Well, I played a few more turns of my game, so here it is! And remember, you can always click on the photos again to enlarge them...
Above is how it left off... The French are heading towards the center of the field, ready to turn and attack the chateau. On the French left their cavalry has pushed off the British cavalry and can now cover the advance of a brigade of French Old Guard. On the French right a British cavalry brigade lurks just out of range, having already overrun a French artillery battery and now hoping for a shot at the flank of a French attack... And now, on we go!
The French turn and begin to attack through the stream. Originally the idea was to continue further to their own right, but two things interfered. First, the British deployed skirmishers and began to pick at the morale of the French, who were too busy manoveuring to take the time the effectively counter them. Second, an entire Britsh cavalry brigade was waiting off their flank. So, the French commander decided to quickly get his columns off the road and across the fields!
This way they could use the two battalions on the right hand side of the shot to form square, with the woods just out of the shot helping to protect the flank. If they pushed further out, it would take twice as many units to secure the flank... this way, they may have to attack through tough cover, but they could do so with a GREAT many troops. Of course, now the French attack would have to go right over the stream and into the dense brush and up against the orchard walls on the other side...
The two French battalions on the far flank (including a converged battalion of grenadiers) form square, using the woods to hold the rest of the flank. If they can effectively pin three entire units of British cavalry or keep them out of the fight, the French attack can roll in behind them and the British will be in trouble!
The British cavalry crashes in, knowing that the chance of breaking the French squares is low, but also knowing that if they just sit there they will simply be wasted. So in they go, fingers crossed, trumpets blaring, swords flashing! However, they are repeatedly repulsed, taking more and more casualties, and their morale begins to waver...
On the near side, the Brunswick brigade advances to help fight back the French onslaught. The British cavalry (at the top now) charges again, but again fail to break the weakening French squares. A few Frenchmen make it over the stream, but many are killed as they attack the tall orchard walls.
Here is a shot of the Brunswickers, trying to keep the French columns back. However, one battalion turns and faces the flanking wheat field, as enemy appear there...
A brigade of French guard advance across the field after crossing the bridge, and the beat of the drums pushes them forward, in an attempt to hit the defending British and Brunswickers in the flank.
Meanwhile, on the flank of the French Guard brigade, the French cavalry (who had already seen off the British cavalry on this end of the field earlier in the battle) are held ready to keep the remaining British Guards brigade off of the back of the advancing French Guard. The British Guards press forward a bit, beginning to fire down at the marching Frenchmen but unable to get close enough to do real damage, thanks to the never-too-far-away French cavalry.
The French Guard close with the Brunswickers and the two sides pour fire into each other!
So, that is where we are! The French attack on the chateau continues, but it is a hard slog... some REALLY terrible rolls reveal that apparently Napoleon's men did not have a lot of heart for the fight! However, they've largely seen off the British cavalry on their right flank, and the Guard may just be able to crush the black-coated enemy on the left flank... IF the French cavalry can keep the British reinforcements away!
I might also mention; I finally figured out depth of field a little... just in time for the last shot of the night, which is the FIRST of this post. I'll be more careful to get more in focus on the next post!:)
First up... cowboys! Yeah, my buddy decided to go "all in," and bought several hundred 15mm cowboy figures (and civilians, and animals, and indians, and soldiers, and...) and an entire town worth of buildings and giant mountains and hundreds and hundreds of trees and a railroad and teepees and buffalo and mining cabins and hitching posts and bar furniture and... yeah, all in:) Anyway, he gave me five cowboys to paint (mounted and dismounted) so I got started! A LOT more to go, but no time tonight:)
Howdy all!
A number of years ago a very good buddy and I came up with the idea of the "maturation process." We discussed how, when a table is first set up, it doesn't look its best. It takes a lot of looking at the table and moving things around, changing things, to get it looking its best. I have found that it takes me more time than it takes him, as he has a much better "feel" for how human beings lay out their dwellings and fields... he is a serious reenactor, and he sees a lot more fields than I do!
Well, I managed to get them a bit fixed. The back of two guys is a bit of a mess, but overall I think the damage is minimal... I was able to scrape off the areas that were fogged, and then simply repaint them. A little rough at some points, but...
Hence the group you see here!
The Scottish-looking fellow is another head swap with a Wargames Factory set of Zulu British (same set I stole this fellows head from!) with a forage cap made of green stuff. I feel like the 45 degree turn of the body and the subsequent turn of the head really helped this body look different than the other... which, for reference, is the blond guy without the shako.
Hey all!
Generally speaking, there are some really traditional units that wargamers have. Almost every ACW gamer has painted up the Irish Brigade, for example, whereas most Napoleonic gamers have painted up either some Rifles or some Old Guard, and WWII gamers tend to have a Tiger or an 88 in the collection.
