Fritz's Grand Review of the Troops

Fritz and Staff (Bevern in front and Schwerin behind) review the troops. Click all pix to enlarge the view.

Today, January 24th, is the anniversary birthday of Frederick II (the Great) of Prussia and to honor him, my Minden Prussian army turned out onto the marchfeld for the annual grand review of the troops. As is my tradition, I like to pull out my Prussian army from storage and present it on my table top for my annual grand review of the  troops. I hope that you will enjoy the pictures. Be sure to click on all pix to enlarge the view.

The grand review begins with the infantry brigades.

Overhead view of the entire parade ground.

Take a closer view of the grand review by clicking or double clicking on all of the pictures below. Feel free to leave any comments in the Comments Section.

Frederick inspects the Guards Brigade.

Prinz Moritz of Anhalt Dessau passes his brigade in review.

Winterfeld's Brigade awaits its turn to be reviewed by the King.

This overhead photo of Winterfeld's Brigade gives the reader a good idea of how I organize my infantry brigades. Each brigade consists of two regiments, each with two battalions, one brigade ammunition wagon, and one 3-pound regimental cannon for each 60-figure infantry regiment. Each regiment has its own inhaber (Mounted colonel). Finally, the brigade commander is shown on the 2-inch diameter round base.

The King compliments von Winterfeld for the turn out of his brigade. IR5 Alt Braunschweig regiment of the brigade stands behind the VIPs.

IR1 von Winterfeld regiment is the senior regiment of the army and the first unit of Minden figures that I painted back in 2010.

Satisfied with the overall appearance and smartness of the infantry brigades, the King now rides to the other side of the marchfeld to inspect the cavalry. Most of my cavalry regiments are in two "squadrons" of 12 figures. Twelve figures at 1:20 is actually closer to three squadrons, but for gaming purposes, I use 12 figures in a game squadron.

General de Cavalrie, von Seydlitz, gets his cuirassiers ready and positioned for their turn in the review.

The famed Bayreuth Dragoons are a brigade in and of themselves because it is a 10-squadron regiment. Four squadrons are pictured with the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp in front.

 In the upper right corner, you can see the first squadron of the newly-painted DR3 Meinicke Dragoon Regiment. (The stands have not been grassed and tufted yet).

Von Zeiten readies the von Reusch (Black Hussars) hussar regiment for review.

A squadron of RSM dragoons positions itself behind the Black Hussars to pad out the Hussar Brigade until I can paint more hussars.

Von Seydlitz never fails to present his cavalry up to snuff and the King is satisfied with the look of his cavalry brigades. Now he moves on to the outskirts of the encampment where Colonel Moller has the artillery brigade ready for review.

Major Moller (with flag) readys his battery of 12-pounders. The Garde du Corps cavalry regiment stand guard in front of the Prussian encampment. After the parade, the King and his staff will retire to the Gasthaus Der Alter Fritz for a celebration.

While the army is turned out for the grand review, the work never ends behind the scenes. The Commissary Staff is busy getting the bread baked for the daily rations in the field bakery, shown below.

Meanwhile, the Commissary is busy baking the bread for the army.

Across the way, the blacksmith's shop and mobil field forge are busy keeping the horses shod. In the background, an artillery crew hoist the barrel of  a 12-pounder off its carriage, using a gyn. The gun carriage is in need of some repairs, possibly some ironwork that will be made in the field forge area.

There is always work to do at the field forge and blacksmith's shed.

 We have a lot more of the encampment to show over the next several days. So stop in frequently this week and see more pictures of the town and camp as they are posted on this blog.

mmm