Retreat From Moscow

A few Poles from the Duchy of Warsaw to join their French allies on the trudge through the harsh winter.

These models are by Murawski Miniatures, and are sculpted by Paul Hicks. Murawski have a great range of Napoleonic Poles, both Duchy of Warsaw and Vistula Legion, and I couldn’t resist picking up a few to after seeing their retreat from Moscow models. They aren’t quite as dishevelled as the Perry range, which is somewhat suitable. Although they suffered horrendous casualties, the Duchy of Warsaw managed to retain all their colours and guns during the retreat from Russia.

This group contains an officer to lead my stragglers, a Grenadier and Voltigeur, plus a number of Fusiliers to give a few options to mix with my French for the Silver Bayonet. They’ll probably also form the core of expanding the historical side of this project.

Three scythe spectres by CP Models. I really like the versatility of these models, as they could be used as cultists, or maybe demons in addition to ghosts depending on requirements.

Super fast to paint, although I could have gone for brighter highlights. I decided green would be a suitable colour for the robes. In the midst if a snow storm, the French see some movement ahead, a flash of green colour. “Russian infantry ahead!” They prepare their muskets for a mortal foe, but something far more terrifying stalks them in the blizzard.

I’ve no idea whether the Silver Bayonet will feature zombies, but I couldn’t resist the idea of kitbashing a few together. These were made using a couple of sprues of Perry French Napoleonic infantry mixed with arms and heads from plastic WW2 German zombies by Studio Miniatures, and the odd bit of green stuff and a spare Viking axe.

Few little mistakes with the build, mismatching the bodies and backpacks with the French, so a couple of models are sporting dual water canteens and/or bayonets. Lesson learnt to pay more attention when building multipart plastics.

However, I’m pretty happy with the end result. Regardless of whether there’s any zombies within the rules, these might make suitable proxies for something else, or I’ll pencil up some suitable stats.

Since the Grand Armee suffered a huge rate of attrition on the way to Moscow thanks to desertion,  hunger, illness and disease, not to mention the odd battle, it seemed suitable for the dead to be in summer uniform rather than winter greatcoats. By the time Napoleon finally decided his position in Moscow was untenable, the Russians had moved to block his escape, and forced the French to retreat back along his line of previous advance. The land had already been stripped of supplies during the advance, making the retreat even more dismal. I imagine these zombies are some of those that perished on the advance, stumbling into the path of the stragglers to add to the horror of the retreat.

So I’ve completed the first models that will form the core of my French warband. No idea how compatible they will be with the troop choices in a Silver Bayonet, but I’m certain that they’ll at least be a good starting point.

These will also serve for other low model count Napoleonic skirmish games (Forager, 5km from Leipzig), and if I continue to increase their numbers, games like Sharpe Practice.

Time to start working on some foes for them face.

Four infantry in varying degrees of shabby clothing. More very characterful sculpts by the Perrys.

Four more dismounted cavalry. The dragoon and chasseur à cheval are good examples of how you don’t need much knowledge of uniforms when tackling these models, as bar helmets, there’s just greatcoats and cloaks.

Napoleon’s Russian adventure had a drastic impact on his cavalry strength, with huge losses of both horses and men that were difficult to replace for the campaigns of 1813 and 1814. Whilst infantry can be relatively easily formed by conscription and handing out muskets, cavalry troopers require a degree of training and experience, not to mention the time required to source and train suitable mounts. The severe reduction in the French cavalry meant they were often on the backfoot after 1812, unable to outscout the allies or mask their own armies movements.

Future problems for these four though; first they have to survive the march home from Moscow, battling the freezing temperatures, pursuing Russians and whatever else might be hunting them through the wilds.

The first model of these three is a Carabinier facing off with a pair of pistols. This model in particular really hooked my imagination with respects to how this Retreat to Moscow range seemed suited for the Silver Bayonet. He definitely looks like he’d fit into a band of irregular monster hunters.

The other two demonstrate the variety in colours that are historically appropriate, yet a long way from the traditional uniform appearance of a Napoleonic force.

First model for this project was a quick test to try out how I wanted to base the models. I went for an Old Guard Grenadier, partly because the uniform is very easy to find reference for, partly because I like the figure a lot. This model by the Perrys is clearly based on Faber du Faur’s work too.

Pretty happy with how the base turned out. I used Vallejo’s Dark Earth Texture followed by a light brush brush of Vallejo’s Off-White, and then added some Battlefield Snow by Army Painter.