Battle of Gorodetschna - Black Powder Gaming

Hosted another Black Powder Napoleonic game today - this time using the Russians and Austrians I painted up earlier this year - and still needing to get them bloodied. This battle was during the Russian Campaign and one of few times Austrians and Russians traded blows in the Napoleonic era. The battle included Saxons, but since I don't have any at the time, used some French, Polish and Neuchatel as proxies.

Prior to the battle - Russians on the left and Austro-Saxons one the right. Austrian artillery yet to arrive as they were provided from my buddy's collection.

Russian left - a cavalry brigade of lancers, hussars (armed with lances) and skirmishing jaegers; an infantry brigade with 3 regiments to their left. I did use a unit of French hussars and Polish lancers as proxies here as well.

Russian center - the high ground with 3 gun batteries in earthworks; a brigade of 3 grenadier regiments and army general. The victory conditions were for the Russians to hold onto the hill with more unshaken Russian units than the enemy. The Austro-Saxons would win if they captured the hill with more unshaken Austro-Saxon units than the Russians. Alternative victory would be destroying over half of the enemy forces.

Russian left - a brigade of 4 infantry regiments.

Austrian left and center (prior to arrival of artillery batteries) - a cavalry brigade with Austrian dragoons and cuirassiers, and Saxon Garde du Corps and chevau-leger (the last two actually Spanish dragoons and French chasseurs respectively, as proxies). On their right two brigades of Austrian infantry with 3 regiments each.

Saxon infantry brigade with 4 regiments on the right flank - again using proxies. Maybe someday I'll use some Perry French and paint them up as Saxons...maybe.

As for the game itself; well, it didn't go down historically - the Austro-Saxon army failed to dislodge the Russians from their high ground. In fact, due to brash tactics the Austrian dragoons and two Saxon infantry brigades were destroyed by turn 3. The Austrian cavalry made the mistake of charging the Russian right without infantry or artillery support. They were stopped by not only the Russian lancers and hussars, but also from the Russian jaegers taking shots at them from the marsh around the river. Cavalry could not enter the marsh area.

The Saxons were decimated in hand to hand fighting on their own right. More from unlucky die rolls than tactical errors.

Artillery on both sides were not shooting very well and didn't play too much of an actual factor in the game, but the Austrians were ever-conscious of their presence atop the high ground.

We only played 4 turns, but felt the Austro-Saxon army would continue to get mauled as the Russians still have most of their army intact - including the 3 gun batteries supported by the brigade of grenadier regiments. As the taking of the high ground was the victory condition - or destroying over half of the enemy army, this seemed like an uphill battle (pun intended).

I should add that we used 2/3rds movement and musket range reduced to 16 inches and artillery to 24 and 36 inches for light and heavy respectively. We only allowed firing after one basic movement - which we did like. It was suggested afterwards that we might've kept movement and ranges as per the basic rules - but still limit firing to one move.  Increasing the movement distances might've worked out better - at least for the Austro-Saxons. That said, the Austro-Saxons consistently had worse die rolls than the Russians. Anyway, I was glad to finally get the figures into a game and getting more familiar with Black Powder. Thanks for stopping by and best wishes to you all!

Junith Eruita - Canonness Superior

She's riding in "The Pulpit of Saint Holline's Basilica."

She is armed with 2 heavy flamers and the "Mace of Castigation." According to the rules, you can only have one of these in an army.

The box art shows lettering in the scrolls with the double-headed eagle, but I didn't want to risk messing it up so left the scrolls plain.

It's a fairly straight-forward paint scheme. The eagle was base-coated with Vallejo Khaki, given a light wash of Vallejo Skin Wash and then dry-brushed with Vallejo Bone White, with a highlight of White mixed with the Bone White. The base and undercarriage was painted black and lightly dry-brushed with gray.

There are many color variations of this model on the internet, but I tried to stay close with the box art for the Order of Our Martyred Lady.

Below is a comparison shot with a Rhino and a Battle Sister on foot.

Next up are the Pentinent Engines, Arco-Flagellants and Sisters Repentia, but have another Black Powder game I need to set up for this Friday. As for painting, I watched a YouTube video on Army Painter Speedpaints - and was thinking those figures would be a good test for it, but see these paints won't be available until next February. Until next time, thanks for stopping by and wishing you all the best in health and hobby pursuits.

Sisters of Battle Rhinos

These are the Rhinos that came with the Combat Patrol boxes (1 each). Painted up as Our Martyred Lady Order.

They come with decals for all the major militant orders - as well as some for scrolls - fiddly to put on, but nice once applied.

The hunter-killer missiles are magnetized so they can be removed and the hatch flipped.

A bunch of optional part are included to bling out the vehicles.

A fun kit to put together and paint up - the edge highlighting took the longest, but I wanted it to match the way the Battle Sisters were painted up.

Here they are with the missiles detached.

On the gaming front, have another Black Powder game this coming Friday - the Battle of Gorodetschna. Finally getting the Russians and Austrians I painted a while ago onto the gaming table. I don't have any Saxons, but will use French and other troops as proxies. My buddy James will be supplying the Austrian artillery as he has a ton of them. Thanks again for stopping by and wishing you all the best.

Sisters of Battle - Order of Our Martyred Lady

Finished the Battle Sisters from the two Combat Patrol boxes. Still need to paint up the two Rhinos and other figures.

This is a Canoness and a couple of Repentia Superiors swinging neural whips - which cause "agonizing pain with every skillful lash."

Seraphim on flying bases.

The stands attach to the bottom of the jet packs.

And the Battle Sisters - two squads of 10, or can be combined into a large unit of 20.

Plan to work on the Rhinos next - as they are black and will be highlighted the same way of the armor worn by the Battle Sisters.

On the gaming front, I plan to host another Black Powder game in a couple of weeks based on the 

Battle of Gorodechno. Until next time, wishing you all the best!

Battle for the Farm House - La Haye Sainte - Black Powder

Finally got to game the La Haye Sainte Black Powder game today. Used a mix of the mid-size and larger game scenarios that came with the Warlord Games set. I wanted to add a few more supporting units, to include some cavalry. Here's the set up prior to the game - with a bit of inspiration watching the old Waterloo movie with Rod Steiger and Christopher Plummer. 

EDIT: A little more details of the game - the French had two brigades of three infantry battalions each; a cavalry brigade of one Cuirassier and two Lancer units; two horse artillery batteries and several small detachments, including an Engineer/Pioneer unit.

The British, besides several small detachments of KGL Lights and Nassauers in and around the farmhouse had two brigades of two line infantry each, two RHA batteries, small detachments of 95th Rifles and a unit of Scots Greys.

The French started the game as attackers and almost all of the units were successful activating and moving towards the farmhouse. The British in their turn attempted to move along the flanks of the farmhouse towards the French. One brigade of French infantry managed to get through the orchard and up against the southside of the farmhouse in turn 2. While the other French infantry brigade moved into assault against the KGL unit guarding the barn door on the western side of the farmhouse. The French cavalry moved up to the KGL Line on the western side of the battlefield and forced them to get into square. The British Line on the eastern side of the road slowly moved up to support KGL inside the farmhouse. In turn 3, the French stormed into the farmhouse and took on the small detachment of KGL Lights inside. A fire was also started on the roof of the stables which the KGL were not able to put out. The game was called when an overwhelming number of French were inside of the farmhouse and courtyard.

We played four turns, with the French having four battalions assaulting into the farmhouse. Now this probably stretches the basic rules with the amount of units allowed in a building/structure, but we went ahead with it.

The scenario booklet actually has smaller units in and assaulting the farmhouse - companies and such. The stables on the western side did catch fire in turn 3 and was not able to be put out successfully by the occupying KGL.

The French had a Cuirassier and two Lancer (Polish & Dutch) units. They destroyed the one British cavalry unit - Scots Greys. The French cavalry also held off two KGL line battalions by having them stay in square for most of the game.

Here's where things got out of control - that is the number of French units in the farmhouse. The French had actually gone into skirmish formation, but we left them on the movement trays for ease of handling. One thing that was evident was the break test results for skirmishers. We thought it was way too advantages especially when resolving combat with heavy cavalry.  We plan to use the artillery break test results for small/tiny infantry units in the future. Thinking of giving infantry skirmishers vs. medium/heavy cavalry the same results as artillery during break tests. Basically anything 4 or less is destroyed.

With a few tweaks, like the one mentioned for small/tiny unit break test - and limiting the amount of units in the farmhouse, I plan to host this at our next Enfilade convention. Granted it's a ways out, but a few more playtests will be needed.

Anyway, I was glad to have finally gotten this game in, having finished the farmhouse over a year ago. It was good to flesh out the scenario and use the special rules like the French Engineers breaking down doors, setting buildings afire and also scaling walls.

Thanks for stopping by and wishing you all the best.

Sisters of Battle - Order of Our Martyred Lady - WIP

WIP on a couple of boxes of Adepta Sororitas Combat Patrols. Thought about building either a Space Wolves or White Scars Space Marines army, but saw these going for a great price - one quite a bargain because the box had a damaged corner. Anyway, just finished putting together the figures and Rhinos. One of the Canoneses was left on the sprue as only one will be needed for this army.

Magnetized the heavy weapon on the Rhinos to allow the hatch to be flipped over as an option.

Used most of the extras as bling on the two Rhinos.

Here are a few pictures of the 7" McFarlane Space Marines previously painted. Added some purity seals too.

They're getting some PT while attending DWAS (Deathwatch Assessment and Selection).

Obviously getting smoked during a run as they can't stay in step.

The Blood Angel LT class leader will get them through the course.

Thanks for stopping by for this quick 40K interlude. Wishing you all the best.

Austrians vs. Bavarians 1809 Black Powder Game

Just got back from playing a very enjoyable Black Powder game hosted by my buddy James. He has a keen interest in the 1809 Campaign and has a huge collection of figures for the period.

Set up prior to starting. Bavarians on the near side of the shot - and Austrians holding the far side of the table. The victory conditions were for the Bavarians to make it off the table through a narrow pass or killing off over half of the enemy.

The Austrian left.

Bavarian left.

Bavarian center - I ran two Bavarian infantry brigades and James ran the Bavarian cavalry as well as their light infantry sharp shooters.

The Austrian center with a unit of Uhlans.

One of my Bavarian infantry brigades assaulting the Austrian right. One of the Bavarian regiments was wiped out by enemy artillery and musket fire. The other one survived. James included special characters based upon actual historical figures - for instance, one of the Bavarian regiments had a father son - officer/sergeant major duo to add bonus for attacks. Another character was a Bavarian pioneer who added bonuses for combat in wooded terrain.

Bavarian cavalry waiting to support my other Bavarian infantry brigade firing down into Austrians retreating off the high ground.

The Bavarian cavalry actually ended up getting decimated by traversing artillery fire as they attempted to advance to the pass. It was a declared an Austrian victory at the end of turn 5 as no Bavarian units made it to the pass. However, the Bavarians did manage to kill off a good number of Austrians.

James has a Bavarian cavalry helmet and Austrian grenadier cap, as well as a French cuirass from the period.

All in all a really enjoyable Black Powder game. In fact, this was my first Black Powder game in about two years. All the core rules came back nicely, and plan to host my own Black Powder game in a few weeks - the La Haye Sainte scenario game. Thanks again for stopping by and wishing you all the best in gaming and painting.