Swamp terrain

Here's the beginning to my swamp terrain. It's a small piece (about 1 foot by 1 foot) of foam that I carved out a depression. I used dried moss pieces around the edges and then used some Magic Water product with some Testor's oil based model paint mixed in to give it a muddy effect. I put in a couple of sticks to represent fallen tree before I poured the Magic Water. Click here to go to the Magic Water site.

I've got some Woodland Scenics tree armatures that I've painted grey to represent the dead trees you often see in swamps that I'll add to the board and then fill in with a lot more vegetation.

The Magic Water is awesome stuff. Easy to use with minimal smell. There's a full tutorial on my rail blog. See the link on the left of the page to check out my full tutorial.

French naval infantry, chevau-legers and Russian jagers

My latest painting update -- this time for November. As you can tell, my time was pretty limited this month. These three units all got squeezed out in the final 10 days or so of the month. But it's better than nothing.

First up, French naval infantry. These are Old Glory line grenadiers, nothing fancy. I've said twice before that this was the last of them -- well THIS is the last of them. I'm a step closer to my Bautzen scenario I'm creating.



Old Glory Russian jagers in the cap. I don't really care for painting these guys, but they aren't really that hard to do. They are also needed for the Bautzen scenario.



Finally, some Old Glory French chevau-legers -- lancers converted from dragoon regiments.

Review: French Napoleonic Tactics 1792-1815

Book review: French Napoleonic Infantry Tactics 1792-1815
By Paddy Griffith

This is one of the many Osprey Titles that are out there on the Napoleonic Wars. What drew me to this one was its focus on tactics rather than the usual uniforms or campaigns that are more typical for Osprey books.
The book overviews the evolution of French tactics from the pre-Revolutionary period through the end of the Napoleonics wars. It explains how the infantry was used and offers some detail into how units would maneuver and approach the enemy. There are a handful of illustrations plus several full-color, full-page illustrations in the middle that give a bird's eye view of French infantry deployed to face different situations.
The book also spends some time talking about the frustrations the French ran into when fighting the British army.
Overall, this book is exactly what I expected from an Osprey title. It's concise with some nice illustrations. I would have liked to have learned more about the actual utilization of the infantry rather then the progression of the tactics pre-Napoleonic Wars, but it still makes for an interesting read.

Pros: Nice illustrations, concise summaries
Cons: Depth is limited

Book Review: Attack and Die

Book review:
Attack and Die: Civil War Military Tactics and the Southern Heritage
By Grady McWhiney and Perry D Jamieson

I don't normally read books about the American Civil War, but I've been doing a lot of studying of tactical details lately -- as detailed as I can find anyway. I found this book at my favorite book store that I visit while on vacation -- Blue Bicycle Books in Charleston, South Carolina. This one caught my eye because it was talking tactics and when I flipped through it, I found several references comparing Civil War tactics to Napoleonic tactics.
While the book didn't quite turn out as good as I hoped, it was an interesting read. It walks the reader through how the Confederacy tended to go on the offensive and continued to use Napoleonic-style tactics even when the losses were catastrophic. Most of the book talks in detail about how stupid these tactics were, then starts examining why Southern leaders continued to use them. I thought the book was pretty good -- until the end. The last chapter explains the reason behind these tactics as stemming from the Celtic heritage the authors say Southerners shared. This isn't just one factor, it's "the" factor in their arguments. The whole thing gets taken to the extreme as it outlines every suicidal charge in Celtic history to illustrate their point. While I don't discount this played some role, I found the entire last chapter completely silly and it took away from the work presented earlier in the book.

Pros: Interesting facts about casualties and how slow both sides were to adapt to the new weaponry of the era.
Cons: Final argument about Celtic heritage being the driving force behind Southern battlefield aggression came across as over the top.

French infantry, cossacks, French horse artillery

I got off to a slow start painting in October, but ended up with a decent output. Here are the four units I completed:

French horse artillery. I've been painting my horse artillery batteries with bronze barrels just for ease of identification on the table.



French infantry in great coats. Nothing like some great coat infantry to pad the paint totals...



Cossacks. Everybody loves cossacks.



French infantry charging. I still prefer the march attack pose, but these aren't bad.

Review: Charge - Great Cavalry Charges of the Napoleonic Wars

Charge! Great Cavalry Charges of the Napoleonic Wars, by Digby Smith

I bought this book because I've taken a great interest in trying to learn the nuances of Napoleonic tactics from a low level and thought studying cavalry charges would give me insight into how the mounted arm was handled.
The problem is, this book is seriously mistitled. It should be called "Great moments in Napoleonic fighting" or something like that. The book hardly talks about cavalry charges. In fact, early on, the author states that pretty much all cavalry charges were the same anyway -- but if that's the case, why did you call your book something it isn't?
So what is in it? It starts with a basic overview of the types of cavalry used in the era, then each chapter after that is a vignette from a major battle of the Napoleonic wars (and occasionally even talks about cavalry). Most of the time, it gives a very high level view of what's going on in the battle, and overviews the moves made by both commanders. In some chapters, there's some mention of cavalry, but in a pretty general sense, while in others, it's hardly mentioned. In the back of the book is an order of battle for the clashes mentioned in the book.
While the book was entertaining and I enjoyed it, I found the title to be completely misleading. Cavalry, aside from the opening chapter, doesn't really get any more play than the other arms.

Pros: Interesting read
Cons: Badly titled; more like a highlight reel of the Napoleonic Wars than anything else. If you are looking for details on cavalry tactics, look elsewhere.

World War I photos

I found two old photos when I was going through the family archives. I don't know anything about them and they weren't labeled. Can anyone tell me anything about them? At this point, all I know is that it looks like the one guy is giving some instructions on how to load a trench mortar(?) of some sort; I think they are Americans (but army or marines?); and the second photo might be in front of a train station.





If you can offer any additional information, that would be great.