Another GNW Unit Completed...PLUS A Sunday Napoleonic Game!

I have just uploaded the images I took of our Napoleonic game today and was slightly surprised that they number close to 50!

The scenario Mark came up with was post the Battle of Leipzig, a French/Bavarian force is attempting to break out of the surrounding Allied armies. Opposing them is a mixed force of Austrians and Prussians. As most of the players used their own troops, this decided who was on which side, with Chris having recently built up a sizeable force of Perry Plastic Austrians and Nick a smaller collection of Calpe and Elite Prussians. Chris took the left flank opposite John whilst Nick took the right, opposite Barry and the Bavarians. My Austrians occupied the centre, opposing Paul, and Mark took control of ALL the French cavalry - and there was a lot. I believe on each side, we had around 36 battalions of infantry, in 9 or 10 brigades. On the French/Bavarian side, apart from some venerable old figures from the 80's, the bulk of the forces came from Marks collection

Unfortunately the light was not great at Barry's today, it being a rather miserable Autumn day here, so the images have not come out all that clearly - I must try to remember that in general, the large, long range shots don't look as good on a pc as they do when I take them on the phone....

Marks plastic Bavarian infantry, commanded by Barry

The extreme right of the French line - Perry French cavalry

The extreme right of the Allied line - Nicks Prussian cavalry

Two of my three Austrian brigades advance, with three batteries of guns and a smaller reserve brigade on the central high ground

Chris's Austrian cavalry brigade - three regiments of Perry plastic Kuirassiers

The first wave of Prussians advance - most of these are plastic Perry and belong to Mark

The centre of the French line, more of Marks beautiful collection, including Carabiniers and infantry

The view from Paul's gun line of my advancing Austrian brigades

Although not obvious in this image, there was high ground between the French and Austrians shown here. so neither could fire on the other

Jaegers in open order to the fore, the Prussians move ominously towards the blue coated Bavarians

And on the flank, Prussian cavalry spurs forward

Whilst on the other flank, French Cuirassiers move forward to engage Chris's Austrians

Paul's French breast the hill and look down upon one of my Austrian brigades. As it turned out, this was the nhigh point of the French advance in the centre - they soon pulled back to their starting line, under threat of a flanking movement from Chris to my left.

General view of the Prussian advance to my right

Two regiments of Austrian Kuirassiers, Old Glory figures from my collection but commanded here by Chris

Johns position on the French right opposite Chris

John's French C in C and his ADC

Massed French cavalry and infantry in the centre

A Thin Blue Line of Bavarians await the black tide of advancing Prussians

French Cuirassiers charge - and the Austrians counter charge! In this first clash, the Austrians came off second best and were forced to retire

Massed advance of the Austrian left - Chris used his cavalry to shield his unwieldy infantry battalions from the galling fire of French artillery

A general view of the Prussian advance against the Bavarians

Another cavalry melee, this time Prussians v's Bavarians

A lovely Bavarian "Wurst" style limber - cant have been a very comfortable way to travel to war!

Chris's large massed battalions certainly look impressive!

French cavalry v's Austrian squares...and the winner is.....

Chris's Austrian cavalry has been wiped out but they did their job, shielding the advancing columns till they had got within musket range of the French line. Now, their size is an advantage, as they pour massed musketry into the much smaller French battalions opposing them.

Another two cavalry charges in the centre - to the left, Cuirassiers charge a column, which they destroyed before breaking onto another unit to the rear. On the right, its a different story, with a Cuirassier unit charging a formed square - this cavalry unit was destroyed

My Austrian C in C making some adjustments in the line - Figures by Old Glory

Having lost the previous engagement, the Prussian cavalry have another go at the Bavarian Dragoons

The Bavarian C in C looks on with a worried frown...

....as French horse guns bang away at the advancing Prussian line

Some of my Sash and Sabre Austrian infantry

Old Glory Austrian Kuirassiers now in the ascendancy in the centre of the field

While on the French right, Chris is starting to break John's line

And on the other flank, the Prussians have broken the Bavarian cavalry

Some of Nicks beautifully painted Prussian cavalry

All of a sudden, one Bavarian brigade has had enough and quits the field!

The Prussians continue to pile on the pressure

Paul now had seven batteries of guns deployed against me in the centre, trying to punch a hole through which his waiting infantry could advance

French cavalry (top centre) arrived to help plug the gap left by the departing Bavarians

But the remaining Bavarians were also in a bad way....

My two units of Uhlans move forward around the flank of a depleted Austrian brigade

View of the centre of the field as the game came to an end - the Austrian/Prussian allies have succeeded in holding the centre, whilst smashing both flanks of the French/Bavarian force.

Final view of the Austrian left, where Chris's large Austrian battalions had more or less wiped out Johns smaller French units.

Mark called the game at this point, in his role as scenario writer/umpire, declaring this a definite win for the Austro/Prussian alliance.

And finally, here are a few images of the latest Great Northern War Swedish unit to exit the painting table, the grenadier battalion of the Livgarden til Fods.

Thats it for tonight, more GNW should be ready for posting in a couple of days I hope.