Sunday, March 3, 2024

Württemberg Command and casualty figures

Returning to the Kingdom of Württemberg for a bit, here we have  a command base featuring Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm.


The base has his dog, a Wurttemberg infantryman, and a mounted officer of the Royal Footguards,

The Prince commanded Wurttemberg troops in 1809, 1812, 1813, 1814, and 1815.

He became the second King pf Wurttemberg in 1816 as Wilhelm I, upon the death of  his father, the King, with whom he had often been at odds.

Two more Wurttemberg command bases.

The base on the left has a regimental officer and a private.

The other base has a staff officer and two wounded soldiers assisting one another. 

As with most of my recent Napoleonic figures, these are from Lucas Luber and Piano wargames.

Two mounted officers, previously seen but now with their basing finished; one from Gardes du Corps and the other the Mounted Grenadiers.

The casualty figure is from the Light Infantry.

Great sculpts by Lucas, as always!

Three more casualty figures.

A line infantrymen, a light infantryman, and a Jager. 

 
General Dominique Joseph René Vandamme commanded the Wurttemberg Corps in 1809.

He was a talented soldier, and being born in Alsace, fluent in German as well. 

However, he was famously irascible, and this probably prevented him from becoming a Marshal of France. Napoleon famously said of Vandamme, "If I had two of them, I would have had to order one to hang the other!"

16 comments:

  1. Lovely command bases and vignettes, great work once more and again such lovely miniatures.

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  2. The German command and vignettes are rolling off the painting desk thick and fast, Peter - great figures once again. I have often wondered if Vandamme was an ancestor of the actor Jean-Claude?!

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    1. Thanks, Keith! If not perhaps the actor derived inspiration form the personality of the Marshal?! :-)
      This pretty much finishes the last of the CoR troops from Lucas. I have 4 units of Piano Austrian line in progres on the painting table, though!

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  3. The cavalryman with Prince William has his sword pointing in the direction they seem to be traveling, although the infantryman has apparently seen something on their flank, and diverted Friedrich's attention.

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    1. Everybody wants your attention when you are in charge! :-)

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  4. Great work, splendid vignettes here!

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  5. Lovely command figures. I have never heard that quote of Napoleon's before. Vandamme would probably have made a competent Marshal and not as prone to regular mistakes as some of those who were.

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  6. Thanks, Lawrence!
    I am surprised that you had never seen that quote about Vandamme. Napoleon supposedly continued "But I only have one and I keep him for myself because I need him and am unable to replace him."
    The Emperor was also said to have remarked that Vandamme would be ideal to lead an invasion of Hell, since he obviously had no fear of God or the devil! He was famously quarrelsome, ill tempered and foul mouthed, and had a reputation for looting. That, plus his criticism of the Emperor likely forestalled him joining the Marshalate, which his military talents almost certainly warranted.

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  7. More great work Peter, I am trying to work out a way of getting casualty figures from my boxes of 'odds and ends'. Your bases are always great to see as you seem to put much thought into them.

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    1. Thanks, Chris. The command bases get some extra love with tufts, etc.

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  8. Superbly painted and based figures.

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  9. Beaut as ever Peter. I especially enjoyed your compilations. The first with the Wilhelm looking disdainfully at the garde officer 'waving his sword about' and the last with Vandamme and the officer pointing in different directions! I have used a similar approach for a base of King Joseph and Marshal Jourdan, having them pointing in opposite directions to demonstrate a (not so) 'in sync management group'!! Regards, James

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