Alamo Game in 54mm

Today I spent a fun afternoon at my friend John M. Priest's house replaying a 54mm version of the Alamo.

John's Alamo set up was constructed by him and his brother.  He has run this game numerous times at Cold Wars and Fall-in.  It is an impressive piece of wargaming terrain.  John has over 900 Mexican troops and 212 Texan/American troops.  This set up is so big that the Texan/American commanders have to stand inside the Alamo to move their troops.

John uses his own home made rules which require dice and his own measuring process.  He is always tweeking his rules set but this set is particularly fast.  D12 for movement by regiment/stand.  D6s for shooting.  The further away the lower the number equals a hit.  1 D6 for each figure on the stand.  Texan/Americans have a particular advantage of first fire.  Artillery has to roll to see it if will fire or miss fire.  John rolled poorly on artillery most of the day (that's normal though for our games ;-))

There were three of us playing as the Mexicans.  I controlled the right of the picture above all the way to the top of the picture.  Think of a big L shape.

Our strategy was simple.  Get close, shoot often, use superior fire power to clear the walls with concentrated volley fire from 3 regiments while 1 regiment got set o climb.  It went fast and I cleared my section quite quickly with Ryan, whose troops are in the bottom of the picture followed a little slower.  Once we got going it was death to the rebels.  We stopped John from spiking his guns and slaughtered those Texan/Americans with their own cannons a few times.  This game was over in 2.5 hours.  We lost (John has a tally process) 220 Mexicans.  I alone killed 120 Texan/Americans and Crocket and Bowie.  We killed all of the "enemy".

Great Sunday afternoon

6th Light Demi Brigade (6th Legere)

The 6th Light Demi Brigade (the future 6th Legere) was created in 1788 as the 6e Batallion de Chasseus Bretons.  In 1791 they were renamed the 6e Bataillon d'Infanterie Legere(6e Bataillon de Chasseurs), 

The result of the First Amalgamation caused the unit in 1795 to be remained the 6e Demi-Brigade d'Infanterie Legere and included the amalgamation of the 6e Bataillon d'Infanterie Legere, 8e Bataillon, Volontaires du Calvados and the 4e Bataillon, Volontaires de Saone-et-Loire

The Second Amalgamation in 1796 resulted in the new 6e Demi-Brigade d'Infanterie Legere being formed from the 19e Demi-Brigade d'Infanterie Legere along with contingents of men from various demi-brigades

In 1803 the unit was renamed the 6e Regiment d'Infanterie Legere

There were numerous leaders of the 6th Light Demi Brigade / Legere.  For the purpose of this project we focus on Chef-de Brigade Pierre Macon who led the 6th from 1799 to 1803 when he was promoted General de Brigade.

Pierre entered the service in 1787 as a private in the 61st Infantry Regiment.  By 1791 he had risen to the rank of Sergeant Major.  By 1792 he was promoted to lieutentant and then to a captain by 1793.  After suffering a brief wound at the battle of Mas d'Eu he served a brief stint at the desk job but soon returned to his regiment.  In September he was given command of the battalion of the 61st infantry regiment and participated in all of the 1793 campaigns of the army of the Eastern Pyrenees (vs the Spanish).

By June of 1795 he was given command of the 122nd half-brigade, and in June 1796 he joined the 57th line infantry demi brigade at took part in the Battle of Arcole.  He served in those regiments until 1798 when he was transferred to the 58th demi-brigade.  In 1799 he took command of the 6th light demi brigade.

The 6th Light Demi Brigade's combat record is rather light in the early part of the Revolution.  In 1796 it was part of Napoleon's Italian force as it lay siege to the city of Mantua.  Later that same year it took part in the Battle of Castiglione against the Austrians.

In 1800 the 6th LDB (light demi brigade) would head the vanguard of Lannes's Corps (Watrin's Division) of Napoleon's army as it opened what would be a decisive campaign in Italy.  After crossing the Saint-Bernard pass on May 7th it encountered Austrian resistance at the town of Chiusella.  The 6th, led by Colonel Macon, started with a frontal assault across the bridge spanning the Romano river.  An attempt to ford the river further to the east came to nothing as the 6th LDB broke after being charged by Austrian cavalry.

On June 9th part of Lannes's Corps, led by the 6th LDB encountered Austrian forces at the town of Montebello.  Although initially lightly held by the Austrians, reinforcements quickly began to arrive.  Lannes found his forces slowly being overwhelmed over a five hour period of time, and were only saved by the arrival of elements of Victor's French Corps which helped turn the tide of the battle in favor of the French.

This was a major running battle and as a wargame I can't wait to try it.  During this battle the 6th LDB began the major action and its three brigades were split up and fought all over the battlefield.  The Battle of Casteggio-Montebello is worth reading about.  

Battle of Marengo followed closely on the heels of Casteggio-Montebello.  During the Battle of Marengo the 6th LDB played a part in helping to patch up the crumbling French position around 11am where Lannes's Corps arrived and began to drive back part of Bellegarde's Austrian forces.  While part of the 6th remained in reserve supporting an attack by the 22nd DB, another part was sent Northwest towards Castelceriola to try and slow part of Ott's Austrian column.

Ott's column soon drove out the 6th LDB and began marching South with the intention of attacking Lannes' right flank. Close to being surrounded all of Watrin's Division (including the 6th LDB) of Lannes' division broke but and ran but were quickly rallied and formed a new line of battle that held on long enough to enable General Desaix's division to arrive and turn the tide of the battle in favor of the French.

The 6th LDB would remain with the Army of the Reserve and participate in mop up actions against the Austrians following the armistice agreed to after the Battle of Marengo.  On Christmas Day in 1800 Watrin's brigade would be apart of the force that attacked and the Austrian positions along the Mincio river.  This attack broker their line and forced them to retreat.  Two days later the armistice was renewed and Austrian resistance was effectively ended for a short time.



The 6th LDB would go on to fight as the 6th Legere in most of Napoleon's major campaigns:

1805: Elchingen, Ulm, and Austerlitz
1806: Jena and Lubeck
1807: Eylau, Peterswald, Guttstadt, and Friedland
1809: Villafranca, San-Payo, and Santiago
1809: Essling and Wagram
1810: Cuidad-Rodrigo, Almeida, and Busaco
1811: Fuentes-de-Onoro
1812: Arapiles
1813: Lutzen, Bautzen, Buntzlau, Potznitz, and Leipzig
1814: La Rothiere, Vauchamps, Montmirail, Craonne, Orthez, and Toulouse
1815: Ligny and Waterloo

These figures Baccus figures.  In order to establish my Chef-de Brigade with his lead brigade I snipped apart a command strip and spaced it around the good Pierre Macon who will lead my 6th LDB in my future battles.

Sources

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Macon

http://www.napoleon-series.org/military/organization/c_lightinf1.html#6th

http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_romano_chiusella.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Montebello_(1800)
http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_casteggio_montebello.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Pozzolo

New terrain for 6mm

My goal was really to find time to paint the 6th Light Demi Brigade.  However, the itch came over me to have some better terrain to go with this ever expanding French Rev force I am building.

Although the painting continues (hopefully more over this weekend), I decided to build a field network and trees to go with it.

I took the idea for trees from http://www.6mmacw.com/6mm-terrain-tips.html and even some of the field ideas.

In the picture below are Austrian Dragoons (bottom right) vs French Dragoons (coming down the hill upper left) with the 22nd DMB in square and supporting artillery near the cleared out tree area and along the road.

The field is simply part of a Fruit Loop box flipped upside down.  Then pieces of terrain matting or carpet samples lightly glued on top.  The fences and the roads come from http://www.paperterrain.com.  The fences are glued to popsicle sticks which have been painted green and flocked.  On the whole for my first "major" terrain piece I think it worked on pretty well.

The "stone fences" that line the road/field border are just small popsicle sticks with glue on them covered immediately by train ballast.  This was then painted black and then dry brushed with 3 shades of grey.  Dark, medium, light.  It worked out ok.

The trees also worked out well.  I had done a test batch for a CW scenario in the early spring.  Those trees were brown and looked ok, but I certainly like the green look to these.  For me it really gives a "live" feel to the game.

Now on to the 6th Light Demi Brigade

22nd Demi Brigade, 1796 to 1800

This is my version of the 22nd Demi Brigade, 1796 to 1800 with a little history included.

This regiment was created in 1776 from the 2e and 4e Bataillons Regiment de Guyenne.  In 1791 it was re designated the 22e Regiment d'Infanterie.  As the Revolution continued the regiment was re designated the 2e demi-brigade de bataille in 1793 from the following units: 2e bataillon, 11e Regiment d'Infanterie bataillon, Volontaires de Martigues, and the 2e bataillon Volontaires de Marseille

In 1796, it was re designated the 22e demi-brigade d'Infanterie de Ligne by incorporating the 44e demi-brigade de bataille (2e Bat, 22e Regt d'Inf, 2e Bat,Vol de la Correze and 5e Bat,Vol de Rhone-et-Loire).  The unit's final re designation would take place in 1803 when it was returned to the 22e Regiment d'Infanterie de Ligne.

During the Revolutionary War years being depicted, this unit was led by the venerable Nicolas-Joseph Schreiber.  Born in 1752 to a military family (father was a sergeant in the Swiss Regiment Salis-Samade).  He entered the service as a drummer at age nine and later joined as a private in 1765.  He was later promoted to sergeant in 1781.

The outbreak of the Revolution saw him command a battalion of volunteers in the Army of the Rhine from 1792 to 1795. Chef-de Brigade in 1795 of the 202e demi-brigade de bataille where he was wounded.  In June 1797 he became the Chef de Brigade of the 22e demi-brade d'Infanterie, and led it with distinction (wounded again in 1800 at the battle of Casteggio) and was reassigned in 1803 to the Army of the Coast.  In 1805 when he was promoted to General-de Brigade.  Schreiber had a full military career: Officer of the Legion d'Honneur in 1804 and eventually made a Baron of the Empire in 1813.  Schreiber would survive the war and die in 1833.

As the primary focus of this unit is to fight the Italian Campaign that culminates with the Battle of Marengo, some background on its role in this campaign.

Watrin's Division - Lannes's Corps:

6th Light Demi Brigade

22nd Demi Brigade

28th Demi Brigade

40th Demi Brigade

Assigned to Watrin's Division of Lanne's corps it became part of the French advance guard.  On May 16, 1800, this advanced guard crossed the Great St. Bernard Pass and defeated Austrian forces located at St. Remy, Aosta and Chatillon on May 18th.  Advancing further, the 22nd participated in an assault on the fortified town of Ivrea on May 24th.  Attacking the town on two sides, the French eventually drove the Austrian forces South 10 miles along a stronger defensive position.  Lanne's force pursued and attacked again the following day in what became known as the Battle of Romano Chiusella.

Lacking artillery, Lanne's with two divisions faced a combined, but spread out, Austrian force of twenty two cavalry squadrons and eight battalions along a strong river position.  Lannes began with a frontal assault across the bridge led by the 6th light demi brigade.  This attack stalled and the Austrians launched their own counter attack which sent the 6th light demi brigade in retreat.  Lanne's next plan was to send the 22nd and 40th demi-brigades to cross the river upstream, while the 6th light demi brigade crossed the bridge to the east and the 28th demi-brigade attacked the bridge.  This plan eventually caused the Austrian line to buckle.  A counter attack by Austrian cavalry broke the 6th light demi brigade and the 28th demi brigades, but the arrival of the 22nd and the 40th demi-brigades along with Boudet's division decided the issue and the Austrians retreated.

The 22nd continued is march towards Milan under Lannes, but had difficulty seizing Pavia until June 3rd.  After which it crossed the Po river and began marching towards the Austrian main line of communication.  This line of march eventually led to the little village of Casteggio.  This village was defended by small Austrian force led by O'Reilly which was comprised of six infantry battalions and four cavalry squadrons, but had additional Austrian forces nearby to reinforce it if attacked.

The battle began on June 9th with the 6th light demi-brigade leading the attack.  The 22nd was quickly fed into the battle with its fellow units only to discover that they were facing a superior force.  The 22nd and the rest of its brigade fought for five hours.  Twice they seized Casteggio but were drive out.  With Lannes' command nearing the breaking point, French reinforcements from Victor's corps along with some of the Consular Guard artillery arrived.  This fresh French force quickly charged the center of the Austrian position and eventually defeated the Austrian forces, nearly wiping out the Reisky Regiment.

A realistic assessment of the casualties were around 3000 french losses (French claim 600) while the Austrians lose 659 KIA, 1445 Wounded, and 2171 captured.  The next battle for the 22nd would be the Battle of Marengo on the 14th of June.

The battle of Marengo started as a surprise Austrian attack against the main French army.  For the 22nd, it was deployed with Lannes's corps on the French right flank.  Lanne's directed Watrin's division (22nd included) to drive back the Austrian force led by Bellegarde.  By 11;30 am the Austrians continued to feed more troops in against Watrin's division, eventually forcing Bonaparte to send Monnier's division and the Consular Guard to help hold that portion of the line.

Around 12:30 pm Lannes moved the rest of his force to face a new Austrian threat.  Austrian advances to occupy the Barbotta farm were soon repulsed and the Austrians driven out by an attack of the 22nd demi-brigade.  This provided only a temporary relief to the ever growing Austrian attack.

A third Austrian attack finally made progress by seizing a key village and attempting to turn Lannes's right flank.  In response to this Lanes moved a battalion of the 22nd demi brigade to form a new right flank, while using other units to protect hold off Austrian dragoons further to the north-east.  This move, however, created a gap in the French lines which the Austrians quickly exploited.  This put Lannes's command in a position to be almost surrounded.  By 1:30 Watrin's brigade broke under pressure, but were quickly rallied by Watrin. With mounting pressure on French left causing a withdrawal, Lanne's troops were forced to mirror the movement.  By 2:30pm, the French line had retreated over 3 km and Marengo was abandoned to the Austrians.

The battle of Marengo would end positively for the French with the timely arrival of Desaix's Division (little anti climatic but only focused on the 22nd).  The 22nd and the rest of Watrin's brigade would be spectators after their heroic struggle.  Their performance would earn them a battle honor.

The regiments battle record would include:

1792: Valmy, Comines, Pont-Rouge and Warneton

1793: Hondschoote
1794: Coutrai, Lantosque, Saorgio and Roccavione
1799: Alkmaer and Castricum
1800: Granchamp, Romano, Marengo and Goito
1806: Hamelin, Stralsund, Heilsberg and Friedland
1810: Astorga
1812: Castrillo-Guarena and Salamanca
1813: San-Sebastien
1813: Lutzen, Bautzen, Katzbach, Leipzig and Hanau
1814: Montmirail, Vauchamps, Gue-a-Tresmes, Craonne, Fere-Champenoise
1815: Ligny, Wavre and Namur

Battle Honors:

Hondschoote 1793, Marengo 1800 and Lutzen 1813

These figures are Baccus 6mm.  The central command stand with Chef de Battalion Nicolas-Joseph Schreiber has a typical command stand snipped up into pieces.  The flags are from War Flag (http://www.warflag.com/flags/select.shtml).

This is the first of Watrin's division with the 6th Light Demi-Brigade up next.

Sources:

http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_romano_chiusella.html

http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/combat_ivrea.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Montebello_(1800)

http://www.napoleon-series.org/military/organization/c_frenchinf3.html#22nd

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_Joseph_Schreiber

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Marengo

http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_marengo.html

Evolution of my painting

These are 28mm figures.  I have had them for a while as they were the first figures I purchased.  At that time my painting skills were terrible and I realized that I needed to wait before I really tried to paint these figures.

Now

My first attempts

Still room for growth but progressing.

6mm French Dragoons