Another conversion from Armand d'Arc. This time his fictional unit is a squadron (148 men) from the East Prussian Lancers-Militia, an unit loosely based upon the Landwehr or National cavalry regiments raised by the Prussians in 1813.
The Armand's unit is on Russian pay, and it is a painting conversion from the HäT 8006 Russian Cossack Cavalry set.
Enjoy his BIG squadrons!
A very fierce fighting is developing around Lindenau. The Austrian commander, General Gyulai, has chosen to mask the garrisoned villages located at the French flanks, and make directly for the French centre and the bridge.
The defending redoubts have been taken and lost several times, and the superior Austrian cavalry has routed and dispersed all the French cavalry units, French Dragoons 'd'Espagne' inclusive. At this moment, 15.00 hours, only the flanking villages and the area near the bridge remain in French hands, while several previously routed French units are returning to the fight. Gyulai has been left almost without infantry, but he can still recall the detached units.
A last effort and the fate of Napoleon's Grande Armee will be decided!
See the Scenario file and rules at the web site
Improbable Research is research that makes people laugh and then think.
Improbable Research is the name of an organization, that collect improbable research. They publish a magazine called the Annals of Improbable Research, and they are also the administer of the Ig Nobel Prizes. Their goal is to make people laugh, then make them think. They also want to spur the people's curiosity, and to raise the question: How do you decide what's important and what's not, and what's real and what's not — in science and everywhere else?
See the list of the 2008 Ig Nobel Prize Winners
NUTRITION PRIZE. Massimiliano Zampini of the University of Trento, Italy and Charles Spence of Oxford University, UK, for electronically modifying the sound of a potato chip to make the person chewing the chip believe it to be crisper and fresher than it really is.REFERENCE: "The Role of Auditory Cues in Modulating the Perceived Crispness and Staleness of Potato Chips," Massimiliano Zampini and Charles Spence, Journal of Sensory Studies, vol. 19, October 2004, pp. 347-63.
PEACE PRIZE. The Swiss Federal Ethics Committee on Non-Human Biotechnology (ECNH) and the citizens of Switzerland for adopting the legal principle that plants have dignity. REFERENCE: "The Dignity of Living Beings With Regard to Plants. Moral Consideration of Plants for Their Own Sake".
ARCHAEOLOGY PRIZE. Astolfo G. Mello Araujo and José Carlos Marcelino of Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil, for measuring how the course of history, or at least the contents of an archaeological dig site, can be scrambled by the actions of a live armadillo.REFERENCE: "The Role of Armadillos in the Movement of Archaeological Materials: An Experimental Approach," Astolfo G. Mello Araujo and José Carlos Marcelino, Geoarchaeology, vol. 18, no. 4, April 2003, pp. 433-60.
BIOLOGY PRIZE. Marie-Christine Cadiergues, Christel Joubert, and Michel Franc of Ecole Nationale Veterinaire de Toulouse, France for discovering that the fleas that live on a dog can jump higher than the fleas that live on a cat.REFERENCE: "A Comparison of Jump Performances of the Dog Flea, Ctenocephalides canis (Curtis, 1826) and the Cat Flea, Ctenocephalides felis felis (Bouche, 1835)," M.C. Cadiergues, C. Joubert, and M. Franc, Veterinary Parasitology, vol. 92, no. 3, October 1, 2000, pp. 239-41.
MEDICINE PRIZE. Dan Ariely of Duke University (USA), Rebecca L. Waber of MIT (USA), Baba Shiv of Stanford University (USA), and Ziv Carmon of INSEAD (Singapore) for demonstrating that high-priced fake medicine is more effective than low-priced fake medicine..REFERENCE: "Commercial Features of Placebo and Therapeutic Efficacy," Rebecca L. Waber; Baba Shiv; Ziv Carmon; Dan Ariely, Journal of the American Medical Association, March 5, 2008; 299: 1016-1017.
COGNITIVE SCIENCE PRIZE. Toshiyuki Nakagaki of Hokkaido University, Japan, Hiroyasu Yamada of Nagoya, Japan, Ryo Kobayashi of Hiroshima University, Atsushi Tero of Presto JST, Akio Ishiguro of Tohoku University, and Ágotá Tóth of the University of Szeged, Hungary, for discovering that slime molds can solve puzzles. REFERENCE: "Intelligence: Maze-Solving by an Amoeboid Organism," Toshiyuki Nakagaki, Hiroyasu Yamada, and Ágota Tóth, Nature, vol. 407, September 2000, p. 470.
ECONOMICS PRIZE. Geoffrey Miller, Joshua Tybur and Brent Jordan of the University of New Mexico, USA, for discovering that professional lap dancers earn higher tips when they are ovulating. REFERENCE: "Ovulatory Cycle Effects on Tip Earnings by Lap Dancers: Economic Evidence for Human Estrus?" Geoffrey Miller, Joshua M. Tybur, Brent D. Jordan, Evolution and Human Behavior, vol. 28, 2007, pp. 375-81.
PHYSICS PRIZE. Dorian Raymer of the Ocean Observatories Initiative at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, USA, and Douglas Smith of the University of California, San Diego, USA, for proving mathematically that heaps of string or hair or almost anything else will inevitably tangle themselves up in knots.REFERENCE: "Spontaneous Knotting of an Agitated String," Dorian M. Raymer and Douglas E. Smith, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 104, no. 42, October 16, 2007, pp. 16432-7.
CHEMISTRY PRIZE. Sharee A. Umpierre of the University of Puerto Rico, Joseph A. Hill of The Fertility Centers of New England (USA), Deborah J. Anderson of Boston University School of Medicine and Harvard Medical School (USA), for discovering that Coca-Cola is an effective spermicide, and to Chuang-Ye Hong of Taipei Medical University (Taiwan), C.C. Shieh, P. Wu, and B.N. Chiang (all of Taiwan) for discovering that it is not.REFERENCE: "Effect of 'Coke' on Sperm Motility," Sharee A. Umpierre, Joseph A. Hill, and Deborah J. Anderson, New England Journal of Medicine, 1985, vol. 313, no. 21, p. 1351.REFERENCE: "The Spermicidal Potency of Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola," C.Y. Hong, C.C. Shieh, P. Wu, and B.N. Chiang, Human Toxicology, vol. 6, no. 5, September 1987, pp. 395-6. [NOTE: THE JOURNAL LATER CHANGED ITS NAME. NOW CALLED "Human & experimental toxicology"]
LITERATURE PRIZE. David Sims of Cass Business School. London, UK, for his lovingly written study "You Bastard: A Narrative Exploration of the Experience of Indignation within Organizations."REFERENCE: "You Bastard: A Narrative Exploration of the Experience of Indignation within Organizations," David Sims, Organization Studies, vol. 26, no. 11, 2005, pp. 1625-40.
Follow them at Improbable Research
Lieut. General the Hon. Sir A. Wellesley, K.B., to Marshal Beresford. '
'My Dear Beresford,
'Lisbon, 23rd April, 1809.
' I arrived here yesterday, having had a passage of one week from Portsmouth. The fleet having on board my horses, the two regiments of heavy dragoons, and some horses for the artillery, sailed, I believe, on the day after I did, and may be expected in a day or two. The 24th foot may likewise be expected from Jersey, and likewise a brigade of light infantry from England, and a regiment of Hussars.
' The expectation of the immediate arrival of some of these troops, and the consideration of the various different arrangements to be made, and which can be made only here, in respect to transport, commissariat, staff, the defence of Lisbon and the Tagus, and eventually the defence of the eastern frontier, during the absence of the army to the northward, supposing it should be decided to undertake the expedition against Soult, will, I fear, detain me here for a few days; and it occurs to me that time will be saved, and much advantage will result from your being here. Accordingly I wish that you could make it convenient to yourself to come here as soon as possible.
' If, however, you should be of opinion that it would be inconvenient to the public service, on account of the state of discipline of the Portuguese troops, or for any other reason, that you should absent yourself from them ; or if the journey should be inconvenient to yourself, I request you not to come, and I must only delay deciding upon those points of the subject, on which it is advisable that I should have your opinion, till we meet.
' Believe me, &c. ' Marshal Beresford.' ' Arthur Wellesley.
' P.S. Pray let Cradock know if you should determine to come down.'
Lieut. General the Hon. Sir A. Wellesley, K.B., to Lieut. General Sir John Cradock, K.B.
' My Dear Cradock,
' Lisbon, 23rd April, 1809.
' Mr. Villiers will have informed you of my arrival here yesterday, and of the concurrence of my opinion with that which you appear to entertain in respect to the further movement to the northward.
I conclude you will have determined to halt the army at Leyria. I think that before any further steps are taken in respect to Soult, it would be desirable to consider the situation of Victor, how far he is enabled to make an attack upon Portugal, and the means of defence of the eastern frontier, while the British army shall be to the northward ; and eventually the means of the defence of Lisbon and the Tagus, in case this attack should be made upon this country.
' All these subjects must have been considered by you, and I fear in no very satisfactory point of view, as you appear to have moved to the northward unwillingly, and I should be glad to talk them over with you, in order to be able to consider some of them, and make various arrangements which can be made only here. I have asked Beresford also to come, if he should not deem his absence from the Portuguese troops in their present state likely to be disadvantageous to the Portuguese service, and I have desired him to let you know whether he will come or not.
It might possibly also be more agreeable and convenient to you to see me here than with the army, and if this should be the case, it would be a most desirable arrangement to meet you here; I beg, however, that you will consider this proposition only in a view to your own convenience and wishes. If you should come down, I should be much obliged to you if you would bring with you the Adjutant and Quarter Master Generals, the Chief Engineer, the Commanding Officer of Artillery, and the Commissary General.
' Believe me, &c. ' Lt. Gen. Sir John Cradock, K.B. ' ' Arthur Wellesley.
Taken from The dispatches of Field Marshall The Duke of Wellington. Vol.4. London 1835
The battle of Lindenau has started!. The French and Badeners are entrenched in Lindenau and Plagwitz covering the vital bridge, and the redoubts are furnished with light artillery whereas cavalry cover the approaches. The poor Arrighi is leading the defenders but is grumblimg about his status of general of cavalry, and awaits with impatience the announced arrival of reinforcements under General Bertrand. 
Meanwhile, the two Austrian flanking columns arrived without problems and are deploying in front of the redoubts. Several artillery rounds have been exchanged and some guns of both sides have been dismounted. The central column under the direct command of the Austrian C-i-C, General Gyulai, is now arriving with the cavalry of the Mensdorf's Streifcorps covering the Austrian Jagers against posible French cavalry attacks. 
The time is 10.45 a.m. and Bertrand has not arrived still.
Spanish version in/Versión española en ALKAID FORUM
The following text is the first post of this blog (April 16, 2007) two years ago:
"I play solo-wargames with 1/72 (20 mm) miniatures and the Napoleon's Battles (NB) rule-set. I have played battles for the Napoleon's campaigns of 1805, 1809, 1813, 1815 and the Peninsular.The 1813 autumn campaign in Germany (a.k.a the Campaign of Leipzig) is one of my favourites. After the French disaster at Russia, the breach between the tactical abilities of the French Army and its enemies practically disppeared. On the other hand, the Emperor's strategical genius was not the same than before, and the Allied commanders usually known the way to handle him (at the cost of some rebuffals such Lutzen, Bautzen or Dresden). All those considerations lead to both equilibrate campaigns and battles. Gone were the times of Austerlitz, Jena or even Wagram.
All those considerations are acknowledged in NB by lowering the French army statistics whereas the Allied ones are increased, so the flavour of the campaign is maintained. In the past I have played some of the battles of the Leipzig Campaign (see the PREVIOUS NB SCENARIOS' at right) with variable results that generally follow the real result. Now I want to replay, practically from scratch, the 1813 autumn campaign.
In this occasion I can use as an aid the boardgames 'Four Lost Battles' (FLB) and 'Napoleon at the Crossroads' (NAC) the last products of the Kevin Zucker's Operational Studies Group. FLB focusses on the battles of Gross-Beeren, Katzbach, Kulm and Dennewitz, four battles lost by the Napoleon's subordinates: Oudinot, Macdonald, Vandamme and Ney. NAC is more strategical in scope covering all the autumn Campaign beginning at the end of the August armistice.
I will use the previous Scenarios as a starting basis, modifying the OOB's when necessary, at the light of new bibligraphy, and adding the chance element (chance cards) following the FLB style. The chosen battles are initially the FLB: Gross-Beeren, Katzbach, Kulm and Dennewitz."
From then, only two significant event had taken place: the launching of one more napoleonic OSG games Habit of Victory - Napoleon's Campaign in Poland, 1807, and unfortunately (at least for the gamers community) the closing of Kevin Zucker's Operational Studies Group. The cited game, incorporated some new game mechanisms, game cards, that could be very helping in the solo-simulation of napoleonic conflicts, and that are worth exploring.
Thanks to all known and unknown readers of this blog for their support!
The rest of the light infantry contingent of the Austrian Army, the Jägers, are at last ready for the fighting in Lindenau. There are not 1/72 plastic figures depicting these men, so I have used the more similar alternative: HäT 8008 Napoleonic Brunswick Avante Garde, with their characteristic corsican hats.
See the full history at the main web-site: Austrian Light Infantry
Bavarians from Argentina, ready to fight in the fictional Afrincan colonial campaign of my friend Armand d'Arc
Note the camp fire scene at left with the spit-roasted pig and the man with the teapot!
To see all the Armand's amazing painting job, search the label Armand d'Arc
This sweet song is the present musical theme that History Channel uses, at least in Spain and Portugal, to display the historical events that occurred during the month in course. The song, A Certain Romance in Kowloon Tong, has been echoing in my head during months, until I found it in internet. The authors are My Little Airport, a Hong Kong's boy/girl indie pop duo, that makes gentle twee music in English and Cantonese, and it is sung mainly in Cantonese, but including a titillating Chinglish refrain.
I have finished the painting of the Austrian Grenzer for the battle of Lindenau. All the figures are from HäT, the new 8204 Austrian Grenzer, kindly supplied by Harris (the man behind HäT) and the old 8027 Austrian "normal" infantry.
See the full history at the main web-site: Austrian Light Infantry
Croebern-1813 is an ambitious Project run by three german entusiasts: Dirk Tietten, Niels Rullkötter and Wolfgang Meyer.
They are making a very big diorama of the Cröbern area, during the first day of the battle of Leipzig (October 16, 1813) around 16.00 o'clock. Using 1/72 scale buildings, scenery and figures, the representation of the village of Cröbern will cover, when finished, approximately 14 square meters. The goal is to represent a frozen vision of the village and the surrounding area, so many individual scenes and vignettes are simultaneously shown, with an incredible realism.
The web site Croebern 1813, regularly updated, follows the progress of the diorama construction, showing the planning, the research and many useful tricks about scenary making. A web-based shop allows the purchase of several items, such as CD's with pictures of the progress of the diorama, grass mats, model trees, hedges, buildings, etc. 
A must for any fan of military modelling!
The Austrian OOB shown in a previous post (see below) was true only on the paper. In the actual battle, Gyulai divided his command in three 'ad-hoc' columns.
The flanking columns were mainly composed from light infantry (Grenzer and Jagers), some battalions of line infantry and a small number of light guns, and would attack Lindenau from Leutzsch and Klein-Zschocheranu (B5 and B1 respectively in the attached table-top map) . On the contrary, the central column, including the remaining infantry, the heavy batteries and the cavaly, would attack directly Lindenau and the earthworks (A4).
Gyulai spread the light units of the attached Liechtenstein's 1st Light Division amongst the three columns, and assigned the command of the left and right columns respectively to Generals Hessen-Homburg (commander of 3rd division of his own III corps) and Czollich (commander of the 1st brigade of the 3rd division), while maintaining the control of the central main body. In addition, the Austrian C-i-C made several detachment to cover his flanks, so the actual force used in the attack amounted only to 20,000 men.
The Napoleon's Battles scenario for Lindenau includes three variations: (1) The 'non-historical easier way' using complete brigade and divisions of the original OOB and whitout detachments, (2) the 'semi-historical way' similar to the previous but using detachments and (3) 'the historical way' identical to the actual used by the Austrian general. Moreover, in order to increase the Gyulai's chances, there is also the possibility of 'calling the reinforcements'.
More information int the main web-site Battle of Lindenau (1813)
Voyna i Mir (War and Peace) is a Russian film from 1968, based on the eponymous book by Leo Tolstoy, and directed by Sergei Bondarchuk.
The Battle of Borodino scene included 120,000 soldiers, making it one of the largest battle scenes ever filmed. Many museums in the old USSR contributed artifacts for the production design, making it one of the most elaborate films ever created. The film was made with the complete cooperation of the Soviet Army, which is how they managed to get as many extras into the war scenes as they did.
Extracted from Torrent Reactor page
Enjoy the first of the four Youtube videos referring to Borodino:
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