Realistic fields in 20mm/1/72 scale

Tony at Debris of War produced these fields and once surrounded by the hedges produced by Keith Warren before he retired, look very effective IMO. Some are standard shapes while others are more irregular. Once placed on top of the teddy bear fur they help to break up the uniformity of the background tone. 

All in all they enhance the battlefield and war-game experience. 

this field partially wraps around the  building.

L shaped field.

The near field is approx 4 inches at the further end
 and widens to approx 6 inches on the left.

Napoleonic game. circa 1813.

Single day game held at the weekend with a much reduced number of people attending as Dennewitz has had to be postponed till lockdown eases.

4 Divisions of infantry on both sides. French (2), Italians (1) and Saxons (1) vs 4 Prussian Divisions.

One reserve brigade of infantry on both sides could be deployed anywhere along the back line from move 2 onwards. The French had 4 battalions of YG and 2 battalions of Middle Guard plus 2 regiments of Guard light cavalry, which they deployed on move 2 in the centre to plug a serious gap in the line. The Prussians decided to deploy their reserve (6 battalions of Guard) plus two regiments of cavalry also in the centre but it would take time for Prussian units in more forward positions to clear the way. As it was the Prussian Guard made an impact but very late in the day.

The Prussians on the left flank and centre left, without these vital reserves, were always going to find it hard going and so it proved. Their attempt to take the objectives held by the Saxons failed and once the cream of the cavalry they did have, were wiped out, the French effectively rolled up the Prussian left flank and centre left. 

The Prussian right flank held on well against the Italian Division and with some carefully sited horse artillery made the Italians fall back. However, the Italian brigades remained in tact and had the Italians had some better cavalry (the ones they had had a -1 general and consistently failed the brigade test) their attack may have been more successful. 

So by lunchtime, the Prussians had incurred considerably more casualties and it looked a done deal. However, after lunch the Prussians in the centre and centre right finally began to make headway with superior numbers. 

By the end it was only a marginal French victory by only 2 points. Largely because the Prussians lost 4 whole brigades while the French only lost 1. Objectives on the ground were fairly evenly spread.

Thank you to those who came along.

Photos show the starting positions. (no photos for the end....)

Saxons

French moving up to secure a strong point.

Italian Division.

34' table length. Saxons can be seen
 in the foreground on the left.

3rd Silesian landwehr and
 1st Pomeranian landwehr.

Prussian Army 1813 in 1/72 scale.

Most of the figures are Art Miniaturen, with Newline infantry and a few HaT jagers, being the only plastic representatives. The Prussian reserve infantry in their grey were interestingly the most enjoyable to paint and that includes the 2nd Pomeranian Landwehr cavalry. Total 2,300 figures.

Art miniaturen and painted by Dan Dunbar.

The heavy cavalry on the left will not
be making an appearance at Dennewitz

takes up most of the garden table!

2nd Pomeranian Landwehr cavalry.

Each unit has its own movement tray.

More quality work from Dan Dunbar.

Finally got round to basing these limbers and caissons. 

Maverick flags. 

Prussian reserve infantry. I enjoyed painting these. 

Prussian reserve

all boxed up in 14 10 litre really useful boxes.
 Even the lancers fit.

Napoleonic building 1/72

Courtesy of Jim Sharpe, I have now completed another 1/72 scale building to add to the mix for Dennewitz. (Decision of whether the game goes ahead will be made in a couple of weeks time.)

Prussian Garde du Corps officer with
ADC from 1st Lieb Hussars (Art M)

I ended up painting the building in quite bright tones/colours but I guess it needs to stand out. I still need to finish off the window furniture. This strong point will probably be in Gohlsdorf.

Some new fields, courtesy of Tony at Debris of War will also be on display. His first batch was impressive, so I have ordered some larger fields with more random shapes. These should sit nicely, perhaps with a bit of added weight underneath, on top of the teddy bear fur.

Prussians are now finished bar some jaegers that are due to come out from Art M imminently. To the original 43 battalions (predominantly Newline plus 4 battalions of HaT plastic jaegers which I want to replace with the Art M jaegers) we have added 2 Prussian Grenadier battalions (West Prussian and Silesian/SHQ), 7 reserve battalions (Art M), 14 Landwehr battalions (Art M), 2 Prussian fusilier battalions (Art M), 4 Prussian line battalions. (Art M). Total 29+43=72 battalions (1,728). (24 figs per battalion) Of the 72 battalions, 30 will be Landwehr or reserve. I will probably end up getting more Landwehr to shift the balance even more. Photos to come.

Wurttemberg Jägers 1813.

Three skirmisher stands of 9 figures from Hagen. One of the figures is standing bolt upright to attention (in the far distance) so seems out of kilter from the others on display. The figures are also quite large even by 20mm standards but at least they are supposed to be Wurttemberg Jägers and so will accompany the other Wurttemberg units for Dennewitz. These chaps appear to have been highly rated at the time.

Saxon Hussars 1813 in 20mm

Courtesy of Art Miniaturen we have the new addition of a regiment of Saxon Hussars. The officer's saddle cloth was simply too complicated to paint properly so he ended up with the same as the rest. Varied trouser colours ranging from grey to brown. Variation of the covered shako also. These will be added to von Lindenhau's brigade of cavalry for Dennewitz.

There ought to be the Prinz Clemens regiment as well but I am struggling to find figures that will work. (shako, lance, pointed saddle cloth all combine to make this really difficult in 20mm in metal)

One possible solution is to buy the Franznap headless light cavalry figures with cloaks and add arms and lances. Very fiddly so not very keen.

2nd Pomeranian Landwehr Cavalry 1813

Now added a third regiment (2nd Pomeranian) to the others already recently completed. Grey with white facings and red shoulder tabs. Each officer has a different headgear. This officer has brown trousers rather than the usual grey....just to mix it up a bit.

The brown for 60% of this regiment's horses was achieved with Villajo burnt umber as the undercoat with a more liquid Parasite brown (72.042) on top. Seems very effective.