Hampden at Hendon (Off Topic #40)

We were in London this week and I managed to convince Mrs S to take a trip out to the RAF Museum (not sure how I did that) because I wanted to take a look at the Hampden that has recently gone on display. There are very few examples of the Hampden Bomber left and I had never seen one before. My interest in this aircraft is that my father - W/O Dennis Spencer DFC - did his operational training on them in Canada during 1943.

It's a very sleek design and impressive even without wings fitted ("where are the wings?" said Mrs S - good question).

It has a very long thin tail. There are upper and lower gunner positions just above and below the wings.

As a Navigator he was impressed with the excellent visibilty from his position (or 'office' as he called it) in the nose. To me it looked like an incredibly exposed location and one that I personally would never have wished to occupy.

The Navigator's position was in this plexi-glass 'greenhouse' in the front of the aircraft and just below the Pilot's position. The Navigator was also the Bomb Aimer and had a machine gun for forward firing.

See how ridiculously narrow the fuselage is (old git is for scale).

He told me that the fuselage was very narrow hence the nickname 'flying suitcase' but I didn't think it would be this narrow. How he ever managed to crawl back (under the pilot's seat) and up to the observation hatch to take readings with his sextant and then return again whilst in flight baffles me. I'm not very big but I doubt I could even turn around inside the thing. If you were in trouble and had to put on a parachute and find an exit I can't see how it would be possible. Fortunately for him this was never put to the test as by the time he completed training and returned home the Hampden had been declared obsolete.

The rear part of the fuselage has been reconstructed but an original part is displayed next to it that still shows bullet holes from the day the aircraft crashed.

This particular aircraft was recovered from Russia in 1991. Operating from the Shetland Isles it had crashed there in 1942 during a mission to protect an Arctic Convoy. At this point in the restoration only the fuselage has been made good so there are no wings but it's still possible to get a good idea of how the whole aircraft would have looked.

The engine and wheel give a better idea of the size that a fully restored version would be (old git again for scale).

The Beaufighter.

One nice thing for me is that the Hampden is displayed next to the Beaufighter which is the aircraft my father actually did fly operations on.

Vienna Volunteers

In with the all the Austrian figures Don sent me recently were quite a few Der Kreigspieler Landwehr and Freikorps castings. These have been difficult to properly identify as the codes under the bases are not clear and I can't find any illustrations. However I was determined to use some of them and so I've mixed a few in with Hinton Hunt Jagers to form my version of the 'Vienna Volunteers'.

I believe the DK figures are 104/1 Militia (Tyrolean hat). The Jagers look like they may be Hinton Hunt BRN43 Brunswick avant-guard advancing.

This unit was apparently armed with a mix of muskets and rifles so combining the figures works well. The original paintwork on these is by Don and I have refeshed them and made a few changes to fit with my house style. I think they're looking pretty smart and who wouldn't want a unit of Landwehr in their Austrian army?

The flag-bearer may be either DK or Clayton but I can't find any listing that has a tyrolean hat so he may be a conversion.

The flag is intriguing - Don painted this from notes he made during a museum visit many years ago but can't remember what unit it was for. It's so unusual that I just had to keep it.

Aspern-Essling at Nigel's

Yesterday I took a trip across the border to join Tony and Goya at Nigel's sumptuous wargame room in the heart of the rolling Cumbrian hills. Nigel had devised a scenario based on the battle of Aspern-Essling that gave him the chance to put virtually his entire Austrian army collection on the table, which he said was a long held ambition.

I commanded the Austrian left with Tony taking the right, Goya had the French left while our host took the French right. By the time the game ended the table was positively groaning with the weight of toy soldiers. What follows is not a blow by blow account but I hope gives a good flavour of the game:

Starting positions: French on the left, Austrians on the right. The edge of Essling is represented by the wall (bottom left) with Aspern at the far end of the table. There is a bridge at the centre of the French baseline to represent the pontoons to Lobau Island from which direction their reserve will enter play. 

The French are ensconced behind the Essling brickyard walls ready to take pot shots at my men as they advance. I kept clear of the place expecting that the position would be a hard one to crack and it wasn't until towards the end of the game I realised Nigel's rules gave me an even chance of ousting them!

Austrian (or are they Irish?) Chevaux-legere - a very smart looking unit indeed.

Our plan was simply to press forward and converge our infantry towards the enemy centre and the bridge as we would win if we occupied it at the end of play. This forward movement also had the advantage that it limited the space for the French to deploy their reserves.

The trouble was that French reinforcements were already starting to arrive. Each turn they had to roll a D6 to see if the pontoons were swept away (on a roll of 1) but sadly they never were.

Nigel's cavalry are in units of 18 figures so here are 36 (yes 36!) Hinton Hunt Chasseur-a-cheval.

These smart looking Hungarians were under Tony's command.

Austrian Hussars - you can never have too many Austrian Hussars.

As the battle developed I attempted to get into character as Archduke Charles but wasn't sure about the Austrian accent. Fortunatley Goya was on hand to explain that it sounded something like a cross between Somerset dialect and Arnold Schwarzenegger. This led to lots of jokes about combine harvesters and scrumpy cider etc (Alright my luvver, I'll be back!).

Look at this - two regiments of Austrian Kurassiers hurrah! Imagine our disappointment to find that the scenario designer (who was suspiciously French) had rated them as Militia - boo!

All our men are crowding towards the bridge - our final reserve to appear was this splendid division of Grenadiers.

Tony and Goya fought this cavalry action for what seemed like the entire battle.

Looking a bit Charles Grant-ish I think. There were a heck of a lot of figures on the table now.

So near and yet so far - the Austrians attack the bridge but are repulsed (this unit was made up of figures originally in the collection of Don W and now absorbed into Nigel's forces). We managed 7 turns but things were still in the balance when we ran out of time.

Team photo - Austrian high command.

It was a real humdinger of a game and, although not fought to a conclusion, it felt like one would not be far off, so much so that Nigel has determined to finish it off solo.

It's always wonderful to get to play with Nigel's toys so a big thanks to him for the invite and also to my fellow generals for an enjoyable and memorable game. Also a very special thank you to the Archduchess for her hospitality, plum crumble mmmm...

********** UPDATE **********

Chasteler's 27th storm across the pontoon bridge!

Nigel finished playing the game and I think we can say it was a victory for the Austrians!

More Austrian Kurassiers

The Austrian forces now have their final (honest) cavalry unit. These represent the 12th Ferdinand Kurassiers and bring the cavalry contingent to a very respectable 6 units.

You can never have too many cuirassiers.

All the figures except the trumpeter are original Hinton Hunt castings from Don W's collection that have been refurbished for me by the brush of the talented Goya. The trumpeter is my own work.

Red and white is always a nice combination.

The whole of the Austrian cavalry - 72 sabres!

I'm thinking that the French cavalry may just be starting to worry...

Waterloo 25'

Five of us got together last Thursday to play Waterloo in the Hinton Hut. Matt sported the top hat of General Picton (Allied left) while Goya took the role of The Prince of Orange (Allied right). Nigel and Tony reprised their roles as Marshal Ney and Comte d'Erlon (French left and right respectively). I umpired and tried to remember how the rules worked with the idea that I would take command of the Prussians should they ever arrive. Here's how it went...

The table was extended to its maximum 4' x 8'. This is the view from Papelotte (bottom right) along the table towards Hougoumont in the distance. The battlefield looks sparsely populated as there are a lot of reserves off table but there are still over 600 figures deployed. 

We began with a round of artillery fire to get things rolling. This 'free fire' round doesn't result in any morale checks but is intended to start softening up the lines.

Picton's command stretched from Papelotte to La Haye Sainte while the Prince of Orange held the section from there to Hougoumont. The Duke and his staff gathered around Wellington's tree were purely ornamental and had no impact on gameplay.

Nigel's troops to the left of La Belle Alliance started as a fairly modest force but were to grow in numbers as the game progressed.

Tony gets things going for the French by advancing his infantry through his gun line with the intention of crossing the valley.

The Duke and his staff look on while Mercer's men work their guns.

The KGL in La Haye Sainte proved to be ternacious defenders of the property and their long-range rifle fire was a permanent annoyance to the French.

The view from the Allied right looking towards La Haye Sainte. The Allies had decided to pull back slightly from the top of the ridge.

The Emperor and his staff remained at La Belle Alliance all day enjoying the stirring music of the Guard Band.

Turn 3 and the Prussians arrive (well some of the Prussians). Reserves arrived on the turn of a card and there were two seperate Prussian forces but the playing of the 'Groucy card' resulted in the interception of one of them so I ended up with just four units.

The British hold steady as d'Erlon advances his columns towards them. Picton in his red coat waits calmly for their arrival.

Ney makes his first assault on La Haye Sainte but is thrown back by the KGL rifles - hurrah!

Another card delivered the entire French heavy cavalry between La Haye Sainte and Hougoumont. The force was so large that the riflemen from both farms were able to shoot at them in the flanks.

Silly Billy calmly ordered the men into square while Ramsay's men loaded with double cannister and let fly at the Guard cavalry to their front.

Nigel pulls his men back to regroup ready for another go at La Haye Sainte.

The Young Guard arrive and are deployed to meet the Prussians on the French right flank.

Here Tony's lancers clash with my Silesian Hussars (foreground).

This is how the game would have looked if Charles Grant was playing against Donald Featherstone.

Lobau's corps arrives and adds another 3 infantry units to Nigel's swelling command.

The arrival of the British Guard cavalry (top right) together with the losses inflicted by cannister and rifle fire have forced Ney to withdraw his own heavy troopers.

Another card and the Union Brigade appears right in front of d'Erlon.

"Those men on grey horses look terrifyingly drunk!"

However, the French eagles were safe this time as the cavalry got bounced and turned to engage with the French cavalry instead.

Ney is massing infantry in front of La Haye Sainte...

... and the Old Guard have turned up right outside the walls of Hougoumont - this is all looking a bit nasty for the Allies.

The Allied cavalry are however doing quite well.

On the other flank there's another cavalry clash and beyond that the Young Guard and Prussians are heavily engaged. D'Erlon's columns however have ground to a halt having been forced into square by the Union Brigade and whittled away by artillery fire.

The Guard Lancers - very pretty.

More of that cavalry melee.

The Silesian Fusiliers are routing but the Landwehr stand firm in square.

Matt's line is solid and he has hardly lost a man. The Greys appear to be galloping in the wrong direction.

Goya constructed this rather nice version of Papelotte using bits from an Airfix La Haye Sainte with scratch built sections added. The Nassauers seem quite safe and comfy inside the place.

You can't have Waterloo without squares and we had lots of them in this game.

The KGL have finally been forced to retire from La Haye Sainte as they were reduced to 11 figures. Here the 30th Cambridgeshires prepare to relieve them under the watchful eye of the Duke.

Captain Mainwaring encourages the Coldstream Guards to stand firm in Hougoumont - they don't like it up em! 

But the French have brought up the Guard Horse Artillery and open a terrific bombardment on the farm.

Meanwhile Nigel prepares to storm La Haye Sainte.

The Allied left flank is stabilised but is it too late?

Perhaps...Ney storms La Haye Sainte ejecting the Cambridgeshires.

And the Old Guard have taken Hougoumont!

The end of turn 7 and the end of play - the French have won!

The game had a remarkably similar narrative to the real battle - until the last turn of course. We had a massed French heavy cavalry charge and the Union brigade sweeping down upon d'Erlon's columns (albeit without any dramatic results). Throughout it all Wellington stayed nailed to his ridge and the British infantry took very few casualties but the fall of both Hougoumont and La Haye Sainte was enough to tip the balance to a French victory - 33VP's to the French and 16VP's to the Allies.

It was a lot of fun and my thanks goes to the visiting generals who had travelled from far and wide to take part and of course to Mrs S who as always ran a very efficient field kitchen.