A game in the making - The Austrian army at Cloppenhammer.

The Austrian army at Cloppenhammer - 1809

In some respects writing the Austrian army orbat is more interesting than the French. There is a greater mix of unit types, troop quality and formation size too. It may not have the varying Nationalities of allies but one can still chuck Hungarians in their blue trousers and border troops too.
The job isn't made any easier as I'm not entirely sure of the exact composition of our collection - sadly it's in isolation therefore beyond my reach! So, there may be a few extra units of line to play with, if so these can be spread about the brigades, possibly beefing up the two Advance Guard brigades? 

This post is also littered with pictures from our Austrian 28mm collection so there's something to look at too. These aren't new shots as I can't get to the models at the moment, it's something anyway.

Austrian 12lb foot battery. Elite Miniatures painted by Peter Morbey (of Elite Minis).

Austrian heavy cavalry staff. Elite Miniatures painted by Tony Laughton.
The guy on the right is actually on a Front Rank horse.

The Austrian army looks like this...

C-in-C - A semi competent Royal, name TBC... 

1st Corps -

1st Division -

Advance Guard brigade - 1 x 48 Grenz, 1 x 32 Jaeger, 1 x 24 Hussars

1st Brigade - 4 x 48 line, 2 x 32 LDW, 6lb foot battery

2nd Division - 

2nd Brigade - 4 x 48 line, 1 x 32 LDW, 6lb foot battery

3rd Brigade - 4 x 48 line, 1 x 32 LDW,  6lb foot battery

Corps Assets -

Cavalry Brigade - 2 x 32 Chevau legere

Artillery - 1 x 12lb foot battery.

2nd Corps -

1st Division - 

Advance Guard Brigade - 1 x 48 Grenz, 2 x 32 Jaeger, 1 x 24 Hussars

1st Brigade - 4 x 28 line, 1 x 32 LDW, 1 x 6lb foot battery

2nd Division - 

2nd Brigade - 4 x 48 line, 1 x 32 LDW, 1 x 6lb foot battery  

3rd Brigade - 4 x 48 line, 1 x 32 LDW, 1 x 6lb foot battery  

Corps Assets - 

Cavalry Brigade - 2 x 32 Chevau legere

Artillery - 1 x 12lb foot battery.

Army Reserve - 

Infantry Division -

Grenadier brigade - 5 x 36 Grenadiers

Grenadier brigade - 5 x 36 Grenadiers

Heavy Cavalry Division -

Heavy cavalry brigade - 3 x 32 Cuirassiers

Heavy cavalry brigade - 3 x 32 Cuirassiers

Cavalry Division -

Light cavalry brigade - 2 x 32 Uhlans, 1 x 32 Hussars

Cavalry brigade - 3 x 32 Dragoons

Assets - 4 x 6lb foot batteries

Once again a fairly tasty army with plenty of variety and hitting power. The big line battalions are very resilient and can dish out some pain. The Advance Guard formations add a bit of flavour and flexibility to each Corps with local cavalry presence.

Note: that Corps 1 & 2 each have a 12lb foot battery as an asset to be used as the General sees fit. This more than makes up for the Advance Guard not having attached artillery, at this stage anyway.

The army reserve is not on par with the Old Guard but still a serious asset and well resourced. 

Austrian jaeger moving through broken ground.
Wargames Foundry models painted in China via ebay. 

Austrian jaeger take pot shots at Frenchies from cover.

Below - Austrian infantry march to the front through countryside in spring... pretty!

Landwehr battalion on the march. Victrix models painted by Barry Hill.
GMB flags.

A beefy 48 strong German line battalion in helmets moves up.
Victrix again, Barry Hill's painting skills and GMB flag as usual.
Snapdragon hedgerow.

The Austrian army begins to deploy for battle - Grim times ahead.

I have a feeling it's my turn to play the Austrians next and I think I am running them solo against Chris & Tony. That means this army is probably what I'll be using. This will require me to wear four hats, one as C-in-C and two as Corps commanders, one as Reserve comander - therein we begin to see the fog of war and lack of effective command structure in comparison to the French Emperor's Head Quarters system.  

I am the problem here!   

Austrian & Hungarian grenadiers in reserve, there are ten battalions of these in the 10mm Austrian army.
Victrix with possibly some Front Rank command figures.
Once again painting by Barry Hill, flags GMB. 

Austrian Uhlans seek out a soft & juicy target.
The lead regiment is Elite Miniatures the rearmost is Wargames Foundry, both by Tony Laughton.

Hungarian Grenz in two lines - each 48 strong. Elite minis painted by Blue Turkey tarted up by me! 

I love this vignette! Various manufacturers; Front Rank enthusiast on rearing horse; Elite minis Grenzers; Warlord falling French officer; "Les monsieurs morte" are Perry plastics. Based by me & Chris - Teamwork man! 

Austrian battalions trudging through a deserted town to a date with destiny at Cloppenhammer - Epic stuff indeed!

Next I need to ponder how these two armies will approach each other on my new spangly map. We may be able to do this in isolation if I'm especially inventive - who knows?

While I ponder I'm basing up some French 10mm units which I will reveal in a subsequent post - Yay shiny new toys for the meat grinder...

Stay safe out there, very best wishes,

Jeremy