From my side of the table... The Franco-Prussian War

My lovely daughter stayed over the other night (After an evening of 'Drink and Draw' at the Nottingham Rough Trade record store... an excellent social event ...they supply the pens and paper ...you supply the drawing ,drinking and making new friends.)


We decided to spend a few hours the next day having a Franco-Prussian game using Black Powder Rules... we played the rules fairly straight, but gave the Prussian artillery an extra dice when firing to reflect their use of breech loaders...


My chance for revenge was at hand (yeah! Don't hold your breath...).

I took the French... Commanded by the dashing general Malchanceux...

Mharaid took the Prussians... Commanded by the efficient General Von Rust...

The scenario was to try and take control of three points on the table...
Going from left to right ...
The feature known as LA COLLINE DANS LE COIN.
The village at the crossroads known as AU MILIEU DE NULLE PART.
The small farm known as LA FERME SANS MOUTON.


We threw dice to see which side and where our divisions would arrive...

Rust's deployment... I think she has the hill...

My deployment...

Mmmmmm!... check out that beautiful French cavalry...

I move towards the road... Rust comes down to meet me...

My Chasseurs take the farm...

My infantry... looking good...

Rust does some shooting...

I do some 'saving'... maybe I shouldn't have used Rust's dice...

Rust does some more shooting... this is starting to look very familiar...

As my second infantry division and cavalry (Very pretty aren't they) start a rather leisurely flank move... you know the kind of thing... one move, no move, one move, no move....

I pull back my heavily bruised African Light Infantry and engage in a prolonged fire fight with Rust's main force...

Rust does some more shooting... here we go again...

And again...

Wow!... now that is what I call a saving throw...

Unbelievable... my shooting... Rust's 'save'... Ha!

My Chasseurs continue to hold the farm... they like it here..

My infantry continue their casual flanking move...

Rust shoots...Rust misses... could it be that my luck is actual going to change?...

Nope!... this is my movement roll...

These beautiful cavalry wont be making a sweeping move onto the flank of the enemy and the chasseurs wont be leaving the farm...

With half of my first division broken I decide to put some distance between me and those nasty men with guns...

My beautiful cavalry... still look beautiful... and static!

Rust throws a blunder...Hurrah!

And sort of ends up in control of the village...Boo!

Rust presses forwards against my 'redeploying' troops...

Rust decides to prove that our dice throwing is back to normal...

My first division realise they have all got tickets for The Opera back in Paris and head off...

The beautiful cavalry decide it is their moment to move...Hmmmm!

With Rust's troops consolidating their gains and a real need for us to visit a new pub that has opened round the corner I graciously concede the game...

My (soon to be replaced with cuirassiers) beautiful cavalry still look beautiful...


Another excellent game with a truly worthy opponent...
I think both forces could do with at least another division each and I also think that the smaller sized units work really well on my 5' x 7' table.


The miniatures are Spencer Smith Classic Range with a couple of Willie and Tradition command , all available from...
http://www.spencersmithminiatures.co.uk/index.html


Black Powder is available from...
https://store.warlordgames.com/collections/black-powder


All the best  Aly.

Little Britons... Photo shoot.

As I mentioned in my last 'A Gentleman's War' game, I have taken some photo's of all my units.


Here they are in no particular order with some comments and thoughts...

Tirailleurs Algeriens...a lovely colourful unit I chose the white summer trousers to make them even brighter.
At some point I will add another four men to bring this up to a full strength 'A Gentleman's War' unit.

This is French infantry wearing the 1911 Reseda uniform...
This experimental uniform was not very popular with politicians and the public and was eventually rejected for not being French enough...the trousers were originally the same colour as the tunics, I read somewhere that some troops wearing this uniform were mistaken for 'Prussians' and 'abused' by the public...

I rather like this uniform... these guys also need another four men to bring then up to strength.

French Republican Foot Guards... another lovely colourful unit... again they could do with some reinforcements.

The French 1906 trial uniform... made from beige-blue cloth with a Spanish style kepi.
Again sadly rejected for various political reasons... another unit I need to build up.

I especially like the Wolseley style helmet...

French line infantry... another six will give me two units...

French Chasseurs a pied... quite a sombre uniform to paint until you add the yellow piping and green epaulettes then they turn into another of my favourite units.

French Hussars... what's not to like?
In 'A Gentleman's War' you only need six men for a cavalry unit, so again a little upgrade will give me two units...

My only Russian Infantry...so far... a six figure skirmish unit.
I will definitely need to do more... the white summer uniform is so attractive.

The Russian Artillery... all of the guns are 4.7" Howitzers regardless of who is manning them.

French Artillery... these chaps are wearing the 1902 Trial Artillery Helmet.

 This proved to be quite successful and was still in use by some units in 1915.

The Royal Scots Greys... one of my favourite cavalry units.
 Of course two more figures would let me do a not very accurate second six man unit...

The Shropshire Rifle Volunteers... a very small unit that needs built up a bit.
Grey uniforms were quite popular with volunteers in the late 19th century so these could be used for a number of different units.

French infantry wearing the 1912 Edouard Detaille uniform.
Interesting details here are the khaki drill canvas equipment and the almost renaissance style helmet.

Sadly the helmet was not popular with the men and the uniform didn't really cut it with the politicians.

Bavarian 6th Chevauleger... green tunics pink facings and white plumes... no other reasons needed.

British Life Guards... So British...So William Britain's... and now So Little Britons...
Would it hurt to add a couple more... probably not.

French Cuirassiers wearing the Reseda uniform....it gives a modern look to an old classic.
Again a couple more men wouldn't go amiss...

The Royal Irish Lancers...a beautiful and classic uniform...and of course in need of one more man.

A small skirmish unit painted up as Black Watch...these could also represent any of a number of volunteer units that chose the highland uniform...and like everything else they could do with one more man...

A small unit of Rifles... once more they represent one of the many volunteer units who chose the 'Rifles' look...
Gosh! I have painted a few little units... mostly this was done to use up castings although again one more would help.

French Artillery... I chose to go for the Reseda uniform with the 1902 Artillery Helmet... A pleasing modern combination I think.

Cossacks!.... I definitely wont more of these...

British Fusiliers... another classic British uniform that is to good to miss...

British Naval Artillery,,, again a bit of a classic...

British Grenadier Guards...probably one of  the most iconic and recognisable uniforms and 'Toy Soldiers' of all time... In my humble opinion.

The Black Watch... another cracking unit...I am not sure why I chose this unit as a lot of my family served in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders... Ah! well I suppose I will have to paint another unit.

The Manchester Regiment...I like the nice clean contrast you get with white facings.

The 2nd Bombay Native Infantry... this is based on the William Britain's Figures, and shows an unusual error in that companies research... The correct uniform should be a Red Tunic with White facings and Dark Blue trousers... I decided to go the Britain's route because I like the look of it.

The Rifle Regiment... I cant remember what colour I used for the uniforms... but fortunately with twelve men I have more than enough...

Royal Field Artillery...  I like the workman like look of this uniform...

Royal Horse Artillery... well it would be rude not to...

General Rust... named after one of my daughters favourite Discworld characters.

General Malchanceux... his name is inspired by my dice rolling abilities.

The 15th Ukrainian Hussar Regiment of Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna.
Pretty in Pink...
I read somewhere that the Grand Duchess was encouraged to wear a Blue Pelisse when reviewing the regiment in case the Pink was mistaken for bare flesh....
I will be finishing this unit...


Well that's them all...
It has been interesting for me to look at each unit in turn, most of them need a few more figures to bring them up to 'A Gentleman's War' strengths but there is no rush, I have been having great games with them as they are.
Its a perfect butterfly collection, the list of new units I want is endless...


Little Britons are all my own work and are available from ...
http://www.spencersmithminiatures.co.uk/html/little_britons.html


The bases are from Warbases...
https://warbases.co.uk/


I hope you have enjoyed this look at one of my favourite collections.


All the best  Aly