There is no particular theme or scenario to this wargame! Let's say somewhere in France, late 1814?
Russians and Austrians on the defensive, blocking an MSR..
The French coming on a l'outrance in the same old way in that 1814 meme: win every battle, but still lose the war!
The purpose of the game was to unbox some of my recently expanded 15mm Napoleonics collection and put them through their paces for the camera - I recently swapped my 28mm Prussian collection for twice the number of French and Russian 15mm figures - a fair deal by anyone's standard!
The new figures are 18mm AB minis, and were professionally painted. However, as a Class I 28mm addict, I have my doubts about how photogenic 15mm is for a sometime blogger like myself...
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| Russian Inf Bde - still in 1810 uniforms - tsk tsk! |
Close ups probably aren't the way to go...
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| A French Column of attack going in hard - however the Russians are Tough Fighters! |
But you can still show some detail from the middle distance...
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| Austrian Brigade in Line - as they were wont to do... |
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| French Heavy Cav Division with accompanying Horse Guns... |
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| 'German' Austrians in March Column - unwise... |
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| French Light Cavalry - Hussars on the left, Chasseurs on the right. |
And larger formations still allow differentiation of type and look OK I think...
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| French Voltigeurs harras a Russian battery - dangerous work, but preferable to being in the Column with the dogface conscripts! |
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| Light Cav screening the Heavies getting organised - could be a while... |
In a weird way, you can capture more of the action - the whole game - in a single shot, without it being overwhelming in the way it might be with a similar number of 28mm figures.
You can also gain more of a sense of space and depth - perhaps that's obvious given the scale difference, but below I'm getting a sense of the plain stretching right away to the horizon...
The French broke through and won the game, BTW, not that it did them much good in the end...
Looks amazing!
ReplyDeleteThanks Joe!
DeleteNice pics Sparker!
ReplyDeleteYou definitely get that massed battle feel and you could manage some spectacular actions with your collection of troops.
Cheers
Caesar
Thanks Caesar - yes 15mm does appeal to one's inner meglamaniac!
DeleteClose ups still look smashing, and yes, there's a greater sense of mass. Looks great!
ReplyDeleteThanks mate!
DeleteBlack Powder really does look it's best in 28mm, but on very large gaming tables.
ReplyDeleteAs the table size decreases, the mass of figures doesn't look all that much different from a mass of 15mm figures.
I am actually going with a much smaller board, using a 2'x2' square-gridded tabletop for a Portable Wargame + Black Powder hybrid.
It is good to see that others are branching beyond the 28mm eye-candy, to something the rest of us can more easily afford. :)
Hi Justin, yes agree. Your hybrid sounds interesting, but is probably a step too far for me!
DeleteYes, it is a project entirely suited to my own particular needs, but I am blogging about it as a way to solicit feedback/suggestions and/or to inspire others. The latter may prove useful as the gridded tabletop helps for remote opponents and also solitaire bots.
DeleteYou've quite a nice collection of Napoleonic figures there; mine are all based for Blucher and I've only the French.
Liking the blog and the pics, I have recently gained myself some 6mm Napoleonics all professionally painted (Austrian, British, French Prussian and Russians), just need to add some cavalry and more guns and I can get started...
ReplyDeleteThanks mate! Yes I suppose 6mm is about as logical and versatile as you can go before you are in 'may as well use counters' realms. I have a mate who has some lovely looking ACW collections in 6mil, and I must admit it works well...
DeleteHmmm. Not entirely convinced that 15mm is good for blogging in the same way that 28mm in the grand manner is. Like a 2nd unit camera in a "cast of thousands" Hollywood movie, 28mm provides characterisation and close ups for all that lead porn.
ReplyDeleteBesides what are you going to do with your 15/18mm when WG release 13mm epic Napoleonics?
Mind you if you are going to do 15/18mm, AB are my personal choice of figure.
Thanks Troy for your perceptive comments. Yes I get the argument, and have long argued the point myself - we use miniatures, as opposed to counters, say, for visual impact, so why not use the largest most impactful scale available? However I am preparing for when 15mm will be the largest scale available to me for all practical purposes - sadly!
DeleteCompletely agree that AB are by far the best in this scale. And effectively an Aussie firm!
DeleteLooks impressive, I love Black Powder in 15mm and 10mm I think it looks and feels a lot better than 28mm, especially on a 6x4 foot table where 28s just line up and go straight forward
ReplyDeleteThanks Warren! Yes, more manoeuvre space on a smaller table, thats for sure!
DeleteLove your stuff. I am a big fan of 15mm Black Powder; here are my games on youtube; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YM01HhqiTN0&list=PLuj8XPFZLKICGmOeKh-v6jxlCyXiNsvBG&ab_channel=GarryWills
ReplyDeleteGarry
Thanks so much Garry - these videos look interesting, I have shared with my wargaming group on fB - we may use them for inspiration! I have Wellington at Bay and look forward to reading that too!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your interest which has "sparked" a torrent of views on my channel. I do hope you enjoy Wellington at Bay, thanks for buying it.
DeleteThis looks wonderful too Ralph. Having come directly from one to the other, I immediately noticed the broader sweep and larger overall picture presented by the smaller scale figures. The grandeur of 28 mm has its own appeal, but for mine I prefer this more strategic picture (not to mention the ability to stage larger games with space for manoeuvre and delineation of larger formations).
ReplyDeleteAs a 'punter'/visitor to your blog I hope that you continue with both scales!
Regards, James
Thanks for your kind comment James. Am just in the process of selling off my 28mm collection. Fortunately most of them are going to local gamers so hopefull I will still get to blog about them!
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