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Wednesday, June 30, 2021

Hungarian Grenadiers

The "300 Austrians" project has seen a lot of Line infantry battalions raised for the Kaiserlick cause, so it was time to paint up one of the Grenadier battalions. 

 

Historically, each grenadier battalion was made up of 6 (or sometimes only 4) Grenadier companies, each regiment in the army contributing 2 companies, so most such battalions would have a mix of 3 different facing colors.  Messy, messy, messy!


Therefore,  my Grenadier battalions are ahistorically uniform in terms of facing and button colors... in this case, Pompadour.


. I used Delta Ceramcoat "Dusty Mauve for the facings, and they have the pewter buttons of I.R. # 53, Jellacic, recruited in Croatia. 


Now, properly the battalion should be carrying a spare yellow Ordinarfahne of the senior regiment contributing companies to the battalion (these flags pretty much all look the same regardless of regiment anyway.) The only time the Grenadiers carried the white flags was briefly in 1805 during the Mack reforms, when the Grenadiers were returned to their parent regiments, 


During that time, the infantry regiments were reorganized to have three,. 4 company battalions, with the Grenadiers being the first 2 companies of the Leib Battalion. Well, at least "the unfortunate General Mack" had one good idea!  I have always liked the look of the Grenadiers (only) carrying the white flags, so history be damned!  In this Kaiser's army, that's how it is done. 
Whether you agree or disagree, the beautiful white Leibfahne seen here is by Adolfo Ramos. 

23 comments:

  1. Lovely figures, really look the part and painted up well.

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    1. Thanks; these are more of the "old" Old Glory figures.

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  2. Excellent and love the flags which will make them stand out on table along with headgear

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    1. Thanks, Garry, and that's exactly why I like them carrying the Leibfahne!

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  3. True to your vision of the white wave eh! Look good, ready to bulk up your reserves in style.

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    1. Thanks, Joe. There are some perks to being the Kaiser, after all! :-)

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  4. I'm always impressed with Hungarian grenadiers. These look great! Hoch Hapsburg!

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    1. Thank you, John! The Hungarian Grenadier is perhaps the most evocative of all Austrian Napoleonic soldiers.
      Lang lebe der Kaiser!

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  5. Lovely Hungarian grenadiers, Peter. You know I love the uniform - AND the white flag with them. I like units of combined grenadiers - regardless of nation too.

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    1. Thanks, Dean - happy to see fellow "deviants" from strict historical fact; button counters be dammed! :-)

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  6. Good looking grenadiers, Peter! The flag is really nice.

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    1. Thanks, John. Adolfo Ramos really does great flags at a great price!

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  7. Nice work, and I much prefer the standardised facings. Adolfo Ramos makes some lovely flags too.

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    1. Thank you, Lawrence. I think I may actually prefer his flags to GMB, which tend to be a bit too oversized for my figures, and often come with 2nd flags I don't use.

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    2. Yes, the ability to purchase them individually is a definite advantage and one which I often forget.

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    3. Definitely a selling point for me!

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  8. Lovely grenadiers Peter.
    Regards, James

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  9. Gorgeous grenadiers and sensible choice on the facing colour,lovely flag too!
    Best Iain

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    1. Thanks, Iain. I am really enjoying painting these "old" Old Glory castings!

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  10. That is a fantastic unit.
    Neil

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