Alas the course of wargames projects rarely runs smoothly. I’ve been suffering from a cold this last week, and not felt well enough to go to the studio above the garage to keep my painting going. My Custoza project is barely further forward from last month. But it has given me more time to read. Attention has shifted to Napoleonics.
Games
I went to my club (Tunbridge Wells Wargaming Society) for my first game there in ages. We played Général d’Armée 2. I have already reflected on that game and pondered on the rules at length. Sunday after next I should be returning with another GDA2 game with much the same forces but a fictitious scenario. Whether I will try out some the new house rules I was pondering is yet to be decided!
Projects
I was a bit distracted by getting ready for the game, and then by things going on in my life, before the cold took hold. So my 10mm Custoza Italians are in much the same place as a month ago: I have painted the horses and bases. It won’t take long to finish these once I get going though. Meanwhile I ordered from Pendragon all the figures I will need to complete the Austrian army. My plan is to is to do this in one mega batch. Once I get going with this, I will order the remaining Italians. This won’t be done by Christmas!
One of the distractions came because when getting ready for the Lützen GDA2 game I found myself short of buildings. I also found a box of 10mm Total Battle Miniatures buildings unpainted. I promptly gone on with painting them. They just need finishing (weathering and a wash). There were also some stone walls.
Once the Italians are done I have decided to switch back to my 18mm Napoleonics. I have been reminded that my overworked French infantry need reinforcements. I have the figures for six battalions of late war infantry, and I want to get these done (three line infantry, one Swiss and two Young Guard is the plan).
Rules
I have finished drafting my 1866 rules Forge of Nations. These need to be play tested. I am also contemplating some house rules for GDA2, as noted. And I am working on my own version of a quick reference sheet for those rules – which I will post about when it’s done.
Research
One of the things I have been doing has been tidying up my study. This has produced a whole pile of books on military subjects that I haven’t read yet. So what did I do? I went and bought another book and read that!
This was Russia against Napoleon – The Battle for Europe 1807 to 1814 (2009), by Dominic Lieven. It was a recommendation I picked up from Facebook.This served to give me a better understanding of both Russia in the Napoleonic wars, and the 1813 campaign, which is of growing interest. I wasn’t disappointed. The scope of the work is strategic, so there wasn’t much detail of the type that wargamers like. But it was a wonderful overview, making use of the massive additional level of information available post Cold War. There lots of pen portraits of a long cast of characters. Mr Lieven paints a very positive picture, not least of Tsar Alexander. This is a necessary corrective after neglect from French, German and British historians, and the rather negative picture painted by Leo Tolstoy in War and Peace. Absolutely fascinating. I also got a much clear picture of the 1813 campaigns than I could get from Nafziger’s trilogy – which was never been presented as a strategic study.
I remember back in the 1970s when I set out on Napoleonics that the Russian army got a good write-up from Bruce Quarrie, the author that got me going – along with the French and British. This book shows how justified that was.
Of course this means I will have to start introducing some Russians to my 18mm collection. I will start with some cavalry, I think.
And that’s it for the month!
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