Russian Ottoman war of 1806-1812 : Tatariz October 10th 1809 in 54mm

For his Birthday, my godchild Kristof had asked to stage a wargame for him and his friends.

They shoose the Russian Ottoman wars as theme.

I did find an appropreate battle in this book (higly recommended)

I boosted the number of batalions and units involved to have a balanced big battle.

Russian players: 

from left to right

Dirk as col. Prince Trubetskoy: 7th & 14th jäger regt + battery

Kristof CIC as General Bagration  controling forces of General Kusknikov : Ukraine & Novgorod Inf regt + battery & Col Count Pahlen  force: Starodub & Dept Drgoon regt + horse battery & 2 Cossack regts  Bert as Gen bakhmetyev: Voronezh & Arkhangelogorod Musketeer regt + battery

Alwin as General von Mecklenburg : Moscow & Malorossiski Grenadier regt + battery

Ottoman players: 

Gaetan as Mahmut Tiran Pasha, comming up as reinforcements on a 6 in the first turn, 5or 6 in the 2nd turn, etc.  4 units of Nizam-i Djedid (westrn style infantry) 2  units of Albanian infantry, 3 units of Albanian Suvarleri (veteran medium) cavalry + horse battery, 

Thomas 2 redouts with medium batteries, 2 orta of jannisaries, 1 unit of Albanian infantry , 2 units of Bulgarian rayas (skirmish) infantry + 2 units of Balkan delis c(light)avalry

Marnix CIC as Mehmet Pasha 2 redouts with 2 heavy batteries + 3 orta of jannisaries + 2 units of Anatolian sekhans (skirmish) infantry

The fire of the heavy batteries drove back the forces Alwin and Bert over and over again in the first rounds

The dragoons and delis cavalry fought a number of battles without important results except wearing down each others strength

The central redout was assaulted time and time again by Kirstof 

The outflanking manouvre of Alwin was frustrated by the sekhans skimishers and musketry of the jannisars.

Dirk split up his force, halve taking on the Albanians the other part taking positions behind the stream.

Kristof did send the cossacks to the left as reinforcements.

In the woods, the cossacks did find excelent terrain for their tactics. An enemy force  in trouble or showing its flank or rear led to a mandatory charge, no order needed.

Finaly the jäger had a foothold on the central hill.

Kristof also managed to take the breastwork and one of the batteries. However his reserves were running low.

Bert & Alwin changed tactics and went for an ll or nothing frontal assault on the main Ottoman position.

They also took the breastworks, it seemd the Russians were taking the opper hand, one of the heavy batteries even destroyed. Victory was imminent

The jägers on the far left stood ground, the Suvarileri cavalry failed to break them and the Ottoman cavalry was hit in the flank and  swept away by cossacks .

The same fate for the Albaninan infantry. The Russian left was holdiing against the odds.

But Marnix and Thomas, with their last reserves were able to drive back the Russians from the breastworks. 

Withe the forces of Alwin, Bert and Kristof on breaking point, another Russian atempt was impossible.  Victory had been so close

Mehmet Pasha,  victorious, as happend in reality

54mm Indian Mutiny Game

Several years ago I sold my large 28mm Indian Mutiny collection. After more than twenty years of collecting figures for the period, I was dissatisfied with all my attempts at re-fighting the battles of the war. If you play historically, the mutineers are at such a disadvantage with their weapons and their lack of command and control that it's not much fun for the mutineer player(s). So I decided to concentrate on skirmish games with my 54mm figures. Then I bought the Indian Mutiny scenario book published by Colonial Conflicts. The scenarios are designed for use with The Sword and the Flame (TSATF) with rules variants for the period, but like the other books in the series, including the Zulu War, Sikh War, Boxer Rebellion, French Intervention in Mexico, etc. the scenarios work well with other rules as well. The books also use the small unit option for TSATF, which calls for eight figure infantry instead of twenty and six figure cavalry units instead of twelve. This was perfect for my 54mm collection which, due to space and expense demanded small sized units. My wargaming buddy and I played the Fatehpur scenario and it was surprisingly well balanced. In fact, my British force was defeated after my single cavalry unit failed its Stand and Fight dice roll and routed off the table. I highly recommend the scenario book to anyone who is interested in the Indian Mutiny, regardless of which rules they play.

Work in Progress Prussian Napoleonic Artillery

I converted these from the HaT Prussian Command set. I see now that I should have spent more time on the hands. I wish HaT had completed the 1/32 Prussian Napoleonic collection. And how about some cavalry?!