A List of the Figures that I Painted in 2018

Vignette of Frederick the Great grabbing the flag of the von Bulow regiment at Zorndorf

Here is a list of all of the wargame units that I painted in 2018, all of which are Seven Years War figures. Click on the links to go to the blog post that covers each unit that I painted.

Los Rios (Austrian) 2 x 32 figure battalions   November 15, 2018
Lacy (Austrian) 2 x 32 figure battalions    October 12, 2018

The Austrian Musketeer regiment Lacy, showing a new basing style that I am contemplating.

Russian 4th Grenadiers 1 x 32  September 29, 2018
Perm Musketeers (Russian) 1 x 32   September 23, 2018

2nd South Carolina Regiment (AWI)   July 25, 2018

2nd South Carolina Regiment (AWI)

IR2 von Kanitz Musketeer Regt. (Prussian) 2 x 32 figure battalions   July 18, 2018
Manstein Grenadier Battalion (Prussian) 1 x 32 figure battalion  June 30, 2018

Manstein Grenadier Battalion

Von Kanitz Musketeers

Observation Corps Grenadiers (Russian)   May 21, 2018

Observation Corps Grenadiers

IR46 von Bulow Fusilier Regt. (Prussian) 2 x 32 figure battalions May 12, 2018  and June 8, 2018 
IR35 Prinz Heinrich Fusiliers (Prussian) 2 x 32 figure battalions    May 4, 2018
Jung Sydow Garrison Battalion (Prussian) 1 x 32 figure battalion   April 30, 2018

Von Bulow Fusiliers

Observation Corps 5th Musketeers (Russian) 1 x 32 figure battalion  January 30, 2018
Permski Regiment (Russian) 1 x 32 figure battalion January 14, 2018 
Narva Regiment (Russian) 1 x 32 figure battalion  January 6, 2018

Russian Observation Corps Musketeers

I also painted 4 Russian artillery pieces, each with 4 crew plus limber teams of 4 horses, 1 rider and 1 limber. Here

Russian artillery battery with limber teams

If my math is correct, the total number of figures painted in 2018 was 652 figures. There are probably more than that if I include some vignettes that I made and some samples that I painted for the Fife & Drum on-line webstore and catalog.

Now in some of these instances, I posted the date when I flagged and based both battalions of a Prussian or Austrian battalion. So for example, the IR2 von Kanitz Musketeer Regiment indicates 2 x 32 battalions = 64 figures. I did not paint all 64 figures at one time, but rather, over the course of several weeks. My painting pace is approximately one unit of 32 figures per week, although I do not paint every week. I wish!

DAF's Battles in 2018

Himself and the Heir Apparent tag team at Gross Jagersdorf in August 2018

I did a count of the wargame battles that I fought in 2018 and found that I crossed sabres 14 times during the year. Four of the affairs were solo games and ten were with groups of players.

For your convenience I have posted links to all of the game reports on my blog during 2018:

SOLO GAMES (4)

The Battle of Kingston from my AWI South Carolina Campaign

Kunersdorf (December 17, 2018) Kunersdorf

Hobkirks' Hill (September 9, 2018) Hobkirks' Hill

Kingston (June 1, 2018) Kingston

Zorndorf (March 2, 2018) Zorndorf

GROUP OR CONVENTION GAMES (10)

Dean West (left) hosting one of his Final Argument of Kings SYW games at the
SYWA convention a few years ago. Dean passed away in June of this year and he will be missed very much.

Leuthen (December 1, 2018) Cavalry Battle  Leuthen Part II

Mafrica (October 18, 2018) Testing the Dervish

Shalalabad (September 15, 2018) Shalalabad

Gross Jagersdorf (August 18, 2018) Gross Jagersdorf

Wild Geese Conference (June 2018) Day One  Day Two

Zorndorf @ SYWA Convention (April 13 and 14, 2018) Day One Day Two

North Africa WW2 (February 17, 2018) Ebb & Flow of Morale - Mine

Please click on the links above to go back in time and view the various game reports along with lots and lots of wonderful pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Gathering of the Wild Geese in the UK - June 2018 game.

The Battle of Leuthen - December 2018 game.

All in all, it was a very good year for wargaming that included two conventions: the Seven Years War Association in April 2018 and the Gathering of the Wild Geese over in the UK in June 2018. Conventions are a great time for catching up with old friends and making new friends. Isn't this what wargaming is all about?

"River of Doubt" by Candace Millard

Book cover of "River of Doubt" by Candace Millard.

I am in the process of reading a book called "River of Doubt" by Candace Millard which tells the story of Theodore Roosevelt's exploration of the Amazon River area of Brazil in 1914. Theodore Roosevelt had recently lost his bid for a third presidential term in 1912 to Woodrow Wilson (splitting the normal Republican vote between himself and incumbent president William Howard Taft) and he set his sights on the physical challenge of making the first descent of an unmapped river tributory of the Amazon River in Brazil.

The book jacket description:

The River of Doubt - it is a black, uncharted tributary of the Amazon that snakes through one of the most treacherous jungles in the world.

After his humiliating election defeat in 1912, Theodore Roosevelt set his sights on the most punishing physical challenge he could find, the first descent of an unmapped, rapids-choked tributary of the Amazon. Together with his son Kermit and Brazil's most famous explorer Candido Mariano da Silva Rondon, Roosevelt faced an unbelievable series of hardships: they lost their canoes and supplies to punishing whitewater rapids, and endured starvation, Indian attack, disease, drowning, and a murder within their own ranks. In the end, three men would die, and Roosevelt would be brought to the brink of suicide, but the expedition accomplished a seemingly impossible feat, and changed the map of the Western Hemisphere forever."

Ms. Millard writes a compelling story that flows easily across the pages for the reader and is one that is hard to put down. This is the style of Ms. Millard as I had previous read her book about a young Winston Churchill and his escape from a Boer prisoner of war camp, titled "Hero of the Empire". This latter book took me only two days to read cover to cover because is was so riveting and hard to put down.

I bought the River of Doubt book a few years ago on the recommendation of my late mother and some of my friends, though I had not picked it up for a read. However, with my recent trip to Maui, Hawaii, I needed something to read whilst basking poolside and so I re-acquainted myself with this story. I began reading it on the return flight from Maui and I am about half way through the story in one full day's reading. I plan on finishing the book over the weekend and I can tell you that it is just as hard to put down as Millard's Churchill book.

My copy is a paper back book that costs $17.00 US and was published by Anchor Books.

I heartily recommend both of the Millard books. You really cannot go wrong and you will enjoy the story very much.

Fritz

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Walking Off the Ledge

It's like walking off the edge of the world.

Yesterday my daughter Lelia and I drove to the summit of the Haleakala volcano in the National Park of the same name. The temperature change from sea level (84F) to summit (54F) was really something to behold and fortunately we were prepared with some warm coats to wear upstairs.

As we reached about 8,000 feet above sea level we realized that we were higher than the layer of clouds that we could see from the base of the mountain. The road climbed ever so slowly up the hill with our driver, me, going even slower. I'm used to alpine driving, but this was white knuckle work even for me. In many places there were no guard rails between the road and the sheer drop to below, which made me very uncomfortable. The guard rails don't make safety any better, but they provide some psychological help.

At about 9,000 feet I decided to turn around at a small parking lot, one of the last ones between us and the summit, so it was go,no go at this point.

All in all it was an enjoyable excursion and I'm glad that we tried it, but if I ever return to Maui, I won't make this trip again.

Battle of Trenton Anniversary

Washington directs the set up of the American artillery atbthe head of King Street in Trenton

Today is the anniversary of the Battle of Trenton fought December 26, 1776. George Washington's rag tag American army defeated the Hessian garrison at Trenton, New Jersey thus breathing life into the American cause.

I fought Trenton as a solo Wargame back in  January 2015 and the Americans held form and defeated the Hessians once again. I'm blogging on the road so it is difficult to put some links to the original blog articles, but I will fix this when I return home.

Trenton blog report 2015

The Twelve BEST Christmas Songs

Our Maui Christmas Tree

Well we have gotten all of those horrible Christmas songs posted on my list so now let's take a look at the twelve best Christmas songs. 

1). Silent Night

2) White Christmas 

3) The Christmas Song ( chestnuts roasting on an open fire...)

4) Hark the Harold Angels Sing

5) Adeste Fidelis ( Come All Ye Faithful)

6) Sleigh Ride

7) Walking In a Winter Wonderland 

8) We Wish You a Merry Christmas

9) Joy to the World

10) Christmas Comes to Harlem

11) Here We Come a Caroling

12) Santa Claus is Coming to Town

Honorable Mention:

* Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas Day

As you can see, many of the songs on my list are the old classic and traditional songs that we would sing while Christmas caroling (yes, we actually used to get a group of people together and go door to door in the neighborhood singing Christmas carols).

Thus my song criteria is that the song has to be singable and can be sung as A Christmas carol.

Der Alte Fritz and his Family wish you and yours a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

The Battle of Kunersdorf Game Preparation

Frederick surveys the deployment of his advance guard from the Walke Berg heights

I decided to go ahead and do a Kunersdorf-Lite game before going off for the holiday. I will be posting the pictures and game report on this blog using the scheduled post feature in Blogger so that the posts will be placed on the blog while I'm away.

Prussian advance guard of 3 grenadier battalions.

Advance guard prepares to assault the Russians deployed on the Muhl Berg.

Here are some of my thoughts about the organization and composition of Allied and Prussian forces that fought at Kunersdorf. First, I wanted to remove the detached troops from the order of battle. These lucky units were left behind to guard bridges or the baggage park while the fighting was going on.

How many soldiers were at Kunersdorf? The numbers vary greatly using a number of sources such as Christopher Duffy, Kronoskaf (German General Staff Histories) and Alfred Rambaud. So you have to sort of pick one and just go with it. I decided to use Rambaud as my source noting that some of his figures are identical to what Christopher Duffy has in Russia's Military Way to the West.

Prussian Army at Kunersdorf

Rambaud and Duffy present the total Prussian army at 49,000 soldiers comprised of 35,000 infantry, 13,000 cavalry and 1,000 artilllery crew. With detachments of 9 battalions guarding the bridges near Goritz and 13 squadrons of hussars guarding the left bank of the Oder River, I come up with a number of 6,700 soldiers not present at the Battle of Kunersdorf.

7 btns of regulars and 2 btns of Freikorps--assuming 600 per battalion = 5,400

13 squadrons of hussars --assuming 100 cavalry per squadron              = 1,300

                       Total Detachments:                                                           = 6,700

After deducting the detachments I estimate that the Prussian army on the battlefield had 29,600 infantry, plus 11,700 cavalry and 1,000 artillery crew for a total force of 42,300 men.

Russian and Austrian Armies at Kunersdorf

Rambaud and Duffy cite the Russian strength at 43,000 infantry plus 4,650 battle cavalry and 7,200 light and irregular cavalry (Cossacks). With 4 battalions of foot protecting the baggage park and removing the Cossacks from consideration as likely troops on the battlefield I generate an estimated force of 41,000 infantry plus 4,650 cavalry and 1,700 hussars for a total force of 47,350 men.

The Austrians are thought to have brought around 18,000 troops to the game including 7,000 regular infantry plus 6,000 cavalry and 5,000 Croats. The Croat light infantry were largely guarding bridges across the Oder and some were at the south end of the battlefield well out of the way of the fighting to the north. So all the Croat battalions were eliminated for consideration. In addition there were two regiments of Austrian hussars (Kolnaki and Nadasdy) that were deployed near Frankfort  and were not engaged in the fighting. Removing all the Croats and the two hussar regiments I estimate the Austrian army at 7,000 infantry and 5,000 cavalry for a total battlefield force of 12,000 men.

Total Forces in the field

So after deducting all of the detachments and combing the Austrians and Russians into one "allied" force, the comparisons of soldiers engaged in fighting are as follows:

Infantry:            Allies - 48,000 versus 29,600 Prussians

Battle Cavalry:  Allies - 9,650 versus 11,700 Prussians

Total Forces:     Allies - 59,300 versus 42,300 Prussians

Ratio of Allies to Prussians is 1.4x

Ratio of Allied Infantry to Prussians is 1.6x

Ratio of Prussian Cavalry versus Allies is 1.2x

I am not going to get into the artillery arm of the two sides, but after deducting lighter battalion guns the Prussians had 114 heavy cannon (largely 12-pounders) versus 200 Russian field guns that were mostly in the 6-pounder size along with a considerable number of Shuvulov Howitzers. The Austrians had 48 cannon of various sizes, but none of the sources seem to be able to break out the light cannon from the heavy field guns.

Perhaps one of my readers can do some research on the artillery arm of both sides at Kunersdorf.

The Wargame Armies

As I often do, I start with the number of infantry that I want to field for the Prussian army and then multiply that by the ratio advantage of the allies in order to estimate the allied total of battalions. I decided on 8 Prussian battalions and 1.6x that number equals 12-13 allied. If I decided on 9 Prussian battalions then the allies increase to 14 battalions.

For the cavalry, I gave the allies 3 cavalry regiments times 1.2 to equal 3.6 Prussian regiments, rounded up to 4 regiments. I used 5 heavy cannon per side on the table.

Let the Game Begin

Russian battery on the Grosser Spitzberg

Another view of the Grosser Spitzberg, packed full of red coated Russians.

Prussian cavalry deployed next to Kunersdorf, guarding the left wing of the army.
The cavalry is actually starting off-table so they aren't really there at the start of the game.

I will start the game as a solo play on December 17th and hopefully finish it by December 18th.