As the terminally bored and bewildered followers of this blog will know, when not playing with myself I’ve been setting myself various painting challenges throughout the latest lockdown in order to keep the painting-mojo going while wargames clubs are closed and wargaming opportunities are non-existent. The sudden renewal of my interest in the Seven Years War prompted me to finally finish a couple of armies that had remained unpainted since the 1990s, starting with the Württemberg and Bavarian Auxiliary Corps for the Battle of Leuthen. So in the spirit of the ‘Movember Challenge’, I decided to set myself the ‘Württember Challenge‘ in November, followed in January by ‘Bavarianuary‘. There was also a concurrent Carmarthen Old Guard Lockdown Painting Challenge, so I also got some Russian Napoleonics finished, as well as some more Prussian and Imperial units for the Seven Years War. All in all, I managed to paint 552 foot, 3 horse and 12 guns (all 15mm) in three months, which is pretty good going for me! 🙂
All this frenzied SYW activity has prompted a renewal of interest for the period in the club. As part of this, there’s interest in a resurrected Europe-wide campaign like the epic campaign I ran at WASP in the 90s, so a couple of the lads are presently painting Russian armies, while Phil has anointed himself as ‘Shadow of God Upon Earth‘ and has just taken delivery of a gigantic Ottoman army that he now has to paint. However, we’ll need a few more armies for a Europe-wide campaign, so I’ve recently invested in a large French army from Eureka Miniatures that will be followed in good time by a British/Hanoverian army.
So with ‘Bavarianuary’ completed, I got stuck into ‘Frogruary’…
I always like to paint a historical order of battle, as it gives me a clear objective and satisfies my deep-seated obsessive-compulsive need to make lists and then tick things off the list. That then forms the core of an army and I can then add special or specific units for scenarios when required. I’m therefore painting the order of battle for the Battle of Rossbach, the only encounter between the French and Frederick the Great’s main Prussian army. Although it ended disastrously for the French, I’ve already got the Imperial and Austrian contingents for Rossbach and most of the French units turned up again at later battles in western Germany, so it’s a good place to start.
Here’s a little painting aide-memoire I made for myself, taking bits and pieces from the excellent Kronoskaf website and some stuff scanned and sent to me by my mate Jase Evans. This shows the first line of infantry regiments at Rossbach and served as my painting list for Frogruary. The regimental uniform is shown at the top, then the flags and then the drummers’ livery (where known) and any notes.
I had fourteen painting-days available to me during the month and I can usually churn out a 12-figure battalion per day on average, so I thought I’d paint all twelve white-coated battalions over twelve days (saving the Swiss for later) and then have two days left over to paint the artillery. In fact, the simplicity of the infantry uniform meant that I was able to gain two extra days, so used those days to paint all my French generals and ADCs.
Above: The first brigade to be painted was the Royal Roussillon Brigade, consisting of the 1st Battalion of the Royal Roussillon Regiment and three battalions of the Royal Deux-Ponts Regiment. French infantry brigades almost always consisted of four battalions and were known by the title of the senior regiment in the brigade.
Note that as my army is modelled on the early part of the war, I’ve used the Eureka French Infantry figures without turnbacks. This does give them a very old-fashioned look and aside from the style of officers’ hair/wig-styles, they are virtually indistinguishable from the troops who fought in the Wars of Spanish, Polish and Austrian Succession. The style of uniform changed very rapidly during the Seven Years War however, with tails being turned back, lapels being added and the grenadiers (who until this point were virtually indistinguishable from the rest) adopting the bearskin cap. These changes were already happening in 1757, though sadly Eureka don’t do any grenadiers in bearskin caps apart from the Grenadiers de France Regiment, who wore a very different style of coat. I will start mixing some other styles into my army, starting with the German ‘La Marck’ Brigade, which will have coats with turnbacks.
These are absolutely lovely figures, all marching in the standard and rather old-fashioned French drill pose of the period, with the left hand grasping the neck of the musket-stock and the musket carried at the slope on the left shoulder. The officers and NCO figures are very similar, but have longer sword-scabbards and are either carrying a spontoon or a musket in the crook of the right arm, with the officers being distinguished by a gorget at the throat and a slightly different design of spontoon-blade. My one criticism is that the metal used by Eureka, while giving exquisite casting detail, is rather soft when compared to the tougher but more grainy pewter we used when casting AB Figures in the UK. This means that the thin flagpoles are very bendy and need replacing before I start (I use 0.8mm brass rod).
Above: The 1st Battalion of the Royal Roussillon Regiment. French uniforms of the period are reasonably well-documented, but there are still some massive, yawning gaps in our knowledge. The thorniest one is the subject of drummers’ livery (more of which later), but the second one is facing colours. Very occasionally, the facing colour will be precisely described, albeit usually in archaic terms, but more often than not they’re just described for example, as simply ‘red’, which going by old paintings of French soldiers, could be anything from pink to dark crimson!
In the case of Royal Roussillon, the cuffs, collar and waistcoat are simply described as ‘blue’, which in most cases with the Royal French Army means a ‘royal blue’ shade. Most depictions of Royal Roussillon show quite a light shade – probably akin to the light Turquin blue worn as the coat-colour of German regiments in the French Army. Soldiers from Royal Roussillon are shown in a painting from 1748 that was presumably painted from life, an extract of which is shown here on the right. I’ve mixed up this shade using Humbrol 25 blue, 89 mid blue and 34 white.
Note that as a Royal regiment, the drummers wore the King’s Livery of blue with red facings and red/white lace in a ‘chain’ pattern. No other nobles were permitted to use blue as the ground colour for their livery.
Above: The observant will have noticed that the 1st Battalion of the Royal Roussillon Regiment is depicted in the painting at the top of this page. However, that painting actually depicts the North American theatre where the 2nd Battalion of the regiment was stationed, so the painting isn’t actually correct. The 1st Battalion of any French infantry regiment carried a white Colonel’s Colour, paired with a coloured Ordonnance Colour, while the 2nd and subsequent battalions each carried a pair of Ordonnance Colours. The painting therefore shows the pair of colours that would have been carried by the 1st Battalion in Europe, rather than the 2nd Battalion in America.
Note also that in the majority of regiments, the central cross would be plain white, meaning that the Colonel’s Colour was usually a very boring white cross on a white field. However, the cross of both colours here is decorated with fleurs-de-lys. The flags are by Fighting 15s.
Above: The Royal Deux-Ponts Regiment was actually a German regiment in French service (‘Deux-Ponts’ = Zweibrücken), though when raised at the start of the Seven Years War was initially dressed very much in French style, with an unbleached wool coat faced red (for which I’ve used Humbrol 60 signal red), rather than the Turquin blue coat of most German regiments. A German-style uniform of Turquin blue with crimson facings and much more elaborate flags were authorised almost immediately, but the new uniform doesn’t seem to have appeared until 1760 at the earliest, while the new flags possibly weren’t delivered until after the war. The uniform changed again after the Seven Years War, with the facing colour changing again to yellow, so the Royal Deux-Ponts Regiment of the American War of Independence looks very different to this one. The waistcoats are described in most sources as white, but some say ‘possibly yellow’; give me an inch and I’ll take a mile, so I’ve done mine in yellow. 🙂
Note that unusually for a Royal regiment, the King authorised the Duc des Deux-Ponts to dress his drummers in the Duc’s own livery. However, nobody seems to know what this livery looked like, so I’ve just done them in the King’s livery.
Above: The Royal Deux-Ponts Regiment started the war with two battalions, but this was very soon increased to three. French brigades were almost always maintained at four battalions, hence they were paired with the single-battalion Royal Roussillon Regiment. In 1758 this increased again to four battalions, but in 1760 was reduced back to two battalions. The flags here are printed by Maverick Models, who produces an excellent range of flags and also gives options for ‘textured effect’ and even a self-adhesive option, which is something I’ve not seen since the days of Revo Flags in the 1980s. He also very kindly offered to re-size them to my specifications, so I went for something a little larger – 20mm at the hoist instead of 15mm. This makes them a bit bigger than the Fighting 15s flags, but there was some historical variation in any case, with surviving examples ranging from 6 feet 6 inches to 9 feet square.
Above: The next brigade to be painted was the St Chamond Brigade, consisting of two battalions of the La Viefville St Chamond Regiment and two battalions of the Cossé-Brissac Regiment.
I suppose I should explain why I’m using two flags per battalion instead of my usual single flag, as two flags in every 12-figure battalion is rather ostentatious… Basically, it’s because in most cases, there isn’t a lot of visible uniform detail to tell one regiment from another, so the flags are a key element in that. However, in the vast majority of French regiments, the Colonel’s Colour is basically a plain white flag, which looks very boring and really needs to be paired with an Ordonnance Colour I noticed this when my friend Jase Evans painted his SYW French army back in the 90s and decided that if I ever did them, I’d give them two flags per battalion. The British are another case in point – they just don’t look ‘right’ without a King’s Colour and Regimental Colour in every battalion.
Above: The La Viefville St Chamond Regiment, like so many others, officially had ‘red’ collar, cuffs and waistcoats. However, the shade is usually depicted as crimson or a dark pink shade and in the 1770s officially became ‘crimson’, so that’s what I’ve gone with (for which I used Humbrol 153 insignia red). It’s only very subtly different to the usual poppy red, but it helps to break the monotony. The drummers’ livery for the regiment is described simply as ‘yellow’. Nothing more is known, so I added crimson lace to the yellow coats.
Above: The La Viefville St Chamond Regiment, like the vast majority of French regiments, wore coats made of unbleached white wool. Variations in region and quality meant that the exact colour of the coat could sometimes vary slightly from regiment to regiment, but the colour is usually depicted or described as ‘pearl-grey’, ‘drab’, ‘beige’ or ‘cream’. What it was not was dyed a uniform shade of grey, which is what was once depicted in older uniform books and wargames armies. When I did my 28mm French troops for the War of Spanish Succession, I used the translucency of the Humbrol white enamel over a Humbrol 64 light grey base to successfully achieve that shade. However, the current recipe for Humbrol seems to be more opaque and makes it look too bright white. I’ve therefore mixed a touch of Humbrol 64 light grey into the white and am very pleased with the resulting shade.
Above: The Cossé-Brissac Regiment, like so many others, had red collar, cuffs and waistcoat. Although many regiments had very similar uniforms, they were sub-divided by the regimental ‘metal’ colour (i.e. buttons and hat-lace) and each regiment had its own unique placement of buttons on the breast, cuffs and tail-pockets. While officers had true metal wire lace, the hat-lace of the rank-and-file was ‘false gold’ or ‘false silver’ lace, being a combination of silk, wool and sometimes metallic wire. To be honest, it doesn’t look very metallic in reality, so I simply use yellow or white paint for the rank and file as it looks much better than trying to use metallic paint.
The drummers’ livery for the Cossé-Brissac Regiment was yellow, with black cuffs and silver/white lace.
Above: The Cossé-Brissac Regiment. The gaiters for all French infantry regiments were made from bleached canvas, each secured with buttons up the side and a brown leather garter below the knee. In paintings and reenactor photos they often look whiter than the coat, so I’ve used a basecoat of Humbrol 103 cream and the highlight of pure white. The garter is Humbrol 98 chocolate brown.
Above: The Piémont Regiment, being a large regiment of four battalions, was a brigade in its own right. Being the fourth most-senior infantry regiment of the French army, Piémont was regarded as something of an elite corps. However, that didn’t help them at Rossbach when, at the head of the French column, they became the target of virtually every Prussian gun, suffering over 1,000 casualties in just that single day!
The regiment was somewhat monochrome with black cuffs, white waistcoats and no collar, particularly when combined with their simple black and white flags, but I think they look rather striking.
Above: Although not a ‘Royal’ regiment, the Piémont was a provincial regiment rather than a ‘Gentleman’s’ regiment, so its drummers wore the King’s livery.
I should mention that hat-cockades at this time generally did not identify the national affiliation. This happened during the 1770s, when all French hat-cockades were ordered to be white. At the time of the Seven Years War the majority of French hat-cockades appear to have been black, but evidence is sketchy at best, with white and sometimes other colours appearing in paintings, descriptions and anecdotes. There is however, reasonably good evidence for the Piémont Regiment having white cockades.
Above: With the white-coated infantry done, I moved onto the artillery for a splash of colour. These chaps are depicted with their coats, belts and swords removed and working only in their red waistcoats, which makes painting them a very easy process.
Above: As I’ve got a massive stash of guns by Old Glory 15s, I decided to use those instead of buying guns from Eureka. I was looking forward to a nice phalanx of lovely red guns and had been saving an old tin of Humbrol 60 signal red for the purpose, as it was from an old bad batch that was much darker than the usual bright shade. However… Once again, I have learned not to just read the Osprey book, but to check online for the latest research… 🙁
Had I read Kronoskaf more closely, I would have learned that the French were painting their gun-carriages blue from at last 1741 and possibly as early as 1732! 🙁 Oh well… these artillereurs are clearly traditionalists…
Above: A couple of the Eureka gunners had bloody enormous rammers that were impossibly floppy and would never be able to stay stiff for long on the table, so needed drastic surgery…
[…Which reminds me; do the French have a word for double-entendre…?]
The huge artillery-tools are perfectly accurate for the larger calibre guns, but I wanted something a bit shorter and less prone to bending and breaking, so I cut off the heads, drilled them out along with the hands and replaced them with brass rod. In retrospect I should also have done the same to the men with shorter tools, as they are also ridiculously floppy…
[oh for goodness’ sake…]
Above: I did six guns and crews in all; four light guns and two heavies. Here are the two heavies, including the converted rammers. I gave the light guns three crewmen apiece – partly to accentuate the difference in calibre, but mainly because I’m a cheapskate.
Above: Lastly here are Les Generaux! One army commander and staff, six divisional commanders and two ADCs. Unfortunately, in painting these I may have just started the Great Gold Paint Famine of 2021…
Above: “Sir! Here’s the menu from the local Ottoman take-away. What do you want and do you want to go halves on the rice?”
A close-up of my Army Commander (the central mounted figure). I’ve painted him as a Maréchal de France, so he has three rows of gold lace on his cuffs, as well as lots of extra gold lace up the seams of his sleeves and down his back. The uniform for French general officers had been standardised by this time, namely a royal blue coat, heavily laced with gold, with red waistcoat and breeches, but despite orders from the King to dress themselves properly, generals were still often a law unto themselves and waistcoats, breeches, etc could be different colours such as yellow or blue, and/or made of rich materials such as velvet.
Standing at the front-left are two dismounted Lieutenant-Generaux; note the two rows of lace on their cuffs. It’s bloody difficult to paint at this scale and with my middle-aged eyesight, but the gold lace should be ‘volute’ or zig-zag in style. the other three figures on the base are Aides-de-Camp, who at this time were ordered to wear a very plain, all-blue uniform with very simple gold lace buttonholes on the breast and cuffs, though senior officers could wear a strip of gold lace all the way down the breast, as modelled by the mounted ADC on the right. curiously, the Osprey book shows an ADC in a plain blue coat without lace and red waistcoat and breeches, yet the text describes the regulation uniform shown here. There’s no explanation, but he might be a supernumerary ADC, paid for by the general from his personal funds rather than by the King (these were permitted).
Above: Another Lieutenant-General supervises the deployment of his troops as another pair of Lieutenant-Generaux chat in the background.
Above: Yet another Lieutenant-General supervises his troops as he dabs his nose with a hanky (I do like this figure). Behind him a pair of Aides-de-Camp look on as a Maréchal-de-Camp (i.e. a brigade commander, identified by the single row of gold lace on his cuff), armoured with a steel cuirass beneath his coat, draws his sword and prepares to run away…
Anyway, that’s it for Frogruary as we start the month of ‘Marsch!’, which is devoted to painting all things vaguely Germanic, starting with a brigade of Swiss (German-speaking, obviously) and a brigade of Germans in the service of King Louis XV. They’ll probably then be followed by some more Prussians…
Anyway, that’s it for now. But this isn’t just goodbye, this is ‘Bonjour‘. Bonnet du Douche and Chambourcy Nouvelle!
As can be seen, the core of my existing collection is a load of resin and stonecast models once manufactured by The Drum. This beautiful, though small range was later taken over by Mayhem Miniatures, and is now owned by SHQ, but the moulds are sadly now in a very bad state, judging by some ex-The Drum Spanish buildings I bought from them in 2019. The Drum’s models were absolutely beautiful when they were new, but mine have taken a lot of knocks over three decades, with the stonecast ones being particularly prone to chipping. If you look very carefully at the photo above, they were already chipped in 1998 and the church had already lost the tip of its spire!
The curious feature of this range is that every building is designed to perfectly fit into a 50x 50mm or 50x100mm recess on the village tile. The tiles then have hedges and walls moulded on. the Hamlet tile is shown above, with some 15mm figures and TBM buildings shown for scale. 
The flexible nature of the tiles means that they MUST NOT be painted with spray paint, as that will simply crack and flake off. TBM recommend using acrylic paint, but I experimented with my usual thinned Humbrol enamel and it worked absolutely fine, though did stay sticky for a few weeks afterwards, which was strange. 
Having since painted two more tiles, they have now been painted for over six months and show absolutely no sign of cracking or flaking, so I’ll stick with enamel paint (I still have the large Town tile left to paint).
Here’s the Hamlet tile again with some different buildings. The casting was exceptionally clean and crisp on these models and there was absolutely no clean-up required whatsoever.
As with almost all wargames scenery, the scale-footprint of the buildings is reduced, otherwise the larger buildings (such as Essling Granary) would be absolutely gigantic on the table and in terms of game ground-scale would be as long as a 12pdr can shoot! It’s an eternal problem with wargame scenery, especially when we want to have famous buildings on the table, but which then fill an unhistorically-large area of the battlefield (e.g. Essling Granary and the Waterloo farms). The solution used by TBM seems to have been to exaggerate the vertical scale to make the large buildings look big, while keeping the footprint the same as the small buildings (50x100mm) and I have to say that it works really well! It might not be to everyone’s taste, but it works for me.
Note that the church supplied with the town set comes with three alternate spires – a tiled spire, a lead/copper-clad spire and a copper-clad onion dome. I’ve drilled and pinned them, so I can swap them around from game to game. The lead-clad spire is shown above and the tiled spire is shown here. If you buy the church as an individual model you pick which spire you want.
Lastly, here’s the church with its copper-clad onion dome.
I do like my new buildings. They’re already serving as back-drops for new photos and I can’t wait to get them in a game. 🙂 
My thanks to Rich Hasenauer for allowing me to use his maps and also for very kindly giving me one copy of the map with all the troops removed, so I can show the movements in my game. Here’s the cut-down map for the ‘Hornet’s Nest’ sub-scenario, which is essentially the lower-right portion of the main map. 
The key objective for both sides in this scenario is to retain control of the Sunken Road (between Points Y & Z on the second map). The Union Army has been surprised in its scattered encampments, so most of the troops still need to form up and march to the sound of the guns. The closest Union brigades must roll a die in the first turn, in order to determine how surprised they are during Turn 1.
Above: Miller’s Brigade is just spilling out of its tents and forming up on the Spain Field, along with two batteries of field artillery and General Prentiss.
Above: Well to the rear, Hurlbut’s Union Division is still lounging around in its tents at the Cloud Field.
Above: Stuart’s Union Brigade is also still in its camp at the Larkin Bell Field. Stuart’s Brigade included the 54th Ohio Zouaves, so I’ve shamelessly stuck my be-turbanned 114th Pennsylvania Zouaves on the table again! However, the 54th Ohio were slightly more restrained in their dress-sense, with artillery-style shell-jackets trimmed in red, light blue Zouave trousers with red stripes and a red fez with blue tassel.
Above: As the Confederate army approaches the Union encampments, the Rebel generals each take personal command of a brigade: General Hardee attaches himself to Shaver’s Brigade, and Hindman attaches himself to Wood, while both Johnston and Withers attach themselves to Gladden. The Rebels are hoping for complete surprise, but Peabody’s Union Brigade is alerted at the last minute by a ‘Hasty Alarm’. They manage to form up, but their firepower is halved and they only manage to disorder Wood. The return volley is Withering, throwing Peabody’s Brigade into disorder and Peabody himself off his now-departed horse! 
Above: Despite their surprise, the devastating casualties (reducing them immediately to ‘Worn’ status) and Peabody being temporarily detached from his brigade while searching for a fresh horse, the Bluebellies do not immediately collapse. However, they are Hard-Pressed and grudgingly give ground to the Rebels. Wood’s Brigade is already low on ammunition due to the intense opening volleys (the three markers at the back of Wood’s brigade are an officer figure to show that Wood is an Exceptional Leader, a loading soldier to show Low on Ammunition and a casualty figure to show Disorder).
Above: Gladden’s Confederate Brigade can only charge Miller’s Brigade with a Double-Quick result on his Manoeuvre Roll, but with both Withers and Johnston attached he achieves that admirably. Miller is completely surprised in the Spain Field, which means that his men are Disordered as they scramble from their tents and the two supporting batteries are silenced! Miller’s ragged volley causes no damage whatsoever to Gladden’s Rebels, but Gladden’s return volley is Withering.
Above: Gladden’s men are also now low on ammunition following their blistering hail of fire, so now fix bayonets and shout the Rebel Yell as they charge onto the Spain Field! Like Peabody, Miller doesn’t immediately collapse, though his men are Hard-Pressed and grudgingly fall back across the Spain Field.
Above: However, the steady withdrawal doesn’t last long, as Miller’s men pull back beyond musketry range, into the woods north of their camp, while Peabody’s men make a full retreat! While all this action is taking place, Brigadier-General Chalmers finds a side-road to the east, which will enable him to march around behind the Union left flank.
Above: The situation at the end of Turn 1.
Above: Sabre in hand, General Johnston urges Gladden to pursue Miller through the camp. However, Gladden is subjected to Telling Fire and his charge stalls among the tents of Miller’s former camp.
Above: Hindman’s Division charges through the camp to reach Peabody. However, Peabody’s brigade again fails to inflict any casualties on the Rebs, who then subject him to yet more Withering fire. Tragically, Peabody is shot dead while still trying to find a horse. Now Spent and Wavering, the late Brigadier Peabody’s Brigade retreats to the Barnes Field. Prentiss’ gunners meanwhile, are whipping their teams into a lather as they attempt to reach a better defensive position. 
Above: Despite having halted Gladden’s Rebels, Miller’s Brigade is still Wavering and falls back out of musketry range, through the woods, before crossing the Purdy-Hamburg Road to reach the open ground of Sarah Bell’s Cotton Field.
Above: However, Stuart’s Union Brigade has been alerted and is now moving to attack Gladden’s flank. Gladden spots the threat to his flank, but his men have become fixated on the prospect of loot in Miller’s abandoned camp!
Above: Support for Gladden’s open flank is coming in the form of Jackson’s and Chalmers’ Brigades (Withers’ Division), but they’re too far away to stop Stuart from charging.
Above: The situation at the end of Turn 2.
Above: Unable to charge into contact, this turn, Gladden’s and Wood’s Brigades pause to loot the Federal camps. This means that they automatically become disordered, but lose their Low on Ammunition status. This is small compensation to Gladden, as Stuart’s Zouaves charge his exposed flank!
Above: By some miracle, Gladden manages to hold his ground, though there is a Desperate Struggle (i.e. a draw), where both sides take losses. The mêlée goes into the second round with Gladden now Worn and at an even greater disadvantage. Amazingly, there is another Desperate Struggle and the melee goes into a third round with Stuart also now Worn! To much astonishment, Stuarts men Falter and fall back!
Above: Despite Prentiss’ attempts to stop the retreat, Peabody’s Brigade Panics and flees as an unformed mob up the Eastern Corinth Road! However, reinforcements are on their way and Prentiss orders his two batteries to establish a new defensive position along the Sunken Road.
Above: General Hurlbut, with Lauman’s Brigade and another battery, is alarmed to see the state of Prentiss’ Division, but wastes no time in establishing a new line along the Sunken Road.
Above: Praying that Miller will stop retreating and form up on his right, Williams, with a battery in support, moves his brigade into the Sunken Road at the Peach Orchard.
Above: The situation at the end of Turn 3.
Above: Encouraged by General Withers, Jackson’s Brigade charges across the Locust Grove Run to to take Stuart in the flank! 
Above: Jackson’s flank-attack works far better than Stuart’s own effort! Stuart is Swept From The Field and keeps running until he leaves the table!
Above: Chalmers’ flank-marching Brigade finally arrives at the Larkin Bell Field to find Stuart long-gone. The Rebels become disordered as they set about looting Stuart’s former camp.
Above: With reinforcements pouring in, the Rebels reorganise and strengthen their lines in preparation for the next phase of the assault.
Above: Despite the initial disaster, the Bluebellies already hold the Sunken Road in considerable strength with Williams’, Miller’s and Lauman’s Brigades and four batteries already emplaced. Tuttle’s Brigade is also approaching, together with yet another battery. These new arrivals are mostly Experienced troops, generally outclassing the universally Green Rebel Army. The Union brigades also have a greater proportion of rifled muskets, which they can use to dominate the open ground in front of them.
Above: At the Review Field, forward of the Union right flank, Hare’s Brigade has appeared. This brigade is the left-flanking unit of McClernand’s Division, which is engaged to the west. As such, it can’t move more than 4cm from the table edge and can’t move south of the Review Field, but will prove to be a thorn in the side of the Rebel left flank.
Above: The situation at the end of Turn 4.
Above: Sure enough, as they emerge onto the Purdy-Hamburg Road, Wood’s Rebel Brigade get the worst of a firefight with Hare in the Review Field and falls back to the cover of the woods along the road’s verge.
Above: As Shaver’s Rebel Brigade appears at the edge of the woods along the Hamburg-Purdy Road, they are subjected to Telling long-range rifle-fire from Miller’s Brigade and suffer casualties. Unable to respond with their smoothbore muskets, shaver orders his men to fall back into the trees and to wait for the artillery to come up. In the meantime, Gladden’s battered Rebel Brigade falls back out of the line, allowing Gibson’s fresh brigade to form up in the centre, between Shaver on the left and Jackson on the right. Large quantities of Rebel guns also move forward. The Union artillery attempts to engage them as they unlimber, but to no effect.
Above: Yet more Rebel reinforcements appear; this time from Breckenridge’s Corps.
Above: On the Rebel right, Chalmers has finished looting Stuart’s camp, but it Tardy in moving forward. Stephens’ Brigade (Cheatham’s Division) in the meantime, has also arrived at the Larkin Bell Field and pushes on over the creek, aiming to turn the Union left flank.
Above: However, as the Rebels make a move, the Union immediately make their counter-move; General Wallace arrives at the head of Sweeny’s very strong Brigade.
Above: The situation at the end of Turn 5.
Above: There is something of an ‘operational pause’, as both sides build up their strength and the Rebels ponder the best way to assault this strong position. In the meantime, Prentiss manages to rally the remnants of Peabody’s Brigade before they run to the hills and General Grant arrives, but can’t stay long.
Above: Artillery is the key, but the Rebels’ elderly smoothbore pieces, crewed by Green gunners, are barely making an impression.
Above: Realising that his numerous but weak artillery is not going to break the Union line, Johnston orders General Withers to take Chalmers and Gladden’s Brigades, plus a battery, to reinforce Cheatham’s flanking move on the right.
Above: The situation at the end of Turn 6.
Above: As Johnston shifts forces to the right, the artillery duel continues. At long last, the Union battery supporting Williams, Brigade is silenced by Rebel guns as Williams, outflanked by Chalmers, also suffers casualties. However, Chalmers can’t exploit this with a flank-attack, as he is himself threatened by Sweeny’s Brigade.
Above: The situation at the end of Turn 7.
Above: As Sweeny’s massive Brigade advances to support Williams’ flank, Stephens forms up on Chalmers’ right as Gladden and a battery also rush to the scene, in an attempt to match Sweeny.
Above: However, Sweeny charges Stephens before Gladden is in position. Sweeny suffers Telling Fire, but charges home, Driving Back Stephens.
Above: Stephens’ retreat disorders Gladden. With the Rebel right now in disarray, Sweeny seems unstoppable! However, thanks to the early defeats, total Union losses have been mounting…
Above: With Williams’ disordered and his supporting battery silenced, Jackson takes advantage of the situation and charges through the Peach Orchard!
Above: Jackson suffers Telling Fire during his charge, but charges on into the Sunken Road. Williams meanwhile, suffers Withering Fire from a combination of Jackson, Chalmers and the supporting Rebel guns. 
Above: Despite the heavy losses to enemy fire, Williams is in a strong position and Jackson’s charge bogs down into a Desperate Struggle (draw) and both sides suffer casualties as the combat continues. Eventually Jackson’s Brigade Falters and falls back to the Peach Orchard. 
Above: However, Williams’ Brigade is now Worn and the Union Army as a whole has reached its Greater Losses threshold. The ripples of fear and uncertainty spread through the ranks and the courage of Williams’ men starts to Waver. Abandoning their position in the Sunken Road, Williams’ men fall back out of rifle-range to the Wicker Field. Thankfully, Tuttle is made of sterner stuff and is able to shift his position to the left, reoccupying Williams’ abandoned position at the Peach Orchard. 
Above: In the Union centre, the space created by Tuttle shifting to the left allows the 23rd Missouri Regiment to reinforce Miller’s Brigade in the Sunken Road. The addition of these reinforcements gives Miller’s men fresh heart and raises their status to ‘Fresh’. On the Rebel left, Wood and Statham use the cover of the trees to push forward to the Duncan Field. However, this sector contains the greatest concentration of Union guns. With the battle about to re-intensify, General Grant leaves…
Above: The situation at the end of Turn 8.
Above: Despite their earlier crisis, Gladden and Stephens Rally with Élan and form a new, stronger line in concert with a battery and Chalmers’ Brigade. The contagion of defeat now seems to have spread to Sweeny, as his brigade steadfastly refuses to advance.
Above: In the centre, the thinning of the Union line has not gone unnoticed and Gibson moves forward to support Jackson’s left as Shaver moves forward through the thick brush to engage Miller.
Above: On the left, Wood and Statham launch a general assault on Lauman. The Bluebellies have considerable firepower here, but the Rebel infantry’s sacrifice is allowing their supporting artillery to deploy unmolested along the edge of the Duncan Field.
Above: Somewhat astonishingly, given the quantity of canister fired at them, Wood and Statham each suffer only Galling Fire and charge home on Lauman. However, their attack Falters as it reaches Lauman and both brigades fall back to cover.
Above: At the eastern end of the Sunken road, Jackson’s weakened Brigade, supported by canister fire from Gage’s Battery, charges for a second time and ejects Tuttle from the Sunken Road! With the Rebels now having established a foothold in the Sunken Road, Union morale sinks even further. 
Above: In the centre, Shaver’s Brigade is unable to reach Miller due to the thick underbrush, though a fierce, point-blank firefight erupts, in which a limbered Rebel battery is damaged and Miller’s brigade suffers Withering Fire, which cancels out the morale-gain from the arrival of the 23rd Missouri and also kills Prentiss’ horse! Shaken, Miller withdraws from the Sunken Road. However. at the eastern end of the Sunken Road, Williams has rallied and with close-range artillery support, is moving to eject the weakened Jackson.
Above: The situation at the end of Turn 9.
Above: Shaver’s Brigade occupies the centre of the Sunken Road and quickly deploys a battery to take Williams under point-blank canister fire.
Above: However, Jackson is getting the worst of the firefight with Williams at the ‘Bloody Pond’ (which is where Williams is situated – I don’t have a model pond and in any case, it has no effect in game terms) and is now Spent. Jackson has two batteries in close support, but the terrain (which is wooded on the Union side of the Sunken Road) means that they can’t see any targets. 
Above: At the Duncan Field, the newly-established Rebel batteries are quick to damage and drive off one Union battery at the western end of Lauman’s line. However, the two Union batteries at the eastern end of Lauman’s line similarly damage and drive off a Rebel battery that was deployed to support Statham on the Eastern Corinth Road.
Above: Most critically, Lauman’s Brigade, which has hardly suffered any losses, though Shaken by the defeatism infecting the Union Army, retreats from the Sunken Road. The artillery heroically fights on in the centre and the gap is rapidly filled by Hare’s Brigade, but the writing is on the wall for the Bluebellies…
Above: On the bank of the Tennessee River, Sweeny’s Brigade still refuses to advance. The gunboats USS Tyler and USS Lexington perform harassing fire against Stephens’ Brigade from the river, but to little effect.
Above: The situation at the end of Turn 10.
Above: Shaken by the point-blank canister fire, Jackson is finally forced to pull back from the Sunken Road. However, the position is quickly re-occupied by Gibson’s fresh Confederate brigade. Williams is soon Wavering and falls back to the safety of McArthur’s Brigade at the Wicker Field, taking his supporting battery with him.
Above: Statham tries to push forward against the two batteries, but his attack stalls in the face of Telling Fire from the two Union batteries (including one of heavy artillery) still holding the crossroads.
Above: Hare suffers Withering Fire from Rebel canister-fire, but manages to hold his brigade together as he prays for support to come. But no help is coming…
Above: The situation at the end of Turn 11.
Above: Forrest’s mighty cavalry brigade arrives to save the day! Hurrah!
Above: It’s difficult to know what Forrest can possibly hope to achieve, but the cavalry adds tone to what until now has been a vulgar brawl.
Above: Breckenridge moves forward to Statham’s Brigade. Seeing their corps commander leading from the front, Statham’s men Rally with Élan and surge forward through the brush! The Union artillery again inflicts Telling Fire, but Statham this time charges home, capturing the 5th Ohio Light Battery and driving off the Missouri Heavy Battery! 
Above: The only part of the Sunken Road still in Union hands is the western end, next to the Duncan Field. Wood’s Brigade charges once again, but is checked by Telling Fire from Hare and his supporting battery.
Above: Despite halting Wood’s charge, Hare’s men are Wavering and soon retreat northward, leaving the entire Sunken road in Rebel hands. Only a single Union battery remains on the western side of the Duncan Field, but that is quickly silenced by Rebel musketry.
Above: General Wallace attempts to push McArthur’s uncommitted brigade forward at the Bloody Pond, but to no avail. In any case, it would merely have been reinforcing failure.
Above: A fleeing mass of blue-coated humanity skedaddles northward. The Union Army has suffered catastrophic losses (more than three times the casualties suffered by the Rebs) and is forced to retreat!
Above: As US Naval artillery continues to whistle overhead, Sweeny’s Brigade withdraws in good order as the Rebels jeer them on their way!
Above: The final positions (North/Union at the bottom).
Above: The situation at the end of Turn 12 (end of the game).
Mrs Fawr has finally resigned herself to the fact that me openly playing with myself in the dining room is ‘The New Normal’, so I was able to get another solo game in last week! 🙂
Above: I’ll start with the Russian ‘Queen of Battle’; the artillery arm, starting with the Foot Artillery. In real terms, by 1812 Russian artillery batteries were large, each consisting eight cannon and four ‘Unicorns’. The ‘Unicorn’ was a type of long-barreled howitzer, named for the handles on top of the barrel which were shaped like unicorns in honour of General Peter Ivanovich Shuvalov, commander of the Russian Artillery and whose arms featured unicorns. Light Batteries had 6pdr cannon and 10pdr Unicorns, while Position Batteries had 12pdr cannon and 18pdr Unicorns (some sources say 20pdr, but that is due to different nations having different standards of weights and measurements and the ’20pdr’ description tends to come from French sources). There was also a 2pdr Unicorn which was used for close defence of Position Batteries (two being allocated to each Position Battery prior to 1805), but this was declared obsolete after 1805. 
Above: In game terms, my six model guns (4x 12pdr cannon and 2x 18pdr unicorns) become three two-model batteries when playing 
Above: Millions of pixels have died in discussing the exact shade of green for Russian gun-carriages. The shade is often described as ‘apple green’ and as a consequence, an awful lot of people translate this as being a very bright ‘Granny Smith’ shade of green. However, there are a few things to consider, the first of which being that the Russians themselves never called it ‘apple green’; that was a description applied later by the French. Secondly, 19th Century apples were not the colour of modern Granny Smiths! In fact, the 19th Century Austrian facing colour ‘Apple Green’ was more of a light khaki-ish green.
Above: The standard uniform for Russian Foot Artillery was a dark green, double-breasted coat with black facings piped red, brass buttons and red shoulder-straps. Belts were white and the shakos had brass chinscales and crossed-cannon & grenade badge, red pompom and red cords and ‘flounders’. As always, Tony Barton’s sculpting and attention to detail shines through when you notice that some gunners have draped their dangling cords and flounders over the top of the shako, or hooked them around the pompom, to keep them out of the way. They’re also dressed in long white summer-dress ‘gaiter-trousers’. Guard Artillery had yellow lace bars on collar and cuff-flaps, as well as the Guards’ double-headed eagle shako-plate.
Above: To support the cavalry I’ve also painted some Russian Horse Artillery. Being a cheapskate, I’ve actually only put three crew figures per base instead of four. I need A LOT of Russian artillery, so every little helps…
Above: Russian Horse Batteries again had twelve guns apiece. They were equipped with 6pdr cannon and 10pdr Unicorns, like the Light Foot Batteries, though some Horse Batteries had a 1:1 split of cannon and Unicorns instead of the more usual 2:1 split.
Above: Russian Horse Artillery wore a dragoon-style uniform in the same colourings as the Foot Artillery, with the addition on campaign of grey cavalry overalls. In 1814 the straight Dragoon sword was replaced by the curved light cavalry sabre and the Dragoon helmet was replaced by a shako much the same as that of the foot Artillery, though with the addition of a tall, white plume. The Guard Horse Artillery had apparently already adopted these uniform changes in 1812, which is a shame, as AB don’t yet do the figures! On a related note, I could really use a couple of Don Cossack Horse Batteries, but AB don’t do those either. 🙁 
Above: The Little Russia Grenadier Regiment. All Russian grenadier regiments wore the same uniform; namely the standard dark green, double-breasted coat with red facings, brass buttons, white belts, red leather musket-slings, shakos with white cords and tall black plumes and a brass ‘flaming grenade’ badge with three flames worn on the shako and cartouche (the exception being the Pavlov Grenadier Regiment, which famously still wore its old brass-fronted mitre caps). All grenadier regiments had red shoulder-straps, with the regiment being identified by the regiment’s initial letters embroidered in yellow on the strap. Drummers had white lace on the breast, sleeves and ‘swallow’s nests’, plus a red plume. Officers had gold epaulettes and silver sash and shako-cords, though in 1812 were authorised to wear cheaper white in lieu of silver.
Above: The observant will have noticed my ‘deliberate mistake’ of giving all the rank-and-file red pompoms on their shakos… I’d unwisely assumed that all grenadiers wore red pompoms, but I now know that this actually only applied to the Grenadier Platoon that stood on the right flank the battalion and even then, only those of the 1st battalion of a regiment had plain red pompoms! All line infantry, grenadier, guard and jäger regiments used the same system of pompom colours described here:
Above: The main distinguishing feature for each regiment was the colour-party, which for the Little Russia Grenadiers in 1812 was this rather pleasing black and pink combo (by 
Above: Fresh from the painting-table is this regiment of Russian Jäger. The Jäger regiments all wore the standard dark green double-breasted infantry coat with green facings piped red, brass buttons and black belts. Jäger regiments did not carry colours, so regiments were identified the regimental number, which was embroidered on the shoulder-straps and was repeated as brass numerals on the cartouche. Shoulder-straps were yellow for regiments 1-13, 16-20, 23, 25, 27-31 & 49 and light blue for the remainder.
Above: These chaps are wearing the white summer gaiter-trousers. In winter they wore dark green trousers with red piping down the side-seams and black leather ‘booting’ on the lower legs. The officers here wear undress (and very fashionable) dark green frock-coats, green field-caps piped red and grey overall trousers.
Above: The pompoms are coloured using the same system described above for the grenadiers – the 1st battalion is on the right and the 2nd battalion is on the left. Note that in Jäger and line infantry regiments, only the Grenadier Platoon wore plumes.
First my apologies to all lovers of Olive Drab, Jungle Green and Crabfat Blue, as it’s all been a bit overloaded with the lace, brightly-coloured coats, facings, buttons, muskets, sabres and tricorns of the 18th Century around here just lately. So just to break the monotony, here’s some TOTALLY different lace, brightly-coloured coats, facings, buttons, muskets, sabres and shakos of the Napoleonic Wars… 🙂
When lockdown started last March I finally resolved to re-base around 500 figures, replace all the flags and paint some fresh models, especially cavalry and artillery! The infantry above represents only around half of my Russian infantry and the whole army, including all the cavalry, artillery and generals, fills two three-tier toolboxes like this one. 
Above: As 
Above: However, the posing and the cast-on lances simply wouldn’t stand up to game-play for very long, so I replaced them with steel spears by North Star (which are sadly no longer in production) which have the twin advantages of being very strong and very sharp, so act as a deterrent to ham-fisted players…
Above: I’ve still got another three units of Cossacks to paint, but I was feeling the itch to paint some Russian Cuirassiers, starting with the Military Orders Regiment here.
Above: One of my objective games for that bright, sunlit day when we get out of Lockdown (well, once I’ve shaken off the hangover from going back to the pub…) is the 
Above: The regimental facing colour for the Military Order Cuirassiers was black, which is visible here on the collars and shabraques, as well as the piping of their shoulder-straps and tail-turnbacks. The regimental ‘metal’ colour was yellow, so the officers have gold buttons and epaulettes and shabraque-edging, while the rank and file have brass buttons and yellow shabraque-edging. The standard is by 
Above: Another view of the Military Order Cuirassiers. Russian Cuirassiers, in common with Prussian cuirassiers of the period, had previously lost their cuirasses, though got them back thanks to the renaissance of the cuirass in French military fashion. Russian cuirasses were enameled black with red cloth lining, as shown here, though some regiments had polished steel (possibly captured from the French).
Above: A rear view of the Military Order Cuirassiers. Note that trumpeters had a red crest to their helmets and wore a laced coat without cuirass. Trumpeters’ lace was normally in the facing colour, though the Military Order Regiment had a mix of black and orange lace.
Above: The Novgorod Cuirassier Regiment.
Above: Duka’s second brigade was commanded by Generalmajor Levaschov and consisted of the Novgorod and Starodub Cuirassier Regiments. I can never resist potting the pink, so I’ve gone for the Novgorod Cuirassiers to represent this brigade.
Above: The regimental facing colour for the Novgorod Cuirassiers was rose pink, which again is visible on the collar, shabraque and piping of the shoulder-straps and tail-turnbacks. The regimental button colour was white, so the rank-and-file had white metal buttons and white shabraque-edging, while the officers had silver buttons, epaulettes and shabraque-edging. However, note that the metalwork for helmets remained brass for all regiments.
Above: The Novgorod Cuirassiers in closeup. The standard is again by Fighting 15s. Note that the standard of all regiments had a green stave and gold finial.
Above: Rear view of the Novgorod Cuirassiers. The trumpeter’s lace is pink, matching the facing colour.
Above: The Soumy Hussar Regiment. In keeping with the Liebertwolwitz theme, the bulk of the cavalry at that battle was provided by Generallieutenant Count von der Pahlen’s Cavalry Corps (actually a strong division). The first of Pahlen’s brigades was commanded by Generalmajor von Rüdinger and consisted of two regiments, the Grodno Hussars and the Soumy Hussars. I’ve therefore gone with the Soumy Hussars to represent this brigade.
Above: The regimental distinctives for the Soumy Hussars were a grey uniform with red facings, white lace and white metal buttons. Officers initially had silver lace, but they were permitted in 1812 to have white lace, in order to ease the financial burden on junior officers (this was applied across the army, with silver sashes, shako-cords, etc, also becoming white, or yellow instead of gold). However, the officer here is clearly a wealthy man, as he’s gone for traditional silver lace.
Above: The Soumy Hussars in closeup. Russian Hussars were issued with lances from April-May 1812, with 640 lances being issued to each regiment; enough for 64 per squadron, or the entire front rank, minus officers and NCOs. Uhlan instructors were used to train the Hussars in the use of the lance. 
Above: The Soumy Hussars marching to the flank, showing off their shabraques, which were grey, edged with red vandycking.
Above: The Olviopol Hussar Regiment. I should add that these were the very first Russian Hussars to come out of the mould at AB Figures back in the late 1990s and in a moment of madness, I bought this regiment in charging poses. I will NEVER normally buy charging lances, as the lances don’t last five minutes on the table before some ham-fisted idiot (usually me) bends the bloody things! Ah well, they do look good…
Above: The Olviopol Hussars were assigned to Generalmajor Schwanow’s Hussar Brigade. The regimental uniform was very similar to that of the Soumy Hussars above, switching the grey jacket-colour for dark green. One other minor difference was that the regimental sabretache was in the jacket colour (green), embroidered with the facing colour (red), whereas in the case of the Soumy Hussars, the sabretache was in the facing colour (red), edged with the lace colour (white).
Above: The Olviopol Hussars were one of the last three regiments to receive lances (along with the Belorussia Hussars and Lubny Hussars) and probably received them in 1813. Once again, I’ve been unable to discover any evidence for pennants, so have simply copied another wargamer and gone with green over white, which suits the regimental colours.
Above: A view of the other side, showing the sabretache, bearing Czar Alexander’s ‘A’ cypher in red. Note also the green shabraques with red vandycking.
Above: A rear view of the Olviopol Hussars.
Above: The Tchuguiev Uhlans. Note that there are various spellings for this regiment in English (Tchugujew, Chuguiyev, etc)!
Above: The Tchuguiev Uhlans formed half of Generalmajor Lissanevich’s Brigade, along with the Lubny Hussars.
Above: The Russian Uhlan regiments all had very similar uniforms, all having blue as the basic uniform colour, with various combinations of red, raspberry red or white as the facing/cap/pennant colours and yellow or white as the button/lace & cord colour. The Tchuguiev Uhlans had the uniform shown here, with red lapels, cuffs, cap ‘box’, shabraque edging and jacket-piping and white cap-piping, cords and ‘metal’. The girdle was red with a central blue stripe and the pennant was red over blue, with alternating central stripes.
Above: Another view of the Tchuguiev Uhlans. Some Uhlan regiments were issued with standards, but this regiment wasn’t one of them.
Above: A rear view of the Tchuguiev Uhlans. Note that the Russian Uhlan cap, or czapka had a black, waterproof oilskin top, unlike the lancers of other nations who often had a coloured top with a lace ‘X’.
The Bavarian Army at the start of the Seven Years War was a shadow of its former self, due to Bavaria having ruined its finances during the 
Above: Generalfeldwachtmeister Johannes Claudius Graf Seyssel d’Aix commanded the Bavarian Auxiliary Corps for the duration of the war. I painted him based on the description of Bavarian general officers’ uniform provided in the Pengel & Hurt uniform guides; namely a cornflower blue coat with black cuffs, thickly edged with silver lace, straw ‘smallclothes’ (i.e. breeches and waistcoat), red horse furniture with silver lace, sash of mixed silver and light blue threads and a hat edged with silver lace and split white ostrich feathers. This figure is an Austrian general by 
Above: The artillery element of the Bavarian Auxiliary Corps comprised little more than a single company of light guns, providing close support to the infantry battalions. Bavarian arsenals did however, hold large stocks of heavy artillery guns which were made available to the Imperial Artillery Reserve (which I will cover in a future article). 
Above: The 
Above: I painted my first two Bavarian regiments over 2o years ago, when I started building my 
Above: Pengel & Hurt described the ‘Holnstein’ Regiment as having red facings, straw turnbacks, straw smallclothes, brass buttons, ‘false gold’ hat-lace and white belts, which is what I’ve painted here. However, Kronoskaf describes the facing colour as ‘light red’ or ‘old rose’, being more of a dark pink or light crimson shade. Kronoskaf also shows the ‘Holnstein’ Regiment’s turnbacks as light red, though the ‘Pechmann’ Regiment as having light red facings with straw turnbacks. The regiment’s drummers wore the same uniform, though heavily decorated with mixed white & light blue lace.
Above: The 
Above: The ‘Pechmann’ Regiment initially had the uniform shown here, with straw-coloured facings and matching smallclothes, with brass buttons, white belts and ‘false gold’ hat-lace. However, Kronoskaf suggests that the facing colour changed in Spring 1757 to ‘light red’ or ‘old rose’ to match that of the ‘Holnstein’ Regiment, which was also serving in the Reichsarmee contingent. However, the turnbacks of the ‘Pechmann’ contingent remained straw. The regiment’s drumemrs wore the same uniform, though heavily decorated with yellow lace.
Above: When I first painted them, these two regiments were equipped with flags by Grubby Tanks, as shown here. I’ve now replaced them with the rather nicer (and larger) flags by 
Above: The regiments of the Bavarian Auxiliary Corps do not appear to have detached their grenadier companies in the manner of most other nations. Probably because they were around 1/3rd understrength and couldn’t afford to detach any further manpower. However, the ‘Kurbayern’ Regiment with the Reichsarmee did detach its grenadiers and these would be massed with other Reichsarmee grenadier companies to form ad hoc grenadier battalions. I’ve therefore painted two separate bases of Bavarian grenadiers for the ‘Holnstein’ and ‘Pechmann’ Regiments.
Above: The 
Above: The ‘Minucci’ Regiment had yellow facings with straw smallclothes, white belts, white metal buttons and ‘false silver’ hat-lace. Some sources suggest that the facings were ‘yellow-buff’ and that the waistcoats were a darker shade of straw/buff. Note that all Bavarian regiments had red neck-stocks, dark red leather musket-slings and blue & white pompoms on their hats.
Above: A rear view of the ‘Minucci’ Regiment. Note that this regiment’s drummers had yellow coats with light blue facings.
Above: The 1st Battalion of the 
Above: The ‘Preysing’ Regiment had red facings with straw smallclothes, white metal buttons, ‘false silver’ hat-lace and white belts. The regiment’s drummers are known to have had yellow coats with red facings and red waistcoats.
Above: The 2nd Battalion of the 
Above: The ‘Kurprinz’ Regiment had white facings, smallclothes and belts, with brass buttons and ‘false gold’ hat-lace. The regiment’s drummers wore the same uniform, though with the addition of mixed white & light blue lace. 
Above: The 
Above: The ‘Leib’ Regiment had white facings and smallclothes, with white metal buttons and ‘false silver’ hat-lace. Most unusually, its belts were ‘natural leather’. In 1760 they were ordered to change their facings to their traditional (expensive) black with white bastion-shaped buttonhole lace loops (turnbacks remained white). In 1761 the coat colour was officially changed back to the traditional (expensive) cornflower blue, retaining the black facings and white lace. However, the coats were only to be replaced as they wore out, so the change took place gradually, over a number of years. 
Above: A rear view of the ‘Leib’ Regiment. The regiment’s drummers initially had white uniforms with blue facings, though in 1760 adopted the same dark blue uniform with black facings as the rest of the regiment, though heavily decorated with lace. From 1761 the drummers’ coats also began to change to cornflower blue.
Well it’s been a funny old year… ‘Funny’ that is, in much the same manner as Ricky Gervais, Miranda Hart or Mrs Brown’s Boys are ‘funny’; i.e. Not remotely funny whatsoever.
With the arrival of lockdown and the cancellation of all games and club-nights for the foreseeable future, I decided to look at the vast list of projects that needed finishing. Most of it was 10mm American Civil War (ACW) and 15mm Napoleonic. So I started off with some more 10mm Reb divisions and half of the the Union XII Corps for Gettysburg. I got distracted onto other things, but I’m now within sight of my goal to complete the order of battle for the full first day of Gettysburg. I’ve now only got Anderson’s Rebel Division and half of the Union XII Corps left to do.
Oh and I also painted 
Much to the wife’s disgust, I was also found playing with myself on the dining room table a couple of times during lockdown. The first such solo game was a 
Much to Mrs Fawr’s disgust, I’ve been playing with myself on the dining-room table again…
A couple of months ago and during our brief respite from lockdown restrictions, I played a game with my mate Phil using 
Here’s the historical map of the scenario. I’ll write up the full scenario soon. Thanks to my cramped playing area, I had to straighten up the opposing battle-lines and the fancy Austrian flank-attack would instead have to be a frontal charge! 🙂 In the actual battle, knee-deep snow slowed a lot of the movement and swirling snow severely reduced visibility at several key moments. The snow also probably degraded roundshot performance quite considerably, but to keep things simple for the purposes of play-testing, I casually disregarded these facts!
Above: Here’s the initial scene, viewed from the Prussian lines.
Above: The view along the Prussian lines from the left flank. Due to the cramped nature of the infantry deployment area, Oberst Posadowsky’s cavalry (in the foreground) have crossed over the Kleiner-Bach stream in order to find space to deploy.
Above: King Frederick and his staff supervise the deployment.
Above: Neipperg’s Austrian army is waiting for the Prussians. The Austrians are weaker in infantry and artillery, but stronger in cavalry.
Above: The view from the Austrian right flank.
Above: The battle opens with two strong Prussian batteries hammering the Austrian centre. The Austrians realise that their best chance of victory lies with Römer’s strong cavalry division on the left flank and this is immediately hurled forward to smash Schulenburg’s mixed division of cavalry and grenadiers.
Above: In the centre of Schulenburg’s line, the ‘Winterfeldt’ and ‘Bolstern’ Grenadier Battalions make a brave stand, but are utterly smashed by the charge of the Austrian cuirassiers. On their right, several squadrons of the ‘Schulenburg’ Dragoons and a single squadron of the Gens d’Armes are thrown back by Austrian dragoons. The Prussian Leib-Carabiniers make a better show of it however, and succeed in repulsing one of the Austrian cuirassier regiments.
Above: The Prussian Leib-Carabiniers charge on to glory, but are in turn thrown back by the second wave of Austrian cuirassiers. Schulenburg’s entire wing suffers a crisis of confidence and flees the field! The Austrian horsemen wheel to their right and bear down on the Prussian infantry.
Above: General Römer urges his men on to glory!
Above: On the right flank of the Prussian infantry, the Leibgarde Battalion, the ‘Kleist’ Grenadier Battalion and a battalion of the ‘Prinz Dietrich’ Regiment prepare to meet the charge.
Above: Although the Austrians are getting the worst of the unequal artillery battle in the centre, a single Austrian battery posted on the left flank makes life miserable for the Prussian Leibgarde Battalion.
Above: The rest of the Prussian and Austrian armies await the outcome of the battle on the far flank.
Above: As Römer’s cavalry charges home they are subjected to a withering hail of musketry!
Above: Braving the hail of lead, Römer’s cavalry press home their attack, but are unable to make a dent in the wall of Prussian bayonets. The Prussian Leibgarde Battalion (1st Battalion of the Garde Regiment) on the corner of the line, comes within a whisker of being swept away, but the guardsmen hold the line! If there had been any other battalion in that spot, the line would have been broken.
Above: While things get exciting on the Prussian right flank, the artillery continues to duel in the centre.
Above: Göldy’s Austrian left wing is suffering badly from the cannonade (the casualty figures indicate a ‘Staggered’ unit and the dots indicate the number of hits suffered (figures/bases are not removed in Shako. Instead each unit has a morale level (e.g 4 for line infantry) and can suffer that many hits (increased by 1 for large, 16-figure units as here) before being broken. One of the battalions in the second line has already been broken by the amount of roundshot bouncing through the formation.
Above: Römer’s first wave is beaten off and falls to the rear as the second wave charges the Prussian lines.
Above: Two more cuirassier regiments smash themselves fruitlessly against the corner of the Prussian ‘box’, though Römer’s personal dragoon regiment does somewhat better and breaks the ‘Prinz Dietrich’ Musketeers! However, upon breaking through the line, they run into the 3rd Battalion of the Garde and are soon falling back to join the cuirassiers.
Above: With casualties rapidly starting to pile up and with two of his four cuirassier regiments already broken, Römer has a crisis of confidence and his cavalry falls back to the safety of Austrian lines. However, the Austrian horse quickly rally and a messenger soon arrives from Neipperg, telling him to get back into the fight! The Austrian cavalry are soon surging forward once again, though this time with a great many empty saddles.
Above: With the Austrian cavalry driven off for the time being, Prinz Leopold starts to wheel half of his second line to the right, in order to protect the right flank of the advance from any further interference.
Above: the Prussian artillery has torn ragged gaps in the Austrian left wing and the time is ripe for the Prussians to mount a general assault.
Above: Schwerin is already leading the left wing forward against the Austrian lines and the Prussian guns start to fall silent as the infantry pass through.
Above: Posadowsky’s Prussian cavalry moves forward on the left to cover the flank of the infantry. A light battery positioned on the flank also continues to pound the Austrian horse.
Above: As the Prussian right wing advances it isn’t long before Römer’s cavalry reappear. 
Above: However, Prince Leopold hasn’t yet completed his redeployment to protect the right flank! 
Above: The ‘Kleist’ Grenadiers, having been left behind by the main body and unsupported by Prince Leopold, are soon overwhelmed by the Austrian cuirassiers!
Above: While the ‘Kleist’ Grenadiers keep the Austrian cavalry busy on the right flank, the rest of the first line of the Prussian right wing pushes forward to engage the crumbling Austrian left wing more closely. This is all too much for the Austrian infantry as having already been crushed by the Prussian artillery, they flee the field.
Above: The view of the whole battlefield from the Prussian left flank.
Above: Having broken the ‘Kleist’ Grenadiers, the Austrian cuirassiers fall back to rally. In front of the Prussians, Göldy’s Austrian left wing, dismayed by the heavy losses suffered from artillery, has broken and fled the field! The Prussian gunners have now swung their guns around and will soon be sending canister into the packed ranks of Austrian cuirassiers.
Above: Not waiting to remain stationary under artillery fire, the Austrian cuirassiers charge once again, aiming for the vulnerable end of the Prussian line. However, the cuirassiers run into a withering hail of fire from Prince Leopold’s infantry and are broken. Römer’s Austrian cavalry division again falls back to consider its options and the Prussian right wing resumes its advance.
Above: Schwerin’s Prussian left wing, with Kalckstein’s division in the lead, finally engages the Austrian infantry.
Above: Having been largely ignored by the Prussian artillery, Browne’s Austrian right wing has only suffered very light casualties thus far and now looses a devastating volley into the advancing Prussians.
Above: Kalckstein’s infantry very much get the worst of the opening volleys, suffering heavy casualties. However, they reorder their lines more quickly than the Austrians and launch a charge into the disordered whitecoats!
Above: Although outnumbered and outmatched by Berlichgen’s Austrian horse, Posadowky crosses the stream and launches a charge to support the infantry attack.
Above: Following up their success, the Austrian cavalry break through to strike the second line of Prussian cavalry and throw those horsemen back as well!
Above: However, the two leading Austrian cavalry regiments are now on blown horses. Some of the Prussian cavalry quickly rally behind the guns and charge again, throwing back the over-confident Austrian horse!
Above: The infantry combat meanwhile, is a similarly mixed affair. As expected, the two grenadier battalions on the Prussian left flank do well, breaking one Austrian battalion and throwing back another, forcing Browne to commit two battalions from his second line. However, Prussian battalions, already weakened by musketry, are also starting to break, forcing Prince Leopold to feed some of his reserve battalions into the combat. However, the Prussians have a significant numerical advantage and are poised to roll up the Austrian left flank.
Above: However, Römer’s Austrian cavalry remains a significant threat and instead of rolling up the Austrian infantry with his full weight, Marwitz is forced to wheel several battalions to the right to meet the renewed cavalry threat. 
Above: Nevertheless, the Browne’s Austrian infantry are slowly being crushed by the Prussian assault and Neipperg is forced to evacuate his field headquarters! 
Above: However, there is still a slim chance for an Austrian victory, as Kalckstein’s Prussian infantry have suffered very heavy losses and are starting to waver. The cavalry battle on the flank is also still far from decided. 
Above: As the Austrian cuirassiers charge the Prussian grenadiers on the left flank of the line, a Prussian infantry battalion from the second line moves forward to support the grenadiers’ flank, with the Prussian cuirassiers charging again on their flank.
Above: The Prussian infantry successfully beat off the Austrian cavalry, though the Prussian cuirassiers aren’t so lucky and are forced to retreat for a second time! The Austrian dragoons this time wisely choose not to follow up and instead fall back to rally out of Prussian musket-range.
Above: Browne’s infantry start to crumble as both flanks fold up under assault from Prussian infantry. By some miracle, Kalckstein’s Prussian infantry manage to stay in the fight, despite having suffered very heavy casualties. Prince Leopold meanwhile, keeps plugging gaps with battalions from his second line, as Marwitz overruns Neipperg’s former headquarters.
Above: Posadowsky once again rallies his cavalry and is now in a significantly better state than Berlichgen’s Austrian horse, who have suffered heavier casualties.
Above: Over on the opposite flank, Römer’s last-ditch attempt to disrupt the Prussian assault has failed! The Prussian Leibgarde Battalion (with the musket smoke in front of it) once more comes within a whisker of being broken (for the second time today!), but again manages to hold its ground and drive off the Austrian cavalry! Römer’s lads have finally had enough and flee the field.
Above: As his division disintegrates around him, Browne makes his last stand with one resolute Austrian battalion.
Above: Posadowsky moves forward again to complete the rout of the Austrian army!
Above: With two cuirassier regiments broken and two dragoon regiments in full retreat, Berlichgen mounts a desperate rearguard with the ‘Württemberg’ Dragoons, though they are soon sent packing by the Prussian dragoons. 
Anyway, they’re now all finished and I’ve also managed to paint some more Prussian and Imperial troops during the first week of December. In the New Year I’ll be partaking in ‘Bavarianuary’, which will be a little less strenuous than ‘Württember’; namely painting the last remaining six battalions of my 
Above: The 
Above: In 1758 the Leibregiment ‘von Werneck’ lost the ‘Leib’ part of its title when the 1. Grenadierbataillon ‘von Rettenburg’ became the core of a new 
Above: In common with the other regiments of the Württemberg Army, the Leibregiment ‘von Werneck’ had a a blue, Prussian-style uniform and I’ve consequently used Prussian figures by Old Glory 15s (currently available in the UK from 
Above: The 
Above: The Infanterieregiment ‘Prinz Louis’ had poppy-red facings without lace and white metal buttons. Hat-lace and aiguillette was white, as were the waistcoat and breeches. Hat pompoms were red over yellow. Officers had gold hat-lace, which is known to have been ‘scalloped’. They presumably also had a gold aiguillette.
Above: A rear view of the Infanterieregiment ‘Prinz Louis’. Details of Württemberg regimental flags are not all that well known, but the excellent Kronoskaf website has reconstructions based on the written descriptions. The flags of all regiments were apparently of a standard pattern, with each regiment receiving a single white Leibfahne and an unknown number of Regimentfahnen, which Kronoskaf presumes to be red for all regiments. I’ve given a Leibfahne to each 1st battalion and a Regimentfahne to each 2nd battalion, though in reality each battalion probably carried at least two flags – one of each type in the 1st battalion and a pair of Regimentfahnen in the 2nd battalion. The Leibfahne has the ducal arms on both sides, while the Regimentfahne has the ducal arms only on the obverse side, with the crowned ducal cypher (repeated in the corners) on the reverse.
Above: The 
Above: The Infanterieregiment ‘von Spiznass’, like the Regiment ‘Prinz Louis’, had poppy-red facings, white waistcoat and white breeches, though this time with brass buttons and yellow hat-lace and aiguillette (gold for officers). Pompoms were red over medium blue.
Above: A rear view of the Infanterieregiment ‘von Spiznass’.
Above: The 
Above: The Füsilierregiment ‘Truchsess’ had black facings without lace, though the coat-linings and turnbacks were poppy-red. Waistcoats and breeches were white. Hat-lace, pompoms and aiguillettes were yellow. Buttons were white metal (note that I made a mistake here and painted the regiment with brass buttons – I wrongly assumed that the button colour matched the hat-lace/aiguillette colour). Officers’ hat-lace/aiguillette colour is not known; it may have been gold in common with all the other regiments or may have been silver to match the button colour.
Above: A rear view of the Füsilierregiment ‘Truchsess’.
Above: The 
Above: The Infanterieregiment ‘von Roeder’ had rose-pink facings without lace, brass buttons and white hat-lace, pompom and aiguillette. Waistcoat and breeches were also white. The colour of officers’ hat-lace and aiguillette is not known, so I’ve gone again with gold.
Above: A rear view of the Infanterieregiment ‘von Roeder’.
Above: The 
Above: The uniform of the 
Above: A rear view of 1. Grenadierbataillon ‘von Rettenburg’, showing the details of the mitre-cap. The band of the cap was brass, while the ‘bag’ (i.e. the cloth back) was carmine with yellow (some sources say gold) piping. The pompom was yellow with a black centre. Note that Württemberg grenadiers officers actually wore hats like the Prussians, but I need to use up my huge stash of unhistorical Old Glory Prussian grenadier officers…
Above: The 
Above: Both constituent regiments of the 2. Grenadierbataillon had poppy-red as their facing colour, so the two uniform coats look very similar, being differentiated by their button and aiguillette-colours (white for ‘Prinz Louis’ and yellow for ‘Spiznass’). However, both contingents had brass-fronted mitre-caps, which is slightly odd, as most armies used the button colour as the colour for the mitre-cap metalwork. Also note that the pompom of the ‘Prinz Louis’ Regiment’s grenadiers was plain red, whereas the parent regiment used red over yellow. The ‘Spiznass’ Regiment’s grenadiers simply used the same red over medium blue pompom as the parent regiment.
Above: A rear view of the 2. Grenadierbataillon ‘von Pless’, showing the mitre-cap details. The ‘Prinz Louis’ Regiment’s grenadier mitre-cap had a dark blue band with red bag and ywllow (some sources say red) piping. Those of the ‘Spiznass’ Regiment had a medium blue band and piping, with a red bag.
Above: The 
Above: As with the other grenadier battalions, the companies of 3. Grenadierbataillon wore the uniform of their parent regiment, which in this instance were markedly contrasting; black for ‘Truchsess’ and rose-pink for ‘von Roeder’ (note that I’ve here corrected the button colour for ‘Truchsess’). As with 2. Grenadierbataillon, the white metal-colour of the mitre-caps was consistent throughout the battalion and didn’t necessarily match the button-colour.
Above: A rear view of the 3. Grenadierbataillon, showing the details of the mitre-caps. The historical details aren’t actually recorded beyond the (white) metal-colour of the front plate, so I’ve gone with the regimental facing colour, with piping and pompom colour matching the regimental aiguillette.
Above: The Württemberg Auxiliary Corps of 1757 included a small 
Above: Württemberg artillery is described as being ‘probably’ Austrian in origin, with Austrian carriages also being used. The carriages are described variously as ‘yellow’, ‘ochre’, ‘buff’ and ‘plain wood’ and were probably just the same as the Austrians (yellow ochre with black iron fittings). I’ve gone with the plain, varnished wood look, simply to make them look a bit different from the Austrians.
Above: Marschall von Spiznass commanded the Württemberg Auxiliary Corps in 1757 and here we see him at the start of the Battle of Leuthen, praying to God that the Prussians attack someone else…
Above: As with many other armies such as that of Prussia, the Württemberg Army had no stipulated uniform for general officers, so they wore regimental uniform (or a flamboyant concoction very loosely based on regimental uniform!). In this instance, Spiznass simply wears the regimental uniform of his own infantry regiment. I do like this figure; note how one hand is thrust through the guard of his sword. Note also that he’s taken his hat off to pray and has it on the saddle-pommel in front of him. Lovely 🙂 
Normally when I write an article, I’m able to find an interesting battle painting, some interesting and quotable military characters, an interesting or exciting historical event or some pithy and amusing phrase to use for a title and/or introduction…
Above: The attendant hussar officer and orderly (holding a leather map-tube – these are lovely figures) are from the
Above: A pair of ADCs. Again, these are Austrian figures by Old Glory 15s. The chap on the right is an officer of the general staff and just wears the usual blue and yellow staff uniform. The chap on the left is an officer of the Swedish horse guard corps, the 
Above: The 
Above: The Dalarnas Infantry Regiment (again). There are a couple of differences of opinion between my painting (based on Pengel & Hurt) and the more modern research on Kronoskaf: First, Kronoskaf describes the Dalarnas Regiment’s small-clothes as being white, not yellow. Second, Kronoskaf states that the button-hole edging matched the facing colour for all regiments, while P&H says it was white for all regiments (the button-hole edging is hardly visible in any case, so it matters little).
Above: The 
Above: The Hälsinge Regiment (again). As with many other armies of the period, the Swedish infantry carried two types of flag. The first was the Colonel’s Colour or Liffana. This was basically the same pattern for all regiments, being a white field bearing the royal coat of arms. The only difference being that the provincial ‘badge’ was shown in the canton of each Liffana. The other type of flag was the Kompanifana, which simply carried the provincial coat of arms, with the field colour matching the armorials. The 1st (or Colonel’s) Battalion of a regiment carried the Liffana and one Kompanifana, while the 2nd (or Lieutenant-Colonel’s) Battalion carried two Kompanifanor. However, as with my Prussians, I’ve simplified things slightly by giving the 1st Battalion a single Liffana and the 2nd Battalion a single Kompanifana. 
Above: The Hälsinge Regiment (again again). I bought these flags from Andy Grubb of Grubby Tanks in about 1998ish. I think he printed them himself, but I’ve no idea if they’re still available. Needless to say, the more modern research in Kronoskaf has highlighted some mistakes: The flag-staves should apparently be yellow for all regiments and the Kompanifanor should have steel finials (gold for Liffanor).
Above: The 
Above: The Nylands Infantry Regiment (again). I should discuss the Swedish Army’s system of of ‘Varvade‘ (‘Permanent’) and ‘Indelta‘ (‘Alotted’ – i.e. to the army in wartime) regiments. Along with the Household Troops, the Varvade regiments were the only permanent, peacetime force of the Swedish army and were mostly used as garrison regiments. The Indelta meanwhile were raised for one or two months every year in peacetime and would then be placed on furlough, becoming full-time during war (the Prussian Army operated on a similar system, with only the Garrison Regiments and small cadre elements of the other regiments being full-time soldiers). Consequently, when the Swedish Army was mobilised for war, the field armies consisted mainly of Indelta regiments. Of the eighteen infantry regiments deployed to Swedish Pomerania during the Seven Years War, fifteen were Indelta regiments, two were Household regiments and only one was Varvade. All five regiments shown here are Indelta regiments.
Above: The 
Above: The Skaraborgs Regiment (again): However, Kronoskaf disagrees with the yellow stockings and instead shows them as boring white! 🙁 
Above: The 
Above: The Närke-Värmlands Infantry Regiment (again). However, Kronoskaf disagrees once again re the stocking colour and instead describes them as white. In fact, Kronoskaf describes the stockings of ALL regiments as being white.
Above: The 
Above: Swedish Horse (‘Ryttare‘) Regiments were theoretically equipped as cuirassiers, being equipped with a polished steel cuirass that was normally to be worn beneath the coat. However, in practice it would seem that this cuirass was rarely worn. I’ve used Old Glory 15s French Chevauxleger figures for the Swedish cavalry, as again they have that ‘old-fashioned’ baggy-coated look about them. Like the Swedes, the French Chevauxlegers were meant to wear a cuirass beneath their coat but rarely did so. As mentioned above, according to Kronoskaf the coat colour should probably be a brighter ‘medium blue’ shade for all these regiments, but I painted mine according to Pengel & Hurt, which just described them as ‘blue’.
Above: The 
Above: A rear view of the Östgöta Regiment of Horse, showing the obverse of the standard. There weren’t any printed flags available for the cavalry, so I had to paint my own. Swedish Horse carried one standard per company (there were typically four companies per regiment, though some regiments had more), with the 1st or Colonel’s Company carrying the regimental Lifstandar and the others each carrying a single Kompanistandar. For simplicity’s sake I’ve given each regiment a single standard. The Lifstandar was very much like the infantry Liffana, being white and bearing the royal arms on both sides, with the provincial badge shown in the canton. The Kompanistandar was in the provincial colours, with the provincial badge on the obverse and the crowned royal ‘AF’ cypher within a laurel wreath on the reverse (some regiments had palm-wreaths instead of laurel-wreaths). All standards had gold finials and were heavily fringed with gold. I now also know from Kronoskaf that all standards had yellow & blue spirals on the stave. Bah… 🙁 
Above: The 
Above: A rear view of the Södra Skånska Regiment of Horse, showing the reverse of the Kompanistandar.
Above: The 
Above: A rear view of the Västgöta Regiment of Horse, showing the obverse of the standard. I really do love the bold, heraldic designs of the Swedish flags.