Prussian 9th Brigade - Dresden 1813

Brigade of the Day

Today we put together all those little 1813 Prussian Regiments we have so far, and have a look at Klux's 9th Brigade all formed up and ready to fight.

First, the command base for Mr Klux. I am using 40mm rounds for Divisional / Brigade command stands, each with 2 mounted figures. Corps commands are on 50mm rounds with 3 mounted figures (or possibly a small vignette as I have done with the Jena Prussians).

Figures here by warrior miniatures - simple to paint, and nicely animated in this case. I really like the animation on the 'general' figure .. good stuff.

Added a bugler from the Neumark Dragoons to act as Klux's signaller. Each Prussian brigade in this period has a small detachment of cavalry, so I will continue this 'tradtion' with my Prussian brigade command stands, to include a cavalry troop of the same type as is used in his brigade.

Klux admiring the way the river seems to dissapear into the distance ;)

The 9th Brigade in combat formation. Prussian command radius in this later period is larger than during the Jena period, allowing a more functional command level.

In this case though, I have arrayed the battle formation to operate on a narrower front, using mixed formation - regiment in columns of battalions in line.

A nice dense, hard hitting formation.

Schutzen up the front, and Dragoons in the rear as a mobile reserve.

Artillery in this case is tucked away in the rear .. 1 battery of 6lb guns, which I am leaving off the front line for now in case the unit needs to recoil back to the farm. If so, the gun battery is in an ideal spot to offer fire support.

How to play this unit tactically ?

A number of points need to be kept in mind. 

Firstly, this is not a Division strength unit - it is only a brigade. You have several similar brigades either side in support making up the whole Corps. So keep a narrow frontage on this brigade, and anchor your flanks with neighboring brigades. 

Seconfly, the troop quality is rather low - so use the numbers wisely to achieve shock and impact at a smaller point. Large numbers will more than make up for the lack of quality.  

Thirdly, keep the Landwehr out of harms way, and only get them involved in fighting by offering a supporting overlap to make up the numbers. If the Landwehr get stuck in a fight, they will most likely lose a number of bases, and can easily trigger a Brigade wide panic. Avoid that by keeping the Landwehr out of the front line. 

Fourth point - the French do not have a any of cavalry at the smaller tactical level, and you do. Use the extended command radius and the extra base of Dragoons to be able to exploit weaknesses in the opposing French line. 

It is only 1 base, but if you have a look at the cavalry combat results table .. you can see that there a small risk in losing the Dragoons in a reckless action, but lots of good chances of causing chaos in the enemy ranks. It is worth a few gambles to throw those Dragoons into the fray and see what happens. Use them or lose them.

 Just ... dont throw them in on their own where they will be outnumbered !!  Throw them in to support a tight melee against troops not in square, or use them in a long shot gambit to break a larger enemy unit that is already rattled.