Thursday, June 25, 2015

Assault and Batteries - Prussian Style!

The major expansion of my Prussian Napoleonic army has added nearly 200 Infantry and 40 cavalry. That much of an increase naturally needs a corresponding increase in the Prussian Artillery arm. This post concerns the new Foot Artillery batteries - four in all.


First up are three new six pounder Foot Batteries. Old Glory figures with Sash and Saber guns. The only thing I haven't done yet is to apply the Magic Wash to the guns, which will tone down the blue of the carriages a bit (paint color is Delta CC "Bluejay"). 


I added some "Large"Silflor tufts to the bases, which looks OK, but I think these "Summer" tufts may be a bit too green, so I am considering dry bushing them with a grey-green color to tone them down somewhat to a shade more in keeping with the early Autumn flocking theme. 


When Foot Artillery officers wore the "schirmutze" cap, it was grey with a black band, piped in red. 


One of the Batteries is from each of the three "brigades" that the artillery were assigned to administratively, with the shoulder strap colors varying accordingly  - Preussisches (white), Brandenburgisches (scarlet), and Schleische (yellow). 


Also joining the Army of der Koenig is a new 12 pounder foot battery as well. By my usual convention, 12 pounder batteries get 4 crew figures per base, as opposed to the three figures per base of lighter batteries. This makes them easier to pick out on the wargames table. 


Foot Artillerymen wore dark blue coats with the collars and cuffs in black, trimmed with red. The turnbacks were red. Shoulder straps as previously cited - this unit has yellow straps, placing them in the Silesian Artillery Brigade. In 1815, all batteries changed to red shoulder straps. Boring!  All; leather work was black for the Foot Artillery.


The somewhat old fashioned looking Bicorn was an option for Artillery officers as well, and we can see this battery's commander has opted for same.


The Prussian Artillery arm underwent an enormous expansion in 1813. Some of the new batteries were designated as "Landwehr" batteries,. but even the nominal "regular" batteries suffered from dilution of trained personnel, so their performance sometimes left something to be desired during the earlier parts of the 1813 campaign. Like their infantry and cavalry counterparts, though, field experience (and the break in fighting for the Armistice) resulted in steady improvement over the course of the Befreiungskrieg, and certainly by Leipzig the Prussian generals had few complaints  about their artillery support. 


29 comments:

  1. Excellent additions to your Prussian arsenal, Peter!
    Love the Sash & Saber guns. My favorites!

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    1. Thank you, Jon. Sash and Saber are my favorite guns as well. Just wish they'd add a few more, especially an Austrian Cavalry gun!

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    2. Yes I do have the guns for the Saxons (3 6lbs and 1 howitzer) with 16 x artillery crews figures to paint...I'm little slow/delayed painting my figures....having some personal/home front issues to deal with....

      cheers,

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    3. Hope the home front issues resolve quickly and satisfactorily, Phil. Then it's on to the trivial stuff like our toy soldiers!

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  2. Great addition to the Prussians they look great.

    John

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    1. Thanks John. I think the Old Glory artillery crew figures are among the best they do, with a big variety of poses, and great value!

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  3. Replies
    1. Thank you, Phil. I think you need a Saxon battery nor two (the Saxon artillery is quite colorful).

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  4. They look terrific and ganz business like! I almost think it's a pity you have to wash the gun carriages, they look very fetching. Sadly, I can't find Delta CC in my local hobby stores, it got bumped in favour of Martha Stewart's paint line. :( Pity, I find certain DCC colours very useful.
    Again, nice work!

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    1. Danke, Michael. I agree that the delta paints, which used to be everywhere, are now much less often seen in retail sites.; They must have lost a marketing war. In the US, it looks like Jo-Ann's fabric stores and Hobby Lobby (ugh, not a fan of their politics) carry them, and you can order them on line as well:

      http://www.plaidonline.com/delta/brand/products.htm

      I haven't had to do that yet. Many of my bottles are so old (but the paint is still fine) that the white plastic caps have started to powder and disintegrate!

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  5. Once again, very impressive...great job!

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  6. Replies
    1. If you think that the six guns are what would actually be in a single battery, the real thing must have been intimidating, especially when belching forth flame and shot!

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  7. Replies
    1. Yep, that's the method I've used for 45 years. To show a Limbered battery, place the gun at the back edge of the stand and pointing to the rear.

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  8. Nice, would be good to see look after wash is applied (hint!).

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    1. Hint taken! :-)
      we had a long spell of warm, humid weayher, and doing the dip requites acrylic spay before and after. Having suffered frosting before, I held off!

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  9. Lined up like that it would be a very intimidating sight for any French player! In the 15mm group I game with we play with exactly the same convention with regard to the number of figures per base, with two bases representing a battery, and it works very well. Unfortunately, unless we are playing Russian (or Austrian at times) it is the French artillery which is normally intimidating us.

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    1. Obviously, great minds think alike re: basing artillery! :-)
      By 1812, the French are often outgunned by the enemy!

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  10. Very nice looking artillery. The Sash & Saber guns look great with the OG crews. I have a (one) battery at present, to go with the Brigade I will do -someday.

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    1. I agree, Joe.
      Have to put that paint brush to work! :-)

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  11. Great looking figures Peter and I really like the bases!

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