RSM Austrians Dragoons

Austrian dragoon regiments Kolowrat (blue), Savoyen (red) and a converged regiment of horse grenadiers. Figures are all RSM figures, formerly from my own collection, originally painted by Bill Biles. I added four more dragoons to the two dragoon regiments to increase the regiment to 24 figures. Click the picture to enlarge the view.

I recently finished rebasing two regiments of RSM Austrian Dragoons for one of my clients and so these units will be passing on to a new inhaber. Hopefully they will serve their new colonel as well as they did for me. The blue coated dragoons are the Kolowrat Dragoons and the red coated dragoons are the Savoyen Dragoons. The third unit is a converged group of horse grenadiers from five different regiments.

The client asked me to increase the size of the dragoon regiments from 20 figures to 24 figures (see if you can spot the newly painted additions in each regiment) and to rebase the figures from two per stand to a more tightly packed in three per stand. Finally, I rebased and reterrained everything using fine railroad ballast and static grass. The end result is quite pleasing to the eye, if I do say so myself.

I noticed that we are closing in on 250,000 visitors to this blog. So we ought to hit this milestone within a couple of days, even fewer if I post more pictures of Richard Ansell's exquisite AWI greens. The traffic has more than doubled on the days that I post pictures of the new figures, which is quite a testament to the work that Richard did on these figures.

We will be fighting our annual Light Troop SYW Game next weekend in DeKalb at Schloss Frye. Every year, we have a game in December that is comprised of only light infantry and light cavalry so as to get more of a skirmish level game with lots of room for maneuvering. I will have to take some pictures of Lady de Winter's band of Regulators, Garde du Corps and Bosniak lancers, all comprising her notorious Black Legion of Doom -- and post them on this blog before the game on Saturday December 4, 2010.

I also have a few more Ansell sculpts to show this week. So stay tuned for more eye candy.

Even More AWI British Light Infantry Figures

British Light Company Man Advancing (click all pix to enlarge the view)

Rear view of the same figure above.

Here are two more picture sets of the British Light Company soldiers that were sculpted by Richard Ansell. The advancing figure shown above would look particularly good "en masse" in the event that you want to build one of the converged light company battalions in a sort of conventional battle mode, rather than with all manner of figures in skirmish poses. Once I have the figures on hand, I will probably paint two battalions: one in skirmish mode and the other with all advancing figures plus officers, NCOs and musicians.

British Light Company Man Kneeling Firing

Same figure as above, but showing the view from the rear.

Next we have the light company man kneeling and firing. I like the way that Ansell sculpts figures in firing poses - they look so natural and elegant. I can just picture a hand full of these figures, three per stand, in various skirmish poses, behind cover (rocks, trees, tall grass, etc.). One could really get creative with these animated poses (see my pictures of the Minden SYW Croats to see what I'm talking about).

Tomorrow night I will post the final two British light infantry figures consisting of an officer figure and another advancing poses.

More AWI Light Infantry & Comparisons

British Light Company Man standing firing

British Light Company man - rear view

Here is another one of the British light company figures that Richard Ansell sculpting for our new AWI range of figures. This is one of my favorite figures because the figure seems so natural in his pose and it is visually very elegant.

Several people on TMP asked for some comparative photos of our figures and some samples from the Perry, Eureka and Front Rank ranges, all of which are very nice figures, with each having its own unique style. In the first set of pictures below, I have placed a Eureka Ragged Continental, a Perry AWI Hessian Officer, and a Minden SYW Prussian Officer (a proxy for the Ansell-sculpted AWI figures) on the review stand together. The Perry figure is 1-2 millimeters taller than the Eureka and Minden figures, but the difference does not seem to be significant. In the second picture, I added a shim (using a US Penny) to the Minden figure to bring it up to the same height as the slightly taller Perry figure. This is a little trick that I use in my 1:10 ratio BAR armies for the SYW whenever I want to use figures that are a little shorter than the rest of my 30mm figures. Once you cover the shim with basing material, the difference will not be noticeable.

Eureka (left), Perry (centre) and Minden (right)

Same figures as previous picture, but with a shim (US Penny) added to the Minden figure to add another millimeter to its height in comparison with the other two figures.

I think that the pictures above indicate that the three ranges, Eureka, Perry and Ansell can all be used together on the same table top, with little discernable difference, as long as you don't mix ranges into the same unit.

Hinchcliffe X-Range (left), RSM (centre) and Minden (right) figures are very compatible in terms of height and the heft or build of the torsos. Both the Hinchcliffe and the RSM figures were sculpted by the late Steve Hezzlewood back in the 1980s.

The final line up of figures showing all six AWI ranges (from left to right): Hinchliffe, RSM, Minden, Perry, Eureka and Front Rank. You will need to click this picture for a closer view.

I think that the final picture, above, illustrates that one can use a variety of figures in the same army. In some cases, you might be able to mix in a figure or two from one range into the other without a discernable difference. Any more than that, it starts to become noticeable, in my humble opinion. I am not averse to using different ranges of figures in my BAR SYW armies, it is just that I do not mix brands into discrete units unless I need a specific figure that nobody else produces.

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I will post some more pictures Sunday night or on Monday so that you can see the rest of the British Light Infantry poses that are completed.

AWI British Light Infantry

British Light Company man loading his musket. Front and rear views

I was going to wait a few more days before posting more pictures of Richard Ansell's greens for the British Light Company figures in skirmishing poses, but I know that a lot of my readers are chomping at the bit, as it were, to see more pictures. So I will tease you with a couple of pictures every other day until I run through the 8 poses that we have for the light company men.

Light infantry musician with horn - front view

Light infantry musician with horn - rear view. Note the difference in the metal canteen compared to the wooden "St. Bernard Flask" used by the Guards (see previous posting)

Richard kindly provided me with a picture that compares three different figures in the 28mm-30mm range so that you can see how the new AWI sculpts stand up to other ranges of figures.

Size does make a difference, or does it? Comparative figures depict a HaT Napoleonic figure, a Perry plastic dragoon (centre) and one of Richard Ansell's sculpts for our AWI range of figures. All three figures are of a comparable height, but it is the thickness or heft of the figure that makes each one distinctive from the other.

The left hand figure is one of the Hat plastics and the middle one is a Perry plastic for comparison. The castings from the green will be about 1mm shorter, losing about .5mm in the master mould and .5mm again in the production mould.

The cast figures will be about 30mm to the top of the head (not the hat!) or 28mm to the eye if you want to measure them like that. 30mm to the top of the head/28mm to the eye seems pretty much the norm nowadays, these just happen to be rather slimmer than average.

The British Are Coming!

Brigade of Guards NCO - Center Company

And now for something completely different: the Brigade of Guards in the AWI, circa 1777 during the Philadelphia Campaign. These are the first of what will be an extensive range of 1/56 scale (approximately 30mm) figures designed by Richard Ansell, who is well known for his realistic and lifelike sculpting style, as seen in his designs for the Minden Miniatures SYW and the Alban Miniatures Napoleonic figure ranges.

Our objective is to provide a comprehensive range of figures in this style to portray the British army in campaign uniforms, circa the 1777 Philadelphia Campaign and their American Continental and militia adversaries. The British soldiers will be wearing campaign uniforms: cut down coats, round hats turned up at one side, trousers or gaitor-trousers, and minimal marching kit. These will not be depicting the 1768 Warrant uniform found in nearly every AWI range. In other words, these British soldiers will look like the real deal.

For those of you who are familiar with Frank Hammond's Minden Miniatures range of figures, you will already know that these figures will not necessarily be compatible with Front Rank, Old Glory, Perry Miniatures or various other ranges that are already on the market. They won't need to be compatible, because we are going to provide everything that you will need to fight the AWI in the 1776-1777 period.

Over time, we will add British regulars and light infantry, Highlanders, artillery crew and limbers and guns for both sides, mounted dragoons and mounted officers for His Majesty's Forces. The American army will be similarly covered in equal depth. We might even add French regulars after we complete the British and Americans.

My own reason for getting involved in this new venture is that I believe that Richard Ansell is the premier sculptor in the hobby today and his sculpting style checks off all of the boxes when it comes down to what I look for in a wargame figure: realistic, well proportioned, animated figures with a life like appearance. That being the case, I wanted to have a comprehensive range of Ansell-sculpted figures for my own use and gratification. If I wanted an obscure figure such as the flank company soldier in the British Brigade of Guards, then I could simply commission the sculpting of such a figure and add it to my own army.

At the present time, Richard has completed the first 16 figures, comprised of 8 poses for the Brigade of Guards and 8 British Light Infantry in skirmishing poses. Next in the que will be American militia in skirmishing poses so that you can start collecting opposing forces suitable for skirmish wargame rules, such as Sharpe Practice, etc.

I expect that the first figures will be cast and ready for purchase in January 2011 and then we will continue to add new figures every couple of months.

The figures will be sold under the "Battleroad Games & Hobbies" brand name - a new on-line venture based in Marlborough, Massachusetts

http://battleroadgames.com/

The company is a seller of miniatures and hobby related supplies and accessories, but the AWI figures will be its own proprietary range of figures.

Please take some time to browse through the pictures below, and be sure to click on the picture to enlarge the view. Later this week, I will post pictures of the British Light Infantry in skirmishing poses. I will also post comparative pictures of Minden (also sculpted by Mr. Ansell), Perry, RSM, Hinchcliffe X-Range, Scruby, Old Glory and Front Rank so that you can make your own judgement, based on pictorial evidence. Most of these figures are 30mm +/- a millimeter or two. So their height will be compatible. On the other hand, some figures will appear chunkier, others thinner, but ultimately you will have to make your own decision as to whether or not they are compatible with other brands. But as I indicated earlier, my goal is to blaze my own trail and not try to copycat other figure ranges.

Guards Flank Company Man Marching

Guards Flank Company Officer

Guards Center Company Man Marching

Guards Center Company Man Standing Firing (note wood water cask and detail of coat tails which have been cut back)

Brigade of Guards Officer

Guards Center Company Man Cocking Musket

Brigade of Guards Drummer

The "Minden" Austrian Army, So Far...

Regiment Kollowrat - 2 battalions (5 musketier stands and 1 grenadier stand per battalion). Minden Miniatures painted by Der Alte Fritz. Click the pix twice to enlarge the view.

It occured to me that I had not previously posted pictures of the Austrian infantry that I had painted for my Minden Project. Today's pictures will remedy that short sight. In my army organization, the Austrians will have a two-battalion regiment with a stand of grenadiers detached from each battalion. Two regiments will comprise a brigade and have a separate brigadier general command stand, a brigade ammo wagon, two 3-pdr battalion guns and two regimental command figures. The grenadier stands from each battalion will be converged into one battalion of 24 figures, so each regiment donates two stands of grenadiers to the converged grenadier battalion.

Austrian artillery battery (12-pdr on the left and 6-pdr on the right). Note drag ropes attached to the 6-pdr. Guns & limbers from Berliner Zinnfiguren and limber horses and rider from RSM.

The picture above depicts two sections of a four section Austrian artillery battery. Each section will have the artillery piece (from Berliner Zinnfiguren), four Minden artillery crew, two artillery fusiliers converted with paint from the Minden pioneer figures, one supply wagon per section, one limber (4 horses and 1 rider - from RSM). Later, I might add extra artillery figures in marching poses so that when I limber a gun, I can remove the artillerist that are glued onto the artillery stand and just attach the gun model to the limber. Then, while the limber is moving, I can set down a stand of 4 gunners walking behind the limbered cannon model.

Detached grenadiers - two stands per regiment. These will be converged with two stands from another regiment to form a 24-figure unit. I might add a fifth stand of a completely different regiment in order to build the converged grenadier battalion up to 30 figures, same as the musketier battalions.



What is an Austrian army without its Croat light infantry?

Eventually, I will have two brigades of Austrian infantry with each brigade comprised of two regiments, each regiment comprised of two battalions. The converged grenadiers might be brigaded with the Croat light infantry and the artillery battery.

As for the cavalry, so far, I've painted only a dozen Austrian cuirassiers. My plan is to have one cuirassier regiment (32 to 40 figures), one dragoon regiment (same number of figures), perhaps one hussar regiment and maybe one more dragoon or cuirassier regiment to keep an even number of cavalry units in the brigade. I happen to like symmetry. :)

More Minden Goodness

Prussian hussar trooper in busby - the latest release of figures from Minden Miniatures. Figures sculpted by Richard Ansell (bless him) and photo by Frank Hammond (bless him too).

It always makes my day when I happen to click on the Elector vs Empire blog and peruse the list of blogs, seeing that there is something new on Frank Hammond's Minden Miniatures blog. And so to my great surprise, I visited the blog and discovered Frank's announcement that he was adding Prussian hussars wearing busbies to his wonderful range of SYW figures.

Please click on the link below to see more pictures and read about the new hussar releases from Minden:

http://mindenminis.blogspot.com/2010/11/hussars-in-busbys.html

Frank reports that he also has dismounted hussars in mirlitons and busbies for the Prussians that are getting ready for mould-making so that he can put them into production. My recollection is that the range will include horse holders, horses with saddles and horse furnitures (but no riders) and various skirmishing hussars. I am already mentally creating scenarios for these figures and I have no doubt that they will be real beauties.

Now, the only question that remains for me is "how many hussars should I buy?" Should I go with 30, 32 or 40 man regiments? And should I paint them as the Green Hussars (HR1) or the Ziethen Hussars (HR2 - blue). So many choices to make, but it is a nice problem to have.