Thursday, September 23, 2021

The Eylau Project: Davout's Corps Done!

 I promised no more onesie-twosie pictures of The Eylau Project but rather a periodic update when a milestone has been achieved.  That first "big" milestone is the completion of the III (French) Corps under "The Iron Marshall" himself, Louis-Nicolas Davout.  While my Davout figure is still unpainted, his troops are battle ready and spoiling for a go at the Russians, Prussians, or whomever else would dare challenge them!

Six Brigades of Infantry, 3 Artillery "units" and a light cavalry brigade.  Perfect!

They are based for Blucher, Eagles Cheaper than Brain Cells, Volley & Bayonet, Commands and Colors, etc - any rules where a stand is a brigade.  I do not think the labels on the back detract in any way from the miniatures.  I actually feel they enhance them.

The Dino DeLaurentis view.

I couldn't decide if I preferred the units in battle lines or in assault columns and so put a mixture of both on the bases.  There is a unit of columns that are abreast and not staggered and I quite like how they turned out.  The mounted commanders also look good with the bases.


A wise man once told me "if there isn't enough artillery - quit!"

The unit I previously spoke of.  2 columns abreast.  I think they look the best.

I generically called these "Division Artillery" units because I was not sure about the gun count in the BLucher OOB that I read.  There were something like 4 or 5 stands of artillery for a Corps with 6 infantry brigades?  Surely not.

Corp Artillery with its heavy "RISK" pieces guns!  (note the "heavy artillery" ball marker for Blucher on the label)

Light Cavalry.  Im not crazy about the skinny GHQ figures but the rest are Old Glory now. Note the blank white "chevrons" so they can be a part of any Corps I want them to be when the Eylau game is over.


I love this picture.  To me, this is what Napoleonic gaming is all about!  Massed ranks, serried bayonets!

My apologies to Davout - he is still a work in progress!

A real sense of progress here as an entire Corps is completed.  There are still 5 more to do!  Ken has been working on his Russians and Dave the Prussians.  IV Corps under Soult is next.  Wish me luck!



14 comments:

  1. A ton of work. I like the mixed assault column / line bases, a good visual effect.

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    1. Thanks Norm! I plan on keeping a variety of styles - should make for more exciting blog pictures :)

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  2. I’ve just ‘wasted’ a quarter of an hour watching that clip and now I’ve got that music going round my head thanks to you and your Dino de Laurentis view 😄.

    Looking good Steve.

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    1. Cheers, Sir! As soon as I looked at the troops packed together I thought of that scene complete with the music :)

      Your only recourse now is to go paint Napoleonics 🤣

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  3. Very nice work Steve! I presume these are 10mm? The formation mix is a very good way of presenting brigades and has no real effect on gameplay anyway if you are using Blucher.
    For me the main sticking point with Blucher is the way artillery 'fades away' after firing a few rounds and eventually disappears. The tendency is to husband it so much that in the end players end up almost afraid to use it! At least that was our experience with these rules.

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    1. Thanks Mike! I can see where that would happen. It's finite so you should conserve it. The problem with that and Blucher is the length of the game and the fact that anything can happen. You may desperately need your artillery later in the battle.

      We havent played a big battle yet so this hasn't been as much of an issue but I'll be on the lookout for it now!
      Yes sir- 10mm OG strips and a few Pendraken mixed in for good measure.

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  4. Formidable! You have to read that in a French accent otherwise it won’t work.

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    1. That is a must when playing or painting Napoleonics, Jeffers! I only wish I could bark orders and sputter orders in Russian during their turn!

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  5. Some fantastic work there Steve. This will be an epic game.

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    1. Thanks Darren! I cant wait to get the game on the table!

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  6. Most beautiful and impressive army, congrats from France!

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