219 : An End to the Long Peace

Like the sudden and unexpected return of Napoleon from Elba, the 1809 Journal was back! It had been ages since the last post. So what had changed? There were, at long last, signs of new troops on the horizon! Exciting news had come through from Pendraken HQ. The 10mm specialist was signalling new additions to their 1809 range.

It had been three years since the bicentenary of the Battle of Waterloo. That celebrated anniversary had put to bed any sculpting plans by Pendraken for any new 1809 releases while their 1815 ranges were being worked on. As loyal followers of the last 218 1809 bulletins would know, there was a gradual and inevitable ceasing of hostilities throughout 2015 as the possibility of putting together even one 10mm army with all the proper 1809 troop types became more and more like a one-way ticket to St Helena.

However, all that changed early in October 2018 with some welcome news! On the 9th, Pendraken put out a call for the necessary funds to sculpt four new 1809 ranges. These would be of lesser states: Hesse Darmstadt, Württemberg, Saxony, and the Duchy of Warsaw. £3,000 being the figure needed to give the sculptor the go-ahead to start sculpting. Within only five days enough pledges were secured for production of the new figures to go ahead! With half the monies to be taken at the end of the month, orders were promised by the end of February 2019. 2019? The 210th anniversary of 1809!

I reunited myself with copies of 1809 orders of battle and after a good deal of mental arithmetic I pledged enough to buy, at a scale of 1:50, all the Hessian, Württemberg, and Saxon troops I needed for the 1809 battles along the Danube.