The Battle of Maida

[Dragoon]

Has anyone painted the Allied Army, British and I think Hessian or Brunswick figures.
In 1805/06 Austria was busy fighting an unknown number of French.
As usual various ports were closed so the Navy decided the toe of the Italian peninsula was the safest place to embark with 5,000 British and allied infantry to avoid another victory for Bony the French army was 6,000 men.
I bought the book but haven't had time to read it yet.
Picton was CinC for the Brits. and for the French a first class general.(I forget his name. 🙁).

At an old fashioned game scale of 1 figure = 20 men I would have to paint 300 French and 250 British.

I have to paint both as my wife is ill, so no jaunts to the club on Friday nights. 

As for the battle has anyone tried it as a campaign or a 1 off battle?

[John Cook]

Yes, I did a Maida project several years ago.  It still gets the occasional outing.  The British commander was Major General John Stewart, not Picton, Jean Reynier commanded the French.  Here are the OBs I used.  They came from multiple sources but I have not kept a record of what they were.  Note that 20th Light Dragoons were not actually present at the battle.

BRITISH ARMY
Major General John Stewart.
ADVANCE GUARD
Colonel James Kempt   
1/20th Light Dragoons                        120   
2/20th Light Dragoons                        120
3/20th Light Dragoons                        120
Combined Light Battalion                   7 Companies   535     Companies from 20th,27th,35th,58th,6th,81st and deWatteville's   
1/35th Foot                                       3 Companies'    159 
Royal Corsican Rangers                            2 Companies   258 
Sicilian Volunteers                                    1 company   92
1st BRIGADE
Colonel Lowry Cole
1/27th Foot                                      8 Companies   781   
Combined Grenadier Battalion            6 Companies   485   Companies from 20th,27th,35th, 58th, 81st and de Watteville's    
2nd BRIGADE
Colonel Wroth Palmer Acland
2/78th Foot                                      8 Companies   738    
1/81st Foot                                      8 Companies    603    
3rd BRIGADE
Colonel John Oswald
1/58th Foot                                      8 Companies   576    
de Watteville's Regiment                    5 Companies   485    
1/20th  Foot                                      8 Companies   624     
Artillery
Royal Artillery                                           5 sections   10 x 3pdrs   
Royal Horse Artillery                           3 Sections   4 x 6pdr, 2 x 5.5" Hows

FRENCH ARMY
Général de Division Jean Reynier
1st BRIGADE
Général de Brigade Louis Compere
1/1ère Légère                                        8 Companies   905      
2/1ère Légère                                         8 Companies   905      
1/42ème de Ligne                                 8 Companies   1,046     
2nd BRIGADE
Général de Brigade Antoine Digonet
1/23e Légère                                        8 Companies   633     
2/23e Légère                                        8 Companies   633     
1/9ème Chasseurs à Cheval                2 Companies   109   
1/9ème Chasseurs à Cheval                2 Companies   109   
1/9ème Chasseurs à Cheval                2 Companies   109   
3rd BRIGADE
Général de Brigade Louis Peyri
1/1ère demi-brigade Polonaise      6 Companies   469    
2/1ère demi-brigade Polonaise       6 Companies   469    
4/1ère Suisse                                       8 Companies   630    
Artillery
Artillerie a Pied                               1 Section       2 x 8 pound guns
Artillerie à Cheval                              1 Section       2 x 4 pound guns
Reserve
Bataillon d'Elite                               6 Companies   540   Grenadier companies from 1ère Légère, 42ème de Ligne, 23e Légère, 1ère Suisse

[Chris Pringle]

Mark Smith wrote a Maida scenario for the BBB rules (you'd have to join the BBB io group to get access):
https://groups.io/g/bloodybigbattles/files/1789-1815%20Napoleonic%20Wars/Maida.pdf

It's only a couple of 1"x1" bases per battalion, one base per 250 men, so more like 40-60 men per figure (depending how you base them). But you could easily adapt it to your preferred rules and troop scale, I'm sure.

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Ohhh, so that's where Maida Vale gets its name from.
I thought it was a Welsh thing... 

[streetgang]

Maida is one of my favorite Napoleonic battles. It's not a particularly large affair, the opposing sides are relatively balanced, some exotic allies and units (Swiss on both sides, Poles, Corsicans, etc), French in bicornes, and you have the whole "column vs line" thing going too.

I collected and painted armies for the battle in 6mm and collected armies for the battle in 15mm but never finished painting them. Those have all been sold off but I plan to give it a go once more in either 6mm or 10mm.

I refought the battle in 6mm ages ago using DBN (as I recall the French were victorious). If I was to game it again, I'd probably try either Maurice or Field of Battle for rules.

There is a lot of potential for a campaign surrounding the battle as well.
 

[Dragoon]

Thanks for the details, certainly very helpful.
The book I've started to read is by Richard Hopton.
As I'm not able to get to shows anymore I thought Britain's first victory on land in the Napoleonic Wars, I thought it would  be interesting as I have no painted lead for the Brits any I probably have some 10mm French that I bought some years ago and some of the old strip minifigs which I think are closer to 12mm than 15mm. Just as long as anyone from the Stoke-on-Trent group doesn't chip in and mail me that they have a 30mm project for the Peninsula🙂.
'General d'Armee' by Dave Brown using 15mm X 20mm bases or Regimental Fire & Fury.
I've promised myself I'm going to make some command stands for the General Officers and have regiment C/O's on a separate base.
As usual the non British units will have to be researched.for suitable figures. (As an aside, as there were no French cavalry I think Gen. Pack did well to keep the cavalry out of the battle as ther weren't any French cavalry to engage, and a screen would be needed on embarkation.)

[Zippee]

Hmm, 3 squadrons of 9th chasseurs a cheval sounds like cavalry to me

[Dragoon]

Did they actually do anything (I havnt finished the book yet!
I got caught up in a discussion about the Blue King in the Spanish Successionthe cuirasiers looke much like Cromwell Iron Sides with the helmet but Pendraken Austrian Curassiers but by Marlborough's wars many of them got rid of the heavy helmet and used the hat instead an some even dropped the cuirass because of the weight.
The complete Bavarian army wasn't that big and his cavalry had a fearsome reputation.
It serves me right for reading the uniform details after reading J.W.jeffry's article on command and control

[streetgang]

Did they actually do anything

From what I can recall, the chasseurs either charged or threatened a charge and forced the British to form square. I believe their presence also allowed Digonet to retire his forces in an orderly fashion. Not only that but they also have very pretty uniforms to complement the other colors of the French army. 

Reading through this thread really makes me want to revisit Maida as a wargaming project and collect the armies in either 6mm or 10mm.