1813 Russians in field cap

Russians in field caps - 1813

Some later (1812+) Russians in a mix of uniforms and field caps, shown here advancing in Closed Column.


Picked up a few bags of mixed of OG Russians in field caps from the TMP marketplace. Ended up with about 100 figures in this lot.

OG always have a good mix of animations and poses in the bag, so they are quite useful to  create fill in bases to pad out a growing army.

Time to splash some paint on them and get them on the gaming table.

French Infantrie de Marine 1813

French Infantrie Artillerie de Marine - 1813

Finally got some Battalions out for the French Infantrie de Marine for Leipzig 1813.

After digging around for resources on these guys ... and finding the usual mix of conflicting details from different sources, I settled on this "interpretation", which I reckon fits the feel of these units well.  See what you think.

All of the line troops have greatcoats, and are still equipped in bicornes. Note that all the leather cross belts are black as well.

All pompoms are red, and to distinguish them from regular troops in greatcoats, they have a little brass anchor insignia on the left sleeve.

Finally, the flag is standard French tricolor, with a gold anchor symbol. OK, I made that up, but it works for me :)

ActionFront - Leipzig Nord -Initial Setup

Battle of the Day

A step by step run through of a test game using my new Computer Moderated Napoleonic system - ActionFront !

This is taken from the Leipzig-Nord scenario, with the French III Corps vs the Prussian III Corps in 1813.

Prussian Brigade begins its deployment for the Battle.

To make it even simpler, will start off with the initial contact between a single maneuvre element from each of these 2 Corps sized units.

On the Prussian side, we have the 5th Brigade, on the French side we have the 11e Division.
....

Lets have a look at the 2 forces involved for the initial contact, and how that translates to the tabletop  :

French Legere - 1813

Tour de France - Stage 16

Oh dear ... running well behind schedule now, and only just made it in before the next stage starts.

Here is a single battlalion of French Lights from Lancashire Games .. photographed without the aid of sunlight.

eeeks !

View of the climb up through the "Circle of Death".

Late war French - 1813

Tour de France - Stage 15

2 more battalions of late war French roll off the production line ...

French Division - 1813

Tour de France - Stage 14

Great stage race last night with huge amounts of drama ... sabotage on the course, killer hill climbs at 18%, death defying descents down wet slopes, chaos, drama, and sportsmanship.  Wiggo is a true British champion !

Good stage to pull out some masses now and look at a Division on the table, all based up on battalion sabot bases.

Here is what an 1813 Division roughly looks like at 1:60 scale.  This is modelled on the French 6th Division / II Corps on the Southern front at Leipzig in 1813.

Lucky for me ... the French units are quite 'understrength' for this campaign.

The leading brigade - 3 battalions of Legere with 3 battalions of ligne in the 2nd wave.  3 Battalions in column of divisions on each flank, and 2 batteries in the centre.

Note the lack of cavalry at the Division level.  Not much more at Corps level for this unit either.

French Brigade in Greatcoats

Tour de France - Stage 13

Here is the 2nd Regiment of French Ligne in Greatcoats ... paint is still wet on the basing !!  Only just made it.

French in Greatcoats - Regiment

Tour de France - Stage 12

3rd Battalion in Greatcoats ready for the storage box

That makes up the 1st Regiment in Greatcoats

French Line Grenadiers

Tour de France - Stage 11

Finished off some French Line Grenadier companies, as I watched the race unfold through the mountains for France last night

French Cuirassiers

Tour de France - Stage 10

Thank goodness for rest days.  Back into it now, with lots of big climbs to get over ..

4 Squadrons of mixed French Cuirassiers - bit of the old style uniform and facings, bit of the new . with a later period flag .

4 Squadron bases fit nicely on a 'Cavalry Regimental Sabot Base' ... which is a standard MDF drink coaster from the dollar store.

Struggling to keep up the pace at this stage of the race, and still a few weeks to go yet.

Lets see how we go tonight then ....

French Line in Bardin Uniform - Leipzig 1813

Tour de France - Stage 8

Great racing last nice with another long stage of over 100 miles, with lots of nasty hills ... and some more unfortunate accidents.

Was shocking to see Sanchez (defending Olympic gold medalist) crash out with a broken collar bone, so he is out for London 2012.

What we did see though was a memorable win for a young French rider in his first tour. It was one of these rare occasions where the risk of hopping onto the breakaway group actually pays off.

A memorable win for Thibaut Pinot - the youngest rider in the race !

What better way to capture that in miniature, than finish off a unit of French Ligne using some of the youngest (newest) figures available ... Eureka's own amazing late French in Bardin uniform in 18mm.

French Ligne in Greatcoats - 1813+

Tour de France - Stage 7

What a great nights viewing last night ... spectacular scenery into the Vosges mountains.

Took a few shortcuts myself, and finished off a single battalion of French line in Greatcoats.

The first real climbs of the Tour saw the real contenders come to the front and fight it out for the last 6km all uphill.

This last section is at 20% slope ... ouch !

French Dragoons

Tour de France Peter Sagan - Stage 6

Bit of crazy carnage last night in stage 6 on the road to Metz .. it was a bit like watching live coverage of Borodino !

At the end though ... somehow .. Peter Sagan held it all together to jump just at the right moment, and power over the top of Greipel.

Amazing effort. Im stunned.

Grand Duchy of Warsaw - 1st Regiment

Tour de France - Stage 5

Finishing off the next Polish regiment in the line ..  2 more battalions of Polish line infantry.

So as far as Leipzig goes, we have the VIII Polish) Corps, 26th Division, 1st Brigade.

OOB for this brigade is :

- Vistula Legion light infantry - 2 Bns at around 400 men each.
- 1st Polish Line Regiment - 2 Bns at around 400 men each.
- 16th Polish Line Regiment - 2 Bns at around 400 men each.

Vistula Legion - Leipzig 1813

Tour de France - Stage 4

Continuing on with the painting challenge, I was struggling to get a bit finished last night.

Quite appropriate, as the high pace of the race so far so many riders struggling to hold their line and stay out of trouble at the front of the peleton.

Part of 2 battalions of the Vistula Legion - Leipzig 1813.

Head tube airbrush work on That Rider's bike.

French 7e Legere - Wagram 1809

Tour de France - Day 2

Following on from the prolog with Stage 1 proper, we had an exciting race last night, featuring the yellow jersey making a bold statement up the front of the race .. a few crashes .. and a mad pace all the way to the line.

Right at the end, a young rider from Slovakia .. showing something short of contempt for the rest of the field, almost cruising past Spartacus to take the stage win in the final metres.

So Ill throw in some colourful French Legere to match the feel of that stage.

French 5th Hussars

Tour de France - Stage 1

Following along with the bike race of the same name - a 3000km race all across France, through every single village and up every single mountain pass ..... equates to a lot of late night streaming video watching here in Australia.

Reasonably important down here in Australia, as one of 'our' blokes is defending the yellow jersey for the first time, so its a must watch for all of us.

A perfect excuse then to build up stock levels for the French Forces at Leipzig 2013, whilst staying up late every night to tune in on the race.

Stage 1 of the Tour is typically a short prologue event - a 6km time trial at sprint pace.

What better way to equate that short but fast dash of an event in miniature ... a Squadron of dashing French Hussars !

You can follow the real race HERE each day at cyclingtipsblog for more 2 pedalled mounted warrior action.