Ligny: The Conclusion

 

The 55th Line, supported by newly arrived 1st Grenadiers of the Guard, prepare to volley at weakened Brunswick Oel Jagers and 2nd Line as they continue to move on St Amand.

Meanwhile at Ligny, Prussian and Belgian reserves attempt to intercept French forces moving in from the West.  Leading the advance are the Prussian 1st Regt of Guard Grenadiers (probably Clayton produced Hinton Hunt, and bought second hand in 1997). 

 

The Marines of the Guard have now arrived at the brook to lend their weight to constructing the pontoon. The Young Guard to their right wait to assault when the bridge is in place.

The valiant defenders of Ligny prepare to receive another attack. The French command has not yet called upon Guard support but is relying on the fresh offensive from the West to weaken the defenders' resolve

The 2nd Grenadiers of the Guard march towards their Prussian foes

The Oel Jagers have been seen off and now the position of the Prussians and their allies looks perilous across the battlefield.

Turn 21 and the Prussian 2/3 Line have been broken at Ligny by the Guard horse artillery. With resistance at St Amand all but over, relentless pressure by Gerard's Division at Ligny, and the increasing threat of the French Guard, the Prussian & Dutch Belgian army reaches its breaking point and is forced to withdraw to fight another day. 

Arriving to oversee the victory, the Emperor and his staff

                                                                                                                          

This was a very enjoyable game with some similarities to the actual battle phases, particularly the prolongued fighting in Ligny village. I recommend Andrew Uffindel's  "The Eagle's Last Triumph" which has a stirring and detailed acount of the action.  

Ligny Part 6

Turn 13 and the Old Guard Grenadiers and Chasseurs are ordered to move on St Amand  

The Young Guard Voltigeurs, Tiraillleurs and Marines of the Guard also make their move in the middle ground now the danger of casualties from artillery is receding.

French Line continue to press home the attack on Ligny while batteries in the foreground have all but removed the opposing artillery menace.

Turn 16 and the Guard Horse Artillery move into St Amand with the aim of bombarding Ligny from the West

Saxons back up their French allies to stem the advance of the Brunswickers who are still attempting to retake St Amand.

Turn 18 - Prussian and Dutch Belgian reserves move to attack French columns advancing towards Ligny from the West

Meanwhile the Saxons find themselves facing the Brunswick Leib Battalion after the French front line has been broken. 

Now, there is no mention of pontoons being used across the Ligny brook but, as my "brook" is wide enough, and this is not an accurate historical refight, I couldn't resist the opportunity to introduce a Paper Boys model. The caisson is doubling up for the pontoon transport. One element in place determined by the throw of a dice (no Shako rules for pontoons so a D6 throw per element will do!). 

The Brunswick counter attack has destroyed the valliant Saxons. The Leib Battalion temporarliy move back to lick their wounds while their Oel Jager compatriots take up the struggle. They are faced by yet more French Line who are now supported by the Guard. (The Oel Jagers are mixed HH vintage and copies with flag bearer conversions using my usual wine bottle foil method) 

The Guard Horse Artillery start to barrage the defenders of Ligny from the West.

At the end of turn 18 The French have lost 6 out of 8 line battalions at St Amand and the Prussian/Brunswick 4 out of 7. The French however have 4 Guard Battalions in hand. 

At Ligny The French have lost 5 out of 12 line with Prussian/ Dutch Belgian at 3 from 10. 3 French Guard battalions remain in support. All French batteries are intact. Prussian/Netherland artillery has been destroyed. Much will depend on impending melees. 

Next time....the conclusion

Ligny Part 5

French ADC discusses the assault on Ligny with his General. I used one of the beautiful illustrations in Funcken Arms and Uniforms as a guide for this Clayton HH.

The Guard have yet to commit. All foot figures in the foreground are vintage and bought direct from HH in the early 1970s. The mounted figure is an ebay purchase which appears to be a conversion and which I painted as a General of the Guard. 

More French battalions pour into Ligny but continue to be repulsed.

The combined Prussian and Netherland batteries suffer badly from counter battery fire.  

The Prussian 3/18th, despite taking heavy casualties stick to their position on the bank of the brook at St Amand. They are unaware that the French have broken through the village.    

The French move through St Amand with designs on attacking Ligny from the West. Brunswick reserves will hope to stem their advance

Extended melees in the streets of Ligny with French continuing to get no further than the ground in front of the church

The main resistance is by Dutch 27th Jagers supported by 5th Dutch National Militia

The last of Gerard's 12 battalions start their move on Ligny

The French advance on Ligny from the West to support their comrades 

The French advance through St Amand is slowed temporarily by 1st Brunswick Light (Kennington figures)

Turn 12 and Kennington French 17th Line prepare to exchange volleys with Brunswick Leib Btn. who are trying to retake St Amand.

Next time..the French Guard make their move. 

 

Ligny Part 4

Prussian batteries start to exhange fire with French counterparts. Vintage second hand Hintons from 90s and not painted until 2019 (a continuing theme!)

Horse Artillery of the Guard join the pounding of the combined Prussian and Netherland batteries. These are possibly Clayton Hintons, bought unpainted second hand in the 90s

   

Prussian 1st Regt of Grenadiers wait in reserve at St Amand (for this battle I chose to keep my wargame unit designations rather than have them act as substitutes for regiments who
actually took part). These are probably Clayton produced Hintons bought second hand unpainted in the 90s.

The Saxon Prinz Friedrich August Regt take control of the St Amand bridge. For a unit drafted in by me to make up the numbers for this battle they will prove to be a steadfast unit for the French. In reality the Saxons, who were allied with the French and fought at Leipzig in 1813, were under Prussian control by 1815.  

The Foot Artillery of the Guard start to wreak havoc on the Prussian/Netherland batteries. Vintage figures from 70s and twice the number ordered from Hinton Hunt (thank you Marcus!) 

More Battalions of Gerard's Division move on Ligny including Swiss 2nd Regt.

The view from the Prussian/Netherland batteries. The Bussy windmill is where Blucher and Wellington met before the battle and in reality was further North but I was keen to include it having spent some winter hours cutting and pasting it.  

The positions at St Amand and Ligny to the West after 6 turns

The Saxons move gingerly forward expecting the worst but are backed up by 95th Line.

The 46th line have already seen off Landwehr opposition on the other side of the brook (Clayton Hintons)

Turn 8 and the Saxons worst fears are realised as they withdraw hastily across the brook getting their feet wet in the bargain. (their flag bearer is a conversion. I use wine bottle foil and fuse wire for the flags).  The 95th take over.....see how they and their comrades do next time.

Meanwhile, on the painting table, French 1st Line

 These guys have been patiently waiting on my painting table while Ligny has been raging. They will become the French 1st Line and probably my final French Hinton Hunt infantry project. They are a mixture of copies, Clayton castings, and a couple of vintage. I was struggling to find good castings of voltigeurs/grenadiers via ebay but did eventually come across 20 or so FN16 in greatcoats, heavily coated in gloss paint. After getting the old paint off, one vintage figure was revealed among the copies. Hopefully their imperfections will be hidden once I've done with them. i'll crack on with them now that Ligny has concluded (more of that to follow)

I use Vallejo acrylics with Humbrol black undercoat (I got hold of several pots of black humbrol cheap). In the early days I only used polyurethane clear varnish as an undercoat as I read in a modelling magazine that it countered white metal corrosion which apparently was rife. I've never had a problem with it! I also tried white undercoat for a very short while but I was never content with the finish. I've used Foundry brushes for many years now as I find they keep their points well. I dread to think what my brushes were like in the 70s and it's miraculous that I achieved any fine detail in those early figures.

The origins of this chap are lost in the mists of time but he is destined to become an eagle bearer. He looks to be a copy and has had a new head added by the previous owner. (the glue was very evident and he looked like he was wearing one of those airline neck pillows) On closer inspection I found a sash around his waist. Now, as far as I know French officers didn't have sashes apart from General staff so his torso is probably from another nation. A quick scour of the excellent Hinton Hunter blog did not reveal any contenders. Anyway, I will paint his sash rather than attempt to disguise it and use some artistic licence regarding the colour scheme.

Ligny Part 3

 

The first small arms exchanges at St Amant

The French quickly take the building on the South Bank at Ligny

My tools of the trade, measuring sticks, dice and casualty markers. The terrain is by Hex 300, now defunct I believe.

French batteries plug away at Ligny - Kennington figures

Prussian 1st Elbe Landwehr defending Ligny bridge take first casualties. These are Clayton HH castings with some vintage mixed in (Airfix figures make good casualty markers)

Meanwhile the battle rages at St Amant

The advance battalion of Gerard's Division takes control of the Ligny bridge. These are among my oldest HH figures from1972 and were painted when I had little reference material. I remember using photos from the souvenir magazine from BBC''s War & Peace as one source!