I've long been interested in the Franco-Prussian War ever since I realized in high school that Europe had a history after Waterloo and prior to WWI. I don't recall being exposed to any European history during high school and I remember being so excited at finding history books pertaining to that time period. In one of them, there was a color painting of French infantry defending a farm complex against a Prussian onslaught, and, of course, I found this fascinating. I regretted that there were not any plastic "toy soldiers" representing the Franco-Prussian War; at that time the only "toy soldiers" I was aware of were the 54mm MARX playsets of The Alamo, ACW, AWI, WWII, knights, and Fort Apache. It was some time before I ran across the 20mm AIRFIX sets.
I find that I do better on new periods when I get "excited" about some aspect of it and I guess what in the FPW has done it for me this time is the release of several new figure lines: B&B MINIATURES in 20mm and ESSEX in 15mm, but more about that later. A large factor is the Battle of Gravelotte-St. Privat where 20,000 Prussian Guard infantry attacked a French-held fortified farm complex resulting in 8,000 Prussian casualties in twenty minutes! It is my goal to represent this on the wargarnes table! I hope to be putting together a wargames scenario on this in the near future for MWAN.
The war itself, from what I understand, is interesting from a "hardware" angle - the French Chessepot greatly outranged the Prussian Needlegun, while the Prussian Krupp guns outranged the French artillery. The Prussians were very aggressive offensively and the French were primarily on the defense, although this was not the "usual" French approach to warfare. It was an age of mass armies - the time it took to mobilize reservists and get them to the "front" was critical and apparently the Prussians were much better at this than the French were. It was the first European war in which the railroad was utilized to transport troops. The French were thought to have the best army in Europe after beating the Austrians and having the benefit of thirty years of warfare in Northern Africa.
However, the Prussians (one should, I suppose, actually say "Germans" as Prussia was only one of the German powers), who also beat up on the Austrians - those poor Austrians, uh! - were emerging as a real power in Europe and developing into what eventually would become Germany, instead of a collection of small countries - Prussia, Baden, Bavaria, Saxony, and Wurtemburg.
The German Army learned much in the 1866 conflict with Austria and changed the their approach as a result. The French were viewed as an offensive army - I believe the French doctrine was concerned with the high "elan" the French soldier possessed - though for some reason, as I mentioned previously, they ended up on the defensive. German officers were taught to march to the sound of the guns and take personal initiative. This was a concept which the French did not appear to follow at all in the conflict. Although it is felt that the French soldier was brave enough, he was so poorly led that the French suffered defeat after defeat at the hands of the Germans. After the war, everyone moved away from the French military "look" to the Prussian "look" in uniforms; witness the change in military helmets - even the United States Army adopted the Prussian helmet - picklehaube - for dress uniform wear! I have read that although the Germans developed an excellent military strategy for the war, it was not so much as to how "good" the Germans were, but rather, how "bad" the French were, which brought about the end result of a crushing French defeat. The Germans made a number of mistakes which, if the French had taken any amount of initiative, could have resulted in French victories.
Although cavalry was very popular and still viewed by the military - certainly by the cavalrymen themselves as a decisive arm, it was infantry and artillery firepower which were the main keys to victory. The European powers clung to their outdated concept of cavalry despite what the American Civil War had shown - that cavalry were used best for reconnaissance, screening an army's movement, and in a dismounted role. This resulted in glorious charges - which I am sure every cavalryman lived for (cavalry didn't pass up a chance for a mounted charge!) - in which very few were successful and firepower decimated the ranks of the mounted troopers at little or no loss to the infantry. Although the German cavalry far outdid their French counterparts in reconnaissance and screening, they still did not capitalize fully on what their capability should have been once they were behind French lines.
There were several instances where Prussian cavalry "lost" the French Army as it retreated following major battles It was, to me, a war of morale, as all wars are, I suppose.
However, it seems to me that "National Characteristics" were really more dominant during the FPW than at other time periods. As an aside, I find it interesting that there seems to be a decrease in acceptance of the concept of "National Characteristics" during the last few years within our hobby. I wonder if this "mirrors" an attempt to be "politically correct" in our society and "downplay" such potential prejudices? It would seem that it is by utilizing "generalizations" that we are able to write wargarnes rules and attempt to approximate some semblance of what happened during an historical period. Anyway, once the main fighting is over with in the FPW, I have little interest in the siege of Paris or the "partisan" actions which took place. I think at this point, Germany was looking for a quick way to depart France and the French just wouldn't cooperate; actually, I believe German was looking for financial reimbursement and territory.
Currently after having been the hobby some twenty-five years and having learned how to locate historical books of interest, I have been surprised that there really aren't any "good" (interesting) books on the Franco-Prussian War. I have a number of books, including the Howard book, which comes close, I guess, but I've yet to find one that I can't put down. Has anyone else run into this or have I just been looking in the wrong places? It seems as though the books I have read have been very "dry", being written entirely in an "historical" sense. What I mean by that is if you read British Colonial history, you run across the names of soldiers who performed deeds of glory and this makes it, at least for me, much more "human." I haven't found anything like that for the FPW period as of yet.
Anyway, I've just been waiting for a figure manufacturer to release a line which caught my eye. I was sorely tempted some years ago by the 25mm WARGAMES FOUNDRY (Foundry, Mount Street, New Basford, Nottingham, NG7 7HX, UK 0115-979-2002; FAX 0115-979-2209)
FPW line, which is fairly extensive within the French and Prussian armies though much less so with the Prussian Allies. I went so far as to purchase a number of 15nim, FPW figures from a company in the UK whose name escapes me - they came in 50-figure bags of infantry - and although they were good figures, they had a tenancy to suffer "ankle breakage" and there wasn't much else around so I got rid of them. I knew that MININGS (now available from ATTACTIX, 15107 East Hampden Ave., Aurora, CO 80014) had, and still does, an extensive line. I know they are not available in the USA as of yet although there is some possibility they may be added as the line is expanded beyond Napoleonics and Malburians. I assume they are available in the UK; perhaps someone in the UK could let us know about this.
In 15mm also, there was RANK AND FILE (available from 19TH CENTURY MINIATURES - see address below; OUTLAND OF OHIO, PO Box 457, Phillipsburg, OH 45354; 937-884-8822 also carries this line as well as the rules set for this period) and I did obtain some of their figures but the poses were somewhat limited. Then B&B MINIATURES in the UK released their very extensive 20mm line and BROOKHURST HOBBIES (12188 Brookhurst St., Garden Grove, CA 92840; Phone 714-636-3580; FAX 714-636-9150; e-mail: info@brookhursthobbies.com; Website: http://www.brokhursthobbies.com) sent me samples of each new release. It took awhile to win me over, but the figures finally did it. I was in my "20mm phase" and they are very beautiful little figures!
In addition, they have a very extensive line of infantry, cavalry and artillery for all of the countries involved. Since that time, ESSEX (available directly from WARGAMES; see address later on in this article) has released an excellent line which shows much promise already. Since ESSEX are my favorite l5mm manufacturer, this was a marriage made in heaven and I had to start purchasing them!
I especially love their artillery and limber sets! I have been supplementing them with OUTPOST WARGAME SERVICES (25 Grantham Place, Southfield Green, Cramlington, NE23 6EQ UK; phone 01670-736694; FAX 01670-713784; e-mail: eya@outpost.lprestel.co.uk; also available from BROOKHURSTHOBBIES) from the UK, who have perhaps the most extensive line of 15mm FPW figures and accessories (Check out page 13 of MWAN #102 for a full listing of the line). Their pewter figures match up very well sizewise with the ESSEX line. I must admit to being very impressed with what I have seen from them thus far. They also offer casualty figures, which I use for "morale" markers, and "prone figures, which could be used to denote units "going prone", as was common during the period. Mounted personality figures are also produced as well as mounted generals. I like to have a lot of differently posed mounted Generals to lead regiments, brigades, divisions, corps, and armies. All cavalry is available in either "at rest" or charging" poses. Infantry are available in either "advancing" or "firing line" with some types in a marching" pose. Their prices are very reasonable with several packaging approaches being used (50 foot/25 cavalry or 8 foot/4 cavalry) and quality is good. I have no doubt that you could build extensive armies with their figures alone and not to go to a different manufacturer.
IRREGULAR MINIATURES (3 Apollo Street, Heslington Road, York, YO 10 5AP, UK) also has a line of 15mm FPW though I haven't seen any actual figures yet. The photos in their catalog look promising. FREI KORPS 15,12 Beechfield Ave., Conlig. Co. Down, BT19 7ZY, Northern Ireland, has a new owner and offers a nice line of FPW. I have never cared for their foot figures - they seem on the slight side - however, their cavalry and artillery are very good and can be compared with anyone else, even though this line is quite old. I have seen samples of the 1866 range - they have lots of cavalry and mounted generals/officers. What I also like about this line is that they offer outstanding limber sets for a number of countries for this period, both the FPW and the 1866 period. The rider and limber horse are one-piece castings, as are the cavalry, and I much prefer this in 15mm.
I am sure that much of my future 15mm FPW period will include many FREI KORPS 15 cavalry and Embers. They offer cavalry command groups of officer, standard bearer and bugler along with one enlisted man type per cavalry type. They also have many mounted personality figures - a FREI KORPS standard in my opinion - as well as mounted General officers. Size-wise, they match up extremely well with ESSEX. They have changed the type of metal they use for casting and I am told this has resolved the problems with the "brittleness" of the line which were common in the past. I have, however, had difficulty contacting them thus far. FRONTIER, now carried by MODELER'S MART, has a somewhat limited line and is still available in 15mm(they are having a 20% sale on their 15mm/25mm FRONTIER fines currently!). PIONEER MINIATURES, from the UK, used to produce a 15mm line although I believe they no longer are available.
Going back to 25mm, HELION & COMPANY (26 Willow Road, Solihull, West Midlands, B91 IUE, UK 44-121-705-3393 , FAX 44-121-711-1315; e-mail: wargames@helion.co.uk; Website: http://www.helion.co.uk) has released what looks to be a very promising line of figures for the 1866 period - excellently done figures and they report that they wish to heavily expand this line and add flags as well. See page 69 of MWAN # 102 for a partial listing of their line. They offer a choice of separately cast heads and equipment (light or full kit) which greatly increases the "visual" aspect of your wargames units! The Prussians can be used for the FPW. Prices are .70 pence/$1.05 per foot figure. Their plan, in expanding the line, is to have both "firing line" and "storming columns" poses available. They also have casualty figures.
Lastly, BATTLE HONOURS, produced here in the USA by 19TH CENTURY MINIATURES, 13595 Green Street, Grand Haven, MI 49417 (616837-7045) offers a 25mm 1866 line as well. I haven't studied the figures up close although I have seen them in stores. They would seem to fit in well with HELION and WARGAMES FOUNDRY. They are packaged along the OLD GLORY approach with 30 foot/10 mounted for about $22.00 so the price is right! I don't know much about uniforms but assume that one could use the 1866 figures for 1871. Some years ago I ran across a 25mm line from the UK - CORVUS, which then became SUSSEX MINIATURES. I remember them being a "large" 25mm and nice enough to be impressed with but I think they are no longer available. If anyone knows, please let me know. Don't forget the FRONTIER 25mm FPW line as well (MODELER'S MART) which, as I recall, is more of a "true" 25mm figure in size.
In 6mm IRREGULAR MINIATURES and ROS & HEROICS have FPW fines. Although HEROIC & ROS was the first 6mm producer, I think, their figures are quite good. Years ago an MWANer sent me some painted 6mm FPW which I have sitting on a cabinet in my office and they look great en mass. IRREGULAR MINIATURES also has 6mm buildings and terrain in metal and they are very good.
In 10mm, there are, I believe, several manufacturers: BACCUS (spelling?) in the UK which I haven't seen; nor have I seen BELLO WARGAMES, 88 Deerswood Court, Ifield, Crawley, West Sussex, RHI I OHF, UK CHARIOT MINIATURES (PHARAOH'S ARMS, Box 579, Merrickville, Ontario, KOG INO, Canada, 613-269-2557 as well as DIVISION AFTER DIVISION, 16710 Bradbe Road, Fishersville, KY 40023), which I have been impressed with. WARGAMES SOUTH, Ffos Yr Ewig, Llangynydd, Carmarthen, SA32 7DD, UK 44-0-1558668771) offers a line of 10mm FPW as well.
If you are interested in 10mm FPW, you should see David Smith's article in MWAN #82 (page 106) "Playing, Painting and Buying 10mm Figures. " Robert Piepenbrink wrote "My Experiences with 10mm Figures" in the same issue (Page 186) which mentioned 10mm FPW as did Roger Dospil "10mm Figures - A Hopefully Non-Bias Comment of the Pros & Cons" (page 185).. 1 should also include the old SCRUBY line which is still available from some place in California - I am sure many long-time wargamers have FPW armies composed of "Scrubies". I think Jack produced them in 20mm, 25mm, and 30mm. I suspect Larry Brom's FPW armies are of 30mm "Scrubies". If anyone has information on the SCRUBY line, please let me know as I would like to make others aware of it. I just got off the phone with MODELER'S MART (see address elsewhere in this article) who reported that the Frontier l5mm and 25mm FPW lines are still available and are currently being offered at 20% off. This was a very nice line put out by Atley Turner some years ago being well detailed. A French standard bearer with cast-on flag sticks in my mind as being a particularly well done figure!
I don't believe I have ever seen plastic 54mm figures for this period though someone such as Charles Elsden would know for sure.
IRREGULAR MINIATURES offers 2mm armies and terrain for the FPW war though I am sure there would not be any difference in the "figures" in 2mm between different "Horse & Musket" periods! However, you never know nowadays! I believe they also have FPW 40mm or 42mm FPW figures.
Why Two Scales?
OK! Why do the same period in two different scales? I don't know - I really like both of the figure lines and my original justification was that I would do a "smallish" type collection in 20mm and a much "larger" one in l5mm. However, as usual, I am getting carried away with the 20mm. collection because the figures are so nice!
I have decided to concentrate on the 20mm collection for the year 2000. I may continue purchasing items in l5mm when the opportunity presents itself, however, I will not have any 15mm figures painted this year - everything will be 20mm FPW`.
As for rules, I am leaning toward Larry Brom's CHASSEPOT AND NEEDLEGUN published many years ago by FRONTIER but still available. These appear to be very "user friendly" in Larry's usual manner. Another possibility is THEY DEED FOR GLORY, which is available in many hobby shops as well as through WARGAMES.
I am unsure as to the size of the armies I want to put together and that is one reason why I decided to put this article together and it makes me sit down and take a look at what I have and what I need. I do want to have two battalions to a regiment for foot. The B&B packs have 16 French/20 Prussian foot and 12 horse each. Since they sell only by the pack - this can be a pain, can't it! - I am limited to those unit sizes (1:50 figure ratio). As to artillery, I am sorely tempted to have more than one gun per battery, through B&B artillery is expensive, as is their cavalry. Ideally, I would like to have two guns per battery and have limbers, of course, for all guns. The only time I feel really comfortable with one-gun batteries is using a rules set such as FIRE & FURY, otherwise, battery "frontages" bother me - it's so easy for a one-gun battery to change facing; an operation which would not be easy at all with a "real" battery of artillery! B&B have three crew serving the gun - the foot artillery has two limber horses, a limber rider, and a limber horse rider, while the horse artillery sets have two teams of limber horses and riders. I have not, in any of my figure periods, used more than two limber horses to represent a limber team though it is reasonable to have four limber horses to easily identify "horse" artillery. It would make sense for me to have one gun batteries in 20mm and two gun batteries in 15mm, however, my hobby involvement seldom follows the "good sense" approach!
Thus far, I have the following painted and unpainted units from B&B MINIATURES:
FRENCH : Line Infantry 5 X 16 = 80 Guarde Mobile 3 X 16 = 48 Guard Grenadiers 4 X 16 =64 Guard Zouaves 1 X 16 = 16 Turcos 4 X 16 = 64 Zouaves 2 X 16 = 32 Marines 1 X 16 = 16 Guard Cuirassier 1 X 12 = 12 Line Lancers 1 X 12 = 12 Line Horse Gun 1 Guard Foot Gun 1
French Totals: 320 foot; 24 cavalry; 2 guns/11 crew
PRUSSIANS Jagers 1 X 20 = 20 Line Infantry 6 X 20 = 120 Guard Infantry 5 X 20 = 100 Line Horse Gun = 2 Mtd Cavalry Staff = 3 Totals: 240 foot; 2 guns/12 crew SAXONS Line Infantry 3 X 20 = 60 Grenadiers I X 20 = 20 Foot Gun = 1 Dismtd Staff = 3 Totals: 80 foot; 1 gun/5 crew
BAVARIANS Line Infantry 4 X 20 = 80 Jagers 1 X 20 = 20 Grenadiers 1 X 20 = 20 Mounted Staff = 3 Totals: 120 foot BADEN Grenadiers 1 X 20 = 20 Foot Gun = 1 Horse Gun = 1 Totals: 20 foot, 2 guns/11 crew
WURTTEMBURG Line Infantry 2 X 20 = 40 Jagers I X 20 = 20 Totals: 60 foot
German Totals: 520 foot; 5 guns/28 crew
This comes out to 840 foot, 24 cavalry, and 7 guns/39 crew, a sizeable number of figures, but not awfully balanced as to foot/cavalry/guns. One of my goals is to have each German country have a "stand-alone" force of at least two infantry regiments (four battalions). In addition, I have fallen into my usual trap in putting together a period, if B&B MINIATURES makes it, I want it! This means obtaining at least one regiment (12 figures) of cavalry for everything they offer. It is not my intention to have the same type of cavalry (i.e., Cuirassier) in a brigade; I can live with different cavalry types in the same brigade. Since they offer about eleven different cavalry regiments per side, that gives me at least twenty-two cavalry units (264 figures). That should be more than enough for a FPW wargame, I would think! I feel a little uncomfortable about having only one regiment of each cavalry type so I will have to do some thinking about this when it comes time to work on cavalry. The Nigel Smith booklets published by FREI CORPS 15 on the French and German armies of the period offer excellent information on organization so this will be very helpful indeed! By the way, are you aware that at least one regiment of French Foreign Legion was present for the conflict? I am not sure, but I think they wore regular French Line Infantry uniforms - I'll have to check this out further so don't hold me to it!
The French have 11 different regiments of cavalry available: Guard Lancers, Dragoons, Cuirassier, Carabiniers, and Chasseurs. The Line has Lancers, Dragoons, Cuirassiers, Hussars, Chasseurs and Chasseurs d'Afrique. The Germans have Prussian Uhlans, Hussars, Dragoons, and Cuirassiers, Saxony has Uhlans and Reiters, Bavaria has Chevaulegers and Cuirassiers, Baden has Cuirassiers, and Wurtemburg has Reiters and Cuirassiers. Twenty-two different types!
As to artillery, I currently have seven guns. The French have Guard 12pd and 4pd foot guns, a Mitrailleuse, and 2pd and 4pd horse guns. The Line Artillery has 12pd and 4pd foot and a 4pd horse gun as well as a Mitrailleuse. The Germans have a lot! 6pd and 4pd foot and 4pd horse guns for Prussia, Saxony, Bavaria, Baden, and Wurtemburg. Fifteen (!) different possible batteries for the Germans and eight for the French for a total of twenty-three! If I had two guns per battery, which I would like to do, that's a total of 46 guns/limbers just to have one of each type. Don't think I will go that way!
Let's start with the French. I think I'll add one more battalion to those foot units having "odd" numbers, thus, Guarde Mobile (total of 4), Guard Zouaves (2), and Marines (2). 1 would like two more units of Zouaves (total of 4) and perhaps five more Line Infantry (total of 10). 1 also want one battalion of Guard Chasseurs (20) and one of line Chasseurs (20). 1 believe each French and/or German Corps had one battalion of light infantry (Chasseurs or Jagers) available to them although I think the French Turcos were actually light infantry as well. That would be, let's see, twenty-eight battalions (14 regiments) of foot X 16 figures = 488 and two battalions of Chasseurs X 20 figures 40 for a total of 528 foot.
For the Prussians, I'll add one more Guard infantry (total = 6) and two of line (8) for a total of 15 battalions (one Jager of 20) X 20 = 300 foot. For the Saxons, I'll add one line infantry (4), one Grenadier (2) and one Jager (1) for a total of seven battalions (140 figures). The Bavarians will only add one Grenadier unit (total of 2) for a total of seven battalions (140); Baden will add one Grenadier (2), four fine infantry (4) and one Jager (1) totaling 7 battalions (140) ; and Wurtemburg will add two line (4) and two grenadier (2) for a total of seven battalions (140). This gives a German infantry force of 43 battalions X 20 figures = 860 foot.
Hmmmmmm. 528 French (40 battalions) plus 860 Germans (43 battalions) equals 1,388 figures (83 battalions)! At about $1.07 per foot figure, this comes out to $1,485.16 and doesn't include cavalry and artillery! I think I've done it again! Well, it sure will look nice on the tabletop, won't it! I should mention that BROOKHURST HOBBIES offers a 10% discount for orders (bringing a single foot figure down to .96) over $ 100 and 15% for orders (further decreasing the price to .91) exceeding $150 which can cut the cost considerably.
Other items available from B&B MINIATURES include mounted and dismounted staff officers for foot and cavalry for France, Prussia, Bavaria, and Saxony, as well as French and Prussian Pioneers. I don't know much about Pioneers for the FPW; however, THEY DIED FOR GLORY gives them, I believe, a single stand of figures for each army. I am not sure as to how you would use them on a wargarnes table.
As to 20mm FPW flags B&B offers eleven flag sets for the French foot and cavalry and ten for the Germans. These come in "corps" sets. I have never seen them so can't really speak as to what they consist of and quality. I will be, however, obtaining them for my armies. SIGNIEFER, 2001 E. Lohman, Suite 149, Las Cruces, NM 88001 (505-525-2378) reports they have flag sets for the FPW and Crimean War in 6mm, 10mm, l5mm, 20mm, and 25mm. I will have to contact them re the 20mm. and 15mm sets.
As to basing, I am going with metal bases again - from WARGAME ACCESSORIES, 7566 20th Street, N., St. Petersburg, FL 33702 (727-522-6203), who have an extensive line of pre-cut metal bases and will "custom-cut" anything you want at a slightly higher price. I will have four foot or two horse to a base (1 1/4" X 1 1/4"); a two horse limber without the gun will be 1 1/2" X 2" and I am not sure how much room witl be required for a horse (four limber horses instead of two) limber. I suspect it will be close to 1 1/2" X 3" in size, Artillery will have a gun and three crew (B&B's standard number for gun crews) on a base 1 1/2" X 2" while Jagers/Chasseurs will have the same sized base and be a little more "spread out" than regular infantry.
What do I like about the B&B MINIATURES figure line? Lots" the line is extensive, quality is good, there are multiple foot poses within each pack - usually three different EM poses and two different officer poses. They are sort of "chunky" 20mm. size, which I really like! Even within each individual pose, there are head and equipment variants. Heads are faced different directions and there are bearded (different lengths) and non-bearded heads. Equipment varies has to light (no pack back or blanket roll), blanket roll, and pack back. Thus far, my favorite foot unit are the Prussian Guards as their full beards are very impressive! Even though the "variety" of artillery poses a problem as to "collection", I like having a full-range of items available to me.
In a perverse way, I like the fact that there is only one (as far as I am aware of) manufacturer of 20mm Franco-Prussian War figures. There is a lot of enjoyment to be gained when there are multiple manufacturers available, though there is also something to be said for knowing that you can only select from one manufacturer. In a way, it seems to reduce the tendency to "over-collect" - I always start out with one manufacturer and claim I am going to stay with that company while I build my armies. Then I see another manufacturer's listing and off I go! Of course, if the one manufacturer has a very complete line, such as B&B, I can still have the "over-collection" problem!
I also like the fact that in order to obtain the figures, I have to go through BROOKHURST HOBBIES; they are very nice people to deal with and extremely professional. I faxed them a large order of seventeen packs of foot on December 29th and received it at my doorstep (always exciting to come home and find a box by your door, isn't it!) on January 5th! I have placed perhaps a dozen orders with them over the years and have always received my full order promptly, I've also been able to call them with specific questions as to items and they always take the time to answer my questions. They also do a great job of keeping prices reasonable for UK imports.
Back to the figures - there is virtually no flash on the figures/equipment. Artillery wheels fit well without having to use my X-acto knife; riders fit on horses well; detail is fantastic; animation is quite good and scale is constant. Another plus is that they are producing mount and dismounted staff, I don't personally have much need for dismounted staff, though I suppose, I shall make up a "diorama-type" base for "Army Command" utilizing the dismounted staff figures. The last thing I really like is the way they look as a unit - I've terrained and based about ten foot battalions thus far and the effect is outstanding!
What don't I like? I really dislike the packaging of units with command and a certain number of figures; for example, all French foot have sixteen figures, except for Chasseurs, who have twenty. German foot have twenty figures. There are command for all units; however, this "forces" the gamer to adopt B&B's unit organization (ratio of 1:50), which I believe, although I've never been told, is based upon THEY DEED FOR GLORY. Now I have nothing against these rules, as a matter of fact, I think they are quite good, however, not everyone is going to want to use them for the FPW period. Individual figures are not available; perhaps if they were, I could better tolerate the packaging method as I could purchase additional individual figures if I wanted larger or smaller units.
Perhaps I am wrong, but it would seem plausible that if a manufacturer packages figures for a certain rules set, they are reducing their potential market considerably. Maybe I'm wrong - I'd like to hear from other MWANers on this point. B&B's detail is good that there is a fair amount of breakage of bayonets - I would estimate about ten percent. If I am paying over a dollar per foot figure, I don't appreciate broken bayonets. When I say their detail is excellent, what I mean to say is that the rifle and bayonet are very clearly cast and "in scale" to the rest of the figure, and when this happens, there is bound to be a problem with bayonet breakage.
A minor point is that I would like to see more than two poses of horses - they offer charging and trotting horses - if you order a unit of twelve cavalry, you must state which type you want. What I may well do is to "mix" the horses within individual units with horses from other packs. My last complaint is that the standard bearers do not have cast-on flag poles and you have to drill out the hands. B&B does cast on the very lower portion of the flag pole - below the hands - and I am sure their intention is that you will drill out the two hands holding the pole to the upper level of the cast-on section of the flag pole.
Now, please be aware that I am totally inept when it comes to using my hands! I have never been able to drill out an area "inside" of the hands so as to be able to place a metal flag pole "into" the hands joining up with the "cast-on" flag pole section. Just doesn't work for me! The times that I've tried, the result has been to ruin the hands section of the figure. What I end up doing is to drill into the "wrist" section so as to insure that I can get a hole through the figure for the flag pole to fit. Then I scrape away the cast-on section of the flag pole. Now, this doesn't actually look bad and satisfies me. Don't get me wrong - I don't like "cast-on" flag poles -- they run the risk of breaking off after you have painted them and then it is very difficult to replace them! What I would like is if B&B gave me a "start" on drilling by making an "indention" in the top of the standard bearer's hand to allow me to at least get a "start" drilling through the hands.
I know that if I had any skill at all with my hands, I would make a small indention myself in the hands before starting to drill, but I think I am an "average" wargamer as to "eye-hand" coordination. I have, however, just purchased a small electric hobby drill and this will help to solve the problem; should be easier than using my small hand hobby drill.
My overall thoughts on the B&B MINIATURES Franco-Prussian War line is that it is an outstanding line and I have to pass my congratulations on to B&B MINIATURES for a job well done! I think we are all "savvy" enough to know that it is not cheap to produce an extensive line of figures - one is, I believe, also taking somewhat of a chance selecting the 20mm scale, as well as the Franco-Prussian War period (not exactly a hotbed of interest as far as wargamers are concerned); however, B&B appears to be taking the "less-traveled" road in all of their period selections - Russian Civil War, French Foreign Legion, Polish Army (I 917-20's), and Allenby's War (WWI), and they are going about it in a "big" way as to extensiveness of each period! I've seen the FPW, RCW, and Allenby's War lines and the quality is high overall.
As to cost of the B&B figures - infantry packs of 16 figures are $17.50 ($1.09/figure) while 20-figure packs are $22.50. Cavalry units of 12 figures are $32.50 ($2.71). A foot gun, crew, and limber come out to be $23.50 while a horse gun with crew and limber at $26.73. Not cheap and a little more expensive than what we are used to paying for 20mm; for example, 20mm WWII figures come out to be about .88 per figure. I do try to remember, however, that B&B is appealing, I believe, to a pretty select group of wargamers with their "less than highly popular" periods. The prices, are however, in line with what other UK manufacturers of 20mm non-WWII periods are charging.
Accessories
20mm is not exactly a common scale for wargamers, except for WWII and 15mm seems to be making quite a foothold in this period as of late with PETER PIG and OLD GLORY leading the way. When this happens, you usually have to worry about locating "accessories" for your armies. This is fortunately not the case. There is a wide variety of table-top accessories available in 20mm for the FPW period. B&B offers hedges, bushes, trees, brickstone walls, high walls, wooden fences, and rough stone walls. TCS, 545 Newport Ave., Suite 9155, Pawtucket, RI 02861 (401-437-9820) has perhaps the most extensive fine of terrain items available for the wargamer and I have selected many of their items for use in the 20mm scale. Bob Bowling of RLBPS, 4827 Treeview Terrace, Rockford, IL 61109 (815-874-5351 -1 FAX 815-874-535 1 -1 e-mail: rlbpsb@earthlink.net) offers the very attractive SENTRY buildings by Mick Sewell - Norman church & raised graveyard, row of shops, detached house with high walled garden, large farm complex, and ruined houses, as well as COLIN RUTHERFORD'S WWII items - detached house, shop, bungalow, out-buildings, small hotel, and large residence. I have the SENTRY buildings and have been greatly impressed with them! They can easily be used with both 20mm and 25mm figures, thus giving us "double" service! It seems to me that the 20mm buildings being sold with the WWII wargamer in mind are more "true to scale" than other scales although I might be wrong about this.
SCENIC EFFECTS, PO Box 70332, Point Richmond, CA 94807 (510-235-1955-1 FAX 510-233-9901) has the wonderful "Normandy Bocage Country" French buildings with a two-story farm house with out-building, barn with wall and covered well; villager's house; and high village wall. In 6mm, they have a great looking one-piece set of a crossroads with buildings. I have not seen them as of yet, but HOVELS - available from WARGAMES, Box 278, Route 40 East, Triadelphia, WV 26059-0278 (304-547-000,- e-mail: shood@ict.org) has recently released a 20mm range of WWII type buildings. If anyone has seen them, I'd like to have a review on them. The advertisement shows buildings which, in my opinion, would fit perfectly for France during the FPW. Not only do they offer a farmhouse, small ruined farm outbuilding, attractive "pigeonnaire" with detachable roof, cart shed, but they also have a number of different types of brick walls, which are always handy for the wargames table. Their UK address is Hovels Ltd., 18 Glebe Road, Scartho, Grimsby, N.E., Linc., DN33 2HL (Website: http://www.hovelsltd.co.uk), VANGUARD (available from BROOK-HURST) has a listing of 20mm resin buildings - most are ruins, but there is a coach house, stable block, barn and farm house intact - haven't seen these either. They also offer pavement sections, low and medium brick walls and a high stone wall in 20mm.
VAC-U-CAST (BROOKHURST again) lists three European stone cottages (shingled, tiled or thatched rooo as well as a number of ruins, but I haven't seen them. There are many 15mm manufacturers of l5mm European-type buildings and I have frequently run across very inexpensive ($6.00 or less) 15mm houses in discount stores which are already painted. At TARGET after Christmas, I saw two separate small villages up on a small hill which were each priced at $5.09. I find it hard to pass up buildings! OLD GLORY's recent releases from ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE in 15mm are just fantastic! The town buildings are produced on bases, there are two differently sized bases and they offer cobblestone streets to join them together to form towns. The German model railroading companies who produce HO scale European buildings have many plastic kit models which are very good. I am thinking specifically of FALLER - can't think of other names, however, any model railroad store would have catalogs listing them. WALTHERS, Terminal Hobby Shop, PO Box 3039, Milwaukee, WI 53201-3039 (1-800-487-2467; FAX 1-800-807-2467), a large model train distributor in Milwaukee, Wisconsin has extensive listings of these buildings and their color catalog has pictures of each individual building. I can't find their address, but give them a call.
I plan on using the wonderful K&M trees now available from GEO-HEX, 2126 North Lewis, Portland OR 97227 (503-288-4805; FAX 503-288-8992; e-mail: krs@geohex.com) - my l5mm-type K&M trees seem to fit 20mm very well! K&M also offers the tall, thin trees (Poplars?) one sees lining the roads of the French countryside - I shall have to get some of those - they also have beautiful hedges for both 15mm and 25mm - I have some for my 25mm SYW villages and they are very effective. Some years ago in the news there was a story about two villages; one in England, the other in France; who were printing "put-downs" about each others' country in their local newspapers.
The British village ended the debate by stating they were finally going to say something nice about the French. What they choose to come up was that they thought the French were very thoughtful to plant such beautiful shade trees along their roads so that the Germans would not be in the sun too much whenever they invaded France! I've mentioned several times how I had Andrew Doyle of 3-D CONTOURS, 120 McPhail Road, Hattiesburg, MS 39401 (601-268-3868) put my trees on bases of between two and eight trees; Andrew terrains the bases very nicely. One of the pluses in having your trees bases in groups is that it is very easy to tell where the tree line begins. I also have some HEKI fir trees, which come in different sizes and are easily available at your local model railroading train shop. They also have several nice packs of "N' scale hedges in at least two different shades of green which will go well with 15mm.
My intention with the buildings is to have them attached to a terrain base allowing them to be placed on my TX Tterrain boards being made by NIWANer Curtis Murff, of MURFF-TURF, 20028 Pinegrove Drive, Mokena, EL 60448. 1 have requested Curt to make the terrain squares to accommodate both 15mm and 20mm figure scales. Fences and stone walls, I believe, will not be permanently attached to the terrain boards, thus, allowing some flexibility. I want to make one or two small French villages individually based, and then have farm complexes based in a like fashion. I want one large walled farm complex capable of being defended. I can't say that I have located any "true" 20mm bridges; however, I am sure that I will be able to find some "large" 15mm and "small" 25mm bridges which will fit in. I am very excited about seeing what the SENTRY Norman church and raised graveyard will look like on a base! It seems as though many FPW encounters featured ridges and woodlines; if you are trying to represent ridges on your wargames table, I have used HOWARD WHITEHOUSE, 312 Ridgecrest, LaFayette, GA 30728 (706-638-8199) and MURFF'S TURF (see address else where in this issue) extensively for my hills. Howard offers a Gettysburg set with the long ridge which could also be used in FPW wargames. Howard constructed some hills in two sections for me some years ago. The nice thing about them is that they can either fit together to form a large hill, or I can place the straight side against one side of the table and create a hill with one section off the table. THE LONDON WAR ROOM, 41 Beverly Hlls Loop, Petal, MS 39465 (601 584-8533; e-mail:tlwr@netdoor.com), run by Vince Clyant not only offers excellent terrain building, but scratch building as well. I have Vince's buildings in my collection(s) and he is very good. 3-D CONTOURS (see address elsewhere) does some excellent hills which I saw at HISTORICON.
Storage
Storage of large armies is always a problem and I think I've found the answer. Years ago, I purchased large plastic boxes for about $7.00 at any discount department store and I've been using them for storage of my 25mm Seven Years War collection. After Christmas, I picked up about half a dozen for #3.00 each - they were in red and green for easy identification. Each storage box can fit about 450 foot figures, which is very good! I'm going to purchase some more of these, find a source for magnetic strips (I know I mentioned the source in MWAN some time ago, but can't remember when!), purchase some double-tempered hardboard sheets (4' X 8') and cut them up to fit the bottom of the plastic boxes. I will then line the hardboard with magnetic strips which will then house my 20mm FPW figures.
I suspect I won't need more than three or four of the boxes. The height of the boxes does result in a considerable amount of space wastage, however, it is the best I can think of Wargamers more clever than I have solved this problem by making a semi-round hole in each corner of the first piece of hardboard, then made a second story hardboard storage section and put "legs" on it so that one can store figures in two stacks. Deeper plastic boxes are available at a very cheap price and I use these for storage of hills, buildings, trees, and other such accessories. If you wrap the buildings in a plastic bag, such as the type you get at grocery stores, you can safety store a lot of items in such boxes. The plastic boxes stack very welt; my SYW plastic boxes are stacked three to four high under my table. The number of stacked boxes depends upon the weight of individual boxes; for instance, my cavalry boxes are much heavier than other boxes, so they are placed on the bottom. Artillery boxes are stacked on the fourth level.
Rules
As to rules, I've already mentioned Larry Brom's CHASSEPOT AND NEEDLEGUN (1985), which are available through MODELERS MART, 1555 Sunshine Drive, Clearwater, FL 33765 (800-223-5260). The cost is $11.95 (less 20% discount) with postage of $4.15. Pick up a copy of these rules; they are very interesting. Figure ratio is about 1:50 and they are intended to be a "tactical level" set for "regimental" actions. Larry uses six three-man stands for French foot and six four-man stands for the Germans - this is done, I think, to account for the superior firepower of the Chassepot over the Needlegun. Thus, B&B's packaging system would not "fit" perfectly with the rules. They use a "variable" movement system, as in THE SWORD AND THE FLAME, which I really enjoy! In a conversation with Larry last summer at HISTORICON, he mentioned that he had plans to redo this excellently done rules set and I hope that he does!
Another well-done set is THEY DIED FOR GLORY by MWANers Bob Burke and Dave Waxtel, available from THE COURIER (PO Box 4202, Brockton, MA 02403 ) or many hobby shops. RANK & FILE produced a set of rules for that general time period - I once had them and can no longer find them - you might check with 19TH CENTURY MINIATURES or OUTLAND OF OHIO as to their availability - They are called IN THE AGE OF BISMARK AND NAPOLEON III. Paul Koch's ON TO RICHMOND rules were modified for the Franco-Prussian War period and called NACH PARIS; these were published in THE COURIER. Rich Hasenhauer's very popular FIRE & FURY rules have been modified a number of times for the FPW. MWAN #98 (page 153) had a four- page set of FPW rules "Gentlemen at the Crossroads" by an unknown contributor. MWAN H59 had Donald Featherstone's rules "A Day of Battle" and Brent Oman followed up on this in MWAN #61 with "A Day ofBatde Modification". Seamus Bradley had "A Day of Battle" in MWAN #68. Darryl Smith wrote "Wars ofBismarck" for MWAN #71. The innovative VOLLEY &,BAYONET rules, now available from OLD GLORY, cover the FPW period. IRREGULAR MINIATURES, 3 Apollo Street, Heslington Road, York, YO 10 5AP UK (phone/fax 0 1904-671101 or phone/fax directly from US 011-44-1904-671101) has a set of rules Franco-Prussian to WWI. GRANDE BATTAELLE.
Nick Dorrell wrote a four part series for WARGAMES ILLUSTRATED with the last three years in which he modified FIRE & FURY for European Conflicts: "Fire & Fiasco - The Crimean War 1853- 55"(07#135), "LaFuriaFrancese"(R7#136), "Two Kings, a Kaiser and Koniggratz " (WI # 13 7), and "Nach Paris - 1he Franco-Prussian War of 18 70 " (WI # 138, 1 think). These are excellent pieces and give information regarding using FIRE & FURY for 1853-1871.
I am sorely tempted to use his approach for my l5mm Franco-Prussian project. GRANDE VICTORIE by J.P. Brown is a rules set concerned with late 19th century European wars though I have never seen it. If someone has, please write an article on it! Another one is PRINCIPLES OF WAR which is out of the UK. I understand that Pat Condray also has a set of rules for this period - maybe Pat can let us know about it. Pat also wrote a series of articles on the FPW in his old ARMCHAIR GENERAL publication of many years back.
As to painting guides, we are quite fortunate in this area. First of all, OUTPOST offers three volumes on the subject of Imperial French, North German Confederation Army and South German Confederation Army. For $19.98 each from BROOKHURST. I've not seen these yet so can't speak about them. OSPREY has the following books available on the FPW period: French Army 1870-71 Imperial Troops and French Army 1870-71 Republican Troops as well as one of my favorites - Gravelotte-St-Privat 1870 by Philipp Elliot-Wright - #21 from their CAMPAIGN SERIES. This book also offers color uniform plates. WARGAMES FOUNDRY offers some very good color uniform sheets (two sheets on French and Prussians) as well as black/white line illustrations (Saxony and Wurtemburg) for the FPW. Robert Burke wrote an excellent for MWAN #102 (page 185) "Artillery Colors in the Franco-Prussian War".
THE COURIER has a set of FPW/ 18 66 articles available as a set which were published in early issues. As a matter of fact, the FPW was one of their early "Theme" issues. Many of them were penned by our old friend Pat Condray (Warfare in the Age of Napoleon the Little series), who has long been interested in this period. Write to them at: THE COURIER, PO Box 4202, Brockton, MA 02403.
Duncan Rogers of HELION & COMPANY, wrote two articles for MWAN # 102 (pages 9-12) on "Prussian Line Infantry 1866" and "Austrian 'German' Infantry 1866". Again, the two FREI KORPS 15 Campaign Booklets #12 and #12A by Nigel Smith are just great for painting information.
I don't have my book collection available to me at this time as it is packed away in preparation for "the move" so this information will have to come at a later time. However, I really don't have many books on the subject. Michael Howard wrote THE FRANCO PRUSSIAN WAR (Methuen, 1981), which I have and is thought to be one of the best overviews of the conflict.
I also have THE FRANCO-GERMAN WAR OF 1870-71 by Field Marshal Helmuth Von Molke (Presidio Press, PO Box 1764, Novato, CA 94948) which was first published in English in 1907. A related book in my possession is by Geoffrey Wawro THE AUSTRO-PRUSSIAN WAR Austria's War with Prussia and Italy in 1866 (Cambridge University Press, The Pitt Building, Trumpington St., Cambridge, CB2 I RP, UK or 40 West 20'h St., New York, NY 100 11-4211) published in 1996. OSPREY has the following Men-At-Arms books on the subject: French Army 1870-71(l) and French Army 1870-71(2) though I haven't seen them. They also published, though I may have mentioned this already, Gravelotte-St-Privat 1870: End of the Second Empire by Philipp Elliot-Wright in their Campaign Series (#2 1).
I have found this to be an outstanding overview as well as having some uniform plates. FREI KORPS 15, produced a series of booklets on the FPW some years ago; I don't know if they are still available, but they provided a lot of specific information on the armies involved. Campaign Booklet #12 THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 1870-71 Part One: The French Army and Campaign Booklet #12A THE FRANCO-PRUSSL4,N WAR 1870-71 Part Two The German Armies. Both were by Nigel Smith. Nigel also did Campaign Booklet #11 THE UNIFORMS AND ARMIES OF THE AUSTRO-PRUSSIAN AND AUSTRO-ITALIAN WARS and THE SECOND SCHLESWIG WAR. Excellent booklets which also give tons of information about painting in addition to in-depth organization of the armies! When I last checked, they were still available from FREI KORPS 15. THEY DIED FOR GLORY has a nice Army Organization section which I have found useful. HELION (see address elsewhere in this article) is primarily a military out-of-print book and the owner has a great interest in the 1866 period - I'll bet he'd be able to find items for you. FRONTIER years ago printed FRANCO PRUSSIAN WAR 1870-71: Its Background and Tactics by Dirk W. DeRoos and I have found this to be an excellent overview; it might still be available from MODELER'S MART. AIRFIX MAGAZINE had an excellent long series on the FPW as to uniforms and organization in 1977 by Stuart Sutherland. You'd have a hard time locating these back issues as they ran sequentially; however, I have an complete collection of Xeroxed copies and would be glad to share them with anyone who was sufficiently interested. I also have a collection of xerox copies from TRADITION magazine written by C.A. Norman on "The French Army in the Franco-Prussian War, 1870-71 " which are very good.
Another good source on uniforms is the old dependable UNIFORMS OF THE WORLD by Knotel, Knotel and Sieg, Arms & Armor Press, 1980, which I picked up at a sale counter years ago for about $12.00 and refer to often. HELION & COMPANY has published two 1866 books THE BATTLE OF KONIGGRATZ, 1866 and an Austrian history of Infantry Regiment Nr 35 for 1866. One might also check with ON MILITARY MATTERS, 55 Taylor Terrace, Hopewell, NJ 08525 as Dennis Shorthouse deals entirely with books of a military nature. In the LTK, I have always found CALIVER BOOKS, 816-818 London Road, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, UK SS9 3NH (Phone/FAX 01702- 473986; e-mail: dave@caliverbooks. demon. co.uk), to have a wide selection of military type books.
I can recommend CLASH OF EMPIRES, a journal edited by the very capable Keith Fyre, 33 Ridge Rd., Bloomingdale, NJ 07403 ($12/US; $14.50 Canada for four issues/per volume year), which is a publication devoted to the "European Wars of Empire of the 19th Century." Six issues have thus far been published and one can tell that Keith has a real love of the period! He is also an excellent writer as well a gentleman. MWANer Scott Hansen is an Associate Editor and has produced some very fine pieces.
Lastly, I'd like to mention painting - I am using the following painters for this projea STEPHEN LAWRENCE, 919 Milne Drive, Lockport, IL 60441 (815-838-5419), CHARLES VAN NORMAN of SKIRMISH LINE, 347 N. Maple Ave., Green Bay, WI 54303 (920-4356337), ROY DOWNES of CELTIC FURY ENTERPRISES, 9 Belvidere Place, Montclair, NJ 07042 (201-783- 7658) ANDY MOMEBOUQUETTE of ANDY'S ARMIES, 42746 Latourell Rd., Corbett, OR 97019), JOHN PRICE, 5657 E. 32nd St., Tucson, AZ 85711 (520-790-0721), and JAY WIRTH of RENAISSANCE INK, 335 Torrance Ave., Vestal, NY 13850 (607-748-1665; email: JWIRTH4702@AOL.COM). TERRY SIRK, 9770 Church Hill Rd., Mercersburg, PA 17236, CHRIS of OUTLAND OF OHIO (see address elsewhere), THE COMMAND POST, 20578 Alliance-Sebring Rd., Alliance, OH 44601 (330-821-5562; e-mail: CPOSTZV@aol.com), and PAUL TRAPANI, SOLDIERS PALETTE, 2298 McNeil Steep Hollow Rd., Poplarville, MS 3 9470 (60 1 795-2153) have done work for me in the past as well. All of these MWANers have provided me with quality service. You can write to them for prices. MWANer Fied Bultman of ROYAL OAK MINIATURES, 10 13 West 12 Mile Road, Royal Oak, MI 48073 (810-546-678 1) has been painting my wargames buildings for years and does a super job on everything he touches!
Well, this has turned out to be more of an overview of the period than of my project, and has been about as complete as I can do, given the fact that so much of my materials are packed away in the garage awaiting the move. I tired to give every piece of information I could about manufacturers, painters, rules, etc., as I could given the limitations. Hope you enjoyed it!
I would greatly enjoy such articles from other MWANers concerning periods they are concentrating on. Our hobby has grown far too much for us to be able to be aware of every item available for certain periods. If you are aware of additional materials for the FPW, please consider doing an article on it.
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© Copyright 2000 Hal Thinglum
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