Two entire armies - done!

Hello all - more 2mm ACW stuff which I've knocked into order. The rebel army has been rebased, and now stands at a pretty respectable level. I'm thinking of going for a corps as represented by between three to five 'units' in Black Powder, which means each individual 'unit' represents about two or three brigades. Incidentally this means each of the 20mm by 10mm bases used to make up a unit equates to one brigade. I've done the Rebels in three corps of infantry, plus one of cavalry, to represent Lee's army in the Wilderness, right at the start of the huge Overland Campaign of 1864. In total, thirty-four infantry brigades, seven cavalry brigades and nine artillery 'battalions' of corps-level guns. Below is a view of some of the troops, plus some terrain I've found - some stretches of trenchworks and a pair of large redoubts - pretty much essential for refighting the Overland campaign. Although these were bought from Irregular Miniatures some years ago, making your own should be intensely easy.

Here is the Union, which I have also managed to represent in it's entirety. Four infantry corps, plus one cavalry. 41 Brigades of infantry, seven cavalry, plus about ten artillery 'batteries' of corps-artillery. And wagon-trains, camps, and supply dumps, naturally.

I also had a go at adding a bit of 'detail' to the infantry, and had to give up almost straight away. If you're trying to vary the grey ranks with browns of various shades, your efforts become completely invisible even at a few inches' distance. Only bold colours have a chance, such as in the photo below. On a whim, I coloured one Confederate corps commander in red, to represent A.P. Hill's notorious habit of wearing a red 'battle-shirt' when he led his men into a fight. At least 'Lil' Powell' will stand out!

Here's a few of those Union 'tail' formations behind the fighting troops. I tend to plough mounds of spare units, wagons, riders, cavalry troops, and tents onto all army HQ bases, to represent the chaos at a large staff-base. The Union tends to have more tents, just as a gesture towards their larger numbers and better supplies. In the background to this photo, you can also see Sheridan's troopers in the US Cavalry corps, ready to tear up some railway tracks.

2mm Extravaganza!

If you've not read it, I'd advise reading the blog 'Steel on Sand' for a good resource-pile relating to 2mm - for my money, one of the most routinely under-rated scales in wargaming. While my Wars of the Roses painting rumbles on, and my ACW campaign is on hold while I write up my campaign history (book-keeping - in real life, and in the hobby, it gets everywhere!) so I've taken my inspiration from it and dug out some old 2mm figures to see what I have. Turns out: far more than I realised! I have several armies of Horse & Musket kicking around in various states, so I thought I'd pick one to illustrate:

Take the above, for example - a full Confederate army in 2mm. I'd based it for DBA or something similar, but now with the excellent Black Powder rules in my hands, I'm thinking of converting it over to bases half this size.

Above are some Rebel infantry, which show the uneven and half-completed paint job I got through. Some units have little face-dots and stars-and-bars flags, while others are grey basecoats and no more. The above even has some rear-line regiments fashioned experimentally out of matchsticks. This may sound mad, but once painted and viewed from over the 'two-foot rule' distance, they are virtually indistinguishable from the moulded lead ones! To the front, a Corps commander plus his staff have a base of their own.

Here is a close-up on the cavalry, which includes Jeb Stuart and some light horse-artillery. The troopers themselves are modelled as a dismounted scrum of skirmishers (the collective noun?) to the fore, and a clutch of tethered horses to the rear. Looking at the photo, I've walked round the table and photographed them from behind - D'oh!

Now up to more refined levels - Army headquarters! the right shows the reserve artillery park of batteries, most of which are to be attached to the infantry corps. On the left is the HQ camp of R. E. Lee, with staffers, tents, hangers-on and even a little wagon. Behind it is the army supply base of yet more tents and such. One of the best things about 2mm is that you can model not just the fighting edge of an army, but the 'tail' as well, which can add a real extra dimension to large-level campaign games. (Plus, having it pillaged by enemy cavalry is a pain in the backside!)

Some close-up views of Johnny Reb. I feel like adding some variety to the uniforms, by putting in some splashes of browns and such - they're too neat and uniform! Each little 'unit' is a strip of a formed body of troops, forwarded by a skirmish line. I originally based them as 20mm by 10mm units, but then glued them together for DBA into 40mm by 20mm (as shown here.) For Black Powder I'll probably revert back, and a BP unit (probably around a brigade-sized outfit, at this scale) will consist of two 20mm x 10mm bases. This way they can go side-by-side for line formation, or back-to-back for a column. By converting scales I reckon they will move at about 2" a 'move' order and have a range of 4" for rifled muskets. At that scale, I can probably fight a battle on a small table or use a large one for effectively doing a series of battles - the entire Seven Days' battles on your dinner table?

Battle of Treffenwasser

Right, time for a battle posting! First out the traps are my 2mm Napoleonics, as the fate of Central Europe gets decided between France and it’s Confederation allies, versus the Sixth Coalition of Russia, Prussia and Austria. For this, I’m giving my first full-scale trial for the ‘Table Top Battles’ rules set, by Mike & Joyce Smith. Here's the battlefield:

Ah, such bucolic bliss! The French will be entering from the south, and they plan to mass their strength on hte left and centre, using the more broken hilly & wooded ground for their attack, reducing their lack of decent cavalry (this is 1813, after all!) Forcing ahead, the notion is to protect their right flank, while their left and centre chop through the allied lines.

Allied plans however focus on the open ground, where they plan to have their line swing on the pivot of the large hill in their centre, where they'll mass their artillery. With their superior numbers they should catch the French in a salient right under the allied grand batteries, where they can be cracked like a nut.

The allied lines

Allied GHQ (mounted on a penny, almost as high as the Grosshugel!)

Napoleon on his white horse, inspecting the Imperial Guard

(those with red tops to their black bearskins)

Turn 1 - a general French advance, while the allies move only on their left. The allies throw out some skirmishers to the Jagerwald on the extreme west of the battlefield, while the French similarly move all their cavalry to the Osthugel, hoping to distract the allied advance.

French cavalry on the Osthugel have a less-than-encouraging view of the oncoming allied masses!

Turn 2 - the French advance further, and minor clashes break out - those skirmishers in the Jagerwald hold up the French attack on the extreme left, while the allied advance on the French right has occupied the large Grandwald woods.

Turn 3 - the allies' advance has battered the French cavalry on the Osthugel, as the fire of the infantry and superior quality of the Allied horse quickly tell. The French, seeing the doomed horsemen are too isolated, refuse their flank in front of the Sudwald to present a solid obstacle to the allies. Infuriatingly, French infantry on the left prove unwilling to charge headlong into the Jagerwald to clear out the allied skirmishers, as the fire of the light infantry keeps on forcing the superior French columns back before they can close.

Turn 4 - just as the allies wheel their attacking left-wing to face directly westwards, the French attack explodes forward! With two bases pinned down at (and yet again failing to take) the Jagerwald, three infantry plough forward, hit the allied line and smash it! The attack can be seen below, immediately before impact, just to the west of the Grosshugel.

the allied nutcracker is swinging into place though, and the allied monarchs watch as Russian infantry descends from the Grosshugel and Austrian/Prussian troops come west out of the Grandwald. The French line is bent at right angles, but still fighting on!

Close-up of the French attack - the Austrian cavalry recoiled from their fire, but the Austrian infantry was destroyed! On the left, the still-defiant Jagerwald can be seen, and the right shows the hotly-disputed Nordwald.

Blucher watches from the Grandwald.

Turn 5 - I've added a yellow line to denote the front-line, now it's less apparent! The French try and flank the grand batteries on the Grosshugel, and move up the Guard to finish the job. The allies' left wing finally descends and engages the French right - just as well, as the French centre held up to the initial allied assault.

Jagerwald finally begins to give way, as the Imperial Guard pass the wood and satisfyingly prove their worth - their fire onto the wood causes half of the allied skirmishers to recoil and flee.

The allied left wing, facing off with the French right, between Sudwald and Grandwald.

Turn 6 - The allied grand-battery swings round to face the French attack, which has made little headway into a storm of defensive fire. Elsewhere, the Allied assault now hits with piledriver force - the French centre has been forced back into Sudwald, where it takes heavy losses. Similarly, the French extreme-right has been turned as the allies bring cavalry and infantry to bear at once, collapsing the French resistance.

French Imperial Guard (in the middle of the picture) were heading obliquely to attack the Grosshugel, but can they storm the Allied bulwark before the rest of the line collapses?

Turn 7 - For one heart-stopping moment, it seems the answer is... No! Allied troops burst through the shattered French left, with Austrians now flanking the defenders of the Sudwald and one unit of Prussian infantry even thrusting daringly into the French rear! Napoleon himself, at his headquarters near Treffenwasser, gets a shock as his infantry need to rush to his protection! Luckily, a single base of Guardsmen is able to destroy the rash Prussian spearhead.

Turn 7 - An overview. The Jagerwald has been finally cleared and the defenders compelled to fall back, but the front-line now rages on the western slopes of the Grosshugel. Imperial Guardsmen and line infantry storm some batteries but can't get onto the hilltop. Russian infantry take the Nordwald and advance in the centre, while the disarrayed remains of the French left try to cling on in the Sudwald while Napoleon batters a new line together around Treffenwasser itself. Each side has virtually no reserves left - surely the end must come soon!

Turn 8 - Napoleon rushes the single base of his Guard in the south to try and hold his extreme right, and orders an all-out counterattack elsewhere. The Guard press on again at the Grosshugel and Nordwald, while the reformed French line advances back to the Sudwald.

The Guard hold the French extreme-right flank, even against the masses of Allied cavalry. What spectacular soldiery! Both Blucher and Marshal Ney look on approvingly.

Turn 9 - Sensing the allies are off-balance, the French press on their last desperate assault. The Imperial Guard drive off and destroy the allied guns, but can't get on to the Grosshugel. Tirailleurs retake the Nordwald and rout the allied infantry, while the French under Ney re-occupy the Sudwald and the exhausted allied infantry before them cracks and flees.

End positions - with almost all their infantry gone, the allies are spent and casualties are rapidly mounting as the day goes on.

Allied HQ cancedes defeat, and rapidly withdraws behind the Russian Guards' protection.

French rejoicing at Napoleon's headquarters - Vive l'Empereur!

What a tightly-run affair! A french victory snatched from the jaws of defeat, and each side looked like it was going to storm to victory several times. I'll put in my conclusion & roundup shortly, but for now it's champagne all round!

2mm Napoleonics

Ages ago, through reading the 'Horse Foot & Guns' rules, I had the inspiration to buy a vast amount of 2mm Irregular Miniatures troops, to recreate some major Napoleonic battles. Too many, it turned out, as painting was a nightmare and the hwole thing dropped away. However, I've now refreshed the whole thing and turned a neglected old tin of lead and card into a smaller, fresher army - or so I thought.

I rebased them, painted and/or repainted them all, and had quite the little powerhouse of a French and Allied army pairing - at least, that was how I remembered it! I was intending to post a quick battle report from these 2mm figures, only to have it dawn on me at the last minute that I'd finished the French but not the Allied force. D'oh! Once more, back to the painting table...