Sunday 4 November 2007

The Margravate of Dunkeldorf-Pfühl: 3rd (Provisional) Line Brigade.


I'm back from vacation, horribly jetlagged and suffering from a rotten cold. Ho-hum...

Meanwhile, here is the Third (Provisional) Brigade of the Margrave's army. This is going to be made up of second-rate units such as the Austrian army possessed in the 18th century. The regiments have the numbers, they have the training; they just don't have much morale or fighting ability. Every army has units like these, that add bulk to the army's strength without adding much in the way of combat value.

* * * *

Even so, units such as these have their uses and can surprise their commanders on occasion. In one recent game at the New Buckenham club we fought a disguised scenario Napoleonic game in which two distinctly second-rate French brigades attacked a position held by good-quality British units. We used the Shako rules favored by our group and the French performed exceptionaly well. They took the main British position and ended the game "at nightfall" in a situation where they directly threatened the second. The game was based on the Union attack on the Dunker Church at Antietam/Sharpsburg, and the attackers had more success than those in the original battle.

Had the game been part of a campaign the division would've been given a higher rating as a reward. Seeing the "duffers" make good in the end is one reward for including such units in the order of battle. And if they foul up, well, it wasn't exactly unexpected, was it? It's things like this that make campaigns so pleasurable.


* * * *

For those who're interested some of my RSM95 figures are now soaking in detergent prior to painting. I will begin painting IR 1 Sleibnitz using my newly-adopted practise of painting 15 or so figures at a time. I find this is much easier for me to do as I'm not faced with the chore of having to paint figure after figure for hours on end. Even wargamers need a little morale-boost now and then...

I really can't praise the quality of these figures highly enough. They are the cleanest, most flash-free models I've ever seen. Recommended!

* * * *

I'm going to be very busy with the day job over the run-up to Christmas, but I hope to get in some painting time, and to work on the campaign background to the mighty struggle between Hetzenberg and the The Margravate of Dunkeldorf-Pfühl. There may even be another chapter or two of Any Excuse. Stay tuned..


5 comments:

abdul666 said...

We stay tuned, 'AJ', be sure of that!
Cheers,
Jean-Louis

Ed said...

Welcome back. Always glad to see reinforcements...unless of course they are vile Stagonians.

Ed v. H-F

Bluebear Jeff said...

AJ,

I've posted some more photos of RSM lead on my blog. Mounted troops this time:

http://saxe-bearstein.blogspot.com/

Also, after our initial forces, virtually all of the troops we raise for our local "Wars for Arcadian Glory" (WAG) start out as "Raw".

Their morale number for any battle is the LOWER of two "Averaging Dice" . . . but it isn't rolled until they need to make a save . . . so, while you expect it to be low, it might not be.

Veterans roll 1dAv for their number; and Elites roll 2dAv and use the HIGHER number. This allows us to have an idea of a unit's staying power, but not to know for sure until it is too late to do anything about it.


-- Jeff

Bluebear Jeff said...

And yes, Ed, the Stagonians are most VILE.

(I ought to know, I created them as the opponents of my beloved Saxe-Bearsteins.)

Nevertheless they have their uses. While Furst Bruno of S-B would not do anything dishonorable, Koenig Maurice of Stagonia just loves plots, schemes and just causing trouble for the fun of it.

(so he's great for getting involved in Proxy Battles.)


-- Jeff

A J said...

You make a sound case for starting morale, Jeff. Any guard units could be rated as veteran to reflect their higher status, with all line regiments being classed as raw. With both opponents beginning a campaign in the same state it would make life interesting to see reputations being formed on the field.