Something rotten in Denmark BFaS AAR Jotakin mättää Tanskanmaassa

For yesterdays game I took a plunge to new list and decided to bring forth the true rulers of Scandinavia: The Danes. My opponent once again fielded his trusty Swedes - or mercenaries in Swedish service.

My force was 3 companies of 3 bases of mercenary dragoons, squadron of 4 bases of National (read mediocre) reiters, colonel Mikkel Huitfelt and possibly some local irregular fighters, snapphanar.

This force of 5 Force points met Swedish detachment of 6 bases of Reiters, 4 bases of veteran dragoons, 2 companies of dragoons of 3 bases each, 2 cannons with both colonel Hochkirch and lieutenant-colonel for command - with Force points of 11

For scenario we got ambush: Swedes were struck with panic,( that was to hit his Reiters,) delay which left one of his guns out of board and choice of battle field that saw pigsty on edge of ambush area being moved off his deployment area.

As decoy I left one company of dragoons and deployed all my remaining troops behind the advancing blue menace. My idea was to let the evil Swede taste Danish gunpowder on round one from all possible muskets and let the national Reiters charge pellmell into the remaining artillery piece.

Kierros 1 Tanskalainen on liikkunut ruotsit eivät

 Round 1 At the pic Danes have moved Swedes not. Danish dragoons in the field, protected from cavalrycharge, Danish Reiters trying to reach that pesky cannon. The Swedish Reiters have suyffered from disorder, but were rallied and took defence order.

Helas, the Swedes avoided fire of dragoons totally. Snapphane sniper from the mill failed to hit the cannon, and Reiters did not reach any target. Losing their nerve from this they withdrew in disorder to about the same place they are in picture.

Kierroksella 2 Tanskalainen ratsuväki pahassa paikassa

On round 2 My mounted dragoons got herded tighter between two companies of Swedish dragoons. The hapless reiters in the open got charged by Swedish dragoons from the flank and squadron of reiters from the front. Now - following exchange was played falsely - namely when my dragoons in the field fired a salvo at the Reiters they - being six in number, twice the number of the dragoon company, could have ignored it. Now they took a morale test, failed and withdrew in disorder.
The charging dragoons and Danish reiters fought a skirmish that resulted in a draw, with both troops retreating away from the carnage.

Hyvin hämmentynyt eversti Hochkirch vuoron 2 lopulla.

The Swedish colonel is flabbergasted - and so is everyone else. Snapphane in the mill takes a cannoball, while one in pigsty merely terrifies Swedish officers.

Round 3 National reiters have charged the Swedish squadron an despite receiving a salvo from dragoons and case shot from the cannon have actually managed to push home and with a draw have outperformed any expectations there were to their life or performance.

Outside picture dragoon company is fighting two others with expected results.

Rounds 4 to 6 The Reiters charge dragoons despite case shot from the arty and demolish that unit. Swedish Reiters are very slow to get organized and fail to catch national reiters.

The decoy company gets annihilated. I kill 5 bases to 4, but lose the scenario since I fail to give the enemy enough losses.

Fun and relatively quick engagement. Lessons learned - dragoons might benefit from being deployed in squadrons of 2 companies. Both the volume of fire and the the ability to benefit from salvo against larger squadrons would say so.

To actually hurt the enemy with musket fire on round 1 is pretty hard since he gets to move first. At least if he is mounted. 

Snapphanar are great fun even though they failed to actually kill anything this time. That 50 cm reacvh of rifled barrels is more effective deterrent than it would actually merit.

PS: Work on Ottomans proceeds at steady pace: Gonullu and Beszli slowly getting ready for the table top.

Gonullu ja Beszli joukkoja. Kevyttä ratsuväkeä.

Imperial regiment of foot and Polish dragoons

At last something that is not WIP.

 Regiment of foot with flag of Oberst Holk, supported by a regimental gun. Musketeers and pikemen from QR miniatures 30 years war range. Gun and gunners from Wargamers range of Swedes.

 Joy to paint although the amount of details on musketeers was beginning to get on m nerves at the end.

 Dragoons - Swedish dragoons from Wargamer, with colourscheme suitable to Polish Royal dragoons - but could in a pinch serve also as Danish or Imperial dragoons.

Same regiment - box of dragoons and dragoons from the Swedish skirmish pack - dismounted.

Both troops were painted by first doing block painting, than washed with mixture of india ink and floor polish and then given nongloss varnish.

Quarterly inventory

I did some counting on amount of figures I've acquired and painted for Polish and Imperial/Danish armies. This is not progress in three months, it is total situation now.

Total amount of figures is close to 750, probably a bit over.  (I have figure 738 in the spreadsheet, but that is lacking artillery crews and probably still some blisters of infantry.) That sounds like a lot and to tell the truth it actually is quite a lot.

In context of By Fire and Sword it means I will be able to field Polish and any western skirmish forces  pretty easily. By existing lists for Polish Division I have several options on what to bring to the table. I could field tatar skirmish force on the table and possibly an ottoman raiding  force. I think I might even be able to get minimum strength Swedish division against lean Polish division. For the Commonwealth I don't really need any minis at this moment. I could use Petyhorchy for Lithuanian force and probably some more cossacks, but as is I have lots of options. And still quite a lot to paint.

Amount of painted figures is not quite so impressive. Total of figures with enough paint to look semidecent on the table is 261. A Polish division with extras basically. Figures with varnish and finished bases is 27. Figures lacking just varnish and the finishing of the base probably about the same. I sill

Before tha last game I was mainly working on getting the hussars to stage where they could be deployed. After that I have worked mainly on basing and priming infantry and dragoons. Plus pondering on which colors to give them - there is very scarce documentation for uniforms so I would be safe in just painting them in individual colors. After first going through units of landsknechts and then irregular Polish volunteers and cossacks idea of regimental semiuniformed troops sounds very appealing.

So - dragoons will get red coats and yellow cuffs - suitable for Polish Royal dragoons. Regiments of pike and shotte infantry will wear red, off-white/grey and pale blue. (Uniform red, blue or white would be plausible too, but I hope to get more flexibility for same minis by using regimental colors.)  Smaller musket detachments will either be scruffy mercenaries  in total random colors or spiffy citymilitias/lifeguards in livery.

Imperial regiment with coats and cuirasses painted QR miniatures 15 mm

 
Same regiment with some hats and socks. On background dragoons with their new boots and baldricks.  

Musketeers contramarching.

Units that have already seen action

None of these units have gotten the varnish or flocking.
Some of them would require more than just that.

The pancerni are most advanced in painting - Legio Heroica production sans lances so far. Lacking some higlighting, maybe  and static grass or other basing texture. The hardest hitting unit in my skirmish force - so far deployed in squadron of 3+2 bases.

 Cossacks - the main troop of a Polish commander - Legio Heroica Polish light cavalry. Some touchup and work on bases required. The hitting power of their charge has been surprising. Elite cavalry rule, companion special rule and impact bonus from long charge really make these guys lethal.

Legio Heroica Gonullu. ie Ottoman cavalry from the Balkans. I have fielded them as Wallachians. Decent scouts - and have even won a melee fight with artillery battery. Without the lances that they would have as Ottoman troops.

The Polish commander - Legio Heroica General with a standard bearer. So far fielded as a colonel in skirmish battles.

Troop of Acies Edizioni Croats. I have fielded them as Polish cossack cavalry with no qualms. They may make an appearance as Croats at some point if I get an Imperial force onto the field. Standard bearer - at this point without his flag, from Legio Heroica gonullu range.

Last a company of Dragoons - From by Fire and Sword Swedish skirmish set, with colors of Polish Crown Dragoons - although in western costume, not the typically Polish.

Together these guys form a pretty strong skirmish force, but they apart from the dragoons and together with the other forces I have underway these guys help to flesh out regiments for the divisional level of play. Especially cossacks are required since Polish division needs to have minimum of two Polish cavalry regiments. There is some leeway whether they are basic, light or elite, Lithuanian or Polish, but cossack cavalry is required in all. They can have as support dragoons, infantry or western type cavalry regiments and divisional companies in relation to the amount of  regiments (max five).

Getting to the divisional level will probably take time, so there is strong temptation to just push on in gettin more units into recognizable colors at the same time and leave final basing and finishing to  one big final effort. However, since I will probably need to look at these fellows of skirmish play for longish period I try to get them into shape that does not hurt my eyes before the New Year.