The Grand Review

Grand Review of the Hesse Seewald Army at Schloss Fritz (please click pic to enlarge)

Following two large battles in October (Preisserstadt) and November (Dithersdorf at Rock Con), I thought that it would be a good idea to take all of my Prussians out of their storage boxes and line them up on my wargaming table in order to see how they had fared in the battles. The infantry battalions are lined up in groups of similar styled figures. For example, the first brigade in the front left foreground is my Guards Brigade (von Saldern) of IR6, IR15 and the Heyden Grenadier battalion (19/25). I'm thinking of adding another guard battalion of imaginery langenkarls in red breeches/waistcoat and Prussian blue coats. The next brigade features three battalions of my own Potsdam Miniatures (IR5, IR20 and 5/20 Jung-Billerbeck grenadiers). I intend to add a fourth battalion of IR18 (Prinz von Preussen) with their distinctive rose colored facings. The third brigade features Elite Miniatures and Surens (IR19, IR25 and IR24). The fourth brigade is the Stadden brigade (IR7, IR12 and IR13). Eventually, I will shift the IR24 Surens into this brigade and call it the "Old School Brigade". Finally, at the far end facing the camera, is a demi-brigade of two RSM fusilier battalions (IR35 and IR42). I intend to augment this group with two battalions of Frank Hammond's wonderful Minden Miniatures (IR34 and a unit as yet to be determined). I received a packet of figures from Frank only yesterday - wow, talk about fast customer service. I'm going to have to move these figures up to the top of the painting que.

The Grand Review accomplishes a number of useful things. For starters, you can inspect each battalion and squadron and artillery battery and check for battle damage. In some cases swords have been bent or pin swords have fallen out and need to be replaced. Also, some of the figures are mixed up in the wrong stands, so a sorting out process helps to get all of the lads back into their proper places.

The Grand Review also affords me the opportunity to see what I have, all at once, and then make an assessment of what types of units I need to fill out my army. One clear difficiency was the lack of some artillery crew to man some of the guns. So I will paint up some of the Foundry Prussian artillery figures that I have and add them to the artillery park (shown in the foreground). I will also gradually replace the large French 12 pounders (from Elite Miniatures) and replace them with proper Prussian artillery pieces, recently purchased from Berlin Zinnfiguren this year. The Elite 12-pounders will henceforth be used to depict Brummers, those heavy 12-pound fortress guns that Frederick employed with great effect at Leuthen in 1757.

I intend to have four infantry brigades, and each brigade will require two regimental guns per brigade. So I need to add four more battalion pieces. But wait, I've decided to upgrade my battalion pieces to 6-pounders and 7-pound howitzers, from Berlin Zinnfiguren, of course. Afterall, Frederick the Great made a similar decision, adding the howitzers as replacements for the standard 3-pound regimental gun during the course of the Seven Years War.

Preisserstadt made it clear to me that I do not have enough cuirassiers in my Prussian army, given that all the French cavalry regiments seem to be wearing iron. As God is my witness, I will never be out-cuirassed ever, ever again! (smile). I had a few extra Elite Miniatures Prussian cuirassiers lying around the wargame room and so I decided to paint these as the three squardron Garde du Corps Regiment (CR13). These were usually brigaded with the 5-squadron Gensdarmes Regiment (CR10), so an order was duly placed for 60 more cuirassier figures from Crusader Miniatures. That's a lot of horse flesh to paint, but I won't need them until next year's big OSW game in October 2008. The first 15 Garde du Corps are now completed, so I can add a squadron of this unit to the cavalry establishment.

Another change that I would like to make is an upgrade of the brigade command stands. I currently use a mix of Foundry, RSM and Stadden figures for brigade command figures. Some are mounted on rectangular bases, others on 2" diameter round bases. I have decided that I like the round bases better. I can make a little mini-diorama on the base and the round shape instantly differentiates it from any other figure stand and tells the player that it is his command stand. So going forward, all infantry brigade commanders will be the Stadden Prussian mounted officer on the H1 or H2 horse. The other figures will go back to their old armies in my other collections.

Finally, the best reason of all for having a Grand Review? It looks really cool to see one's whole collection on the tabletop at one time. I have been known to stare at them for an hour or so in the evenings. I go around the table, pick up a stand here and there and give them a closer inspection, etc. It's fun, but it seems to keep me too late in the evenings. It is a hard habit to break.

And last, but not least, a picture of a certain young lady (from the Suren 18th century range) riding side saddle in hunting habit. Some might think that this is the Erbprinzessin of Hesse Seewald, while others wonder if it might in fact be that secret agent extraordinaire, the mysterious Milady de Winter. I'm not telling.

Prussian Dragoons & Hussars

Suren/Willie 30mm Prussian Dragoons with Elite Miniatures Officer

I've been asked to post some pictures of the Suren Prussian dragoons and the Stadden hussars for the SYW, so without further ado, here are some pictures that I took this evening. The first shot depicts two 18 figure squadrons of DR2 (dragoon regiment no. 2), also known as Jung Krakow. The officer leading the parade is the Prussian mounted officer from the Elite Miniatures range of SYW Prussian infantry. Although the later is a 28mm figure, you can see that the Elite and the Suren are comparable in size. This allows one to add some of the musicians and other figures from one range to the other.



Suren Dragoon Trooper (top) and same figure (bottom) with GMB Designs flag.

The next two pictures depict the same Suren dragoon, with the top picture showing the Prussian dragoon trooper and the bottom picture showing the same figure converted to the cornet, or standard bearer. The latter figure is holding a GMB Designs standard. The white standard is the liebfahnen, or the inhaber's personal standard. The regimentfahnen has more color: predominantly yellow background with red flames. The musket is probably too long for a carbine, but it can be clipped down to the proper size. Or order the banded musket or carbine from the RSM95 range of figures via The Dayton Painting Consortium. These are nicely detailed firearms that look more up to date on these old school figures from the 1970s.

The next set of photos depict the Stadden (or Tradition, as they are sometimes called) SYW Prussian hussars in fur busby and mirliton. The hussar in the busby is painted as HR2 (hussar regiment no. 2) Zieten Hussars , whose inhaber was the famous Prussian hussar general, Hans Joachim von Zieten. They are sculpted wearing the pelise, or short outer coat, over the red dolman, which we cannot see. On campaign, the pelise was rarely worn, except when the weather was cold. So the typical picture of the pelise draped across one shoulder and flying wildly through the air is nothing more than artistic license.

Stadden Prussian Hussars in Busby painted as HR2 von Zieten Hussars.

The next set of pictures depicts the Stadden Prussian hussar wearing the felt mirliton. This one is painted as HR5 von Reusch, better known as The Black Hussars, for obvious reasons. This unit has been known to strike terror into the hearts and minds of our Gallian (French) opponents. They ran roughshod through the rear of the French lines in the 2006 big battalion game of Lunstadt, and more recently at the Rock Con battle of Dithersdorf, a single squadron of dismounted Black Hussars charged into a French howitzer battery and captured all three guns. Accordingly, they have won two battle honors, which elevates them to "Elite" status forever more. Well done lads! May you continue to strike fear in your opponents.



Stadden Prussian Hussar (HR5) on H4 horse.

The hussar in mirliton is a very elegant, well proportioned figure that is one of my all time favorites. The arm is cast straight out to the side, but with a little bit of careful bending, you can point the arm forward in the classic "en pointe" pose. The swords are a bit flimsy, so I cut them off and replace them with pin swords. Simply clip off the sword, file the hilt area flat, then drill a small hole with a pin vise tool for the first part of the operation. Then, take a common sewing pin and smash it flat with a hammer. Clip off the flat head so that your pin sword is the desired length. Now for the important part: take a small file and file away the silver plating on the pin at its base (the part where you intend to glue it into the pin hole). This gives you a bare metal on metal bond when you apply the super glue and makes for a stronger bond. If you don't file away some of the plating, then the bond is not as good and the pin sword may eventually fall out. Sometimes pin swords do fall out, particularly if they've stuck someone really, really good. (I like to paint some red on the tip of a couple of pins and then tell people that it is real blood, he, he, he...). Simply take the old pin, file away the old glue and reglue into the socket, or make a new pin sword. It's very easy to do.

The Battle of Dithersdorf

Saturday November 3, 1757 - The forces of Hesse Seewald ("HS") and Gallia met once again over the weekend at a little crossroads village named Dithersdorf. Both sides had intelligence that there were considerable supplies of food and shoes stored in the town, so it was inevitable that the two sides should have a meeting engagement at Dithersdorf.

General von Manstein's HS reconnaissance in force consisted of 10 battalions of infantry (2 - grenadiers, 1 - jaeger, and 7 musketeers/fusiliers) and 12 squadrons of assorted cavalry and they approached Dithersdorf from the south. Von Manstein elected to deploy the majority of his forces in the open field to the left of the town, where he expected to deter the Gallians from entering the town. He deployed two brigades of infantry (3 btns each) and three squadrons each of cuirassiers, dragoons and hussars in this sector. The smaller force deployed to the right of the town, commanded by Colonel Hassler, included 2 btns of grenadiers, the jagers and one battalion of infantry, with 5 squadrons of hussars in support. Colonel Hassler's objective was to seize Dithersdorf and keep the supplies away from the Gallians.

The ensuing battle appeared to be going according to von Manstein's plans. Colonel Hassler captured Dithersdorf without meeting any opposition. The town had been previously secured by a squadron of frei-hussaren who claimed to have allegiance to Hesse Seewald. Once the fighting began, these naer-do-wells were seen beating a retreat from the town, escorting an impressive looking black coach. We know not who was in the black coach, but neither von Manstein nor Hassler had the inclination to challenge the occupant's credentials or papers. On the left flank, von Manstein was able to shake his infantry out into an impressive looking battle line, with four battalions in the first line and two battalions in the second line. The dragoons and cuirassiers formed a third line in reserve. Some hussars served as an advance guard and screened the deployment of the HS infantry for several turns.

The Gallians came on strong in the left flank sector. Von Manstein's own brigade mowed down the Gallians in droves, causing three battalions to rout away. His subordinate, Brigadier Lloyd, also fended off a strong cavalry charge by the Gallian Carabineers and some light chasseurs. There were a few anxious moments during this latter combat, but Brigadier Lloyd was blessed with the gift of rolling "box cars" (12s on his D6 dice) and pushed the Gallian cavalry back. Had Lloyd not passed his morale, it could have gotten very ugly as the HS cavalry commander brought his reserve too close to the infantry, leaving no lanes for routing troops to flee. Lloyd made that a rather moot point.

Von Manstein paid a brief visit to the right flank to observe the action, and it appeared that Colonel Hassler had things well in hand, with the town secured. It appeared that the Gallians had more numbers in this sector, so von Manstein released the cavalry reserve of 2 squadrons of Black Hussars to Colonel Hassler, figuring that this should be enough to hold the village.

Von Manstein returned to the action on the left flank, just in time to see a giant 72 figure battalion of the Auvergne regiment moving up on the HS position. A "first fire" bonus of +5 from this lot could prove devastating, so von Manstein had his brigade retire one hundred paces to the rear and reform. His two battalions in the front line were rather shot up by now, but they gained the fire initiative and whittled Auvergne down to less than 60 figures before they could reply. The ensuing musketry caused the Schwerin regiment (IR24) to run away while reducing the Bornstedt(IR20) to 25% of its original strength (without routing, I might add). Von Manstein's reserve unit of Alt Braunschweig (IR5) moved forward after Auvergne had shot its wad and poured a first volley into the plucky Gallians, causing them to run away too. This opened up the field for the Gallian cavalry (Saxon cheveau-legers) to come bounding up and charging into Alt Braunschweig. The infantry was pushed back a few paces, but von Manstein had the presence of mind to attach himself to IR5 to give it a little extra metal in its spine, and the move paid off, for his personal charisma (+2) proved to be the difference between Alt Braunschweig holding firm or routing. The Gallians were played out in this sector with all of their infantry in a state of rout or retirement, and some still dangerous (but much reduced in numbers) cavalry. They would not be able to hold off the two fresh HS cavalry units plus two fresh fusilier battalions.

But it didn't matter... For while this was going on, the Gallians had overwhelmed the defenses of Dithersdorf and were in firm control of the village. It seems that Colonel Hassler was caught between a rock and a hard place. He could defend the village and probably hold it, but then the Gallians would be able to seize his line of communications off the board and capture 3 terrain points. Or, Hassler could detach some troops to defend the line of communications and put the village defense at risk. Hassler chose the latter course, and when he sent a battalion of infantry (IR7 Bevern) out of the village to cut off the Gallian attack on the road, the French stormed and overwhelmed the battalion of jaegers who were defending the village. Von Manstein didn't have enough infantry units left to recapture the village and keep the other Gallians (in the left flank area) at bay, so he conceded the town and victory to the Gallians.

It was a well-fought battle by all the participants. We had 10 players in all, of which 4 were experienced with the rules. The 6 newbies seemed to pick up on the rules fairly quickly, which was a good thing to see. We sold a few sets of rules and picked up a couple of new recruits for future battles in Brown Deer, Wisconsin. I regret that I haven't posted any pictures of the battle. There was a large, bright light directly over our table and it was so bright as to wash out most of my pictures. I only took 3 or 4 photos as a consequence. I will have to down load them later and see if any are suitable for posting. The convention was held in an athletic field house, so you can imagine how large and bright the overhead lights were. Sigh...

On To Rock Con!

It is off to Rock Con tomorrow for an afternoon Big Battalion BAR convention game for 10 to 12 people. Bill and I have come up with a smaller BAR game scenario that looks to be a lot of fun. The premise is that the town of Dithersdorf is chock full of food and other supplies and both the Gallian advance guard and the Hesse Seewald rear guard would like to be the first to get to Dithersdorf and said supplies.

Oh, and to complicate things a little bit, a certain black coach with an armed escort of black hussars has arrived in the town ahead of everyone else. It seems that Milady de Winter's gang of cut throats has reason to believe that a certain Gallian spy, Lady Pettygree, and her party are also converging on Dithersdorf. Will Milady finally capture Lady Pettygree and turn her over to the mysterious Patron and secure the release of certain hostages? Only time and some lucky die rolls will tell the story.

The game table will resemble a giant "X" in terms of the layout of the road network. Each quadrant of the X will have a covered approach of forests so that the armies, who will arrive on each of the four road entries to the table, will not be able to see one another at first. Dithersdorf is located in the center where the roads converge. It is sort of variant of the old Sawmill Village game scenario, only this time there are four entry roads instead of two.

The respective armies will feature a larger proportion of light cavalry and infantry than we normally use in our games. This is a sort of kleine krieg, if you will. I think that I have around 10 to 12 battalions of infantry and maybe 150 cavalry, of which half are hussars. There are a minimal number of cannons in the scenario, so it should come down to a firefight. The brigades will also be smaller than usual, with three battalions making up the average infantry brigade. So this should speed up the game considerably. Also, brigade commanders will have different objectives in the game, and sometimes their objectives may clash with those of the army commander.

It has been a bit slow on the painting front this week. I painted one Suren mounted figure to represent Milady de Winter dressed in 18th Century riding habit. I also started a squadron of 12 Stadden Prussian hussars in busbies. These will become HR2, the Zeiten Hussar regiment. The first couple of figures have turned out rather nicely, which gives me a lot of incentive to get the rest of them done after Rock Con.

Have a good weekend everybody. I will post an update on the game probably Sunday.

Suren Kettledrummer & Other New Toys

Top: Suren 30mm Trumpeter with Kettledrum conversion
Middle: Comparison of Suren with Elite Trumpeter
Bottom: Same figures, other side

I finished up a couple of squadrons of 30mm Suren SYW Prussian cuirassiers last night, including the trumpeters and the kettledrummer mention in my previous posting. Please click on the pictures above for a close up view of the work.

The first picture shows the Suren Prussian cuirassier trumpeter painted as a kettledrummer and as a cuirassier trumpeter. Note that Prussian cuirassier musicians did not wear the iron cuirasse. I used the Foundry Prussian kettledrums and attached them to the Suren figure by simply drilling a hole into the pistol holders and gluing on the drum. As you can see from the picture of the trumpeter, it is then only a matter of bending the right arm a little bit higher and the left arm a little bit lower. Then I cut off a small piece of brass wire and added a little ball of green putty to form the drum sticks. These were then glued into the hands of the trumpeter (no easy feat was that, I must say). I added a little bit more putty to make the right hand larger and also cover the gap over the drum stick. I probably used a little too much putty on the hand, but all in all, it's not a bad job for someone who has little experience with conversions. I have a lot of respect for sculptors and their ability to work with epoxy putty. It isn't easy.

Results of the Painting Blitz

IR25 von Kalckstein Regiment - Elite Miniatures
Here at last, are a couple of pictures of IR25 Kalckstein, in Prussian service, that I painted over the course of 20 hours and 6 days prior to the OSW Big Game on October 13, 2007. These are the new Elite Miniatures "march attack" pose that Pete Morbey sculpted last summer and recently added to his catalog. This is a nice serviceable pose and I found it fairly easy going to do a blitz paint job in six days. How does this differ from my normal painting style? It is not too different, other than I did not bother to paint the gaitor buttons or do a third highlight shade on some of the colors. I am happy to report that Kalckstein performed very well during the game and did not rout, as so often happens with newly painted wargame units. The flags are GMB Designs and the flag poles were made from wire spears that I purchased from North Star Miniatues, in the UK. The flag cords are florist's wire twisted together and glued onto the flag staff.

Some New Austrians Have Arrived As Well

Converged Austrian Grenadiers - Crusader Miniatures (painted by Dennis Smail)

Here is a picture of some Crusader SYW Austrian grenadiers that I recently added to my growing collection of Austrians. They had their baptism of fire in the OSW Big Game and handled themselves very well. The figures were painted by my long time friend and eminence gris Dennis Smail, of Lexington, Kentucky. I think that he did a fine job on the grenadiers. While only three stands are shown, Dennis painted five stands of 12 grenadiers, each stand representing a different regiment. The Austrians converged their grenadiers together on an ad hoc basis prior to the battle. Thus there were no permanent grenadier battalions as there were in the Prussian army. My Austrian army is only at half the size of my Prussian forces, so there is much work to be done before the Austrians can take on King Frederick in Silesia. Thankfully, Dennis is going to help me with a few more Austrian units. I officially declare that November will be "Austrian Painting Month" in Hesse Seewald.

Kettledrummers & Knick Knacks

Piepp 45mm Prussian Cuirassiers

I feel another painting surge coming on and look forward to seeing what I can turn out from the Potsdam Production Line. With another Big Battalion game lined up for the Rock Con convention on November 3, 2007, I have no doubt that some interesting additions will be made to Der Alte Fritz's SYW Prussian army over the next two weeks. Let's just say that the little setback at Preisserstadt has given me plenty of motivation to paint.

Last night I did some conversion work on a Suren 30mm cuirassier trumpeter and turned him into a kettledrummer, sort of like the one pictured above. The casting's right hand is raised over its head as if getting ready to strike the kettledrum. So I cut off a section of brass rod for the drumstick, placed a tiny wad of green putty on the tip, and glued it onto the hands of the musician. For the kettledrums, I used the drums that come with the Foundry Prussian kettledrummer and merely drilled a hole into the each side of the neck on the horse. The Foundry figure is too large and cartoonish looking to use with the slender Surens, but the kettle drum is nearly perfect. The figure is still drying so I don't have any pictures yet. Tonight, I will prime the kettledrummer and then start the painting process later in the week. With only two weeks to go before Rock Con, I ought to be able to add one more musician to my cavalry contingent.

The 45mm Piepp casting pictures above, come from Germany, via the Berlin Zinnfiguren store and I used a picture of one of these fellows as a stand-in for my own creation. I am curious to see how it will paint up.

Speaking of Berlin Zinnfiguren, some of my artillery back orders arrived over the weekend. I can now add a 12 pounder and a 7 pound howitzer to my artillery park. And as I walked into my house this evening, I saw a large box from Berlin Zinnfiguren on the front hall table, perhaps an indication that the rest of the artillery park has arrived. Oh boy!

UPDATE: Yes, the rest of my Prussian artillery arrived today, so now I have three 12-pounders, a 10-pound howitzer, a 7-pound howitzer, and a 6-pounder. The Euro 30 price includes both the limber and the gun and both pieces come pre-assembled. I counted 11 different components in the 12-pounder, so when you stop to consider the amount of time that goes into the assembly of these models, the price seems more reasonable.

My plan is to upgrade all of my regimental guns from 3-pounders to 6-pounders and 7-pound howitzers. I have no choice in this matter, because the French insist that their 4-pounders are really 6-pounders and thus I am outgunned. Now I understand that there was a difference in the French pound and the English pound weight, but in an imaginary world with fictional countries, a pound is a pound is a pound. Period.

Preisserstadt Summary

My how the time flies -- this time last week we were setting up the wargame table for the Big Game and everything seemed to harried and hectic. Now that a week has passed, I'm starting to recover from the inevitable post-game depression or burnout that often seems to accompany such games. I cleaned and primed a new batch of figures last night and will probably make my way back to the painting table over the weekend - I can't tell you what is next on the painting schedule because there are Gallian spies lurking everywhere. I want to have a few surprises for them at the next battle on November 3rd at the Rock Con convention.

So how did the battle of Preisserstadt turn out, you might ask. Regretfully, I had to award a victory to the Gallians (French) on victory points. It seems that Milady de Winter's spy network furnished Der Erbprinz with the wrong set of maps, and as a result, he made no effort to defend the Jungwald on the left flank or contest the Heydewald on the right flank. Hesse Seewald troops were within inches of both terrain objects but had departed them on the last turn. I was working off of an old map and didn't realize that the newer map assigned terrain points to these woods. That turned out to be the difference in the points. The Gallians lost more men, roughly 40% of their forces compared to 35% for the Hesse Seewald army. However, the Gallians had 2 captured flags compared to 1 for the Good Guys so that gave the fleur de lys an extra point. They also had one less route during the game. So Gallia ended up winning by one point. Congratulations to the Gallians, Russie, Imperiums and other Allies and players. Well done!

Both Chevert and Der Erbprinz agreed that Preisserstadt had a sort of Zorndorf feel to it, with both sides battered bloody and senseless while neither side had any tactical advantage at the end of the game. So Der Erbprinz is falling back towards Hesse Kassel via Paderborn and Marburg, where he will regroup and refit his army for the next battle. The Gallians were last seen retiring towards their supply depot at Cologne. More later...