Napoleonic Wargames Blogs for February 2025 - fab month - thank you :-)

Juicy Hamburg

My favourite post this months probably has to be the report on Hamburg Tactica - with it's 1813 theme...  games and diorama and all sorts!  Have a look. 

"The theme of this year's convention was the "French period" in northern Germany, in this case the time of the War of Liberation of 1813/14."

Book for Danish Fans 

Helion Books have blogged about Davout and Bernadotte and their new book (or soon to be new) on he Northern Coalition against Napoleon: The Campaigns of Bernadotte, Britain and the Swedes 1810-1815 .   A geat excuse to buy a load of Perry Danes! 

Rules

Blunders on the Danube shared a set of rules for Napoleonics on gridded tables. 

"These rules are based upon Steve's "Eagles Cheaper than Brain Cells" over at the Sound Officer's Call blog, which are them selves descending from Neil Thomas' One Hour Wargames. I have also borrowed some ideas from Martin Rapier's OHW variant that I used at Historicon last July. 

I used them for a solo game and then a FTF game in the past month. Here they are with a few minor modifications based upon those games, which will appear as write ups on the blog soon."

and some neat Portuguese Cavalry 

6mm 1815 whatif..

I'm loving this Volley and Bayonet what if - Wellington crosses into France and clashes at Montclairen.  I used have 6mm and used V&B - and now - as with all sales, regret selling them! 

Cold metal...

Don't throw a 1 has painted this set of stragglers for the Retreat from Moscow.

Hinton Hungarian

The old schoolers will enjoy this Hnton Hunt Hungarian.

Logistics

Wider social media users may have already seen Chasseur's French wagons...

Bloody Big Pyrenees

Bloody Big Battles are fighting in the Pyrenees in 1813 - and it's tough

"It's a challenging one to bring to the tabletop, as the Battle of the Pyrenees was less a battle and more a week-long offensive, involving over 100,000 men and encompassing multiple engagements fought across 1,000 square miles or so of very mountainous country."

Cavalry - loads of them!!!  

Some fab Chasseur a Cheval over on the Chasseur blog: beautiful painting. 

 

 

and also French Cavalry - some stunning painting over on the A Military Gentleman blog. Well worth a click thro9ugh and a good look at the pics. (I think these might be 18th century - but hey ho!) 

That's how cavalry should look!!! 

6mm Reinforcements...

Loving these small scale Prussians (I've a soft spot for the the Prussians) over on https://scrivsland.blogspot.com/ 

Perry Miniatures Napoleonic Command Groups for Sale

 I've popped up these on uk ebay:    

Click here for more pictures. 

USA EBAY.

and these - Marshall Ney himself!

again more pics here on ebay.     or try USA EBAY.

Napoleonic Wargaming Blogs for January 2025 - yes a New Year and you miniatures mad folks have been busy....

Ken's back on the painting joymill with his Plancenoit project continuing in 28mm.  Here is shows his French battery and a bit later in the video the start of what will be a lot of Landwehr: click on the pciture below to go to the viudeo (for some reason I'm struggling to embed).  Thanks Yarkshire Gamer.

 

https://youtu.be/itz6ze92xPA?si=D9hZQhkpcBu1z4AZ

Heretical gaming have been working on some 6mm Saxon's.

Sparkers Wargames played an epic scale Quatre Bras using Lasalle 2 rules.  Neat looking terrain and figures: 

Over on Bloody Big Battles Albuera gets fought out with some reflections.

Will's Wargames is a wonderful look at 20mm ish wargaming - from Hinton Hunt's through to 3d printed figures. Here he is updating his Prussian Kurassiers.  Meanwhile over on the actual Hinton Hunt blog some bad weather reports and some glorious images of a game, Waterloo no less!  Below - the French advance on Hougomont.

 Chasseur has posted a refurb of some Perry Marie Louises - crisp clean painting

and a battle report of a 28mm Vimerio refight. 

Sergeant Steiner writes about an 1813 scenario:

set during Lutzen 1813 and depicts the afternoon counter attack by the Imperial Guard around the 'four villages' defended by a Prussian and Russian force. French had 32 units with 2 Old Guard,12 Young Guard, 4 Line, 4 Second Line some Skirmish screens and supported by Guard Lancers and Line Lancers with several batteries of guns (some Guard standard with one Battery static on heights), they also had 45 Morale.

The French had to place 2 Brigades in off-table reserve (they choose the Old Gde and Gde Cavalry).

Allies had 24 units with 4 Prussian Line, a Prussian Guard Brigade with 2 Gde Musketeers, a small (3UI) unit of Gde Jager, 4 Russian Grenadiers (although Pavlov unit starts as a village garrison), 4 Russian Second Line, Skirmish screens and Prussian Cavalry Dragoons and Hussars, a unit of Russian Gde Hussars and several gun batteries, they started with 35 Morale.
Game was another cracker with lots of action and incident.

For more see here 

Calpe's Peter Fitzgerald has finally decided to retire from producing figures - he still wants sot sculpt but his looking for someone to take on the making.  I've bought his figures over the years and love them for ease of painting and animation. 

 

and with some Saxon Command figures and casualties, a game or two and a some thought on General d'Armee 2.  Delighted to see this blog back!  

Phil Robinson is still painting peninsular French and there are some gorgeous 6mm Baccus Prussian reinforcements painted over in Scrivsland. 

One Lover Ray at don't throw a one is painting some fab 28mm Retreat from Moscow figures - including a Wurtemberg contingent:

I didn't want to use all the Foundry figures otherwise they would all look the same, so I included 3 plastic Perry figures and one Perry metal figure. I also added a scarf in the 4th facing colours to the only marching figure

Gonsalvo presents the freshly painted "Portuguese 23rd Line, "2nd Almeida".

A very old style Bavarian General graces the pages of Miniture Minions - mooch through those pages for wonderful old style figures. 

That's all I've found this month. It's been a delight - thank you all. 

Stephen Summerfield's Prussian Landwehr of the Napoleonic Wars - first look. - Fabulous - I'm so happy!

This is a very quick review of first impressions. The book arrived today from Ken Trotman and it's fantastic - it's gives colured illustrations of all the uniforms and gives the dates when uniforms changed and evolved, as well as details of equipment. This is exactly how uniform books should be - whether for the modeller or the wargamer.   I know it was published a few years ago, but this is my first site of it. 

Thank you Stephen and I hope you find time to publish many more of these :-) 

Buy it direct from the Publisher here:   https://kentrotman.co.uk/newbooks/prussian-landwehr-of-the-napoleonic-wars/

Here are some of his other books - and here.    I've roderd some others so will share those when they arrive.

Summer Napoleonic Wargaming - an August 2024 round up of what you lot have been doing.

 I'm doing much more browsing than gaming just now and have neglected this place. Back again with some links to your stuff...

"As the French left collapsed Ney was frustrated to hear that his right flank was little better. Indeed reports from Lauriston indicated his divisions on the right were unable to conduct further offensive operations. Yet Schwarzenburg 's position was little better. All three divisions of Gyulai's III Armeekorps were either exhausted or had collapsed. It was true that Hessen-Homberg's two divisions were still fresh, but reorientating them would take considerable time. Unsurprisingly both Ney and Schwarzenburg determined it was time to disengage. The Battle of Přestanov was a bloody draw."

An enjoyable fictional game in 6mm over on https://battlesin6mm.blogspot.com/2024/08/prestanov-august-1813.html

Jon adds Westphalian Guards to his collection: 

"Wanting to imitate his older brother Jerome raised a Royal Guard that included a Guard Grenadier battalion, Guard Jager battalion, a Guard Chevaux-lergers regiment, a Guard horse artillery battery and a squadron of Garde du Corps."

But he made them himself from some spare bits:

"It just so happened that I’d come into the possession of some Victrix Old Guard in great coats, I didn’t need any French Imperial guard for my project, but it dawned on me that with a head swap these victrix miniatures could work as Westphalian grenadiers. As luck would have it the Victrix dragoon elite company heads that looked very close to the Westphalian grenadier bearskins and I had a whole bunch of spare ones after building the Dragoons."  Click on the link for pics of a fab unit.

Matthew Green reviews Twilight of the Emperor rules from Nicholas Dorrell.   in June Matthew shared his first thoughts on GDA 2:  "For all the frustrations we decided that the rule system has an excellent Napoleonic feel,"

Pancratists is painting 28mm Prussians and the amazing Saxon Dog is adding to his Peninsular Collection. 

A report on the Battle of Golymin 1806.

Britcon Review from Steve 

Novels for Military History Buffs: Hannibal by Ross Leckie

I've been struggling to read novels, didn't seem to be able to get into them. So I decided to go looking for ones that peak my interest in military history. 

Hannibal follows the Carthagian from childhood to the end of his life. It's short, easy to read, compellinglt written.  The battle scenes are intense and the detail of strategy, tactics and logistis fascinating. The Punic wars were newish to me - now I feel I know them surprisingly well.  Highly Recommend.

buy on amazon uk 

buy on ebay 

buy on bookshop.org (which support local bookshops but is normally a touch more expensvie than amazon)

Book Blurb:  

"A battle is like lust. The frenzy passes. Consequence remains.

Hannibal is an epic vision of one of history's greatest adventurers, the almost mythical man who most famously led his soldiers on elephants over the Alps. In Ross Leckie's unforgettable re-creation of the Punic wars, it is Hannibal, the Carthaginian general, who narrates the story, and who is carried by his all-consuming ambition through profoundly bloody battles against the great Roman armies of early empire.

In this breathtaking chronicle of love and hate, heroism and cruelty, one of humanity's greatest adventurers is brought to life, who learns through suffering that man is but a shadow of a dream.

Publisher: Canongate Books
ISBN: 9781847670991
Number of pages: 256"

see also:

https://sirablebrush.blogspot.com/2019/09/the-battle-by-patrick-rambaud-short.html

Jokes about Napoleon Bonaparte

I asked ChatGp to write me jokes about Napoleon:

The last one's the best...

==

write a joke about napoleon and josephine

Why did Napoleon and Josephine always bring a map to bed?

Because they loved to conquer new territories together!

a joke about Napoleon and Marshall Ney

Why did Napoleon always ask Marshal Ney to play soccer with him?

Because Ney was known for his great "field" marshaling!

a joke about Wellington and Napoleon's horse

Why did Wellington refuse to buy Napoleon's horse?

He said he'd rather have a "stable" victory than a Marengo!

Napoleonic Wargames blogs During December 2022 - what you lot did on your holidays?

 

vonpeterhimself has been busy on his blog (which is great news). He wrote about a new scenario book for General d'Armee - my fave rules -  https://vonpeterhimself.wordpress.com/2022/12/11/more-1813-scenarios-gosh-how-wonderful/ and another general scenario book for Leipzig: 

David Brown’s “1813, The Battles for Germany” – “STOP PRESS: “1813, The Battles for Germany” released“.

If you are teeter-tottering on whether to purchase this then that good keen man Ken – the Yorkshire Gamer – has provisioned some information to aid your decision. Firstly he has reviewed the book on YouTube at Leipzig – A Wargamers Guide by Rohan Saravanamuttu – Helion Books – A Yarkshire Gamer Review.


Secondly in one of his recent “Yarkshire Gamers Reet Big Wargames Podcast” episodes he is talking with the author Rohan Saravanamuttu. You can catch it on your favourite podcast provider or at Episode 34 – Rohan Saravanamuttu – Wargaming Leipzig.



The Leipzig book is here. Steve Shann's Let's fight Leipzig can be bought he.

 

https://amzn.to/3GEq4fzThe Leipzig book is here. Steve Shann's Let's fight Leipzig can be bought here.

Dave Brown's 1813 scenarios here.

He also wrote an appreciation of Christopher Duffy - the epic Napoleonic (and other periods) historian.   You can read it here:

Christopher had a way of writing which von Peter himself found to b eminently readable as well as educational. Many happy hours have been spent with his writings and it is anticipated that many more will be spent the same way in the future. Fare thee well Christopher Duffy. You will be missed.

Napoleonic Wargames Blogs for August - what have you lot been doing?

Post of the month: 

Over at http://notjustoldschool.blogspot.com/ Chris has created a wonderful game of D'Erlon's assault at Waterloo.   Let me indulge use all with some of this (make yourself a cuppa and follow the link for a lovely long read). He has also shared downloadable maps and orders of battle.

The grand battery starts firing: 

With the British infantry covered by the reverse slope: 

Reinforcements sent to La Haye Saint:

The French are pushed back by volley fire: 

There are endless wonderful pictures over at - http://notjustoldschool.blogspot.com/2022/08/west-country-derlons-assault-part-two-1.html  - go an immerse yourself and have a damned good read. 

Other stuff

JJ has been enjoying some naval action: 

"Likewise Kiss Me Hardy performed magnificently to produce a fast flowing game with turns proceeding at a good pace and with the ever present uncertainty of the chit driven activation and testing sequence, that had its say many times throughout the game, with its last surprise giving Nathan his opportunity at a double stern rake on the Victorious to set up what seemed like an unlikely French victory."

James Roach explores the Soldiers of Napoleon rules from Artorus Games  (ebay and Gripping Beast (a touch cheaper there).   

The card events have a noticeable effect on the course of a battle but they are not over powerful: I would describe them as well balanced - I like to play them but don't like them played on me! The way you use cards to rally is one of my favourite mechanisms in the game: it's novel, it's quick, it's logical, it's ingenious, you'll like it

and also tested by Madlemmy. 

 I particularly liked the random card driven activation, and the way your force is considered part of a much larger fight, so your division is a small, but probably crucial, part of a greater action fought all around your table. 

 

 Out of my normal scale but http://wargameterrain.blogspot.com/2022/07/perry-miniatures-new-75mm-napoleonic.html mention the new 75mm figures from the Perry's marking the capture of Banda Aceh.   This reminds me of one of my favourite books Nathaniel's Nutmeg - a wonderful history. 

Another big and beautiful Napoleonic game (30 battalions aside) over on 1866 and all that:

A great big Napoleonic battle at Barry's House - that the way our lives should be! 

Some very pretty  28mm Napoleonic Württemberg Light Infantry popped up as preparation for a joint game. 

Against better judgement... I became excited recently by the prospect of a big group 28mm Napoleonics project. As the project is being inspired by Borodino and the 1812 campaign and I didn't want to do either of the main protagonists, I am aiming at Von Bruxelles' Württemberg light brigade (part of the French 3rd Corp.).

 

Some beautiful Bavarians at http://ajs-wargaming.blogspot.com/2022/06/28mm-napoleonic-bavarians-re-based.html

and the Bavarians from Victrix look fab: 

Another truly epic game over on http://onemanhisbrushes.blogspot.com/2022/08/gaming-napoleonics-dresden-1813-part-1.html this time Dresden - in all it's hugeness:  (and promise of more to come) 

Waterloo to Mons enjoyed the clean lines of an old school Hinton Hunt game.

Napoleonic Wargames Blogs for May

 

Jabba had a great game - singling out a section of the Battle of Leipzig.  

"My task was to capture Probstheida, held by veteran French troops with Napoleon and his Imperial Guard to their rear as a reserve. The Austrians were to pin the Young Guard in place while the Russians on my right were to try and roll up the French left flank, comprised of newly raised units, and prevent them re-enforcing the village. The Russian guard were to exploit any inroads made or capture Probstheida if my Prussians failed".

 Click here to read the whole thing.

Some glorious eyecandy at http://jayswargamingmadness.blogspot.com/2022/05/napoleonic-russian-army-major-progress.html as he comes close to completing (what a curious idea) his Napoleonic Russian Army in 28mm. 

This is not from may but I've just spotted an effective painting guide over on 

https://krigetkommer.weebly.com/napoleonics-blog/french-line-infantry-part-2-painting

My first experience of the fab JP youtube channel.  Lots of games using General D'Armee (great set of rules) 

Painting tiny tartan....

Bloody Big Battles Does Dresden 1813, remotely! 

How nice to have a battle where you legitimately field the entire Imperial Guard!

 

Knuckleduster Miniatures are new to me - thanks to https://alystoysoldiers.blogspot.com/2022/05/the-war-of-1812-another-british-unit.html

 

Sgt Steiner has been testing the Soldiers of Napoleon rules  from Warwick Kinrade at Artorus Games.  They're card driven and Sgt concluded: 

Enjoyable game overall (the cards make it) but unsure if is preferable to other more 'dynamic' sets we use for the period but always nice to have choice/options imho.

Saxondog has been painting Austrians! 

and Wargamer Terrain mentioned some new figures from Brigade Games 

Blunders on the Danube is painting Spanish:  Regimiento de Infanteria de Linea "León"

Victrix are close to releasing these veeeeery charging Dragoons (how often did they get this fast - if ever?) 

The Perry's indulged in a Napoleonic Feast of a weekend: 

https://www.facebook.com/perryminiatures/posts/4882260121896055