Retreat From Moscow

Back in March, there were some previews of an upcoming Joseph McCullough game – The Silver Bayonet, a game of Napoleonic Gothic horror. Details were (and still are) relatively sparse, but the idea captured me immediately. Although I’m busy collecting some Peninsula Napoleonics in 15/18mm, there are some fantastic 28mm models, and a small skirmish game is a perfect excuse to pick some up.

First consideration was that Napoleonic models tend to (understandably) be sold as packs of relatively similar models in terms of posing (i.e. marching in formation etc.), so it can be tricky to build a group of more distinctive models without picking up a lot of spares (although worth noting that Front Rank sell individual models for some nations). The more characterful/dynamic poses are typical from groups of skirmishers, so I started to browse around various ranges with that in mind.

What caught my eye was the Perrys Retreat from Moscow French. This range has a lot of very individual and characterful models that are quite distinct from one another, perfect for a skirmish warband style game. The range has models representing a lot of different units, with dismounted cavalry alongside foot, which again adds to the variety and allows for a lot of different uniforms to be painted whilst still sticking to a theme. A bonus is that as the models are dressed in a lot of coats, rags and blankets, there’s more liberties that can be taken in painting up accurate uniforms.

To my mind, the Retreat from Russia seems a perfect backdrop for narrative skirmish games, whilst also explores a different sphere of the Napoleonic wars from what I’m already collecting in 15mm, so I won’t be cursing myself by essentially repeating models in different scales.

Finally, the models just seem completely suited for a game of Gothic Horror – a bunch of desperate ragged stragglers faced with additional horrors as they struggle through the winter in a hostile landscape.

I grabbed a couple of packs of skirmishing French (dismounted cavalry and infantry) to form a starting point. From there I’ll look to both add in figures for historical skirmishes (Russians and Cossacks as opposition, some Poles to compliment the French), and other models for leaning towards the more supernatural (kit bashing some zombies for example). So although this has been tagged as a ‘Historical ‘ project, it may at times lean towards more pulp/horror.

There’s a lot of very vivid artwork relating to the Retreat from Moscow, so lots to draw inspiration from. For painting up the French, I’ve been looking at coloured prints by Faber du Faur in particular. He was an artillery officer who served in the army of Wurttemberg, and participated in the 1812 campaign as part of the Grande Armee. He produced a number of sketches throughout the campaign, which were later collected and colourised in the 1830s. Some of the Perry sculpts are directly influenced by Faber du Faur’s work, so it makes sense to use them as a starting point for reference.