I'm most likely never going to meet an opponent for this game, but would like to paint up some troops anyway. I'm going to paint up some Avant-Garde troops as I have a weakness for Grenzers and white uniforms.
What would be the most interesting French or French Allied force to create to oppose them?
thanks for any input!
1809 Saxons? Historical opponent, some of the best cavalry around.
Rusti,
There are a number of ways to look at this, but I'd ask you to think about whether you have a favourite campaign which the Austrians participated in (Revolutionary or Napoleonic). I'll just list a couple examples so you get the idea that it probably doesn't matter as long as you have the right painting reference material!
1805
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The Austrian Avante-Garde fought defensively against the French in a number of rear guard actions, both in Italy and in Austria. I'd suggest your French attacker would likely be a combination of French light cavalry/leger troops advancing in front of main French columns.
Alternatively, there was a couple skirmishes between advancing Austrians and a Bavarian force on the north perimeter of the 1805 campaign. The Bavarian force was mostly line infantry, supported by a light battalion (4 line for 1 light average ratio), supported by a couple regiments of chevaux-leger or 1 chevaux-leger and 1 dragoon regiment.
1809
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The Austrian Avante-Garde invaded Bavaria in early April and encountered Bavarian rear guard forces that slowed the Austrian advance. A prime example of this occurs around Altdorf, but there are a number of examples. The composition of the Bavarian force is similar to the one I described in the 1805 summary except more Bavarians were engaged on a regular basis. There was also a limited engagement against the Poles prior to and following Raszyn - but the level of minor skirmishing was minimal to justify buying Polish troops (they do look great though).
Alternatively, once Napoleon arrived and the campaign initiative belonged to the French, Radetzky's avante-garde operated as a rear guard (one example of a few). The Austrian avante-gardes in this case faced a number of different opponents including Wurttemberg light infantry/light cavalry, French cuirassiers, a variety of French light troops. You name it.
1814
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Schwarzenberg's hauptarmee advanced slowly along the upper Rhine and engaged Augereau's French troops at Mâcon, Saint-Georges-de-Reneins and Limonest on the way to Lyon. The subtle difference in 1814 (and 1813) is you'll see more French conscripts dressed poorly, some such as the Marie-Louise's were lucky to have a greatcoat and shako.
Summary
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You can paint and field whatever you like. If you are looking for troops that are "more commonly" used for this sort of engagement, I'd recommend sticking with French or Bavarian troops - mixture of infantry, light cavalry and a battery would be a great start. In campaign dress you could argue that no plumes are on the shako, shako covers are in use for protection against rain and you'll have very, very few reasons to paint French light versus line troops - generic French would also do in the greatcoats. If you prefer a splashier uniform then acquire some French line and leger and use them both. Think long term - statistically your French troops would be like the Romans and WWII Germans - they fought a lot, on a lot of different fronts, so your figures will be used more often in "historical" simulations that perhaps a satrap ally who contributes on secondary fronts for a small portion of a campaign.
Respectfully,
Michael
By "best" opponent, do you mean, "most likely to get reliably and routinely beaten by..." (nudge, wink.)
The Austrian A.G. is my favorite list in Lasalle. We did many playtests with it. Perhaps the most interesting was when it in a Defensive role (not its typical role) against a French Peninsular list. The French player eschewed any and all cavalry options, relying instead on the single understrength Dragoon unit that comes with the French Peninsular core list. Instead, he took a whopping big Conscript infantry brigade in support. Thus the French plowed forward with no fewer than 13 (!) infantry battalions, toward the Thin White (well, sort of greyish-brown, given all those Grenzers) Line.
To make matters more odd, we'd rolled up "Rain & Mud" for the weather condition. Initially, we thought: that saved the Austrians' bacon, by slowing down that mob of French, and giving us more time for our Reserve Cavalry to show up and bail us out. But then when the cavalry did arrive we realized: it slows the cavalry down even more!
In the end it was a narrow Austrian victory. The French simply didn't have enough time to bring all those numbers to bear. When they finally did get their act together, they bent back, and then crumpled the Austrian right. Had the weather been better, they probably would have won.
Thanks for the great responses guys! Especially you Michael, a great response. Basically I'm looking for an interesting and re playable force as these are likely to take the brunt of my Lasalle playing.
I'm coming from next to no prior knowledge of nappy's, unless you count listening to 50+ hours of the Napoleon podcast. (which I highly recommend to anyone)
Napoleon podcast?
http://napoleon.thepodcastnetwork.com/category/podcast/
I started it this summer and then listened to all the back episodes, fantastic stuff.
Cool, I'll have to work my way through it now too. :)
I listened to one of the episodes last night. What a great program.
Interesting program, though I would rather Dr. Markham stick to history rather than sneaking in the occasional political commentary...some of his "tactical" details seemed to be flawed as well....ex: in his Waterloo podcast he mentions that standard cavalry tatcics to break squares were for cavalry to close in at point blank range and fire pistols???
He is very interesting to listen to...nothing else like it out there for Napoleonic fans...
[ though I would rather Dr. Markham stick to history rather than sneaking in the occasional political commentary...]
That's been my feeling (and many others' feeling) about him for years. Although it's usually 200-year-old political commentary, not current, when I've seen him talk: he's a pretty enthusiastic Bonapartist.
It does make for some fireworks at academic conferences, though.
Does he wargame?
Not to my knowledge.
I read an account of the Battle of Nations and was interested in the defection of the Saxon army from the French to the Allied side. I think a Saxon army would be a great choice because you could fight anyone. Pre-Leipzig or post?
I also was impressed with the description of the heroism of Poniatowsky's Poles. Do the rules accommodate close-action street fighting, even house-to-house fighting with fixed bayonet?
Forgive my very amateurish historical knowledge. I have a lot to learn.
Yes, the rules include urban fighting.
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