Friday 12 May 2023

Off the bench and Battle of Wavre

 Whilst still attacking my epic Napoleonic figures I thought I’d intersperse the painting schedule with some 28’s for my 1790’s Italian campaign. To add a little variety I wanted a couple of regiments of Piedmont infantry, I’ve bought some Eureka figures but I thought I’d also try the figures from Emperors Toad, sculpted by Michael Percy I thoroughly enjoyed painting these chaps. The regiment Savoy, flags are being dispatched by Maverick models and will be issued soon.




The Battle of Wavre is most probably the most ignored battle of the 1815 campaign the 17000 men of the Prussian III corps under the command of General Thielmann holding off 33000 French under the overall command of Marshall Grouchy. It was a hard fought affair and is certainly worthy of some reading.

Norm on the Battlefield and Warriors blog decided to run the battle as a PBM campaign and asked for 10 volunteers to participate. I threw my hat in the ring and ended up being appointed as General Thielmann !

What followed over the following 10 days was one of the most enjoyable games I’ve ever participated in. The frustrations of Fog of War, lack of reports or detail from subordinate Generals it was to say the least immersive and Norm did a wonderful job. He kept a diary and this is available to read here https://battlefieldswarriors.blogspot.com/2023/05/wavre-campaign-diary.html?sc=1683871765518#c2289255221893235628, it makes for a most enjoyable read. It was even more enjoyable to discover that my most erstwhile opponent as Vandamme was JBM certainly exploiting his relocation to France by joining their ranks in battle.

I will not go into detail or disclose the result, this was the campaign map we fought over

With Wavre town being the locations 16,21 and 22. In many ways I’m sad to see it’s conclusion although my wife may not agree as most nights I was reading reports, uttering profanities at some of the information ( or lack thereof) and scribbling new orders for the ADC’s.
Highlight of the year for sure