The Kingdom of Orbajosa

We are making a somewhat halting start to a new Imaginations campaign using the Warpaln 5/5 map cards, Theater of War by Piquet/Brent Oman for Army level conflicts in a fashion not yet entirely clear, and Piquet: Les Grognards for the actual battles, and other single figure type  rules for various alarums and excursions, skullduggery, and the like. In an effort to completely baffle the Tin God (Joe), I elected my new country to be based upon Spain rather than France under the Consulate. Hey, it's a good excuse to use my relatively new and colorful Spanish Napoleonic Army more! Each country's nominal Army is around 25 units of generally suspect quality. Naval matters await further specification. 

Flag of the Kingdom of Orbajosa.

Brief Background:

The modern day Kingdom of Orbajosa had it's origin in the latye 15th century, when control the last of the country was regained from the S'Mores following the successful Siege of Pomengranada by El Sid. This, along with the discovery of the New World and an influx of precious metals from the mines therein, triggered off the "Siglo de Gordo" (The Fat Century; sort of like Fat Tuesday, but lasting a lot longer...a lot closer to two centuries, in actuality, ending in the late 17th century, but whatever) during which literature flourished and great churches and palaces were constructed. Unfortunately. the inflation caused by bulk importation of silver and gold ultimately devastated the economy, and the country fell from being the leading power of the day to its present status of a backwater. The principal economic activities is the growing of fruits and vegetables; Garlic from Obajosa is world famous, and featured on the flag. Fishing, mining, and metalworking are other industries favored in Orbajosa. The country is more than 98% Catholic. In general, the population tends to be fairly poor, but are fiercely proud (for reason generally unapparent to outsiders).  

Cast of Characters:

Gonzalo I Cebolla, el Rey

Maria Apio, la Reina, aka Doña Perfecta

Rosario, daughter of Gonzalo y Maria

Diego, son of Gonzalo y Maria

Manuel de Gordo, Principe del Pedazo, Prime Minister

Don Carlos Inocencio, Foreign Minister

Don Pepe Pimienta, Minister of War

Don Juan Berza, Interior Minister

Don José Maíz, Commerce Minister

Don Pardo Guisante, Finance Minister

Mario Mazanilla, Minister of the Navy


Leading Generals

Cesar Calabazo

Fernando  Frijol

Pablo Patata

Luis Legumbre

Bartolo Brócoli

Lorenzo Lechuga

Vicente Zanahoria (said to have some remote Fuddlander relatives)

Map cards laid out; the Top is North; the lower row of cards to the South is part of Fuddland, and the country evidently extends another two rows of cards South from there. 

Joe's sketch map of the continent - A, B, and D are various non player territories. C is Orbajosa, E is S'Gottland (Greg), F is Dahara (Roger) and G is Fuddland (Barry, aka Czar Elmer) 

Political Map of the Northern part of the continent - all non-player states.  

Political map of the Orbajosa (pink), showing its four provinces, along with Bayern and Thuringia to my North.

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Similar maps of Dahara, S'Gottland, and Fuddland have been promised but as yet the Royal Cartographers have been unable to locate same. 

Link to the Campaign page on Joe's blog. 

IR# 19 Alvinczy (Hungarian)

This is IR #19, FM Josef Alvinczy de Berberek.  Their recruitment district was the Fejer kreis, with headquarters in  Stuhlweissenburg in Central Hungary.

I have used Delta Ceramcoat "Carribean Blue" for their sky blue facings; the Hungarian trousers are CC Azure Blue, with the piping and Hungarian knots in CC Straw. Buttons are silver for this regiment. 

I love these Old Gloy figures, marching on campaign, The command figures I had were Hungarian, so I did paint conversion to make the rank and files Hungarian as well. Yhey were partb of the "300 Austrians". 

In 1809 the unit began the campaign in Italy in the IX Corps commanded by Gyulai. It fought at Sacile, Montebello,  The Piave,  The Tagliamento,  Papa, and Raab.

It was part of the forces under Erzherzog Johann marching on Wagram but arriving too late to effect the outcome of the battle.

These next shots were taken during a long sunny stretch a few weeks ago, not too long after sunrise to minimize shadows. 

I try to take all my pictures outdoors on a cloudy day; it makes a big difference in the photo quality. 

They were awaiting their flag from Adolfo Ramos.

New Arrivals...

    Yesterday we celebrated the occasion of my 65th birthday in low key, Covid-19 style, with just the three of us at home (and me being on call). Thankfully it was much less busy than Saturday, when among other things I had to tell several people that they tested positive for the damned virus. Anyway, there were still some fine gifts to be had. I certainly won't lack for things to do during my off time during this unusual period!

The Danish Army of the Napoleonic Wars has been an interest of mine for many years. The limited availability of quality information on this important force,. even in Danish, has been a challenge. This is the book I would have written and more. To say that it is detailed would be a gross understatement. If there is anything you wanted to know about the about the organization, uniforms, weapons, etc of the areas covered, the answers are pretty much here ( a second volume presumably covering the Cavalry, Artillery, and Militias is planned, and it looks like even a 3rd volume covering the Norwegian Army is planned.) I will have to update my existing blog posts on these troops based upon the information here. There are more than FORTY color plates in the book, in the "Peter Bundy" style as far as the depictions, although evidently the author is also the illustrator. I''ve read half the book already. It's not cheap but hardly outrageous for the quality, and Helion has frequent deals and discounts, and many other excellent titles). Very highly recommended if you have any interest in the topic! I've already read half of it since yesterday! 

While I am very set on Field of Battle as my Horse and Musket era rules (the 3rd edition was just finalized and should be available shortly),  enough wargames e-friends like them that I thought I would get a copy. Even if I never run them myself, I might want to play them at a convention (if and when they return), I couldn't find a copy at Historicon last year, and it took more than 3 months to get this copy (it was on back order). I am looking forward to reading through it! 

While looking for other items, I found these 25 mm siege Siege mortars, something I have rarely seen anywhere. So I picked up 2 packs of them (I took one as my Army Card renewal freebie). They will enhance my Vauban's wars set up.  

Another discovery browsing the extensive  Old Glory on line  Catalog were these items - a bag has 2 Pontoon wagons, each with 4 horses, and the other bag has 6 pontoons and 4 deck sections with 16 support pieces. Just what you need when confronting a crossing of the mighty Danube, or the lesser Isar!

These additions will allow me to use existing leftovers to raise another 4 units of French line  in the early uniforms (bicorne), plus a unit of converged Grenadiers to round out the Division

With existing lead on hand, these packs will allow me to add another 3 ECW Horse units, and another 3 units of Foote. 

I needed these command sets to raise the bulk of the "300 Austrians" - enough for 10 more units. I already ordered the required flags from Adolfo Ramos, and they are on their way here. Am I crazy or what? :-)

Erzherzog Karl von Österreich

Erzherzog Karl Ludwig Johann Joseph Lorenz von Österreich, Herzog von Teschen; (Archduke Charles in English) was born in Florence (Tuscany) on September 1771. He was the third son of  Emperor Leopold II, but was raised by his childless Aunt and her husband., in Florence, Vienna, and the Austrian Netherlands. This magnificent sculpt of Karl is from Foundry. 

At age 21 he commanded a brigade at the battle of Jamaopes (1792), was victorious at the battle of Neerwinden (1793) but defeated at the battles of Wattignies (1793) and Fleurus. As commander of all Austrian forces on the Rhine, in 1796 he prevailed over Jourdan at the battles of Amberg and Wurzburg, and defeated Moreau at Emmendingen that obliged his withdrawal across the Rhine. During 1799,  Karl defeated Massena at the 1st battle of Zurich, and Jourdan at the battles of Ostrach and Stokach, before being repulsed by Moreau at Messkirch. 

The Archduke first faced then General Bonaparte in 1797, when he managed the later stages of the withdrawal of the Austrians from the Italian theater. During the 1805 campaign, Karl commanded what was intended to be the main Habsburg army, and fought the French Army of Italy under Massena at the battle of Caldiero. It is debatable who won the battle tactically, but strategically the result was the withdrawal of Austrian forces. 

Were you to be introduced to Erzherzog Karl, you would properly address him as königliche und kaiserliche Hoheit (Royal and Imperial Highness).  Following the disastrous outcome of the 1805 campaign, Karl, who already held the the rank of  Feldmarchal, was appointed supreme commander of the Habsburg forces in 1806, and directed the reform of the Army. His exploits during the 1809 campaign are likely too well know to readers of the blog to be worth repeating here, but thereafter he effectively retired from military life (and later, finally married in 1815, having 4 sons and 2 daughters, in the Habsburg tradition of fertility!) .

Portrait of  Archduke Charles, by Thomas Lawrence, in the public domain (from Wikipedia). 

Karl died in Vienna in 1847.

The famous equestrian statue of Karl at the battle of Aspern-Essling, located in the Heldenplatz (Heroes Square) , in front of the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, by Anton Dominick Ritter von Fernkorn.  Karl is reputed to have scoffed at the design, saying "I am quite a small fellow, you know, and those colors are very heavy!" Photo by Brücke-Osteuropa - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0 at, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25847022

Covid-19 CANCELLATION: Snap Con VII, "The Criosis on the Danube

For the past week the core planning group have been discussing the fate of this event given the Covid-19 pandemic. As some of you may know, I am a Family Physician myself and have been dealing with Covid issues daily for the past 2 weeks at least. It has become clear in the past few days that holding this event as scheduled would be unwise for health reasons. Indeed, the Governor of Connecticut today issued an advisory against meetings of even 10 or more persons, and has closed schools, restaurants, health clubs, etc for at least the next 2 weeks; I would be surprised if these closures lasted less than 2 months at minimum. I am still hopeful that we might run the event at Historicon in July, and have laready registered to do so assuming that it is held; I would give that 50/50 myself, especially for such a large gathering.

As almost all of the development work has been done for this event, I certainly hope to run it in the future here in Connecticut perhaps this October, and Historicon - if not in 2020, perhaps 2021?  We will see; we are living in very uncertain times, and that is likely to continue for many months at least. We will stay in touch once the situation clarifies and it becomes possible to make meaningful plans for future events. 

Meanwhile, this looks the be year I do more painting than usual...

Best wishes to you all, and stay well!

Peter

FML Franz Rosenberg and Cuirassier Generals

FML Franz Rosenberg - Orsini was from the Itian portion of the Hapsburg empire.

This Foundry figure depicts him as being rather portly. 

He commanded a Brigade under Herzerzog Karl in Germany, and a  wing of the Army of Italy at the second Battle of Caldiero in 1805. In 1809, he commanded the IV Corps, and fought at Eggmuhl, Aspern-Essling, and Wagram. 

I have paired him with the mounted Colonel of a Hungarian regiment, a figure that was part of the "300 Austrians, likely from Front Rank. 

FML Franz Rosenberg - Orsini. 

A pair of Cuirassier officers to lead the Divisons of these elite horsemen.

Note the elongated gold triangles on the chest of the Cuirasses, supposedly emulating the gorgets of other nation's officer corps. 

As my Cavalry regiments have 8 figures and Foundry cavalry figures come in groups of three, the two surplus officers are thus promoted to Field grade! 

One rides a Chestnut and the other a Bay. 

Different colors of flowering tufts also differentiate the two officers. 

It is difficult to tell, but the near figure wears the uniform of the green faced KR #4 , while the far figure wears that of the black faced KR #6.

Four Austrian GM's

That's GM as in General-Major, the Austrian equivalent of a Brigadier General, not game master!

These are more Foundry figures. To the right is a Hungarian Cavalry general 

Nice sculpts all. 

To the left is an officer in the somewhat outdated hechtcrau coat from the late 1790's. 

The black and gold sash was worn by all Austrian officers, from a lowly lieutenant to a Feldmarschal. 

A second pair of Austrian Generals.

The figure to the right is from Front Ranks, and judging by the sash being worn over his shoulder, is probably meant to be a staff officer. However, he is serving as a Brigade commander; perhaps a battlefield promotion? 

I am not quite sure as to the manufacturer of the figure wearing the overcoat. Maybe Old Glory?

The fur trimmed collar would be nice in December in Bohemia... say at Austerlitz?!

Regardless, he does have a rather weary look to him!

Kurassier Regiment #1, "Kaiser Franz"

This regiment has the Emperor Francis himself as Inhaber. 

KR #1 was part of Liechtenstein's Reserve Corps in 1809, and fought at the battles of Eggmuhl, Aspern, Wagram, and Znaim. 

With its dark red facings and silver buttons, the regiment looks very Austrian. 

The Austrian Cuirassiers wore blackened iron breastplates (I used Vallejo "Gun metal". Famously, they lacked back plates, and KR #1 was one of the regiments that suffered from this lack when fighting the French Cuirassiers at Alt Eglofscheim.

The standard bearer's bandoleer is decorated with two wavy bands of embroidery in the regiment's facing color. 

The trumpeter has the usual red crest on his helmets, and lacks a Cuirass. The trumpet cords are mixed yellow and black. I have mounted this regiment all on black horses. 

I have simplified the Austrian saddle blanket edging to be yellow with a line of black.