Austrian (etc.) Officers, and the latest Piano Wargames Kickstarter

 A pair of Austrian Corps Commanders; Johann Freiherr von Hiller to the left of the picture, and Franz Seraph von Orsini-Rosenberg to the right. 

Hiller was probably among the best of the Austrian Corps Commanders in 1809, and the only one who had not been nobly born. Having at one tome been a protege of Erzherzog Karl, the famously prickly Hiller had fallen out with him by this time.

Rosenberg was considered a mediocre Corps commander. He distinguished himself during wars with the Turks and the French Revolution, In 1811 he was named to the Hofkreigsrat (Aulic Council). 

The accompanying figures are German and Hungarian infantry officers. The figures are of course by Piano Wargames. 

Next is a diverse group of officers. 

There are mounted Dragoon and Hussar officers, suitable for Brigade or Divisional commands. 

A mounted colonel of German Grenadiers, and an ADC or Brigade general are to the outsides of the mounted row.

In the front on foot are a Bavarian infantry officer and a leader of the revolt in the Tyrol. 

    In case anyone who is interested is not aware, the latest Piano Wargames Kickstarter has 7 days left. This one includes French Hussars and Cuirassiers, French dismounted Dragoons (including Horse holders), Old and Young Guard infantry, French infantry and Artillery in overcoats, French Personalities, officers, and ADC's, more Austrian line in jackets and overcoats, Austrian Grenzer, Austrian Cuirassiers, Austrian officers, Austrian Artillery in Greatcoats, and some new vignettes.

That the famous French Military Surgeon, Baron Larrey, among others. 

This one is free for pledges over 150 Euros, as is a Lassalle figure.

Existing figures can be added to the Kickstarter order at an 8% discount, and will ship with the Kickstarter (circa March 2025), all at the same flat shipping rate. I took advantage of this as well!

Austrian Dragoon Regiment #4

This is Austrian D.R #4; the Inhaber in 1809 was FML Baron Franz Levenehr.

I used Delta CC "Poppy Orange" for the "bright red" facings; most illustrations show the color as an orange leaning scarlet hue. 

Early in the 1809 campaign it was part of Kienmayer's 2nd Reserve Corps.

After the 1st Battle of Landshut, the Regiment was reassigned to the III Corps.

It suffered very heavy losses at the Battle of Abensburg in April, and spent most of the rest of 1809 reorganizing and performing picket duties. 

These are more of the superb Piano Wargames figures by Lucas Luber.

The flag is from a free download from the Piano Wargames site. 

Austrian Hussar Regiment #2, Erzherzog Joseph Anton

While I await a few items to complete the player write ups from the 1813 campaign, let's return to newly painted units!

These rather colorful fellows are from the 2nd Austrian Hussar Regiment.

Their Inhaber was Erherzog (Archduke) Joseph-Anton, who was also Prince Palatine of Hungary (and the Inhaber of the 12th Hussars as well, under that title).

They were recruited in Transylvania (Siebenburg).

In 1809 the regiment fought at Sacile, The Piave, and Raab. 

The combination of light blue dolman, pelisse, and trousers with bright red shakos is quite something; all of that is further set off by the black and yellow braid and plumes. !

These are Piano Wargames figures; the next Piano Wargames 1809 Kickstarter is due to launch any day now!

25e Regiment of Dragoons

We interrupt the game narrative for a Dragoon moment! 

The The regiment traces its origins back to 1665, when a new cavalry regiment was raised and named Bourgone in 1685, renamed in 1711 as Bretagne. It reverted back to Bourgone in 1751, becoming Royal-Bourgone in 1788. The Regiment became the 17e Regiment de Cavalerie in 1791 and the 16e Regiment de Cavalerie in 1792. It finally became the 25e Regiment de Dragons in 1803

The 25e regiment saw plenty of action during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars:  1792: Valmy, 1793: Hondschoote, 1794: Etreux, Mons, and Maestricht, 1800: Offenbourg and Holzheim, 1805: Elchingen and Austerlitz, 1806: Halberstadt, 1807: Ostrolenka, 1808: Baylen, 1809: Lugo and Alba-de-Tormes, 1810: Lines of Torres-Vedras and Ciudad-Rodrigo, 1811: Fuentes-de-Onoro, 1812: Arapiles, 1813: Vitoria, 1813: Dresden and Leipzig, 1814: Saint-Dizier, Brienne, La Rothiere, Mormont, Fere-Champenoise, and Paris

6 Colonels of the Regiment attained the rank of Brigadier or higher: 

Louis-Rene Le Mouton de Boisdeffre,  General de Brigade 1792; 

Nicolas Cugnot d'Aubigny, General-de-Brigade: 1794, Officer of the Legion d'Honneur: 1804, Chevalier of the Empire: 1810, Baron of the Empire: 12th April 1813;

Jean-Oliver Gaudin, General-de-Brigade: 1794;

Archange-Louis Rioult d'Avenay, General-de-Brigade: 1807, Officer of the Legion d'Honneur: 1808, Died: 1 June 1809 (Died of wounds received on 8 May 1809);

Antoine Rigaud, General-de-Brigade: 1807, Commander of the Legion d'Honneur: 1805, Baron of the Empire: 1809;

Philippe-Antoine Ornano, General-de-Brigade: 1811, General de Division: 1812, Count of the Empire: 1808.

The regimental facing color for the 25e- 30e regiments was aurore; I have used Delta CC "Calypso Orange" here. I think it looks quite striking! The figures once again are Piano Wargames by Lucas Luber. The next Piano Wargames Kickstarter commences October 14th!

4e Regiment of Dragoons

 

This regiment traces its creation back to 1667, in 1684 they were named Chartres-Cavalerie. In 1724, they became Clermont and 1771 La Marche. Their name changed once again in 1776 to the Conti-Dragons, finally becoming the 4e Regiment de Dragons in 1791.

War Record  1792: Fontoy and Valmy,  1793: Martinses and Wissembourg, 1794: Aldenhoven, 1796: Passage of the Rhine, Memmingen, and Friedberg, 1800: Burg-Ebrach and Nuremberg, 1805: Passage of the Lech, Wertingen, and Diernstein, 1806: Golymin, 1807: Deppen, Hoff, Eylau, Heilsberg, and Friedland, 1809: Talavera-de-la-Reine, Ocana, and Medelin, 1811: Albuhera, 1813: Vitoria, 1813: Leipzig, 1814: Bar-sur-Aube, Sezanne, and Fere-Champenoise, 1815: Ligny

 Battle Honors:   Valmy 1792, Aldenhoven 1794, Eylau 1807, and Medelin 1809

3 officers of the regiment became Generals during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars:  Pierre Wathier - General de Brigade 1804,  Count of the Empire 1808, General de Division 1811; Auguste-Etienne-Marie Lamotte - Baron of the Empire 1808, General de Brigade 1809,  Commander of the Legion of Honor 1814; Pierre-Joseph Flour - Baron of the Empire 1812, General-de-Brigade 1813.

I need to add the regimental number to the wreaths in the corners  of their Guidon style flags; The flags are free downloads from Lucas Luber's Piano Wargames site, enhanced by some paint. The Figures themselves are Piano Wargames 28 mm metals, of course! Lucas' next Kickstarter will begin in less than 1 month on October 14, 2024. 

The trumpeter wears the usual reversed colors, in this case a scarlet jacket with green collar, cuffs, turnbacks, and pocket ornamentation. The colonel has outfitted him with a red shabraque instead of the regulation dark green one, like the troopers have. Actually, I couldn't find any documentation to support this, but I liked how it looks, so I went with it... just like the Colonel might have! White horsehair on the helmets was pretty standard for trumpeters, although the colors of the plumes for the trumpeters were quite varied. Elite company trumpeters are often shown wearing white bearskins. 

7th Chasseurs a Cheval

The 7th Chasseurs a Cheval had a fairly extensive lineage. Formed in 1745 as the Volontaires Royaux, renamed as the Legion Royale in 1747, and disbanded in 1776. Reformed in 1779, the Regiment became the 1er Regiment de Chasseurs-à-Cheval, and was later renamed the Regiment de Chasseurs de Picardie in 1788, before finally being  designated the 7e Regiment de Chasseurs in 1791.

The regimental facing color was Rose, which honestly would have been a bit lighter in hue than the Delta CC Lisa Pink I used for these figures. 

The regiment had a similarly lengthy combat record:

1792: Worms, Mainz, Frankfurt, Hoxchfeld, and the Siege of Mainz.

1793: Hochheim, Haguenau, Cholet, Laval, Montaigu, Le Mans, Dol, Savenay, and Granville

1794: Landau, Fort-Vauban, Machecoul, and Noirmoutier

1798: Capture of Rome

1799: Gaete, Capua, Naples, Modena, La Trebbia, and Novi

1805: Embs

1806: Jena, Wismar, and Hamien

1807: Eylau, Koenigsberg, and Heilsberg

1809: Pfaffenhoffen, Raab, and Wagram

1811: Fuentes d' Onoro

1812: Polotsk, Drissa, and The Beresina

1813: Danzig, Bautzen, Liegnitz, Katzbach, Reichenbach, and Leipzig

1814: Bar-sur-Aube

1815: Suffel

The 7e regiment produced 6 officers who rose to the rank of General de Brigade or higher, most notably Hippolyte-Marie-Guillaume de Rosnyvinen Piré,  and Alexandre de Montbrun, younger brother of the more famous cavalryman,  Louis-Pierre De Montbrun. 

28th Chasseurs a Cheval

 

This regiment was formed in 1808 from the Tuscan Dragoons, which themselves were raised earlier  that year in January. 

The regimental facing color is Amaranth, a color beloved of Marechal Murat. I used Delta Ceramcoat "Dusty Mauve" for the hue. 

These are the first of the cavalry from the Great Horse Project.

oThe figures themselves are by Lucas Luber and Piano Wargames. 

The regiment fought in Spain at Figuieres in 1810, Fuentes d' Onoro in 1811, and Los Arapiles in 1812.

The regiment then saw service in Russia at Smolensk, Moskowa, Wiasma, Krasnoe, Beresina, Wilna, and Kowno. In 1813 it was in action at Koenigsberg, Ebling, Goerde, and the defense of Hamburg. Finally, in 1814, it saw action at Willemsbourg.

Carinthian Landwehr, 1809

 

A unit of Inner Austrian Landwehr is next to march off the painting table. 

The uniform coats of the Inner Austrian Landwehr were dark green with facing colors according to the Province... at least officially. 

Most likely the officers and wealthier men approximated the regulations, while many other probably wore grey uniforms faced in the provincial color... if they were lucky. 

The facing color for Carinthia (Kärnten in German) was red, with the cockade being red-yellow- red-white, for Styria (Steirermark) white facings, cockade white-green, Carniola (Krain) light blue with white-blue-red cockade, and Salzburg yellow facings with cockades white-red. 

The figures are once again from Piano Wargames, and the flag is from the previously referenced Mal's Small World blog site. The coat of arms of Carinthia are displayed on this side. 

Lower Austrian Landwehr, 1809

 

I finally got around to painting this unit of Austrian Landwehr, which will appear in my "Rapp n' Raupenhelms" games at Historicon later this month. 

These fellows are wearing fairly standard Austrian Landwehr gear for 1809, although probably far more uniform and neat than would likely have been reality. Hey, they're toy soldiers!

These wonderful sculpts are yet again by Lucas Luber of Piano Wargames in Germany. 

The flag is printed out from Mal's small World flags. There was a total embarrassment of riches for selection there! 

Für König und Kaiser!