Battle of Cascina dei Santi

Alex and I decided to get together for a game and we decided to give Field of Battle 3. Originally I had planned to pull my 10mm Crimean War figures out but realized that I hadn't painted any Ottoman artillery and that would be problematic for a proper game.

I opted instead to try out my 6mm stuff for the Franco Austrian War of 1859 (or second war of Italian Independence). I had just enough to give us a small game with three brigades a side. 

 (Left: Overview with French on left and Austrians on right)

The scenario centered around an Austrian delaying force under Field Marshal Montenuouvo trying to slow the advance of the French as the remainder of the Austrian force retreated to the safety provided by fortresses of the Quadrilateral. 

For the French commander, General LaMotte-Rouge, the French objectives were to 1) drive the Austrians forces from two farmsteads and 2) push the Austrians from the field of battle. To accomplish this, the French had two brigades of infantry (one of line and the other comprised of zouaves and foreign legion) with artillery attachments and a small brigade of cavalry. 

The Austrians began the game with two brigades of infantry with supporting artillery and on turn 5 would get a small cavalry reserve led by General Zichy on the table. 

 (Left: Austrian jagers deployed in San Matteo)

I assumed command of the Austrians and devoted one brigade (Brigade Hodlitz, pictured above) to the responsibility of the roadside farmstead Cascina San Matteo in the center and the left flank. San Matteo was defended by an elite battalion of jagers with three line battalions and an artillery battery in support. 

 (Left: San Martini with Austrian defenders)

The other brigade (Brigade Reznicek, above) was assigned to secure the hilltop farmstead Cascina San Martini on the right. Jagers screened in front of San Martini with a battalion of line fortified within the walls of the farm. Two other line battalions and artillery provided support. 

Alex assigned the 2eme Brigade, under General Castagny (above), comprised of zouaves and foreign legion to advance upon San Matteo while General Lefevre's 1eme Brigade and the General Villaine's cavalry moved towards San Martini (below). 

It didn't take long for me to realize the dice gods weren't in my favor when my first 3 die rolls were ones and the fourth roll was a two. That trend of poor Austrian rolls would continue for the remainder of the game. 

2eme Brigade advanced slowly through the vineyard rows towards San Matteo while the cavalry had some great movement rolls that saw them bolt forward and threaten the Austrian right flank and rear. The Austrian defenders of San Martini unloaded an enfilade volley into the flank of the French cavalry only to see their  efforts produce no casualties (below). 

I moved an uncommitted infantry battalion in march column from Brigade Reznicek through a valley between two hills in my rear in an attempt to block the threatening French cavalry. Unfortunately, bad rolls and card draws doomed them to inactivity and doom. 

1eme Brigade advanced uphill (above), brushed off an ineffective volley from the jagers screening San Martini and routed the "elite" Austrian light infantry who fled into the same valley as the Austrian battalion trying to march to meet the French cavalry (below). 

Meanwhile, things weren't much better on the Austrian left flank an infantry battalion Brigade Hodlitz routed from French rifled artillery fire (above). 

Back on the Austrian right, the French assaulted San Martini and forced the Austrian infantry to fall back from the farmstead. They joined the mass of panicked and confused infantry in the valley to the rear (above).

On the left, Austrian artillery from Brigade Hodlitz finally struck home and caused casualties to a French zouave battalion, forcing them to route. Unfortunately for Field Marshal Montenuouvo, another zouave battalion for the better of a firefight with the jagers in San Matteo and drove them out of the buildings (above). 

At this point things were looking fire for the Austrians but reinforcements arrived in the form of a light cavalry brigade. Sadly, they wouldn't get a chance to make an impact on the battle. 

The next roll for initiative saw the French win by 8, allowing them to draw at least 8 cards before the Austrians would be able to counter. Alex finally got the cards to allow his cavalry to change formation and charge into the panicked Austrian infantry masses in the valley to the rear (below). 

Two disadvantaged Austrian infantry battalions (one in March column and one in rout) were destroyed by the French cavalry by this point, the Austrians were left with zero Army Morale Points and would need to roll for break on the next Army Morale card they drew. 

Finally, it was the Austrian turn to try and stabilize the quickly disintegrating situation. On the first of the eight cards to be drawn, the Austrians turned over the Army Morale card (above) and promptly rolled a 1. With that, the Austrian army retired from the field, having been driven from both San Matteo and San Martini. It was a smashing victory for Alex's French.

I rolled poorly and drew the wrong cards from my army deck at the most critical moments. I don't think that was the reason for the Austrian defeat; Alex was aggressive and took advantage of Austrian malaise. 

Despite the thrashing, I really enjoyed the game. It felt (and looked) like a battle from the 1859 campaign. Alex and I forgot some of the rules but that's only natural when you haven't played a ruleset in over three years. We both agreed out next battle of FOB3 would have to happen sooner than the last time. 

1859 French

After tackling the Austrians for the 1859 war and putting a dent in that lead pile, I turned my attention to some French.

I painted up five battalions of line and I was pleased with the results but I had some issues with the matte varnish. I sprayed them on a very hot and humid day and the varnish dried leaving the clear coat more milky and white. I sprayed them with more gloss varnish and reapplied some matte but it wasn't entirely successful. At some point I will spray them with gloss and then matte to try and rectify the splotchy varnish coat. Below is a small sampling.

Here are some zouaves below. I painted two battalions in formed line and I must say these sculpts were both enjoyable and easy to paint.

And now a battalion of skirmishing zouaves. I plan to use Field of Battle 3 for these armies, some troop types can form skirmish formation but I can't recall if the zouaves are one of them. The Chasseurs a Pied can but I haven't painted any of those yet.

Speaking of Chasseurs, ypou will find below some that are "a Cheval". Cavalry didn't feature heavily in the Solferino campaign and I believe both the Austrians and French used primarily light horse (chasseurs, hussars, uhlans, etc.) and my armies will represent that. I went with a brighter green than how they are normally depicted however I always like to go brighter in 6mm.

And now some hussars. I have to admit something...I don't think these uniforms are accurate for 1859. According to the Casali campaign booklet, the only hussar unit with light blue uniforms would have been the 8th regiment but Casali lists their trousers and cuffs as white. I have seen several examples of painted miniatures online showing the 8th wearing red trousers for 1859 so who knows. Perhaps the red was more of an 1870 thing, I am not sure but since this army will also do double duty for the Franco-Prussian War, I'm not too concerned...they are French hussars regardless.

Here is a battery of cannon. I really have to cram the crews on so that they fit the bases. In Firld of Battle, a battery is depicted with two bases of guns (so that you can point one gun in reverse to reflect they are limbered). I have two batteries thus far and will probably paint up at least two more batteries.

And here are some French commanders. I like the little fellow who is holding his shako (or is that a kepi?), add some character. I will paint up a total of four or five command bases.

Thus far, I have finished 8 infantry battalions, 2 cavalry regiments, e artillery batteries and 3 command bases. I suppose I am about halfway done for the French and about the same for the Austrians. It will be nice to finish up these armies and get them on the tabletop. At some point I will pain the French heavy cavalry I have but that isn't a priority at this point.

1859 and such...

The hobby projects for 2026 have been dominated by tackling abandoned projects. As previously mentioned, many years ago I purchased 6mm armies for the 1859 Franco Austrian War. I had even managed to paint a battalion of Austrian infantry and an Uhlan regiment. 

Putting my 17th century Polish further on the back burner, I found myself painting up my Austrians for 1859. In a week's time I had finished 5 more battalions and of Austrian infantry and beefed up my Uhlan regiment (from 8 figures to 12 figures) to look more impressive. The second week saw me paint up two artillery batteries, some generals, hussar regiment, jager battalion and salvage a half-painted and very battered infantry regiment that had lingered on my messy painting table for years.

Pictured above are the finished results: 7 infantry battalions, jager battalion, 2 light cavalry regiments, 2 batteries and 3 command stands. I'm pleased with the results. I didn't necessarily "speed paint" these figures but I did paint them in an efficient, assembly line process. I ordered some reinforcements for the Austrians although I still have some more jager, skirmishers, cavalry and artillery to paint from the original army set. Ideally id like to paint up 3-4 brigades of infantry (12-16 battalions of line, 3-4 jager battalions, 3-4 artillery batteries) and some additional cavalry and artillery. 

This is what an Austrian Brigade will look like: 4 infantry battalions, cavalry regiment, an artillery battery and a battalion of jagers with a Brigade command base.

Closeup of the infantry (from the rear). I always like the look of the Austrian uniforms with the white coats and blue pants.

Here are some pictures of the salvaged line infantry that had been lingering on my hobby table for years. They were battered with chipped paint and some of the figures on the strips had broken bayonets so I clipped them off and replaced them with intact sculpts. I had run out of line infantry so I made this command stand a little different with the mounted commander urging the infantry on.

Austrian Jagers. I decided to make the feathers on their hats more green than black for a nice color pop (I think they were actually black with a green iridescence). I placed 5 figures per base to give the impression of dense swarms of skirmishers. 

The Baccus army pack also includes a number of line infantry skirmishing. I will paint them as grenz although I have read that the grenz were no longer irregular skirmishing infantry by 1859 and were converted to line infantry. Reading through orders of battle, it seems some Austrian infantry brigades have a grenz battalion attached in lieu of jagers so I am thinking they may have still acted as light infantry in some capacity. 

Austrian artillery with dapper dressed crews in their chocolate brown tunics. It was a tight squeeze to get all the crewman to fit on the base with the gun. 

The beefed up uhlans. If you notice, the bases on these fellas are a bit lighter. I accidentally painted them with Teddy Bear Tan instead of Coffee Latte. 

Vibrant and colorful hussars. I believe this is the 10th Hussars, they have "grass green" shako covers which give a nice look. Basing for these figures is fairly simple. 3mm thick bases (20mm squares with 3mm rounded corners from Litko), fine sand affixed by glue painted with "coffee latte" brown craft paint, drybrushed and some medum green turf added.

Command stands. The ones with two figures will be brigade commanders. For the army commander, I will probably add a few figures and maybe use a 30mm base. 

I have a few more jager, grenz, dragoons and artillery to paint up. Once these last few bits of the Austrians are done, I will likely move over to painting up the French opposition while I await additional Austrians to add to the army. I also have 1866 Austrians, Piedmontese and Prussian...I will probably hold off on tackling these once the French and Austrians are complete. I still need to finish up those 17th century Poles....

The Wandering Eye and Forgotten Solferino

At the moment, I'm painting up some mid/late 17th century Polish for the wars of the Deluge because that was what I was working on before tackling my Spanish Civil War factions. In the near future, I anticipate some posts featuring Polish Winged hussars, axe-wielding musketeers and other fun stuff. 

While I grind through these Poles, my wandering eye looks to the next project. 

Rather than spend money on new figures, I want to pursue an abandoned project (and I have many). I was sorting through my storage and came upon this parcel below. 

It's an unopened package from Peter Berry and Baccus from August, 2021 (I removed my address on the shipping label). That was at the tail end of the Covid-19 lockdowns and I believe I placed an order for some figures for the Franco-Austrian War of 1859. 

I have a second unopened parcel of similar size, also from Baccus, that was ordered around 2023. I think that may also be French and Austrians or perhaps some Prussians. 

As I recall I had previously ordered some Austrians and painted up a few units. The plan was to use some quick-play big battle ruleset I found online if memory serves me correctly. 

Pictured above are some of the finished infantry. They are based on small 20mm squares. Looking at the paint job, they look a bit dull...I may have to touch them up a bit to make them pop a bit more. Below are the Uhlans, I think I stopped before finishing the basing because I decided I would place three sculpts to a base instead of the two you see here. 

The uhlans also look a bit dull and muted and will need some touch-up. It was around this time that I abandoned the project. There are still some battered and bruised, partially painted Austrian infantry that have been on my cluttered paint desk for years.  A few lost bayonets as they were pushed to side or another for other projects. These battered 6mm warriors are a reminder of my project failure.

My thought is that I will pursue this project in the near future. I will stick to the 20mm bases and use my preferred ruleset for the 19th century: Field of Battle 3. Of course, as I was looking at those half painted Austrians on my painting table I saw some half painted Fenians which reminded me that I likely need to finish that project first. Of course, a part of me wants to keep those two parcels intact and unopened...not sure why.

Ottoman Update

I have a whole heap of Crimean War Ottomans primed but I've been diverted with other projects. I did manage to paint up an Ottoman dragoon unit. According to the Flaherty book, the Ottoman dragoons had some interesting colored tunics (light brown, purple, light blue, etc). I went with purple because you don't often get to paint purple uniforms. I think the color helps break up the blue masses of infantry. 

The Magister Militum Ottoman sculpts aren't their best work. They aren't bad but a bit undersized. 

They probably won't have much success on the tabletop but they will look very smart prancing around. 

The command stand with a very large Ottoman banner. I have another dragoon unit on the painting table, the regular cavalry will be supplemented by some irregular bashi bazouks. 

And some Ottoman higher command. The base will be the senior commander and the single bases will be brigade commanders. 

 

10mm Crimean

In the midst of working on the 15mm Krapistan project and the 10mm Risorgimento project, I decided to veer way off course and start a 10mm Crimean War project! I had already accumulated a good bulk of the figures years before so I was able to start on a whim. For the Crimean War endeavor, I decided I was going to skip some of the details and try new painting methods to speed up the process. A few months in (with lots of pauses due to real life taskings), I have 5 infantry battalions, 2 cavalry regiments, 3 artillery batteries and some mounted generals. 

Here are two of the infantry regiments in attack column.  The figures are Magister Militum and these particular units are wearing the forage cap.

Close-up of an infantry battalion in attack column. Magister Militum gives options of great coats worn long or hitched as well as forage cap or spiked helmet. Since there is only one pose per option, its appreciated to break things up a bit. 

Some of the mounted commanders. I painted what should probably be sword knots as sashes showing the generals as members of Orders of St. Anne and St. Andrew.

Close-up of a battalion wearing spiked helmets. As mentioned, I cut some corners to paint quicker. I primed the figures in either Vallejo English Uniform or GW Zandari Dust, from there I drybrushed them with the base color mixed with Vallejo Bone White. No additional highlights were done to the infantry. After base-painting, I inked to show some depth.

Two of the artillery batteries, one in forage cap and one in spiked helmets. I have 3 batteries and may need to order some more. I used GW Contrast paints to paint the green of the artillery pieces.

Some Don Cossacks up close. Another way to speed up painting was the use of Contrast paints for the horses. I did give the riders, blankets and such some quick highlights. The flag is from Maverick Models (as are all of the rest shown in the photos).

Some Russian Hussars (Mariupol I think) in greatcoat, I really like the look of these guys. The blue and yellow contrasts nicely with the muted khaki of the coats. I thought they would be fairly easy to paint with the overcoats but that didn't seem to be the case. 

I should add that they are based for Field of Battle on 30mm square bases. I'm hoping to get around 9-10 infantry battalions and about 4 cavalry regiments with a healthy dose of artillery. The plan is to paint up a Turkish army to face off against them and ultimately paint up a British army. The photos weren't the best as lighting conditions weren't ideal, hopefully I can take some better ones in the near future.