Battle of the four Generals

On Saturday I hosted a game of Muskets & Marshals for attendees Foy, Goya and guest of honour Wellington Man. WM brought his Prussian expeditionary force all the way from New Zealand bringing the total number of Hinton Hunt’s (and DK’s) on the table to just over 1,000.

The scenario was simple enough – two fairly equally balanced forces with a Franco-Austrian army taking on an Anglo-Prussian-Russo-Swedish one (fans of historical scenarios please look away now). There were three objectives in the middle of the table and the idea was for each side to try to gain possession of them. No hanging about in this game it was attack or lose.

I thoroughly enjoyed the game and it was great to get every single figure in my collection on the table. It was also a huge bonus to have WM present and to see some of his splendid figures for real and get to command them in action.

I took quite a few photos so I’m spitting this into several posts, this first one shows the initial dispositions – enjoy!

Initial dispositions - view of the whole 8'x4' table from the allied side. There
were 1,003 Hinton Hunt and DK figures (zoom in to take a closer look).

The Duke of Wellington's finest on the right of the allied line. The main
objective of the British was to take and hold the small hill to their front.

I got to command this huge Prussian force on the allied left including the
five units WM brought with him. This was the sort of Prussian army I had
dreamed of having when I collected Hinton Hunt's in the early 70s.

The allied central position was occupied by the Russo-Swedish contingent.
They were tasked with taking possession of the farm. Nice to see the Swedes
in action, their last outing was Vintage Leipzig.

This is the French right flank. The Brunswickers and Nassauers had switched
sides for this game.

The Austrians took up position on the French left flank opposite the British.

Austrian artillery and French Guard artillery in battery on a hill.

The French centre. Infantry in the front line supported by a reserve of three
heavy cavalry units. There were no off table reserves in this game.

The newly expanded Imperial Guard. From left to right Old Guard, Young
Guard and Sailors of the Guard. Each infantry unit had a personality figure
attached acting as Colonel, Napoleon personaly led the Old Guard in this action

Another view of the Austrians. On the extreme flank are hussars and French
lancer/chasseurs.

My recently expanded Prussian artillery had a splendid position over looking
the farm. Hmm, I wonder who set up the table?

My 1970s dream.

To be continued.