Monday, May 30, 2016

10mm Quatre Bras. Kind of. Sort of. Not really. Nice Pictures Though!

I was recently looking at my fine collection of 10mm Napoleonic troops and thought I'd take them for a spin with a scenario reminiscent of Quatre Bras (and on the same map taken from the Volley and Bayonet rule book) with the excellent "Black Powder" rules, which I've found give me everything I need in terms of Horse and Musket wargaming.  This would be slightly "bathtubbed" as I dont have enough units to do Quatre Bras by Battalion, but you get the idea.

They came in the same old way...French columns and lines converge on Gemioncort. 
 A lone Netherlands Brigade (actually converted British into Portuguese but different looking than British so I used them) and an Artillery battery guarding the pass until the Prince of Orange (Command Rating 7) can bring up a large column of British troops.


Royal Artillery but they'll have to pass as Dutch I suppose.

French lights menace the front!



French Corps Commander moves the Brigades forward

French battery hurries into position to support the advance!


The British line marching to the rescue!  Arriving at Quatre Bras

Another British column marching on a separate road (Command 8)



French Command Rating of 9 helps and the lead French elements are there in no time.  Another Division is still stalled South of Gemioncourt.


The Dutch volleys aren't impressive...

The French crowd the gap and prepare to storm the Dutch positions

Meanwhile an entire Division sits unable to move.

And the for the British it's the same story.  3 Brigades standing on the road...
More To Follow!  Will the British columns arrive in time?  Will Ney seize QB and change history?  I plan on playing more this evening.

So yes you're thinking that I vowed never to touch another scale miniature except for my beloved 15mm right?  Well you're correct.  But these guys look too good not to play with!  So right now, in the backyard, there are 4 huge paint stirring sticks (the ones you use for a 5 gallon bucket) loaded with spray painted British and French infantry, Cavalry, lights, Generals (Ney, Wellington, Picton sound familiar?) cannon, the whole 9 yards waiting to be painted.

I'm really liking how a massed collection of 3 stands (30 figures) looks compared to my 15mm stands of 12 figures (Sparker called it a "corporal's guard" in one of his posts) and i tend to agree.  Napoleonic wargaming is all about massed blocks of troops and sweeping maneuver.

7 comments:

  1. I do like the look of your armies.

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    1. Thank you John! If only I could paint them a little faster :)

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  2. Nice set up looking forward to seeing more

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    1. Thank you Stephen! Looking forward to playing more - stay tuned!

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  3. These look fantastic en masse. Looking forward to seeing them with BP.

    Next objective...10mm Modern ?!?!? ;) I note that Pendraken are bringing out 10mm cold war soon.

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    1. Thank you Darren. I have a pretty good-sized collection of 10mm Naps that I had written off in pursuit of 15mm gaming, which is very expensive (as if you didn't know that!).

      I recently broke these fellows out and put them on the table and was very pleased with the sight of them and the fact that I have tons and tons of them unpainted (enough for 2 large armies).

      Not sure if this is the death knell of my 15mm force, but I do have plenty of 10mm SYW as well...

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    2. 10mm Modern?!?! Gadzooks! I have to admit 10mm, IMHO, is the perfect scale for both WW2 and Modern (and probably a 6 x 4 table) but I think I'm "in too deep" with 15mm to do anything about it now!

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