Radetskys Marches by Mike Embree

The cover of Mike Embree's new book, Radetsky's Marches

Gentlemen, you'll find above a picture of Mike's new book, which will be due out in the near future. It's published byHelion and you can pre-order it from amazon.co.uk here.

The publishers bumpf is here, but essentially the book tells the story of Field Marshall Joseph Radetsky von Radetz, a kindly octengenarian who led the Austrian army to victory at Custozza in 1848 and Novara in 1849.

Radetsky is interesting for several reasons -

...firstly, he was eighty two when he fought and won the two battles mentioned...

...his coat of arms features for no discernable reason, aspade...

...and lastly, he was a superhero whose sheer power possessed Johann Strauss Sr and enabled him to write a piece of music that allowed horses to dance.

There is a story, probably aprocyphal, that General U.S. Grant used to keep a particular private, known for his simplicity, at his headquarters, this man's job was to read General Grants orders before they were sent on the basis that what this man could comprehend, no other could misunderstand.

I've served as that private soldier for Mike on a couple of occasions and if the rest of the book is anything like the sections that I've read, we're in for a treat.

Austrian Standard Bearers

SHQ Austrian Ensign from Pack AUA21 - German in Shako command
Also pictured, Games Workshop Hand Drill

I'm a cautious modeller and one that is always seemingly convinced that he's going to "spoil it" or make a mess of things. I have little enough confidence in my own painting or modelling skill, which I suppose is one of the reasons why I like using the services of a professional painter. The results make not always be as good as my own, though they are infinately faster, but it does rather take the tension out of the experience.

That said, once I find something that I'm comfortable with, I'll plough along happily enough, so when the time came to finally use my shiny new Games Workshop drill, there was trepedation at first, followed by a sudden desire to drill everything I could find once I established that I was unlikely to destroy the figure, my hands or anything else for that matter.

The figure on the right is the Ensign as supplied, while the chap on the left has had some surgery. I have some figures with lead flag poles and to be honest, they are never completely satisfactory, so I took the plunge and cut away the pole with a sharp Stanley blade. I then drilled the figures hands and slid in some brass wire and the job was done. I only wonder why I didn't start doing this years ago.

Advice for the Hand Drill Naif

1. Work in an area with plenty of light and wipe your hands before you start. If like me you don't have a vice and are reduced to holding the figure to be drilled in your sweaty paw, be careful. Stabbing yourself in the hand is best left to the professionals.

2. Take your time, withdraw the drill and check that you're at the right spot. Clear the spoil away as you go.

3. If you're in any doubt about how to use your new drill, go to a Games Workshop store. One of the glassy eyed cultists behind the counter will be delighted to show you to how.

Austrian Infantry by Mike Embree

Austrian Infantry (artist unknown)

I was writing yesterday about the need to learn more about the Austrian army. I had a few idle moments last night and had a look at the information that was available on my phone, which was when I found this, an admirably clear introduction to Austrian Regular Infantry.

I also noticed that it was written by a friend of mine, Mike Embree. This of course begs the question what else Mike has been hiding under a bushell.

Mike doesn't interest himself in Napoleonics these days which is a pity, but it does mean that he can devote his time to writing books about his new period, the mid 19th century. He's an active member of the Continental Wars Society. His last book, Bismarck's First War explored the Danish-Prussian War of 1864 in great detail. The conflict is an unusual one in that the methods with which it was fought are comparable with the Franco-Prussian or American Civil War, but the Casus Belli and the general air of the thing retain the whiff of the 18th century.

Mike's strength is the clarity of his prose* and his tenacity in pursuit of original sources. If the book has a weakness, it's that the publisher did not see fit to give sufficient space to the plethora of maps, etching and illustrations that Mike managed to track down. Mike has a new book in the pipeline, but more on that anon.



*I finally understood the Schleswig-Holstein question - though I'm still at a loss as to why one would go to so much trouble over two buckets of paint and a duck.

Kaiserlicks

Austrian Johnnies off to fight the French

One of the perils of gaming with 1/72 figures is that they are damnably cheap - the problem for impulsive types like your correspondent is the habit of buying several boxes on a whim. I know very little about the Austrian army during the Napoleonic wars, just what I've picked up in the course of things. Therefore, I am still at a loss as to what I was thinking of when I bought six boxes of HAT Austrian infantry. Similar motives were no doubt behind my purchasing of several boxes of Zvesda Black Hussars, beautiful figures for a period I don't play and an army I don't field.

However, I was in the mood to do a little work the other day while on leave and the Austrians were the only figures that I hadn't packed. The officers and drummers are from SHQ miniatures, whch are a good fit. I've organised them as per the regulations laid down in Charge!, but I think I shall have to do some reading before I work out how I shall have them painted. I generally choose what regiments to field using a simple, but foolproof method...

British Regiments
1. Do I need the unit to fill out a particular order of battle?
2. Does the unit have a snazzy uniform?
3. Do I know anyone currently in a successor regiment?
4. Are they Irish?
5. Is there an amusing fictional regiment that I could use?

French Regiments
1. Do I need the unit to fill out a particular order of battle?
2. Has the unit lost its Eagle or taken a severe whipping? (The French are the baddies in my games and naturally it cheers me immensely when they lose)
3. Does it have a snazzy uniform?

I don't have the knowledge of the Austrian army that I do of the French and the British, nor do I have the same emotional attachment, so it may be some time before I settle on an appropriate regiment.

Now to get to the ensigns..

American Militia

SHQ American Militia of the War of 1812
(Left to right - Militia man loading, Militia Bugler, Militia advancing, Ensign, Officer)

After some messing about, I took delivery yesterday of an order from SHQ. It contained an interesting assortment of chaps, but today I'm turning my attention to the American Militia.
I had sworn off the War of 1812 as a dangerous diversion that dangled the superficially attractive proposition of burning the White House while drawing resources away from the main effort, the ever important Operation Kicking the French in the pants. Despite appearances I've managed to keep to my promise, for the above Militia will be mustering with my Portuguese troops.

I'm using the round hatted figures from HAT Spanish Guerrillas set as Portuguese infantry and I've painted most of a battalion. These figures will allow me to finish the battalion and field the valiant Pork and Beans on the field of honour in the very near future.

Another Boer War picture...

Another "fixed" image and a somewhat more traditional British uniform.
The colour is a better reflection of the reality.

Gentlemen, I took another picture while I was visiting Mrs. Kinch's great uncle and here it is. Donald Featherstone wrote of the Boer War in "Featherstone's Complete Book of Wargaming" as the grandfathers war, a title that I think was not particularly apt in 1991 when the book was published, though I think it was certainly a fair description of his own feelings on the war.

A strange incident occured to me some years ago, when I was still working in the Cathedral and which proved to me that events that we think of as history can still evoke powerful personal feelings in those still living.

A South African chap with what I would call a strong "Boer" accent was visiting the Cathedral and approached me to ask why there were monuments to Irishmen who had served in the British army during the First and Second Boer Wars. His point was that there were none to the Irish that had fought on the Boer side.

I had begun to frame an answer, when the situation changed rather suddenly as he had been seized by the elderly gent who was standing beside. This gentlemen who had an eighty year connection with the Cathedral and was approximately half the South African's size, took his larger opponent by the collar and said firmly, "Because we don't build monuments to traitors, Sir." The South African was then frog marched out of the Cathedral, protesting as he went and was never seen again.

It emerged that my elderly friend's grandfather had served in the First Boer War and he had been very fond of the old gent, with the result that he took any aspertions being cast on his grandfathers service as a personal affront. And that gentlemen was the only case of 21st century fisticuffs that I know of that took place over the First Boer War.

Yet another instance, I suppose, of being a handshake away from history.

The Battle of Maida

The Battle of Maida by William Heath

One of the things on which you can rely is wargamers inherent need to tinker (yes you Cordery, see me after class), so it came as no surprise to me that only a week or so after the arrival of Command & Colours: Napoleonics, new scenarios started to appear.

What did surprise me was that the first was one I had considered writing up for myself, the Battle of Maida.

This is a battle that has always held a fascination for me, though one I'm hard put to satisfactorily explain. It was a small fight, a skirmish really in Napoleonic terms, though but it did give a boost to the morale of a British army that* had been staggering from disaster to cock up and back again for the previous decade.

In brief, the strategic picture was as follows, the British and Neapolitans were in possession of Sicily, while a French army was menacing Naples proper. The Neapolitan royal family, who were some queer fish, had fled to Sicily, but were eager to regain power on the mainland of their kingdom, while the British were happy enough to maintain Sicily as a naval base. The French who are doing a capital job of alienating some of the worst ruled people in Europe by being their usual charming selves have beaten down almost all resistance except for a fortress at Gaeta and an uprising in Calabria.

The British decided to land a force of some 6,000 men commanded by General Stuart in Calabria to annoy the French. The French despatched a force of similar size under General Reynier to crush the British. General Reynier's force was made up of scarlet clad Swiss, two battalions of the Polish-Italian legion, some light infantry, a single battery of horse artillery and a handful of cavalry. General Stuart who after landing seems to have done very little beyond waiting for the enemy turn up, met this force with a mixed bag of infantry and three guns of the RHA.

The French advanced in column, attempted to form line and were shot down by British infantry who then counter attacked with a bayonet charge. The French fled the field, but were not pursued by a British army entirely destitute of cavalry.

And that is it, albeit it in very broad strokes and recounted from memory.

The attractions of Maida are I think, the compactness of the action, the fact that neither General covered himself in glory, which leaves the player in the enviable position of showing how it *should* have been done and the exotic troops involved, Swiss fighting on both sides, Corsican Rangers and what would eventually become the legion of the Vistula. Only the lack of cavalry prevents it being the perfect wargaming engagement in my view.

For those who would like to know more, I recommend The Battle of Maida by Richard Hopton, which I borrowed from Donogh. An interesting companion to this is Counterpoint to Trafalgar: The Anglo-Russian invasion of Naples by the magnificently named William Flayhart. This was again stolen from Donogh, who was so lacking in common decency that he stole it back, damn his eyes.

Hopton does the job of a craftsman and describes his battle well, but Flayhart is even more interesting in that he manages to write a gripping book that is the anthesis of what one expects from a Napoleonic history book. There are no battles, little glory and a lot of diplomacy and skullduggery. Don't let the lack of violence put you off, it's fascinating stuff and vividly illustrates the problems of coalition warfare.

Maida is also interesting in that it has had an enormous influence in the historiography of minor tactics of the Napoleonic era. You can find a discussion of this particular academic donnybrook here.

But the fact remains that I have been pipped at the post and Mr. Laurence Cutner of Canada finished his Maida scenario first. I haven't played it yet, though it has been receiving favourable attention on Board Game Geek.

You can download it here.

*Barring some success in Eygpt.