Villages for the Franco-Prussian War - Part 10: Chocolate Box Alsace House

Inspiration for this 'Chocolate Box' house comes from the area near Colmar, a pretty town  about 50 kilometers south of Strasbourg. Famous for its colourful timbered houses and the area La Petite Venise where the banks of the Lauch River are flanked by pastel coloured homes laden with flower boxes.

As tempting as these waterside houses are they are rather limiting for a wargames table so I have drawn on this house (actually a wine merchant's premises) in Kayserberg, a couple of kilometres north west of Colmar.

For my purposes this needed to be made a little less 21st Century pretty and more 19th Century practical with a field stone outbuilding appended to one side and a small courtyard. It is taller than others I have done in this series and with a steeper pitch to the roof. Buildings of three or four stories are common in an area where taxes were calculated on ground surface area and to get around that tax many made use of  cantilevered upper levels to gain floor space out compromising the footprint (I used a cantilevered balcony in the first building of this series, I have a slight cantilever here and am using it again in the next build). This one also features multi-tiered dormer windows (another common feature that provided ventilation and drying space clothes or grain storage). I have, however, retained the window boxes on the upper windows to keep that 'chocolate box' charm.

I still have enough roofing material to make two more buildings and the next one will be another 'Chocolate Box' house before I return to a more grounded example.

Villages for the Franco-Prussian War - Part 9: The Next Alsace House

The inspiration for this house is based on these photographs taken of Froeschwiller shortly after the battle. Many of these houses still stand today, albeit significantly refurbished.

From these images I have made this piece, an all stone barn base with a timbered living quarters upstairs with a small courtyard and stairs at the back leading to the living quarters...I am glad not to live there and have to carry the groceries up those steps!

Building number four in this series, a much prettier structure, is in the final stages of construction now. 

Villages for the Franco-Prussian War - Part 8: Another Alsace House

Well Blogger's ongoing RSS feed issue all but buried my last post, so here's hoping that one displays a bit more speedily. EDIT : Wouldn't you know, this one appeared inside three minutes!

This  building was inspired by these images captured on a Goggle Street View "drive through" of modern day Froeschwiller. I quite liked the mix of house and barn - another byre house - as well as the mix of stone barn and timbered house.

Common in the region (and can be a bit of a pain to model) is the bonnet roof with its varied pitch and half-hipped gable that looks as though it has been clipped off, and the pent roofs that provide protection from weather for the lower timber joints, exposed beams and plasterwork, while providing cover to windows and entry ways. Most of the buildings I will do in this series will feature this type of roofing.

Two more Alsacian houses are on the work table and one or two more will follow that...the final number will be dependant on the amount roof tile sheet I have left towards the end.

 

Napoleonic Game

Today's game, postponed from two weeks ago, was a Napoleonic one. Set in  September 1813 with the French column falling back towards Leipzig where the Emperor is consolidating the army for the next phase of operations. However, as the column was moving west a sizable Coalition force has been detected advancing from the south on a parallel road, threatening to capture the vital bridge over the Mulde near Bennewitz. A French force consisting of three small infantry divisions and two cavalry divisions have been turned south to intercept this force and prevent it from interfering with the rest of the column crossing the Mulde.

The French begin the game on the northern edge of the table, up to 300mm in from the edge, but only need to deploy troops in view from the opposite side of the table. Initiative is weighted in favour of the Coalition (they roll 2 dice to the French 1 - the highest score moves first) once the first turn is completed the French player must place all his units on the table.

The Forces were:

French	Coalition
Infantry Division: 10 battalions, 2 light, 1 field, 1 horse batteries Infantry Division: 8 battalions, 1 field, 1 horse batteries Infantry Division: 8 battalions 2 field batteries Cuirassier Division: 3 Cuirassier regiments, 1 horse battery Heavy Cavalry Division; 4 Dragoon regiments, 1 horse battery Artillery Reserve: 1 field, 1 heavy batteries	Austrians: Infantry Division; 8 battalions, 2 field batteries Light Brigade: 1 Hussar regiment 1 jager and 1 Grenze battalion, 1 horse battery
	Russians: Infantry Division: 12 battalions, 2 light, 1 position battery
	Prussians: Infantry Division: 8 line, 2 reserve 2 landwehr battalions, 1 jager battalion, 2 field batteries
	Coalition cavalry: Division: 4 Austrian Cuirassier regiments, 1 Russian horse battery Division; 2 Russian dragoon, 1 Prussian Landwehr and 1 Prussian Cuirassier regiments, 1 Prussian horse battery
27 battalions, 7 Cavalry regiments, 2 light, 6 field and 4 horse batteries	35 battalions, 9 cavalry regiments, 7 field and 3 horse batteries

In addition each side had a reserve they could call on. Each reserve consisted of a brigade of guard infantry, a brigade of guard cavalry plus artillery. There were, however, restrictions on the reserves. Both sides had to decide before the commencement of turn 4 if they were going to call the reserve and if they did would roll 1 xD6 and if the score was 4,5,6 it would arrive on the table edge in turn 4 otherwise on turn 5. There was also a catch for calling that reserve that neither side was aware of (other than being told that there was a potential penalty). That catch was that the French guard was the rearguard of the column and the Russian guard was closing on them. If the French Guard was called and the Russians were not, the Russians are assumed to have driven the main French column and secured the Mulde bridge, winning the game. Conversely if the Russian guard were called and the French were not, the main French column was not pressured and crossed the Mulde, winning the game. If neither of the guards were called success was determined by who controled the three exit roads on the French northeastern side of the table.

The Terrain

 

The Game

My  plans for an eight player game were thwarted when two had to cancel and I had to play, where I had intended to umpire. Sadly one of those who cancelled was our regular war correspondent so I am drastically short of photographs.

The French deployed  their strongest division plus the cuirassier division on their right, with the other two divisions to the left and on the extreme left the dragoons. 

The Coalition forces deployed with the Russians in the left, the Prussians to their right and the Austrians on the extreme right. All their cavalry was to the right.

The Russians were quickly held by a sweeping movement by the French right, but were able to hold their position, despite appallingly bad luck with their artillery. The main coalition effort was by the Prussians supported by the Austrian artillery and cavalry. 

The French left, however,  was a hard nut to crack because it was difficult for the Allies to find away around the farm. The French commander in this sector, however, was convinced he was defeated from the start, yet he held onto his position until almost the very end of the game.

The Russians were always going to be in trouble, but a bit of bad luck on the French part let them hold on for longer than they should have, but in the end they crumbled, the Russian Guard was called and ordered to march right across the rear of the Coalition  position toward the left. The unengaged Austrian infantry also shifted left. 

In the end the left of both lines collapsed. The Prussians mauled but not beaten controlled the centre right while the Russian Guard and Austrian infantry formed up to face the largely intact French right.

But as the action came to a close, since the Russian Guard  had been called, there was no pressure on the French main column and they managed to clear the bridge. The rearguard, badly mauled as it was, has saved the day. The Emperor was pleased.

And so to the few pictures I managed to take...in no particular sequence...

Villages for the Franco-Prussian War - Part 7: The First of the Alsace Houses

The inspiration for the first building of this set is this house from the village of Morsbronn:

My interpretation is a little different, but I hope it keeps the general feel.

The wooden balcony at the front and the open verandah at the back are made from plasticard and the scalloped roof tiles are a plasticard sheet - the scallops are a little over sized, but that was the only size available.

I haven’t completed work on the base yet because I have yet to decide how the village will fit together. Once a few more buildings are finished, and there will be five or six in total, I will sort the basing out.

Khartoum

Today I made up a foursome to play a game based on the storming Khartoum.

The scenario was taken from the Black Powder Blood on the Nile supplement (although the rukes being played were not Black Powder).

Khartoum was defended by three units of Egyptian infantry, one of Bashi Bazooks, several small units of citizen levy, three field guns and a Gardener gun.  A secondary force of one unit of Egyptian infantry and a gun occupied a smaller fort across the Nile. The attacking force consisted of four warbands: one (the Mahdi's) of four units, another three each of two units.

The game was always going to see the Dervishes storm the city, it was just a matter of how longbit would take. 

A view across Khartoum before the attack began

My command (above and below) were assigned to attack the separate fort

The remainder of the force sweeps forward against the main walls

  

My first attack against the fort - this attack was repulsed, but a subsequent one succeeded

The main force strikes the main wall like a tidal wave

Gordon is getting worried

Above and below, the main wall is stormed.

The Dervishes pour through the streets

My having taken the fort follow up on the routed Egyptians

Above and below, Gordon's anxiety grows as the defence collapses

Moments before the Dervishes came knocking on Gordon's door

In the end Gordon was captured. His fate is unknown at this point.

It was a good way to spend a few hours on a wet and windy Sunday.