Artillery Vignette Completed

RSM limber team and artillery piece; Minden pioneers used as artillery crewmen prolonging the gun.

I completed the painting and the first stage of the terraining of my artillery vignette this evening (although it is now nearly 2 AM in Hesse Seewald so I will keep this post short). The crew consists of five of the Minden pioneers painted as Prussian artillery crew working in their shirt sleeves and waist coat. An Austrian officer, painted as a Prussian, provides some direction to the men. I will ink the bases and add the static grass this afternoon.

I cut a piece of wire and drilled holes through the trunions on the gun trail to serve as pole used for lifting the gun. The two fellows holding the pole required some minor conversion involving the moving of their hands and a slight twisting of their head. The two men with the drag ropes were unalterd. I used two strands of florists' wire twisted together to simulate rope.


A closer view of the two dragmen and their ropes.



The reverse view of the picture preceeding this one.

I had to draft a Minden Austrian officer into the Prussian army because I was running out of Prussian officer castings and I wanted to place one officer on the stand. The Austrian pose with the officer pointing was exactly what I was looking for. His cuffs are too big and I should have filed them down, but I was in a hurry to get my first gun model completed and photographed. The next time I will file the cuffs of use the Minden Prussian officer holding his sword in both hands.

I am off to bed to get some much needed sleep. This was a fun vignette to work on and was relatively easy to do. The main conversion was taking one of the pioneers and cutting his right arm away from his body so that I could position him better for holding the lift pole. He is the fellow on the left side of the gun as you are facing towards the barrel. I will certainly do a similar vignette for the Austrians at a later date.

Reviewing the Troops

Major General Hans von Winterfeldt reviews IR13 Itzenplitz regiment.

I finished the inking of the bases and the application of the static grass this evening on the Prussian general vignette and the regimental commander of IR13 von Itzenplitz. Click on the pictures to enlarge the view. I have decided that this will be Major General Hans von Winterfeldt and he will be one of my two infantry brigadiers in my small Minden Prussian army.

Winterfeldt as seen from the front angle.

This evening also saw me working on the artillery bricole vignette that I showed on my blog the other day. It took a fair amount of filing and bending of arms with pliers (covered in duct tape in order to protect the figures), but I was finally able to position two of the pioneers into a position where they look like they were designed to be lifting the trail of the gun with a wooden bar. A third pioneer is lifting at the end of the gun trail and two more are dragging the gun with ropes, that were made by twisting two strands of florists' wire together, to similate thick rope.

I am really jazzed to work on the artillery vignette over the weekend. I primed the figures this evening and I can start painting them tomorrow night. Hopefully I can complete them by Saturday and get the basing completed by Sunday evening (with piccies posted).

I keep looking at the fellow holding the general's reins and I see a drum major holding a large baton and leading a group of drummers down the road. I might add in some of the Eureka Saxon oboists to the group if they are similar in size, but not larger than, the Minden figures. My imagination is running wild on these vignettes. I will have to stop soon, for the second battalion of IR13 von Itzenplitz is primed and ready to paint. I would like to complete that battalion this month and then go crazy on some more vignettes that are percolating in my mind.

Command Stand Vignette

Prussian brigade commander (RSM) and his attendant (Minden) is holding the horse's reins. Minden Prussian colonels are shown in the background for comparative purposes. Click the pix to enlarge the view.

This evening I painted a new command stand in between innings of the Chicago White Sox vs Toronto Blue Jays baseball game. The general and horse is from the RSM95 range and the horse holder is from the Minden range. I think that the two ranges match up nicely.

I began by cutting and filing off the reins on the RSM standing horse and then drilling a hole completely through the horse's muzzle about where the reins would be positioned. I did not want to mess around with super glue and felt that wire run through a hole in the muzzle would give me the strongest bond of wire to horse. I used florist's wire for the reins. The Minden horseholder on foot completes the command vignette by holding the reins while the general surveys what is happening on the battlefield. The Minden figure has a dimple in his fist that guides the pin vise that one uses to drill out a hole in his hand. The wire was then glued into the hand of the horse holder. I glued both pieces to the round wood base prior to priming with black primer.

Another view of the command stand plus a Minden Prussian colonel shown for comparison.


And finally, a shot of just the command stand.

I applied the mixture of spackle compound and brown paint to the base, cut off a few pieces of sisal from a scrub brush to depict tall grass and then dipped the base into a jar of fine grit or railroad ballast. I will then allow the base to dry overnight (although it is very hard within 3 to 4 hours). Tomorrow night I will apply a coat of dark brown ink to the base, leaving a few spots bare so that the original light brown ballast can show through. Then a quick dry brushing of GeoHex Tan paint and the base will be ready for the final application of static grass.

I rather like the way this base turned out. Both figures were easy to paint and having the servant holding the general's reins looks pretty nifty, if I say so myself.

I hope to start on the "Bricole - artillery vignette" this weekend and maybe work on another base showing a dismounted dragoon with his horse tied to the wooden stake that dragoons and cuirassiers carried with them. I plan on using one of the Minden Prussian jagers as a dismounted Prussian dragoon. This is easy enough as the jagers wore cavalry boots and have aigulettes on the shoulder. I will simply convert the jager to a dragoon "with paint" and do no other conversions. There were several Prussian dragoon regiments that did not have lapels, so the foot jager will work just fine.

Decision finalized on the shape of the casualty stands
I decided to use the one-inch round MDF base for my casualty figures, unless the figure does not happen to fit onto that particular base. I want to thank everyone who left their comments on this choice on my blog. I liked the rationale that the round stand looks a little different from all of the other square and rectangular stands in the battalions and that the round shape instantly tells you that the figure is not part of a unit on the table. As a plus, there is enough room on the round stand to add little accoutrements here and there.

Artillery Vignette Experiment

Artillery matrosses dragging an RSM 6-pound cannon into position.

This evening I was looking at some of the Minden 18th century pioneers/work crew figures that I received about a month ago and was trying to think of some different ways of using the figures. Drawing on a book full of pictures of miniature soldiers, I found one of my favorite pictures: an American Revolution artillery crew man handling their field gun into position with muscle power and bricoles (drag ropes). You can see the actual pictures in the background, along with my attempt to recreate the scene with the Minden pioneers.

I should also mention that the limber team and driver looking over his shoulder (Imrie-Risley 54mm figure) was copied exactly by Steve Hezzlewood when he sculpted the same set for the RSM or Pax Britannica range of figures. So that part of the vignette is virtually handed to me on a silver plater via the RSM95 range of figures.

I placed a few of the pioneers around the cannon as if they were lifting the gun trail. The immediate problem is that none of the figures are really suitable for this purpose. For one thing, all of the figures are facing to the right and I would either need one figure facing to the left, or one figure that could stand perpendicular to the gun trail with his hands down at his side or slightly in front of him. If the figure were looking straight ahead, then we would only need one pose to complete this diorama. Some of the other figures are readily usable to depict the matrosses dragging the gun with ropes, or bricoles. Here it is a simple matter of cutting some florist's wire and running the wire threw the figures hands and attaching the other end of the wire to the wheel axle.

A couple of the other figures are passable if they are posed around the gun trail, but I would have to do some serious figure converting to move the arms and hands into the right position so that two figures could be carrying a bar between them, with the gun trail resting on the bar. I may give conversion a try and lop off some arms and rebuild them with green epoxy putty. It could be interesting. To finish the scene off, I added an Austrian infantry officer pointing and giving direction to the crew. This figure could be painted Prussian view to "convert with paint". The Prussian jager officer is another Minden candidate for the job.

Pioneers (left) and some slackers sitting around the camp (right).

Next, I looked at some of the wagon drivers that Frank had made and I envisioned them sitting around a camp fire or something similar. I plan to cut some logs from twigs found in the back yard and create a camp scene with the figures. As a temporary thing, I used some artillery chests from some French Napoleonic guns that I had laying around.

Finally, you can see some of the work crew with their tools, as they were intended to be used. I could also see them holding bakery tools to use in my field bakery vignette. One could also place artillery tools in the pioneers' hands and instantly you have an artillery crew working in their waistcoats, having shed their jackets. So there are many uses for these figures, beyond their employment as pioneers.

And last but not least, I found employment for some of the horse holders that Frank added to his range. I have one man holding the reins of an officer's horse that I will use as a command stand. I took the RSM Prussian officer and standing horse, trimmed off the reins, and drilled a small hole through the lower part of the horse's snout to accomodate the florist wire/reins that were being held by the servant. I primed this set this evening and the blackened figures don't show up very well, so you will have to wait until I apply some paint to the general and his servent tomorrow night. It should look pretty nifty.

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IR13 Itzenplitz Regiment

IR13 Itzenplitz regiment - first battalion, with two Minden 3-pound artillery in support. The gun models are from RSM95. Flags are from GMB Designs.

I was going to post some of these pictures last night, but my camera battery died and needed to be recharged. This is the first battalion of the Itzenplitz Regiment, numbered IR13 in the Prussian establishment. This was a Brandenbourg regiment and Frederick the Great rated it as one of the best regiments in the army. During the Seven Years War, the regiment was usually a part of "the King's Army" and thus fought at Lobositz, Prague (it missed Kolin), Rossbach, Leuthen (where it distinguished itself as part of the spear-point of the attack as part of Wedell's advance guard), Hochirch , Kunersdorf, Liegnitz, Torgau and Burkersdorf.


Minden's new casualty figures are shown in front of IR13. Please leave a comment in the Comment section at the end of this entry and let me know which wooden stand looks best for the casualty figures: (1) large rectangle, (2) small circle, or (3) narrow rectangle. I am trying to decide which size stand to use with this collection. Each time a stand is removed from the game, due to casualties, I will place a casualty stand on the table.

Christopher Duffy states that it was a tightly run regiment, known as the "Donner und Blitzen" regiment under the regime of Major General August Friedrich von Itzenplitz, who was mortally wounded at Kunersdorf. In 1768 it was given the unique privilege of being rated immediately below the Garde and number one among the senior regiments of the army, regardless of the seniority of its chef.

Tsar Peter III was briefly made the regiment's honorary inhaber in 1762, until his demise in a palace coup orchestrated by his wife, the future Catherine the Great of Russia. The regiment's station was in Berlin. It wore a blue uniform with white facings (cuffs and lapels and collar). Duffy gives the regiment straw colored waistcoat and breeches, but Bleckwenn and Dorn & Englemann depict the regiment wearing white breeches and waistcoat. I have chosen to use all white in my version of the regiment. In my mind, Hans Bleckwenn trumps all other sources.

3-Pound Battalion Guns


3-pound battalion guns and crew

I plan to have one battalion gun with each regiment of two battalions in my Minden army. The artillery crew men are Minden Prussians and the 3-pounder is from RSM. RSM sells them as 3-pounders, but in fact they are really 20mm French Napoleonic 12-pounders. You can tell by the extra notch in the trail, which was used to reposition the gun tube when the cannon was travelling attached to the limber. The stand is the same size as my infantry battalions: 40mm wide by 60mm deep. The infantry stands are turned with the long 60mm edge facing front and thus having a 40mm depth when used for infantry. I also have a stand that is 40mm wide by 80mm deep that I will probably use for limber teams. There seems to be a certain consistency using the 40mm measurement that sort of ties everything together quite nicely.

Casualty Stands
One of the pictures above features three of the new Minden generic casualty figures on three different stands: rectangle- large, circle, or small and thin rectangle. I cannot set up a poll in this blog, so please kindly click on the comments box below and cast your vote or opinion as to which size stand you think looks best for the casualty figures. I will eventually terrain and grass these bases, but for now I wanted viewers to see the choices before I made a decision.

IR13 Itzenplitz Regiment

My temporary painting table is still our dining room table, due to the flood. I just haven't moved things back to the basement yet. I've got my copy of Bleckwenn in front of me for uniform reference and 19 infantry figures on the table. This was taken last sunday. You can see the regimental artillery piece and crew on the righthand side of the picture.

When you are feeling blue and in a grand funk, there is nothing better to pull you out of it than to pick up a box of Minden Miniatures and start burning up your brushes. That is exactly what I did this week as I began work on the third regiment in my Minden Prussian army for the SYW. I have selected IR13 Itzenplitz as my next regiment.

Itzenplitz is adorned in white small clothes, white lapels, collar and cuffs and has red turnbacks. I have tried to select regiments that have some noticeable differences so that I can distinguish which unit is which on the table top. IR1 Winterfeldt has white small clothes and red facings and thus is a rather generic looking regiment in the army. IR5 Alt Braunschweig has distinctive straw colored small clothes and facings with red turnbacks. So I can readily identify the regiment by its straw colored facings and breeches. Itzenplitz is predominantly white, so it too is easy to pick out at a glance.

I have completed 18 of the 30 figures so far, for the first battalion of the regiment, and hope to have the remaining 12 figures done by the end of this weekend. Hopefully, I can get them based quickly and take some photographs for posting in the middle of next week.

Last weekend, I painted a few "quickies" consisting of four Prussian artillery crew and two 3-pounders which I will use as regimental artillery pieces for each of my regiments. I chose to use the same 60mm by 40mm MDF base for both the infantry stand and the regimental guns, only I turn the stand on its vertical axis so that it has a frontage of 40mm. Each gun will have two artillery crewmen. So I can churn battalion gun sets out fairly quickly. For the 3-pounders, I use the RSM 3-pounders, which in reality are their 20mm Napoleonic French 12 pounders which they also sell as 25mm 3 pounders. It sounds odd, but they actually work quite nicely.

The Leuthen Wargame

A detailed model of the famous Leuthen Church as rendered by Herb Gundt.

{NOTE: Click the pictures to enlarge the view}

At this year's Seven Years War Association, I hosted two wargames whose common theme was that both were fought in the snow: Mollwitz in 1741 and Leuthen in 1757. Since these battles also happen to be Frederick the Great's most famous actions against the Austrians, I thought that it would be appropriate to run both games on my winter terrain set up. I want to thank that master modeler and wargame architect, Herb Gundt, for making the buildings, roads, frozen rivers, trees etc from the photos of the actual churchyard and town, and for taking my sketches for terrain features and small buildings and making them a reality. The winter mats were made by a company called "The Terrain Guy" and he did a nice job of recreating the look of ground in the winter.

Alas, my colleagues in the SYW Association did not deem my games to be worthy of the "Pour le Merit" trophy given to the best game at the convention. I daresay that even the most unbiased observer who looked at all of the games would say that the Leuthen/Mollwitz games had the best looking terrain, the best painted figures, and an exciting game scenario that was not decided until the very last couple of turns. I think that any historical museum would welcome such a realistic display within its walls.

While I was very disappointed at this decision, on the plus side, I kept my losing streak of never having won the Pour le Merite trophy alive, the people who played in my games all seemed to have a good time, and finally, I know that I did my very best to present one of the highest quality games that was EVER displayed at the SYW Association convention, the likes of which are not likely to be seen again.

The Opposing Forces
Prussian Army
Prussian Infantry: 8 musketeer btns + 2 grenadier btns = 10 btns x 60 figures = 600 figures
Prussian Artillery: 2 10lb. howitzers + 4 12 lb. Brummers = 6 guns x 6 crew = 36 figures
Prussian Cavalry: 5 sqds light cavalry, 5 sqds dragoons, 10 sqds cuirassiers = 240 figures
Total figures = 876 plus command figures

There were four Prussian infantry players (3 + 3 +2 +2 btns per player) and two cavalry commanders for a total of six Prussian players in the game.

Austrian Army
Austrian Infantry: 8 musketeer btns (60 figs) + 1 grenadier btn (36figs) = 516 figures
Austrian Artillery 5 guns (4 x 6lbs. + 1 x 12lbs.) = 26 figures
Austrian Cavalry: 6 sqds light cavalry, 4 sqds Saxon dragoons, 12 sqds cuirassiers =264 figures
Total figures = 806 plus command figures

There were three Austrian infantry commanders (3 btns each) and two cavalry commanders for a total of five Austrian players in the game.

Scenario Notes

My thought was that it would be too time consuming to try to recreate the opening flank attack of the Prussian army on the Austrian left wing at Leuthen. So instead, I decided to fight the battle at the point where the Austrians had reformed their battle line, completely perpendicular to their initial deployment, around Leuthen and facing the oncoming Prussians. Thus, the forces could be relatively equal, albeit with a slight advantage in Prussian figures since the onus of attacking the walled churchyard was on them. This resulted in a highly competitive game on both cavalry flanks and in the center, where all of the infantry was deployed.

The Austrian Deployment
I will keep commentary to a minimum and simply post captions to the pictures that follow. I think that they do a nice job of conveying the action during the game.



The Austrian High Command observe events as they unfold, from the high ground behind Leuthen village. As Phil Olley says, "every wargame worth its salt should have a windmill on the table". I agree - windmill by HG Walls.


The Austrian left wing cavalry and infantry deploy and await the Prussian attack.


Austrian infantry (Front Rank figures) line the walls of the Leuthen churchyard. This was part of the two brigades that defended the center.


Another view of the Austrian center. Old Glory Hungarians on the right and Front Rank Austrians on the left. RSM95 limber team supports Front Rank Austrian artillery crew and gun.


Field Marshal von Piglet reviews his Austrian troops (at the request of Her Ladyship, Lady Emma Cuddlestone-Smythe). The picture also depicts nearly all of the Austrian infantry deployed in the center.

Prussian Deployment


Von Zieten's light cavalry brigade of Stadden hussars deployed on the Prussian right.


Der Alte Fritz confers with his staff before the battle begins.


The Prussian army deployment, as viewed from the left flank of the army.


Driessen's heavy cavalry brigade protects the Prussian left flank. Suren dragoons, Elite Miniatures cuirassiers.

The Game Action in Progress



Austrain hussars attack Zieten's hussars from the front, whilst the de Saxe Uhlans outflank Zieten and charge across the bridge, on the Austrian left (Prussian right) flank.


As you can see, the Austrians were getting the better in this melee. Eventually though, both cavalry forces in this sector neutralized each other.

With the threat of the Austrian light cavalry removed, the Prussians commenced their assault on the village. Their plan was to work around the left and right flanks of the Leuthen churchyard before launching the final assault on the churchyard itself. An interesting strategy that worked.

Prussian left wing pours into the town of Leuthen, having routed off most of the Austrian infantry on their right flank. Minden Prussian figures on the bottom left.


The Prussian left wing infantry also converge on the town after their cavalry won the huge melee in this sector.



Tom Miller (standing) leads the Prussian heavy cavalry brigade on the left against the Austrians and Saxons commanded by Bill Protz (seated wearing cap) and a gentleman named Rolf (seated in the background).


Tom's Prussians finally gain the upper hand on the Prussian left (Austrian right), which allowed the Prussian infantry to advance onto the town.


With both flanks caving in, the Prussian finally launched a direct assault on the Leuthen churchyard (after whittling down the garrison with several turns of artillery fire). Patience in a wargame can be a virtue, as the Prussian players demonstrated. The grenadier battalion in the front of the church were repulsed, but the Guard Grenadiers were able to rush through the side gate - although it took them 2 turns to push down the heavy wood gates as they forgot to bring their pioneers with them (this was determined by dice rolls each turn - bad dice rolling meant that the Guards could not enter the churchyard).

The game ended with a very convincing Prussian victory. The forces were fairly equal in size the Prussians having 10 battalions and the Austrians 8 battalions. I figured that the attacker needed some extra troops in order to have a chance of success. The cavalry forces were equal in size and there was a tremendous amount of cavalry "back and forth" in the melees that nearly lasted the full game.

The Prussian strategy of neutralizing the enemy cavalry on the flanks, then caving in both infantry flanks, then assaulting the churchyard, proved to be a success. I had figured that the Prussians would bombard the churchyard with the howitzers that I gave them and then send in the elite rated grenadiers to capture the church. You never know what your players are going to do in a game, but their strategy proved to be better than the one that I had envisioned.