Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Austrian Artillery - Liechtenstein System


I was looking at this diagram that I copied from Christopher Duffy's book, "The Army of Marie Therese" and I'm trying to determine if the Liechtenstein System of artillery used during the SYW used a standardized wheel diameter for the 3-pound, 6-pound, 12-pounde and 7-pound howitzer  artillery carriages.

In Stephen Summerfield's book, "Austrian Seven Years War Cavalry and Artillery" states that:

Precise standard for carriages, limber, cart and wagon wheels were introduced. Feuerstein was concerned about increasing the operational mobility of the ordnance so two wheel sizes for all artillery transport was used. (Does "transport" mean the artillery wheels as well as the wagons?").

Looking at the diagram above, it looks as if all wheels for the gun carriages are the same size. I am hoping tat someone can confirm or refute this contention or assumption.. Your help will be much appreciated.


UPDATE

I looked a little closer at the Duffy book and he states that:

Liechtenstein established a common axle and just two types of wheel for the whole range of field artillery and supporting vehicles. He thereby ensured that spares were always at hand in the event of a break down. The 36-inch diameter wheel served as the front wheels of the large ammunition cart, and the 51-inch wheel for the field guns and howitzers, for the small two wheel ammunition cart and the rear wheels of the large four-wheeled ammunition cart.

Sunday, June 15, 2014

Painted Pix: Tarleton's Legion & 17th Light Dragoons





British Legion (7 poses) from Fife & Drum Miniatures. (Click to enlarge)

Well, here they are. I have finished painting "onesies" of each of the new British Legion cavalry (7 different poses) and the British 17th Light Dragoons (4 different poses). I also have four new 3rd Continental Dragoons that I have yet to paint, but I hope to get them done and posted this week.

I have started mailing out all of the Kickstarter orders to backers. I have to take the packages to the post office in small batches of up to 6 boxes, because Mrs. Fritz broke her left wing and can't carry anything of substantial weight (and she was my mid-week courier). So most of the orders will be mailed on Saturdays, but I should have most of them in the mail by the end of June.


British Legion Command
British Legion charging with swords drawn.


Two charging poses and one hacking.


Shouldered sword and firing pistol.
And here are the British 17th Light Dragoons. They spent the latter part of the war fighting in the Carolinas, attached to Tarleton's British Legion. The men of the 17th refused to don the green coats, but instead, kept their red regimentals (and/or wore smocks in the summer months).

British 17th Light Dragoons - all four poses.

Reverse side of the previous picture.








Monday, June 9, 2014

A Military Gentleman

Ottoman cavalry  charge into a Thin Green Line somewhere on the Steppes of Russia. Photo copyright by John Ray and printed with his permission.


For those of you who have already purchased a copy of John Ray's book, "A Military Gentleman", you might be interested to know that a related on- line forum has been created for all owners of the book. The forum has been open since approximately March 2014 and there has been a lot of lively conversation about general Wargame topics, painting and basing tips, pictures of various forum members' collections of miniatures and lots and lots of pictures of John Ray's collection of miniatures that were not included in the book. In addition, some of the forum members are participating in a new campaign, circa the mid 1770s in Europe, and the campaign has already generated a number of tabletop battles and even more gorgeous photographs of the John Ray collection.

For more information, click on the following link to the website for "A Military Gentleman" and get a preview of some of the content that is available only to forum members. 


There you will find a nice slide show that provides a further preview of the forum experience.

If you do not already own a copy of the book, then fear not, as a limited number of copies are still available. However, once the book is sold out, then that is it as a reprinting of the book is not likely, given its expense.

I leave you with the words of John Ray, himself, as he describes what the forum is all about. Information on how to join the group is provided at the end of the second paragraph:

*****************************************************


"Given that AMG was not cheap to produce, nor was it cheap to purchase, and I would not wish to devalue the book for those who have invested financially by ‘splashing’ loads of free photographs across the internet. So I have decided to create a forum to answer some, if not all of the above. In addition there will be areas for general hobby discussion for members who are interested in the Horse and Musket period. This will be a forum for model soldier collectors, not just members who wargame. Foremost I am a collector of model soldiers who on occasions display figures on a table; enjoying the company of friends of like persuasion.

The lounge area is available to those that have purchased the book. Here questions can be put and we’ll endeavour to answer them. In addition, more photographs will be included and free downloads of the campaign mentioned above will be made available. These downloads follow the same lines of the layout shown in AMG, including more original unseen artwork. More important than the AMG section of the forum will be areas for general hobby chat with like minded model soldier collectors. This will be an online forum with a difference, where first names will be the norm, no pseudonyms allowed, and a convivial supportive atmosphere will be paramount. If you have purchased the book and would like to join us, please just email me at johnrayAMG@yahoo.co.uk stating the email address you will be using and include your book number and I will respond with your password. "