Dragoons and Hussars for my 15mm SYW project

Here are the last of my cavalry for my Honours of War 15mm imagi-nation, The Grand Duchy of Überwald.

First, a brigade of Dragoons, with their brigadier;

I decided that the Dragoons, because of their roots as mounted infantry would wear the standard grey coats of Überwald infantry regiments but with orange facings. The Dragoon regiments would be distinguished by different coloured breeches and the trim on their horse blankets. Here, I have given one unit yellow breeches and the other has light blue ones.

Obviously, by the time of the SYW these dragoons would be classed as medium cavalry, rather than having a dismounted role.

My last set of cavalry are the Hussars;

I've given both regiments green dolmans and pelisses, but different coloured breeches, boots, fur trim and busby bags (which match their breeches). I decided that all Hussars in the Überwald army would have red shabraques edged in white, but I'm not really planning to paint any more regiments of Hussars, mainly because they aren't really dealt with properly in the Honours of War rules. The rules make it clear that if you want useful cavalry they have to be heavy ones, which is a shame. Hussar uniforms are always so striking.

I had a couple of spare figures left over, so I decided to rebase two of my brigadier figures to add an extra figure on each base;

I think that this looks a lot better than just having one figure and I might have to look around for a few spares to improve my remaining brigadier bases.

Anyway, I've now finished off everything I bought up front for this army. If I want to add anything different, I'll have to spend more money with Essex Miniatures.  I do quite like the idea of a Freikorps brigade, maybe a couple of battalions of line infantry and one of skirmishers, perhaps with a squadron of cavalry of some kind. I'd also like to do some allied heavy cavalry, based upon the Essex SYW British Horse Grenadiers. There is no rush, though.

Three units of heavy cavalry for my SYW imaginations project

So, it is time for the cavalry part of my Uberwald SYW army. First, three units of big men on big horses, i.e cuirassiers, the armoured fist of the mounted arm.

These are the Garde zu Pferde, resplendent in their blue uniforms, led by their Brigadier and a trumpeter.

Next are two squadrons of line Cuirassiers, wearing buff uniforms.

These units could all be brigaded together or I might use them as shock troops to be supported by Dragoons and Hussars.

My last three SYW infantry battalions

I've finally nearly everything done for my Honours of War project, apart from the cavalry. Here are my last three infantry battalions;

Overall, I am pretty happy with what I've done with this army so far. Even without cavalry it is a pretty reasonable force. It would certainly suffice for most games of Honours of War.

I'll be working on the cavalry over the rest of September and into October, but for the moment I will be concentrating on a 28mm Austrian Napoleonic project that I really should have got on with last year. 

Allied infantry battalions for my 15mm SYW project

The Grand Duchy of Überwald's army usually includes allied units.

These two battalions represent troops recruited in the Margravate of Streslau. The current Grand Duke, Carl Emanuel III was the Margrave of Streslau before succeeding his father, Carl Emanuel II to the title several years ago. Streslau has been a feudal vassal of Überwald since the 16th century and provides well-respected and stubborn infantry to the Ducal Army.

The infantry regiments of Streslau wear green uniforms and their standards are distinguished by the yellow Cross of St Alberich, the patron saint of Streslau.

Guns and limbers for my SYW project

Here is the artillery for my SYW imagi-nation for Honours of War;

Above we have the limbered guns for movement before or after deployment and below I have placed a cannon on one of the artillery bases I finished a while ago, to show how the deployed guns will appear on the table. I think this has come out rather well.

I have also finished off the rest of my infantry battalions, but I will do a separate post about these.

A new project - SYW 15mm troops

This project is something I had no idea I was going to do at the beginning of the year, but a few people at the club were getting interested in the Honours Of War rules from Osprey and were using SYW armies that they either already had or were putting together. I played a couple of games and, although I have some reservations about the rules, I decided that they weren't too bad and I ought to put an army together too.

The rules allow for the use of imagi-nations, which is something that I am very much in favour of because it takes me back to Charles Grant and his wars between the Vereinigte Freie Städte and the Grand Duchy of Lorraine in his classic book, The War Game.

My project is to create the army (in our chosen scale of 15mm) of the Grand Duchy of Überwald (a name that will be familiar to Terry Pratchett fans), a long vanished entity from somewhere near Austria. 

The rules in the book uses infantry battalions made up of five elements, but because some players have battalions of four elements, we have agreed on this for our campaign, which is supposed to begin in the autumn. We are also reducing cavalry squadrons by one element too, to keep frontages in proportion. 

Our campaign will be using a blend of real and imaginary states, so long as the imaginary armies have the characteristics of the real ones in the book.

The Grand Duchy of Überwald's army will be using Essex Prussian minis and will be based on the rule book stats for Austria.  As you can see, their flags will look rather French too.

So far, I have completed two battalions of Grenadiers and three of light troops, as pictured above. My plan is to have ten battalions of infantry, three of light troops (most likely a Freikorps) and seven squadrons of cavalry of various types, plus medium artillery and a number of brigadiers and an army commander. I expect that my imagination will run away with me and I end up with a few more units.

To provide a nice colourful appearance I will paint up some infantry in colours other than grey. There will be a battalion of Garde zu Fuß musketeers in blue and two more battalions in green, representing troops from the Margravate of Streslau, a feudal vassal of Überwald. There will also be artillerymen, cuirassiers (including one of Garde zu Pferde), dragoons and hussars in a variety of uniforms.

I am going to have to work quickly. I also have a 28mm Austrian Napoleonic project that I need to finish by November. So far, everything is assembled, based up and undercoated.

Some more information about Syldavia

In 1878, the 21-year old Miss Dorothea Huntley-Palmer travelled to Syldavia with her parents, Sir Arthur and Lady Caroline, for the coronation of the new King, Muskar VII. Sir Arthur was travelling in an official but unspecified capacity as a representative of Her Majesty’s Foreign Office.

      This image is by Edward Lear of the Albanian city of Durres.

The Huntley-Palmer family had a long history of visiting Syldavia, dating back to Captain (later Sir) William Huntley-Palmer of the 11^th Dragoons, who travelled widely in that country in the mid-18th century at the behest of the British government, first visiting Syldavia in 1753 on the orders of General Sir George Augustus Melchett, a relative and his superior in an unnamed government department. William Huntley-Palmer lived in Syldavia for a number of years and in 1763 married the 22-year-old Doroteja Svinjske-Klobase, a member of a noble family related to the Syldavian Royal House of Almaszout.

Before visiting the country, Dorothea (named after her Syldavian ancestor) investigated the journals and papers of her illustrious forefather and because of family connections was able to consult many documents contained in the Melchett Archives.

William Huntley-Palmer was resident in Syldavia between 1756 and 1764 and wrote at length about the people, customs, places and history of the country. Dorothea was most interested in the capital city Klow (variously pronounced as Klau, Klov and Klor), because that is where she would be residing initially. In one report, Sir William describes Klow as;

"an ancient but well-preserved city, constructed of pale yellow limestone with several grand palacioes in the Venetian style, possessing a number of fine antique ruins from the Roman period. The Basilica of St Budvar gives the appearance of great antiquity and was surely constructed by mighty engineers from imperial Rome or Constantinople in the years of its glory This great church is decorated in the Byzantine manner, with many mosaics and icons and has a great dome of ancient and ingenious construction. Much of the water supply to the Old City comes from a still-functional Roman aqueduct. The Old City, which occupies the long ridge overlooking the confluence of the Wladir and Moltus rivers is still known by its Roman name of Klovinus and is dominated by the great mass of the mediaeval Castle, formerly the Royal Residence and location of the Royal Court, although nowadays there is a modern Royal Palace built in the French style facing the Castle across the main square. The Castle itself is of a stern aspect and strongly built in the old Italian manner, with all manner of machicolations, arrow slits, round towers and fortified gateways”.

Sir William writes at length about the Old City, noting that many mediaeval buildings were razed to allow the building of the New Palace, which was only completed in 1742, although construction had begun in the 1720s. Sir William himself spent some time residing in a mediaeval tower house in the Old City, once the residence of Sidekar Krutusne, a famous warlord of the Slavonic Hvegs in the 15th century. Close to the Basilica, the house bore a bas-relief indicating that in 1464 its owner had been made one of the founding Knights of the Order of the Black Pelican. The carving above the entrance to the house showed a Pelican Rampant, bearing in its beak a scroll emblazoned with the Latin phrase “hoc signo vinces nigrum onocrotalus” and dated 1464.

Sir William also describes the newer parts of the city of Klow, which are mainly on the south bank of the River Wladir, although there are many houses and warehouses of the 17^th century on the slopes outside the Old City Walls that lead down to the wharves that line the northern bank of the river. To the north of the city, he describes the market gardens and small farms that have sprung up over the centuries to feed the urban population. He also notes the remaining Roman ruins at the western end of the Klovinus ridge, enclosed in a walled park which forms part of the modern Royal Palace. In his words;

“The remaining vestiges of Roman Klovinus, which was built on the site of an Oppidum of the Illyrian tribe of the Kallipians, are to the west of the Palace and are part of the parklands in which King Ottokar, his wife Queen Octavie and their children may be found taking the airs and enjoying musical performances in the simulacrum of a small Roman theatre which has been reconstructed from the stones left from the destruction of much of the mediaeval city. The remains themselves consist of two pillared temples, one still with its roof, the lower floor levels of a great villa, some statuary and a square building which had been decorated with mosaics in the Christian period of Roman rule. The famous aqueduct, which is one of the marvels of the country, lies elsewhere, entering Klovinus through a tunnel through the walls further east, filling the great cisterns beneath the Castle. These waters come from the north, transported by this great Roman enterprise from springs high above the fortress of St Vladimir, which was rebuilt in the manner of Marshal Vauban in the early 1700s.”

Discussing modern Klow, Sir William says;

“The Lower City, the Extra-Muros, dates mainly from the 15^th and 16^th centuries. It is found on the Right Bank, that is to say the northern side of the great River Wladir. Much of the building is in the Venetian style and there are a number of fine Palacios belonging to merchant families. At the western end of the Extra-Muros is the Quarter of the Musselmen, where the tall towers of their temples, known as Mosques, dominate the skyline. There are also numerous residences on the terraced slopes leading down from the Old City Walls, which were once the mansios and hotels of various Syldavian lords and gentry, although these are mostly now much decayed and occupied by those artizans and workers of the Old City whose homes were razed to build King Ottokar’s father’s new palace. The Lords and Gentlemen have decamped to a location to the east of Klow, in the tongue of land between the Moltus and Wladir rivers. Formerly the fishing village of Sankt Budvarius (there is a shrine to the saint situated close to the river), since the middle part of the 17^th century this village has been built up into a sophisticated suburb with a theatre for the Opera and other musical diversions. South of the Wladir, the Left Bank may be reached by three great bridges. New Klow proper can be found here. Close to the river, there are many enterprises and manufactories and the houses are small and close together. This area was formerly known as die Häfen, that is to say, The Harbours. This is where the urban poor and labouring classes of New Klow are concentrated. South of these warrens, past the New Market of Klow, built in 1670 by the order of King Muskar IV (grandfather of the current King), there is much new building, including districts of fine houses when the new middling classes reside. At the western edge of the New City lies the Champs de Mars (named in the French way) and the main depots and barracks of a number of regiments of the Syldavian army. None of New Klow is walled and the city is extending southwards as the population grows”

Dorothy notes that her family will reside in a mansion in Sankt Budvarius which is currently the British Embassy. Since the 1760s, Sankt Budvarius has developed into an administrative centre, with a number of government ministries and foreign legations and embassies located there.

In her journal, Dorothea writes that her family and personal servants would travel across Europe by train to Venice, before taking a steamer to the main Syldavian port of Dbrnouk, from whence they would complete their journey by train to the capital. She expresses a desire to explore the old town of Dbrnouk and practice her watercolour techniques by painting the ruins of the Venetian castle. She tells us that she is much taken with the story of the first King of Syldavia, Muskar I, recorded in mediaeval documents as Muscarius Hivegiorum, that is to say Muskar Hveghi or Muskar of the Hvegs, who became king in 1127, leading an army of Hvegi and Istrovni supported by Venetian and Carinthian mercenaries, overthrowing the last Turkic khan of Lower Syldavia at the Battle of Zileheroum. Legend tells that the night before the battle Muskar dreamt of a giant black pelican who flew out of the dawn bearing in its beak a scroll inscribed with the words “hoc signo vinces nigrum onocrotalus”. This legend will much later on give birth to the Knightly Order of the Black Pelican.

Dorothea writes that the Hvegi and Istrovni were Slavonic tribes who had migrated into the region in the 6^th century, and who were later “enslaved” by Turkic-speaking tribes from the area north of the Black Sea, who conquered the Duchies of Klovinia, Zympathia and Istrovia in the 10^th century. The first recorded Slavic ruler of the area was Budvar I, known as Budvarios Sclavenios in a document from the reign of the eastern Roman emperor Tiberius II Constantine. The inhabitants were referred to as the Klovinioi. The 8^th century Notitia Syldaviarum tells us that the peoples (populi Syldavari) of Upper and Lower Syldavia are comprised of the Illyrian Ghogs, the Syldavi (descended from Roman colonists), the Gothic Tervingi and the Slavic Istrovni and Hvegi.

Other things that Dorothea discovers in the Melchett Archives date from the end of the 18^th century and the early years of the 19^th.. One of these is that Admiral Nelson spent some time in the southern port of Cataro with Lady Hamilton in 1799, while his ships were refitting in the great Cataro Lagoon, a safe harbour for many ships. Another is that her grandfather Sir Robert Huntley-Palmer (b.1794 d.1867) met Lord Byron in Klow in 1819, while visiting the country as a guest of Count Otto Svinjske-Klobase, a member of his grandmother Doroteja‘s family. Dorothea expresses the hope that she will also meet her Svinjske-Klobase relatives while staying in Klow. She writes, somewhat colourfully, of her desire to meet dashing young Syldavian Hussar officers and being able to attend glittering balls and soirées where she can spend her time dancing amidst the cream of Syldavian society. She notes that her great-uncle Lt. Col Henry Huntley-Palmer (b.1801 d.1889) was British Military attaché to Syldavia in the 1850s and was an observer present at a number of engagements between Syldavia and Borduria in the War of 1859-1863, which eventually led to the end of the Bordurian Autocracy and the rise of its present Dictatorship.

Breaking the blockade - a Sharp Practice AAR

I played this game of Sharp Practice at the club last Sunday against Martin. This was an 18th century imagi-nations game, involving, as usual, my 15mm Syldavian and Bordurian armies of Essex Miniatures. The scenario was a modified version of the Escort Duty one in the SP rule book.

A Syldavian column is escorting a supply train through light woods towards the town of Turksi Bazar, a few miles west of the River Drinje which is the border between the two countries. The town is being blockaded by a Bordurian force. 

To win, The Syldavians must move the convoy they are escorting into the town. The Bordurians must capture the convoy.

Turksi Bazar is surrounded by a ditch and has small bastions and a low and largely ineffective wall around the town. To the south of the bridge into the town are fields and a walled market garden.

Turksi Bazar is garrisoned by a small Syldavian force, which consists of;

4 x groups of 8 x Fusiliers, Status III leader Status I leader 

1 x cannon with 5 x crew and Status I leader 

The supply convoy is accompanied by;

2 x groups of 8 x Pandurs Status II leader Status I leader  

2 x groups of 8 x Fusiliers *Status II leader Status I leader  

1 x groups of 6 x Pandur Skirmishers Status I leader  

1 x group of 8 x Hussars Status II leader + 1 Musician

1 x group of 8 x Dragoons Status II leader   

The Syldavians are accompanied by a British military agent, Captain William Huntley-Palmer. He is  only activated when the blank chip is drawn. He is classed as a Status III leader and can be used to replace any leader who is killed or knocked down. He may also remove shock from any unit to which he is attached. He is otherwise treated as a Minor Character.

The convoy will move whenever the *leader of the convoy's chip is drawn.

The Bordurian forces have been hampered by a lack of artillery and will only be able to capture the town if they can starve out the defenders.

The Bordurian force is;

3 x groups of 8 x Fusiliers Status III leader Status I leader  

3 x groups of 8 x Freikorps Status II leader Status I leader  

2 x groups of 8 x Haiduk Status II leader Status I leader

1 x group of 6 x Hajduk Skirmishers Status I leader  

1 x group of 8 x Hussars Status II leader  

1 x group of 8 x Lancers Status II leader  

1 x group of 8 x Dragoons Status II leader  

Part of this action report is taken from dispatches sent by Captain Huntley-Palmer to his relative and patron, General Sir George Augustus Melchett, known as "M" in all documents.

"I travelled with the convoy heading towards the town and trading entrepot of Turksi Bazar in the company of of an agreeable acquaintance, Hauptmann Riccardo Zamponi, an Italian gentlemen serving in the Syldavian Infantry. I was pleased to see that our small company also contained a contingent from the Douma Regiment of Pandours, stout fellows whom I had cause to thank for saving my health on more than one occasion previously.

We were making slow progress through the forests towards the town because we were aware that there were many picquets of Bordurian Horse in the vicinity."

"Before long, we encountered a defensive line of white-coated Freikorps infantry, supported by Huzzars and those devilish Bordurian Lancers who were known as Ulani in the tongue of the Borduri. While Hauptmann Zamponi halted his column and deployed his Fusiliers and Pandours into line, the troop of De Bourbon Dragoons took little time before charging the Lancers who were emerging from the scrubby forest." 

"As the sound of musketry crashed across the clearing, the Dragoons, dressed in the French manner to honour their patron and honorary colonel, Queen Octavie de Bourbon, the wife of KIng Ottokar, charged at the Gallop into the Lancers, putting them to the sword and forcing them to flee the field in disarray. Although the gallant Syldavian Dragoons had triumphed, their numbers were somewhat depleted and soon came under fire from Bordurian Hajduk skirmishers in the trees."

"On our right flank, the Light Bobs from the Douma Pandours had inflicted several casualties on the blue-coated Bordurian Huzzars, who I believe belonged to the feared Schtroumpf regiment."

"After the battle, I discovered that the commandant of the Syldavian garrison in Turksi Bazar had been roused by the sound of musketry and led his troops towards the fray. It was his intervention that helped take the pressure off of our gallant soldiery. His Fusiliers were soon engaged in a duel of musketry with their Bordurian counterparts, with both lines receiving casualties, although neither side were shaken."

"One of the garrison's small number of cannon was deployed into a corner bastion, where it was able to command a clear line of fire across the open ground that separated the town from the woods. I discovered in the aftermath of the fighting that this gun had fired Cannister into the flank of a troop of Bordurian Dragoons who had been sent to strengthen the line of green-coated Fusiliers who were threatening the Syldavian garrison. The Shock of the unexpected blast of Cannister had caused many casualties and despair and fear in these Dragoons, who were sent reeling away from the source of their woes, crashing through the Freikorps line, and also disordering the line of Hajduks beyond them. In a stroke, the Bordurian invaders were so discomfited as to be incapable of further preventing our gallant relief force from  reaching the beleaguered town. The morale of the Autokrat's raiding force was shaken to the point of collapse. The coup-de-grace came when the fresh riders of the Vranach Huzzars charged across the open ground, outflanking the Hajduk skirmishers and plunged into the fleeing Freikorps infantrymen, inflicting such a Huge Shock that the morale of the Borduri fell so low that they had no alternative but to flee the field in ignominy and disarray."

Well, that could have been a very different battle if it wasn't for that single blast of canister. In Sharp Practice, canister inflicts double the normal amount of shock, which was doubled again because the Dragoons on the receiving end were hit in the flank. They then broke because they had more than twice the amount of shock as they had figures, and went 2D6+6" directly away from the cannon. That took them through two formations of infantry, which had already acquired a fair amount of both casualties and shock and were then bequeathed 9 extra points of shock each from the broken cavalry. Ouch! At that point, the Bordurian infantry were not only forced to withdraw, but one formation had so much shock that it was also broken and fled. The Bordurian Force Morale plummeted. 

After a couple more rounds of play, further events led to more setbacks for the Bordurians and their FM was soon at Zero.