Moving on to bigger things.

This time trying my hand at a 40mm miniature for the first time, and I must say I really enjoyed it. The bigger size invites you to spend some extra time on the details and the end result is also just that bit more satisfying compared to 28mm. I will definitely be getting some more of these in the future.
The model comes from the Perry's 40mm peninsular line.

Sharp Practice

In anticipation of picking up Sharp Practice again in a few weeks I tried a scenario in solo-play. Searching the internet for inspiration I found the excellent blog of World2Dave and borrowed this scenario from him (for details see: http://themedetianwars.blogspot.nl/2014/11/the-attack-on-griffon-inn-sharp.html).

The French have settled down in the manor with some more troops dispatched to the barn. After a wild night plundering the wine cellar the French are now vast asleep with one lonely sentry dispatched on the road. The Russians are close upon them though, approaching through the woods at daybreak. 

Two of the Russians attack groups are spotted!

The sentry rushes towards the house to raise the alarm.

And beats the Russians to it.

First to deploy is the French light gun, opening up on the Russians approaching the door.

Grenadiers follow.

The third Russian blind deploys a unit of Jaeger and line infantry 

The assault on the mansion commences.

French infantry deployed nearby are drawn to the sound of the guns.

Charge!

Counter charge!

Jaegers sneak through the rocks, and take aim at the French line.

The Russians rally two battered units in line.

At this moment the large Russian unit went in for a new counter attack on the now exposed French and that is where I ended the game.

The scenario is quite nice and seems to have a good balance of forces.

 I'm not sure the French made the best decision by leaving the house as they were in quite a strong defensive position, but I wanted to bring the game to an end.

Chain of Command - Tunis

Here's a quick rundown of a Chain of Command game we played yesterday.

Tunis 1943

Forces involved:

German panzergrenadier platoon
sdkfz 222
5cm mortar
Medic
Adjutant

British rifle platoon
Armoured car
2' mortar

Objective of the game is a crossroad guarded by the British platoon.

The battlefield.

Germans start their probe.

British fall back.

German reinforcements arrive

British take up defensive positions and armoured car arrives.

Germans form a firing line and start pouring it into the Tommies.

The firefight takes its toll on the British. 

Germans launch their final assault.

And take the position. At this moment the British force moral was down to 2 and we called the game. Victory to the Wehrmacht.

Pike and Shotte - The Battle of Pavia

In between the smoke clouds of Black Powder I recently had a game of Pike and Shotte. We played the battle of Pavia from the rulebook, mostly using Warhammer Empire models. We had to scale the battalia's down a bit, but still managed to fill the table with an impressing amount of mini's!

Here are some pictures I took with my phone.

French positions

French left flank and Imperial right flank

Imperials in front of 'the river'

the assault commences

Imperial right flank takes up positions

French cavalry counter deploys

Heavy siege guns pound the French

Infantry gets stuck in

on the roll of a 3+...

battle lines clash in the swamp

In the end we decided the Imperials had a five point advantage, holding the French hq and being within reach of the Imperial objective to warn the Pavia garrison. All in all a very enjoyable game.

Black Powder Painting

Since I started napoleonics some 1,5 years ago there haven't been too many updates on the paiting progress, but not all has been quiet on the painting front. Especially over the last holidays I've been painting quite fanatically.  These last weeks it have mainly been Russians, which I'll show soon, but now they're almost all done my focus is back at the French again. 

In the mean time I've also been busy with some skirmishers in a retreat from Moscow theme. I've played Song of Drums and Shako's once, and it felt like quite a nice little game. 

I've also finished two of my three Austrian regiments and received some much anticipated Russian Cavalry reinforcements. 

There will soon follow a post showing the developments on the Russian side of affairs. 

Dragoons and Cuirassiers