Another parcel of Mabuhay 28mm painted goodness was waiting for me when I got home from work on Friday...Way to start the weekend!
Needless to say the service from Fon's outfit was second to none as usual, and on his advice I opted to forgo the option of having the little used Eagle bearer for this Regiment. Normally I do go for such fripperies; most notably with my British Heavy Cav, who never took their guidons to battle; since I like the look of them and they are my toys! However on this occasion I didn't like to go down in Fons the purist's estimation. And now having seen the attention to detail I'm glad I did.
These figures represent the 1st Regiment of the Gardes d' Honneur, a crafty device by Napoleon to replenish his dwindling, post 1812, stocks of Cavalry by appealing to the Bourgeoisie to send their sons into crack Guards Cavalry Regiments by paying for the priviledge!
However with the Napoleonic eye for detail, he ensured that they had a cadre of experienced and tough veterans to quickly whip them into shape. Just as well, as this 1st Regment first drew their swords, operating together as a Regiment rather than a series of drafts, at the Battle of Leipzig. Quite a baptism! Actually, since my next Naps game will probably be our forthcoming Leipzig 200 Megagame, it may be the same story for these plastic warriors!
Now before all the rivet counters comment that their cords and flounders are around the wrong way for a Guards unit, well, these are an adaption of the Perry's French Hussar figures.
But are they wrong?
All I know is, I am thrilled with them, and anyway, in any pre 1813 scenario, they will be doing substitute duty for a line Hussar or Chasseur Regiment in any case!
So if you would like to get your mitts on such fine fellows, check out Fon's website:
Yesterday evening at the Uni club was our long awaited foray into the free version of Longstreet.
Caesar had gone to a lot of trouble to study the rules and prepare 2 sets of cards so that we could trial this long anticipated set from Sam Mustafa. Here he is explaining the finer points of the game to Bryan. This pair would lead the rebel army this evening...
We thought for this introductory game we would confine ourselves to a Brigade each, but we didn't stint ourselves on artillery...2 batteries each, one of 3 and one of 2 guns...The terrain was a simple country crossroads layout with a couple of crop fields. We deliberately only set up a small 6' x 4' table, to test to destruction the idea that Longstreet can be used with 28mm figures, using 40mm basewidths, on a small table...
The Rebs went for a concentrated deployment - they obviously had their danders up! With Longstreet a column two ranks deep does not count as a dense target, but the second row adds to the combat, so they took full advantage!
The gentlemen in Dark Blue decided upon a much more refined mix of line and column, but did deploy forward to take advantage of the slight cover afforded by the crops...
Sure enough the Rebs were not long in coming on!
But a combination of poor dice rolls, and my Union colleague Alan's adroit use of the right cards at the right time allowed Bluebellies to withstand the onslaught. To add insult to injury, Alan conjured up the game changing 'They couldn't hit a...' card which forced the Rebs to give up 6 of their cards. Thus bereft of saving options, the Union musketry and few remaining guns was whittling their Brigade down to breaking point...
A few more tricks from Alan snafu'd their attempts to get their artillery clear, and we were now around their right flank and pouring it on in spades...so that that the Reb break point was reached the next move.
So, first impressions? Certainly there was no problem fielding 4 batteries of artillery and 8 x 8 base Regiments on such a small table. Historical outcome? Well actually, none of us are real dyed in the wool ACW buffs, but Alan comes closest, and at game's end he declared 'this was dangerously close to actually being in an ACW skirmish!' All I know is I had a really great time, and can't wait for the actual rules to come out....
So...On to Richmond!
