Customised Sarissa Precision Bridge

 Our Wagram game called for a number of  buildings and bridges (9 in total) and we were able dip into various peoples collections to get the required number, including a few scratch built specifically for the game. While building the terrain boards I realised that I had very few man made structures of my own for 15mm gaming so I ordered some MDF kits from a couple of different manufacturers; including 4 bridges from Sarissa Precision . One of them I spent a little more time on:

I love assembling MDF kits but the nature of the material and the way MDF kits have to be made means details and textures are hard to achieve. Fortunately for me, I love embellishing the kits as much as I like assembling them. One of the first things I noticed with these bridges were they are a bit large for 15mm. For big battle games like Wagram I like my structures to be a bit on the small side; the bridge would be perfect for skirmish gaming but a little long and wide for my liking. The first thing I did was cut down the bridge deck to 55 mm width. It would have been quite a bit more work to cut down the length so I left that as is since it was less important:

 

This meant that the bases the bridges come on also had to be trimmed:

My initial thought was to put texture on the sides of the bridge to represent plastering but I could not find any support for that having been done to medieval/renaissance bridges so I decide to use some Plastruct textured styrene (O scale Random Cut Stone 91560) to sheet the sides:

O scale is over-sized for 15mm but it doesn't look ridiculous here (the card arch comes with the kit):

Next up, were the coping stones that run along the top of the bridge sides. I used two methods: green stuff and 2mm foamed PVC (Foamex):

Although the greenstuff was probably a bit faster, as it took a bit more time to texture and scribe the PVC, I like the foamed PVC better. On top of that, there were lots of bits of the yellow epoxy that were already set and didn't mix well with the blue epoxy. I pressed a small rock into the PVC to get a nice, natural texture.

Another change I wanted to make to the bridge was the deck; I wanted a stone bridge deck, not a wooden one which the card best represents. For this I turned to 1mm foamed PVC and scribed stones into it and textured it in the same fashion as the coping stones.

This took quite a bit of time, although I did find it oddly satisfying and I have only done it for one bridge.

With that done it was ready for paint:

The bridge deck is a bit darker In Real Life. The scribed Foamex is fairly deep so I was able to use un-sanded grout in the joints after painting and sealing the bridge to represent mortar 

 As there are 4 bridges in total I am going to use some Tamiya stone sheet I have had for a decade for the other three to save time; it will go on after priming. I may come back and redo those bridge decks in the future as I am currently looking to buy some flexible epoxy resin for roads and it would work for these arched bridge decks as well. 

The Battle of Wagram: Part 2

 Here are a few pictures of the Battle fought over the weekend of August 23rd-25th. Set up was Friday afternoon with the initial two turns played that evening. Rules used were Napoleon's Battles, figures are 15mm by various manufacturers provided by several of the participants. 

The battlefield before troops were deployed. 

Massena's Corp on their starting line on the French left:

Rosenberg's IV Korps is deployed around Markgrafneusiedl with Hohenzollern's II Korps on the plateau in the distance:

Von Bellegarde's I Korps ensconced in Wagram:

Klenau's VI Korps starts the game threatening the French left flank:

View from the East; first turn (06:00) under way:

Davout's Corps rumbles forward:

The village of Baumersdorf in the middle of the photograph, bracketed by the French in the upper left and the Austrians in the lower right:

Either Boudet's or Molitor's (I can't recall...) twiddling their thumbs in  Raasdorf:

The Austrian III Korps joins the VI in attempting to outflank the French on their left:

The Austrians stream out of Wagram to meet the French head on:

Austrian cavalry cross the Russbach to threaten Davout's flank:

The Austrian II Korps congregate around Baumersdorf expecting a French assault:

Prochaska's Division parks itself outside Alderklaa before the French get there:

Elements of the Austrian 1st Korps under Fresnel face off against Oudinot's on the plain outside Wagram:

The French Imperial Guard, under Napoleon himself, advance quickly onto the battlefield, headed for Wagram:

The Austrians are expecting an assault on Markgrafneusiedl;

Prince Eugene's Army of Italy comes on in support of Massena on the left flank at Raasdorf:

Here we are mid-morning, Napoleon observing the fighting at Wagram from the enemy's perspective:

Same view from the east end of the table:

The Austrians have pulled back into Alderklaa as Bernadotte's IX Corps advances slowly on the town:

Napoleon observes the battle from a hill just south of Wagram and east of  Alderklaa:

Battle breaks out on the plain south of Markgrafneusiedl and the Russbach:

Massena's effort to hold the French left flank goes very well; some of Lasalle's cavalry (on the left) can be seen behind the Austrian line, looking to run over some Landwehr to get to the cannons:

This is where I left the battle, as I was unavailable for Sunday. Bernadotte's infantry close in on the Austrians holed up in Alderklaa on the left and the battle for Wagram gets more troops fed into it at the top. 

Just a few photos from Sunday morning as the new commanders take over for those of us who could not be there for day two:

A fantastic weekend out - a great way to end the summer. We are already think of our next massive battle for next summer.

 

The Battle of Wagram: Part 1

 This past weekend the members of the Nanaimo Historical Wargamers group got together to refight the Battle of Wagram. Nate, the organiser of the event, asked me a few months ago if I would be interested in making a few hills, including a large one to represent the Wagram plateau. As I had been thinking of making a table of terrain panels, I decided to do the whole battlefield in panels instead of just a few hills. You've heard of 'scale creep'? Well, this is an extreme example of 'project creep'!

The basis of the table was this map (I cannot recall the publication it is from):

Each panel was made from 1" insulation foam, glued to 1/4" MDF in either 2' by 2' or 2' by 4' sections.  Here are all the panels laid out in the biggest room in my house; the total table size is 14' by 6' with an added 2' by 6' section in the south-west corner, making it 8' deep there (north west would be the bottom of the photo below). 

I blended the hills of the plateau into the styrofoam with Sculptamold.

After that had dried for a few days each panel got coated with a couple different colours of Polyblend Sanded Grout.

Once dry, they were sealed with a light misting of isopropyl alcohol and thinned white glue sprayed liberally over each panel. 

A layer of 2mm Woodland Scenics static grass was next.

The swampy areas were accented with Noch tufts and Woodland Scenics dark green clump foliage.

Then the process of adding bits of shrubbery and patches of more static grass (4mm spring and 6mm summer from Peco)  for a little visual variety on the large stretches of grassland/pasture.

Finally, the Russbach creek was poured with EcoPoxy resin, tinted with Golden High Flow Acrylic Sap Green..

We needed a structure to represent the tower at Markgrafneusiedl. Photos show an odd tower which is in fact a windmill added to the structure around 1817, several years after the battle.

 A 19thC painting shows Davout ordering the assault on Markgrafneusiedl with the tower in the background. It doesn't really look like the current structure either. 

The building had been used as a church for many years before the battle but was abandoned due to disrepair. I decided to make the structure a bit more church-like by combining the main structure as it now exists with a church tower, similar to the one in the painting.

This was my first time using Foamed PVC (aka Foamex); this is a 3mm sheet from Green Stuff World. 

I cut out two windows on one side but then said screw it, and just decided to paint the others black.

This material is easy to carve and texture, more resilient than foam or foam board. It cuts easily in a straight line but a little messy when cutting curves and circles. 

I will definitely be using more of this stuff.

I don't have any pictures of the finished building as it got done late Thursday night after a rushed paint job before getting bundled up for transport Friday afternoon.

A number of issues popped up that either hampered the project or nearly sunk it including a bout with COVID about 2 weeks ago. I meant to line the creek with shrubs as would have been natural and my plan to fix a couple of the warped boards had to be set aside.

Next up, photos of the actual game...