Two New Cavalry Units

I finished two new cavalry units in January, one Allied, one French.  The first are the British 15th Light Horse also called Elliot’s Light Horse.  This unit was part of the Allied army commanded by Ferdinand of Brunswick and was made famous after its charge against the French at Emsdorf. The figures are from Italeri, US Independence War British Light Cavalry.  The uniforms are close to the ones worn during the Seven Years War and, in any case, the only set of cavalry wearing leather “jockey cap” type helmets available in1/72 plastic figures. 

The second unit are the French Bercheny Hussars.  This unit was part of Broglie’s army and was also present at Emsdorf where they were routed by Elliot’s Light Horse and Luckner’s Hussars.  The figures are from the excellent Zvezda set, Black Hussars of Frederick the Great.  The musician is from the Zevezda set Swedish Dragoons of Charles XII.  They are covering the right flank of the French advance and should see action soon.  

Another Rules Update

I recently put the latest version of my Old School rules to the test with a game loosely based on Blastof from Charge!  I played against my son who had never played before.  It quickly became apparent that I had violate two of the five goals that I outlined two year ago, when I previewed the first iteration of these rules.  To refresh, my initial goals were:

1. Old school feel: units with individually based figures
2. Brevity: core rules limited to two sides of one page
3. Simplicity: something intuitive enough for a novice to grasp quickly
4. Economy: minimum number of dice rolls and modifiers to get a result
5. Morale: simple but something better than last man standing

The rules had grown to 4 pages from 2 pages which violated rule #2 but it also became clear that the increased length violated rule #3.  I decided to go back to the drawing board and strip out much of the chrome and morale details that seemed to impact the speed of play.  I managed to get all of the rule mechanisms on one page, with an additional page for formation diagrams.  The result is something that has all the necessary basic mechanisms but can be understood quickly.   Anyhow, here is the latest:

Old School Rules - 1 Page Version

Here are a few pics from the game.

Scratch Built Buildings for Seven Years War

I was inspired to make some scratch built houses for my 1/72 scale 18th Century armies after viewing posts on TMP and blogs like Jimbibblyblog.  I tried to closely imitate some of the designs which I thought would be perfect for 18th century era houses.  I started by sketching the basic design including positions of doors and windows on 2mm chipboard sheets.  I then cut the pieces with an Exacto knife.

 

I glued the walls together and stabilized the joints with pieces of balsa wood.  

I then started to apply trim.  The exposed timber beams were made of 1/16th inch balsa wood strips.  The window sashes and door arches were either polystyrene plastic strips or thin card.

The timber strips and background were painted before being applied.  The stucco on the bottom half of the house was a thin application of AK hobby concrete.  

The windows and doors were installed before placing the roof.  The doors were scratch made and the windows are laser cut S scale windows purchased from Rail Scale Models.  The roof shingles shown below are also from Rail Scale.  Great products and great service from proprietor Steve Milley.   

The laser cut shingles are sold in sheets that can be cut into rows.  They were painted with a wash of dark gray paint before application.  After the roofing was finished, the shingles and timbers were dry brushed to give a weathered appearance.

Finished buildings in action.

 

Update to Old School Rules

I have significantly revamped my Old School Rules.  The biggest change is resolving combat in groups instead of individual single combats.  Single combats became tedious and time consuming even for small actions.   I created new rules by modifying aspects of melee rules from Donald Featherstone and Charles Grant.  

The other change was updating the morale rules which were amended to a variation the one found in The Wargame by Charles Grant.  I wanted to have them reflect the impact of officer losses on command and control.  I also streamlined the overall rules and included more tables in place of long text explanations.  I did not materially change the rules for artillery and musket fire.

Overall, I'm pleased with how they work.  Here is the link for anyone interested.

Old School Rules 2021

Finally a pick of some of my latest old school figures.

 Grenadiers from the Hanovarian Dragoons - Breidenbach Regiment

Hanovarian Infantry - Hardenberg Regiment

Five Allied Infantry Regiments:

    Hessian Grenadiers, Hessian Erbprinz, Hanovrian Von Scheither, British 4th King's Own, and Hanaovarian Hardenberg

New Recruits

French dragoons, Apchon Regiment

Figures are Zvezda Swedish Dragoons.  The drummer and standard bearer are from the Zvezda Dragoons of Peter I.

Hessian infantry, the Erbprinz Regiment with grenadier company.  Always, wanted to have an Erbprinz regiment like Peter Young's in "Charge!" but because all my units are based upon historical units, I decided to go with a Hessian unit. 

A Bavarian howitzer battery.

Hanoverian 6 pounder battery.

French sapper unit.  Mix of Revell Austrian artillery figures and conversions of IMEX American Pioneers, with tricorn hats added.

Finale Action Near Bergen - The French Take Nindorf

Reinforcements arrived on both sides, a Saxon battalion to support the French and a regiment of Prussian cuirassiers for the Allies. The French sent the Saxon infantry to support the center of the main attack.

The Allied cavalry reinforcements arrive on their extreme right behind the village of Nindorf.  They are sent immediately into action against the French flank.  The French send two squadrons of dragoons to counter this threat and a great cavalry melee begins.

At the same time, a squadron of hussars charges through the village to check the advance of the French infantry.

Meanwhile, the Hanoverian infantry on the Allied right exchange musketry with the French regulars and the Chasseurs.  After, suffering heavy casualties, the Hanoverian infantry are charged in the front and flank.  Losing the resulting melee, they are forced to retreat. 

Meanwhile, the dragoons and cuirassiers engage in a melee which is inconclusive so each side reinforces their first line with reserves from the second line and continue the fight.  The cuirassiers suffer more casualties and lose the subsequent morale check and are forced to retreat.

Finally, in the center the French Gardes and the British engage in a firefight.  Neither side gains the advantage but with the defeat of the Hanoverians, the Saxons threatening the center, and the defeat of the cuirassiers, the Hereditary Prince of Brunswick’s position becomes untenable and he prepares to withdraw.  The Hessian Grenadiers and Von Ruesch Hussars will cover the retreat. 

Action Near Bergen

I set up a small action to test and refine my Old School Rules.  There terrain mat is scratch built using the method pioneered by WarArtisan, using housing caulk as an adhesive on a canvas and then pressing a variety of Woodland Scenics flock into it.  The method works great and I have made a number of different mats using this technique.  The houses are also scratch built.

The small battle was between the French and Allies circa 1759.   A blocking force led by the Hereditary Prince of Brunswick, consisted of two regular infantry battalions, a grenadier battalion, a light infantry unit, an artillery unit of two guns and two squadrons of hussars.  A French force led by Saint-Germain, had three infantry battalions, a unit of light infantry, a unit of artillery and two squadrons of dragoons.  His task was to clear the blocking force and secure the village of Nindorf, opening the route to Bergen for the Duc de Broglie.

                          The Hereditary Prince orders the Legion Britannique to secure the village.

The initial dispositions.  Allies in the foreground, Hanoverian infantry, Von Scheither on the left, British artillery in the center, British 4th (King’s Own) on the right with a Hessian Grenadier battalion in support.  Toward top of page in background are the French: Conde infantry and Gardes Francaises in line formation and a column of La Marine infantry advancing on the village.

View from the opposite side of the field, Conde infantry in the foreground, flanked by the Chasseurs de Fischer in the woods, facing the Von Scheither battalion.  

Here are closeups of the Chasseurs (in Mirliton), Gardes Francaises, and Conde infantry.

British artillery fire causes the first French casualties.  

Hanoverian’s take heavy casualties from the regulars and the Chasseurs....but the French are starting to feel the effects of close range artillery fire.

Legion Britannique rushes to meet Attack from La Marine infantry.

La Marine advances to take Nindorf.

The British and French engage in a firefight on the right flank of the village. Two squadrons of French Dragoons prepare to support different parts of the Attack. 

The Legion Britannique, who have not utilized the strong defensive position of the village, are suffering heavy casualties from the French Attack. 

A squadron of Prussian Von Ruesch hussars moves up to support the hard pressed Hanoverian light infantry.

The town’s refugees continue their flight.

More to come...............