On the Painting Table

June 16, 2015, 12:28 pm

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Here are a few quick hit, rapid fire topics on my mind today:

Minden SYW Russian Artillery Crew: I am currently working on 8 of the new Minden SYW Russian artillery crew figures: four in loading poses and four in firing poses. These are fairly simple to paint as you only need red and black paint (plus some flesh color) for the figure. I started on them last evening, just a few minutes before midnight and made good progress over the next hour. I should be able to complete them tonight.

Austrian Cuirassier Regiment Anhalt Zerbst: Also on the painting table: a 12-figure squadron of Austrian cuirassiers - the Anhalt Zerbst Regiment, are nearly done save for a little bit of black highlighting (doesn't "black highlighting" seem like an oxymoron?). Alas, the second squadron will not be completed in time for our big Kolin refight next Saturday June 20th. Anhalt Zerbst Cuirassiers will eventually be 2 x 12 = 24 figures strong, but not this week.

An Interesting Blog Worth Checking Out: I stumbled across an interesting blog for a gentleman that has painted a few Minden SYW figures in his time. Click on the link and scroll through the archives to find other Minden painted figures.

Raven Painting Blog

One of the things that I liked in particular, was the method of basing shown in the blog photos. The figures are allocated over five bases, but on several of the bases, a virtual third rank of command figures has been set back from the second rank of marching figures. One extra figure marching behind each stand seems to produce an authentic looking infantry battalion on the march. All of this leads to the key question...

Is It Time to Rebase All of My Minden Infantry?  None of us like to rebase figures, particularly when the basing system already in use is pretty good looking in its own right. However, Raven's Minden pictures have really got me to think about doing the unthinkable, which is to rebase all of my infantry. I already have 30 figures in my battalions, similar to the Raven pictures, so I would not have to paint any additional figures to implement the rebasing program. I would keep the same 5 base battalion, but instead of having six figures on each base, I would have something like this:

Right flank base: 6 rank and file marching in two ranks plus a drummer in the third rank. Total = 7 figures.

Right of the command stand base: 4 rank and file figures in two ranks and an officer or NCO in the third rank acting as a file closer of sorts. Total = 5 figures.

Centre Command Stand: 4 rank and file figures in two ranks, two figures per rank, plus two standard bearers forming the third rank. Total = 6 figures.

Left of the command stand base: 5 figures deployed in the same manner as its righthand counterpart.

Left flank base: same as the right flank base with one drummer in the third row. Total = 7 figures.

At the moment I have 11 Prussian battalions and 10 Austrian battalions that would have to be rebased. So while the idea is rather daunting, I have not progressed so far in my army buildup so as to rule the idea out completely. Someone please talk me out of this nonsense.

I should probably do one test battalion first to see if I really like the idea enough to go through with the rebasing. One benefit is that I could squeeze the figures closer together and perhaps reduce the unit frontage, freeing up a little more game table space.

Next Game: Saturday June 20th - Battle of Kolin - we have five players for this version of Kolin that will focus mainly on the Prussian assault on Krechor village and the Oak Wood versus the Austrian divisions of Wied, Sincere and Starhemberg, plus lots and lots of cavalry. I might have to resort to playing the unfamiliar role of an Austrian commander so that I can have some control (as game master) over the release of Austrian infantry and cavalry units that are force marching from left to right. More on this later this week as we get closer to the game day.

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New Minden Russian Artillery Crew Pix

June 17, 2015, 11:23 pm

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Russian artillery crew sets: Left group of four - MR-011 Loading Poses; and Right group of four - MR-012 Firing Poses

I completed the painting of the eight different Russian artillery crew for the SYW and posed them loading and firing the Fife & Drum Shuvalov Howitzer. In the future, any new artillery crew figures will be sculpted in a loading and a firing set.

Russian Artillery Crew Sets (4 figures, includes tool sprues)

MR-011	Russian Artillery Crew w/tools – loading poses	4	$8.00
MR-012	Russian Artillery Crew w/tools – firing poses	4	$8.00

Click on all pictures to enlarge the view.

MR-011 Loading a Shuvalov Howitzer

MR-012 Firing a Shuvalov Howitzer

Here are the product codes for the Russian artillery equipment:

AE-040	Russian Shuvalov (Secret Howitzer)	1	$7.00
AE-041	Russian 6-pdr	1	$7.00
AE-042	Russian 12-pdr	1	$7.00
AE-043	Russian 12-pd Unicorn	1	$7.00
AE-044	Russian 2-wheel ammo wagon	1	$7.00

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Battle of Kolin - After Action Game Report

June 21, 2015, 7:00 pm

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Marshal Daun watches the cavalry melee from Krechor Hill.

On Saturday June 20, four of us gathered at Schloss Seewald to refight the Battle of Kolin, which was fought on June 18, 1757. Coincidentally, this is the same day of the month as Waterloo, which has been getting a lot of attention lately for some reason.

Initial battlefield set up with the Austrians on the left and the Prussians on the right. The village of Krechor is marked by the cluster of buildings with the church.

Going a bit out of character, I decided to be one of the Austrian players (gasp!) so that I could govern the arrival of various elements of the Austrian army. Bill P. took control of the Austrian right wing and the defense of Krechor village while I commanded the Austrian divisions of Wied and Sincere plus the Austrian cavalry reserve on the left wing. Keith L. and John B. played the Prussian commanders in the game.

Historically the Austrians outnumbered the Prussian about 53,000 troops to 34,000 Prussians and this can make a refight of Kolin a bit of a problem if the Austrians decide to attack the Prussians with everything they have. I have tried Kolin as a grand war-game featuring all of the troops in both armies, but was never satisfied with the way the game played out.

This time, I decided to focus the game on the Austrian right wing and their defense of Krechor village. A force of Croats, grenadiers and some Austrian light cavalry initially anchored the Austrian right wing, hoping to hold off the enveloping attack of von Hulsen's advance guard infantry and von Zieten's advance guard cavalry.

For this game, I experimented with a new rule: limited ammunition supply. Each infantry unit was allotted five rounds of musketry while the cannon had four rounds of ball and two rounds of canister. Each brigade of infantry also had its own ammunition wagon that it could use to replenish ammunition during the game. The supply wagon had a limited amount of musket, ball and canister so there was not an endless supply of ammo in the game. This rule produced an interesting result: players were not taking any useless gamey types of shots at the opponent because it would be a waste of ammunition. If you saw some cavalry on the other side of the table, you were not likely to fire off a round of shot in hopes of hitting one figure. You wanted to save that ammo for the close up work where it really counted.

Bill P. had the assignment to hold Krechor until the Austrian division of Wied could arrive.

Frederick's plan was to march around the Austrian right flank, as he had done at Prague a month earlier in May 1757, capturing Krechor village and then rolling up the Austrian right wing from their. So it follows that our game scenario started with the Austrian Croats packed into Krechor, trying to delay von Hulsen's Prussians long enough for the Austrian divisions of Wied and Sincere to arrive and head off Frederick's intentions.

In our game, the Austrian army consisted of the following elements:

Right Wing (near Krechor and the Oak Wood):

Independent command - Beck

   2 battalions Croats

   2 battalions converged grenadiers

   2 3pdr cannon

Nadasdy' Light Cavalry - Nadasdy

  2 regiments of hussars

  2 regiments of Saxon Cheveau Leger

Center (behind Krechor Hill):

Cavalry Brigade - General Serbelloni

  2 regiments of cuirassiers

  1 regiment of horse grenadiers

  1 regiment of Saxon cuirassiers

Wied's Infantry Reserve (on the march behind Krechor Hill, heading towards Krechor)

  4 battalions of Austrian infantry

  2 six-pound field artillery

  

Sincere's Infantry Division

  4 battalions of Austrian infantry

  1 three-pound cannon

Left Wing (near Pohbor Hill, just east of Krechor Hill)

Starhemberg's Infantry Division

  4 battalions of Austrian infantry

  2 12-pound cannons

Stampach's Cavalry Brigade

 2 regiments of cuirassiers

 2 regiments of dragoons

Total Austrian Forces:

12 battalions of Austrian infantry
  2 battalion of grenadiers
  2 battalions of Croats
16 battalions of infantry

  2 hussar regiments
  2 light dragoon regiments
  1 converged elite horse grenadiers
  5 cuirassier regiments
  2 dragoon regiments
12 regiments of cavalry

  3    3-pounders
  2    6-pounders
  2 12-pounders
  7  cannon

 Wied's division will start the game off-table and will be placed on the left-center area starting on Turn 2, deployed in march column.

Sincere's division will start the game off-table and appear in the center on Turn 4

Starhemberg's infantry and Stampach's cavalry of the left wing are out of sight behind the Pohbor Hill. In our game, we did not use Starhemberg's infantry division.

The Prussians

Prussian army on parade, before deployment.

The Prussian army consisted of 11 battalions of infantry, 10 regiments of cavalry, 4 12-pounders and 3 3-pounders.

Advance Guard Light Cavalry - von Zieten

2  regiments of hussars
3  regiments of dragoons

Advance Guard Infantry - von Hulsen
 4 battalions of musketeers
 2  12-pounders

Center Troops - Prinz Moritz of Anhalt Dessau

2 battalions of fusiliers
2 battalions of grenadiers
2 3-pounders

2 regiments of cuirassiers

Right Wing (refused) - Lt. General the Duke of Bevern
1 battalion of Guard infantry
2 battalions of musketeers
2  12-pounders

1 Garde du Corps cuirassier regiment
2 regiments of cuirassiers

I told the Prussian players that they could not commit Bevern's right wing into battalion for an unspecified number of turns. They could use the troops, but if they did, then 2 Austrian units of the same type would appear on the table opposite them. In truth, this was a complete ruse to keep Bevern inactive for awhile. I would not have added more Austrians to the table, but the deception worked.

Kieth L. (Bevern) sends his Prussian cavalry up the Kaiserstrasse.

The Battle Begins on the Prussian Left (Austrian Right)

Hulsen commenced the game deployed in line of battle in front of Krechor, determined to capture it from the Austrians. The wily Austrian commander, Bill P., stuffed both battalions of Croats into the village rather than splitting them up in penny packets or in separate battalions. This turned out to be a wise move as the Croats had more staying power and were not dislodged from the town. Bill P. placed his two grenadier battalions behind Krechor and in front of the Oak Wood, where they acted as a reserve to feed into the fight for the town.

Bill P. was very aggressive with the Austrian light cavalry (Nadasdy) and launched all of them east of Krechor towards the Kaiserstrasse, where von Zieten was lining up his Prussian cavalry.

On the Austrian right, Nadasdy's light cavalry make an aggressive move against Zieten's Prussian light cavalry and dragoon on the other side of Krechor. Battle in the Centre - another cavalry scrum The Austrians watched the Prussian cavalry march up the Kaiserstrasse, seemingly to support Hulson's attack on Krechor. Suddenly they wheeled to the right and began to trot towards the center of Krechor Hill, between Krechor on their left and Chozenitz on their right. As game designer, I really was not expecting this move, but in retrospect it made a certain amount of sense: there appeared to be no Austrians in the center so why not send your fastest troops, cavalry, into the gap and see what happens. Bill P. countered the Prussian attack with his own brigade of heavy cavalry: 3 cuirassier regiments and one horse grenadier regiment. You can see this melee in the picture below.

Prussian cavalry wheel right and attack Krechor Hill. Serbelloni's Austrian cuirassiers counter-attack. Result: melee!

Bill P. (left) - Austrian commander and Kieth L. (right) - Prussian commander  cross sabres in the center.

At the same time, Wied's division of Austrian regular infantry was beginning to arrive, marching from left to right in the picture below:

While the cavalry slug it out in the centre, Wied's Austrian division arrives to  help in the defense of Krechor against Hulsen's Prussian attack on the Austrian right.

 Several turns later, Sincere's divison of Austrians marched onto the table from the left, marching to the right to plug up the center of the Austrian position on Krechor Hill. Their arrival was quite timely as Prinz Moritz (Kieth L.) launched  a combined arms attack of cavalry and infantry to the right of Chozenitz as shown below:

Shortly thereafter, Sincere's division of Austrians arrive and deploy in the center between Chosentiz  and Krechor.

Sincere's Austrian division deploys in the center on Krechor Hill, and just in time with Prussians lurking on the horizan

Meanwhile, back on the Austrian right, the fight for possession of Krechor village was ongoing

Nadasdy (Bill P.)began to gain the upper hand over Zieten (John B.) as the Saxon cheveau legers surged across the Kaiserstrasse.

An aeriel view of the Nadasdy's charge (photo courtesy of the Montgolfier Brothers)

While the Austrian cavalry were successful, so too were the Austrian defenders of Krechor. In fact, Wied had two battalions of infantry that were looking for something to do, so I had them march into Krechor to support the Croats and the grenadiers, who were close to running out of ammunition.

Beck's Independent Brigade of Croats and Austrian grenadiers seem to be holding Krechor village with relative ease.

Another view of the Austrian defense of Krechor. You can see some of the Saxon cavalry melee to the left of the church.

Slowly but surely, Nadasdy's Saxon cavalry pushes back Zieten's Prussian cavalry to the left of Krechor.

With the Austrian cavalry around Krechor victorious, it was now safe for the Austrian infantry to sally forth out of Krechor and take the attack to the Prussians and Hulsen.

And now the Austrians counter-attack out of Krechor village and push von Hulsen's Prussians across the  Kaiserstrasse

Action on Krechor Hill on the Austrian Left The Prussian and Austrian cavalry surged back and forth in front of Krechor Hill as they did their minuet of battle. Neither side seemed to be gaining any edge in this clash of cuirassiers.

Bevern commits the Prussian right wing into an all out attack against Krechor Hill.  Austrian cuirassiers counterattack.

Some RSM Prussian cuirassiers fit quite nicely with the Minden figures.

Game Conclusion

At approximately 4:30PM we decided to call it a day. On the Austrian right flank, not only had they held Krechor, they were launching an offensive against Hulsen and Zieten that looked promising.

In the center, Wied had nothing to do for his two battalions of Austrian infantry, in front of the Oak Wood, so they turned left and marched back towards the center to counter a possible Prussian success on Krechor Hill.

Around Chozenitz (left center), Prinz Moritz's Prussians had routed two of Sincere's Austrian battalions and shot down the crews of the Austrian battery in that sector. Bevern's command had marched from the Prussian right wing and into and around Chozenitz so that they could join Moritz's infantry attack on Krechor Hill. This looked to be a draw in this sector, but it would have taken a couple more hours of fighting to determine a winner.

On the far left of the Austrian line, the two cavalry corps were also at a standstill. Unbeknownst to the Prussians, Starhemberg's infantry division was lurking behind Krechor Hill ready to stop any Prussian breakthrough. I elected not to use these troops in the battle since we only had four players and each player seemed to have more than enough troops to handle.

So we called it a stalemate, but the day was so companionable and sociable that we all went away feeling like winners. It was a great day to wargame.

Menzel Vignette by John Ray

June 28, 2015, 2:14 pm

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Those of us who participated in the AMG game at Partizan this year received a bit of swag in the form of a pair of figures, made by John Ray, depicting a vignette found in the Menzel uniform plates of the Prussian army.

Here is the painted vignette:

Fife & Drum SYW Austrian Artillery Equipment

June 28, 2015, 10:16 pm

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Austrian 12-pounder and 4-wheel ammunition wagon and train driver. Click all pix to enlarge.

I spent the weekend painting samples of all of the new Fife & Drum Miniatures range of Austrian artillery equipment for the Seven Years War.  I also painted samples of all of the new Russian artillery and crew sets, which I will post on my blog later this week. Click or double click any of the pictures to enlarge the view.

The new product codes for the Austrian artillery equipment is shown below:

AE-031  Austrian artillery train driver (2)...$4.00  (without horses)
AE-032  Austrian train driver with horse,,,,,$6.00
AE-033  Austrian 3-pounder .......................$6.00
AE-034  Austrian 6-pounder........................$6.00
AE-035  Austrian 7-pound howitzer............$6.00
AE-036  Austrian 12-pounder..................... $7.00
AE-037  Austrian limber..............................$6.00
AE-038  Austrian4-wheel ammo wagon....$12.00
AE-039  Austrian 2-wheel ammo wagon.. $10.00

Other Useful & Related Minden sets
MA-017  Austrian artillery crew (4)........................$8.00

CIV-003  Civilian laborers/pioneers (4)...................$8.00

AE-008 Pair of limber horses w/ civilian driver.....$10.00
AE-018  Pontoon Wagon with pontoon..................$12.00
AE-017  Pair of pontoons.........................................$7.00

Austrian 2-wheel ammo cart, shown with one of the Minden Pioneer figures.

Austrian 3-pounder battalion gun, shown with Minden Austrian artillery crew.

Austrian 4-wheel ammo wagon shown with Austrian artillery train driver.

(L to R) Austrian 6-pounder, 7-pound howitzer (center) and 12-pounder.

Austrian 12-pounder with Minden Austrian artillery crew. The two figures in sleeveless waistcoats are from the Minden Pioneer figure set - they are quite versatile and make for good artillery labor (mattroses)

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New Minden SYW Personality Figures

June 30, 2015, 4:33 am

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(L-R) Zieten, Prinz Moritz of Anhalt Dessau, Fermor, and von Browne

Rear view of the first photo. Click the photos to enlarge.

Yes, we all know that Minden figures have "personality" and grace, but these latest figures from Richard Ansell are some of the best work that he has done to date. (You should also check out the personalities that he made for Crann Tara Miniatures, including the Duke of Cumberland!).

So I have painted von Zieten springing into action on the battlefield, Prinz Moritz of Anhalt Dessau serving in the Prussian army, General Fermor of the Russian army, and Marshal von Browne of the Austrian army.

All are available for sale now.

Fife & Drum Fourth of July Sale

July 3, 2015, 1:05 pm

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Spirit of '76 vignette, by Richard Ansell

To kick off the Fourth of July 2015 weekend, Fife & Drum Miniatures is offering a new 1776 Deal for our North American customers. Any orders for American Revolution (AWI) figures received before July 15th, 2015 will receive FREE SHIPPING and a 10% DISCOUNT for the entire order.

There are two ways to order:

1) place an order via e-mail to: fife_drum_minis@yahoo.com and type the words "1776 Deal" on your email to receive the discount and free shipping.

2) place an order on the Fife & Drum website Fife & Drum Miniatures Web Site which creates an automatic Paypal order (however, I will have to refund your 10% discount via Paypal since our web shopping cart doesn't provide for discounts).

This offer is only good for customers in North America and applies only to the AWI figure and equipment range.

European customers can now order Fife & Drum figures directly from our UK-based distributor, Crann Tara Miniatures. This will save our Eurozone customers on customs duties and reduce the overall shipping charges. (NOTE: the 1776 Deal does not apply to orders placed with Crann Tara Miniatures).

Crann Tara Miniatures

Tale of the Table

July 11, 2015, 3:49 pm

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Der Alte Fritz's painting table (definitely a SYW theme going on here)

Here are a few pictures of my painting table in the cellar of Schloss Seewald. It looks like nothing special to speak of, but maybe it really does. Let's take a closer look:

CLICK ON ALL PICTURES ONCE OR TWICE TO ENLARGE THE VIEW

My current project: a squadron of 12 Austrian cuirassiers (Anhalt Zerbst Regiment)

The picture above shows you what I am currently working on, a squadron of 12 Austrian cuirassiers, Minden Miniatures of course. I usually paint a dozen at a time, but this time I have broken the squadron down into two groups of six figures. I had been hitting a painting wall and decided that if I reduced the project into smaller pieces, then I could get my painting mojo up and get these guys finished.

In the middle background, the remains of a project that has been literally pushed to the back of the queue.

The picture above depicts some of the Austrian equipment that I was working on a week or two ago. Behind the yellow Austrian 2-wheel ammo wagon is a Prussian 4-wheel wagon that has been sitting on the painting table for about 2 years. To the right side of the table, you can see a few samples and other one-off figures that I have painted over the last couple of years. To the right of the cannon model is General Knyphausen. Behind Knyphausen is a old Hinchcliffe one-piece casting of Napoleon. I really like the proportions of the Napoleon figure and want to paint him soon, for the fun of it. He has been in primer for about a decade, maybe longer.

Behind Napoleon one can see a Warfare Miniatures GNW Swede covered in blue paint and an RSM Croat reaching for his cartridge (he was painted by Dennis Smail of RSM). Behind the Croat is a French Napoleonic grenadier painted as  one of the Paris Garde (red coat with green facings), a colorful unit that I want to paint someday. You can also see a couple of center company French in shakos also painted as the Paris Garde. These are all Elite Miniatures figures.

Moving on to the round wooden base, we see the Minden Zieten personality figure handing a message to another hussar. There is also a Legion d'Hainault French grenadier painted as  a sort of Grenadier de France soldier. This was painted before the actual Grenadiers de France figures were added to the Minden range.

To the left of the Zieten stand is one solitary Esterhazy Hussar (Austrian SYW) that I painted as a sample figure prior to painting 24 of them on commission. I like the way that the horse turned out, so I saved him to use as a painting reference for future horses. Behind the Esterhazy hussar are two RSM SYW generals that will one day become Austrian generals. Behind the RSM generals are some Minden Prussian cuirassiers including Seydlitz. Next to Seydlitz is a cuirassier, back to the camera, that was painted by Frank Hammond (so I thought that I would save this figure for my own one off collection).

A collection of various wagons, cannon and limber that are gathering dust.

We can see a number of wagons and cannons on this section of the painting table. I'm afraid that they have been parked here for about 2 years and are not likely to move off the dealer lot anytime soon. You can also see my copy of the Mollo SYW book. This was a rarity at one time, but I seem to have collected about 5 or 6 copies over the years. It is still a handy painting guide to have.

On the small round stand is an old RAFM 3-pounder that is now in Austrian service. A couple of RSM artillery crew are waiting for their new uniforms. Behind that are some Fife & Drum artillery pieces: red for French and unprimed Prussian 12-pounder. I seem to have enough Prussian 12-pounders these days, so there is no hurry to paint more.

Way back in the left corner is a Prussian cuirassier officer (RSM) painted by Bill Biles. Bill was my first figure painter when I first started in the hobby. He painted all of my Prussians while I learned to paint working on the Austrians. You can also see a stick of Suren Highlanders that I picked up at a bring and buy and plan to add to my Big Battalion Black Watch regiment.

The Minden French Marshal figure can be seen lurking among the paint pots. I hope that I can paint him one day, but without a French army, there is no sense of urgency on my part.

The shelf of One-Off Figures

To the right of my painting area, are a couple of plastic drawers that contain paints. However, it seems that once a jar of paint goes into these drawers, they never see the light of day again.

On the top of the drawers is a motley collection of one off figures that I have painted over the past 10-15 years. I often try out samples of one figure to get an idea of how to paint it. You can see some Foundry and Crusader Prussians, a Perry Hessian Jager, a Suren British soldier at Fontenoy and a Dennis Mize fantasy warrior princess (Mize was one of the greatest figure sculptors that I have ever seen, in my opinion. His lifelike figures are amazing).

Well, that's a quick tour of my painting table. I hope that you enjoyed it. Leave comments if you want to ask any questions or just care to leave a comment. I enjoy reading the feedback.











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Keeping A Journal of Ideas

July 15, 2015, 5:09 am

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Moleskine Journal notebook that I carry with me everywhere

 Here is a quick little idea for your consideration, carry a small notebook with you when you travel or are on the go. I purchased a small Moleskine journal earlier this year so that I could keep all of the ideas, that I previously jotted down on scraps of paper or in the margins of my daily newspaper, in one place. I have a daily work commute, via train, of one hour each workday, so this gives me a lot of time to do some reading, check on various forums for hobby news, or write in my journal or on my blog.

I have posted a couple pictures of pages from my notebook to give you a better idea of what I am talking about. The first picture, below, depicts several pages of notes for an after action game report following our recent Battle of Kolin game. You can be as elaborate or as bare bones as you care to be in your entries. I take a little bit of inspiration from Neil Cogswell and the illustrations that he included with his Horace St. Paul books. So I try to populate the pages with hand drawn maps containing two dimensional drawings of the terrain or troops whenever I can. This seems to give the entry a little bit of "life" to it.

[It seems that Blogger application will not let me change the justification of the paragraph and the space between the two pictures above is center justified, rather than left or right. So I'm skipping to the bottom of the page where I already had a left justification set up]

The bottom picture illustrates some record keeping from my Mollwitz game. I recorded the casualties for each unit so that I can see which units carried the brunt of the fighting. Eventually, I will record the results in a Unit Diary that I'm keeping for each battalion in my Minden 1:20 ratio Austrian and Prussian armies. I am also starting a Battle Journal to record the results of each battle. This idea is inspired by Charlie Grant's article in the current Wargamers' Annual Summer 2015 Special booklet. Each battle will be assigned its own number (1, 2, 3, etc.) and when a unit participates in one of the battles, the battle number will be cross posted to the Unit Diary so that I can refer to either journal as needed.

The right hand page, above, contains some simple jotting down of ideas and which regiments to add to my Austrian army ahead of my Battle of Kolin game at the 2016 Seven Years War Association Convention in March 2016. I know how many regiments are needed for the game, and I know that I am a few regiments short, so some of the painting will be farmed out to my nephew Alex. I have also scribbled down ideas on how I want to brigade my Austrian regiments.

At other times, I might be contemplating which figures to add to the Minden and Fife & Drum figure ranges, so I will write down ideas in groups of 16 figures (16 is the maximum number of figures that will fit into one master mould, so when Richard Ansell sculpts figures, he works in batches of 16 figures). There are an infinite number of combinations of figure ideas for those 16 mould slots, so you can imagine how many times I jot down a "what if" group of 16 figures almost every other day.

At other times, I might be reading about some battle and an idea for converting it into a game scenario will pop up in my head, so I write the idea down in my journal.

American Militia New Figures At Fife & Drum

July 15, 2015, 11:16 pm

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Minden Armed Civilian set of 5 figures

OK, they are not exactly new figures, per se, but this set of five European Armed Civilians has been a part of the Minden Miniatures range for the past several years, but is well hidden from the public. I think that they happen to look like American Militia too.

So, below is a picture of a set of 13 foot and one mounted officer put together from various figures in both Minden and Fife & Drum figure ranges. The mounted officer is actually one of the mounted civilian gentlemen from the Minden range.

I plan to eventually offer the set at a 15% discount at $27.00 (compared to the retail sales price of $32.00 if you were to buy the figures individually. The only problem is that I don't have enough stock of at least one of the figures (second row, second figure from the right - militia man in tricorn with musket down). However, if you are OK with me substituting a figure or two for any shortages, then I can go ahead and take orders for the militia set, as depicted below. Just ask for Militia Set #1 for $27.00 plus postage and I will send them to you right away.

Here are 14 different militia figures taken from our Fife & Drum AWI range (8 figures), the Minden mounted gentleman serving as a militia officer, and the Minden Armed Civilians (5 figures).

The next order of business: getting samples of the set painted and photographed.

Fritz Defends The Raj - BAR SYW in India

July 19, 2015, 9:49 pm

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Bill Protz is master of his domain - BAR SYW game in Brown Deer

On Saturday July 18, 2015 the Gang of Seven convened at Chez Protz to fight a BAR game (Batailles dans l'Ancien Regime) in 18th Century India. Of course, the two sides represented the French and British, along with their respective native allies. We do not collectively have a lot of painted troops for the SYW in India, however, we borrowed the native contingents from Bill's 19th Century India collection and then added a couple of European units per side.

The British colonial army in India, led by the Earl of Glenlivet, a Scotsman whose family judiciously  had one son support the Hanoverian King, while the younger son supported the Pretender. That younger son was the Earl of Glenlivet, who was seeking to earn the good grace of the Hanoverian King by serving him in India.

Glenlivet was tasked with capturing the French colonial city of Basmatipur, so as to drive the French out of India. Glenlivet's army included two British infantry battalions, a brace of 6-pounders, 2 squadrons of European cavalry, and an unknown number of native levies, ably led by Keith Pasha (native infantry commander) and John Sahib (the native cavalry commander).

The British Europeans were a little uncertain about facing elephants for the first time, but their training made the difference as they held firm, fired a couple of rounds, and advanced towards the town of Basmatipur. Glenlivet placed his British infantry on the right flank and gave them the task of capturing the town.

In the British center, Keith Pasha was given the task of getting the attention of the French and keeping them from reinforcing the town. Glenlivet had no idea what his native cavalry were up to on the far left wing, nor did he care all that much. Much to his surprise, the British natives performed exceptionally well (it must have been those European commanders attached to each native brigade) as they swept the French army off the table in all three sectors.

Please follow the action in the pictures (captioned) below and click or double click the photos to enlarge the view.

The British contingent anchored the right flank and was given the task of launching the main assault on the town of Basmatipur.

The native contingents allied to the British filled out the center and also attacked Basmatipur.

On the far British left, John M. (left) and Bill Protz (right) crossed sabers with their cavalry. Bill : " let's see, the French get a plus ten in melee and the British get a minus 5".

The British 11th Foot, supported by two 6-pounders and a company of grenadiers on its left, advance towards the town.

The French Chasseurs de Fischer sally forth from the town to attack the British.

Same game turn, but from the French point of view. Note the British 8th Foot on the left, protecting the right flank of the 11th Foot in the center.

A huge melee developed in the woods between two opposing mobs of native levies. The British levies charged the front and flank of the French levies, but miraculously, the French natives won the scrum and sent the British natives fleeing out of the woods and back to their lines.

Undeterred by the melee loss in the woods, the British natives launch another attack to the left of the woods and right at the French Albany Regiment.

Earl's French regulars await the native horde coming its way.

Over on the British left flank, it is siesta time as the cavalry advance into contact.

The British irregular levies overpower the French regular cavalry, while the British regular cavalry waits to mop up the remains of the melee.

The 11th Foot wins the first fire card and mows down the Chasseurs de Fischer in  large numbers. The elephants  proved to look more impressive than they actually were.

More French levies try to work around the right flank of the British 11th Foot.

The Chasseurs de Fischer, what was left of them, fled back into Basmatipur. All that remained were a mob of native levies, some nellies a clear sailing into the town for the 11th Foot.

Some fierce looking native artillery gets left behind as the rest of the British natives  advance towards the French Albany Regiment.

Back in the center, the Albany Regiment is forced to retire back towards Basmatipur or risk getting outflanked.

A few of the French levies go battle mad and launch a hopeless charge into the 8th Foot, which would only lose two casualties all day.

The British 11th Foot also mop up the remnants of the French levies and have clear sailing into the town and its eventual capture.

While the outcome was a bit lopsided in favor of the redcoats, I think that everyone enjoyed playing in the game. The odd mix of natives, elephants and a few European units created a fun game with a few uncertainties provided by a deck of chance cards, that were drawn each turn.

Bill and I are both considering painting some French and British Sepoy regiments to use in future India games. I suspect that BAR will be returning to the Indian subcontinent again.

Austrian Cuirassier Regt. Anhalt Zerbst

July 21, 2015, 9:31 pm

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Two squadrons of the Austrian cuirassier regiment Anhalt Zerbst

Today I completed the second squadron of 12 Minden Austrian cuirassiers for the Anhalt Zerst regiment during the SYW. I wanted to have the regiment on standing horses so that they would look like they were in the second line of battle in reserve.

I have started keeping a unit diary for every infantry and cavalry unit and record the date of service in my Austrian and Prussian armies. Thus the Anhalt Zerbst regiment entered service on July 21, 2015.

Side view of the standing horse pose - the regiment is in reserve waiting to enter the battle.

I now have three cuirassier regiments and two dragoon regiments in my Austrian cavalry establishment. My plan is to have cavalry brigades of three regiments ( 2 x cuirassiers and 1 x dragoons).

Anhalt Zerbst Cuirassier Regiment in Austrian service.

I am toying with an idea to increase all of my cavalry from 24 figures in "squadrons" of 12 figures in double ranks to 32 figures in four squadrons of 8 figures in a single rank. The picture below illustrates how this might look. I started with the Anhalt Zerbst cuirassiers (24 figures) and borrowed four more stands from the O'Donnell cuirassiers to see how it would look.

What do you think?

An idea for having 4 squadrons of 8 cavalry in a regiment

The idea comes from Peter Gilder's In The Grand Manner (ITGM) rules for Napoleonic wargaming. ITGM uses the cavalry squadron as the basic unit in a cavalry regiment. I kind of like the look of 32 figure cavalry regiment and at a 1:20 ratio (640 riders) it is closer to the actual strength of an Austrian regiment than is my current 24 figure regiment.

The Cons:

• requires adding 8 more figures to every cavalry regiment
• more squadrons adds to the complexity of the rules and the game
• do single ranks look better or worse than two ranks?

The Pros:

• more figures always looks better on the table top
• 32 figures brings the regiment closer to its theoretical strength of ~ 700-800 horse

Alternative Idea:

• Increase the cavalry units to 36 figures divided into three squadrons of 12 riders and keep the 12 figures per squadron arrangement and two rank formations.

v

Some Blog Changes To Make Things Easier

July 22, 2015, 10:52 pm

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I have added a list of "labels" or thread topics on the left side of this page. It is titled Most Popular Labels.

I have gone through about 450 of the 960 blog posts today and added labels. This takes me back to October 9, 2011. I plan to finish the remaining blog threads later this week.

The labels are listed in order of the most frequent topics. You can click on any one of the labels, for example, the Battle of Kolin, and you will have every single thread that I have written on the Battle of Kolin right at your fingertips.

I think that I still have too many categories and may amalgamate topic such as Austrian Infantry, Cavalry and Artillery into one Austrian SYW Army label.

I am only listing the most popular threads. There are many other labels, but you will have to scroll through the archives to find them. When you do (Dogs for example), just click on the label and all the Dog topics will appear.

I hope that this will be helpful in navigating your way around and through the blog archives.

Labelling of Blog Entries Is Completed

July 23, 2015, 10:34 pm

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I have gone through over 900 blog posts going back to August 2007, when I started this blog, and entered topic labels for every single posting. YIKES! that was a lot of work.

I then posted the 26 most popular topics in the column on the left side of this page. So if, for example, you wanted to see everything on this blog about Prussian cavalry, you would click on the link for Prussian SYW Army and that would cause every related post to show up on your screen. Then you would scroll down through the posts until you found one with a Prussian Cavalry label, click "Prussian Cavalry", and then all of the posts related to Prussian cavalry would be at your fingertips.

I can add more topics to the list, because everything now has a label, I just didn't want the list of labels to get too long.

Followers Wanted
I was hoping that the increase in blogging output would attract a few more followers  to this blog. I actually lost one follower today (sigh). I am targeting 500 followers as my goal. If you are a regular visitor to this blog, then why not click on the Follow This Blog link on this page and become a follower .

Comments Are Appreciated Too
I can track statistics that tell me how many visitors I have each day, but the thing that I really enjoy is reading comments that visitors leave on the blog. I encourage everyone to leave a comment on a topic from time to time, even if it is just to say Hello. A lot of times I post information in the comment responses that does not appear on the main page, so you could be missing some good information.

What's Next?
I have been working on my 1:20 Minden Austrian and Prussian armies so that I can run a Kolin game at next year's SYWA convention in March 2016 in South Bend. I will be reporting more on this topic in the coming days and weeks.

In the near term, I want to set up a Chotositz scenario and play a solo game. Hohenfriedburg and Soor are also candidates for solo play treatment in 2015. In other words, I want to play more wargames in 2015, be it solo games or games with the Brown Deer group. Solo games give me the opportunity to try out scenario ideas or experiment with rules changes.

AWI Hessian Update
We should be seeing the greens for the Hessian infantry within a couple of weeks, which would be my best guess. I am looking forward to seeing what Richard will come up with this time. Stay tuned for more information.

Big Battalion Game "Label"
In going through all of the old posts these past few days, I found some awesome pictures from the Battle of Schaumburg in October 2009. Click on "Big Battalion Game" label on the left side of this page to relive some of these battles. It is worth the extra couple of clicks. We are starting plans to host another huge multiplayer Big Battalion Game, probably in May 2016.

Back to the Prussians

July 27, 2015, 4:12 pm

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IR22 Grenadier, NCO, Officer and Musician Uniforms (Bleckwenn)

I have been paying too much attention of late to my SYW Minden Austrian army (1:20 ratio), having added a regiment of cuirassiers (Anhalt Zerbst), artillery (3 x 3-pdrs and 1 x 12-pdr, plus ammo wagons) while my nephew Alex (Erbprinz Alex) has painted 2 battalions of the Wied infantry regiment and has another regiment of cuirassiers and dragoons in queue for my army.

So it is time to switch back over to the Prussians and add a few more units of infantry and cavalry to that army (bless them). I selected IR22 the Prinz Moritz regiment, which was "massacred at Kolin and heavily suffered at Zorndorf", in the words of Christopher Duffy. Dorn & Englemann indicate that the regiment lost 80% of its roster at Kolin: 26 officers and 1,165 men from its two battalions. I am inferring that some of these men were likely captured, as a number of them were exchanged in 1758, when the regiment was restored to full strength.

In 1758, it was part of the Pommeranian corps that joined Frederick's army at Zorndorf, where it fought on the right wing under the command of Dohna. In October of that year, the regiment was a part of the force that relieved Kolberg.

The regiment missed the battle of Kunersdorf, but later was part of the force that reinforced the King's shattered survivors of that battle. 

In 1760, IR22 served with the King's army again and took part in the unsuccessful siege of Dresden. It also fought at Torgau, although was mostly in a reserve role, thankfully. The regiment remained with the King's army during the 1761 and 1762 campaigns.

The regiment was a Pomeranian regiment and its garrison was at Stargard in Pommerania.

The uniform is shown in the Hans Bleckwenn uniform plate above, which depicts a typical Prussian blue coat, Prussian cuffs (tight) and red lapels. I was thinking that they had white breeches and waistcoat, but I was wrong. The small clothes are straw yellow. I really wanted a unit with white breeches to give me one with a classic Prussian uniform. I may switch over to IR20 Bornstadt, which was also at Kolin and suffered heavy losses there.

Below is a picture of the regimental colors and details of the grenadier mitre. I assume that the gentlemen pictured is Prinz Moritz.

IR22 Standard and Grenadier detail (Bleckwenn)

As of today, my Prussian (Minden) army has 6 battalions of musketeers, 2 battalions of fusiliers, 1 battalion of grenadiers, 1 jager regiment, and 2 battalions of IR/15 the Guard. I don't plan to use the Guards in many of my battles, so I need a couple of battalions to replace the Guards, so IR22 was my choice. I also need to add one battalion of grenadiers.

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Minden Black Hussars

July 31, 2015, 9:59 pm

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HR5 von Reusch "Black Hussars"

Soren Christensen sent me a photo of some of the Minden figures that he is working on as part of a project to recreate the Battle of Hohenfriedberg in 1745. These are wonderfully painted figures that deserve to be seen by a wider audience, so I am posting the picture on my blog.

Here is a link to Soren's blog:

Black Powder Wargames Blog

Click on the above link and spend a little bit of time scrolling through some of the earlier posts about the SYW and the Great Norther War in particular.


Speaking of Hohenfriedberg, here is a copy of the famous Richard Knotel drawing of the Prussian cavalry presenting captured colours to Frederick after the battle. I wish that GMB Designs would make some of these Austrian flags, which you don't see very often.

Richard Knotel's Hohenfriedberg drawing.

The picture also tempts me to paint some Bayreuth Dragoons in the white coats that they wore at Hohenfriedberg.

Great Northern War Project - Swedes

August 4, 2015, 11:18 pm

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Warfare Miniatures Swedes (painted by Barry Hilton)

I have had a bee in my bonnet to do the Great Northern War in 28mm for some time now and this has been stoked by the recent production of Warfare Miniatures GNW Swedes and Russians. Click on the link below to see the Warfare figures both painted and unpainted.

Warfare Miniatures GNW figures

The three color pictures of painted figures were knicked off of Barry Hilton's League of Augsburg website, where you can purchase the GNW Swedes and Russians. Hopefully Barry won't mind that I am borrowing his pictures and giving him a plug for his terrific looking figures.

Suffice it to say, I really, really, really like these figures and I like them enough to dive head first into a new wargaming period - the Great Northern War.

Warfare Miniatures Swedes, Charging, in Karpus (painted by Barry Hilton)

So for starters, I am trying to decide how many figures to have in each infantry battalion and how to base them. I would like to hear your feedback on three options, so please feel free to leave a comment and give me your opinion as to which option looks better and why you feel that way. Table size and game space is not a constraining variable, so I am not necessarily limited by table space when it comes to choosing a size and basing option.

The choices are 24 figures, 30 figures or 36 figures.

My rules choices will be either Beneath the Lily Banner 2, a GNW variant of Batailles dans l'Ancien Regime ("BAR") or a variant of my own SYW/AWI rules.

Warfare Miniatures Swedes in Tricorns 2nd Rank Charging

My tendency is to go with the largest unit -- 36 figures for an infantry battalion, which would have a frontage of approximately 12-inches. (see picture at the top of this blog thread). All of my options have five stands plus one command stand that is placed behind the center stand of the five. This is where all of the flags and drummers will be placed. You can see the 36-figure option below:

Warfare Minitures Swedes - 36 figures on five stands

My understanding is that about one-third of the Swedes should be carrying pikes, while the remainder carry muskets. The pikemen will be placed in the center stand under all three options.

Below is the 30-figure format with a frontage of approximately ten-inches:

30 figure Swedish battalion on five stands

Here is the smallest of the three options, 24-figures with a frontage of approximately 8-inches.

24 figure Swedish battalion on five stands. And finally, here is a picture of the three different basing options, below:

Basing options (top to bottom): 30 figures; 36 figures and 24 figures

My plan would be to have a Swedish army with twelve elements, 6 infantry battalions and 6 cavalry regiments. The Swedish army typically had 50% of its forces in the cavalry branch. I haven't made any decisions on the Russian army, but it will probably have twelve units too.


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I've Lost My Faith In Humanity

August 13, 2015, 5:32 pm

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I ride the commuter train (Metra North Line) to and from work every work day. On the evening commute home, I often fall asleep for a 15 to 20 minute cat nap. I usually sit upstairs in the single seats and place my hat and coat and maybe any parcels on the flat coat shelf that is adjacent to the seats. You can probably guess where this story is going.

So on this evening's commute home, I set my baseball style billed cap and a light fleece pullover on the coat shelf. I slept no more than 10-15 minutes and when I woke up, my cap and pullover were gone. I didn't realize it until my station stop came up, and then when I went to pick up my belongings, I realized that they were gone. Now I was awake the full time after my nap and I didn't see anyone steal the cap and pullover, so it happened in those brief 15 minutes.

The blue cap is one that I bought at Fredericksburg National Military Park's bookstore and probably cost no more than $15-20. The pullover was purchased from J Crew in an inventory sale for probably $20. So the combined value of cap and pullover is not a significant amount, so no big loss.

However, I am stunned that someone would steal my belongings and feel like I've been violated. If my belongings had any significant value then I could sort of understand the rationale for the theft, but they really had no value. So the thief did not steal my cap out of need or to get any money from selling it. No, he did it because it was an easy steal. He did it out of spite and contempt for his fellow man.

I am really hurt that someone would even think of taking a low value item from me. It never occurred to me that anyone would steal my cap. I guess that I tend to be a trusting person, but not anymore; or at least not on the train. I won't ever be so trusting again. 

Even worse though, you son of a bitch, you have made me a worse person by changing me from an honest, trusting person to one who will now view every fellow commuter with suspicion. I will trust no one anymore. You have chipped off a veneer of humanity from this little part of the world. We live in a time where we need more kindness, more trust, more humanity. So thanks for nothing pal.

IR22 Work In Progress (updated)

August 18, 2015, 6:20 am

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IR22 Prinz Moritz Regiment (click to enlarge)

Two companies plus the mounted officer. Note the Zimmerman on the left side. (click to enlarge)

Moving on to more happier topics, I completed the first battalion of Prussian regiment Prinz Moritz (IR22), using Minden figures of course. I paint two battalion regiments of 30 figures x 2 or 60 figures for both battalions. The flags are the wonderful creations of GMB Designs.

Close up view of the GMB Designs flags and the Minden figures. (click to enlarge).

The uniform is your basic and typical Prussian Blue coat with red facings and tight Prussian cuffs, and  with Straw breeches and waistcoat.

I used the following paint colors for the figures:

Straw waistcoats and breeches:

  Shade color - Stained Ivory (Reaper Master Series #09142)
  Highlight color - Creamy Ivory (Reaper Master Series #09144)

  The third color in the triad is Yellowed Bond (Reaper Master Series #09143) but I did not use it on these figures as I like to limit my painting to two colors only, rather than the popular three color technique.

Red facings: Shade color - Reaper Pro Paints #19002 Blood Red
                     Highlight color - Reaper Master Series #09004 Bright Red

Blue uniform coat: Shade color - Apple Barrel (craft store paints) English Navy Blue #20773
                               Highlight - IWM True Blue #77-720 (Iron Wind Metals)

Another view of the first battalion. Black Hussars in the background. (click to enlarge)

I will start the process of terraining the bases tonight, troweling the speckle compound onto the stand and dipping it into fine railroad ballast. Then I let the stands dry overnight and apply dark brown ink to the ballast. Once the ink dries, then I dry brush the stand with Flesh Color and then finish it off with static grass and some tufts.

From the Verandah of Sans Souci

August 24, 2015, 7:47 am

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This is just a short update of the things going on at Schloss Fritz these days, using a title heading of a column that I used to write in the Seven Years War Association Journal. I am writing this article whilst commuting to work on the train, so I will have to fix the various pictures so that they enlarge when I get home this evening.

PAPER BATTLES

I ran across this interesting site, courtesy of Ralphus at The Wars of Louis Quatorze blog. Ralphus has a very good eye or nose for finding interesting web sites that pertain to 18th Century military history topics. This is how I discovered the Obscure Battles site, which is a "must see" site for anyone with an interest in the Prussian battles of the WAS or the SYW.

In any event, Paper Battles follows the bloggers attempts to create tabletop games using paper troops and scenary, and if you click on the link and visit the blog then you will know what I mean. The gentleman has a wonderful model of the village of Leuthen that you can find by scrolling around through the site. Here is a picture of a Prussian battalion at 1:1 ratio.

http://www.paperbattles.it/prussian-battalions.html

IR22 PRINZ MORITZ REGIMENT

I was mortified to discover, courtesy of one of my readers, that I had glued the flags upside down on the first battalion. I have done the dirty deed on a single battalion in the past, but never on both battalions of a regiment. I can hardly set up a photo shoot of the new regiment being reviewed by Frederick whilst its colours are upside down. I could call them the Uberunter Regiment, I suppose, and keep the flags as they are, but nah, I just can't do that. So I'm going to have to clip off the old flags and replace them with new flags. Sigh.

Over the weekend I primed figures for the second battalion and got a good start at blocking in the basic blue coat, straw breeches and red facing colors, and a red-brown undercoat for the flesh areas. I find that I usually need to apply a second coat of each color to get good paint coverage, but the second layer is easier to paint than it is to apply the first layer; after all, you already have a guide to the areas that need the paint. One color that I have learned to dislike is RED. For some reason, applying the red facings of Prussian regiments has become a chore for me. The only item that I dislike even more is the painting of musket barrels ( I can never get a straight line of metallic gun blue on the barrel).

Come to think of it, I'm not too keen on painting Prussian or British drummers, with all of that lace. For some reason painting French drummer's lace is fun to paint. Go figure, I certainly can't.

FUTURE PRUSSIAN ADDITIONS

No, I'm not talking about new Minden Prussian poses (although there will surely be more of those in the near future), but rather, I'm referring to new additions to my own Minden Prussian army.

Cuirassiers.

I've realized that I've been painting ( or commissioned to be painted) quite a few Austrian Cuirassiers lately and that I run the risk of being out armored by the White Coats. We can't have that happen, so I have begun to cast my eye around for a new regiment or two of Prussian Cuirassiers. I currently have CR1, CR8 and CR13. The CR2 Prinz von Preussen regiment seems like an obvious choice. Who can resist yellow coats (kollets)? They have a unique look to them relative to anything else in the SYW era.