Frederick's Leib Guard - 3rd Battalion (IR15/III)

IR15/III - Third Battalion of the Leib Guard - Minden Miniatures

Today is the 256th anniversary of Frederick the Great's victory over the Austrians at the Battle of Leuthen on December 5, 1757. Many would say that Leuthen was the battle that gave Frederick the title of "the Great".

What better way to celebrate Leuthen than to post my first pictures of the 3rd Battalion of the Leib Guard (IR15/III). The rank and file all wore mitres with yellow mitre bag and silver front plate. The 2nd Battalion (IR15/II) wore tricorns, edged in silver. Both battalions of the Leib Guard were considered to be "grenadiers".

Close up view of three of the five stands plus the regimental officer. click pix to enlarge.

The figures are from the Minden Miniatures range of SYW era figures, sculpted by Richard Ansell. I used the grenadier figures with the "Swedish" cuffs and painted the aigulettes (shoulder knots) that would have been on the right shoulder. One of these days, we shall add the proper dressed Leib Guard figures to the Minden range, but for now, these will do just fine, thank you.

3rd Btn (front) and 2nd Btn (rear) form a brigade of the Leib Guard . Minden Miniatures. Click all pix to enlarge.

We have a SYW game scheduled at Chez Protz in Brown Deer, WI on Saturday December 14th, and as you might imagine, I have been busy building up my Minden Prussian forces for the game. To be fair, I have worked equally hard at adding Austrian units (primarily 2 cuirassier regiments and one Hungarian musketeer regiment) to the opposing side. We will use Bill's "Batailles de l'Ancien Regime" or BAR for short, using a 1 to 20 figure ratio (about 30 figures per battalion of infantry and 24-32 cavalry regiments). We normally play our BAR games using our 1 to 10 ratio Big Battalions, but every once in awhile, we pull out the smaller units and have a go with the rules. They work just fine at either ratio of figures to actual men.

Some viewers have asked how I organize my infantry for my own Fife & Drum rules. I paint both battalions of a regiment plus a mounted officer to command the whole regiment. Since I am using a 1:20 ratio in my Minden Armies, I have 30 figure battalions based on an assumption of 600 men in the battalion. It then follows that the regiment of two battalions would have 60 figures plus the one mounted officer. For basing, I use a 20mm frontage per figure and so I use MDF bases measuring 60mm by 40mm for my 6-figure infantry stands. There are five stands in each battalion.

I currently have four Prussian regiments completed: IR5 Alte Braunschweig, IR1 Winterfeld, IR13 Itzenplitz and IR49 Diericke fusilier regiment. There is also one battalion of grenadiers, the Wedell Grenadier Battalion (1/23) comprised of the two grenadier companies from both the IR1 and the IR23 regiments of musketeers. The recently completed 2nd and 3rd battalions of the Leib Guard and a battalion of jagers complete the infantry portion of my Minden Prussian army.

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18th Century Traveling Coaches

There is a distinct lack of suitable 18th Century traveling coaches  in the 28mm market. Many of us have to resort to the out of date 17th Century (ECW) coach made by Redoubt. I have seen some other "fantasy coaches " here and there, but none are truly suitable for our period.

I did stumble upon a likely candidate in the American coach reposited in the Beekman Collection. This is the real thing, not a scale model.

IR15/II Second Battalion of the Leib Guard - Minden Prussians

2nd Battalion of the Guard - IR15/II with Minden Miniatures

I seem to be on a painting roll of late as I get ready for our next SYW game on December 14, 2013. We are going to use the Batailles de l'Ancien Regime ("BAR") rules using a figure ratio of 20 to 1. This translates into infantry battalions of approximately 30 figures and cavalry regiments of 24 to 32 figures.

The incentive of an upcoming game seeems to have my brushes flying at full speed: last week I completed the 2nd battalion of the von Diericke Fusiliers (IR49) and this week finds me completing the 2nd Battalion of the Leib Guard (designated as "IR15/II). The second battalion of the Guard all wore tricorn hats (save for its grenadier company - silver front plates and red mitre bags) and the third battalion all wore grenadier mitres (silver front plate with yellow mitre bag). Regardless of what head gear they wore, all three battalions of the Leib Guard were considered to be grenadiers. 

The first battalion was largely a ceremonial unit, having only fought at the Battle of Kolin in 1757. It remained in Potsdam for the remainder of the war and it had a rather ornate, gaudy uniform with tons of silver metallic lace. One of these days I might commission Richard Ansell to make the first battalion of the Guard.

A close up view of the 2nd Battalion of the Lieb Guard.

Minden Miniatures does not yet have a specific "Guard" figure in the range, however, the figures with the large Swedish style cuffs are perfectly suitable for the job. Really the only thing that is missing, that would make them Guard uniforms, is the aigulette (shoulder knot) on the right shoulder. I found that I could render a suitable substitute by "converting with paint", i.e. painting the aigulette onto the figure.

Another view of the Guard down at eye level. Click all pix to enlarge the view.

Next on the painting docket: the third battalion of the Leib Guard. I will use the Minden grenadier figure with Swedish cuffs and do the same aigulette conversion. I should have enough time to get the third battalion done in time for the December 14th game.

Why are you painting guards, you might ask. Because it is my own Prussian army and I like the way that the Guards look, and I can paint whatever I please for my own army.  It is my hobby, my diversion from the hectic pace of Life and it brings me enjoyment and happiness to paint the Prussian units that I want in my wargame army. Isn't that reason enough?

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Prussian IR49 Fusilier Regiment - Minden Miniatures

IR49 Von Diericke Fusilier Regiment in Frederick the Great's Prussian army.

Over the weekend, I finished painting the second battalion of the IR49 von Diericke Fusilier Regiment in Frederick the Great's Prussian army. The organization of my Minden Miniatures armies is to paint two battalions of each regiment that I have in my army. I painted the first battalion of the regiment several years ago and only got around to adding the second battalion. The flags are from GMB Designs and the figures, of course, are Minden Miniatures. Each regiment of two battalions also has a mounted regimental officer. I use 30 figures per battalion or approximately a ratio of 1:20 figures to actual men.

IR49 - second battalion, Minden Miniatures painted by Der Alte Fritz.

Closeup view of the battalion, note the carpenter/pioneer/zimmerman standing to the right of the colour bearers.

I am working towards painting enough Minden Austrians and Prussians to run a Lobositz wargame at the next Seven Years War Association Convention in South Bend, Indiana at the end of March 2014. I may also bring the same game/scenario with me to Historicon in 2014.

I currently have 10 battalions of infantry in each army (Austrian and Prussian) and will need about 4 regiments of cuirassiers and dragoons for the cavalry contingent. I will be using the scenario that Charles S. Grant wrote of in his book, "The Wargame Companion".

Important Announcement! Minden Miniatures are now available in the United States!

The shipping department of Fife & Drum/Minden Miniatures has been very busy packing orders for customers all over the world including Australia, Austria, Germany, Spain, United Kingdom and Canada. In fact the sales have been so brisk that I had to reorder a lot of stock, so the shelves are currently brimming with inventory ready to ship.

Oddly enough though, there have been very few Minden orders from customers in the United States. So I thought that I would re-announce the fact that we now stock both ranges here in the United States and that in most cases, I can ship US orders the next day.

I have been experimenting with a flat rate shipping charge of $4.00 for all domestic US orders and $10.00 for all International orders, regardless of weight and cost. I am now extending this offer through the end of 2013, having previously indicated that this program would only run through November. So flat rate shipping will continue through at least December 31, 2013.

Hesse Seewald Garde du Corps

Prussian cuirassiers painted as an Imaginary Hesse Seewald Garde du Corps.

I have been experimenting with a Garde du Corps cuirassier regiment for the Kingdom of Hesse Seewald. I have always thought that they Prussian Garde du Corps would look pretty nifty if they sported a red kollet (coat) rather thant the tradition buff colored kollet. You can see the results in the picture above. click the picture(s) to enlarge the view.

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Hesse Seewald Garde du Corps

I have been painting the odd figure here and there of my proposed Hesse Seewald Garde du Corps whenever I want to take a little break from other painting projects. The idea is to paint the figures as Prussian Garde du Corps wearing their red galarock coats instead of the buff kollet. I rather like the way that they turned out. Eventually, there will be a single squadron of 12 figures in the unit.

Francis Marion, Banastre Tarleton, and von Knyphausen Greens

Francis Marion (the "Swamp Fox")

Christmas comes early in Hesse Seewald as I received a collection of pictures from Richard Ansell depicting his work on the AWI personalities that Fife & Drum is issuing as part of its Kickstarter Project. The three personalities include General Francis Marion (the Swamp Fox) and his nemesis, Banastre Tarleton, and also Hessian general Baron von Knyphausen.

As far as I know, Fife & Drum is the first miniatures company to ever issue a figure of Francis Marion. He is depicted wearing his trademark leather cap of the 2nd South Carolina Regiment, in which he was commissioned as a captain. He was later commissioned a Lt. Colonel  by Congress in 1776. Marion missed being captured at Charleston, along with the rest of Ben Lincoln's Continental Army when it surrendered to Clinton's British army in 1780, having left the city to recuperate at home from a broken ankle.

Banastre Tarleton ("Bloody Ban")

Richard did a wonderful rendition of Tarleton and I can just picture him leading a regiment of Fife  & Drum British Legion dragoons, when we release the figures in January 2014.

Baron von Knyphausen

Finally, we have Baron von Knyphausen available to lead our eventual range of AWI Hessians. This figure has a lot of character and personality and I can picture him doing double duty as a Prussian senior general in my SYW armies, or perhaps even as the king of some Imagination army in 18th Century Europe.

All three personality figures will be offered first to our Kickstarter Backers, afterwhich, they will be made available to the general public.

Please feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you think about these three gentlemen.

Deutsches Historisches Museum in Berlin

Exsquisite Book from Verlag Militaria

Someone recently asked me for information about places to visit whilst on a trip to Berlin and the first thing that came to my mind was paying a visit to Potsdam (accessible via the local tram or bus from Berlin) and spending time at Frederick's palace of Sans Souci.

Next on my list would be a visit to the Deutsches Historisches Museum in Berlin, located in the old royal arsenal building, also known as the Zeughaus. While searching for information on this museum, I stumbled across this book that was published a few years ago, one that I have been meaning to purchase, but never got around to it. It features the SYW militaria collection at this museum. Check out the link below to the publisher's web site (Verlag Militaria) for more information on how to order the book.

Finally, no trip to Berlin would  be complete without a visit to the Berliner Zinnfiguren store to view the extensive collection of SYW flats and military history books. See the direct link to the store's website in the left hand column of this page.

I will leave it up to your own Google skills to find out where these three sites are located, but they would be my recommendations on places to visit while in Berlin.

About the book

824 pages (linen bound with a protective cover, it comprises two volumes in a slipcase), ca. 1500 colour photographs and illustrations, Format: 29.5 cm x 26 cm

The authors

Daniel Hohrath, with additional contributions from Judith Zimmer and Elisabeth Boxberger

Price

€ 129,90

ISBN

978-3-902526-51-9 (English)

978-3-902526-50-2 (German)

Prussian Army Uniform Book

Content

This work represents a new basis for the study of the Army of the Prussian King Frederick the Great; it is an indispensable standard work for anyone interested in the military and cultural history and the crafts of that era. It depicts the uniforms of an army whose military successes laid the foundation for the rise of 18th century Prussia as amajor European power, and which, like its royal commander became the military ideal for all of Europe. Their particular style and the grandeur of their equipment were widely copied, and – uniquely for that day – collected by Frederick’s successors for posterity. The result of those efforts is the world’s best collection of 18th  century uniforms, now in Berlin’s Deutsches Historisches Museum, located in the old Royal Arsenal, the Zeughaus. Here, for the first time, all of the more than 200 items are presented and described individually and in detail, with high quality colour photographs and precise measurements.

Many of these original pieces were previously unknown, or had been seen only in drawings or poor quality old photographs. Supplementing these illustrations are photographs of items from other European collections. The total of some 1500 photographs shows an almost complete series of fusiliers’ and grenadiers’ caps, along with such items as cuirassiers’ coatees and hussars’ dolmans, sabretaches, caparisons, cartridge boxes and hats. There are also several uniform coats, including one worn by King Frederick himself.
In addition, this work includes a complete reproduction of the Lace Pattern Book of 1755, a manuscript containing the original embroidery and braid patterns of over 100 Prussian regiments, which is kept at the Deutsches Historisches Museum.

Finally it contains reproductions of the portraits of a large number of Prussian Army officers of the Seven Years’ War period, many of them previously barely known; most are from the Field Marshals’ Hall of the Prussian Military Academy in Groß-Lichterfelde. Also shown are drawings and black-and-white photographs of items from the old Zeughaus Collection that have since been lost.
The text includes explanations of the uniforms and their development, and short histories of each regiment in the Old Prussian Army. It is prefaced by historical essays on the Army of Frederick the Great and the history of the Zeughaus Collection, and includes an in-depth examination of the materials, designs and production methods of the uniforms and trimmings, from the point of view of modern textile conservation.