Another Prussian Regiment on the March

While I have a game on deck for tomorrow in a refight of Shiloh, it seems that the play/paint balance has tipped in favor of "paint" for now.  Nothing wrong with this little redirect but it does seem odd not having more than one game per week.  In tomorrow's Tuesday Shiloh battle, a quartet takes to the field for a rematch (see Shiloh and the Attack on Sherman).  Players reprise their roles as in the first game.  Commands may swap but Mark and Tony command the Federals while David and Chris command the Confederates.  Should be fun!

Anyway, back to today's offering from the painting desk.

Today sees the second Prussian regiment mustering out from my fledgling expansion of the Franco-Austrian War project to include the Austro-Prussian and Franco-Prussian conflicts.  These 48 figures, in three battalions, march out as the 66th IR.  Figures are all 15mm Lancashire Games.  Nice figures!  The utilitarian uniforms make these figures easy to paint.  It is a good thing that they are easy to paint because a Prussian division requires four such regiments.  Expect more Prussians parading out before year-end. 

I continue to lag behind on battle reporting with one Shiloh battle yet to chronicle.  Since Reject Richard (Battle of Shiloh) and Reject Lee (Remote Wargaming) have both given their excellent perspectives on the battle, I suppose there has been no urgency or necessity to tap out my account of events.  I ought to remedy that oversight especially since the Rejects will reconvene for a rematch of this battle next week.

With Sunday seeing the probable end to 70F degree weather for the season, I took a long ride to enjoy the warm of the sun on my back.  Today, it is raining and I return to the indoor trainer.  For now, one last look at Upper Spokane Falls in the sun.

Hanover von Hardenberg

While still playing catch-up on one too many fronts, I amassed enough short painting sessions to post a second Hanoverian foot regiment.  This time, Regiment von Hardenberg marches out to take its post in the storage box.

Like the previous regiment in this push (von Sporcken can be seen here), von Hardenberg is composed of 22-foot figures from Old Glory led by a mounted Eureka mounted colonel.  With the arrival of von Hardenberg, that brings the total Hanoverian foot regiments up to ten.  Without digging too deeply into The Lead Pile to confirm, this may exhaust the supply of unpainted Old Glory Hanoverian foot.  May exhaust but I am not quite sure.  The Lead Pile is a bit disorganized at the moment with packets and boxes of figures spilling out onto the floor and overflowing the cabinet placed beside the painting desk.

Nearing 700 figures painted, thus far, in 2024, gives me pause when I look at the piles of figures awaiting their turn at the brush.  Based upon the realization that The Lead Pile looks no different with 700 fewer figures, gives little hope that this mountain can be conquered any time soon.  Well, likely not in my lifetime.  As stated by others before, I expect to die trying...

Has any reader been hit with this sobering thought of late?

Next up on the painting desk sees a return to 28mm Sumerians, 15mm FPW Prussians, and the start to a small SYW British Army to augment the Hanoverians.  I think there are a pair of Walloon Guards awaiting their turn at the brush too.  Of course, plenty of other figures as well.  I also have just about enough primed figures to last through a long, cold winter.  Still, I better prepare some more just in case.   

Sherman Attacked!

Having umpired a four-player game in the first Shiloh outing (see Shiloh and the Attack on Sherman) with the Rebels call off their attack, I was curious to try my hand at the scenario.  Mark (Mud Steel and Blood) cheerily obliged.  Since Mark commanded the Federal Left in that first game, he opted to take command of the attacking Confederates.  Could I duplicate the impressive Federal victory from Game #1?  Against Mark, my chances were not good.

As a reminder, the table layout was,

Battlefield

Army dispositions

The battle opens with the Sherman's Division encamped on the high ground along the banks of Shiloh Creek. The Confederates advance upon his position in strong numbers. The Rebel goal is to destroy Sherman while pushing the Federal Army away from the Tennessee River situated farther to the east.

Rebels advance!

Sherman at Shiloh Church.

For the advancing Confederates, Pond's Brigade moves forward on the left. Cleburne's Brigade advances astride the Corinth Road with the remainder of the Confederate Army coming up in support as space permits.  The first game witnessed an attack-slowing traffic jam develop.  Will we see this again?

Cleburne moves up. 

As the Rebels advance, first contact with the enemy is at Rhea Field where the 53 OH is encamped.  Having complained of enemy activity to its front all morning, the 53rd takes it on the chin as the Rebels pour out of the underbrush lining Shiloh Creek.  In a quick and sharp fight, the 53rd falls back.

The isolated 53 OH.

53rd retires with heavy casualties.

When Confederate guns open from the high ground opposite, Sherman orders his men back from the ridge.  Pond presses forward on the far left with his brigade and begins negotiating the cumbersome crossing of Shiloh Creek.  McDowell, on the Federal Right, readies for the attack he expects to fall.  To consolidate his split command, Cleburne orders his brigade to Rhea Field to join his two, detached regiments.  Anderson moves up along the Corinth Road to take the position in the center.

Pond swings out on the left.

Anderson moves up in the center
while Cleburne redeploys to the right.

Lead elements of Pond's Brigade
 splash across the creek.

To this early point in the battle, fighting was light with maneuver more the order of the day.  That was about to change!

Emerging from Shiloh Creek, the 38 TN attacks!  McDowell quickly throws in a second regiment to shore up the defense but its arrival is too late to turn the tide.  The Federals are driven back.  Having suffered heavy casualties in the fighting the 38 TN cannot withstand a vicious counterattack.  The Rebels are destroyed.  In response, the bulk of Pond's Brigade falls upon the Thin Blue Line.  McDowell is overwhelmed.  One regiment is scattered and a battery is overrun.  In minutes, Sherman's Right is gone!      

McDowell attacked!

Counterattack!

Counter-counter attack!

McDowell and remnants of his brigade are beaten back. 

With the Federal Right seemingly turned, attention now turns to compromising the other Federal flank while applying pressure up in the center.  Cleburne pushes the remainder of his brigade across the creek and into Rhea Field while lead elements push across toward the Hamburg-Purdy Road.  Russell's Brigade arrives on the battlefield and is immediately ordered to support Cleburne on the Confederate Right near Rhea Field.  These movements are hampered by the Rebels regularly stopping to loot the enemy camp.

Cleburne moves out to the right...

with Russell coming up in support.

Rebels arrayed for an assault upon Hildebrand. 

Having driven back McDowell and turned the Federal Right, Pond pushes on.  Despite a friendly fire incident that caused not much harm, Pond wrecks McDowell's Brigade and McDowell, himself, falls.  Pond turns to drive into Buckland's flank.  Pinned by Pond's flanking maneuver, Anderson storms the high ground to hit Buckland head on.  Facing high odds against, Buckland does not stand.  His brigade is wrecked as well! 

McDowell destroyed...

with Buckland collapsing soon afterwards.

Seeing Sherman's dire situation, Raith finally orders his brigade forward into Lost Field.  The field is aptly named because one of Raith's regiments and a battery are quickly lost!  Cleburne and Russell push on.  With Anderson fighting down the length of the ridge, Johnson's Brigade joins the fight and attacks up the Corinth Road.  Attacked by Johnson from the west and by Russell from the south, Hildebrand gives ground from the incredible pressure.  In the heavy fighting, Hildebrand's Brigade is wrecked.    

Raith makes a stand...

but not for long!

Hildebrand Attacked! 

Sherman, having all three of his brigades now broken, is forced to retire to the north.  He has held out as long as practical but this clash tips in favor of the Confederates.  Sherman almost held out just long enough too.  The game was on Turn 8, the last guaranteed turn of the game.  Sherman needed to hold out just a wee bit longer...  

Sherman forced to retire.

Victory to the Confederates and Mark!

Very exciting game and a pleasure to get a chance to command troops on the battlefield.  I was outplayed by Mark but early on, I thought the Federals had a chance to see victory.  Mark's play was relentless and he never offered me a chance to catch my breath.  Sherman was under attack all along the line, always!  Poor Sherman never seemed to have enough troops to stem the Rebel tide.  Was falling back from the ridge at first opportunity the right move for Sherman?  Well, it did negate Rebel artillery advantage and may have saved a few lives early on. As it was, the battle result mirrored the historical action quite closely with Sherman falling back to the north after having suffered heavy casualties.  Can Sherman do better?  I believe he can and I would enjoy trying again.

Great fun, Mark!  Thank you for the tough challenge!

Hanover Von Sporcken

After being called away for familial duties for much of the week, I return not too much worse for the wear.  Well, I am a bit fatigued and have not seen action on the bike for a week.  I will change that later today once the temperatures rise and the bike and I hit the road for a meaningful workout.  With these trips south becoming more regular, the 800+ mile round trip drive is becoming a little less daunting.  Armed with a number of multi-episode lectures to listen to, the long hours spent confined in the car passed more easily.

On the hobby front, there is much to catch up on.  The same holds for the home front as well.  Besides two battle reports to tap out, several topical discussions have cropped up needing further explanation.    

To help come back up to speed, off the table today is one, 23-figure Hanoverian infantry regiment for the 18mm SYW project.  The regiment musters out as Von Sporcken.  Figures are Old Glory infantry led by a Eureka mounted colonel.  At the beginning of the month, I expected October would see a respectable number of figures mustering out.  With a week away from the painting desk, those expectations have been dashed to bits.  Hopefully, I will get back into the swing of things soon.

A Step into FPW

What if the armies used in the 15mm 1859 Franco-Austrian War project could be used for two additional wars with only the addition of Prussians and their allies?  Seems like a reasonable move in the direction of creating economies of force and getting more bang for the buck.  This decision makes even more sense if one already has many of the figures lingering and taking up space in The Lead Pile.  No new figures need to be purchased and no increase in the size of The Lead Pile.  Well, who could resist this temptation?  Not I!   

Prussian IR#26

While fielding a Prussian Army in a tabletop battle is still a faint, far away dream, the wheels of progress have been set into motion.  The first green shoots of the 1866/1870 expansion (no, not a new project!) appear.

Given the organization of the 1859 armies, the Prussian Army will field a Corps of two divisions, each having 12 infantry battalions in four regiments, four artillery batteries, and one cavalry regiment.  In addition to these, the Corps will field six more artillery batteries and a regiment of jaegers.  Gosh, this is a lot of artillery!

With current figure ratios, a Prussian infantry battalion (one stand) will muster 16 figures as seen in the photos above.  Across twelve such battalions, that totals a 192 infantry per division.  This is a lot of infantry too!  My immediate year-end goal is to see if I can produce one Prussian division before the calendar ticks over to 2025.  Possible?  Perhaps but I need to be a bit more focused than as of late.

On the gaming front, the Confederate attack on Sherman at Shiloh Church saw a second outing on Friday.  The fight produced a different result (and in much less time!) from the first game but another hotly contested action developed.  A third trial is on deck for Monday when four of The Rejects join in to try their hands at this scenario.  Those fellas opted for limited intel briefings so none of the players really know what lies ahead with certainty.  That reminds me.  I need to reset the table before tomorrow.  Hopefully, both battles will eventually see a write up in the battle chronicles.  Still, plenty to explore in this scenario so expect to see even more games at Shiloh.

French Raugrave Hussars

While prepping figures before temperatures plummet, I managed to muster out a dozen French hussars for the 18mm SYW/WAS project.  The French may not have had many hussar regiments under arms during the WAS but a handful of regiments was maintained.  One of those light cavalry regiments was the Raugrave Hussars with their sky-blue uniform, white mirliton, trimmed orange.  Figures are Eureka Miniatures.

With Tuesday's planned game scrubbed from the schedule due to last minute player cancelations, more figures were pushed through the cleaning and priming stage.  This sudden hole in the schedule also allowed for a longer (and warmer) bicycle ride.  This pre-winter ritual of priming enough figures to carry me throughout the dark days of winter requires some thought on what I want to focus on painting when priming outside is not possible.  This fall activity is no different this year.  From the figures under preparation thus far, the winter painting backlog looks to have an emphasis on two 15/18mm projects: SYW/WAS and FPW.  I see some Biblicals working into the queue as well.  Who knows if I will still see motivation to paint these when Old Man Winter arrives.  Better throw a few more choices into the prepping queue just in case.  

Having Tuesday's game plan aborted, another game was quickly added to this week's schedule.  Friday will see me take command of the Federal Army at Shiloh as I fight back a cunning and Wily Webel. 

Wish me luck!

Mixed Bag

Today's journal entry is a bit of a mixed bag with no clear direction.  Perhaps no direction at all!  

With no game on last week's schedule and visitors in and out throughout, hobby activities focused primarily on administration and preparation in short and irregular bursts.  I take that back, writing the Shiloh battle report in the previous post took a measurable block of time and concentration.  Some tasks saw completion or at least some good progress.  Others were left wanting.  Let's see what got checked off for the week.

Figure Priming.  With cold weather approaching quickly, time to jump start the figures "ready to paint" inventory before the really cold temperatures set in.  This annual fall ritual began this week.  Italian Wars, Franco-Prussian War Prussians, Sumerians, and SYW cavalry have all seen additions to the "ready to paint" pile.  Much more work to do.

Hex Terrain.  A box of wooden hexes arrived to augment both the four-inch and five-inch hex layouts.  The first batch of four-inch hexes have been painted and flocked.  With both scale hex layouts optimized for remote games, no hurry in adding to the already large stockpiles of painted and flocked hexes. Still, something to keep in work rotation. 

Flags.  With expectation that FPW Prussians will be mustering out from the painting desk, time to consider flags.  One flagsheet was created with Prussian flags along with a selection of Spanish WAS flags.  The Spanish flags are all from the talented hand of David at Not By Appointment. 

Storage Labels. While painted figures continue to fill boxes and new boxes are brought into service, I have been negligent in adding proper labels to these newly recruited storage boxes.  Fixed that this week by printing off a sheet of half dozen labels to give these unmarked boxes an identity and help in finding stuff quickly.  Well, more quickly.

Terrain.  Lastly, I tackled applying stain to the Gallia castle purchased a while back.  While it lacked a gatehouse, Vol (A Miniatures Hobby Room), scratch built a gatehouse for this massive castle.  Amazing what Vol created.  Superb effort!  The castle could use one more wall section.

OK. This week, Shiloh returns to the table in a second remote game.  Stay tuned for reports from the front on that one.