Kicking off the 1809 project.

In his book, Napoleonic Wargaming, Neil Thomas concludes with a scenario between French and Russian forces on his fictitious battlefield of Leibnitz.

As per his rules, both armies are (always) formed from eight units and these are put together in a representational style of reflecting an army structure.

So for the French, his scenario uses troops from the list he provides for 1805 - 07. 

He chooses 4 line infantry units (one of course being the Imperial Guard!), 1 light infantry, 1 Cuirassier (heavy cavalry), 1 Chasseurs a` Cheval (light cavalry) and an artillery battery for a total of eight units.

I just love this organisational nod to the sort of bath-tubbed games that I played as a teenager and which mirror some of the ‘teaser’ type games of that period, that both Featherstone and Grant were dab hands at creating.

The Russian force is likewise composed, though 2 units are compulsory Cossack troops. Not that this matters, as I don’t have a Russian force …. No! Instead, my Leibnitz will be fought between 1809 French and Austrians.

Please use the ‘read more’ tab for the rest of this post.

Napoleonic Wargaming by Neil Thomas is a lovely book (published by the History Press 2009). It feels, to me at least, like a modern version of what Charles Grant’s ‘Napoleonic Wargaming’ book set out to do in 1974.

Neil Thomas begins with some background history on Old Regimes and the French Revolution / Napoleonic Wars and then moves on to discuss period strategy and tactics. We are then delivered the wargame section, with a mix of rules, notes, army lists and a scenario. 

On the other side of Christmas, more likely in the New Year, I will be taking the battlefield given to us by Neil Thomas for a first game and drawing two forces from his 1809 lists, which of course have 8 units per side, using any special rules attributed to them.

For system rules, I will be using my own scribblings rather than the Neil Thomas set, for no other reason than I still want to develop them and using a home brew set does feel like it captures the spirit of what Neil Thomas is about.

I am just in the process of building up two starter napoleonic forces, so (a) I will build the bases / units that meet the specific needs of the two forces listed here and (b) initially, there will be some fighting with a lot of unpainted plastic - yes, it’s true!

I hope to run this exact game in 12 months time and by then, have all 16 units, plus skirmishers and commanders, fully painted. So my start-up 1809 project is being completely bracketed (I hope) by a first game in January 2024 and a future game in January 2025. It sounds ages away, but will no doubt be here before we know it!

Not the battle of Leibnitz!

Above - Welcome to Auberge, this looks exactly like Neil Thomas’ Leibnitz. There are three main terrain features. The village of Auberge,  Breitenlee Woods and the Hill (the two names being recognisable from the Aspern-Essling battlefield -  perhaps :-) ). 

The Austrians control the village, the French control the hill. The woods are unoccupied and sit between the two forces,

The Armies.

For the French, I will use the scenario recommendation as a guide, but keep within the parameters of the 1809 list, giving;

2 X Line Infantry - Average

1 x Line Satellite (Italian) - Levy*

1 x Old Guard - Elite

1 x Light infantry - Average

1 x Cuirassier heavy cavalry (elite) *

1 x Chasseur a` Cheval light cavalry (Average)

1 x Artillery 6 pdr foot battery

* I need to do some more research as to whether ‘levy’ status is fair for the Italian infantry (I am a bit dubious) and also whether the Cuirassiers in this instance justify elite status.

Special French Rule - Cuirassiers get an extra save benefit when fighting enemy cavalry.

Additionally, I will include 3 leaders to allow for the creation of commanded formations.

For the Austrians, I will use the 1809 list, but try to closely reflect the Russian force that Neil Thomas gave us.

3 x Line infantry (Average)

1 x Grenadiers (elite)

1 x Grenzers (light infantry with rifles - Levy)

1 x Cuirassiers (Average) heavy cavalry *

1 x Hussars (Average) light cavalry *

1 x Artillery 6 pdr foot battery

* From memory, Austrian cavalry were generally good, so I might need to tweak the status of one of those units or at least drag the French Cuirassiers down from elite to standard so that the Austrian cavalry are not so diminished by comparison.

Anyone out there with an opinion?

Special Austrian Rules - ‘Sluggish Infantry’, it takes a full move to change formation and if changing from column to line, they may not fire in the same move. 

Like the French, the Austrian Cuirassiers get an extra save benefit when fighting enemy cavalry.

Additionally, 3 leaders will be included to allow for commanded formations.  

Game length - In the Neil Thomas system, a side wins when it has reduced the other side down from 8 to 2 units, I don’t think I would like the look of that, plus I also like geographical objectives in a game, so in my version, the game ends at the completion of any the turn in which at least one of the players has lost four units i.e 50% losses and then victory points are calculated.

Victory Conditions - Victory is assessed at the end of the game. The woods gives whoever fully controls it 1 VP. The Hill is worth 2 VP’s to the Austrians and 1 to the French, while Auberge is worth 1 point to the Austrians and 2 VP’s to the French.  Additionally, if one side has fewer unit losses than the other, they gain 1 extra VP.

Above - The latest unit to leave the painting sticks is a unit of French Light Infantry ( produced by Warlord Games). They are actually later than our time frame of 1809, though happily this has not cost me any sleepless nights! They are flagged as 14th Light Infantry. 

Below - The Warlord set provide decals for the cartridge bag.

On the basis that I am unlikely to complete another unit before the New Year, then following the receipt of a generous Christmas gift from the children (painted Cuirassiers), the painted element of my forces by the start of January will be;

French - 1 line infantry battalion, 1 light infantry battalion, 1 Cuirassier regiment and 1 artillery battery of 2 guns.

Austrian - 1 line infantry battalion and 1 artillery battery of 2 guns.

That amounts to 6 painted units out of the total needed 16 units between the two armies, so not a bad start. 2024, should see the remaining 10 units done, plus command etc. 

Although I have been wanting to do an 1809 project for a while, I didn’t realistically see it as being a ‘real’ thing for the foreseeable future. However the recent hobby clear out and streamlining that has been going on, as outlined in recent posts, has really started to deliver a focus of attention to fewer projects and this is the first tangible reward of all of that.

On the boardgame side of things, where the clear out was even more drastic, the new drive towards ‘series’ type games is likewise being rewarded by a concentration of attention on the Eagles of France system (Hexasim), with a current focus on the Waterloo module in particular. 

So it looks like January will be a napoleonic month ….. but then, I am getting an Alexander the Great boardgame for Christmas - so who knows :-)

One strong aspect of the blog community is the inspiration that others get from a shared game or idea. For this project, I have been spurred on by Iain’s ‘Caveadsum 1471’ blog (link below in the Resource Section), which has recently been highlighting 28mm games on a 6’ x 4’ space, the series exactly touches where I ultimately see my own games going (thanks).

Please note, my next and probably final post of the year, will go up at 5 AM on Christmas Morning. It will be the usual long self indulgent ramble of a year in review and as always, is principally intended as a bit of wargaming distraction for anyone just trying to get through the day, but hopefully will have something for everyone - see you there or thereabouts!

Seasonal greetings to all gamers and readers in this world wide game / blog community. Kind Regards, Norm.

Resource Section.

Iain’s Blog page for a napoleonic game. LINK

https://caveadsum1471.blogspot.com/2023/12/valour-and-fortitude-1809-club-game.html

My sister webspace ‘COMMANDERS’  showcases the various figure and boardgame systems that I am enjoying and gives a flavour of where current projects are up to. Link.

https://commanders.simdif.com