As I sit here writing, I look over to the legions of 15mm Austrian Napoleonic figures that are due to be painted for the Drums 3 convention game, The Battle of Leipzig, that Ted Bender and I are hosting. Will the Austrians be painted in time? It is really tempting to get out that can of white spray paint and have a go at them...!

However, after all the work that has been done to prepare this year's event, I can't let my favorite troops not come to the battle without the proper "look" about them. I wish to commend Ted Bender for his massive painting effort in getting over 4000 of the figures painted so far!

The Battle of Leipzig game will have in excess of 4,700 painted 15mm figures on the tables. This was the largest battle of the Napoleonic wars and rightly was called "The Battle of Nations." Our game will represent the battle on the first day, Oct. 16, 1813. The tables for the game will be in a "C" shape with the French on the inside of the "C" and the Allies advancing to bring on the battle. The highlight will be the southern part fought out on a 6' x16' table. There will be more than 2,000 figures in this part of the field. Bring your cameras!

The rules are an adaptation of the ACW Fire & Fury rules for large battles. Here, in this battle, we are using divisions as the smallest unit on the field, and the commands will be at Corps level. Each base of figures will represent 500 infantry or cavalry, and each artillery stand will represent 16 guns (24 for those gun-happy Russians). The rules will be taught and all are encouraged to at least stop by and see what is going on. If you can only play for a short time, no problem. When you need to go, your command figure will have an unfortunate "accident," and your second-in-command will take over.

We are currently playtesting the separate parts of the battle and refining the rules to make them as smooth as possible for the game. So far, the playtests of the northern part have gone much as the historical outcome. If anyone is interested, contact me for the time of the next playtest and join us for some fun.

Back to painting the Austrians, only 488 more to go...