*
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
March 28, 2024, 04:04:02 PM

Login with username, password and session length

Donate

We Appreciate Your Support

Recent

Author Topic: Re-igniting My Seven Years War Interest...  (Read 5510 times)

Offline Jemima Fawr

  • Mastermind
  • Posts: 1733
    • Jemima Fawr's Miniature Wargames Blog
Re-igniting My Seven Years War Interest...
« on: October 27, 2020, 10:41:14 PM »
The painting mojo has been at a very low ebb just lately, but a game of Shako and conversation with Phil Portway (just before going back into flippin' lock-down) prompted me to dig out my old 15mm Seven Years War collection (and that of my old mate Doug, who passed away about 15 years ago).  I used to use my own conversion of Shako rules for the Seven Years War and I once ran an epic Europe-wide campaign in the Pre-Internet Age... But that was all 23 years ago!

Doug's widow very kindly gave me his Austrian army after he passed away.  However Doug had only given flags to a very few of his Austrian units and all of those flags had faded, perished, broken or simply dropped off.  So the army needed a complete re-flagging, including the replacement of all (mostly broken or about to break) cast-on poles with rather more resilient brass rod.  The flags are pre-printed infantry flags from Fighting 15s and cavalry flags from Wargames Designs.  These are mostly Lancashire Games figures, with a few odd Old Glory 15s and Freikorps.  Not the best figures in the world, but given a cracking paint-job (some 23-25 years ago) by my mate Gareth Beamish  and quantity has a quality all of its own...

So 44 infantry battalions and 30 cavalry regiments later...







Suitably enthused, I've started painting some Imperial allies for the Austrians (Wurzburg 'Red' Regiment, Bavarians and Wurttembergers), am planning some Prussian reinforcements and working on a small campaign...
Suffering from insomnia?  Too much excitement in your life?  Jemima Fawr's Miniature Wargames Blog might be just the solution you've been looking for: www.jemimafawr.co.uk

Offline Hunlion

  • Librarian
  • Posts: 169
Re: Re-igniting My Seven Years War Interest...
« Reply #1 on: October 27, 2020, 10:50:12 PM »
Beautiful work. Really well done :-)

HunLion

Offline FierceKitty

  • Mastermind
  • Posts: 1718
Re: Re-igniting My Seven Years War Interest...
« Reply #2 on: October 28, 2020, 01:38:21 AM »
You've talked me into doing a SYW battle this weekend!
The laws of probability do not apply to my dice in wargames or to my finesses in bridge.

Offline Blackwolf

  • Potato Cup 3 winner
  • Supporting Adventurer
  • Galactic Brain
  • *
  • Posts: 6225
Re: Re-igniting My Seven Years War Interest...
« Reply #3 on: October 28, 2020, 01:45:46 AM »
Nice! I played Austrians in a massive alternate history campaign, Ernst Gideon Loudon (hope that’s right) a long time hero of mine :)
May the Wolf  Walk With You
http://greywolf1066.blogspot.com.au/

Painting Clubs Joined: APC,MPC, PPC,PAPC,LPC.

Offline warrenpeace

  • Mastermind
  • Posts: 1497
Re: Re-igniting My Seven Years War Interest...
« Reply #4 on: October 28, 2020, 02:11:26 AM »
SYW using Warfare in the Age of Reason with 15mm figures was my first real introduction to miniatures. That was in Sacramento about 1992, in a room over a smokey bingo hall. Nearly a decade later the first miniatures collection I bought was 15mm SYW.
Sailors have more fun!

Offline zippyfusenet

  • Scientist
  • Posts: 420
Re: Re-igniting My Seven Years War Interest...
« Reply #5 on: October 28, 2020, 03:47:18 AM »
"So 44 infantry battalions and 30 cavalry regiments later..."

Holy forking spit! That's a lot of Kaiserlicks. Well done.
You'll shoot your eye out, kid!

Offline SJWi

  • Mastermind
  • Posts: 1638
Re: Re-igniting My Seven Years War Interest...
« Reply #6 on: October 28, 2020, 05:24:39 AM »
Jemima, great post. I too have been inspired in recent weeks to dust off my 15mm SYW armies that date back to the late '80s /early '90s. In my case Freikorps French and Prussians, albeit my mate has Essex Austrians. I too am re-flagging Frederick's men using GMB flags bought a few years ago when I tried this before.

We plan to use either Osprey's "Honours of War" or "Twilight of the Soldier Kings".

I will keep watching your progress with interest.   

Offline jambo1

  • Scatterbrained Genius
  • Posts: 2137
Re: Re-igniting My Seven Years War Interest...
« Reply #7 on: October 28, 2020, 05:42:23 AM »
Superb! SYW is one of my favourite periods, nice to see your collection. :)

Offline Jemima Fawr

  • Mastermind
  • Posts: 1733
    • Jemima Fawr's Miniature Wargames Blog
Re: Re-igniting My Seven Years War Interest...
« Reply #8 on: October 28, 2020, 06:20:28 AM »
Cheers chaps!  :D

It's still not quite enough to refight Leuthen, but will be once I beef up the Austrian cavalry with the elite companies (there are also 44 Carabiniers and 36 Horse Grenadiers in Doug's old collection) and Reichsarmee cuirassiers and pad out the infantry with my white-coated Reichsarmee infantry (including the freshly-painted Wurzburgers).

I'm just finishing off the Wurzburg 'Red' Regiment and repairing a few lost flags among my Prussians and Reichsarmee.  Then I'll be making a start on the Wurttemberg Corps (10 infantry battalions and 3 grenadier battalions).  I bought all the figures for these, as well as the Reichsarmee and a Swedish army from Old Glory about 25 years ago, so I've got a sizeable stash to work through.  I have however, just bought another load of Old Glory 15 infantry from Timecast to finish off my Bavarian Corps (10 battalions, though I've already got four painted).

Then it'll be time for more Prussians... I've presently got 22 infantry battalions (including 6th & 15th Guards), 6 grenadier battalions, 1 freikorps battalion, 10 cuirassier regiments, 4 dragoon regiments and 8 hussar regiments painted.  So for the larger refights I could do with adding at least 10 more infantry battalions, 6 grenadier battalions, 2 cuirassier regiments, 2 dragoon regiments & 2 freikorps.  There's a lot more choice now in terms of figures and those Eureka SYW do look very, very nice...

Offline vtsaogames

  • Mastermind
  • Posts: 1511
    • Corlears Hook Fencibles
Re: Re-igniting My Seven Years War Interest...
« Reply #9 on: October 28, 2020, 11:12:48 AM »
I'm holed up with enough of my Seven Years War figures (Austrian and Prussian) to play One Hour Wargames. Once we get finished preparing the house for the winter...
And the glorious general led the advance
With a glorious swish of his sword and his lance
And a glorious clank of his tin-plated pants. - Dr. Seuss


My blog: http://corlearshookfencibles.blogspot.com/

Offline Jemima Fawr

  • Mastermind
  • Posts: 1733
    • Jemima Fawr's Miniature Wargames Blog
Re: Re-igniting My Seven Years War Interest...
« Reply #10 on: October 28, 2020, 07:04:41 PM »
The 1st Battalion of the 'Red' Wurzburgers are finished.  My first SYW figures in about 25 years!  :D  I thoroughly enjoyed painting them and the 2nd Battalion is almost finished, with the Wurttemberg Leib Regt also entering the production-line...




Offline DintheDin

  • Galactic Brain
  • Posts: 6214
Re: Re-igniting My Seven Years War Interest...
« Reply #11 on: November 01, 2020, 08:41:47 AM »
Thank you so much for the heads up! For the last weeks I had not the time to read many threads here!
A grand spectacle by your armies, continuing this project is the best homage for your dear late friend Doug.
Beautiful jobs! Eagerly waiting to see you playing one of the big battles of the period! Cheers!       
Now and then we had a hope that if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates. – Mark Twain, Life on the Mississippi

Offline Jemima Fawr

  • Mastermind
  • Posts: 1733
    • Jemima Fawr's Miniature Wargames Blog
Re: Re-igniting My Seven Years War Interest...
« Reply #12 on: November 01, 2020, 12:12:31 PM »
Thank you so much for the heads up! For the last weeks I had not the time to read many threads here!
A grand spectacle by your armies, continuing this project is the best homage for your dear late friend Doug.
Beautiful jobs! Eagerly waiting to see you playing one of the big battles of the period! Cheers!     
Cheers!  Yes, once our latest lockdown is over I'll do a small historical refight to break the lads in gently - probably Mollwitz.

Further to the other discussion re Old Glory and Eureka:  I've also still got a fair bit in the lead-pile...

The remaining half of my Swedish army - 6 infantry regiments, 2 cavalry regiments, a hussar regiment, a grenadier battalion and some guns.

The remaining Reichsarmee regiments for Rossbach - 1 Franconian regiment, 1 Trier regiment, Blue Wurzburg, four cavalry regiments and some guns.

The Wurttemberg Auxiliary Corps (10 battalions, 3 grenadier battalions and a gun).

The remaining three regiments for the Bavarian Auxiliary Corps.

A load of Lancashire Games figures for the bin.

Offline DintheDin

  • Galactic Brain
  • Posts: 6214
Re: Re-igniting My Seven Years War Interest...
« Reply #13 on: November 01, 2020, 01:06:10 PM »
I see when you start a project, you don't do it by half!  ;)
Wow! The armies you have are already huge! I admired your Red Wurtzburg, Old Glory Austrians are to my liking, indeed!
Lancashire figures are on the small side of 15mm and besides other things they don't blend with Eureka, Old Glory and Blue Moon.
Eureka infantry is almost of the same height with OG and BM. Their cavalry is of slightly bigger size than this of the other two companies, but nothing really significant. My last unit I got, the French Royal-Carabineers are Eureka, their horses are  tad bigger and taller than my other Blue Moon cavalry, but, after all, they are an elite unit!  lol 

Offline Jemima Fawr

  • Mastermind
  • Posts: 1733
    • Jemima Fawr's Miniature Wargames Blog
Re: Re-igniting My Seven Years War Interest...
« Reply #14 on: November 01, 2020, 01:56:35 PM »
I see when you start a project, you don't do it by half!  ;)
Wow! The armies you have are already huge! I admired your Red Wurtzburg, Old Glory Austrians are to my liking, indeed!
Lancashire figures are on the small side of 15mm and besides other things they don't blend with Eureka, Old Glory and Blue Moon.
Eureka infantry is almost of the same height with OG and BM. Their cavalry is of slightly bigger size than this of the other two companies, but nothing really significant. My last unit I got, the French Royal-Carabineers are Eureka, their horses are  tad bigger and taller than my other Blue Moon cavalry, but, after all, they are an elite unit!  lol
Yeah, I do like a big battle...  As mentioned before, we did an epic Europe-wide campaign (that later expanded to include India and the Americas) and the lads also provided armies - Doug with his Austrians and other mates with Hanoverians, French, Russians and Ottomans.  When we need other armies we just subbed Napoleonics, or in the case of Highlanders, Indians and Ottoman levies, various ancient armies! :)

We also did a couple of big show demo games - Lobositz and Kolin.

There were two phases with Lancashire Games - the Mk 1 figures were really skinny and the Mk 2 figures were MUCH bigger and 'corn-fed'.  Unfortunately they were all very weak at the ankles.  The Mk 1 figures fitted in very well with Freikorps.  I'll still keep all my painted units, though I can't bring myself to paint any more...

I've no idea why I bought them in the first place, but I was young, foolish, short of cash, I'd been drinking...

 

Related Topics

  Subject / Started by Replies Last post
25 Replies
6667 Views
Last post December 18, 2009, 04:13:55 PM
by Tacgnol
18 Replies
3829 Views
Last post June 19, 2010, 08:22:30 PM
by Colonel Tubby
11 Replies
4222 Views
Last post October 18, 2010, 09:10:46 PM
by Hauptgefreiter
10 Replies
6190 Views
Last post March 15, 2011, 01:24:57 AM
by Damien
12 Replies
3799 Views
Last post July 10, 2012, 04:22:24 AM
by Doomsdave