Tuesday 26 January 2010

Saxon Uhlans


a point made by my chum Pz.Ferdinand on the Ne Plus Ultra forum .  He wrote..


Eureka Saxons -  points of Interest


I have been reading the latest volume of the Journal of Horace St Paul to be published and a couple of snippets caught my eye that may be of interest to fellow purchasers of Nick Robsons Saxon range.

Firstly, there is the matter of the Saxon Uhlans. The general understanding amongst gamers appeared to be that these gentlemen stayed in Poland during the SYW altho` they definitely mustered with the Saxons during the WAS and were present in large numbers at Hohenfriedburg. However, St Paul refers to the Saxon Uhlans being involved in several skirmishes whilst part of the main Austrian army. Neil Cogswell, the editor, states two pulks, each of 800 men served. He quotes, " They belong to a separate and not numerous people living in Poland, who, in spite of being surrounded by Christians, preserve not only their customs and their manners but also their religion. They are distinguished by their courage and fidelity. They dress in the Turkish fashion and are armed with lances".- Archenholz.

Secondly, Eureka has produced a wonderful range of dismounted Saxon dragoons who can double for Austrians (or almost anyone else, for that matter- some of mine are even painted as Prussians). The question arises- apart from skirmish games, are there any use for such figures on the tabletop? On one occasion in September 1760 whilst the Prussians and Austrians were manouevring about each other, both raced for a vital hilltop on the Prussian line of march.

Oddly, the first Prussian units to get there were two regular battalions. They arrived to find the crest in the possession of ten dismounted squadrons of Austrian cavalry. I would guess these were dragoons as I can`t see large numbers of cuirassiers dismounting in the face of the enemy for any reason.Although the Austrians decided not to slug it out- the potential for such actions can clearly be seen- perhaps as the first part of a meeting engagement.

I`ll throw in a third point- one bugbear of the Saxons is their lack of light troops. The journal also lists the Freikorps von Otto of 160 men which I think was a Saxon unit, altho` possibly taken over by the Austrians at some point. I believe they were dressed in green.


Monday 25 January 2010

Tribe Larkspur


a bit of a mystery..Larkers wanted these done, sort of hush hush for our second  18C pulp adventure so   here is  the tribe..

Wednesday 20 January 2010

......and now for something completely different


and
http://battlegrouphawkwood.blogspot.com/
which can be found on the main page as the link to Battlegroup Hawkwood

Tuesday 19 January 2010

More Frederick Voltaire, CPE Bach and his chums


Eureka , For my chum Stewart..


The Wagram Project


hussars, all 12 Regiments, Nr 1-12.Uhlans , all 3 regiments Nr 1-3, and an Hungarian Regiment Nr 31

 

Prussians vs Swedes SYW


Well today's stonk was fun..It was a Swedish meets the Prussians ..sort of affair.. The Swedes had 3 6SP infantry brigades 5 5 sp infantry brigades , 5 4sp Infantry brigades, 2 3 sp Irregular Light infantry brigades, a 2 3Sp Irregular cavalry brigades, 2 35sp LC brigades and 2 6 SP Heavy cavalry brigades commanded by and average general.
They were faced by 2 7SP Prussian musketeer brigades, 2 6SP fusilier brigades, 2 6SP "garrison" brigades, 4 3SP II freikorp brigades, 2 6SP Hussar brigades 1 6SP LC brigade 3 IRC 3 Sp brigades and 1 gun They had a dragoon brigade at the start but Frederick summoned this back to his command before the battle began..
The idea was see how a Swedish force worked, or didn't work, and how a second string Prussian force composition worked..
The Swedes were a little predictable in the  faffing about sense, mostly -1 and a few -2  commanders.... and the second string Prussians were still quite surprising nasty what with nearly everycommander being Exceptional..the game began in turn 2, late morning and ran to turn 5 late afternoon, at which point  the Swedes broke and fled after lhaving lost  7.5 brigades to 0 Prussians..one or two of the Prussians had been roughly handled but otherwise they were all  relatively intact.
The Swedes, represented by Kopfschlagers and other on my imagination troops, were out scouted and Generals Gunnar Larkspurson and Wacca Waccasonn  decided to form a deep right of infantry covered by the left of cavalry and infantry and the far right by the Irregular infantry in the town .They intended to "punch " through what ever was to their front with their right.
The Prussian under Count von Thigheski  and von Manningstein formed an extended line , with their cavalry on their right , and the freikorp to the left moving through the woods and to assail the village full of their Swedish opposite numbers..

In short the Prussian cavalry and the musketeers , acting as the hammer ,overwhelmed and destroyed their opposite numbers , while the fusiliers and garrison acted as the anvil pinning the majority of the Swedish foot to their front..The Swedes were bedeviled by a crisis in activation and really didn't get their infantry plan moving until too late .. 4 regular, 1 irregular cavalry and 3 infantry brigades had all been destroyed and their will to fight vanished in the afternoon sun..
a great game and thanks to those who made the nearly 4 hour round trip to play..and lunch was very good as well..
All the pics here pinched from Bob Mannings facebook page..other pics on the Ne Plus Ultra site
http://passageoflines.50.forumer.com/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=796




Tuesday 12 January 2010


The World of Pangaea , in 14 turns two quite cataclysmic land battles , 4 other major land battle, a very disastrous naval engagement for some, the cossacks were smacked.. A Braganzan Rebellion for Alba(read Portugal Spain), Charles Edward Suet Rebellion in Dal Riada and Gaellia for Melchester..
The Arouet Dynasty kicked out of Duo-Cipolla by Caliban ..and a lot more, Dead Emperors.. ..spreadsheets, after 14 turns most players are mastering the confusion..
http://passageoflines.50.forumer.com/viewforum.php?f=21

Monday 11 January 2010

Civilians and Infantry from the Kingdom of Nouvelle-Champagne









Civilians from that fine Kingdom..Nouvelle -Champagne..the same Kingdom the previous civilians hail from...
and two of their fine regiments of foreign infantry..



Eureka miniatures





Habischwald Regiment :The Duchess Uma



More of David's flags




These are the Cavalry and Infantry flags of the Duchy of Gluckheim..The Duke is Duke JeromeVon Seinfeld and the commander of the army is Lt General-Freiherr Cosimo Von Kramer..what can one expect of these fellow one may well ask..