I've had this idea in the back of my mind to try a small refight of the Battle of Dresden 1813. This has niggled away because of fond memories of a multi-player game I took part in back in the 90s, I think I played the French Marshal Saint-Cyr. I can't remember which side won but I was always impressed by the model of the Grosser-Garten that my friend M made for the game.
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| This is how it looks now but the palace is not the original structure of 1813 and at the time of the battle the place was surrounded by high walls. |
So, with a fair bit of help from Goya (who made the palace building) I have knocked up this interpretation of the Garden suitable for play with Muskets & Marshals. Mrs S was less than impressed that I had missed off the fountains and lake but my modelling skills are not quite up to that and anyway, I needed to leave enough space to fit in some figures.
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| My version is built on an MDF base 18" x 9". The walls are foamboard covered with model railway brick paper. The palace is constructed in reinforced card from a cut-out book in Goya's possession. There's enough room to deploy at least 4 battalions for defence. |
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| The rather nice garden gate also came from Goya. In the actual battle all the entrances to the garden had been barricaded on Napoleon's orders. |
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| The Austrians prepare to 'have a go'. |
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| Emperor Francis and Archduke Charles consider the options for assault. |
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| Meanwhile, the French make ready to repel them... |
I'm pretty pleased with the result which should make a nice centre-piece for the game. Next I need to work on some Dresden type buildings.
