9e Demi-Brigade de Bataille - the French in Egypt Project Concludes.

Formed here in demi-brigade mass, arranged left to right 1st, 2nd and 3rd Battalions, the 9e Demi-Brigade de Bataille in its scarlet jackets with green facings completes the French in Egypt project in its entirety – the main collection and the expansion.

The figure count for this project is significant - 385 foot figures, 61 mounted, 9 guns and 5 limbers.

And so to the a project plan, well it is pretty much on target, in fact slightly ahead of schedule.

French Horse Artillery Limber

I love this limber set. It is the second one that I have done for this French in Egypt project.

It is such a heavy piece that it requires something stronger than my usual cardboard bases. Last time I used a piece of hardboard and was horrified when it warped when I applied the basing material – thankfully I was able to correct the warping. This time I used a grained timber base.

 

Several months ago we replaced some wooden blinds in our kitchen and to my delight the cedar slats of the old blinds were 45mm wide – slightly narrower than the size I use for my artillery bases but near enough nonetheless – so being a good wargamer I squirreled a few away out of sight of prying eyes that would never understand just why it is so important to hold on to these little gems for future projects. The base worked perfectly and there is no warping.

Also, today we played 15mm a WWII game with the Italians facing off against the Soviets. I didn't take many images of this game so I will leave it to my friend Keith to provide a full description on his blog  (https://1808534.blogspot.com). Below are the few shots that I did take of our glorious Italian troops advancing, before ot all went wrong...and the last image is an excellent example of what went wrong - three hits on vehicles with anything but a "1" to save....Well at least the Italian airforce destroyed the   railway station that was our primary objective. It is just a shame that our whole fighting force was destroyed in the process!

French Horse Artillery

After the delight of painting the  first French horse artillery team I felt compelled to do a second one. Whereas the first set was "running up", this one is "laying the piece".

All four figures are beautifully posed from the gunner sighting the piece, to the gunner straining to swing the trail around to his instructions, to the gunner bringing the charge to the gunner ready to ram the round.

 

The six horse limber of this unit is painted but not assembled and based yet.

More French Generals

The French in Egypt expansion project (the unkind would call it scope creep), has required another batch of Generals.

 

This group of six generals includes an army command group, with three mounted figures:

 

A divisional command group of two mounted figures:

 

And  a single Brigadier:

Some British Guns

These two 6lb guns complete the British in Egypt project...

...well maybe. I am as yet undecided about limbers. Until the capture of Alexandria the British struggled to land sufficient horses to support operations. As a result the army operated without supply carts, only a few hundred mounted cavalry and most of the artillery was hand drawn, largely by teams of sailors from the Navy. Now the Perrys make the teams of sailors, but do not sell the limbers separately and while I can buy limbers from other sources, the thought of converting them so that the wheels have the barrel staves fitted is daunting to say the least.

I shall think on this one a while longer, meanwhile more French have moved along the conveyer belt and onto the production line.

4e Demi-brigade Légère

This week has seen the 4^th Demi Brigade Legere completed. The first Battalion of this unit has been completed way back in January and the intention then was to add the other two battalions as a part of the French in Egypt expansion and here they are in the lovely green jackets with puce facings.

The battalions are differentiatedby the colour of the standard poles. The Frist Battalion pole is white, the Second red and the third blue.

3e batallion, 22e Demi-brigade Légère

Yesterday I completed the third battalion 22e Demi-Brigade Légère for the French in Egypt project.

This is the first of six battalions (supported by the two light guns - images of which were posted last week - one horse gun and six mounted officers) that is the French in Egypt expansion. 

The battalion completes the 22e since two battalions were completed earlier in the year.

Now waiting at the door of the uniform store are two more Légère battalions, this time of the 4e Demi-Brigade.

American Civil War Game

On Sunday, on a miserably wet and windy Auckland day, four of us played an American Civil War game.

 

Each of us had command of two brigades, each of five regiments with a battery attached. The terrain and initial arrival points were as follow. Union units are in blue, Confederate in grey.

 

I commanded the Confederate right and decided early on that the terrain to my right, with all those woods was not a good position to be in. I decided instead to shift left leaving one brigade in the open field to guard the right, while my other brigade could assist my Confederate colleague against the Union right. 

The fight on the woods to my left developed quickly and the Union troops occupied the farm to my left front. The initial Confederate attempt to storm the farm was repulsed and the fighting in the woods seesawed, but eventually we evicted the Union from the woods and the farm.

The passage of the other two Union brigades through the woods on my right forced me to break back to face them.

The Union troops on my right deployed effectively and drove back one of my brigades which quickly disintegrated while my second brigade fell back into the woods to my left.

Above the before shot with my brigade in position, and below the after shot with the brigade gone and a lone battery in the nmiddle of nowhere!

At around that same time the two Union brigades on their right dispersed and we Confederates consolidated. The Union left retired towards the woods begin them and we Confederates attacked.

 

Both armies were in pretty poor shape now and while I drove back the Union on my front, my last brigade decided it had had enough and dispersed. Fortunately for us Confederates one of the Union brigades also gave up the ghost and dispersed.

This left one fairly intact Union brigade facing two weakened Confederate brigades and the two forces faced off for the final showdown. The Union troops advanced and after a sharp contest won the day.

 

The game lasted from 10:00AM until 3:30PM and kept us out of mischief on a horrible winter’s day.