General de Brigade battle report in 18mm- lots of pictures

I was invited to play an introductory game of General de Brigade, using my opponent Gorillamo’s magnificent collection of 18mm Napoleonics from AB Figures. Each figure represents ~20 men, so a 36 figure unit is a 720 man battalion.

I was the French Divisional Commander, with a strong brigade of infantry defending a village from Prussian forces. I had a second brigade of light infantry coming from a random flank at a later point in the game.

Gorillamo had a brigade of militia leading his attack, followed by a second wave of regulars.

Defending brigade of four battalions and artillery;
flanking brigade of two battalions

Light infantry battalion

Line infantry battalion

Artillery (9 pounders, I think)

The village, facing the Prussian axis

Divisional and Brigade commanders confer

Defensive setup. Two battalions forward with skirmishers deployed,
another one in the village, and one in reserve with artillery on the ridge.

Prussian Landwehr militia

Prussians advance with three Landwehr columns abreast

Four regular battalions follow the militia

Artillery harasses the Landwehr

The Landwehr columns deploy into line
as my flanking force arrives to my left

The Prussian flank wheels to face the French light battalions

Musket fire is exchanged

The light battalions deploy in line to reduce cannon casualties

The lines meet in melée

The Landwehr are repulsed as the regular columns approach

The French lights reach the Prussian flank...

... and force them to recoil as the regulars approach the village.

Two Prussian columns strike the village!

The Prussian flank is in trouble!

Prussians take the village and force out the defenders

Game end- the village has fallen,
but there are two French light battalions in the Prussian rear

Effects with LensFX iOS app.

CanCon CoC- France '40

I had my first game of Chain of Command at CanCon. This was a participation/ demo game run by Trailape. My opponent was Gorillamo, running the French.

The French mission was to destroy two caches of supplies before the German blitzkrieg captured them. The French have a platoon with attached engineers and a 25mm AT Gun. I had a platoon with an attached Pz I.

I deployed one squad with a 50mm mortar on the low brushy hill to the bottom right, who covered the advance of the remaining squads on the left. 

Germans cover the buildings

Some French rifle fire near their first objective was hit with a fusillade of return fire, including a very accurate mortar blast. Unfortunately for me, the mortar ran out of bombs and was never able to resupply!

Suppressing fire!

The other squads advance through the fields towards the French cache.

My moving squads became bogged down under fire despite covering smoke.

More French slow down the German advance

My Pz I trundled on and was immediately destroyed by the AT gun! My force morale was crumbling rapidly and my squads weren't advancing.

25mm gun fires down the street...

... and destroys my little tank!

The French engineers destroyed their first objective, and ran for the second- a disabled tank.

Kaboom! Cache destroyed, and a French squad withdraws under withering fire.

But the engineers were caught by devastating MG-34 fire and were destroyed before completing their mission.

Twin MG-34s fire down the street

The French engineers are unable to blow the second cache. 

It was a fun game which could have gone either way. Trailape was engaging, the terrain was appropriate, and the accents were outrageous. I liked the variable turn lengths, the patrol phase, and the inability to micromanage every soldier. I'd play again, but I don't think I'll be jumping into a new period...

SFx with LensFx iOS app.

15mm WW1 French infantry and support

Completing my WW1 French, these are soft plastic figures from PSC. My painting technique was heavily influenced by James White's lovely Peter Pig French. I've based them on 15mm washers and used Vallejo Dark Earth Paste with a VJ US Tan drybrush.

First, les poilus.

Squad supports: Elites, grenadiers, marksmen, and Chauchat LMGs.

Hotchkiss MG teams on 25mm washers. I redid the front tripod legs using green stuff and 1mm plastic rod, as the original sculpts just had a flat triangle.

Crapouillot ("Little Toad") 58mm Trench Mortar teams.

Flamethrower! I hadn't done this before- I soaked some foam foliage in black paint and PVA, then drybrushed white/ yellow/ orange/ red.

Ammunition handler and engineer.

Officers and spotters.

Staff Officer- this is a metal figure from PSC's original Kickstarter. I based him on General Foch, and think he came out well!

75mm artillery- two white metal pieces from Battlefront on 40mm bases.

On ne passe pas!

Foch Poster source

15mm WW1 French tanks

From my previous post showing comparisons and how I did conversions, these are the PSC Schneider CA1 and Saint Chamond, and the two Battlefront Schneider CA1s. I made up the camouflage based on other schemes, and am happy with the appearance. The colours were:

• Army Painter Ash Grey
• Vallejo Model Color 394 Russian Green
• Vallejo Model Color 984 Flat Brown
• Vallejo Game Color 72.097 Pale Yellow
• black

Then Army Painter Strong Tone wash and drybrush Vallejo Model Color 70884 Stone Grey, and add mud! (Vallejo Dark Earth paste drybrushed Vallejo US Tan)

PSC Schneider CA1 and Saint Chamond

PSC Schneider CA1

PSC Saint Chamond

Schneider CA1s: PSC on left, Battlefront centre and right.

Schneider CA1s: PSC on left, Battlefront on right

You can't really tell the Schneiders apart at a glance, I need to compare the rivets and MGs.

I'll put up my French infantry at the end of the week.