Re-enforcing the red coats

   Following on from the Highlander diversion, it's back to my regular red coats - the South Essex. This Napoleonics painting drive has been because of a planned game that my mate Neil wanted to run to test our 'Napoleonics would work in Rebels and Patriots' theory* and he wanted to try it big, at the 50-60 point level, which is getting on for somewhere just over 2x the normal size for a game. As I sat down to sort out unit cards I realised I was very short of points. Even with all my South Essex, Highlanders and 95th I wasn't quite at the points, but then something dawned on me, I was into (in my head) too many unrelated units territory. One of the things I try to do, in my wargaming, is make armies make sense, so why does your 5 unit army include elements from 4 different military organisations. If you are playing a unit representing a bigger force, then fine. If you are playing 1:1 scale (which I do for 28mm) then I'm not as big a fan. That's just my personal opinion and with that the rant is over.
   So, I went to Front Rank and built an order. Obviously a needed a cannon - cannons are brutal for their points and I knew the French would have one - and I picked up the crew (Sharpe Practice sized team to cover all eventualities), a limber and horse team at the same time. I picked up the last few men I need to boost my Highlanders (from the last post) to R&P sized unit strengths. I also picked up a few red coats - including a command group - to fill the last few slots**. Then while I was there I had a think - and going full circle - I added two units of red coat light company to swap out my 95th for.
   The banners are shamelessly stolen from the Wool Shed Wargamer, thanks a lot.

*The theory needs a snappier name
**Not all pictured as I couldn't remember which ones they were

Both units of British Light Company skirmishers, definitely going to add another couple of units here.

The Royal Artillery train. I'd like to add an ammunition team to this in the future, but for the moment this will do.

   With the varnish still drying on the cannon crew and limber we set our models out and got on with the game, and it was only at this point the scenario was named - Quatre bras - so my troops were all wrong. Saying that, it was one hell of a game;

The British holding the line at the start of the game waiting for the bulk of the army to arrive.

I really must paint my officer up a proper command staff at some point.

It doesn't look like much, but that was a lot of French troops coming our way.

 The British re-enforcements holding the crossroads while the French Lancers worked there way through the left flank.

   Obviously, as I was on the British side, it's safe to assume it was a French victory but it was a close run thing. As any gamer will tell you, if X had worked, or Y hadn't happened it would have been a very different game. In this case, it was our cannon never managing to deploy and the French Lancers working their way through our flank unopposed, but that's the joy of wargaming. Thanks for running the game, Neil.

Thanks for reading