More Highlanders (from Marco)

Marco from Arezzo sent this morning some pics of his new Highlander squad (a lot of Brits recently....). It is composed by an Officer, a Piper, 5 Highlanders and a Dragoon. Above the Officer..
The Dragoon from the Scots Greys.
And this is the full 404 points squad. Very nice job Marco (as usual, nice "standing" grass :)

The Old Guard is here!

The second Squad sent by Marco is his French Old Guard.
It is a super-Elite squad with the addition of a Dragoon (just 5 models!).
Here it is....
It is composed by an NCO, 3 Guardsmen and a Dragoon , for total cost of 401 points. Marco chose not to deploy an Officer (legal) counting on the Q2 of the Old Grognards....

Voilà the 3 Old Guard: Q2 C4 Musket, Fear

3 tanks on the battlefield (for 93 points each).

The NCO follows...




And finally the Dragoon, a mounted guest in this squad.
Good job Marco, and thank you for sharing!

A French squad from Marco

Marco sent some pictures of a couple of his french squads. I'm very happy to post the first one of them here.

Here we go: a mixed Garde National + Cavalry + Line Infantry, with Officer, Drummer and Standard Bearer.

The full Squad...


The Command Group: Marco uses 2cm. square bases for his squads, with an excellent flocking on them (I always envy him for the way his grass stands upright, while mine goes down helplessly...).





And the 6 National Guards (I guess they are Perry plastics) that Marco uses as a "cannon fodder". 2 of these guys cost less than a "normal" infantryman, but they still have a musket!

My new Russian Squad

Not yet finished painting, but my rebjata wanted to fight yesterday :)

1 Officer, 1 NCO, 1 Standard Bearer, 1 Drummer, 5 Line Infantrymen, 1 Conscript infantry, 1 Pavlov (Elite Grenadier 58 points) Total: 400 points

I played against a "classic" Bavarian Schuetzen Squad of 8 figures, (see pic) all armed with Rifles. The beginning of the game was terrible for my boys: being fired upon (aimed shots) from 2Long range, I lost 2 soldiers after the first enemy fire (and 1 went down) and 2 other after a while. I was desperately trying to close but the Schuetzen did their job very well (go out of the wood > fire > back into the wood) and I had to test Morale for losses few turns afterwards. With a little luck none of my guys left (they rallied toward the flag) and I saw an opportunity: the Bavarian Officer was in the open, covered just by the heroic Drummer. I then risked a little using 3 activation dice for one of my infantrymen (3+ being in command), got 3 actions and fired an aimed shot to the Hornist. The unlucky musician was wounded, and the Officer was now exposed. It was time for my Pavlov Grenadier to close for hand to hand combat, which he did successfully, killing the Officer. Double Morale test for the bavarian player (Leader loss AND half squad) and the game was over...

A new French Squad

While trying the Tournament Rules, I came up with the following French squad, and it performed very well in a couple of occasions (but it was completely destroyed in a third). I thought it could be interesting to post it here.

French Mixed Squad

1 Infantry Officer, 1 Infantry NCO, 1 Drummer, 1 Standard bearer, 2 Line Grenadiers, 2 Cuirassiers. Total points 404.

The key to success is a wise use of the 2 Cuirassiers, that can give you victory if you spare them for a very crucial task, or defeat if you launch them forward without support (which is exactly what happened when this squad was badly beaten). In Tournament play, being the defender with this squad will require a table with some heavy cover in the middle (to let the infantry advance) and as much as possible open flanks, to exploit the speed of the cavalrymen.

If the opponent is the defender, he’ll probably use some woods to be protected from cavalry charges. If he does so, use the NCO and the 2 Grenadiers to attack him into the woods.

"Rifles, to me!!"

Yesterday I received my British Rifle squad, 12 pro-painted models in green. I'll post some pics soon. They have square bases but as you know this is not a problem in SDS (all my miniatures are on round bases). So I built up my Rifle Squad, and here it is...
1 Officer, 1 Musician, 4 Riflemen, 1 Chosen Man, 1 Chosen Man Hero. Total points 399.
Nasty squad... I chose to have a hero in it (it's not the Officer as you could have imagined ;-) and I decided for the Chosen man because I want to aim most of my shots, (or move and snipe my opponent's commanders from 1M). All the squad activates at 2+ if in command and can stay away from the enemy thanks to the Rifle range. Be careful about reloading, and remember that your Elan Special Rule does not work for Morale test...
"King George commands and we obey..... over the hills and far away..."

Viva Espana!

1 Officer, 1 NCO, 1 Standard bearer, 1 drummer, 8 Line Infantrymen, 5 Partisans with musket, 1 Priest with musket. Total points 398

A basic Spanish squad, not so easy to deploy and manage effectively, but if you do, a very hard nut to crack. Your Officer has a reduced command range, but you have an NCO and (for the Partisans) a Priest: use them to keep going. Time is against you as in the long run disciplined and motivated foes (French, generally) should prevail, but you have the number in your favour. 18 soldiers mean a test after 10 losses so be aggressive!
Be careful with your Priest: being a Civilian, if your losses are high you risk to find your Partisans without their (spiritual) guide.....

Bavarian Squad

1 Officer, 1 NCO, 1 Drummer, 1 Standard Bearer, 4 Line Infantrymen, 2 Light Coy, 1 Chevau Legère, 1 Schuetzen. Total 398 points.

As first ready made squad from More Drums & Shakos to be published here, I chose the Bavarians. This is a standard squad, well balanced, with a couple of aces in your sleeve: the Schuetzen and the Chevau Legère. Use them wisely (remember that the rifle shoots at 2L with the same modifier of +2) and they could decide the fight in your favour.
For the rest, keep an eye on your Green Line Infantrymen and - as usual - move the Flag in a central position as soon as you can.

"Alles Vorwarts" - The Prussian Swarm

PRUSSIAN Landwehr squad
1 Officer, 1 NCO, 1 Standard bearer, 1 Drummer, 12 Landwehr infantry
Total points: 390
Comments: 16 figures and you still have 10 points to spend! That's a lot of Muskets, but you must use them carefully, due to the Green and Unreliable Special Rules. Unfortunately the combination of the two works against you: on one side you want to keep them in groups within 1M from the Leader, on the other a model killed in action (tripled in combat) will cause a Morale Test for all Green models within 1L...
So, move the Flag forward as soon as possible, keep the soldiers packed in 2 groups and go ahead, trying to overwhelm your opponent with number. I'd say just one volley and then charge!

More Brits..

BRITISH VETERANS
1 Officer, 1 NCO, 1 Standard bearer, 1 Drummer, 6 Line Veterans
Total points 404
Comments: well, if your opponent allows you to play with 4 excess points (you could allow him to do the same), this is what I call a simple but deadly bunch. 10 soldiers grant a Morale test for half squad at 6 losses and, with 7 Steadfast soldiers - and the National Rule for Britain in effect - these guys are very hard to break. Q3 allows you to maneuver with relative ease, and keep a high volume of fire on the enemy. Just keep your Officer and Standard bearer safe (i.e. properly covered) because what can spoil your perfect toy is loosing them early in the game...

Here come the Brits!

BRITISH LINE
1 Officer, 1 NCO, 1 Standard bearer, 1 Drummer, 7 Line Infantrymen, 1 Rifle
Total points 390
Comments: those 10 points left hurt... but in "More Drums and Shakos" the supplement about to be released, you'll be able to use them :)
Here your Rifleman could make the difference: keep him within2 Long from the enemies and use your rifle at his best (an aimed shot is normally 4:1 at this range) and when it is loaded - and you get 3 actions - try to snipe some VIP (Officer? who said Officer?) closing within 1Medium and... aiming! (your Rifleman is a Marksman isn't he?). Don't be too shy with your Infantrymen, after all you can afford to loose 6 figures before testing Morale. Drum beating, group forward!

2 ready made Squads

I thought it could be useful to post here some of the Squads I use for demo at Cons.
They are simple and straightforward, and are ideal for pick-up, introductory games.




AUSTRIA
1 Officer, 1 Drummer, 1 Standard Bearer, 6 Line Infantrymen, 1 Grenadier, 1 Cuirassier
Total Points 399

Comments: without an NCO, you must keep all soldiers within the command range of the Officer, if you want to avoid some 4+ activations, but your Secret weapon is the Cuirassier. Keep him covered from enemy musketry fire as long as you can, and when you decide to charge (remember to use his Fear special rule) plan the action carefully and do not leave him alone in the middle of the enemy line. If you do, you'll probably be surrounded by a swarm of enemies in no time.



FRANCE (all LIGHT INF.)
1 Officer, 1 NCO, 1 Drummer, 2 Chasseurs, 2 Voltigeurs, 1 Carabinier
Total Points 396

Comments: no Flag.... this means you have to reach a central position as soon as possible. Your Q4 + Elan soldiers are war machines if in command (they activate at 2+), but when it's time to test Morale they drop down to 3+ if in command and 4+ if OOC..
It could be worth to detach the 2 Voltigs with the NCO for a flank move, and aim to the enemy's Officer. If in command, shooting and reloading in the same turn is a must, but always remember that you only have 8 men!