Färdiga!

According the Google translate “färdiga” means “finished”, and finished this Swedo-Finnish army is…well apart from the generals, so maybe it should be “nästan färdig” (again consulting the gospel according to  Google this means “almost finished”  - apologies to any Swedish speakers if this has an incorrect or offensive meaning). As I type this I thought I could have been really smart and said “Finnished!” I always seem to think of the smart comments after the fact.

The final unit in the Swedish Napoleonic collection is the Tavastehus Infantry Regiment. Recruited from Tavastehus County (Hämeenlinna in Finnish), an inland region immediately north of  modern day Helsinki, it could trace its ancestry back to 1626. The regiment participated in the Thirty Years' War in Pomerania, and in Charles X Gustav's Polish War in 1655. In the Great Northern War it first garrisoned Riga then Viborg, surrendering to the Russians when that fortress fell in 1710. 

The regimental colours

Reformed, the regiment operated in the southeastern section of Finland and was later involved in the Norwegian Campaign of 1718. In 1741 it was engaged with Russia in the Hats War (that although it would make an interesting background for a campaign was not fought over hats, but was named after the Swedish Hats political party who sought to recover land lost in the Great Northern War) and fought at the Battle of Lappeenranta. It fought the Russians again in Gustav III's Russian War in 1788–1790. 

In 1792 the regiment was expanded, incorporating the Uusimaa and Hämeenlinna dragoon regiments. It was heavily involved in the Finnish War of 1807-09, fighting in most of the early battles, but surrendered along with most of the Finnish Army at Kalix in March 1809. At the conclusion of the war the regiment was disbanded.

Above are the two battalions: the first on the left, the second on the right.

A full army parade will follow when time permits.

More Prussian Guns

Another couple of light gun set rolled out of the arsenal over the weekend to join the Second Field Division, 7th Field Artillery Regiment. I have managed a little bit of variety by exchanging a couple of figures within the sets.

Loading the gun…

Firing the gun…

Both guns together…

All four guns completed to date together…

The Battle for the Crossroads.

We finally managed to gather the clan for a game (bar one player who came down with the plague yesterday). The most pleasing thing was that our host, who has been very ill for the last couple of months, was able to join us (and did so in full uniform for the occasion).

The scenario was an American Civil War game titled “Take the Crossroads”, although the crossroads themselves were of no particular importance other than the convergence of the roads in the area. The Confederates have moved to flank the Union Army and their force of three infantry divisions and a cavalry division converged on the crossroads before forming and striking the enemy flank off to the north.

First contact is west of the crossroads where a force of Union cavalry of divisional strength has been encountered by a Confederate infantry division advancing from the west. Further Confederate forces (a cavalry division and two infantry divisions) are approaching along the road from the south, the cavalry leading, but they are still some distance away from the crossroads. Three Union infantry divisions were racing to support their cavalry and were to be expected to approach along the roads to the north and northeast. 

Above is a very rough sketch map of the terrain that was largely open. The dashed lines represent wooden fences, although this is not the exact positioning of the fences. All of the buildings were small farmhouses, not big defensive positions, and at best they can hold one skirmish stand (1 firing die). There are some clumps of trees and areas of scrub that will be disordering to troops, will block line of sight, but will not provide cover. The hills are gentle.

I not am going to try to describe the sequence of events. Instead I will simply  provide a host of images, in no particular order.

In the end it was a draw, perhaps slightly in the Confederate favour, but it kept nine of us happily and out of mischief on a miserably wet Sunday. I am sure my friend Keith at Bydand Blog will have a a view of the game from his side of the table.