More Blue Moon Napoleonics

I continue to make steady progress on my latest commission. i have just completed three cavalry regiments and four battalions of Hessians. The cavalry:

Baden Dragoons:

Hessian Chevauleger:

Wurttemberg Chevaulger:

Hessian Leibgarde:

Hessian Leibregiment:

The infantry and artillery finished to date:27 battalions and 26 stands of artillery

Three more cavalry regiments, 10 line battalions and the officers to do and the project will be finished.

Blue Moon 15mm French Artillery

I have finished the artillery portion of my latest commission: 4 8lb batteries, 1 12lb and 2 6lb horse artillery batteries. The Horse artillery

The 8lb batteries:

The 12lb battery:

All of the batteries:

Now on to some more line battalions. I have A LOT of line battalions to do.

Latest Commission: 15mm Blue Moon French

i have begun a very large commission of 15mm Blue Moon French. The final project will add up to a full corp for the 1809 campaign in Austria. I have completed the first 8 battalions, five of line and three of light. The light battalions:

The line battalions:

Today I break things up a bit by taking ono the artillery, 26 guns and crews altogether.

Battle for the Camp Conclusion

Turn 8 begins with Stapleton renewing his attack on the camp. The Rooth Regiment drives back the Hessian grenadiers and the Royal Ecossais pull back to reorganize for a final push.

Murray takes advantage of the passivity of the Dutch to continue to rally and organize his brigade. Lovat's men brace themselves to receive yet another charge from Legonier's dragoons.

With the outcome of the battle at stake, Macdonald orders the Lifeguards to move to the stone wall and dismount. They fire into the flank of the 44th Foot and inflict two casualties.

Legonier sends a fresh regiment of horse into Lovat's depleted batallion. The highlanders are driven back with loss.

Roy Stewart desperately tries to rally his tattered regiments in anticipation of a charge by Lascelles' men.

Lascelles tries to seize the initiative by ordering the 44th and 8th Foot over the wall. The 44th fires its first volley and astonishingly achieves no hits. The 8th Foot is only able advance without firing. The most important action of Lascelles' turn is to order the 3rd Foot to fire a volley and then charge the Berwick Regiment at the wall. Success here will turn the tide of the entire battle towards the Government's favor. Alas, it is not to be. The 3rd Foot is driven back having lost 25% of its men.

Turn 9- As this turn begins the outcome is still very much in doubt. The Hessians still have two largely unscathed regiments defending the perimeter and Lascelles is threatening to cut the Jacobite army in two. The tide turns quickly, however. Stapleton's card is drawn first. Regiment Rooth continues to drive back the Hessian grenadiers. The telling blow, though, is delviered by the Royal Ecossais regiment. They charge the portion of the wall defended by Regiment Mussbach. The fighting is hand to hand across the stone barrier. The Hessians inflict one casualty on the Ecossais, but the Ecossais remarkably inflict five on the Hessians. This routs the Germans who flee. The Ecossais are able to cross the wall and turn to face the flank of the last regiment defending the camp, Regiment Toll.

Macdonald attempts to support Stewart by sending his two troops of Scotish horse to his aid. The Dutch are still content to simply hold their position and await developments.

Sensing the battle slipping away, Lascelles orders the veteran 8th Foot to charge the tattered ranks of Roy Stewart. The men of the 8th lower their bayonets and move forward in disciplined ranks. The outcome is inevitable and two of Stewarts regiments flee the field. Lascelles then orders the 3rd Foot to attempt to relieve the camp by charging the wall. Again, the 3rd Foot is repulsed. The camp is close to falling with no relief in sight.

In hopes of retrieving the situation, Roy Stewart attaches himself to the Camerons of Locheil. Though in a worn condition, they are still a formidable force. With great determination the clan surges forth with Roy Stewart at their front. The 44th is unable to withstand these heroics and retreat to the safety of the stone wall they started from. It is a costly victory, however, as Roy Stewart is killed in the course of the mele. This is more than his men can bear. The Camerons join their comrades in flight.

Sealing the Jacobite victory, Knyphausen is forced to take a brigade morale test as more than half of his units have left the battle. The modified roll is a "1." What little of his force remains joins the others in full fledged retreat. The camp is completely in Jacobite hands. The objective has been achieved, but at an extremely high cost. It was a very enjoyable game. The "fog of war" was quite evident as brigades became inactive at very inoportune times and units were less active than the circumstances required. The dice, also, played a factor. The final charge of the Royal Ecossais saw them needing to roll 5s and 6s to achieve hits. All five dice inflicted casualties on the Mussbach Regiment while they, needing the same 5s and 6s, only got one hit with four dice. Truly a stunning result.

Attack on the Camp Turns 6 and 7

Turn 6-The Dutch card came up first. The commander reorganized his line, pulling back his one battered regiment and replacing it with a fresh one.

Murray also took advantage in this lull in the battle to try to rally his worn regiments.

Macdonald was able to get his Lifeguards into position and dismount to protect the exposed right flank of the Royal Ecossais.

On the other flank, Legonier ordered two of his dragoon regiments to charge the lone highland clan in front of them. The Scots fought fiercly achieving a draw. Both sides were now disordered and the 10th Dragoons were worn. The mele would continue in the next turn.

Lascelle breathed a sight of relief as his cared turned up next. This allowed the 53rd Foot to reload and save an action to issue defensive fire should Roy Stewart send his men in to attack again. Lascelles also ordered his regiment in reserve to march to the stone wall and deploy there to threaten the flank of the French. The regiment came up just short of reaching the wall.

The next card was Roy Stewart's who was unable to get his men to charge (he rolled an 11).

At the camp, the ultimate objective of the game, Knyphausen ordered his grenadiers out of the enclosure and to engage Rooth's regiment of French.

With time of the essnce, Stapleton orders the Royal Ecossais to charge the camp. However, they only are able to reload. But reinforcements are making thier way to support them.

Turn 7- Roy Stewart is the first commander to be able to act. This time he cajols his only fresh regiment into action. They charge forward. The 53rd rolls to see if they can issue defensive fire, but they are unsuccessful (they roll a one). The highlanders crash into them and are able to drive the 53rd back. This puts them and the regiment to their right into disorder.

On the Jacobite right, the mele there continues. The highlanders get the upper hand (they inflict one casualty while the numerically dragoons inflict none.) the 10th Dragoons are routed and their supporting regiment is disordered. This buys some time which is desperately needed.

The Hessians issue more fire into their French counterparts. The line regiments are not very effective, but the grenadiers take out a stand of Regiment Rooth.

Lascelles' card is turned, but uncharacteristically, and at the worst possible time, he is unable to issue any orders (he rolls an 11 trying to remove the disorder from the 53rd).

The Jacobite gun inflicts two more casualties on the disorganized 53rd.

The last card drawn is Stapleton's. His first order is for the Royal Ecossais to fire a volley and then charge the enclosure. The fire is paltry, but the charge goes in. Remarkably, neither side inflicts any casualties on the other. It is a draw with all of the contestants now disordered. Regiment Rooth returns fire on the Hessian grenadiers and takes out three more figures. Perhaps most importantly, Stapleton is able to rush his reserve regiment into position along the stone wall on his right flank. He also gets his artillery into position upon the hill to issue fire into the camp. Victory his tantalizingly within his grasp.

The next turn or two should reveal the outcome.