"Come to the Sunshine Coast," they said, "lay on the beach..."

And we did come across last Saturday to Brisbane then drove another hour north to Mooloolaba. That night we met up and had dinner with Lawrence from This Life in Lead blog fame who I hadn't seen since the late-1980s (apart from a brief coffee stop about five years ago). 

The last time we came to the Sunshine Coast was back in 1998 and there is much change. Sunday was a quiet enough day, spent around Mooloolaba, at the aquarium, along the waterfront shops and along the beach.

The surf breaking on the rocks midway along the beach

But Monday, as we headed for Australia Zoo, the heavy rain showers came, but we made it around the zoo without too much discomfort. The zoo was much bigger and far more commercialised than when we were here last time, when Steve Irwin ran the crocodile show himself. The new show in the 'Crocoseum' - a vast auditorium that seats probably 4,000 - was rather corny for me, but the park itself is beautifully laid out with large enclosures for a wide variety of animals. 

By the time we went out for evening drinks the rain had settled in and the wind had really picked up. By Tuesday morning the wind had the palm trees and Norfolk Pines leaning twice as far as the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Undeterred by the weather we headed for the Maleny Botanic Gardens and Bird Park, climbing up through the mist in the costal highlands. It was way too wet to walk through the gardens, but in our ponchos it was perfectly fine to make our way through the four large aviaries that made up the bird park (the fifth one was inaccessible because of flooding). The aviaries contained hundreds of birds of all kinds, a large number of them are rescue birds, and happy to sit on your arm, shoulder or head...the urge to say "aaarrr, me hearty...," was strong.

Lunch at Montville followed, although sadly the whole area was shrouded in mist so the fabulous views we remembered across the hills from our last visit were not to be seen. By the time we made it back to Mooloolaba the rain was heavy and the winds very strong. The sea was whipped up, although the image below does not show just how rough it was.

Wednesday saw us head to the Eumundi Markets, which were rather constrained by the wet weather. We spent about an hour there then headed to Maroochydore for a bit of shopping, then back to the apartment for lunch. The rain had stopped as we head out to the waterfront for an afternoon drink, although the wind is still strong. 

Tomorrow we leave Mooloolaba for a few day in Brisbane. The weather is set to improve next few days.

Chasseurs à Cheval de la Garde Impériale

Arguably the most famous of all the Garde cavalry this is a fabulous set from Victrix - a right royal pain in the butt to assemble, but full of action, charging at full tilt.

I was a bit daunted by the thought of painting this unit because its uniform looked so complex with all that braid in the dolman and pelisse, but in the end it was relatively straightforward and much simpler than the Dutch Lancers.

This will complete the cavalry brigade that will accompany my Garde.

The three generals that will command the Garde are on the painting table now. When they are done I think a parade will be in order.

Last of the Garde Impériale Foot

The weekend saw the completion of last two battalions of Grenadiers and a foot artillery set.

The two foot battalions are in different poses than the first few. One is in the advancing pose.

The Second one is in the firing line poses.

Finally the guard foot artillery set in the firing pose.

All that remains in the guard now is the regiment of Chasseurs à Cheval of the guard and a set of three generals.

More of the Garde

The work on the Garde Impériale continues with two more units.

First up is the fourth battalion of Grenadiers. The fifth unit is painted, but not based.

Second is a very nice a horse artillery set.

Action with the Mamelukes

With the completion of the Ottoman artillery I turned my attention to a game to use them in. From the start of the Ottoman expansion the plan was to base the game around the Battle of the Pyramids where a force of infantry and artillery held a fortified camp around the village of Embarbeh on the West Bank of the Nile, opposite Cairo, while a large force of mounted Mamelukes hurled themselves repeatedly against the French divisional squares. The problem here is that it was a dreadfully one sided affair where the a French lost less than 300 casualties, but inflicted more than 10,000 on the Mamelukes. To do such a game justice I would need a lot more figures and do I really need more than 11 units of Mameluke cavalry. Added to that, the purist in me says that all my French figures are in the colourful Kléber uniforms rather than the Revolutionary uniforms with their bicornes.

So I looked to do something a little different. There is an option to set the game a year after the Battle of the Pyramids, after the Syrian Expedition had returned to Egypt and after Napoleon had returned to France. The Ottoman Army followed the French retreat towards Cairo but the French still managed to beat them almost every time so there would still be a struggle to get a balanced game. Then I had an idea.

At the Siege of Acre, Sidney Smith had provided British support for the Ottomans in the form of the marines and sailors of the ships. This was in the period before Abercrombie landed in Abuqir Bay. What if Smith continued to provide that support and I could bolster the Ottoman force with a brigade sized force of marines and sailors?

So the scenario, played on Sunday, was that the Ottoman forces, together with Smith's small brigade, occupied a critical crossing point on the Nile, cutting the route front Cairo to Alexandria. A force of three infantry brigades (18 battalions) and brigade of cavalry was sent to retake the place.

Opposing them was a mixed force of fifteen units of Mamelukes, six European trained infantry units, one Albanian unit and six units of fellahin. In addition they had three heavy batteries in the fortified camp around the town and three field batteries.

My quick sketch of the battlefield

The Ottoman forces were allowed to deploy anywhere on the table to with in 300mm or one foot of the French table edge. The French were able to march on the table between the two points marked.

The Ottomans took an aggressive stance, placing the fellahin, supported by the three field batteries on the left around a village. The rest of the infantry stood concealed behind the hill near the ruins, and the cavalry all remained behind the hills.

The French  decided to swing to the right, but for some inexplicable reason they chose not to advance in brigade squares, although the terrain made the manoeuvring of such formations. 

Once the fighting started I didn't keep detailed notes of the action, but the general gist is that the French got themselves tied up in the terrain and failed to form their brigade squares. On the left they became obsessed with taking the village and threw attack after attack against it. In the end the fellahin held their position. In the French centre the infantry, failing to form brigade squares, was easily contained and eventually destroyed by the Ottomans. The third brigade was only lightly engaged. The French cavalry waited until quite late to enter the action, but were then outflanked and destroyed by the Mamelukes. Smith with his marines and sailors never moved from the fortified camp.

It was a tough day for the Republic and the remaining troops limped back to Cairo.

And the photos...in no particular order...thank to John (commander of the fellahin) for the bulk of the pictures.