Wargame with Newly Based Napoleonics

 Last week I got in a quick wargame  with my newly based Minifigs Napoleonic. I used One Hour Wargame scenario #1 and OHW armies for the game.

This game was mainly to see how the new regiments would look on the new 2" grid board I made.  Thank goodness I got this game in, as I have already moved onto a new project!

I was hoping to at least get one cavalry unit on the board, but stuck with the armies rolled for.

I am happy with the results. Eventually this project will get done!

Working Out New Minifigs Regiments

   Working on my 1st generation Minifigs  Napoleonics has got me excited again for wargaming again, a feeling that has been in short supply for many months.  In 2016 I had started basing some of the Minifigs into 18 man regiments, with 5 infantry stands and 1 command stand. If  I have 3- 18 man regiments, I could convert them into Battle Cry regiments by removing 2 stands. I could then form 5- 4 stand regiments  by using 2 extra command stands.

    I decided to start painting the extra command stands, along with another regiment of British infantry. Besides the command stands, a few of the command stands I now have are short musicians, so I found musician figures to paint up to complete those stands.

    While walking the dog, I was working out my regiments. One problem was the fact that there is 1 Highland regiment. I didn't really want to overdo special units such as Highlanders. Then I thought of coming up with a "cadre" of a second Highland regiment. This cadre will consist of a command stand and 1 infantry stand. I've also started marking the bottom of the stands. Of course, right now I'm only numbering them with numbers, not after actual regiments.

    However, this latest flight of fancy has distracted me from my wagon project. I have decided to finish the command stands and musicians, put aside the infantry for now, and turn my attention to cavalry and artillery.

The newest regiments being formed.

I think the original Minifigs strips were a great idea. It is easy to paint the figures on the strip. What's more, the number tag at the end of the bases is a great handle. Too bad they didn't continue using this method; however, I'm sure they realized they could save a lot of metal by doing individual figures.

Closeup of the British regiment being formed.

4 "New" 1st Generation 15mm Minifigs Regiments

     With the completion of the cigar box wargame, I started work on my wagons. I began with four 1st generation Minifigs RHA cassions. As the size of the wagon bases are over 1" in length, I realized they won't work well on the small squares I use. 2" squares will work, but to have individually based figures might not look right. I brought out several different lines of figures to think the problem through. Among the figures was a large lot of 1st generation Minifigs Napoleonics that I got in a purchase of Peter Laing Victorian Parade figures. It is worth noting that I have posted before of making 18 figures regiments for my Napoleonic games. It turns out whoever had these figures must have planned the same, as there were enough figures to make 18 man regiments.  As the figures were already painted, all there was for me to do were to base them. When finished I have 1 regular British regiment, 1 Highland regiment, 1 British light Infantry  regiment, and 1 French Regiment. The French plumes are even painted different colors; obviously the original owner planned to base 3 figures to a base.

The original lot of mixed Peter Laing Victorian parade figures and 1st generation Minifigs Napoleonics.

The Minifigs before sorting and basing.

The regiments based. the 4 cassions can be seen in the background.

Two Experimental Wargames

       I managed to get two experimental wargames in this week. The first was a Napoleonic wargame, using a Command & Colors Napoleonic scenario (Salamanca) on a Heroscape board. For armies I used Neil Thomas' One Hour Wargame army selection of rolling for armies. As I was going to use 8 units to a side, I rolled two dice a side, and picked from the 4 unit army chart twice. The British had 4 infantry units, 2 skirmishers unit, one artillery and one cavalry units. The French had 6 infantry, one artillery and one cavalry units.  I used my single mounted 1st generation Minifigs. For rules I started out using a Battle Cry Napoleonic variant I had downloaded years ago. Half way through the game some rules weren't really cleared so I finished the game using Bob Cordery's Memoir of Battle. I looked at the C&CN scenario and tried to place the different units so that it somewhat resembled the scenario.  I rolled for intuitive at the start of the turn. After a confusing beginning with unclear rules, once I switched to MOB rules the game picked up and was and enjoyable game.  The British won (barely). I must admit ending a Napoleonic game with a few single figures scattered across the board doesn't really capture the splendor of the period.  If I continue to work on this project I think I will have to go with based units of multiple figures. I have been thinking of how to go forward with this idea and hopefully will do a posting on some ideas in the near future.

     The second game was an Ancients game.  I will admit this game was more to do with some ideas I wanted to try that would get me using Peter Laing figures that I haven't used. For the armies I planned to use the suggested armies in Neil Thomas' Ancient & Medieval Wargaming. If I use these armies with Command & Colors units, an army would consist of 32 figures, a number that would be rather easy to paint. For rules I used Battlelore rules that I changed slightly for my own use.  The opposing armies were a Midianite Arab Army made up of 4 camel units, 2 skirmisher units and two archer units (the book called for 2 slinger units, but I didn't have any slingers ready). This army let me use my rather large collection of Peter Laing camels. The other army was Early Achaemenid Persian Army, made up of 2 Persian cavalry, three Persia infantry, 1 Immortals unit, 1 levy infantry and 1 horse archers. In his book, Mr. Thomas has suggested deployment of the armies, which I used for the game.  For the battlefield, I just used the Salamanca field again. Before the game started I had to work out rules for horse and camel archers. I decided to use a range of 2, instead of the 3 used for archers in Battlelore. For camels in these rules I had them as medium cavalry. However, as the camels I was using were armed with archers, I gave them the range of two with bows, but if they closed into close combat, counted as medium cavalry. If I continue on this project, obviously I will have to work how the different units battle.  One good thing is the battle was close, where either side could have won.  As it was, the Persians managed to win.

The Battle of Salamanca. French in the foreground.

The French capture a ridge line.

The French cavalry drive off the British hussars.

The French cavalry continue to harass the hussars. 

It looks like the French are going to carry the field.

However, the British counterattack and between the artillery and musketry, drive off the French.

The Arab army drawn up for the second game.

The Arab army based on the suggested deployment in Ancient & Medieval Wargaming.

The Persian army.

Two Arab camel units try to outflank the Persian army.

The Arab camels engage the Persian cavalry on the Persian right.

The camels drive off the Persian horse archers.

The Persian infantry starts driving through the Arab center.

The camel units try to come to the aid of the infantry.

The camels cause havoc among the Persians, but eventually the Persians rout the Arab infantry and the camels start suffering too many losses. The Arabs withdraw.

A New Minifigs British Regiment

    One good thing about being in a funk is I will try to jumpstart my way out of it by trying different projects. This week I watched the "Callan" show, "Act of Kindness". Inspired by this show, earlier this year, I started to make several Minifigs regiments using 1st generation French and Russian Napoleonic figures. In "Act of Kindness", it was French against British, so  I wanted to make a British regiment along the lines of my earlier regiments.  As I was nearing completion of the regiment, I  looked back on previous posts. The first units formed were 18 man units; 6 stand regiments with 3 figures per base.  I started painting enough figures to make the 18 man units, even though they will in all probably be used in four stand units, such as used with Battle Cry or Command & Colors games. The figures are being painted for the most part as "generic" figures, meaning just red coats with no facing colors and the drummer is in a red coat, instead of reversed facing. Below are some photos of the nearly completed regiment. Some fine detailing is needed, such as shako plates, and the stands being painted. Once completed, they will receive a coat of gloss lacquer. 

The regiment. Before putting on the gloss lacquer, I want to work on redoing the flag.

Although the Battle Cry system has three infantry and one flag per unit, I wanted the unit to look a little larger; when the last infantry stand is removed the command stand will be removed at the same time.

This is actually a 21 man unit. The French and Russians have 5 infantry stands and a command stand.  I think I might increase the regiments to seven stands.  By painting them the same, I can use them for either as 21 man units, or as 4 stand units.  The six figures in the back on the right still need more painting.

All Quiet on the Western Front

       My wife injured herself on the job and has been out of work for a couple of months now. She is due for surgery this coming week. Although she gets workman's compensation, she has been feeling guilty that she isn't working. I have been spending as much time as possible with her as she has been down in the dumps. As such, I haven't had much time to work on wargaming.

       I have managed to get some more Napoleonic infantry units done. I  have decided to make units based on Battle Cry, with infantry units made up of 12 man regiments on 4 stands, and 6 man cavalry units based on three stands. Light infantry units will have 8 man units on 4 stands. I have 4 French infantry regiments (3 regular and 1 light infantry) and 5 Russian infantry units (4 regular and 1 light infantry units). In Battle Cry, infantry units consist of 4 infantry figures, of which one is a flag bearer. The flag bearer is the last figure taken off the board. I didn't have a flag bearer for the Russian infantry. However, I found an original 1st generation Russian command strip. I plan to make a mold of the flag bearer. I haven't quite worked out if I will make separate command stands or just add the flag bearer to one of the infantry stands.

The 4 Russian Infantry regiments.

The Russian and French light infantry regiments.

The 3 French infantry regiments.

My idea for a Battle Cry regiment.  bases of infantry, with the standard bearer leading.

The Russian command strip I bought. I have started a mold with a French standard bearer  and the Russian standard bearer.


This last week Donna's friends have been taking her out, to take her mind off the upcoming surgery. Today she went to a baby shower, so I had a few hours for wargaming. Besides painting some figures, I did managed to get a war-game in; the first in about a month. It was a "No brain wargame", but I did try a couple of changes. I will ry to do a report on it. It made for a better game.

An Answer to a Question and a New Regiment

          Last post I questioned about the rules used in "CALLAN; ACT OF KINDNESS". Bob Cordery of Wargaming Miscellany fame, found the answer. His answer is DISCOVERING WARGAMES by John Tunstill. As I don't have a copy of this book, a quick visit to Amazon solved that problem.

         I decided to try out a sample regiment with 18 figures, as mentioned in the last post. While happy with the looks of it, I think I might wait for my new book before taking the plunge of basing more.

The regiment in line. 

The regiment forms square.