War in the Crimea

Yesterday I arranged a Crimean War game. Having spent all last week on holiday I had given very little thought to the scenario, in fact the whole game was conceived on the morning of the game. 

The Russians were to be in position more or less diagonally across the table with 35 battalions, five large batteries and four cavalry regiments. The Allied were to attack with 13 British battalions (including three battalions of Guards) and five standard batteries, ten small cavalry regiments (the Heavy and Light Brigades), the French with 13 battalions and two standard batteries, and the Turks with four battalions and two standard batteries. While the Russians had greater numbers of infantry battalions, they were slower moving than the Allies and their dense formations made them more vulnerable to fire. The British infantry, the French Chasseurs and Zouaves were armed with rifled muskets and enjoyed a range advantage.

The Allies chose to hit the Russian left with the bulk of their force, hoping that the troops on the Russian right could be kept out of the fight for as long as possible. Keith, who commanded the British infantry, filed a much more detailed report than I can give here.

In the end, after a hard fought battle, the Russians were driven back, although the British and Turkish forces took a heavy bashing.

The Russians advance

"Forward the Light Brigade"...sadly they suffered much the same fate as the original brigade

French troops moving forward

The Scots Greys going forward

The Light Brigade about to be shot to pieces

A Russian battery about to be ridden down by the Royals

The Zouaves press on

The 11th Hussars are broken while charging a Russian square

Here they come!

The developing fight on the Russian left

The infantry form for the fight 

The French have arrived at the front

The confusion on the Russian left...

The French are unstoppable...

...and have broken the Russian left.

The Heavy Brigade advancing

Crimean Completion

Well what a week. For those unaware I work in aviation and when I went home from work on Friday there were “challenges” in the aviation world - declining demand, reduced schedules, etc. Less than 24 hours later borders were closing and the industry was in a tailspin. Another 24 hours later and almost every airline on the planet was facing ruin and huge job losses. Walking into work on Monday was surreal.

Thank goodness for model soldiers! They certainly have saved my sanity in the madness of the last five days.

First off the painting table are some French cuirassiers from the Second Empire. There were two cuirassier regiments, the 6th and 9th, that went to the Crimea (although I can find no record of them actually  being engaged) and ten regiments served in the Franco-Prussian War. Again, like the recent post for the two regiments of Chasseurs d’Afrique, these are an expansion on an existing unit, up gauging the basing from two figures to three figures to a stand . Here is the before and after state of the “refurbishment”.

Before...

After...

Then comes the sixth and final battalion (the 49th Regiment) of the British Second Division in the Crimea.

My British collection now counts 17 infantry battalions, 5 light and 5 heavy cavalry units, two horse and six field artillery batteries. I think that is enough and I can now say with some certainty that this project is completed - although if my lottery numbers come up I may feel the need to retract that statement

47th Regiment of Foot

The British Crimean expansion continues with the addition of the 47th foot to the collection.

This is the second to last battalion of the expansion.

Next up, some more French Crimean cavalry.

Crimean War Chasseurs d’Afrique - Part Two

Over the weekend I developed a sore tooth that flared up last night. A couple of pain killers knocked it back and all felt good until about 10:00 am this morning when the pain got worse and worse. A trip to the dentist determined that an abscess was the problem. One hour later the root canal was completed and the pain in my mouth was gone, although the pain in the wallet persists.

The upside of the experience is that I was home early and able to finish the basing work on the refurbished second regiment of Crimean War Chasseurs d’Afrique. The regiment contains three new figures that were painted over the weekend.

A regiment of cuirassiers is waiting for three new troopers and a full refurbishment on the painting tray.

Crimean War Chasseurs d’Afrique

Last year the British and Russian cavalry of this collection were upgraded to the “three figures to a base” standard and now it is the turn of the French cavalry for that treatment.

Here is the first of two Chasseurs d’Afrique regiments that accompany the French force. The figures are from the Wargames Foundry Franco-Prussian War range.

On the painting table now is something a little different...more on this in a few days.

Crimean Expansion

Late last year I commenced an expansion of the British Crimean army that included the three outstanding regiments of the Heavy Brigade, three battalions of infantry, some command and two artillery sets.

The expansion continues with these two units.

Another field artillery set

And this, the 41^st Regiment.

Two more regiments of foot. The 47^th and the 49^th will follow that will complete de Lacy Evans’ Second Division, that is the focus of this expansion

Next in the queue for the Crimea armies (and Franco-Prussian War in this instance) are some reinforcements for the French cavalry that will increase the number of figures on the stands to three, in line with the British and Russian cavalry.

Generals

While it has been a busy week on the painting table, not much has been completed due to the fact that I mis-ordered six figures and without those six I can’t finish off two units if French Revolutionary infantry.

So all there is to show for my busy week is a pair of British Crimean generals, a Union and a Confederate general.

The Crimean generals below are the General Cathcart and Staff Officer set from the Great War range. Staff officer has been converted into a senior officer with a new head on which I placed the cocked hat. The right arm that was originally holding the cocked hat was replaced by one from a Perry’s plastic ACW set.

The Civil War generals are from the Perry Battle in a Box set.

More Crimean War Turks

This week sees the completion of the third and fourth battalions of the Turkish infantry regiment, supported by a couple of guns sets, for the Crimean War.

This force, as I have stated in previous posts, is intended as a support force for the British and French Crimean armies (pretty much as the same as the similar sized Sardinian force I have). At some point in the future the Turks may expand, maybe with another regiment of four battalions and some cavalry, for operations outside of the Crimean Peninsula. For now this will do.

Here is the whole force deployed for action. The three mounted officers, painted some four years ago now, finally have troops to command.

In earlier post about my ACW experiment I mentioned that I might  be a bit extravagant and make some units in march column. Here is what I am intending for these.

Off the Conveyor Belt Today...

Coming off the basing tray today are two items:

A couple of Crimean Turkish gun sets (you have to love that “well rounded” officer).

A Confederate cavalry unit from the ACW experiment. This will be a standard sized unit under the project concept.

Waiting to be based are a batch of ACW Union infantry. These will be mustered into regiments in due course, as other recruits arrive.