Infantry Brigade Belvilaqua, Jena 1806

Regiment of the Day

To complete our Saxon Advanced Guard Division at the battle of Jena, we have today the Infantry Brigade Belvilaqua.

This is a composite brigade made up of the following regiments :
Müffling Musketeers, Prince Clemens, Kurfurst.

It presents something of a challenge then to model as a single brigade. We some battalions of a Prussian Regiment, IR 49 ... and battlions of 2 different Saxon regiments.

In other Divisions, there are similar infantry brigades, again made up of battalions pulled from several different regiments.

Bit of a mess there .... what to do ?





What I will do with my Saxons then is to model each Brigade as a consistent unit, so the facing colours match for each block of infantry. This would be a more practical way of modelling the whole Saxon army for the battlefield.

So I shall make a number of brigades, and paint each one with matching facings and a matching flag for the command stand. The figures will then be interchangable for the various Divisions, since the facing colours on the model are not relevant to the varied facing colours of the real life brigade. Simple !

 

Infantrie Brigade Belvilaqua..  One of several Saxon Brigades being modelled. I have gone with light green facings and flag for this unit. Figures by Eureka Miniatures 18mm Saxon range again. Excellent figures !

4 bases of line infantry .. command group with flag on the left, and NCO with spontoon on the end of the line on the right. The spontoon would be lowered by the NCO during battle manoeuvres to assist in dressing the lines.

One of the special treats with the early Prussian / Saxon armies is the use of battalion guns. In the Republique rules, a player may substitute any light artillery battery prior to battle ... and disburse the cannon as battalion guns for 2 regiments / brigades.

Having battalion guns for a unit is then represented in the rules as having a combat bonus. In addition to having a combat bonus for being in line formation ... this makes the green troops of the Prussian / Saxon army at Jena Auerstadt quite effective in a firefight.

If you can avoid moving about on the field too much, and engage in good old Frit'z linear tactics .. the Prussians and Saxons work quite well. So here is the battalion gun model - 2 crew, with a light 3lb cannon from Eureka's SYW Austrian range.

The whole brigade arrayed for battle, in massed lines of battalion, with battalion guns in support.

I like the figures so much .. I thought I would throw in another shot from a similar angle.

A little controversy now .... A skirmish base for the brigade. Republique rates Jena Prussian / Saxon skirmish ability as 'None'. 

However, the Eureka range has such a nice array of variants, including skirmishing musketeers, that it would be a crime to not include.

Besides, the internet is full of references to arguments that the Prussians and Saxons at Jena were actually slightly capable of matching the French skirmishers on the day ... its was just septuagenarian officers with the interia of tradition that failed to make use of them.

Either way, I have the capability of fielding skirmishers for these units, if the opponent will allow it.  That suits me fine - the more figures the better :)

Brigade in line, ready to advance to combat !