Dark Ages Wood Keep in 28mm

A Saxon or Norman wooden keep, circa 1066, built by Herb Gundt. Some Gripping Beast Saxons sallie forth across the draw bridge. Please click or double click images to enlarge the view.

Continuing on with our tour of the contents of my famous Closet O' Lead, we now turn our attention to the Dark Ages as I invite you to take a peak at the Norman Castle Keep and hoards of Vikings and Saxons that I have collected and painted over the years. Our Dark Ages tour will continue throughout this week on my blog, so I invite you to check in on a daily basis to see what wonderful things I can find that have been lost in the Closet O' Lead.

Our tour starts with a wonderful 28mm model of a wooden Norman fortification or "keep" that might have been built soon after William the Conqueror's victory over Harold at Hastings. The Normans did not have time to build sturdy castles of stone, as I imagine that they were in a bit of a hurry to throw up something at key points in England, to protect themselves and to let the locals know who was really in charge of things.

I commissioned this Norman keep with Herb some time back, probably ten or more years ago. The inspiration for it came from viewing the movie, "The Warlord", with Charlton Heston and Richard Boone. I envisioned playing some skirmish games with the then new Gripping Beast Vikings and Saxons and Normans and I wanted a place for my warlord to reside. Flexibility was a key consideration for me as well. I wanted a moat around the keep, but I foresaw the need to remove the moat for certain game situations. So I asked Herb if he could make the keep removable from the moat base. Herb gave it some thought and came up with the following solution:



The moat and base after the removal of the wooden keep.

The picture above depicts the ingenious system that Herb engineered so that I could use the keep with or without the moat. The keep can be removed, revealing a round base and key that fit into the keyhole that he built into the underside of the wooden keep. The key structure prevents the tower from shifting about and one simply lowers the structure onto the island and allows the key to fit snuggly inside the keyhole.


The keep shown in use without the moat. A separate dirt ramp was built so that the drawbridge could be lowered when the moat base was removed.

When I want to use the keep on dry land, we figured that we would need some kind of a dirt ramp so that the drawbridge would have something to rest on in the down position. When the keep is attached to the moat base, the lowered drawbridge rests on the far bank of the moat. Without the ramp, the drawbridge would dangle in thin air and probably break. So kudos to Herb Gundt for building this castle and for thinking up the ideas for engineering the base system.

A closer view of the wooden parapet, which lifts off so that figures can be placed inside the keep.

As with most of my buildings made by Herb, the roof lifts off so that figures can be placed inside for skirmish games or to simply hide your forces from the view of the enemy, be they ferocious Viking raiders or angry Saxon villagers.

A final view of Gripping Beast and Foundry Vikings in the front "battle" and Gripping Beast and Essex Saxons in the rear "battle".

The above picture provides a teaser of things to come over the next couple of days. So do come back and pay us another visit as we take a closer look at my collection of Saxons and Vikings. If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment on this blog entry, or contact me via e mail at:

altefritz1740@yahoo.com

Sharpen up your broadswords and I will see you tomorrow.

What's On Fritz's Painting Table

A view of my painting table taken this evening. RSM Bavarians are seen on the left, sitting atop some Litko wood bases. Some Minden SYW Austrian grenadiers sit in the middle of the table, and more RSM Bavarians are holding down the right flank. The Mollo book on SYW uniforms provides some guidance for my brushes.

It was a very busy weekend at Schloss Seewald, what with the Princess having a sleep-over on friday night, a wargame at Chez Protz in Brown Deer and a lot of painting dodged in between everything else. I thought that everyone would enjoy taking a look at what is on my painting table lately. As you can see in the picture above, it has a definite Bavarian and Austrian trend of late. Please click on the pictures, if you dare, to see things blown up (in size, not literally).


A view of the battlefield for our game on Saturday. This is a picture of my Prussian brigade charged with holding an exposed salient, with the promise of reinforcements to come. Haven't we played this scenario already? Reminds me of our last Colonial game, a bit.


I have completed one stand of Minden SYW Austrian grenadiers, but have not been able to attend to the rest of the battalion for several weeks, due to the need to prepare and pack all of the units that are going to new homes. Saturday night, after arriving home from the BAR game in Brown Deer, I hauled out a 30 figure battalion of RSM Austrians that I am painting as Bavarians on commission. I was able to knock out 15 infantry and one mounted officer Saturday and on through this evening, before retiring to the blog to post these pictures.


RSM Austrian figures, painted as Bavarians - the Lieb Regiment.

One of my current commissions calls for two 30 figure battalions of Bavarians, using my vast stock of unpainted RSM castings that are holding down my house. These figures were fun to paint, and I rather surprised myself at how fast my brushes were flying over the weekend. I had hoped to complete six grenadiers, but I blasted through that goal with relative ease. The unit will be comprised of 23 foot and one mounted officer, plus a stand of 6 grendiers. Presumably, the grenadiers could be detached from the parent unit and converged with the grenadiers from other Bavarian regiments.

The most difficult part of the job was experimenting with various shades of light blue, until I could find one that was on target. Using the Funken book and the Cigaretten Cards book as a guide (both seemed to agree on the color of blue used by the Bavarians), I settled on a Reaper Paints color called "Slate" as the undercoat and also used an old bottle of Ral Partha Dragon Wing Blue as the highlight color. I should have this battalion done by the end of the week. After that, I will have another Bavarian unit with red facings to paint to complete the commission.

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RSM Prussian Brigade For Sale

Aeriel view from a hot air balloon of the whole brigade plus the Zieten Hussars. Please double click the pictures to enlarge the view. Infantry and artillery were painted by William Stallings of Lexington, KY (an old gaming friend of mine), while the hussars were painted by Bill Biles (another of the old RSM Crew that I gamed with for many years.

I have another brigade of RSM Prussian infantry that is seeking a new Inhaber to lead them on to victory. The brigade consists of two regiments: IR9 Puttkamer (shown on the left in the pictures) and IR20 Bornstadt (shown on the right). The infantry was painted by William Stallings and he hand painted the flags and then reduced them on a color copy machine. This is what we did before the days of GMB Designs flags.

I also have a battery of two 12 pound guns and one mounted commander. Finally, we need a little bit of Hussar Love around here so that we can find a new home for the HR2 Zieten Hussars. To hasten their departure and make room for some new troops, I have dropped the price of the hussars from $6.00 each to $5.00 each.

Here are some closer views of the figures in the brigade:

IR9 Puttkamer Regiment (40 figures - $240.00 for the lot)


IR9 Puttkamer Regiment - one of Frederick's better regiments.

IR20 Bornstadt (40 figures - $240.00 for the lot)


IR20 Bornstadt Regiment - a fine Brandenburg regiment held in high esteem by Frederick.

12 pounder artillery battery (2 sections - $60.00 for the lot)

Please click on the picture to enlarge the view of the RSM Prussian artillery battery.

Brigade Deal : $500.00 for 80 infantry, 2 guns w/crew and general. (Zieten Hussars not included in the brigade deal)

Bargain Bin:

I still have the Scruby Prussian fusilier regiment of 60 figures for sale and I am dropping the price to $3.00 per figure, or $180 for the lot. If you also buy one of the other units listed today, I will drop the regiment's price down to $150. This is really a nicely painted unit and would be perfect for large big battalion games, or you could divide the figures into two 30-figure battalions.

Something that I just whipped out last night - Bosniaks!




Front Rank 28mm Bosniaks - painted largely in one evening, except for the highlights on the horses and their tack. They still need pennants added to the lances and terraining on the bases.

I sold my Front Rank Bosniak light cavalry last week, and the buyer wanted to increase the 20 figure unit up to 24 figures, so that he could have two 12-horse squadrons for use in our BAR games. So I painted the last four figures the other night and finished off the horses this evening while listening to the White Sox baseball game on the radio.

These figures were a blast to paint, and since they are largely black, not too difficult to paint. The toughest part was painting the black stripes on the red lances. I haven't terrained the bases because the buyer plans to rebase the older Bosniaks in his own style and add the four new figures that I painted.

I did a modest amount of shading and highlighting on the figures because I was trying to blend my newer style of painting with some figures that were painted in monotone color back in the 1990s. But if you click on the pictures for a closer view, you can get a sense of how my brush work looks. I am working on a couple of commissions for people right now and will have an open schedule starting in October 2010. If you are interested in having some SYW figures painted, then send me an e mail at: altefritz1740@yahoo.com for more information.

ACW Confederates for Sale - Brockenbrough's Brigade

Aerial view of Colonel John Brockenbrough's brigade plus Moore's Virginia battery. click all pictures to enlarge the view, or double click for extreme close ups. Buildings and trees were made by Herb Gundt of H.G. Walls.

I am placing my 2,000 piece 28mm ACW pair of armies on the selling block and thought that I would lead off featuring one of the smaller Confederate brigades, that of John Brockenbrough in Heth's Division of AP Hill's Corps, circa the Gettysburg Campaign of 1863. The armies represent the Union I Corps of John Reynolds and Heth's Division at a 1:10 ratio of figures to men. That means that a 400 man regiment would be represented by 40 figures, 300 men by 30 figures, and so on and so forth.

There is a nice mix of figure brands within this brigade of 100 infantry, 6 skirmishers and a 2-gun artillery battery with limber teams. On the infantry side of things, 42 are the original Dave Alsop sculpted Old Glory figures, 30 Connoisseur figures, 14 Eagle-Bicorn, 12 First Corps, 6 Dixon, and even 2 of the now defunct Front Rank 28mm ACW range. The variety of figures presents an attractive and dynamic brigade that looks the business, as the figures all mix in very well and have a realistic look to them.

With the 150th Anniversary of the ACW coming up next year in 2011, I predict that there will be a surge in ACW wargaming. This is an excellent opportunity to get your army started before the Susquicentennial begins. I have more Confederate brigades available as well as numerous Yankees, included the famed Iron Brigade (these are gorgeous units).

Brockenbrough's Brigade (106 infantry, 18 artillery components in 2 gun sections, 1 command stand with two mounted conversion figures: $5 per figure or $620.00 for the entire brigade - must be purchased as a brigade.

Contact: altefritz1740@yahoo.com for more information


Close up shot of Moore's VA Battery in action, with Colonel Brockenbrough looking on. The Colonel (with binoculars) is a conversion of the Connoisseur Confederate artillery officer upper torso and a Connoisseur mounted officer pair of legs, nicely converted by Dennis Smail.

Moore's Virginia Battery consists of two Connoisseur artillery pieces (12 pd Napoleon and 3-inch Rodman rifle) and a pair of Dixon limbers/horses/riders. The Connoisseur artillery pieces were sculpted by the famous Norman Swales and these are really beautiful models. In fact, I've not seen anything else come close to the perfection that Mr. Swales put into the Connoisseur guns.


The 55th Virginia in the foreground, supported by the 40th Virginia in the second line. This provides a nice view of the Dave Alsop castings that launched the Old Glory company back in the 1990s.

The picture above depicts two of the larger 30 figure regiments in the brigade and the front unit consists largely of the Dave Alsop Old Glory figures (25 of the 30 are Old Glory). In my opinion, Mr. Alsop made the best ACW figures that I have ever seen (although the later Redoubt figures are mighty close to being as good) and it is a shame that he passed away so early in life. The figures are no longer available and have long since been replaced by lesser sculpts, although the 2nd Generation Old Glory ACW figures look promising. This is a great opportunity to acquire these hard-to-find Alsop figures.


A closer view of the Dave Alsop Old Glory figures in the regiment on the right front. The second regiment features some nice Eagle-Bicorn figures in the front stand.




Each brigade comes with a pair of skirmish stands holding 6 extra figures, as used in our Rusty's Rules for ACW games.


For skirmishers, we gave each brigade six skirmish figures mounted on two stands. They move at the normal movement rate in our rules, but when they fire, one simply rolls a pair of D10 percentage dice for the outcome. At long range, you needed a score of 10% or less to score a hit, while at close range, a score of 20% would do the damage. We quickly discovered that skirmishers were highly effective against artillery crews and we all learned to dread the approach of skirmishers towards our guns as we soon ended up with the crew and horses getting picked off. It was a fun rule that really added a lot to our ACW games.

Prussian Artillery Battery in the SYW

Four gun Prussian battery with all of its support pieces deployed to the rear. Guns and limbers are from Berliner Zinnfiguren, the crew and labourers are Minden Miniatures, the supply wagons are from Front Rank Miniatures, and the horses are from RSM.

I knocked out two supply wagons, another limber team, and a stand of labourers over the weekend in order to expand my SYW Prussian artillery battery, which is a part of my Minden Project. The results can be seen in the pictures (above and below) and I am really pleased with the way that things are shaping up. Eventually, the battery will have four 12-pounders and each gun stand will have four crew men, backed up by a stand of two labourers, one supply wagon stand and finally, the limber team. This will create the depth of the battery which should be more realistic, what with its complicated and busy logistical tail attached.

Front view of the Prussian battery in action, with a little bit of kapok or cotton to simulate the smoke after the guns fire. Buildings by Herb Gundt of H.G.Walls.

I only need to paint and assemble one more limber team, a supply wagon, and a stand of labourers in order to complete the fourth section in the battery. Given that I am using a 1:20 ratio (or about 2:1 ratio of gun models), the four gun sections equate to about 8 actual guns.

A closer view of the limber teams and the supply wagons that support each gun. In the background you can see Frederick the Great talking to his generals, near the tent.

I also assembled and primed some ammo supply wagons for the infantry this evening. Each brigade will have one small arms supply wagon to accompany it into battle. The 2-wheel carts are from Front Rank.

Prussian Field Forge

Prussian field forge (left) and gyn (right) for repairing artillery carriages. Minden pioneers (orange waistcoats) and mounted officer, Hovels civilians, and tents from Miniature Building Authority. (Click pictures twice to enlarge the view)

I finally got around to painting my field forge, that I bought from the Berliner Zinnfiguren store in Berlin several years ago. As I have been building up my Prussian artillery park with various supply wagons and repair crews, I was eager to get this vignette painted and based to finish things off.

The blacksmith and his boy helper are from the Hovels range of 18th century civilians. The anvil and tools are included in the field forge set. I made the tool table from bass wood and card stock and also added a barrel from Front Rank.

Prussian field forge from Berliner Zinnfiguren and Hovels civilians (blacksmith & his helper) make up this nice little vignette.

These models won't play any role in any of my table top wargames, unless I have a skirmish game or a raid scenario where perhaps a task force of Austrian hussars and Croats are on a raid behind the Prussian lines with the objective to destroy a Prussian camp or supply center. Nevertheless, the field forge vignette is attractive and will enhance the overall look of my wargames.

Sale Update
The Zieten Hussars are still available to a good home and I will be posting two more regiments of RSM Prussian infantry later in the week (IR9 Puttkamer and IR20 Bornstedt). Each infantry regiment has two 20-figure battalions.

RSM Prussian Cavalry Sale

Front Rank Prussian Bosniaks from the SYW, painted by Bill Biles.

UPDATE: The Zieten Hussars are still available, but the Bayreuth Dragoons and Bosniaks have new Inhabers.

It is time to move some of my Prussian cavalry on to some new inhabers, and today I have two nice selections of RSM figures -- the Bayreuth Dragoons (DR5) and the Zieten Hussars (HR2). I also have a nice regiment of colorful Bosniak lancers from Front Rank Figurines. All of the figures were painted for my by Bill Biles, the author of the uniform guides to the Seven Years War.

Front Rank Bosniak Lancers (20 figures - $140.00) SOLD!


Close up view of the Bosniaks, showing some of the detail such as the striped lances, different pennant colors for each squadron and some of the shabraque detail.

The Bosniaks are a colorful regiment of Front Rank figures, nicely painted by Bill Biles. Bill notes that it was a royal pain in the neck to paint the striped lances. Each stand of two figures represented one squadron in my 1:30 ratio so all ten stands represent an individual squadron, noting that each squadron had a different colored lance pennant. The frontage of each stand is 2-inches, but the stands are deeper to accomodate the extra length of the lances. They pair up nicely with the front rank of ten figures having couched lances and the back row having upright lances. I think that I have four extra unpainted castings that I will throw into the deal at no extra charge.

Bayreuth Dragoons (40 figures - $240.00) SOLD!


Bayreuth Dragoons -all ten squadrons of them.

OK, I will admit it, I hate to lose battles and so when I first read about the exploits of the huge 10 squadron regiment of Bayreuth Dragoons at Hohenfriedberg, I knew that I just had to have them in my RSM Prussian army. In our 1:30 ratio for Rusty's Rules, ten squadrons worked out to about 40 figures. So that is what I commissioned Bill Biles to paint for me. Wouldn't you know it, but in their very first game, we drew lots to determine the sides and I ended up playing the Austrian infantry. Oh yes, it gets even worse. I had to be the lucky general who faced them for the first time. They were commanded by Dennis Smail, the former owner of RSM when it was based in Lexington, Kentucky. I think that I still have the hoof prints on my back when Dennis rode over my Austrians in that battle. Life is not fair sometimes.


Close up view of the Bayreuth Dragoons. Note the mix of horses on each stand: one has legs bunched and the other has legs stretched to give the impression of rapid movement.

Bill was very clever in his construction of this regiment. He actually used RSM French cavalry charging "at the point" - which is really a very animated and exciting pose for cavalry. He simply did a "conversion with paint" on the figures, painting them as Prussians in light blue coats, rather than as French in white coats. He also mixed up the horse poses, using the RSM galloping horses - legs bunched and legs stretched. I have to say that I really like the way the whole unit looks with the dynamic mix of horse poses on each stand.

Zieten Hussars (20 figures - $120.00)


RSM Prussian hussars painted as HR2 Zieten Hussar Regiment.


Close up view showing the detail of the van Dyking on the shabraque.

No erstwhile Prussian commander should ever get into a table top battle without one of the most famous light cavalry regiments in the Fredrician army: the hussar regiment commanded by von Zieten himself. This 20-figure regiment was also painted by Bill Biles many years ago and has served Der Alte Fritz admirably over the years.

How to Buy These Figures:

Just send me an e-mail at:

altefritz1740@yahoo.com

and we can make the arrangements. This is a wonderful opportunity to acquire 80 nicely painted cavalry figures at a moderate price of $500 for the lot. Of course, one can also purchase individual regiments if that is your preference. These RSM figures have been moving fast, so don't delay as these are the last of the Prussian cavalry that I will be selling for quite some time.

Prussian Artillery Limbers

Prussian 12 pound battery of two Berliner Zinnfiguren guns and limbers, RSM horses and rider, Front Rank supply wagon, and Minden Miniatures artillery crew and pioneer figures (in waistcoats). They all fit together rather nicely. Click or double click the picture for an enlarged view.

I have been working on new limber teams to use with my Minden Prussian artillery crew and Berliner Zinnfiguren "Metalmodel" 30mm guns and limbers. I decided that the gun models were so nice that they deserved to have at a team of four horses to really show them off in their best fashion. The limber and gun sets do not include horses, but fortunately, the RSM95 limber horses are perfect fits with both the gun models and the Minden artillery crew figures.

As I studied the limber, I realized that I would have to provide my own reins or traces to attach the limber to the horse team. The following picture shows the unpainted RSM figures with florists' wire attached to the limber and the horses, prior to priming the figures.

I am using 120mm long by 60mm wide MDF bases for the limber teams. The cannons will hang over the edge of the base when they are limbered up for movement.


I drilled two holes into each limber horse and glued a metal pin into each side so that I would have a post to attach the limber traces (made from wire).

The limber traces, made from florists' wire, were cut to a length of 5-inches. One end was looped around the horizontal hitch bar. After priming, the other ends were wrapped around the metal posts that I inserted into the horse (see previous picture).

The first attempt to attach the traces to the horses proved difficult as I accidentally glued the traces to one set (left side) of each horse. This meant that I now had to prime the figures with everything attached. Don't do this if you want to retain your sanity, as it is nearly impossible to wrap the wire onto the posts on the inside half of each horse.

For the second set of limbers, I primed the traces - attached to the limber, and the horses separately. Then I wound the wire around the posts on each horse. So far, so good, but then I was faced with the difficult task of trying to glue the horses (now attached to the limber) to the wooden base. Again, not good because it becomes difficult to line up the horse with enough space between the front and the rear horse in the line.

The best assembly method is to glue the wire traces to the limber. Then prime everything and set all the pieces up on your model base. Position everything so that you have some space between the hitch bar and the back horse. Now glue the horses onto the base. Then wrap the wire around the posts. And finally, glue the limber wheels to the base. I would also suggest attaching your cannon to the limber whilst positioning the limber bar, as this will keep the center bar in its final horizontal position. Once the horses and limber wheels are glued down, then wrap your wire around the posts that you have attached to the horses. (Oh, I would add that you have already painted all of the pieces before gluing all the bits together).

Here is a closer view of the final limber assembly with the matrosses walking behind the limbered guns. Note the limber in the foreground with team of trotting horses: you can see that the end of the limber is barely extending beyond the end of the base. This is what happens if you try to glue down the pieces as the last step, you can run out of space on your base. The standing limber team ha better spacing on the base as I glued the horses to the base first, then assembled the other pieces. Double click the picture to enlarge the view and get a better look at how I wired the traces.

After two limber sets, I believe that I have the assembly system nailed so that the next two sets will be much easier to assemble. For every two gun models, I will initially have one supply wagon positioned perpendicular to the gun base. See the first picture at the top of this blog entry to see how this looks. Eventually, I might go crazy and provide an ammo supply wagon for each gun model. The overall look of the battery conveys the sense of how deep the footprint of the battery is, i.e. there is a lot of "stuff" positioned behind the cannon and crew that give the battery depth and take up a considerable amount of space on the battlefield.

I will get back to the Summer Sale in a couple of days as I post more RSM cavalry: 20 x Zieten Hussars and 40 x Bayreuth Dragoons, as well as a 20-figure regiment of Bosniaks from Front Rank. Hussars and dragoons are $6.00 each and the Bosniaks are $7.00 each due to the complicated shabraques, striped lance poles and lance pennons. Drop me an e mail at :

altefritz1740@ yahoo.com if you have an interest in the Prussian cavalry.

Seaforth Highlanders for sale

Connoisseur British Colonial Highlanders painted by Der Alte Fritz. Click picture to enlarge the view. Note: the regiment consists of 72 foot and one mounted officer. I have not shown all of the foot figures in this particular photo.

UPDATE: Figures SOLD! (but serving under General Pettygree in the future)
It is with some regret that I have decided to place my Seaforth Highlanders on the sale block, but Life needs trump the need to keep some of my favorite toys, so they are now for sale.

These are Connoisseur Miniatures, sculpted by Peter Gilder, and they have been painted in khaki for service in the Northwest Frontier or in the Sudan during the Omdurman Campaign. The regiment consists of 72 figures plus one mounted commander. The figures are largely in the "at the ready" pose which makes them suitable for either advancing or forming square. I also have another 24 unpainted figures that I could paint for you, should you decide to purchase the regiment and want to increase its size. The figures are mounted on 3/4" square metal stands and come with magnetic movement trays holding six figures each. The stands are finished with terrained basing (spackle compound/Tetrion and fine gravel) that befits their duty in desert terrain.

I am asking $7.00 per figure or $504 for the lot (let's make it an even $500) and I will throw in the mounted colonel at no extra charge. The figures are nicely painted with two tone shading and highlighting on the tunic, helmet and equipment. The kilts were a little complicated to paint, but look very nice too.


Another view of the Seaforth's and their mounted colonel in action.

I also have 200 Dervish that I am willing to sell for $3.00 each or $600 for the lot. Half of them are Ansar wearing jibbahs and the other half are Hadendowa (the famous Fuzzy Wuzzy warrior of Kipling fame). The Dervish are all Connoisseur figures that were painted by Fernando Enterprises to a very reasonable standard. I am charging less for the Dervish since my cost for painting them was lower.



Hadendowah warriors (left) and Ansar warriors (right) close in on the last stand of the Highlanders.

If you have an interest in purchasing either the Seaforth Highlanders, the Dervish or both (an additional discount of $100 will be applied to anyone who wants to purchase all of the figures at once), then send me an e-mail at the following address:

altefritz1740@yahoo.com

I hope that my Seaforth Highlanders find a good home and that they continue to perform exceptional feats of valour for you, as they have done for me.

ACW Cavalry Pricing Error - Figures Repriced

Oops, der Alte Fritz made a "cypherin' error" when he was calculating the price of the Confederate cavalry. So as not to "put the skeer into you all" and cause you to "skeedaddle" away from this awesome sale, I have done some more cypherin' to post the correct prices:

1) Confederate Cavalry Regiment #1 - $200 (20 mounted, 15 dismounted, 1 horseholder stand).

2) Confederate Cavalry Regiment #2 - $200 (20 mounted, 15 dismounted, 1 horseholder stand)

3) Union Cavalry Regiment - $200 (no change in price) - (2o mounted, 15 dismounted , 1 horseholder stand)

4) Big Cavalry Deal: $500 for the whole lot of three regiments

5) Redoubt Union Dismounted Cavalry $280 (new price)


My apologies for the pricing error on the Confederates, as originally posted. I think that the old price was what I was asking for all three cavalry regiment (not including the Redoubt figures). At any rate, it is time to "move 'em out" as der Alte Fritz needs more room in his famous Closet O' Lead for all of his Minden Project armies and BAR SYW armies.

As a preview for things to come, I have decided to sell my von Kliest Frei Korps (Foundry figure) which consists of 60 infantry, 18 dismounted cavalry, 10 artillery crew and 2 6pd cannon, 36 mounted dragoons, 12 mounted hussars, and a von Kliest personality figure. This is a beautiful legion of figures, based individually for BAR rules for the Seven Years War.

I have also been working on some limber teams for my Minden Project Prussian army. These consist of RSM limber horses and Berliner Zinnfiguren limbers and cannon. I will post some pictures of the finished units this week.

For information on the repriced ACW cavalry or the von Kliest Frei Korps, contact me via e-mail at:

altefritz1740@yahoo.com

Redoubt ACW Cavalry Sale

ACW dismounted Union cavalry - Redoubt Miniatures. Click the pictures to enlarge the view.

The next items in Der Alte Fritz's fabulous Summer Sale of Soldiers consist of a nice collection of 28mm American Civil War (ACW) mounted and dismounted cavalry, from a variety of sources. All of the figures were painted by Dennis Smail, of Lexington, Kentucky. There are three parts of the collection: the Redoubt Union dismounted cavalry, the CSA mounted and dismounted cavalry brigade, and finally, a regiment of Union cavalry with its dismounts. A discount of approximately 10% is available for anyone wishing to buy all three lots at one time.

Contact me by e-mail at: altefritz1740@yahoo.com for more information.

Redoubt Union Dismounted Cavalry (44 figures - $300.00)


Redoubt Union cavalry (left wing) deployed in skirmish order with horse holders to the rear.


Right wing of the deployed Union cavalry - Redoubt Miniatures painted by Dennis Smail.

The Redoubt figures are mounted on single bases, 3/4 - inch wooden squares except for several figures firing from the kneeling position, which required larger bases. There are also two pair of horse holder stands (1 horse holder with 4 horses). The figures are painted to an exceptionally high quality and they have a lot of character and animation to them. It seems as if no two figures are identical. You could leave the figures "as is" on single stands, or rebase them to your favorite rules system. If you game the ACW, you certainly need cavalry to screen your lines, or to race ahead to secure a vital terrain feature and fight dismounted, while awaiting the arrival of the Union infantry.

Union Cavalry Regiment with dismounts & horseholders - $200.00


Union cavalry regiment (22 mounted and 15 dismounted and 1 horseholder stand)


Close up view of the mounted regiment. The figures are from a variety of manufacturers including Connoisseur, Dixon and Hinchcliffe. There are many conversions with extra weapons or packs or bandanas added to the original figure.


The dismounted version of the Union cavalry regiment, with an extra horseholder stand in the rear.

The Union cavalry depicted in the second lot are painted to a decent standard and have seen a fair amount of table top action over the years. The figures come from a wide variety of companies including Connoisseur, Dixon, Eagle and possibly a few others. Many of the figures have been converted via head swaps, new arms, additional carbines or pistols attached to the figure, neckerchiefs/bandanas, and other modest changes. The regiment does not depict any particular Union regiment, so you could add your own GMB Designs flag to finish off the regiment in a nice manner. The mounted figures are priced at $6.00 per figure and the dismounts are priced at $4.00 per figure.

Confederate Cavalry Brigade (40 mounted/30 dismounted/ horseholders) - $650


Two CSA cavalry regiments with their dismounts and horseholder stands and brigade command stand.


The first CSA cavalry regiment in the lot.


A close up view of the second CSA cavalry regiment in the lot.


Two dismounted CSA regiments, with horseholders to the rear, and mounted brigade commander with flag.

As with the Union cavalry regiment, the two regiments shown in the pictures above include a nice variety of figures from different manufacturers. The mix of figures gives each regiment a certain degree of individuality and lends itself to a nice campaign appearance to the brigade. Each regiment of 20 mounted figures also has one horse holder stand and 15 dismounted figures. The mounted figures are based two per stand (2" squares) and the dismounts are based 3 figures per stand. It would be relatively easy to rebase the figures to match your existing collection or rules set, or leave them as is.

I don't know how you feel about ACW cavalry, but they were always the last thing that I wanted to paint when I was building my armies. This sale presents a wonderful opportunity to pick up some nicely painted, ready to game figures at a very reasonable price.

How To Purchase This Collection

If you are intersted in purchasing one, two or all three lots in this sale, then contact me at my yahoo e-mail address and we can work out the details. I accept cashiers checks from new clients, or your personal check (drawn on a USA bank) if we have done transactions in the past.

altefritz1740@yahoo.com

The total price for all three lots comes out to $1,150 if purchased individually, or $1,000 for all three lots of figures.