Foundry SYW Russians

Russian Commander stand

Several people asked me to post some more pictures of the Foundry Russians that I am selling, so here they are.

I did an inventory of units today and can report that I have 26 battalions - 7 in green coats and 19 in the red sleeved waistcoat (worn in most of the battles fought by the Russians in the SYW). Here is a list of the available units for sale.

Green Coated Btns
Smolensk Regt. - 2 btns   sold
Schlusselberg Regt. - 2 btns  sold
Kexholm Regt. - 2 btns sold
2nd Grenadier Regt. - 1 btn. sold

Red Waistcoat Btns
Azov Regt. - 2 btns sold
Voronezh Regt. - 2 btns sold
St. Petersburg Regt. - 2 btns sold
Neva Regt. - 2 btns sold
1st /2nd/3rd Grenadiers - 3 btns (one of each) sold
Novgorod Regt. - 1 btn sold

1st Observation Corps Regt - 2 btns sold
3rd Observation Corps Regt - 2 btns sold
5th Observation Corps Regt - 2 btns sold
Observation Corps Grenadiers - 1 btn sold
I have two Shuvolov Secret Howitzers that will be included with the Observation Corp.

Closeup of the Smolensk Regiment 

Another close up of the second Smolensk battalion in the regiment

SYW Russian & British Figure Sale

RSM Miniatures - British Brigade

RSM Miniatures - 8th Regiment of Horse

British Brigade of RSM SYW Figures  These Figures Have Been Sold.

I am reluctantly putting up this RSM SYW British project for sale. The infantry brigade consists of 90 foot divided into three regiments: 8th (Kings) Regt; 12th (Napier's) Regt.; and the 42nd (Royal Black Watch) Regiment. It also includes 12 heavy cavalry - 8th Horse. I will also throw in two 6-pdr artillery pieces each with four crew (to be painted). Total cost for the whole kit and kaboodle is $1,120.00 That works out to $10 per figure. Shipping extra.

The figures are individually based on 3/4" square (about 20mm square) metal bases and the units would be perfect for an Old School SYW army. In fact, this is what I designed it for. I also have a partially painted fourth infantry regiment of hat men in blue facings. We can negotiate what to do with these if you elect to buy the brigade. I can also terrain the figure bases at no extra charge, or you can stay with the Old School motif and leave the bases painted dark green.

I have the correct GMB Designs flags that I will include at no extra charge.

This was the start of my own personal Old School project using some of my favorite figures of all time: RSM Miniatures. 

Minden Hanoverian Regiment 4B - 30 figures

Minden Miniatures Hanoverian Regiment

Also for sale is a single battalion of nice looking regiment of Minden Hanoverian infantry - 30 figures plus two Flag Dude flags for a total price of $300.00 plus shipping. These were painted by my nephew, Alex Akers, who is a Golden Demon winner. He really did a nice job on this unit. The bases are 60mm by 40mm deep and are nicely terrained with static grass and ground turf.

Foundry SYW Russian Brigades (up to 7 brigades available)

Russian brigade of two regiments, divided into two battalions per regiment; plus mounted officer stand, battalion gun with 2 crew and field gun with 4 crew. All Foundry figures painted by Der Alte Fritz.

Close up view of the same brigade.

Russian brigade dressed in summer kit ; red sleeved waistcoats, green coats were collected prior to the battle and stored at the wagon park with all of the baggage.

Each Russian infantry brigade is priced at $740.00 plus shipping and includes four battalions of 20 figures, a command stand of mounted officers, one battalion gun with 2 crewmen, and one larger field artillery piece with 4 crewmen. Available in limited quantities in either green coats or summer red sleeved waist coats. They are all Foundry figures sculpted largely by Mark Copplestone. Discounts are available if you buy two or more brigades at the same time.

If you have an interest in any of these items from my collection, then drop me a personal e-mail at 

"altefritz1740 (at) (yahoo) (dot) (com) to make arrangements for purchase and shipping.

Proceeds from the sale are being reinvested into the Fife & Drum Miniatures range of AWI figures.

Oh, and click on the pictures to enlarge the view.

Figure Sale Pending

Just a quick "heads up" to let you know that tomorrow night I will be posting information on my SYW Russian army that is going on sale. The figures are mostly Foundry, with a scattering of Front Rank artillery crews, horse grenadiers and some of those whompin' big Russian artillery pieces from Front Rank. I will be asking around $8.00 per foot figure and artillery crew figure. Cavalry will be going for $12.00 each. I haven't yet priced commander's stands and artillery pieces, but bear with me.

The infantry are organized into 20 figure battalions, with two battalions making up a regiment of 40 figures. They are mounted on metal bases so that you can transport them in boxes with magnetic sheet.

Pictures tomorrow, but if you are interested or have any questions, then send me an e-mail at:

altefritz1740  (at) yahoo (dot) (com)

Any spammers will be summarily tried and executed, but all other inquiries are welcome.

I also have a Minden Hanoverian infantry battalion going for $300 for a 30 figure battalion, with Flag Dude flags (2 flags).

Everything is "as is", so I will not be rebasing the figures for anyone.

Fritz

Napoleon's Triumph

I have just started reading the second book in James Arnold's series covering Napoleon's campaign in Poland during 1806-1807. This follow up on Arnold's Crisis in the Snows: Russia Confronts Napoleon The Eylau Campaign 1806-1807.

This is not meant to be a book review, other than to simply post that I am reading the book and that it is giving me some good ideas for wargaming. I believe that Jim Arnold is a wargamer in addition to being a writer of good historical books. This kind of shows in terms of the quality of his maps and the orders of battle that are included with the book - both of which are helpful in setting up a game scenario. A campaign is made up of many small encounters and battles, leading up to the climax of the big battle, be it Eylau or Friedland.

I already have a French army (1:10 ratio using 28mm figures) and an 1806 Prussian army, and have a brigade of Russians too (with a horse artillery battery - love those Elite Miniatures artillery pieces!), so this book hits the sweet spot for me, in terms of content and a cornucopia of ideas for smaller battle scenarios.

One intriguing idea is the thought of what might have happened had the British followed through with their interest in landing an expeditionary force in Stralsund in 1807, joining coalition partner Sweden. The plan was to send in the King's German Legion, some 9,000 infantry in all, to join the 13,000 Swedes already in Stralsund. From there, they could attack Marshall Mortier's corps and then possibly the garrison at Stettin. This would then threaten Napoleon's supply lines from Berlin to Poland and possibly force Napoleon to call off operations in Poland (not likely in my opinion). I think that Napoleon would have turned his forces on to the British with a vengeance, much like he did in Spain during the Corunna Campaign. Such an expedition would have been highly risky for the British. Ultimately though, this did not happen as British resources were tied up in the failed enterprise to capture Buenos Aires in Spanish owned Argentina (Spain was an ally of France in 1806, thus the British were attacking a French ally).

Some Old Veterans From Connoisseur

Connoisseur Peninsula British Light Company figures

This afternoon I took a little break from painting SYW cavalry to paint three old Connoisseur Peninsula British that I found laying in a box. They were partially painted (faces, basic red coat and grey pants blocked in) and I figure that they have been in that state since about 1992. So these guys are AT LEAST 20 YEARS OLD!

I have to say that Peter Gilder's Connoisseur range still holds up very well in comparison to the panoply of figures that are available on the market today. In fact, I would go further and say that when it comes to Napoleonics, I prefer Connoisseur figures over all else. They not only bring on a nostalgic twinge for me, but they still look so gosh darn good.

Light Co. Officer and Centre Co. ranker

Centre Co. ranker and Highlander Centre Co. figures

Front and rear views of the Light Co. ranker

I have a regiment of British figures on order from Bicorne Miniatures, the current owner of the Connoisseur range of figures and these will be about 84 figures strong: 1 to 10 ratio with 12 figures per company and 7 companies (including one each of the flank companies - grenadier and light). So the three extra figures that I had laying around were all light company figures: an Officer wearing a pelisse and two rankers standing and firing. This gives me a three figure head start on the regiment, which will become the 94th Regiment of Foot.

After our last battle at Costa Blanca (a French rout of the British army), it became clear to me and Bill that we need to add new British battalions, and fast! I will probably break the figures down into groups of a dozen and paint them here and there as time permits. It is kind of nice to have some primed figures "in stock" ready to paint when you fancy painting something a bit different from whatever it is that you are working on.

Some SYW Minden Figures

Here are several close up shots of some of the Minden cavalry that I am currently painting on commission for a collector. I'm really posting these pictures for him, but I thought that everyone else would enjoy peaking at them too. (PS: Your second box arrived today.)

Von Seydlitz - Minden Minatures

Esterhazy Hussar in Austrian Service - Minden Miniatures

Austrian Cuirassier Trooper - Minden Miniatures

Cavalry Painting Ideas

I'm working on a painting commission of a batch of SYW cavalry and I think that I stumbled upon an idea that gets me to the finish line sooner.

After priming the figures and laying down the base coat of black acrylic (to cover up the raw primer paint, which sometimes has a rougher surface than does acrylic), I tried painting the entire horse before moving on to the rider. I glue horse and rider together in one piece prior to priming them. I know that some people keep the two separate and only glue them together at the end.

I use a lot of dry brushing technique on my horses, which means that it is common to have some of the horse color spill over onto the rider. This means that I have to go back and touch up the rider to eliminate the excess paint. However, if I paint the entire horse first, then I don't have to spend time touching up the rider. I simply move on to painting the rider. The net result is that it seems to make the painting process go faster. Also, it eliminates the "dreads" that I get when I paint the horse last. I don't always like painting horses so this dread sort of goes away, i.e. once the rider is finished, so is the entire figure.

On another front, I have found that I am starting to mix my own colors when I paint. Oh, I'll use the base color right out of the bottle, but now I tend to use the base color plus a lighter color mixed in to provide the highlight color to the figure. This way I am sure to get a highlight that is in the same part of the color wheel as the base color. Sometimes using triad paint groups just doesn't give me the result that I'm looking for.

Some Minden Austrian Cavalry

Esterhazy Hussar Regiment in Austrian service

I have been busy working on a painting commission for some Minden Miniatures SYW Austrian and Prussian cavalry figures. You can see the early results in a couple of photos taken with my iPhone, so I apologize for the dodgy quality of the pictures. I was setting up a photo shoot this evening when my camera battery died and had to be recharged. I wanted the client to be able to see the pictures today, so I had to resort to the iPhone as a Plan B.

The commission also includes a dozen Prussian hussars in mirliton, which will end up being the Black Hussars on white (greys) horses. I primed the hussars this evening so they should be ready for painting on Thursday evening. With the long holiday weekend coming up, I ought to be able to knock the Black Hussars out in a couple of days and get the lads sent on to their new inhaber.

Leopold Cuirassier Regiment in Austrian service.

I had a little bit of trouble getting my hands around the task of painting the Esterhazy Hussars. Given their bright colors, I primed them in grey rather than my normal black primer. This results in a brighter looking figure for light blues or reds. The one draw back is that after priming and laying on the base coat of uniform colors, I then have to go back and paint ALL of the equipment black - and this can get a bit tedious until you hit your painting rhythm.  Equipment gets an under coat of black so that the brown (muskets and hair) and the cross belts (grey or white) have more depth to their final colors. This is the exact opposite of painting with reds or light blues.

Eventually, I figured out how to paint the hussar figure in the most efficient manner, and then, they really started to roll off of the assembly line. The cuirassiers painted up much faster as they have less detail (lace, van dyking on the horse furniture, etc). The cuirassier picture is slightly blurry so it doesn't give you a true look at how the final product looks.

I wanted to terrain the bases, but the client wanted them just painted green so that he could apply his own basing material and have his new figures match the basing of his existing SYW units.

I particularly like the Austrian cuirassier figures in red. I have one unit for my own Austrian army in blue facings, but I like the red much better. I think that I might have to order some Minden castings for myself and paint a unit of Austrian cuirassiers for my army.

I kind of hate to see these fine figures go, but they were fun to paint and the commission provides more funds for my Fife & Drum range of AWI figures.

I will post more pictures within a couple of days after the Black Hussars are completed.