Austrian Artillery in Action

Minden Austrian crew, RSM limber horses & driver, and Berliner Zinnfiguren limber and cannon (12 lb.) Click to enlarge.

I was experimenting with my Austrian limber teams the other day and kind of stumbled onto something cool, but entirely inadvertent. I realized that if I limbered the cannon and pushed the gun crew stand behind the limber, as shown above, and then attached the extra stand of helpers at the rear, that it gave a fairly good portrayal of the gun section as it might appear on the move.

I examined some of the other gun crew stands that I had made and discovered that this only works if I keep the front of the crew stand clear of , well, crew. The front of the stand needs room for the cannon wheels when it is limbered.


Crew unlimbers the cannon.

The gun crew stand has been removed and the helpers are detaching the 12-pounder from the limber.

The section is deployed and ready to fire.

The gun section is now ready to fire as the crew man their positions, supported by the helpers. The limber moves to the back of the battery. I typically also have a stand for an ammunition wagon, which provides for a very long tail.

Other News

I finished a set of 16 Minden Croats painted as Kreutzer Croats, in white, for a client and am now starting work on some Croats in blue coats and red trousers, for the same client. They are looking very nice. I'll post pictures in several days when the set is completed.