Odds and Ends...

With no volume of figures to work on I have been working on a number of odds and ends that have been laying around for a while.

First up are some Austrian Napoleonic cavalry. The riders are made up from a number of bits left over from the units I built earlier this year plus some spare horses from the Prussian generals project. The two cuirassier figures - one in a fatigue cap and the other with bandaged head (taken from the French FPW command set) - will make useful ADCs.

The three chevauxleger figures also use the excess horses to expand the Hohenzollen Chevauxleger Regiment completed in January. These three have the helmet without a crest (because I had used the crested helmets earlier. I have been used to up grade an existing six figure to a nine figure unit.

The sixth figure, a Russian mounted jager officer, is also a byproduct of the Prussian generals project. He will make a good brigadier or courier.

There are a few other bits and pieces in the bits box that will pass across the painting table in the next week or so.

Hohenzollen Chevauxleger Regiment, Number 2

This six figure unit completes the Austrian cavalry expansion. It is small because it is using up the spare figures from the two boxes of cavalry that made up the recently created cuirassier regiments. As a small unit it will probably serve as an escort squadron or an artillery support squadron.

The completion of this unit also flattens the lead/plastic pile.

Kurassier Regiment Sommariva, Number 5

This is the second, and final, Austrian cuirassier regiment. Formed in 1721, it was variously numbered Cavalry Regiment, 14, 12, 14 again, 9, then finally Cuirassier Regiment, Number 5 in 1805. From 1806 through to 1823 it was under the inhabership of Field Marshal Hannibal Marquis Sommariva.

And now with the two regiments that make up the brigade.

There is just one small unit of chevauxlegere to go in this batch and that will finish the Austrian cavalry for me.

Kurassier Regiment Sachsen-Teschen, Number 3

In my last post I mentioned that while the intention going forward is to not expand the collection apart for the occasional unit. Well this is one of those occasional units.

I decided I needed some Austrian heavy cavalry for my planned 1813 Napoleonic solo campaign, so I bought myself a Christmas present of two boxes and additional command frame of Perry plastic Austrian cavalry to make up two standard size cuirassier regiments and a small chevaux legere unit.

So here is Kurassier Regiment Sachsen-Teschen, Number 3. The regiment was raised in 1768 as Carabiner Regiment Number 5 and was converted to Kurassier Regiment 3 in 1798. From its creation to 1822 the inhabership was held by Albert, Herzog zu Sachsen-Teschen.

Grenadier Battalion Portener

Here is the second Austrian Combined Grenadier battalion, Portener.

Consisting of two companies each of regiments number 40, 44 and 46, with facings of pale blue, red and dark blue respectively.

This time I have done a 36 figure unit. I like the meatiness of the big battalions.

This concludes the mini expansion. 

Grenadier Battalion Berger

With the completion of the Ottomans I am moving to another, much later, Napoleonic subject - 1813-14 Austrian German Grenadiers. I am creating two battalions, using the Victrix grenadier set.

Since all Austrian grenadier battalions are combined battalions, Battalion Berger was built from the companies of the 15th, 28th and 57th infantry regiments. This, of course, means that the facings of the companies differ within the battalion and in Berger's case those colours are madder red, black and purple.

Now my normal line battalions are 36 figures strong, in six stands, but the combined grenadier battalions appear to have been smaller, around 700-750 men so I have done Berger as a four stand unit.  One stand is a command stand of a mounted officer, foot officer, standard bearer and drummer, and then there are three rank and file stands, each of which bears the appropriate company facings. The four figures of the command stand are a mix of facing colours.

The next battalion will be a six stand unit.

A Quick Parade

As promised in my last post here is a parade of my Austrian light brigade consisting of, left to right, the Grenz Sankt-Georger Regiment, the jäger battalion, the Hessen-Homberg hussars and a horse battery.

Hussar Regiment 4, Hessen-Homberg and a Bit of Gaming in Spain

Having completed six battalions of French FPW line infantry I needed a break from blue coats and red trousers. So I have been working on a regiment of Napoleonic Austrian hussars, the final unit for my Austrian collection. This is the 20th hussar regiment in my possession, but perhaps the most important because Austrian hussars have to be the hussars of all hussars, don't they?

The regiment before being based

I chose the Hessen-Homberg regiment because I liked the mix of colours - light blue, bright green and red. 

Strangely it wasn't until I was half way through the first three figures that the realisation that I was still painting red trousers struck me!

This completes the light division that comprises of the hussars, the Grenz Sankt-George's Regiment, Number 6 and a horse battery, which will appear in a parade shortly.

This finishes the Austrian Napoleonic project...maybe…although I was thinking today that a few battalions of grenadiers wouldn’t go amiss...

Because the box contains 14 figures rather than the 12 figure I usually have in my cavalry units, these two loose figures can either be used as a part of the unit to form a large regiment (Austrian light cavalry regiments were large anyway), or can be detached as skirmishers or videttes. 

Sunday saw us play a Spanish Civil War game using one of our group's beautiful collection. Keith at Bydand Blog has a better recollection of the events than me so I will refer to his description here, while I just post some eye candy that differs from his. (Note that the majority of images shown here are supplied by John L. who had a more central position in the game than me).