FPW - Battle of Jarny, Opening moves

So on Thursday we commenced our 6th battle of our ongoing campaign. The French IV and XII Corps were tasked with defending the heights above the town of Jarny to keep open a lines of supply. The Bavarian I Corps supported by the XX Division had to seize the town and push the French off of the heights. This would be a tough task for the Prussian forces as they would be outnumbered.

The Bavarian I Corps begins their advance

The French defenders await their foe

Elements of XII Corps begin to exchange fire with Bavarian Jagers

The navy troops of XII Corps begin to advance down the slopes

The Bavarians continue their advance 

Bavarian 1st Division swings around the woods to put pressure on the French IV Corps

Both sides now in rifle range, the fighting begins to intensify 

XII Corps begins to engage the 2nd Bavarian division

Bavarian 2nd Division coming over the hill 

The Bavarians begin to put together a gun line, but it's taking time as the french artillery continually fired at them as they deploy, knocking out one of the batteries.

The French bracing them for the upcoming assault

We managed to get through 4 and half turns, so far it has mainly been french artillery trying to disrupt the Bavarian advance, meanwhile the Bavarian 2nd Division has swung over the hill to engage XII Corps, knocking out 1 regiment and damaging a second. The battle is finally poised for next week.

Spanish Scutari

A quick post as I near the end of the Punic War collection, I just have a few Spaniards to complete. These are the first of two units of Scutari. They are 3d printed from Cromarty forge, Mitch up-skilled them from 10 to 15mm. The spears will hopefully be a bit more robust.

I quite enjoyed painting these and look forward to getting the other unit done. I did notice some excess static grass that I'll need to brush off before I pack them away. I can hopefully finish the last 3 units and can start on my new project.

On Thursday we have our 6th Franco Prussian game, the Battle of Jarny. Looking forward to it.

Gladiators

So I decided to paint up the free sprue from Wargames Illustrated of the Gladiators for the forthcoming Blood in the sands rules. These are nice Wargames Atlantic figures and painted up quite quickly. I also kitbashed a couple of extra Gladiators using some leftover bodies from a Gangs of Rome sprue and the spare arms and helmets.

Trainer and the Lanista

Murmillo and Thraex Gladiators

Kitbashed Murmillo and Thraex Gladiators

These were nice and easy to paint up and brings me up to 22 Gladiators of various types. 

In other news I discovered 4 units of Iberians I can paint up for Midgard, all 3d printed figures which will allow my Carthaginians to cover just about every option. I also came across a batch of some unpainted figures from a project I never got started. I spent the morning prepping them, hopefully a start of a new project.

Libyans and Elves

So in between work and a new puppy, I still managed to get a few things painted up. Firstly was another unit of Libyan javelin men. This brings me up to 4 units and are the last of my Carthaginian figures. These are a mix of Forged in battle and Essex miniatures.

The other figures completed were 4 more of the Oathmark Elven bowmen. These have been sat half done for a number of months so it didn't take much effort to finish. This finally roundouts my Elven force for Warhost.

So now I find myself at a bit of a loose end on what to paint. I do have a few 28mm Gladiators to finish, inspired by the free sprue from Wargames illustrated. I also have a few Spanish to paint up for the Punic Wars, enough for about 4 units, but that is it. So time to have a think on a new project to keep me busy for the rest of the year.

Oscan cavalry and extras

In between work and the new puppy, I did manage to steal a few hours at the weekend to get some painting done. These were two units of Oscan heavy cavalry from Forged in Battle. These nicely round out my Italiotes. Really happy with how these have turned out.

As with all projects, I couldn't help but add some period specific scenery. I picked up a couple of Celtic roundhouses and some Roman tents from Debris of War. I'm quite taken with the idea of adding a temporary Roman marching camp and some north african buildings to add a bit to the Zama layout.

The two buildings and tents were nice and quick to paint up, just successive layers of drybrushing. All I have left for the Punic wars are a few various units of Iberians and some Libyan skirmishers. Though I may add some more Numidians in the future.

Nothing getting painted

So after having a major upturn in my painting output, I've hit the buffers again. This time though it isn't burnout. It is a dog called Milo. This little fella is taking up all of my spare time. Hopefully in a few weeks when he can actually be walked, things will pick back up.

I did though manage to get down to the club for some ww1 naval gaming that Mitch had organised. The rules are 'When dreadnoughts ruled the sea'. They are fun and fast play. I soon discovered that seizing the initiative is key as it gives you the option to either move first or fire first.

I did take a few photos, but not much to see with small ships on a blue background. Not knowing much on the period I simply sailed straight between two of the German fleets. Everyone thought I was nuts, but it seemed to work as I inflicted heavy damage for very little in return. Unfortunately the Germans stole the win as Robbo's fleet took a beating, we lost 3 ships to the Germans 1.

My fleet

The Germans in the distance

Nelson would have been proud of this

Up close and personal gave my smaller guns a fighting chance

Overall a very fun game. The ships are 3d prints supplied by Mitch, I reckon about 1/2400 scale, but could be wrong. Hopefully get another game soon. Meanwhile I'm awaiting some 3d printed Roman and Carthaginian galleys to take our Punic war battles to the sea.

The Romans are done

So I finally completed the last two units I needed for the Romans for Zama, namely two units of Roman trained Numidian infantry. These figures are from Forged in Battle and I really like them, may even pick up some more to expand the Numidians for the Jurguthine War.

I deliberately went for a mix of shield colours to keep them looking more irregular than their Roman counterparts. I even used the two left over figures for a level one commander. The other figures I managed to complete over the weekend were a couple of units of skimishers, Gauls and Libyans and a Gallic commander. These are all Essex miniatures for the skirmishers and 3d printed Cromarty forge figures for the commanders.

So when packing the figures away I decided to get them on the table, more for a gauge on the frontage they will cover, will help Mitch organise the table size we will require for Border Reiver. They squeezed into 5ft, so will probably want a table around 8ft as the Carthaginians will have a longer frontage and gives us a chance to add some scenic items on the periphery. 

Left wing, Numidian allies

Left center, Roman legions

Right center, Roman legions

Right wing, Roman cavalry

So with the Romans done I can look to finish off the Carthaginians as I have some Spanish allies to add and Libyan skirmishers. Then there are a couple of units of Italian heavy cavalry to complete that force. I can then look to get some figures painted up to finish the Epirote army I have. Be handy to get them done and plan some map based campaigns