I suddenly figured out what I did wrong- instead of using Nuln Oil, I should have used a wash OF THE PRIMARY COLOUR. So instead of an army that's all dark and black, red for red, green for green, blue for blue etc.
I will have to try that for the next units.
Next up- trying to dry-brush off-white or sand yellow onto the rocks, and then place grass bushes on it.
I have based and put gravel under 6 units, plus 4 skirmisher attachments.
Green won't work because of the Riflemen and Loyal Lustrian Legion in dark green. I only had green and grey so choose grey. I think I need to lighten the grey though...maybe some yellow or light brown? Then put some yellow tuffs of grass.
The original figures are from https://www.stonewallfigures.co.uk.
This has taken a year since I started playing Field of Glory Napolonic. This is 1/3 of the army, and I still need to give them a wash and flock the bases.
The flocking will occur after I get the other two thirds from https://www.stonewallfigures.co.uk
My brother in law got me the Highlanders for Christmas.
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| The Army currently |
https://boardgametoday.com/warlord-games-announces-epic-battles-american-civil-war/
This is going to be a game changer. Napoleonics is going to explode when they release it
Thank you to my amazing wife for pre-ordering it!
I have ordered the remaining army I need for my FOGN British Peninsula army from Stonewall Figures.
Cost is about $450, plus the $200 I did previously. So about $250 per division.
This will give me 800 points I hope and all I need to do is wash, base, flock and flag them. And I need to paint Generals and ADC's. I plan on using AB figures from Eureka Miniatures.
I'd still want some KGL Calvary, Royal Horse Artillery, Horse Guards and another 2 brigades of line infantry, but that can wait.
So after getting decisively defeated several times, it's obvious I need more practice. And I don't know anyone at my level of experience or ability who has an army I can borrow.
Therefore, the best plan is to go ahead and buy one. But my eyesight is so bad painting isn't very enjoyable.
So I've calculated it out, and I think I can afford a British and OPFOR French Peninsula army from https://www.stonewallfigures.co.uk/product-category/painted-battalion-packs from Stonewall Figures.
I've got one brigade of light infantry from them, and I think the remaining Anglo-Portuguese army would be about $400 Australian, and the French OPFOR about $500-600. I'd want to give them a wash and still need to base them, but I think thats the way to go.
From geekvillain.co.uk.
It's about 4.2 feet by 6.4. Very thin, but you can put hills under it to look nice than polystyrene. I need to get some hills and terrain from miniatureworldmaker.com.au
Took about 3 weeks to arrive from the UK.
They have OFFICIAL Field of Glory terrain which should be the right size.
The table is 2- 8 foot x 5 foot tables from BUNNINGS - Lifetime 2440 x 762 x 737mm Folding Trestle Table.
I really need another foot of space around both sides of the table- I can sit on one side but barley squeeze on the other.
Played Dave again. My new army idea that applies most of my previous ideas. He did a bombardment attack vs my static defence.
Game ended just past the 3:05 hours mark with > 30% of the army broken and routed, vs 8% of the invading Russian army. Not the complete tabling of last time, but only 1 enemy unit was broken (a large conscript unit) and 1-2 other units somewhat unsettled.
Thoughts:
* Every new game of FOGN reveals a new, unexpected and seemingly illogical rule. I'm sure it makes historical sense and is perfectly reasonable and it's just me not understaning or knowning the historical impact.
* eg. A entire Brigade, Division or Corps of British infantry WILL NOT advance towards a single small cavalry unit quickly enough to get in range to shoot it. Fair enough you might think, men on horses will outrun infantry. BUT...if you are more than 6 inches away, you CAN move fast enough to catch them! So in game terms the infantry CAN cover the same volume of space unless their is 2 mules and a pony within sight, in which case they slow down due to "presence of enemy cavalry".
* Cossack's can just move past your lines and if there is a gap you can't shoot them, stop them or charge them.
* Don't leave a gap big enough for an enemy unit to move into between the units unless there is a reserve unit behind the gap.
* Cossack's can stand in sword range of heavy cavalry and only have a 1 in 6 chance of being caught when charged, despite needing to turn around first.
* Spanish Guerrillas in cover are really good at not taking any hits, and can fall back all day from enemy infantry. They make a great delaying unit in cover. Add a cavalry detachment and few enemy infantry units can hit them with gunfire.
* Place redoubts in FRONT of the army, not behind it.. That was an incredibly stupid move on my part.
* Despite it being thematically correct, do not put artillery in redoubts.
* Napoleon was only right about commit reserves if you already outnumber the enemy to HAVE reserves. I can't do that with a British Peninsula army!
* Doing a Static defense mission, does mean you will not advance out of your 18 inches deployment zone before the enemy is already into it.
* With a British Peninsula army you must go on the defence. Frontal attacks must be blocked AT ALL COSTS. Bombardment attacks should be blocked too if possible.
* British units must be more resilient. Use large infantry brigades. Add cavalry detachments to light infantry units to remove enemy fire at medium range or intersperse light cavalry between the infantry brigades.
* Place TWO hills to use the reserve slope. One is too small to hide behind.
* Unreformed infantry, cannot shoot across a river. They can only shoot at close range (2 inches!!).
* Being on the defensive, allows you to select a RIVER and then place it to block off 1/3 of the table. Do not attempt to fight on BOTH sides of the river.
* When on the defensive, select two towns. They wont hold, but they will delay and slow down enemy assaults elsewhere.
* When placing units behind a town to counter attack, leave a gap for fleeing units to go past without interpenetrating.
* Choose a road and use that to place a LOC after all other terrain is placed.
And the most important lesson: Find someone who is not as experienced to play against, or find another game to play. Dave is a great teacher and has taught me the rules very well and with great patience, so it is no fault of his, he's just so much better and experienced than I am. I would need to have an actual army to USE and not borrow to do this, or play a team game, neither of which is on the horizon. The only other person I know who has a British army I could borrow is the man who wrote the actual book (ie- the rules) which is not much of an improvement to have a more equal chance of success.
I can't even get close to THREATENING Dave's army. There seems no hope of getting even close to a draw. The Russian/Moldovan armies have better and more artillery, more infantry, more and BETTER light and skirmish cavalry and only lack shock heavy cavalry.
This must be how the French felt when facing Wellington.
The British army needs a Wellington. I am not Wellington, which makes it hard when you try and command Wellington's army.
The Sun rises to the east. An Anglo-Portuguese corps advances to liberate an Spanish town held by the forces of Napoleon...a army from far away Moldova.
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| The Battlefield facing East towards the rising sun. Spain, 1809. |
A new idea after more lessons learned. It gets most of the units I want.
It includes all the units I want, though the Spanish Guerrillas are missing their cavalry and the British Line Infantry units are small and not large. It lacks Portuguese Cavalry too.
