Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Austrian Artillery Augmentation



With the recent additions to my Austrian infantry and cavalry, the artillery arm needed some additions. 


Fortunately, there was already a generous supply of guns and crew on hand for just such a long anticipated need. 


First up is a 12  lber battery. 


The Austrians assigned these heavy batteries to serve as the Reserve Artillery of the individual  Corps. However, they never did establish any Army Artillery Reserve.  


A howitzer "battery". In most Napoleonic armies, Howitzers made up anywhere from 1/6 to 1/3 of the total guns available.


It was very rare to see howitzers combined to form separate batteries, so these tubes will actually be distributed among the many Austrian 6 lber foot batteries. 


Delta Ceramcoat Straw was in use once again, here for the gun carriages. 


From a gaming standpoint, the howitzers can be swapped into 6 lber or 12 lber batteries. 


This creates some additional flexibility for different scenarios. 


The first of two new 6 lber foot batteries. 


This gun was certainly the workhorse of the Austrian Artillery arm. 


The Austrians were still using the excellent and standardized artillery system devised by Lichtenstein prior to the start of the 7 years war.


By the Napoleonic wars, the French artillery reforms, first the Gribeauval system, and then the later system of the Year XI, had surpassed the Austrian designs.  


A second Austrian 6 lber battery. The gun carriages were (comparatively) light - perhaps too light, as they were more prone to break down with use than their French counterparts. 


All of the guns and crew figures are Sash and Saber castings.


It is really a shame they don't make the famous Austrian cavalry guns, though!


I painted the jackets Delta ceramcoat Terra Cotta, and then over painted them with Delta CC Burnt Sienna, which is already semi opaque straight out of the bottle. 


When I was organizing the figures for the artillery units, there were a couple of spare figures. 


The officer will work fine as a Grand battery commander. 


The sapper (Zimmermann, which literally means Carpenter) should prove useful for sieges and  assisting in the construction of  bridged and field works.


Group photo!


As always, I don't glue my guns to the bases. This allows a limbered battery to be denoted by turning iot around to face backwards. Someday I will get to painting more actual limbers. But that is for another day...

26 comments:

  1. That's quite an augmentation Peter. I must say I find Austrian artillery quite frustrating to use in the rules we play as they just don't have the range of the French and need to be moved closer to get into effective range. I also ordered my first batch of Ceramcote straw from the link you kindly provided me so will be hoping that cures my aversion to painting yellow.

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    1. Indeed; it also has much better coverage than many other yellows, whilst being more subdued.

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    2. I think penalizing the Austrian artillery for range vs French is taking granularity too far; Most of those theoretical nuances are all but meaningless on a real battlefield with uneven ground and limited visibility.

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  2. This is an impressive sight to see, Peter! Eight guns and crew is a big undertaking in 28mm. I think Sash & Saber make the best guns. Like you,
    I wish they offered even more variety.

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    1. At Historicon each year, i generally buy another six pack of guns from Sash and Saber, taking advantage of their Convention "Buy 5 get 1 Free" deal, and selfishly wish that their 40 mm lines were less successful so that they would expand their 25mm troops and especially ordnance. The owner explains that the 25 mm Napoleonic field is so crowded it is hard to make money, but he hinted that he did have designs for Russian Artillery all ready to go, so perhaps some day..,.

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    2. I would like to see French legere.

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    3. A big two Cornets up for that idea! I have a "Division" of 4 x 18 figure Sash and Sabre Ligne, and they'd really like a 5th unit of S&S Legere to complete them. As it is, an Old Glory unit of Legere serves that role currently.

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  3. Great looking guns and crew. The sapper and officer are also nice. I must say the yellow carriages are very eye-catching, and make a nice contrast against the red brown coats.

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    1. Thanks, Dean! I don't think there is any other artillery pieces as striking as the Austrians!

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  4. Handsome artillery...and I do like the sapper!

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    1. Thanks Phil; he's from the Sash and Saber french Infantry Command packs.

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  5. Replies
    1. Thank you, Peter! May their aim be accurate... at least when they're on my side!

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  6. Replies
    1. Thanks; I was happy with how they came out.

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  7. Splendid looking additions to your Austrian artillery arm!
    Best Iain

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  8. More excellent troops. The sapper is nice one off

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    1. Thanks, Gary. This Sash and Saber figure is the only Austrian Sapper I have ever seen.

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  9. Excellent additions, I must paint up another 12pdr battery for my Austrians...

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    1. Thanks, Mark. An extra 12 lber battery never hurts... unless you're the target! :-)

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  10. Very handsome chaps indeed, and the group photo is marvellous!

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    1. Thanks, Tony. It is about 1/3 of the total Austrian Artillery park now... maybe even a bit less than that!

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  11. So I’m like those jackets really caught my eye, I wonder what paint he used as I read and read and read, ah there it is. Interesting color combinations, I really like how it came out. I’ve got to sneak that combo into one of my projects. Nicely done.

    Cheers
    Kevin

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    1. Thanks, Kevon. The jackets of the Austrian Artillery are described as "Rehbraun", "deer brown". The Osprey shows this as a very orange hue, and fairly light, close to the terracotta shade. That just seemed way too orange and light, but the wash of bunt sienna shifted it darker and redder, especially in the "shaded" areas but still left the base color coming through. I could probably have thinned it a little more with some color float, but the Burnt sienna is only semi opaque to begin with. I was happy with the effect.

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