Trasimene, Again

Tuesday saw the Roman and Carthaginian armies take to the field at Lake Trasimene.  Unlike last week's battle with four players in a battle played remotely, Tuesday's action was a two-player F2F contest with me taking command of the Carthaginian Army.  Vol (A Miniatures Hobby Room) made the drive from far across town to join me in a home game.

As a reminder, the battlefield looks like this,

Battlefield with armies deployed.

Vol had read the earlier battle report and formulated a plan to thwart the initial Carthaginian, first turn onslaught.  Would he be afforded an opportunity to execute?  Let's see.

Carthaginian heavy infantry guard the mouth of the defile.

Carthaginian center waits in silence
under cover of the woods and mist.

Having initiative on Turn 1, the Carthaginian Right springs into action.  Down from the hills come three Gallic warbands.  Warband 1 hits Roman auxilia as it screams out of the mist.  Surprised, the auxilia have little chance.  They rout into the lake but the Gauls fail to pursue.  Warband 2 comes out of the hills but stops short of the enemy.  Warband 3 runs down the hill and hits one of Flaminius' Principes.  The Roman heavy infantry withstands the initial attack and drives the enemy off.  The warband retreats back into the cover of the high ground.

On the Roman first activation, Vol chooses to activate Flaminius in an effort to bring some order to his line pinned against the lake.  While the Roman Left forms up and advances inland, the second Principes attacks the center warband that failed to reach the Roman line.  Unfortunately, the Hastati are repulsed and they rout into the lake.  Fortunately for Flaminius, the victorious Gauls fail to pursue.  Still, a gaping hole has opened in Flaminius' line.    

The Gauls come screaming out of the hills.

Flaminius forms up the Roman Left and marches inland.

Seeing the hole in the Roman Center, Hannibal leads his heavy infantry forward to cut Flaminius' escape route.  Slingers lead the way down toward the lake.

Fortune smiles upon Flaminius again.  On Turn 2, Rome wins the initiative and Flaminius activates his legion still hugging the lakeshore.  Now, Flaminius follows up and presses forward against the warband that he sent away only moments before.  Still wavering from its earlier defeat, the warband bolts to the rear having suffered heavily.  

Flaminius attacks!

The Gauls are driven off!

Flaminius wastes little time in bringing up the Triarii into the fight.  The Triarii advance into the Gauls and scatter both slingers and warband alike.  This battle is not progressing as Hannibal expected.

Gauls are ejected from the valley as the Triarii move up.

In the defile, the battle is only now being joined.

As the two forces close, fighting intensifies.  The clash of heavy infantry reverberates through the canyon.  First, the Romans waver and retreat.  The gap left by the retreating Romans is quickly filled by more Roman heavy infantry.  The fresh infantry push the Carthaginians back as the fighting continues.    

Romans find the defile blocked!

Fighting in close quarters. 

First Romans give way and then the Carthaginians
retire as the melee ebbs and flows. 

Not pleased with the direction of battle, Hannibal advances down into the valley with his center.  His medium cavalry on the right charge down and into Flaminius and his legion.  The Principes are overwhelmed and break and run.  Unfortunately, the Principes are caught in pursuit and destroyed.  Flaminius narrowly escapes with his life.  

Hannibal advance into the valley...

as his cavalry slams into Flaminius.

Caught in pursuit, the Romans are scattered
 as Flaminius narrowly escapes.

Back in the defile, the battle rages as casualties mount.  Slowly, the Carthaginian heavies are being pushed back out of the defile.  Carthaginian infantry suffer plenty as the Romans continue to bear down upon them.  Finally, the infantry block gives away and it retreats exposing a flank to its companion.  Without hesitation, the legion attacks.  Unprepared by an attack from this direction, the Carthaginians waver and then break.  The path out of the defile is open!     

Heavy fighting in the defile.

Carthaginians pushed to the breaking point.

Pursuit carries the legion into an enemy exposed flank.
The enemy routs!

Back at the lake, Hannibal leads his heavy infantry in against Flaminius' Triarii.  Shockingly (to Hannibal anyway), the Triarii stand firm and Hannibal is repulsed.  What!

Hannibal attacks!

Seeing Hannibal retiring, the nearest warband attacks!  This time, the Triarii are overwhelmed and scattered.  Flaminius' army has been split. 

The Triarii's last stand.

Flaminius' army is split!

Not knowing how Flaminius is faring beyond the defile, the legions continue pressing on out of the defile.  Retreating Carthaginians are pursued and cut down.  The defile is wide open. 

Romans exit the defile.

Romans pursue stragglers.

With Romans pouring out of the defile and most of Hannibal's Army out of position, Hannibal concedes defeat as he is unwilling to risk his cavalry to root enemy legions out of the woods on the heights.

Romans ensconced upon the hills.

This battle is over.

Great job by Vol in the way he directed the battle.  Although the points on the Army Breakpoint Clock were close, there is no doubt that Flaminius and the remnants of his Roman Army are better positioned than Hannibal and his remnants.  Hannibal's Left is completely destroyed and the Romans have a clear path into Hannibal's rear.

The key to a Roman victory was activating Flaminius' Wing at first opportunity and then forming them up and marching away from the lakeshore.  Gaining initiative on Turn 2, ensured that Flaminius' Wing would not be completely shoved into the lake early on.  The heavy lifting was once again seen in the defile where the Romans pushed the enemy out of the canyon and then cut them to pieces in pursuit.

Very exciting game and fun to get a chance to play again.

Even in victory, Vol wants a rematch to see if he can win the battle from the Carthaginian side.

Wish me luck...

As a bonus, the game motivated me to paint nine Disorder markers just in time for the game.  Figures are by Mirliton.

1859 Sardinian Artillery

When the current San Martino battle was expanded to include the western approaches, Durando's Sardinian Division was forced to press two French batteries into service.  Following the first battle session, three Sardinian batteries hit the painting desk to alleviate the situation.  The plan was to paint and field these guns before the second gaming session to replace the French guns.  With the second session still on hold until schedules align, the Sardinian guns roll off the painting desk in time to see service.     

Off the painting desk today are three Sardinian guns and crew from Mirliton Miniatures.  For artillery for the 1859 project, Mirliton guns and crew are my favorites.  While Mirliton make artillery for the Sardinian and Austrian armies, no such artillery is provided for the French. In fact, no French are present in Mirliton's 15mm line up for this range.  Perhaps one day, Mirliton will add French to their excellent 15mm Italian War of Independence range?

Genova Heavy Horse in 1859

Off the painting desk today are four squadrons of the Genova Heavy Horse Regiment.  This dozen Sardinian lancers are from Mirliton miniatures from Italy.  I continue to believe these are some of the best cavalry in 15mm for the 1859 period.  Great figures.

With the current emphasis on churning out 15mm/18mm figures for at least part of 2018, expect more work on this project.  Looking into The Lead Pile, enough Sardinian cavalry can be found to field all of the horse regiments seen in 1859.  Well, if not, close!

Alessandria Light Cavalry

Having an 1859 game out on the table provided even more the usual incentive to get an additional unit for the 15mm 1859 project into the painting queue.  This time, four squadrons (twelve figures) of the Sardinian Alessandria Light Cavalry Regiment trot off the painting desk.

These first rate figures are from Mirliton's excellent Italian War of Independence range.  While I do not field too many of Mirliton's infantry, their cavalry are probably my favorites from all manufacturers.  Excellent sculpts with figures offered in either walking or charging poses.  Many more bags of Mirliton cavalry await in The Lead Pile.  Enough bags I suspect to field all of the Sardinian and Austrian cavalry seeing service during the war.  It really is a shame that Mirliton make no French cavalry (or infantry) in 15mm.  Mirliton French cavalry would be well received, I bet.

Coming off the painting desk soon are three more reinforcements for the 1799 project.  These new recruits include three battalions comprising two battalions of French light infantry and one battalion of Austrian jaegers.

Austrian Hussar Regiment #12 in 1859

After a steady stream of units for the 18mm 1799 project, attention is diverted to return to the 15mm 1859 project.  Today's focus is four squadrons of Austrian hussars from Regiment #12.  Figures are Mirliton from Italy. 

Mirliton makes my favorite cavalry sculpts for this period and size.  While Old Glory and Lancashire make very good cavalry, to my eye, Mirliton exceeds both.  Unfortunately, only figures for Austrian and Sardinian contingents are present in Mirliton's 1859 range.

These dozen troopers muster out as squadrons 5 through 8 of Haller Hussar Regiment #12.  Squadrons 1 through 4 mustered out for duty long ago and only now do the remaining four squadrons get called up for service.  With light blue uniform topped by a white shako, Haller Hussars are a handsome unit.

Sardinian Light Cavalry for 1859

My hop-scotching through the projects continues.  This time, the 1859 project sees some action.  Off the painting desk depart four squadrons (12 figures) of the Sardinian Saluzzo Light Cavalry Regiment.  Figures are Mirliton.

Sticking with the 1859 project, the next figures off the painting desk will be a three battalion regiment (36 figures) of French line infantry.  The French will be fielded from Lancashire Games 15mm figures.

Last time I had the project all out on the table for a review was in DEC 2012 (see 1859 Project Review).  A quick count shows about 50 units have passed over from The Lead Pile to completed box since late 2012.  Once I finish off the current French infantry, perhaps it is due time to offer another parade to assess the project?  It might be interesting to compare the project DEC 2012 against AUG 2015 and see what direction I should focus.   

Sardinian Bersaglieri for 1859 Project

Despite a few distractions, I made a conscious attempt to focus on the 15mm Risorgimento project following the 28mm Napoleonic blitz in the first quarter.

To continue that focus, up next is a twelve figure battalion of Sardinian Bersaglieri from Lancashire Games.  Great figures with nice detailing.  I quite like them!  For my rules, a light infantry battalion can operate in two, independent BMUs unlike the line infantry battalions which are based on a single stand and operate as one BMU.

 For 15's, these are big guys.  Compared to the Mirliton Bersaglieri, the Lancashire figures dwarf them.  If rating the figures on the Barrett Scale, I would say the Mirliton are 16M and the Lancashire are 17H.  The Lancashire Bersagilieri are large and chunky.  Still, on the gaming table, these differences will disappear and a welcome addition to the skirmishing capabilities of the Sardinian Army.

1859 Project Reinforcements from Mirliton

As mentioned in an earlier post, Mirliton Miniatures of Italy, Mirliton make a 15mm range of well-sculpted figures for the 1859 Risorgimento.  Especially well modeled are the cavalry.  Despite reservations regarding the cost of shipping, I submitted a large order since the next order to Italy by the U.S. distributor might be several months.

Cavalry, Cavalry, and More Cavalry

The order submitted was almost entirely cavalry for the 1859 project with 9 wounded Romans to be used as markers for Impetvs.  In all, 32 packs of cavalry (96 figures) arrived along with the Roman wounded.

The financial damage was actually less than anticipated and turned out to be a reasonable bargain.  Including the high cost of shipping, the cavalry worked out to cost less than USD$1.30 each.  Not bad!  That is less than the cost of an AB Miniature cavalry figure excluding delivery.  Of course, the current strength of the USD was working in my favor.

With all of the recent resupplies arriving for the 1859 project, I really must return some attention to that very interesting project.

Mirliton Figures of Italy

After a very long silence, I received an email from Tony (KStudio Miniatures), the USA stockist for Mirliton miniatures of Italy.  Tony announced that he would be making a group order to the home country in about one week and requested orders.  If enough orders come in, an order will be placed back to the Mother Ship in Italy.  Since these group orders are few and far between, jumping in when they are offered is paramount.

Now, Mirliton make what I consider some of the finest cavalry for the Second Italian War of Independence in 18mm and their artillery is first rate too.  Oh, and Bersaglieri? Outstanding!  Actually, the entire product line for the period is first rate.

The main issue keeping me from ordering more of the figures is the expense of shipping to the USA.  It is not uncommon for an order for USD$100 to cost nearly USD$50!  That is correct, almost 50% of order value and the figures are not inexpensive to begin.

One benefit of ordering through Tony is that a discount is offered but a minimum order size is required.  In the case of this order, a minimum of EUR 85 is required.  The high cost of postage still must be born, but a minimum 25% discount is offered for the figures, themselves.

Mirliton also offers a number of other very interesting and well crafted ranges including Ancients, Renaissance, Napoleonics, and Franco-Austrian War in 28mm.  On one past order, I included a number of wounded Roman to be used as markers.

Mirliton wounded Romans

My thought was to use these as disorder markers for Impetvs.  The problem with this logic?  In our last Impetvs game, at least 20 of these markers would have been required!  Nifty figures and I may order more anyway.

I must put pencil to paper and come up with an order.  Focus will likely be on cavalry since I can get suitable infantry from other vendors but I must have more cavalry.  Unfortunately (well, maybe fortunately for my wallet), Mirliton doe not offer French for this conflict in 18mm.  A very handsome range in 28mm is available, though.

If any U.S. reader fancies seeing some of these figures in hand, drop me an email and we can work out the details of piggybacking onto my order.

Lancashire Games Miniatures

My eye has been on Lancashire Games since they produce a range of figures for the mid-19th Century European wars.  From the website photos of the miniatures, it is difficult to get a good grasp of the quality of the sculpts.  What better way to find out for myself than by placing a small, dip-your-toe-into-the-water test order?  Well, that is exactly what I did.

Concentrating on my 1859 project, I ordered enough figures to build two battalions each of Sardinians and Austrians.  The figures were ordered from the UK on 01NOV2014 and the order arrived on the left coast of the USA on 10NOV2014.  Fast!  Communication was good too.

Figures arrived in good shape with a few figures having bent bases; some almost doubled over onto the legs.  With such soft alloy, the bases were easily straightened without any breakage.  I like the soft alloy Lancashire uses and reminds of the good old days of malleable, lead figures.

Pulling a few figures out, I lined them up and made a quick comparison.  No Mirliton infantry remained unpainted for the comparison so a couple of artillerymen were substituted.  These Lancashire figures are on the chunky side of the spectrum especially with stockiness in the upper torso.  These rank and file lads have no neck!  With a slightly oversized head,  I guess neck compression is expected.  I would classify them as 17M on the Barrett Scale. Does anyone still use that metric?

Sculpting style on these figures is very similar to Mirliton infantry with the exception that Mirliton are slightly smaller.  Mirliton have no neck too.  Still, the Mirliton Austrian artilleryman fits in well with Lancashire.  As seen from the photo, size varies even within one manufacturer.  See the the two Mirliton artillerymen in the top row, for example.  The Old Glory figures fit in closely to Lancashire but a little smaller.  Perhaps,16M on Barrett.  Old Glory and Lancashire officers match very well together.  The Freikorps Austrian infantry is in a class by himself at a true 15mm in height.  On the gaming table the Barrett differences between Mirliton, Old Glory, and Freikorps disappear.  Almost certainly be the same when Lancashire battalions are added into the mix.   

First impressions are that I like what I see from Lancashire Games.  My only regrets are that I ordered Austrians wearing their greatcoat when I would have preferred kittel and I forgot to use my Society of Ancients' 10% member discount.  Next time!

Garibaldini in 15mm

One small addition to the 1859 Risorgimento project makes it way off from the painting desk.  This twelve figure battalion will be fielded as the 1st Battalion, 2nd Regiment or Cacciatori delle Alpi or Garibaldini.  Each of the alpine regiments fielded two battalions and were part of Garibaldi's famous Red Shirts.  With the mustering of the 2 Rgt/1 Bn, three such battalions can now make their appearance on the table.

At the Battle of Varese on  26MAY1859, three regiments or six battalions of the Garibaldini faced off against the Austrians under Urban.  The next day, another clash between these two forces occurred at the Battle of Fermo.

As the other battalions before it, these figures are Battle Honors' ACW figures pressed into service as Cacciatori delle Alpi.

The Lead Pile underwent a slight reorganization last night specifically focused on the 1859 project.  This activity not only included reorganizing the boxes of lead but also comparing the bits in boxes against the campaign OB.  While the campaign did not witness a preponderance of cavalry, I did discover that the project could use more cavalry.  Especially lacking are Austrian Uhlans.  Of course, I have not begun to consider the French, yet!

Now, I am not particularly fond of Old Glory's cavalry for this period and many of the Austrian horsemen appear in the later 1866 uniforms so more Old Glory horse is unlikely.  The Mirliton cavalry are quite nice and large while the Freikorps are smaller but still satisfactory.  Based on a suggestion from another gamer, I may look into both Rank & File and Essex.

Another vendor of which I have seen no figures, is Lancashire Games.  Lancashire offers a range for the 1859 campaign and I placed a small order to sample their wares.  My order was shipped the day after ordering so the small package should be in my hands in about one week.  Very quick turn-around and very friendly and helpful communications from the owner.  Always exciting to receive figures from a new manufacturer, is it not?  To me, certainly!

Digging through The Lead Pile prompted me to pull more figures for this project and queue them up.  Besides a handful of artillery limbers, only a few foot battalions were added thus far in 2014.  With this rummage through the lead, I feel motivated to return to the project.  Opportunity knocks.  Two battalions of Austrian infantry and three more Austrian limbers and teams are awaiting their turn at priming.  With weather turning cold, I ought to begin thinking about laying in the primed lead for the winter.  Cavalry should be in the queue too.