31 Aug 24 - Hobby Stuff (the Lead Mountain edition)

It has been a little while since I have done a hobby update, so this covers a longer period than normal. Plus I think I have missed some stuff out, but here goes...

I did some WW2 stuff...

A German armoured panzer grenadier company's worth of Baccus Hanomag variants...(these are all fully painted now, can't find a shot)

Some more motorbikes and light vehicles for the Germans (more Baccus)

Panzer IVFs from 2D6 Wargaming

A couple of long-barrelled PzIIIs. Can't remember where I got these from, or who the manufacturer was. I prefer the 'dark' Panzer Grey to the 'grey-blue' Panzer Grey...

In addition to the TYW miniatures' battles I have been playing recently, I have also been playing more of the TYW:Europe in Agony boardgame...

 

A box of Warlord's Roman Veterans...these have been painted now (these were for one of my sons)

this angle gives a better idea of the poses, but the shadow really obscures the detail here, sorry

A couple of battalions of French Napoleonic Grenadiers (more Baccus)

Those Roman Veterans during the painting process

A load of WSS Horse and Dragoons from Baccus

 

Which got turned into these - a mixture of French (okay, about half-French, half-Irish) and Dutch (okay, entirely Scottish, Walloon and German) Foot and Horse

But note there was still plenty in the WiP stage (left and top)

which got turned into these more WSS French (okay, Irish) Horse, and more Spanish (okay, Irish and Italian) Dragoons

The Lead Mountain

As something a little different, I thought I would show the entirety of the lead (and plastic, and wood) mountain. I thought it would be useful for me to see at a glance what I have in front of me to prepare and paint. I spread it all out on a 6'x4' table...

Boxes, buildings, bags galore...

The '28mm model' section

First up, the repair pile: a wide mix of stuff, but quite a few GW bits and pieces here, also some Perry stuff - mainly things from my son's collection (Zulus and Zulu War British seem to have had particularly rough handling!!)

Some Warlord Praetorians, these are for my son.

First painting box - lots of 40K things in here, quite a few modern female zombie survivors too, some fantasy bits'n'pieces

Second painting tray - some Brit WW2 Paras (basically done), some French artillery crew, some Border Reivers, some more fantasy, some VC from TAG, a couple of odd conversions, and a huge troll/ogre/daemon/somesuch from the new wave of Heroquest sets

Box three - more Heroquest things from the new wave box sets

Fourth and last - some WW2 from Hour of Glory, plenty of Frostgrave barbarians

Some 28mm mdf buildings, cottages and stables and so on, plus a Roman Villa to build for my son

15mm modern stuff (mainly East German, some terrorists/militia), plus a couple of WW2 items (e.g. additional AT riflemen, and a really odd 3D printed Somua variant)

6mm wooden ACW from Commission Figurines, plus some Baccus Pony Wars' scouts to the right there

Box 5 of the 28mm stuff - French Napoleonic Dragoons

3 unmade boxes (Beastmen, Peasants, Napoleonic British Light Dragoons) plus a couple of sprues from magazines I haven't made up yet: a couple of 28mm modern SF guys I think, and some 1/300 torpedo boats.

These boxes are all largely done, but maybe have a couple of figures or a sprue I kept back for conversions.

More boxed sets, but these ones are for my son: 28mm Gallic Warriors, Spartans and (more) Roman Legionaries

Hmm, not sure, should go back and check...maybe 2D6 Wargaming Rhodesian and ZANU-PF fighters?

Lots of WW2 bits and pieces - some US Paratroopers and some Volksturm are in there, lots of really random other stuff

More WW2 stuff (plus some WSS stuff mixed in - will come back to that) - mainly Baccus to the left with lots of German tanks and artillery, some Soviet T34s, some Fireflys, 25pdrs and 6pdrs with tow vehicles, with some H&R Russian stuff at the top (mainly early war tanks) which are nearly finished, and some H&R or Scotia aircraft to the bottom-right: the Polish stuff is PZL-11s and Karas IIRC and is nearly finished, the British Hurricanes, Typhoons and Battles aren't.

A big pile of PSC aircraft for the Battle of Britain - have started on some of them at least

US and VC for the Vietnam War from Irregular, British and Soviets for the Cold War from H&R

A jumble of additional 6mm Napoleonic stuff from Baccus - it looks a lot but there is only a pack of French infantry and some Grumbler miniatures dismounted French Dragoons which amount to much, most of the rest are packs of like 8 spare Austrian Landwehr, skirmishing.

a 6mm Byzantine Army from Baccus

Various SF stuff from GW Epic, Vanguard and Brigade. Most of this is actually painted, it just needs me to get round to deciding how to actually base (and by extension, play with) this stuff

Spares from 6mm Baccus ECW/TYW range. Mainly to be used for extra game markers, flagbearers and so on.

Spares from 6mm Baccus Ancients and Medieval things I think. A lot of it is painted, main thing which is unpainted and matters are some Cataphracts, which would be really handy

Try and ignore the WW2 stuff - the remainder is Baccus WSS stuff, mainly artillery, cuirassiers and hussars, plus a few dragoons and grenadiers.

I knew I would forget something! A bunch of Vikings.

Okay, so the lead mountain is much larger than I would like (or is historically usual for me), but a lot of that is down to me now effectively painting for two! I don't think there is much in there that I regret getting or would get rid of, so that is somewhat hopeful. OTOH, there is definitely a lot to do. 28mm plastics definitely trade money-for-time, in that it always takes a bit longer to prep them than you'd imagine. But I am looking forward to finishing much of this lot off, even my own very quick and simple paint jobs do bring figures to life, at least a little. It is also a salutary reminder that 28mm stuff really does take up a lot more space than 6mm. That is becoming increasingly important, as space round the house as my family goes gets a premium, although I know that too won't last forever and there will be an opportunity to store more and have more stuff out in years to come.

To be more self-critical, I do play many more 6mm games than 15mm or 28mm games - although I don't have a ton of 28mm stuff, perhaps I am somewhere between too much (many more figures than I get on the table regularly) and not enough (not really any armies to play more than a 50 vs 50 skirmish with), so perhaps I should think about rationalizing some of these collections somewhat.

Crossing the Lech / Battle of Rain 1632 - Twilight of Divine Right

Next up in this series of Thirty Years' War refights is the Crossing of the Lech, otherwise known as the  Battle of Rain. This scenario is published in the second TYW scenario book for Twilight of Divine Right, "To the Peace of the Pyrenees".

 

 

 

Here, Tilly's Imperial troops are on the strategic defensive. Gustavus has made a bridgehead over the Lech but has also sent a flanking force to ford the Lech and outflank any force the Imperialists send against the bridgehead...

 

It is up to the Swedes/Protestants to win the battle, a draw favours the Imperialists/Catholics.

 

The Forces:

 More detailed forces are in the scenario book, but in general terms:

The Imperialists (C-in-C: Tilly)

5 Tercios (very large!)

10 Cavalry units

1 Light Cavalry unit

 

The Swedish (C-in-C: Gustavus)

5 Infantry brigades

11 Cavalry units

3 Dragoon units

3 Artillery units 

These are slightly modified from the forces in the book.

 

The Set-Up:

The Swedish forces around the bridgehead, the Imperialists facing them (top-left); both sides are expecting reinforcements.

Another view - apologies, some of the shadows weren't too kind to game photos

A closer look at the Swedish bridgehead: two brigades with regimental guns occupy the earthworks; cavalry are on the near side of the river, with the supporting artillery; the Dragoons to the left are in position to ford the Lech here, if necessary (the Lech can be forded to the left of the pontoon, but not the right)

The Imperialists are formed up in two large blocks, one of infantry tercios and the other of Horse, ready to attack the bridgehead; somewhat unusually, a tercio guards the open flank (right), whilst the Light Horse watch the other flank (left)

The Battle:

The Imperial troops lumber forward, subtlety be damned!  The Swedish musketry and artillery fire was less potent than they may have hoped. Swedish Dragoons have forded the Lech and dismounted, ready to  move through the woods (left)

The Swedes are holding on around the emplacements and have pushed the Imperialists back; meanwhile, the first elements of Saxe-Weimar's flanking force have arrived (right)

More of Saxe-Weimar's troops have followed up (right), but Billehe's Imperial cavalry have arrived to challenge them (top-left); Tilly and Aldringer's forces renew their assault on the emplacements, but they haven't broken in yet - and Swedish Dragoons have begun to threaten their flank in the woods (bottom-left)

A wider shot of this stage of the battle

A third (or is it fourth?!?) major Imperial assault goes in - this time, the Swedes waver...

...and break! A foothold at last?

Saxe-Weimar's forces and the Imperial Left Flank have now come to grips in earnest

Meanwhile, Tilly's tercios are still making progress around the pontoon bridge, seeing off some of the Swedish cavalry reserves

The lone Imperial Tercio on the flank has held back the Swedes for a while, but has suffered quite heavy casualties

...and then they break and run!

The Imperialists extemporize some new defences, but their position is very awkward, as well as being somewhat outnumbered

Now that the Imperial infantry have pushed onto the bridge, the Tercios in the rear divert towards the wood, to clear out the Dragoons who have been such a drag on the advance.

The Imperialist Cavalry is simultaneously in deep trouble, and yet hanging on slightly better than one might expect

But that doesn't last for long; however the Imperialists have cleared the far side of the river and have nearly finished off the Dragoons in the wood (left)

But Saxe-Weimar's Horse and Foot are just mopping up the remnants of the Imperialists' left flank; both sides are on the point of imminent collapse!

A fierce cavalry charge holds back an Imperial Tercio by the bank of the river - and the Swedish cavalry have pretty much wiped out everything to the Imperial rear. Suddenly, it is all over - the surviving Imperialists - many in their moment of victory - realize the battle is lost and run!

Game Notes: 

A real nail-biter this one, as both sides had a Wing more-or-less destroyed, but morale would just not collapse for either side!!! It did make it very exciting though for the last few turns of the game, although there was also a sense of nothing else matters, apart from those wing morale rolls!!

I slightly reduced the playing area for this one, to 2'x2' instead of 2.5'x2.5' (in the half-sized battles I play). It worked fine, I simply added a bit of time for when the reinforcements to both sides arrived (two turns, so a force that in the scenario as written would arrive on turn 3 would arrive on turn 5 instead).

I played this one before the recent discussion on the Breitenfeld refight, which usefully clarified a couple of rules' points. I don't think it made too much difference here, except the shape of the Imperial assault may have been somewhat different. Overall, the game played pretty smoothly, although the Swedes do have certain evolutions to go through to maximize their combat effectiveness...although with Gustavus nearby, these are relatively guaranteed to occur (Generalship in this game is mainly reflected through re-rolls).

Tactically I think this battle is really interesting for the Imperial player; the Imperialists can sit tight and fight it defensively or they can take the initiative and attack. On balance, I still think the latter is the way to go, despite it not working in this game - but if Gustavus is reduced to praying for 'Heads' on tail flip, Tilly is probably doing okay. Anyway, a new battle to me, but a very interesting one.

Figures and the pontoon by Baccus, emplacements by Irregular.