Russia 1812: Battle of Loubino

It's been a while since I posted anything related to our Russia 1812 campaign as I've missed a few games due to other commitments. However last weekend I was able to take part in the Battle of Loubino or Valutino Gora.

The real battle took place on the 18th of August after the battle of Smolensk when the retreating Russian troops needing to pass the crucial junction at Loubino fought a successful rearguard action against French forces commanded by Ney. Barclay de Tolly defended the river Stragan against a frontal attack by Ney. He was able to hold the assault long enough for most of the Russian forces to pass before withdrawing when dusk arrived. The French had an opportunity to trap the Russians as Marshal Junot had crossed the Dnieper with his forces and was in perfect opportunity to flank the Russian forces. However he refused to do this without explicit orders from Napoleon even when the sound of gunfire could be heard from a few kilometers away and requests for assistance were made personally by Murat.

Another account of the battle can be found on the blog of one of my clubmates Jaakko. Black Powder: Battle of Loubino (Valutina Gora)

Our scenario started with relatively small forces on the table immediately with one Russian division as a rearguard faced by 3 French divisions attempting to cross a river and drive them off before they could be reinforced. Some of Ney's divisions would arrive later as would Junot's Corps that would require a 5+ roll at the start of every turn to be able to activate.

The initial French advance on the left and center were fast with the stream being quickly forded and battalions pushing in to Russian positions and close combat. The French right flank was slightly lagging with the cavalry commander having difficulty understanding the rushed orders from Ney and Junot refusing to act.

The initial French assaults were very effective with the assault in the center and right flanks on the ridgeline devastating the Russians and pushing them back quickly. However on the French left a brigade of Russian Jägers however was holding on strong even while the French army bypassed them on the other flank.

On the extreme right flank a brigade of infantry had to be diverted to secure the flank against looming cossack and hussar threat as the French cavalry was still confused with their orders.

Just as the French are ready to push through to the second crossing point Russian reinforcements can be seen arriving from the direction of Loubino over the River Jarovina. They quickly form into a battle line waiting to repel the attacking French.

The lone surviving Jäger brigade from the first rearguard division continues to hamper French advances and even launches attacks against the rear of those French troops that have already bypassed them along the road.

With the first French troops crossing over to attack the Russians a fierce firefight breaks out between the opposing forces with artillery firing canister shot at near point blank range and both sides suffering heavy casualties. With darkness fast approaching the French renew their attack and try to push the Russians away with their bayonets. Casualties start to mount up with multiple battalions breaking on both sides as the close combat moves back and forth along the road.

The French cavalry on the right flank had finally shaken away their confusion and made good pace moving in to threaten the Russian right flank alongside Razout's infantry. However the timely arrival of a fresh Russian division of 8 battalions on the flank stopped the French advance.

With darkness coming down over the battlefield the fighting starts to quiet down as visibility drops. The Russians have successfully defended the road towards Loubino and denied the French any possibility of cutting off their retreat. However this came at a heavy cost with the Russians losses being high compared to any French losses. Junot's inability to act really hampered the French, but he did end up threatening the Russians in the end with his Corps moving up to striking distance. However it was too little too late and the de Tolly would be able to retreat towards Moscow ready to make a stand at Borodino.

Another great game with quite a lot of troops on the table (roughly 130 battalions). The next one will be fought in a few months time to allow for more troops to be painted as Borodino will really require massive forces. After that it's towards the retreat with at least Berezina to be played as a scenario.

Happy Tanktober!

I've been a bit lazy taking pics of what I've painted recently, but in the meantime it's time to celebrate Tanktober! The one time where promoting tracked metal beasts is not only acceptable, but highly recommended!

More painted tanks will come this month, but I'll start with pics of real tanks. Though in this case it will actually be an Infantry Fighting Vehicle, but since it weighs more than most WW2 tanks did and packs more punch I think it can pass.

Behold the BAE Systems Häglunds CV-90. Used by Finland amongst many other countries, it was the vehicle that my battalion was using during my military service. Mostly used by armored infantry it was also in use by mechanized reconnaissance where I was serving. I guess you could say we liked to cover our vehicles with a bit more camouflage material than normal :)

Armored Reinforcements

The first 7 vehicles for my autumn project are now done after the addition of some mud and grime. 5 M5 Stuarts to function as the support for my Tank Destroyers and two M20 armored cars to fill in the company HQ slot.

The Stuarts are way out of their league in Late War, but they are dirt cheap and fast zippy tanks with AT7 and Stabilisers can cause some headaches if they get to your rear. So a perfect addition to a tank destroyer force that doesn't really focus on staying power, but more on just messing up your opponents plans and attacking from unexpected directions.

These are Plastic Soldier Company offerings and are extremely well made with nice crisp detail. The only real gripe I have with them are the guns. Thin plastic is always fiddly and two of mine are slightly bent from their removal from the sprue. Switching to a metal barrel would probably have been a good thing. All of them have quite a bit of stowage thrown on from a few different Battlefront kits. Metal stowage really adds some nice weight to them as normally the PSC tanks can be quite flimsy.

I tried to add a bit of colour modulation with a yellowish tone, but it doesn't show too much after all the washes. After the basic colours I gave them a quick drybrush, painted the details and went overboard with the enamel washes. I put in a few different shades of brown and dark red letting them set in before swiping most of with cotton buds. I then added minor streaking here and there to show them worn down. Finally generously applied mud with Marutechnics Easy Mud. Nice easy and fast job, though it took me over two weeks to get them done as I haven't had too many hobby days available.

The second set was two M20 armoured cars from Battlefront. I already had 4 of them in the security detachments, but needed two more for the HQ. Conan and Demon will be guiding my company forward while keeping out of harms way. Again base colours applied by airbrush before being finished with a drybrush, enamel washes and loads of mud.

It was fun to paint something quick again. I've really been having quite a painting slump since May as time has been at a premium and after a push of over 250 15mm Naps I wasn't feeling like painting too much. Hopefully now things will get rolling again. I still have a few half finished projects on my desk, some dating over a year back. I guess I should dedicate a few hours to them as well to clean my work space and have some quick successes with finished figures. Still that will have to wait for a while as I have now about 2.5 weeks to paint up a full Armoured Rifle Platoon and a Cavalry Recon Platoon. The Infantry are about 40% done, but then there's the 9 vehicles that need to be started still.

Autumn Flames of War project

I'm getting back in gear after my late spring Napoleonic push and all the Flames of War hassle due to the European Team Championship. I'm not straying far though as the preparations for next years ETC are already starting. The chosen period is Mid War this time and I'm planning to build up an Armored Rifle Company as mech players are always a bit harder to find and I already had most of the stuff needed available as I'd been planning to build up the same company, but for Late War.

In addition to the ETC prep for next year we are running an escalation league for Flames of War at my club starting from 500 points and increasing the list sizes every two weeks until we end up at full-fledged tournament list sizes. The chosen era is Late War, but luckily most of the stuff overlaps with Mid War US equipment anyways. I will be building a Tank Destroyer Company to utilize my Hellcats that I normally have in support of my Paras.

To plan my painting efforts a bit better I put together a little excel sheet to track my progress. I'll first build up the Late War Tank Destroyer list and then add the few extra units that are needed for Mid War. Most is already bought. The only things I really need are the M10's, some command miniatures and a few Jeeps. I'm still contemplating about painting up dismounted mortars and heavy machine guns. They will be useless most of the time, but then again if I skip them I'm sure to need them.

Painting is well underway with the Stuart's and the M20's almost finished. I only need to wait for the enamel to dry and then add some mud and they are done. While they are drying I've already gotten started on all the infantry stands of one Armored Rifle Platoon. 15 stands and 5 half-tracks per platoon are quite time consuming, but I guess batch painting should do the trick.