Wargaming: "In the Grand Manner" Battle of Eckmuhl

Rosenberg's orders are to hold his position.  The Hapsburg's are strongly posted in battle array along a series of wooded ridge tops.  The Austrian right flank is situated behind the Gross Laber River and anchored on the Rogging Heights.  This flank is defended by a brigade of infantry and a foot battery commanded by Gen. Bieber.  The town of Eckmuhl and its all important bridge and the Bettel Berg, a dominant terrain feature on which Rosenberg has sited two 12-lb batteries of 20 guns, are located in the center.  The left flank is firmly secured on the village strongpoint of Laichling and a wooded hill immediately behind the village.

The situation at 1:00 pm.  This photo depicts the battlefield from the French perspective looking toward the Austrian positions.  napoleon arrives from Landshut at 1:00 in the afternoon and immediately deploys to seize the Eckmuhl bridge  and to cross the Gross Laber River and assault the Rogging Heights.  Davout on the French right had been directed by Napoleon to launch an assault as soon as he observes the Emperor's arrival.  This pinning attack would prevent Rosenberg from shifting troops to block the French assault over the Laber River

6mm Napoleonic Battles and Wargaming

These pictures represent a rough approximation of the battle of Eckmuhl 1809 fought by Napoleon against Rosenberg's Austrian corps.  The play area is 6' x 8' and is made up of six 2' x 4' terrain panels with modular towns, hills, and woods.  Although the depiction of the terrain features are reversed, they are for the most part accurate as they are based on maps of the battle taken from Arnold's "Crisis on the Danube".

The deployment of the opposing sides are also generally historically correct although some liberties have been taken to accommodate the positioning of the terrain, the deficiency in the required numbers of units, and the size of the playing platform.  The Order of Battle is also from "Crisis on the Danube".

I found that Crisis on the Danube has the best and most detailed account of the battle.  This battle narrative can be further enhanced with details with details of Lefebvre's Bavarian Corps and its significant contribution to the French effort from John Gill's "With Eagles to Glory".  The Wurttemberg contingent also contributed materially to the French victory and their participation can also be found in "With Eagles to Glory".

This battle lacks play balance as the French and their Allies are appreciably superior in number of infantry, artillery, and particularly cavalry.  I was planning on addressing this issue by allowing for the arrival and entry of reinforcements dispatched by Archduke Charles along the Eckmuhl-Ratisbonne road.

Epic Wargaming in 6mm

During the winter, I decided to create a number of 6mm Napoleonic armies. Most people start with the French, but I began with the Austrian army, because the Scale Creep was out of stock on a large part of the French line. I also chose the Hapsburgs because they were a perennial rival of the French and engaged them in numerous large battles over several decades.

I do my gaming in the garage using my 4 1/2' x 9' billiard table as a base. I position a 4' x 8' drywall sheet on top of the table and then placed by 2' x 4' terrain panels on the drywall. These insulation panels are ideal as a terrain base and are surprisingly inexpensive. I etch rivers into some panels and flock all of them with Woodland Scenic turf.

This winter I focused entirely on painting and basing armies, creating terrain, and researching battles for future wargaming scenarios. This research included a summary of each battle, chronological order of events, reinforcement schedule, entry points, and plausible "What If" situations. This is all in preparation for what I call my campaigning season during the summer.

I discovered in the middle of the summer, that I overestimated the amount of time it would take to paint up two large armies. To this point I have yet to fight a single battle. Instead, I have assiduously painted endless figures and constructed suitable and varied terrain, including hills, trees, and rivers. In addition, I have flocked a number of 2' x 4' foam insulation panels. Except for the rivers which are etched into the foam panels, I have made the terrain modular giving me flexibility in modeling battles.

Austrian Army Project
I've largely completed my Austrian Army project. The only units I have left to complete are the Landwehr, Grenzer, and Grenadier brigades. To this point, I have painted and based 22 battalions of line, 12 Hungarian, and 8 Grenadier infantry battalions with skirmish screen. I've also paint and based 3 Cuirassier, 3 Dragoon, and 6 Hussar regiments of cavalry. Additionally, I have completed 20 artillery models with gun crews, 4 limbers, and 4 caissons with riders. The number of figures total approximately 1350.

Once I have bought, painted, and based the Landwehr, Grenzer, and Grendier brigades, this will give me approximately two cormps.

I have placed an order with Baccus on 29 Sept, '15. It usually takes about four weeks to get delivery. This shipment contains the Landwehr, Grenzer, and Grenadier brigades and a mounted booster pack, which I expect will complete my Austrian project.

My ultimate goal is to have armies of at least three corps each. This will permit large-scale battles of sufficient scope to attempt to replicate the titanic struggles.

French Army Project
I have already begun a French Army. When I have a sufficient number of figures painted and based, I will post pictures.

Austrian 6mm Napoleonic Army Project

These first pictures of 6mm Austrian units represent my initial painting and basing of 6mm miniatures. I chose the Austrian army because I possess all the other major antagonists, except for the Prussians, in 15mm. I also began reading James Arnold's three volume work on the 1809 Danube campaign, and was inspired to simulate the battles relevant to the campaign. 6mm would permit me to model the units in mass and allow me to be able to fight the larger battles with sufficient density to mirror more realistically battles. I also posses a 4 1/2' x 9' pool table which can give me a playing surface of approximately 6' x 9'. This large surface, coupled with the 6mm miniatures, will allow me to maneuver large units, and perhaps even permit envelopment strategies such as Davout's flank attack against the Russians at Eylau, or Napoleon's approach march on the Austrian flank at Eckmuhl.

Painting
I was hesitant about painting an Austrian army because I wasn't sure how to depict the white uniforms, thinking that plain white would be unrealistic, as many of the bloggers were undercoating in gray, and highlighting in white. I decided, however, to prime in black, and block in white, while forgoing highlighting. I was pleasantly surprised and satisfied by the result. I also decided to paint in only one cross belt, because attempts to paint all the belts and straps resulted in a horrible mess, and was also extremely time consuming. Because I have only painted 15mm previously, I wasn't sur how the 6mm would paint up. At the start, I was tentative but quickly developed a technique for systematically painting up the 6mm in an assembly line approach, which facilitated output.

Basing
First, I want to credit Lee at the Figure Painting Therapy blog for his hints and tips for basing 6mm Napoleonics. Many of his tips have been very helpful and have been incorporated into my own basing system. These include the color of his ground cover (GW Scrag Brown) and static grass patterns. They lend striking color to his bases and attractively complement the miniatures. Because they are so small, the bases assume greater aesthetic importance.
Another excellent technique I picked up on another blog (I can't recall which one offhand) is to paint the sides of the bases in the national colors. Because of the size of the 6mms, it isn't always easy to identify units of the various armies. For example, I painted the Austrian bases white, and will paint the French bases blue, the Russian, green, and the British, red. I took this technique further by painting the back of Austrian grenadier units red, the Hungarian units blue, and the Jagers green to further distinguish them within their own army.
I've used Baccus ground cover and a combination of Baccus and GW static grass. The static grass is short and works well with 6mm.
In the initial stages of the project, I started with a Baccus army pack. At the outset, I was conflicted by how I was going to base the infantry. The basic Baccus base size was 30x60mm, but I was thinking that by putting a full regiment of two battalions with skirmishers and regimental officers on a 60x60mm base, I would accentuate the mass effect and still leave room to enhance the base with ground cover and static grass. I was pleased with the effects which resulted.

Terrain
The hills were constructed from insulation foam that was shaped and flocked. The tree canopies were something I discovered on a Civil War blog, that I thought was truly imaginative and was easily reproduced with insulation foam, Woodland Scenic foliage clusters, and toothpicks. To place and maneuver the troops, all that is needed is to lift the canopies off their bases, and once you make your placements and are satisfied, return the canopies.

Town
I bought 20 of these building years ago from my GHQ micro armor, and have been unable to find these structures since. I am truly sorry that I didn't buy a hundred of these when I had the chance. The same thing happened to me when I purchased 300 counter magnets for historical board gaming, and I wished I had bought a thousand. They are no longer being made and were seldom found eBay, when they are offered they are expensive.

Photos
The five photos include 8 infantry regiments with two battalions, and supporting skirmishers and regimental commanders, 3 heavy cavalry brigades of two regiments (cuirassiers and dragoons) in two lines with officers, and some skirmisher bases (line and Jager). The infantry and cavalry are on 60x60mm bases while the skirmishers are on 30x60mm bases.
This is my first attempt to photograph 6mms, and I was somewhat disappointed because the pictures were not sufficiently close to properly display the details. I am determined in my next effort to get better results.

I'm new to blogging and any comments or suggestions are more than welcomed, and even encouraged.

I've always wanted to share my interest in historical miniature wargaming, particularly Napoleonic wargaming with people who had the same enthusiasm for this historical period. Fortunately, my granddaughter, Leyna, who is a wizard with computers, was able to create my blog with just a few judicious key strokes.

This is my first foray into blogging so please bear with me.

I've been painting 15mm miniatures since the early 80's and currently possess approximately 4000 figures, painted and based for various periods. In Ancients, I have Roman, Alexandrian, and Mongol armies. In Napoleonic, I have French (of course), Russian, and British, and I have just finished painting a Portuguese division. I also have a Frederickian army.

I have recently begun to paint and base 6mm Baccus Austrian strips. When I first saw these tiny miniatures, I was dubious that I would ever be able to paint them to a satisfactory quality. However, when I discovered that the details on these figures paint up relatively easy. The reason I chose Baccus, was the quality of the sculpting, and that they came in four figure strips, which made painting and basing easier. Ordering from Baccus was a breeze, and the last order I recited arrived in 8 days from the UK. When I reviewed the 6mm blogs, I liked the massed effect these miniatures produced, and that it would now be possible to set up and play large battles. Furthermore, they were much cheaper than 15s.

In the photos depicting my simulations, the figures are Minifigs and the Rule Set is Empire Third Edition.

The 10 posted photos are from two war-games I set up and played solitaire. The first was a hypothetical grand tactical problem which entailed forcing a river in the face of strong enemy opposition, holding a formidable defensive position. The second as a historical simulation of the Battle of Golymin. Here, the French are in a close pursuit of Russian detachments withdrawing toward the east. The French, led by Murat and Augureau, catch the Russian general, Galitzin, before he can retire through the town. Historically, Galitzin fought a skillful delaying action and was able to extricate his forces through the night.