"Black Powder" - Franco-Prussian War in 28mm

Prussian infantry advance in Franco-Prussian War action. These are 28mm figures from Wargames Foundry.

In the fall of 2017 I started off with a new project - gaming the Franco-Prussian War in 28mm.  When I started, I hoped to collect and paint sufficient figures to play both skirmish-style games and games with formed units.  While I was able to run a skirmish game in March of last year, it has taken a little more time to get enough units assembled to a game using formed units. But I have been (relatively) focused on making progress with this project through most of 2018 and into 2019.  Curt's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge has proven to be an ideal motivational booster. The focus has paid off! I was very excited to run an inaugural game a couple of weeks ago! Here are a few pictures from the evening.

French line along the hills and forest to the left - Prussians advancing on to the table along the top right.

The scenario was for a small encounter battle, set in the very early stages of the war in the summer of 1870. The scenario is very loosely inspired by the Battle of Wissembourg. The Prussians were just beginning to cross the French border in force, and have encountered a small French blocking force.  Being aggressive Prussians, the solution was simple - get to grips with them, and get them out of the way! The French would hold out as long as they could, hoping their comrades would come marching toward the sound of the guns and help out...

The French line is anchored by a battery of muzzle-loading 12-pounders.

Founding Conscript Curt was visiting from Regina, which is always a lot of fun.  Curt and Dallas took command of the Prussian forces - five battalions of regular infantry, a battalion of Jagers, a regiment of dragoons, and two batteries of divisional artillery.  In the event the French resistance proved too stubborn, I also had a little "surprise" mechanism hidden up my sleeve whereby the Prussians could call on their corps artillery to assist with "blockage-removal..."

French Hussars in a blocking position along the road. In the distance, at the top left of the photo, Curt's units can be seen moving to take out that lone French battalion on the hill at the top of the photo.

The stoic French were commanded by Byron and MikeF.  The French forces consisted of three battalions of regular infantry, one battalion of "Turcos", a regiment of Hussars, a battery of 12-pounders and, last but not least, a mitrailleuse battery.

The French senior commanders ponder their situation...

Of course, the rules we used were "Black Powder".  One of the things I enjoy so much about those rules is how easy they are to customize.  When it comes to unit stats, I find Black Powder puts too many dice in the combat columns and not enough in the firepower columns.  Particularly in a conflict defined to a large extent by the performance of rifles like the French Chassepot, I wanted the players to be shooting (and, subsequently, for the Prussians to realize that the French rifles are awesome...). But with a great set of rules like "Black Powder", that's an easy fix... 

Dallas' Prussians take up position and engage the French line in a hot firefight...it is a tough go, as the French rifles were blazing.

So, boom, adjustments to the statistics were made - units overall had more firepower, but the French in particular had even more, while the Prussians had  extra stamina to reflect their larger-sized units and general willingness of their officers to happily plow them forward into the teeth of heavy fire...I also made a few tweaks to make the French Turcos to be rock-hard - by all accounts, they performed as such during the war. So they were ranked as "Elite", able to shake off "disorder" with a successful dice roll.

French battalion in position in the woods...Curt's Prussians are eyeing up that exposed flank...

French troops try to do their duty for the Second Empire!

The French forces occupied a line of hills and a wood covering an important road.  The Prussians would move on to the table on turn one, and look to bludgeon their way past these gallic upstarts... 

Curt moves to take the French flank, but the fire of the Chassepot rifles takes near-immediate effect...

Battle was joined! Things opened, naturally, with some command blunders on the Prussian side which saw Dragoons ignore instructions to threaten the French flank and instead simply wander on to the table and get in everyone's way.  Dallas moved his brigade forward to the cover offered by a walled road, and began trading fire with the French battalions on the ridge.

The French Mitrailleuse battery hammers away at the advancing Prussians.

Despite the wanderings of the Dragoons, the French flank was still a touch vulnerable, and Curt was determined to roll it up, so he sent an infantry battalion on a flank advance instead.  They would suffer heavily at the hands of French rifle fire as they advanced.

French battalion takes position to cover a gap in the line...

The Prussians brought their artillery to bear, and it started to have an effect on the French.  Curt managed to get an assault home, taking a French battalion in the flank and sweeping them from the table. Even as Chassepot and Mitrailleuse volleys took several Prussian units to the brink, and even broke one or two of them, the French line finally gave way on the sixth turn.  Fittingly the Turcos, who had ignored nearly every hit they took, and routinely dispensed with any disorder status thanks to their elite ranking (and MikeF's amazing dice rolls), were the final French unit still on the table - they would have covered the withdrawal...

The stars of the game, the French Turcos...

MikeF shook off nearly every hit from rifle fire and every "disorder" that came up...these guys were not in a mood to give ground...

Oh man, it was just great to see this game played! I had a ton of fun running it, and I hope the guys enjoyed it too.  One takeaway from the game that I will need to adjust for next time is the rate at which "disorder" occurs - because I significantly increased the rate of firing, I also materially increased the odds of a "6" being rolled in shooting, so it was tough for the Prussian infantry to keep moving.  In many ways, this is "historical", in the sense that the French rifle fire was murderous, but the Prussian players should at least have a chance to keep moving, and so I will likely make some adjustments to the "disorder" rate. But otherwise, "Black Powder" was fantastic - indeed, the ease of adjustment and customization is one of its greatest strengths as a rules set, and this game showed that once more.

Another view of the action from the road...casualties starting to pile up on the Prussian side...but they are victorious in the end!

While my 28mm Franco-Prussian war collection is still modest, at least we now have the basics for a game, and of course I will continue to add units here and there to "round out" the collection, allowing for some larger games in the future.  Big thanks to Curt for visiting, and to Dallas, Byron and MikeF for coming out to play - I hope they enjoy this new period as much as I do!

Painting Challenge Entry Number Nine - 28mm Franco-Prussian War Artillery and Infantry

28mm Franco-Prussian War figures from Wargames Foundry.

My ninth submission to Curt's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge returns to a consistent recent historical theme - more Franco-Prussian War material! There is some more artillery for the Prussians, but we also switch over the French side, with an infantry unit for the French Empire. These are 28mm figures from Wargames Foundry's Franco-Prussian War range, sculpted by the Perry brothers.

Prussian Reserve Artillery

Ready to fire! Prussian reserve artillery in 28mm.

I had already done one artillery piece for the Prussians during this edition of the Challenge, and had not expected to ad a second.  But the gang at Wargames Foundry, while generally very nice, have this way of screwing up orders a touch (and also not replying to email, but I digress...).  In an order received last year, I found this Krupp gun in the box, even though I had not ordered it. Its packing code is quite similar to that of some figures I did order, but did not receive...

The crew figures are spares from other guns.

Anyway, we got it all sorted eventually. This is different from the other Prussian artillery I have painted for the FPW setting, as this is one of the larger 90mm guns that would have been part of the Prussian's Corps-level artillery reserve.

The finest product of Krupp's foundries...

The Prussian artillery - rifled, breech-loading guns - was very, very effective in 1870, and this 90mm piece barely qualifies as a black powder-era weapon.  I had planned to basically have reserve artillery be off-table for my 28mm games of "Black Powder".

The basket seats on the gun carriage make me chuckle...certainly a unique look.

But a free model is a free model! I had spare Prussian crew from the other guns, so I thought I would throw it together.  I'm sure we'll find a use for it on the gaming table - even just as a marker to show the game is about to be over as the Prussian Corps artillery is about to open fire...

78th Ligne

The 78th Ligne, ready to take their place in the French battle line.

And finally, we get back to the French! I just love the French uniforms from this period, really a central motivation inspiring me to get into this setting in the first place.  While I like painting the Prussians, really I am painting the Prussians just so I can paint the French!

Incredible detail on these wonderful 28mm sculpts from Wargames Foundry.

I just love the whole presentation - the red kepis, the baggy red trousers, the epaulettes, the blue coats...wow! What a great uniform - and this is the uniform of the regular troops!

NCO exhorts his troops as they prepare their deadly Chassepot rifles...

As with the other formed units I have painted, there are 24 figures in the unit. I'm doing relatively small numbers of castings in these units in order to allow for a bit more of them on a normal size table, and to make the overall goal of a "Black Powder" game more realistically achievable.  20 of the figures are used to represent the main unit, with four individually-based figures available to represent a mixed formation where a portion of the unit is deployed as a skirmish screen.

Individually-based figures used to mark out/represent skirmish screen to the front of the unit. 

The 78th Ligne was present at the opening battle of the Franco-Prussian War, Wissembourg, which would see a French division hold through most of a day against elements of a Bavarian and several Prussian corps.  The flag was printed out from Warflags (I have yet to find a source of French flags for the Franco-Prussian War - if someone knows of one, please leave a comment).

It's great to be painting some 28mm FPW French again, and I am getting closer and closer toward being able to run a small game of "Black Powder" using these formed units! I hope to have more FPW stuff painted as the Painting Challenge goes through its second month...

Painting Challenge Submission Seven - 10mm Franco-Prussian War

Selection of 10mm Franco-Prussian war figures - mostly from Pendraken, but a few from Magister Millitum.

My seventh submission to Curt's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge touched on a familiar theme - more Franco-Prussian war stuff, but this time in a different scale - these are some 10mm-sized figures.

When I dive into a period, I tend to overdo it.  Different scales of games give both different gaming options on the table (bigger battles vs. smaller skirmishes) and different painting & collecting challenges, a chance to experience a different "look".  One big draw for this period is the marvellous uniforms, I just love painting them, and only 28mm-sized castings, in my opinion, truly do these great uniforms justice.

At the same time, 28mm-sized figures bring a number of gaming limitations, namely a very limited ability to represent the main battles on the table.  The key encounters in the Franco-Prussian war were very large, multi-corps-per-side affairs.  I could settle in and paint only 28mm figures from this period and nothing else for years and still not crank out enough castings to represent all of the units for a major battle. And even if I did that anyway, well, no regular table would give a chance to hold all of that stuff for a game in 28mm - it would have to be huge.

So while I am excited to do 28mm "Black Powder" games (which would represent small parts of much larger battles), the only chance I will ever have to try to give the fellows a truly large battle will go to the smaller scales - 10mm or 6mm. I'm still primarily interested in 28mm, but I puttered around trying out both 10mm and 6mm in between painting rounds, but found that in this case 10mm was the winner, in particular the sculpts from Pendraken.

Last spring I painted up a few units of basic 10mm infantry to try and get a feel for painting in the scale, and just to see if I would enjoy it. I did! Now, with Curt's Painting Challenge under way again, and since I have all of the paints I use for Franco-Prussian War figures handy, I have been working on more 10mm stuff.  I have been painting it sort of "on the side of the table", doing a few here-and-there while something else dries etc.  After a few weeks of this now, I thought it would do for a submission, particularly as I don't have anything else to show for this week...

I am intending to try the "1871" rules by Bruce Weigle.  While some of the rules mechanics seem a bit bolshy to me (simultaneous movement? uh...ok...) the books themselves are a must-have for anyone interested in the period, as the research and planning he has put into the scenarios and force lists alone make these so, so worth your time.

In the basic "1871" rules, one base represents a battalion of infantry, two squadrons or cavalry, or one artillery battery.  Command figures are mounted one, two or three to a base depending on seniority. For bases I just used the handy "Flames of War" sized ones I have from Warbases, as they were on hand, and I have a lot of them already!

Prussian artillery, three batteries - sculpts from Magister Millitum

Prussian artillery, three more batteries - sculpts from Pendraken.

So in this submission there are six batteries of guns, a decent down-payment on the artillery complement of a Prussian Corp (a Prussian Corp typically had four batteries per division, as well as an artillery reserve with six or so batteries of the heavy stuff).  Among the guns are three from Magister Millitum - also fine 10mm sculpts, although on this range I have to give the edge to Pendraken.

Prussian Dragoons in 10mm - figures from Pendraken.

Two bases together represent a regiment

The cavalry are Prussian Dragoons, the two stands together representing a regiment.

Tremendous sculpts from Pendraken. Outstanding quality.

The officer is also a Magister Millitum casting (came with the guns).

Mounted Prussian officer from Magister Millitum - a fine sculpt, but I do prefer Pendraken's work in this area.

There is a unit of Prussian Jagers - this would represent the single Jager battalion attached to each Prussian Corp.

Prussian Jagers in 10mm

A splash of green among the green.

And I haven't ignored the French completely, honest! Here is a unit of French Chasseurs.  One battalion of Chasseurs was attached to each French division.

French Chasseurs in 10mm.

The single base will represent a battalion in the "1871" rules.

Of course, rules like "Black Powder" are very flexible, so there are many different rules sets under which these 10mm chaps could be pushed around the table. And "1871" can also be scaled up and down (so that one base of infantry would be regiment, or conversely, two bases could represent a battalion etc).  But, for now, I at least plan to try "1871" at some point. Even at smaller scales, large numbers of castings are needed - there were some big scraps in the Franco-Prussian war, so will call for lots of castings.

Thus, while 28mm will remain my main focus for this period, doing a few 10mm figures here-and-there throughout my painting sessions has been fun and I plan to continue that throughout the Challenge this year. With luck, it will bring a few more units like this to the table.

And will I try painting this period in 15mm too, just to see what it looks like? Yeah...probably...I'm bad for that...

This gave me another 74 points toward my goal of 1200 "points" of painting in Curt's Painting Challenge.  I'm almost half-way to my goal!

Painting Challenge Submission Six: Prussian Artillery for Franco-Prussian War

Prussian artillery from 1870, 28mm figures from Wargames Foundry.

My sixth submission to Curt's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge was modest, but progress is progress and I'm pleased to be making more, even if it is just a bit.  This is a Prussian artillery piece from 1870 for my ongoing Franco-Prussian War project. The figures are all 28mm from the Wargames Foundry range.

Artillery was THE decisive arm for the Prussians in the war against France in 1870-71. In terms of small-arms, the French Chassepot rifle was the class of the period.  But the French artillery enjoyed no such advantage. The French artillery was obsolescent and plagued by things like dud fuses. On the other hand, while the Prussian infantry rifles were greatly out-classed by their French opponents, the Prussian artillery arm was kitted out with the latest-and-greatest of the era: steel breech-loading rifled artillery.  Manufactured by Krupp, the Prussian guns of 1870 were far more deadly and useful than the pieces of the French Imperial Army. The Prussian army made full use of this advantage during their invasion of France, and did so aggressively.

While painting artillery is far from my favourite activity, I do love the 28mm figures from Wargames Foundry.

Once in place, Prussian guns could easily wipe out the French batteries with fast and accurate counter-battery fire.  The gunners could then turn their attention to the main French lines, and blast whole regiments into dust. It was all rather dreadful for the French, who would slow and halt Prussian attacks with their magnificent Chassepot rifles, only to see a key artillery bombardment open a critical hole in their lines that aggressive Prussians would exploit. A devastating artillery bombardment helped the Prussians to win the battle at Gravelotte-St. Privat, shattering the French right and turning what had certain defeat into a grim but critical victory.

Bit of a stretch to have these on a table in 28mm, but whatever - they will look cool, that is what counts.

These guns so greatly outperform the cannons of the "Black Powder" era that having them on the table as models at all is a bit of a bodge, particularly with 28mm-sized castings. But it is a bodge I am prepared to make just so we can have a more complete, all-arms game of some sort of the table. The gun & crew will represent a battery of Krupp guns.  The Prussian side of my collection now has two of these, an ominous sign for anyone wishing to play the French when the time comes...

Excellent animation in the castings.

"French sighted - fire!"

This submission worked out to 30 "points" worth of painting (my goal for the whole Challenge is 1200).  Not a whole lot in one week, but as I said, progress is progress, and I am very much hoping to keep making progress on this project. I really dislike painting artillery, so it is great that I am getting these things finished and out of the way, bringing a first game that much closer...

Painting Challenge 2018-19, First Entry - Franco-Prussian War 28mm

28mm castings from Wargames Foundry's Franco-Prussian War range.

Greetings and holiday well-wishes to all out there! I hope everyone has had, or is having, a chance to relax, enjoy some spirituous beverages and time with friends and family. 

Of course, when Christmas comes, another annual tradition arrives with it - the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge, overseen by our friend Curt in Regina. Through the winter the participants in the Challenge tackle their respective piles/mountains/hoards of unpainted lead and plastic gaming figures and models. You receive points related to the volume of work you complete, and while it has a sense of a contest, since you set your own points target, it is really a race against yourself :)

There is also a well established tradition of "side-duels", competitions among sub-groups of Challenge participants to focus on a particular scale/setting/points target, what-have-you.  This year I have joined in a side duel to paint as much stuff from GW as possible. Given the...substantial accumulation of 30k stuff which has built up over the past little while, I'm hoping this ninth edition of the Challenge will spur completion of new forces for my 30k collection. 

With that said, my first entry to the Ninth Edition of the Challenge goes nowhere near the year 30,000.  Rather it picks up from a theme from my body of work in the last edition of the Challenge, and a recurring theme on this blog for different stints over the past 16 months - namely the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 in 28mm.

It was just over a year ago that I plunged into this period and setting, tempted by the amazing uniforms, cast of characters and compelling setting I found reading about the period.  I have pursued this project at two different "levels" - a collection of individually-based 28mm figures for skirmish gaming, and a collection of 28mm figures based in groups to represent battalions/regiments with the goal of, at some point, playing a small battle using the "Black Powder" rules.  The items in this submission are part of the latter effort - two command bases for the Prussian forces, and an artillery piece for the Imperial French Army.  The figures are all from Wargames Foundry's excellent collection, which was sculpted by the Perrys.

French Artillery

French 12-pound artillery piece and crew from 1870 in 28mm. 

The Franco-Prussian war occurred at the very end of the "Black Powder" period.  Rifles and artillery were starting to achieve much longer effective ranges on the battlefield, such that having artillery on the table for a 28mm-scaled game is a bit of a stretch.

Nice animation on the gunner figure, ready with the lanyard. 

Or, at least it is for the Prussians, perhaps. Not so much for the French. This French 12-pound piece with four crew looks like a formidable weapon, but the French artillery, particularly in the opening "Imperial Phase" of the Franco-Prussian War, was ineffective-bordering-on-useless.  Time had passed these muzzle-loading pieces by. Toss in the dud fuses, lack of percussion-triggered shells etc. and you have yet another chapter to add to the "All The Sh*t That Went Wrong In 1870" book for the French.

Great sculpts from the Perrys...little things, like the one crewman with the rag wrapped around his head, an example of the great stuff you see in Perry castings. 

The uniforms of the French gunners bear a striking resemblance to the uniforms of the Union Army in the US civil war - the blue cloth, the kepis...thankfully the gaiters set them a touch apart, as does (I hope) the red piping on the pants and kepi.

"Vive l'Empereur!" (sadly, basically a flag with the word "bang" will be all that happens...if they are lucky....

This piece will represent a French battery on the gaming table, perhaps getting one or two shots away before the Prussian breech-loading guns blast it to vapour.


Prussian Command

Like the most "Black Powder" players, I usually represent commanders on round bases - the more figures on the base, the more senior level of command being represented. There are two bases, and two levels of command represented here in this entry.

"Over there sir!"

The mounted officer, based together with a foot officer, will represent a "Brigade" commander for the Prussians ("Brigade" in the general, Black-Powder-Rules sense, not necessarily an actual brigade).  It is fairly similar to another command base I painted in October - there is only one casting for the mounted Prussian officer in the Foundry collection, so I use different foot officers to give some variety.

"You know, from up here on my saddle, I really don't think that is such a big deal..."

I like the combination here - the infantry officer is pretty animated, gesturing with his sword (like, "The French are dug into the ridge straight ahead!"), while the senior commander is fairly indifferent to whatever information is being relayed ("Don't bother me with excuses. Forward!"). It strikes me as a nice encapsulation of the command attitude that sent a sizeable portion of the Prussian Army into the teeth of the French Chassepot rifles during the battle of St. Privat (which, of course, the French still found a way to lose, but anyway).

Prussian high command vignette from Wargames Foundry.

The larger round base with the three figures and the table will represent the "Army" commander for the Prussian side in my "Black Powder" game.  Again, I love the spirit conveyed by these castings - the senior officer has reviewed the latest dispatches brought in from the cavalry scouts (the fellow in green is a Hussar).  He is utterly perplexed - surely the French couldn't be doing...that? Better smoke my pipe and think it over while my ADC (the Uhlan rocking the long red coat) deals with this messenger.

"Latest dispatch from the front sir!"

Overall I continue to absolutely love this period.  The sculpts from Wargames Foundry - cast in proper metal, like all real, true and honourable wargaming figures should be - are an absolute joy to paint.  The high-command vignette in particular was a treat - I love the beard on that senior officer! It's so serious, it almost made me think it could have been the Prussian King himself - but there are no Iron Crosses or other frippery on the figure, so I expect he represents another one of the senior Prussian echelons instead of a royal persona.  The pose, chilling with his pipe, with the awesome table, covered in dispatches, a Prussian picklehaube and a sabre...just brilliant, great stuff from the Perrys.

"But where are those lattes we asked for? Are we in France, or not?"

In terms of points, this submission was good for 62 of them - a small downpayment toward my target of 1200 points worth of work to complete before the spring of 2019 arrives.  While I will continue to share work here of course, you can track my efforts (and those of two other Conscripts - Byron and Mike F - Byron already has two excellent submissions) over at the Challenge blog. Marvel at the scope, breadth and diversity of entries, as well as the bonkers skills of the many participants - they are a fun bunch!

Cheers for now! If I'm going to do a GW-themed side duel, I suppose I best get on with a few GW models...stay tuned...

Prussian Jaegers for the Franco-Prussian War of 1870

28mm Prussian Jaegers for the Franco-Prussian War from Wargames Foundry.

My painting efforts this fall have been fixed primarily on GW's 30k/40k setting, driven in particular by the launch of the re-booted "Adeptus Titanicus".  But my 28mm Franco-Prussian war project still grinds on in the background! In between bouts of building and painting new Titan models, I would be sure to paint a few Prussians - just to keep in practice, and to help move that project ever-closer to the finish line.  The few figures here-and-there over the past month have finally added up to another unit for the collection - Prussian Jaegers.  

Newest Prussian recruits on maneuvers in my kitchen...

These are 28mm castings from Wargames Foundry, sculpted by the excellent Perry Brothers. They are just lovely castings to paint.  As with the other formed units I have been painting for this project, there are 24 castings in total - 20 in the formed unit, and four individually-based models to be placed on the table when the unit is maneuvering in a mixed-order formation with a skirmish screen to the front.

Love the splash of green for the Prussian ranks!

I had previously painted some 28mm Jaegers previously for the skirmishing portion of my 1870 collection, but these fellows represent the first "formed" unit for my collection.  

My recollections on the Prussian OOBs of 1870 are a touch fuzzy, but I believe each Prussian corps included a battalion of Jaegers.  I won't be doing any corps-sized games in this scale, but I still I wanted to include one in the force to give the Prussians a dash of a different colour among the ranks - some nice green to break up the waves of blue. I also like the old-school-ish look provided by the shakos - these troops have a bit of a Napoleonic look and feel to them still. 

A bit of variety among the poses.  The Officer certainly seems calm and cool, while the musician is giving it his all with the horn! 

The individually-based models out front are used to represent a skirmish screen. 

My goal remains the same - to play a game of Black Powder set in Franco-Prussian war using formed units.  It won't be one of the major engagements or anything like that, but rather a smaller scenario, enough for the gang on Thursday night to have some fun. The Prussian side of that plan is coming together nicely, as the collection now includes six formed infantry units, an artillery piece, and a unit of Dragoons (which could be split into two smaller units on the table). That's a fair amount of bits to take the Prussian side in a small but engaging game, particularly if we engage in some "recycling" of units.  A few more command figures, and the Prussians will be ready to go. 

My collection of Wargames Foundry Prussians to date...

Over on the French side of the ledger, I still have only two formed units of infantry painted - indeed, the first figures I painted when I started this project last year - and a lone Mitrailleuse. Certainly the Franco-Prussian war went very badly for the French, and any scenario we attempt would want to reflect this, but it would be a bit much to expect this small group to hold out against the Prussian lot.  The next edition of Curt's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge is approaching, and I hope to use the Challenge to dive back into the French side of things once again.