pictures of the two armies

And finally  a particular of the two command groups

I prepared two contingents of allies.
The first was a group of Earl of Northumberland men

and a group of Warwick troops

And finally an half dozen of men at arms in action

Lord of the Rings: Percorrendo la Contea

ATTACCO ALLA CONTEA

Introduzione

Al suo ritorno Sam trovò l’intero villaggio in piedi. Oltre a parecchi ragazzi più giovani, più di cento vigorosi Hobbit erano già radunati, muniti di asce, pesanti martelli, lunghi pugnali e grossi bastoni; alcuni avevano degli archi. Ne arrivarono molti altri dalle fattorie adiacenti.

I banditi arrivarono dalla Via Orientale, e senza fermarsi presero la Via di Lungoacque che saliva fiancheggiata da latri argini sormontanti da piccole siepi. Dopo una svolta, a un paio di centinaia di metri dalla strada maestra, incontrarono una robusta barricata fatta di vecchi carri capovolti.

Gli hobbit del paese avevano veduto Saruman uscire da una della capanne. Quando udirono l’ordine di Frodo: “Non lo lasciate andare! Uccidetelo! E’ un farabutto e un assassino. Uccidetelo!”. Saruman guardò i loro visi ostile e sorrise: “Uccidetelo” li schernì “Uccidetelo, se credete di essere in numero sufficiente, miei coraggiosi Hobbit!”. Si tenne eretto e li fissò con i suoi occhi neri. “Ma non crediate che quando ho perduto tutti i miei beni abbia perduto anche tutti i miei poteri! Chi mi colpirà sarà maledetto per sempre. E se il sangue macchierà la Contea, la vedrete appassire e non potrete far nulla per sanarla!”

[Copyright Il ritorno del re – JRR Tolkien]

Game system: Il signore degli anelli

Battle setup:

Lo scenario è stato creato da Biagio F. e Giancarlo M., entrambe membri della Piccola Armata, che si sono liberamente ispirati al libro di Tolkien e più precisamente al ritorno degli Hobbit nella Contea. Lo scontro si sviluppa su tre scenari differenti:

Lato Sud: un gruppo di Hobbit comandati da Merry e Pipino cerca di raggiungere la Contea ma viene contrastata da due Spettri  ed un gruppo di goblin.

Lato Est: cavalca lupi, un Troll e dei warg tentano di ricongiungersi a Saruman passando attraverso un bosco vigilato da Dunedain e da un Ent

Lato Nord: La contea

Obiettivi secondari:

Lato Sud

Male: rallentare gli hobbit ed uccidere Pipino e Merry

Bene: impedire che Saruman possa raggiungere il lato Sud ed uscire dalla mappa

Lato Est:

Male: attraversare il fiume e raggiungere Saruman

Bene: eliminare i dannati orchetti

Obiettivo primario:

Male: Eliminare Sam, Pipino, Frodo e Merry oppure far uscire Saruman dal lato sud

Bene: Impedire che Saruman possa raggiungere il lato sud

Regole speciali:  in fase di deployment iniziale l’Ent può essere nascosto in 3 possibili ubicazioni all’interno della boscaglia sul lato Est della mappa

Deployment e Map

Scala delle miniature: 28 mm

Battle report

La disposizione iniziale

Abbiamo utilizzato delle carte per indicare i tre possibili luoghi in cui l’ent si “nasconde”. Il termine “nasconde” è doverosamente tra virgolette considerando che il luogo in cui si deve occulate è un bosco.

I warg ed i cavalca lupi penetrano nel bosco sul lato Est. L’ent è troppo distante per poter intervenire

Quattro Cavalca lupi riescono a raggiungere il fiume. Uno purtroppo affoga. Il Troll rimane in retroguardia ad impegnare i Dunedain.

Sul lato sud gli Spettri cercano di rallentare gli Hobbit

Nella Contea gli Hobbit aspettano l’arrivo dei furfanti dietro una barricata ma … 

 …  i cattivi son ormai sulla Via Orientale 

Gli spettri paralizzano con le loro magie diversi nemici ma i goblin non riescono ad avere la meglio … gli hobbit avanzano.

Lo scontro nella Contea prosegue

Gli arcieri hobbit riescono a fare molte vittime tra i furfanti ma, grazie all’arrivo di due cavalca lupi i soldati del Male arrivano alle barricate. Solo grazie ai due eroi hobbit il bene riesce a resistere. Maggot viene ferito e deve utilizzare tutti i suoi punti fato per non cadere

A sud gli Spettri riescono a raggiungere Merry e Pipino. Uno degli spettri riesce a stordire Pipino ma l’intervento di un guarda contea vanifica il suo attacco.

Il Troll elimina diversi dunedain cercando di coprire la fuga di Saruman ma viene raggiungo dall’Ent …

… che lo elimina in un solo turno

Per Saruman non c’è più scampo

Saruman rise. “Tu fai quello che dice Sharkey, vero, Verme? Ebbene ora ti dice: seguimi!”. Gli sferrò un calcio in pieno viso e Vermilinguo si voltò e lo seguì. Ma improvvisamente qualcosa scattò in lui; si rizzo a un tratto, estraendo un pugnale nascosto e ringhiando come un cane saltò sulla schiena di Saruman, gli tirò indietro la testa, gli tagliò la gola e corse già per il viale con un grido. Prima che Frodo potesse riprendersi e pronunciare una parola, tre frecce hobbit sibilarono e Vermilinguo cadde morto.

[Copyright Il ritorno del re – JRR Tolkien] 

Fine: Vittoria del Bene

Note:

Le miniature sono state dipinte da Giancarlo M. e Biagio F. 

Le case degli hobbit sono state integralmente auto realizzate da Biagio F. 

Army list

Bene: Popoli liberi

Primo gruppo

Frodo e Sam + Maggot + 9 hobbit miliziani + 6 hobbit arcieri e 3 hobbit guarda contea

Secondo gruppo

Pipino e Merry + 8 hobbit miliziani + 6 hobbit arcieri e 4 hobbit guarda contea

Terzo gruppo

1 Ent + 7 dunedain

Male: Forze di Saruman

Primo gruppo 

Sharkhey e Verme + 12 furfanti

Secondo gruppo

1 Troll di caverna + 12 cavalca lupi e 6 warg

Terzo gruppo

2 spettri dei tumuli e 12 goblin

English Commanders - Part 2

An Army cannot be called in this way without his commanders.

For my army I prepared  three colonels on horse and four other officers on foot. All these miniatures are on single bases

(two mounted colonels and one major on foot)

An infantry battalion was generally commanded by its regimental colonel or lieutenant colonel.  Each companies that composed the battalion could be led by a lieutenant, an ensign or a captain.  Ideally a battalion consisted of 1,000 men but during Napoleonic wars, English battalions rarely were at full strength It was the normality that battalions were under-strength and often dissolved or merged with other units.

Unlike their enemy British did not use conscription. All British soldiers of that period were voluntary … or to use the words of the Duke Wellington: “the scum of the earth”.

A man should be a “gentlemen” to be an officer. It doesn’t mean that they were all noblemen. The large part came from local militia and only a very small number (around 5% of the total offices organic) arrived from lower rank.

Under this point of view Sharpe’s novels written by Cornwell are realistic. It was very difficult for a redcoat to raise till the officer rank.

To be considered a gentlemen it was necessary to be literate - an aspect not so easy to find in a simple infantry man – but this condition was not sufficient. It was necessary to be rich too.  In fact English army used the "sale of commissions system". It was a common practice that permits at the wealthy and noble men to purchased their rank. To be correct I have to point out that less than 20% of line promotions were by purchase, the large part was obtained by seniority.  Only in rare cases promotion was obtained by merit.

For my CIC I prepared a base with some officers and an ADC. Miniatures are Perry and – more or less – the Dutch Gen. Perporcher blister.

(Copyright Perry Miniatures)

The blister contains two ADCs, a guide, General Perporcher and Baron de Constant Rebecque.

I painted the Baron de Constant as a English colonel (the miniatures at the left that is pointing). On contrary I reproduced the right uniform color schemes for General Perporcher (the officer with the map in the middle).

A particular mention for General Baron de Constant. In 1788 he starts his career as ensign in a Swiss regiments at the service of the France only to see his men massacred by French revolutionaries four years later. He continues at the British service, after as Prussian officer and during the Peninsular again in the British army as Wellington staff officer. In 1815 he is Prince of Orange officer staff and thanks his tactical skill he avoided that Napoleon could cut Wellington lines at Quatre-Bras. In fact he decided to countermand Wellington's orders, moving troops to Quatre-Bras and not to reinforce Prince Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Division. Without this decision it possible that Marshall Ney would have easily occupied Quatre-Bras giving Napoleon the possibility do cut the English from Prussian Army.

Gioca Torino 2013

This year, for the first time, I have took part of Gioca Torino 2013 (GT13) as member of La Piccola Armata.

Gioca Torino is a annual event created by gamers for gamers and my association was one of the many local clubs involved. Free demonstrations, meeting with game inventors, role playing and board game tournaments are some of the activities of the exhibition.

La Piccola was present with three tables. The main table was obviously dedicated to the Marsaglia scenario,  another was for war board game and the last for a painting demonstration.

Every year the Gioca Torino attracts a lot of visitors and, during the two days of the exhibition, an average of 10/15 club members tried to explain what it is a war game.

The event had some echoes and a photo of Marsaglia table was published into a National newspaper.

(Foto di Luca P.)

My position was at painting table. It was an interesting experience and a lot of persons asked information about miniatures. Oddly the persons that were more fascinated  by miniatures were girls.

(Copyright http//www.facebook.com/pages/Bit-Revolution-Studios/310430818996934)

Alby, the boy on the right with the grey sweater, was really painting. Generally he helps me to prepare the miniatures (ie painting of black the soldier). During that event he has started to perfect his work using other colors (rose and blue) for the first time. I know that he is too young - he is 7 years old - but he likes it and he plays attention to miniatures … an aspect that is not already completely understood by the my second son.

Unfortunately I took photos only of La Piccola tables because it was more demanding than I expected to paint and to reply to all visitors.  I hope next year to prepare a better album for the blog.

Marsaglia reenactment - Sept 28-29

With a certain delay I post some pictures of an event in which I was involved some months ago.

In September La Piccola Armata took part of the Marsaglia Battle reenactment. Thanks to the great work of two club members (Marco G. and Luca P.) La Piccola has exhibited a reproduction of the battle. The reproduction included both the map and the units involved in the struggle.

Miniatures were in 15 mm scale and it is possible to find more pictures directly at the La Piccola web site >>> http://www.lapiccolaarmata.it/

A couple of essential notes regarding the battle:

The battle was fought on 4th October 1693 between the French and the Great Alliance army. The struggle was part of nine year’s war. The French Army was let by Marshal Catinat (known in Piedmont as the “butcher”) while Duke Vittorio Amedeo II of Savoy was the commander of allies troops.

The French won the battle. The Piedmontese and their allies had 12,000 deads/wounded against Catinat’s 1,800.

My British Army - Part 1 Infantry

Logical consequence of my decision to paint a Napoleonic French Army is to prepare a British Army. Also in this case my Army is composed by around 250 miniatures. The English are painted with uniforms and shakos   typically of 1814-15 period.

The British infantry during Napoleonic wars was formed by Guard, Foot, Light, Highland and Rifle regiments.  A regiment was generally composed by two or three  battalions. A battalion was ten companies with, at least, one company of grenadiers and another one of light.

I started with two large highlander battalions because to reproduce kilt colors schemes was as a kind of defiance for me.

My highlanders are: 42nd  the Black Watch and 92nd the Gordon

The 42nd was enlisted in 1743 and fought in many English campaigns: Ireland (battle of Culloden); French Indian wars (second battle of Ticonderoga), Egypt (battle of Alexandria), peninsular and 100 days.

As part of 9th Brigade commanded by General Pack they were involved in the chaotic struggles as Quatre Bras and Waterloo.

Another famous highland regiment was the Gordon. On June, 16 1815 they defended the disputed crossroads of Quatre Bras and two days later the 92nd charged French columns in Waterloo battle.

Thanks to Cornwell’s books,  I became to keen on Green Jacket history and I discovered that their creation and their tactics were  … specials. They was formed by an idea of Colonel Manningham in 1800 and named “Experimental Corps”. They were the first British unit with a kind of mimetic uniform … obviously green … and armed with Baker rifle that included a 21 inch sword bayonet. Their combat tactics were not very orthodox for the time as well as their training.  The riflemen were trained to work in open order and to operate in pairs ahead of the main infantry, which were bunched in close formations. They were taught to make best use of natural cover and to harass the enemy with aimed shots.

I painted the 95th and the 60th.

The  95^th  is organized in eight bases but I prepared both 95^th and 60^th as single miniatures too. Some miniatures are Perry other-ones Victrix gunner conversions.

The soldier in the center is Albion Triumphant vol 2 special miniatures … an Ezio’s gift … I hope I painted it well

Some 95^th battalions went onto fight at the Quatre Bras and Waterloo battle. Unfortunately in June 1815 the 60^th was already come back to America for garrison duties.

Other regiments I prepared are: the 33rd, the 67th and the 29th Foot. All these military units fought at Waterloo. 

A special mention for the 33rd Foot: it was formed in 1702 and was the first regiments that a young Arthur Wesley commanded in 1794.

Using Victrix artillery boxes I painted a two gun batteries.