Free Puppies!

Ha! Made you look.

I posted pictures of the Observation Corps Grenadiers, that I painted and based on my blog the other day, and I have to say that I'm a bit perplexed. I have a general idea of the number of visits that the average blog posting will generate, but for some reason, the OC Grenadier post barely generated any look sees. Either people are getting tired of all of my Russian blog posts, or else this particular one fell under the radar screen. Hence the "Free Puppies" post heading today - I wanted to see if anyone was out there.

Well, I'm not going to stop posting pictures of my Russians, 'cuz that's what you do when you are in the miniatures business and are marketing one of your new products. Also, they are a key element of my Kunersdorf Project for 2019 so I'm afraid that I will be given the Russian army some love over the coming months.

So as a public service, and in case you missed the previous OC Grenadier post, here they are again:

Minden SYW Observation Corps Grenadiers

With the long Memorial Day weekend upon us, I suspect that web traffic might be down a little bit as most people get together with family and friends rather than spending all their day on the internet. On the other hand, maybe readers want to get away from it all for a few moments, so I will be actively blogging over the holiday.

Observation Corps Musketeers

Something as equally adorable are the new Minden Observation Corps musketeers that I finished painting the other day. I ran out of wood MDF bases, so I can't base and flag the unit until I visit my FLGS and purchase some more.

Minden SYW Russian Observation Corps Musketeers. Click pix to enlarge.

A better view of the full battalion.

I have to say that the Russian infantry in summer waistcoats are the easiest to paint figures that I have ever worked with. Everything on them is either red or black and there is a minimal amount of equipment that one needs to paint, because these guys are traveling in light gear on a hot summer day.

Aside from my having a Kunersdorf and Pomeranian Army projects, why Russians, you might ask.

Why the focus on the Russians

For starters, I like the color combinations of the green/red regulation uniforms because they look nice and they are a change of pace from painting dull white coated Austrians or French, or dare I say, even painting battalion after battalion of Prussians. Heresy, I know, but I like to branch out a little bit on my painting table.

Second, the Russians were the toughest foe, bar none, that Frederick the Great had to deal with during the Seven Years War. In fact, Frederick never defeated a Russian army nor did any of his subordinants in other battles. Even a rabid Prussophile like me will have to admit that Zorndorf was  at best a draw than it was a Prussian victory. I can't put Zorndorf in the win column for Fritz. It was a battle that Frederick did not have to fight, because he could have achieved the same objective of evicting the Russians from Prussian territory simply by maneuvering across the Russian line of supply. This he had achieved when he crossed to the east bank of the Oder River and then marched behind the Russian army, stationed at Zorndorf.

Third, the Russians have an interesting variety of troop in addition to the conventional infantry/cavalry/artillery that every SYW combatant has: exotic Cossacks and Kalmucks, Observation Corps infantry wearing those rediculous cavalry boots, Horse Grenadiers wearing mitre hats, and more varieties of artillery equipment than you can shake a stick at.

Fourth, the Russian military command were quick learners when it came to developing tactics that could stop or neutralize Frederick's oblique order tactics.

To my way of thinking, if you are interested in refighting the battles of Frederick the Great then you need to cross swords with the Russians in your table top battles.

What's next?

AWI Battle of Kingston AAR

I fought and concluded the next battle in my South Carolina Campaign yesterday, the contest between Cornwallis and Gates at Kingston, South Carolina. I will post a lot, and I mean lots, of pictures over the weekend, so stay tuned to this blog.

As a teaser of sorts, here is one of the pictures that I snapped during the game. This was also the inaugural battle in the new Man Cave:

Americans (or rebels depending on your point of view) man some wolf pits
dug to slow down the inevitable British assualt on Gates' Continental army.

The battle of Kingston may well have decided the outcome of my South Carolina Campaign series of games.