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! 🙂
Our table measures only 5×3 feet so scenario options are fairly limited. Consequently, it was very fortuitous that I decided to invest in 10mm American Civil War a couple of years ago, as that does give me a wide range of historical scenario options for my very small playing area. Who knew in 2018 that this would become necessary…? Anyway, I spent a couple of days last week playing through Rich Hasenauer’s ‘The Hornet’s Nest’ sub-scenario from the Battle of Shiloh (taken from his recent ‘Great Western Battles’ 2nd Edition scenario book for Fire & Fury 2nd Edition). As always with Rich’s scenarios, it was a finely-balanced, nail-biting game with plenty of surprises despite the solo play.
However, more of that next time, as I’m still sorting out the photos and drawing the maps. In the meantime and following on from the last instalment, here are some more recently-painted Napoleonic Russians (some only finished last night). These are all AB Figures models:
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.
Note that a lot of authors persist in using the word ‘Licorn‘, but that’s just the French word for ‘Unicorn’. When writing in English we refer to ‘Howitzers’, not ‘Obusiers‘, so I’ve no idea why anyone would use ‘Licorn‘ instead of ‘Unicorn’. This odd use of language undoubtedly stems from English authors drawing primarily from French sources.
Above: In game terms, my six model guns (4x 12pdr cannon and 2x 18pdr unicorns) become three two-model batteries when playing Napoleon’s Battles. Alternatively, it could be a single six-model battery for General de Brigade.
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.
I’ve gone with the research done by Dr Stephen Summerfield on this subject. He describes the Russian artillery paint as being based on verdigris, which does immediately suggest a bright, bluish green. However, he goes on to say that the paint immediately started to brown on contact with the elements, as did the varnish used as a top-coat. The net result was a brownish khaki-green, not completely dissimilar to the ochre-based paint used for French artillery or indeed that used latterly to paint Russian tanks. I’ve therefore used Humbrol 150 Forest Green, which is what I use as the highlight coat for Soviet vehicles.
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:
The centre companies of the 1st battalion had white pompoms with a green centre, while the Grenadier Platoon had red and the Tirailleur Platoon had yellow. In the 2nd battalion, the centre companies had green pompoms with a white centre, while the Grenadier and Tirailleur Platoons had a green lower half to their pompoms. The pompoms of the 3rd battalion were the same as those of the 2nd battalion, though replacing the green with light blue (though the 3rd battalions normally stayed in depot, their elite companies often went on campaign as part of combined grenadier battalions). NCOs had quartered orange & white pompoms and also had a white tip to their plume, with an orange stripe over the top, as well as gold lace edging to collar and cuffs. Officers had silver pompoms with an orange centre and imperial cypher in gold, though one of the officers here has an undress bicorne with an orange cockade with black centre. There was also a bewildering array of sword-knot colours for each company, but life’s too short…
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 GMB Flags). The 1st Battalion would carry the mostly-white Colonel’s Colour and a Regimental Colour, while the 2nd and 3rd Battalions would each have a pair of Regimental Colours.
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.
Anyway, that’s it for now. Shiloh battle-report to follow…
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. 
My 
Once the ‘Württember Challenge’ is finished, I’ve got some lovely new 
Above: 
Above: A closer view of Zieten and the 1st ‘Szekely’ Hussars. As with the infantry, regimental numbers weren’t actually used during this period and Prussian cavalry regiments were instead referred to by the name of their Chef (the regiment’s proprietor/colonel-in-chief, not the regimental ‘slop-jockey’…). However, there was a strict order of seniority and the later regimental numbers directly reflected that order of seniority, so it’s often easier to refer to that instead of a regimental name that changed every time they changed Chef! As it happens, this regiment its changed Chef and name in 1759 to ‘Kleist’.
Above: Regardless of regimental numbering and naming, this regiment was usually referred to as ‘The Greens’… Buggered if I can work out why…
Above: Prussian hussars of the Seven Years War did NOT carry standards… However, the 1st to 6th Regiments did indeed have standards during the early days of their existence and carried them during the 
Above: While trying to finish off the army for our show demo-game of the 
Above: The 
Above: As previously mentioned, there was no stipulated Prussian general officers’ uniform during this period, so generals wore uniforms based on that of their own personal regiment. Zieten’s uniform modelled here was a very extravagant ‘gala’ version of the normal officers’ dress for this regiment. In the field Zieten probably looked more like he does in the painting below, which is still very extravagant!
Above: Again, to avoid leaving a gap in the ranks, we were stuck with having to use the supplied standard-bearer, so I’ve given them a pre-1743 Eskadronstadarte, which again is coloured like the regimental shabraque, being blue with red vandycking. The Leibstandarte had a white field with red vandycking.
Above: As mentioned above, just to add even more confusion, the 
Above: The regiment had ten squadrons at the start of the Seven Years War, so I’ve still got half the regiment to paint! However, they surrendered along with the rest of the army at the 
Above: General Normann leads a brigade of Dragoon regiments forward. His own 1st Regiment (black facings) is at the front-right, while alongside them is the 11th Regiment (yellow facings). In the rear-rank are a pair of 
Above: The 
Above: The 
Above: There’s nothing quite like the sight of a mass of cuirassiers to stir the blood! 🙂
Above: Another view of the massed Prussian cuirassiers, with 
Above: The 
Above: Another view of the 3rd Cuirassiers. I gave them an Eskadronstandarte, which unusually had a white, instead of coloured field. The Leibstandarte was exactly the same, except that the central panel was white , instead of the silver centre shown here.
Above: The 
Above: Another view of the 6th Cuirassiers. I’ve given them an Eskadronstandarte, which was officially ‘light blue’, but the exact interpretation of the shade varies from source to source. I went with Bleckwenn and gave them a more ‘medium blue’ shade, although it does look quite dark here. The Leibstandarte was white, with a blue centre.
Above: The 
Above: The 
Above: Due to a confusion caused by the limited written sources I had available to me at the time describing the standards of the 11th Cuirassiers as ‘royal blue’ and the facings as ‘light blue’, I did the Eskadronstandarte in the same mid-blue as I used for the 6th Cuirassiers and distinctly darker than the facing colour. However, from more recent sources such as Bleckwenn, it’s most likely that the colour of the standard should actually match the facing colour. So either the flag should be lighter or the facings should be darker, but it’s probably more likely that they should meet somewhere in the middle as more of a ‘dragoon blue’ shade.
Above: The 
Above: However, there are disagreements in the sources regarding the details of regimental colourings for the 12th Cuirassiers. All sources agree that the regiment’s facings were ‘dark orange’ (so far, so good). However, the sources I was using at the time described the shabraques and standards to be of the same colour. Later sources such as Dorn & Engelmann and Bleckwenn generally agree, though Bleckwenn shows the shabraque to be a slightly darker, more red shade of orange. Kronoskaf (linked above) meanwhile, describes the shabraque as ‘crimson’ (though shows the same red-orange as Bleckwenn in the picture) and the standards as ‘buff’…
Above: Lastly, here are Fred’s mounted bodyguard unit, the 
Above: The Garde du Corps unusually wore polished cuirasses instead of the usual black-enameled cuirasses and uniquely carried a ‘vexillum’ standard. Old Glory, to their credit included a free extra Garde du Corps vexillum-bearer in every pack of 30 Prussian Cuirassiers, which partly made up for having to snip the anachronistic flippin’ plumes off every hat… However, they then went and ruined my goodwill by giving one of the two officers in the pack a sodding Garde du Corps tabard instead of a cuirass… This was an item of dress that didn’t appear until AFTER the Seven Years War (along with hat-plumes). Consequently, if you look carefully, you’ll notice that half of my cuirassier officers have tabards cunningly painted to vaguely resemble cuirasses…
As 
Please note that when I painted these I was still using gloss varnish and painting my own flags. The bases were also mostly painted grass green and dry-brushed yellow. The very last units to be painted (in about 1997 or thereabouts) were among the very first to be based using my current method of brown, dry-brushed sand and then ‘patchily’ flocked.
With regards to flags; Prussian infantry regiments of the period actually carried FIVE colours per battalion. The Leibkompanie of the 1st Battalion would carry the regimental Leibfahne, while the other nine companies each had a Kompaniefahne. In the field, all five colours of a battalion would be grouped together in the centre. The Leibfahne usually had a white field with other colours and designs usually reflecting those of the other flags or Kompaniefahnen of the regiment (‘reversing’ the colours was common, where the centre of the Leibfahne would be the field colour of the Kompaniefahnen, sometimes with the colours of the ‘darts’ or ‘flames’ also being reversed). For an excellent explanation of Prussian flags have a look at 
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Above: Musketeer Regiment 25 ‘Von Kalckstein’ (again).
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As a mark of their historical lineage, the 6th retained the title ‘Grenadier-Garde‘ and the entire battalion was dressed as grenadiers. The only other permanent battalion in the army to be dressed as grenadiers was the 
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Above: The uniforms of the Garrison Regiments were extremely drab, with dark blue waistcoats and breeches matching the coats and no hat-lace. The only distinguishing feature for each regiment was the colour of the cuffs and hat-pompoms. However, the detached grenadier companies could sometimes have a very different uniform including white or buff waistcoat and breeches. Aside from the 1st and 2nd Garrison Regiments, who had colours of the usual pattern with the central ‘black eagle’ motif, the colours of the Garrison Regiments had Frederick’s ‘FR’ cypher in the centre and were usually very plain, with a single coloured field, though the 3rd and 4th Regiments had black corner ‘darts.
As mentioned above, the regimental grenadier companies were detached in wartime and combined with those of another regiment to form a semi-permanent grenadier battalion. These grenadier battalions would not necessarily serve in the same army or even the same theatre of war as their parent regiment.
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