New Pix: Prussian Red Hussars

 

Minden Miniatures Prussian "Red Hussars".

Click On All Pictures To Enlarge

I finished and based eight Prussian Red Hussars last week. This is but a fraction of the number of figures that the regiment will have in my wargaming army, but I wanted to see how the figures would look. The regiment will eventually have 24 horsemen organized into two "squadrons" of 12 figures.

Prussian Red Hussars in mirliton hats (left) and the Green Hussars in busbies (right).
A squadron of Bosniaken lancers hovers in the background.
The three units make a nice light cavalry brigade in a wargame army.

My inspiration for painting the Red Hussars comes from John Ray's blog. As many of you know, John sculpts his own exquisite SYW figures and Dave Jarvis brings them to life with his well honed painting skills. I liked John's Red Hussars so much that I just had to add them to my Prussian army.

You can find the history of the regiment by clicking on the link to Kronoskaf;

Kronoskaf - Red Hussars

The regiment's inhaber was Alexander Gottlieb von Seydlitz from 1747 through 1759. Thereafter, a gentleman named von Gersdorff assumed command of the regiment. The regiment was numbered 8th in the Prussian cavalry establishment so it was also known as HR8 (hussar regiment 8). They had the misfortune of being captured at Maxen in 1759 and thus assumed the bad distinction of being "one of those Maxen regiments" that King Frederick did not like. The regiment was not re-raised, but if I recall correctly, HR9 moved up to the HR8 designation.

One notable distinction of my painted regiment is that the hussars in an at rest pose with their swords resting on their shoulder. One could mount them on walking horses or depict them as being in a regiment that is held back as a reserve cavalry unit. While I like the energetic charging pose that Richard Ansell first sculpted, I had him make some Prussian hussars wearing mirlitons and busbies in the shouldered sword pose. This pose is my favorite cavalry pose.

Here is a link to the Fife and Drum Miniatures web store. The link takes you directly to the Minden Miniatures Prussian section of the web store:

Minden Web Store - Prussians

Here are the product codes for the new hussars at rest and the Bosniaken cavalry:

MPC-010  Bosniaken Command

MPC-011  Bosniaken Lancers

MPC-012  Prussian Hussars in Mirliton Command

MPC-013  Prussian Hussars in Mirlitons

MPC-014  Prussian Hussars in Busbies Command

MPC-015  Prussian Hussars in Busbies

On a side note, I want to thank everyone who participated in the Fife and Drum Miniatures July Fourth sale. Your business is much appreciated and the funds generated from the sale will be used to add new Minden sculpts to the product range. Russian Cuirassiers will be the next new figures.

Another side note, I will be attending Historicon in Lancaster, Pennsylvania this year. I will be running my "Bread and Croats" SYW skirmish game on Friday and Saturday. If you are at Historicon, drop on by and say hello. Better yet, sign up for one of the games.

Final note: the US Postal Service is resuming shipments to Australia and New Zealand so our customers down under can now order figures and expect to receive them in a timely manner. The several orders on hold are also on their way to Oz.

 

A Wagon Train Vignette

Prussian supply convey is escorted by Hussars. Bosniaken lancers
in the background form the rear guard.

I set up a small photo shoot on my game table that features the Fife and Drum munitions wagon being escorted by the new Minden Prussian Hussars with shouldered sword poses. Some of the Minden pioneers and laborers are included to set the backdrop to the scene.

Close up view of the munitions wagon, a very lovely model.

I’m also really jones-ing on those Bosniaken lancers and can’t wait to add another 12-figure squadron to brigade with my Black Hussars.

Bosniaken Painted Figures

The new Minden Miniatures Bosniaken lancers in the Prussian army.

I recently finished a 12-figure squadron of the new Minden Miniatures Bosniaken lancers for my Prussian army. The Bosniaken were originally formed as a single squadron of uhlans, but eventually the regiment grew to ten squadrons. The Bosniaken were often attached or brigaded with the HR5 Black Hussars.

The squadron uses the MPC-010 Bosniaken Command pack (officer and trumpeter) and several of the MPC-011 Bosniaken lancer packs (2 lancers per pack). All packs include horses and each pack is $12.00.

Minden web store

This was a fun regiment to paint and I will probably had another squadron or two to the regiment. Each squadron had a different lance pennon, so I picked the easiest one to freehand paint - the solid red pennon of the first squadron.

New Minden Greens: Bosniaken Lancers

Bosniaken uhlans - Richard Knotel

Bosniaken (L-R) officer, musician and lancer.
Sculpted by Richard Ansell

We have the greens for 16 new figures that will be added to the Minden Miniatures figure range shortly. The figures are handsomely sculpted by Richard Ansell as most of my blog readers already know. Today's post features the Bosniaken, but I will post pictures of the other figures later in the week. Click on the link below to the Kronoskaf page that provides a history of the Bosniaken. The regiment was usually brigaded with the Black Hussars (H5-von Reusch):

Kronoskaf - Bosniaken

The reverse view of the first picture.

Christopher Duffy uses the term "comical" in his description of the Bosniaken in his book, "The Army of Frederick the Great". Comical and uhlan lancers - what's not to like about this cavalry regiment. Besides, they add a bit of color to the Prussian army.

The latest batch of figures includes the French Gendarmerie de France, who fought at the battle of Minden, so you can guess why I had Richard sculpt these figures. I will show more pictures of the Gendarmerie de France in a post later this week, but for now, here is a teaser:

A preview of the Gendarmerie de France

We are also adding the Prussian Guards from the 2nd and 3rd battalions of the IR15 guard regiment. The first battalion was the parade ground group with the fancy uniforms. Since they only fought in one battle of the Seven Years War (Kolin in 1757) they have not been added to the range at this time. Again, I will post pictures of the guard later this week.

And finally, we have a Hanoverian infantry officer carrying a musket instead of a pole arm. One of my long-time customers kept asking me to add this figure, over a number of years in fact, so I finally had an open place in one of the moulds to add this figure.

Hanoverian musketeer officer carrying a musket instead of pole arm.

Reverse view of the Hanoverian officer.

If you are interested in getting an early and more detailed preview of all new figures, as they come through the door, then why not consider joining the Fife and Drum Miniatures Forum. I usually post pictures of the greens in the forum before I post them on my blog.

Fife and Drum Miniatures Forum

You will have to sign up for the forum the first time that you enter, but it is easy to do and there are no obligations to be a contributor or to chat. Lurkers are always welcome!

The greens will be sent off to Griffin Moulds within the next several days. There, master and production moulds will be made and then the figures can be cast. The whole process from start to having castings in my inventory, here in the States, takes approximately 6 to 8 weeks.