Napoleonic Italians

My original Italian division had 4 line units (24 figures each) and I planned to add a couple of light infantry units to bulk it out to 6 in total. As this would make a division of 7,200 men in the rules I am using, it represented fairly sizeable force. Increasing the unit size to 32 figures involved disbanding one of the line units and using the figures to supplement the other 3. I only did this because I didn't think I could paint the extras closely enough to match the originals as the white had "turned" a little since I first painted them. For the same reason I decided not to attempt a 4th line unit, instead switching attention to the two lights (in green). This represented the loss of one unit, but the remainder, to my eyes at least, look a lot better.

Here is one of the line units of 32 figures. I really do like these slightly retro Foundry figures.

Next are the two light infantry units, in their distinctive green uniforms, again with a fairly scruffy campaign look. The ones with the rather fetching yellow waistcoats are the 2nd Regiment, who also boast a unit mascot trotting alongside the standard bearer!

I think 5 infantry units plus a unit of foot artillery will still make an acceptable division. I have 3 more French line infantry units to complete before moving on (I think) to another allied contingent - probably Bavarians. Saxons and Poles are also on the horizon, but even now that I am only painting for myself, it still seems to take ages getting things done; I must admit to being a bit of a butterfly when it comes to painting!

A Grand Day Out

On Friday 28 March, the day before the 564th anniversary of the battle, my wife and I decided to take a drive out to the battlefield of Towton. Neither of us had ever been there before, even though it is no more than a half hour drive from our house in Wakefield. I guess that this is largely down to my lack of knowledge and interest in the period until relatively recently, when I added to the already embarrassingly large lead (and now plastic) pile of shame, with a load of Perry plastic Wars of the Roses figures.

It turned out to be a thoroughly enjoyable visit. The weather conditions were not as snowy and wintery as during the actual battle, but the wind was, to put it mildly, bracing!! We started as one should, at the pub: The Crooked Billet on the ouskirts of the village of Saxton, which lay just to the south of the battlefield and was occupied by the Yorkist troops on the eve of battle. After a very pleasant lunch, we ventured outside to begin the tour.

A map of the battle on the wall of the Crooked Billet, who also supplied us with an excellent guide to the battlefield.

The inside of St Mary's Chapel, opposite the Crooked Billet. This was, in all likelihood used as shelter by Yorkist troops on the eve of the battle. It is a very small 14th Century chapel, which used to form part of a larger manor house complex, which no longer exists. On the inside it seems to have barely changed apart from the quotations from scripture on the boards mounted on the walls, which are believed to be 18th Century; the benches are thought to be medieval. It is a really atmospheric place and well worth a look.

Here it is from the outside.

As luck would have it, there is a small layby next door to the battlefield where a few cars can pull over. Other than a couple of dog walkers it was empty and we were able to park up right next to where we needed to be. The actual battlefield is on the right hand side of the road from Saxton to Towton (B1217), the cross and the battlefield tour on the left; the main part of the battlefield walk actually covers the retreat of the Lancastrian army, rather than the battle itself, but is nevertheless very interesting. There really is no substitute for walking the ground and subsequent readings of accounts of the battle made far more sense after the walk.

This memorial is known as Dacre's Cross and has served as a landmark for many years.

The various information boards scattered along the walk provide a good deal of information on the battle, weapons and participants. The whole project was developed over a period of some years by the local landowners, Towton Battlefield Trust, The Royal Armouries and Natural England.

This photo was taken from a point that would have been between the vanguards of both armies, looking south towards the Yorkist lines. The lone hawthorn  tree (not the original!!) marks their right flank.  

Here we have a view looking north towards the Lancastrian lines. Although appearing quite flat, the ground actually undulates considerably, often obscuring or blocking altogether a view of the enemy.

More battlefield information boards. The information is, of course limited and fairly basic, but still gives a good background to the story. 

A view of Renshaw Woods to the north-west and the slopes down to the Cock Beck. We were both struck by the difficulty of this ground and found it all too easy to imagine how a defeated, panicked and routing force would have struggled to make their escape, particularly in the wintery conditions on the day.

As the battlefield walk continues north and then north-east, you get a great view of the ground over which the defeated Lancastrians sought to make their escape.

The ground near the so-called Bridge of Bodies is particularly difficult. The Cock Beck is actually very narrow, but the sides are steep and the water is pretty deep. It must have been a formidable obstacle.

At the end of walk you suddenly come upon the village of Towton. Fugitives that made it this far, would have continued along the Old London Road to Tadcaster, where many more were caught and cut down.

So, there we are. I am only just beginning to find out about this fascinating period and look forward to making a start on the collection before too long. It really was an interesting day out and the battlefield is well worth a visit. There is a fairly small area to be covered and 2-3 hours should be enough, although with very nice pubs in both Saxton and Towton, you could make it last a bit longer!

For those interested in the Wars of the Roses I can heartily recommend the 7th Son's fantastic Youtube channel, which includes a large number of videos on the conflict, including some really enjoyable battle reports. 7th Son - YouTube

More recently The Saxon Dog, aka Dave Andrews has started a new sub blog called The White Swan, which chronicles his rapidly growing and very beautiful WOTR 28mm figure collection: Saxon Dog: The Wihte Swan

Bigger is Better - Upgunned Napoleonic French Infantry

My initial idea was to go for Napoleonic infantry units of 24 figures in an attempt to speed up production and get things on the table. Up to a point this was successful, but after a few games I felt that the units, particularly when deployed in attack column, just looked too flimsy. After much gnashing of teeth, I decided to upgrade them to 32s. 

For my Russian army, this was easy as they were already done that way and I had simply removed a base of 8 figures to get them to 24s, intending to consolidate these later into additional units. I never got around to it, so simply returned them to their parent units - no harm done. However having sold my existing French army, and wanting to accelerate replacing it, I settled on 24s as a solution, which turned out not to work for me. 

Upgrading involved painting up an additional 8 fusiliers for the 10 or so existing units and then sticking with this going forward. It was a bit of a pain to do, but I am glad that I made the effort as they now look satisfyingly "chunkier" on the table. I decided not to worry too much about representing the individual company structure with the unit. For one thing 6 doesn't divide into 32 (!!) - previously each 24 figure unit had a four figure base of grenadiers and voltigeurs and two 8 figure "double company" fusilier bases. I really couldn't face either upgrading to 36s, as they had been in the past, or re-basing, so I left the flank companies alone and just added extra fusiliers and re-painted a few company pompoms. Looks fine on the table. 

Secondly the rules I am working on operate on the basis that an infantry unit represents around 1,200 men rather than an individual battalion - between 3 and 8 units (usually 4 or 5) making up a division - the basic manoeuvering element in the game.  OCD it may be, but I am happier with the result and will have to settle for slower growth in the collection.

In addition to upgrading my French infantry units, I also had the beginnings of an Italian division and this will be next.

Was it worth it?

A Present To Myself - Buildings for Napoleonics and The Seven Years War

Following on from my unfortunate accident in 2023, the MIB (Motor Insurance Board) paid out (rather quickly to be fair) on the compensation claim. As a firm believer in the "it's an ill wind that blows nobody any good" principle, I thought that I would treat myself to a little something hobby related!! And here it is; or at least most of it - I have a nice church and a couple of redoubts still to come.

The buildings are by David of T M Terrain - a superb model maker, whose work graces many a tabletop. The brief was for cottages/barns suitable for rural Germany for my existing Napoleonic and planned Seven Years War collections. I hope you will agree that he has done an excellent job.

Rather than have the buildings embedded in specific "modules", I opted to have them done as free standing structures that I can put together in any number of ways to make up villages of different sizes and shapes according to what I might need for each individual game. I am currently working on a load of Renedra fencing, which will be added to the buildings to give interest and define boundaries, along with the occasional tree and other odds and ends. Although not as "integrated" as complete village modules, they should still look pretty good whilst offering much greater flexibility. I will report on progress as I make it.

Hopefully now that I am a gentleman of leisure, I will be able to update the blog a bit more regularly than I have in the past!!

Lest We Forget

This blog has always been about promoting our hobby, or at least, my own very small part in it. This post is a little different and I hope that you will find it of interest.

On November 16, 1916, during the closing phase of the Battle of the Somme, my maternal grandmother's brother Joseph Scarr, was killed in action defending the small village of Hebuterne, near Arras, some 50 miles south of Calais. He was barely 18 years of age. From the battalion history it seems that although there was little direct offensive action going on at that time, they were under extremely heavy shellfire and although I can't be sure, I think that was probably what killed him. Two of his comrades from the same battalion are buried on either side of him, the four of them also having been killed in the few days that they were in the line.

When I was young, my grandmother would occasionally talk of her brother, although it was clear that even 60 years later, it was still a painful memory. He volunteered for the 11th (Bantam) battalion of his local regiment - the Royal Lancasters, when he was only 17. Like many in the Lancashire mill towns of the time, he was below the regulation 5 feet 3 inches required to be accepted into the army, hence his enlistment in the regiment's "Bantam" battalion, composed of men over 5 feet but under 5 feet 3 inches. After training the battalion was sent to France, as part of 40th Infantry Division, a formation that was, I believe, composed almost entirely of Bantam formations.

Hebuterne cemetery itself has a slightly chaotic layout, where each of the sections that make it up contain casualties from a different phase of the war. The first seems to hold those from the fighting in 1915, another from the Somme battles and another from the 1917 operations. The village was fought over again in 1918, this time 53 of the casualties coming from the New Zealand division, including at least one Maori. In addition there are a number a gravestones around the edge of the boundary wall with the names of men who are "known" or "believed" to be buried there. There are also at least four Germans interred amongst their former enemies.

It was a very sobering experience to read the gravestones; no less than 10 of the soldiers were only 17 years of age and most of the rest, as one might expect, were in their early to mid twenties.

I was nice to be the first member of our family to visit his grave - as far as I know, my grandmother, her sister and parents never knew where he was buried or even if he had a known grave. 

 The only known surviving photo of Joe taken shortly before leaving for France.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission does a fantastic job in looking after these places.

As we were leaving, we came across this plaque at the village church in memory of the Bradford Pals who fought and died there. As you can see someone had left a poppy wreath. In the cemetery's visitors book there were several entries for 2024, showing that some of those buried there are still remembered, which was nice to see.

More Continental Regiments

 

Over the last year or so I have managed to make a fair amount of progress with my American army for AWI. From only a couple of Maryland Continental regiments, the collection has grown considerably. Here are the newcomers:

First up is Hall's Delaware regiment, one of the army's elite units.

Below is my New York brigade, 5th Regiment in front, with the 3rd moving up in the rear.

Next is the 8th New Hampshire.

Followed by the Pennsylvania brigade, 7th Regiment in the first line and the 1st in support.

The last one is a composite unit of  light infantry, made up of 8 bases with three basic uniform colour variations (blue, grey and brown), with the odd hunting shirt thrown in. From what I can see, the unit (under Dearborn)was simply put together during the Saratoga campaign from companies detached from their parent units, retaining their own uniforms. Unlike the other regiments, these are in firing line poses.

The fences are homemade, the mansion is by Oshiro Models - a lovely piece.

Sorry for the long delay in posting - have been working overtime for quite a while now to finish painting commissions before retiring - which I have now done!! After a well deserved holiday, I hope to give this blog much more attention than I have been able to up to now. With only myself to paint for, I should be able to really crack on with existing and new projects and share them here - something I am very much looking forward to doing.