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...