Savolaks Regimente, First and Second Battalions

Back with the Finnish War project, here are the first and second battalions, Savolaks Regiment. Like it’s sister regiment, the Savolaks Jägers, this unit comes from the eastern part of Finland, right up on the Russian border. 

Whereas all the other battalions in this collection have been built with 24 figures to the battalion, these are built with 12 and will be rated in games as tiny units. This is because in all the orders of battle I have found the regiment is never shown at its full complement. In fact the OOB for the Finnish Army at the commencement of the campaign describes the regiment as four battalions, each of only two companies instead of the usual four companies. Maybe it is because the regiments did not maintain a garrison and the army retreated to the west early in the campaign away from their home province. Whatever the reason I am intending to build this regiment as four tiny battalions.

Their light grey uniform differentiates the uniform from the other darker grey uniformed Finnish units. Their yellow and black standard is striking.

The third and fourth battalions will follow in due course.

Régiment de Soissonnais - Duexième Partie

This is the second battalion that I have painted of the Soissonnais regiment (that Lawrence has pointed out could be difficult to pronounce after a tipple or two - although my argument is it might make it easier) for the French AWI collection.

While it is the second battalion painted, bearing the drapeau blanc it represents the First Battalion of the regiment.

In keeping with my error with the previous effort, I have painted the turnbacks solid crimson where they should be white.

Paraguayan Fortress Guns

A number of the battles in the Great Paraguayan War featured attacks on Paraguayan fortresses, so it was inevitable that I needed to create some fortified positions like the one below.

While gunners weren’t a problem because the Perry’s sold gunners as a separate set of six, I needed to find a source for guns. At one point a few years ago there was a great set of suitable American Civil War fortress guns manufactured by the Honourable Lead Boilersuit Company, but they have vanished, gone to that void where all discontinued ranges go. However,  a Google search turned up some 3D printed options. 

First was a Swedish company Speira Miniatures who do a vast range of Civil War items that includes fortress guns (https://www.speira.net/product-tag/artillery/). Second was OTP Terrain and Miniatures in Western Australia who had a set of six guns produced under license from Jens Najewitz of Germany. I opted for the latter and placed an order for two sets. The guns are not strictly correct, but they look suitable on big fortress carriages.

Being 3D printed they was a lead time of four to six weeks, which was fine as I wasn’t in a rush. But it took a bit longer. A follow up enquiry after six weeks was met with a response that they were on the printer now. Three weeks later I received confirmation that they were ready to ship. Two weeks later they arrived…eleven weeks and two days after ordering them. Not quite the service I have come to expect these days, even with COVID delivery problems, but I had them…in one big plastic bag of about 100 bits with absolutely no assembly instructions. 

Fortunately the Jens Najewitz site has good photographs of the models so I was able to figure out which bits made up which model and then selected and assembled five of the models that looked suitable for Paraguayan guns, that is the ones that looked the most old fashioned.

They are actually really nicely made models with very little clean up required. I was impressed how robust they are too and how well they take paint.

Once the models were painted I needed to build a fortified position. I decided this needed to be in a modular form so that I could build a position that could mount the guns that could link to infantry trenches. I have not decided the finer details of how all of this will fit together (and need to wait until some gabions to arrive from the UK before I build this), but I do know that the guns will sit on a platform that is 80mm square. The actual gun will be mounted on a 60mm diameter disk (at the centre of which will be a rare earth magnate) will be recessed into the square. The square with a piece of steel sheeting underneath will then be mounted on the top of whatever I build as the actual fortification. In this way the gun will be held in place by the magnate and the steel sheeting, but can be rotated or, more importantly, removed for safe storage. 

Here are the five guns on their bases with their crews, showing how the guns are able to be rotated.

The remaining seven guns will find a place in the ACW collection at some time, when I get around to buying some gun crews for them. I think the Redoubt  Miniatures gunners will suite these pieces….a winter project I think.

Back to Finland…and South America

The second battalion of the Österbottens regiment for the Swedish army in Finland has passed through the uniform store this week. This is line battalion number six of the twelve that make up this collection.

 

Also completed is an Argentine artillery set. This is a Foundry French Franco-Prussian War set using a Foundry Krupp gun. These items have been laying around in the odds and ends box for some time. In truth I am not sure about the  uniform. All of the reference books I have lack an accurate description of their uniform so I have had to construct it from some brief descriptions. While these figures are a near match I think the new Perry French Franco-Prussian gun set may be closer to the actual uniform, but I only need the one gun. Maybe one day if the Perrys make Argentine gunners I will replace them.

Brazilian Artillery

Today saw the basing finished on the last of the Brazilian artillery for the Great Paraguayan War.

These are two gun sets equipped with French La Hitte 4lb guns along with the limber sets for all four of the Brazilian guns.

Also completed within the last week is the Second Battalion 55th Regiment for the Franco-Prussian War collection.

Mounted Officers for Three Armies

This post sees the completion of three sets of mounted officers.

First out of the blocks are three mounted colonels for the French Army in North America during the War of Independence. These are intended for use as brigadiers. I have done them in the uniform of the three regiments that will be included in this collection: (left to right) Royal Deux-Ponts, Saintonge, and Soissonnais.

Second are four Argentine generals for the Great Paraguayan War. I hadn’t intended to do any more Argentine  troops, but when I started to work out orders of battles for games I found I was short of four commanders - the Argentines had a very short command structure in which the divisions counted two brigades each of two battalions, so my eight battalions needed six infantry commanders and the cavalry brigade needed a commander too. The officer with charging with the raised sword is actually a figure from the Brazilian officers set, but by giving him some red trousers, a red kepi and a bit of gold trim he makes a perfectly good Argentine cavalry officer.

Third are two more Brazilian officers to provide them with the extra couple needed to complete their order of battle.

The only loose ends on the Paraguayan War now are two Brazilian gun sets (on their way from Nottingham right now) and some fortress guns (that nine weeks after ordering them have finally left Australia) for the Paraguayan gun crew that are calmly awaiting their arrival on the painting tray.