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Sunday, November 6, 2016

French Chasseurs d'Afrique - 1859

With thoughts of getting the 1859 project onto the gaming table coming to the fore, painting returns to that project even if only momentarily.  Off the painting desk are nine Old Glory French Chasseurs d'Afrique.  The French deployed three Chasseurs d'Afrique regiments in the Northern Italian campaign and I now can field all three regiments.  Having only nine figures remaining in The Lead Pile, only three squadrons of the 3rd Cd'A Regiment will be mustered at present.
While I have been very pleased with Old Glory's FPW/FAW range of 15mm infantry, as noted in previous posts, I am not so enamored with their cavalry.  Overall, the sculpts are good but the swords are too thin and are not likely to hold up to the rigors of campaigning.  Nevertheless, as new recruits, these troopers will be welcomed into the growing French force.
An earlier post mentioned the Battles of Montebello as a possible candidate to use for getting both the 1799 and 1859 projects out onto the gaming table.  After a little research, Montebello would make an interesting exercise for working through both battles.  Looking at OBs, the 1800 Montebello will require a few more units to be fielded unless I want to use some existing figures from my "main" Napoleonic project.  The plan for the 1799/1800 project was to build up forces from all combatants using primarily AB figures.  With that still a goal, Austrian light infantry need to get into the painting queue before the 1800 version of Montebello can be undertaken.

In the meantime, figures are present for the 1859 battle and work has begun on researching the scenario.  Laying out a map is one of the first steps.  A preliminary layout is being set up now.  More details on that later.

Finally, the Great Game planned for Saturday was cancelled due to scheduling challenges but Scott and I met at Kevin's for a half day of Commands & Colors: Ancients and lunch.  The Battle of Zama was refought four times using my 6mm collection with Hannibal and Scipio splitting the decisions two games apiece.  Great games, great lunch, and great camaraderie; a great day!  The Great Game game will be rescheduled to later this fall.  This delay provides additional time to field another Russian infantry battalion.   

28 comments:

  1. A nice period to play and a very nice job on them!

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    1. Phil! No disagreement from me. The mid-19th Century conflicts hold much for the gamer.

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  2. The Zama game sounds well balanced at two games each. There is a blogger / gamer called Keith Barker who is doing Napoleonic C&C at 6mm on Kallistra hexes and the games look superb. All good stuff!

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    1. Norm, after trying to reconstruct yesterday's game play, I lean towards Hannibal taking three of the four games. One of Hannibal's victories was a 8-0 rout of Scipio. That was a sight to witness.

      As for C&C Napoleonics in 6mm on Kalistra hexes, that would be a wonderful sight. I have seen CCN played in 6mm and 20mm but not on Kallistra. It is a wonderful game in miniature!

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  3. Very nice Jonathan. They have a full size mounted manakin of these chaps in the Musee d'Armee in Paris and these figures capture that look. I always have a soft spot for the Chasseurs after their role in covering the retreat of the survivors of the charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava. The Crimea is a campaign that I could get into at some stage. Thanks for the inspiration. JJ

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    1. Hi Jonathan! The manikins in Musee d'Armee are fantastic! Been a long time since my last visit but I remember it well. My favorite military museum.

      Crimean War project for you sounds terrific! What size models are under consideration? I have been painting Foundry Russians and the models are very fine.

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  4. Nice looking regiment! This looks like an interesting period to paint up figures for.

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    1. Thank you, David! It is an interesting period. You ought to give it a closer investigation.

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  5. Fantastic, a great looking unit.

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    1. Yes, French Chasseurs d'Afrique are colorful. That is one of the attractions to these mid-19th Century conflicts.

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  7. Another great addition. Sorry about the Afghan game through.

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    1. Thanks! As for the Afghanistan game, we will get it in another time.

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  8. Loads of elan and dash. Allons, mes braves, pour la gloire et la France!

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  9. Great looking chaussures, very nice clean painting, looking forward to your one battlefield two periods, I guess there are a few of those can't think of many apart from Lutzen but a fun parlour game.
    Best Iain

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    1. Thanks, Iain! I toss out an easy one for the two battles- one site puzzle: First and Second Manassas. Oh, Marengo was fought over twice too!

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  10. Beautifully painted & detailed, as usual! Top notch job, Jonathan!!

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  11. Very nice looking regiment Jonathan!

    Christopher

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