Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Age of the Big Battalions => Topic started by: Jemima Fawr on October 27, 2020, 10:41:14 PM
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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...
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/640x480q90/924/jX7Ik8.jpg)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/640x480q90/923/OC0LNE.jpg)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/640x480q90/924/hPYpgE.jpg)
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...
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Beautiful work. Really well done :-)
HunLion
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You've talked me into doing a SYW battle this weekend!
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Nice! I played Austrians in a massive alternate history campaign, Ernst Gideon Loudon (hope that’s right) a long time hero of mine :)
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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.
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"So 44 infantry battalions and 30 cavalry regiments later..."
Holy forking spit! That's a lot of Kaiserlicks. Well done.
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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.
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Superb! SYW is one of my favourite periods, nice to see your collection. :)
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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...
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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...
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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...
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/640x480q90/923/rtc4kE.jpg)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/640x480q90/922/pEUhLN.jpg)
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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!
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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.
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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
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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...
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While everyone else is doing 'Movember', I'm doing 'Wurttember' as I try to finish my Seven Years War Wurttemberg Corps, which has lain on the lead-pile since 1997... I've started with the two battalions of the 'Leib' Regiment and it's associated grenadier battalion.
They look very nice in their Prussian-style uniforms, but the Prussians beat them like an unloved ginger step-child. There are a further four regiments, two grenadier battalions, battery and general to paint before the start of 'Bavarianuary'...
I've also finished off the Wurzburg 'Red' Regiment, who unlike the Wurttembergers, could actually fight.
The figures are Old Glory 15s, with flags taken from the excellent 'Kronoskaf' website and printed off on my laser printer.
The Leib Regiment (plus associated grenadier battalion - they were unusual in having double the normal dose of grenadiers):
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1024x768q90/924/3IyQOe.jpg)
Und the Wurzburg 'Red' Regiment (now with its 2nd battalion added):
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1024x768q90/922/speCsL.jpg)
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Those OG figures are nice and you've done a fantastic paint job on them Mark!
8) 8) 8) 8) 8)
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Those OG figures are nice and you've done a fantastic paint job on them Mark!
8) 8) 8) 8) 8)
Cheers Phil! Yeah, I am enjoying painting them. 8)
We'll have to have a game when I've got some time off work. I need to read through Shako II to see if there's anything that needs changing in my Shako mod, or indeed if there's anything worth keeping from 1st Edition (e.g. I actually prefer the old total FMR rules for divisional break-points rather than the 2nd Edition total number of units method).
I'm also writing up the mini-campaign rules, so hope to have that done by the end of the month. :)
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I come again and again to visit this page to admire these newly painted units of yours!
Red Wurtzburg are on my next plans.
I like so much those Old Glory 15s, they are so characterful!
By the way, I must find the OG SYW dead/fallen soldiers. They are perfect for casualty markers.
But do you know if can buy them from a British distributor?
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I come again and again to visit this page to admire these newly painted units of yours!
Red Wurtzburg are on my next plans.
I like so much those Old Glory 15s, they are so characterful!
By the way, I must find the OG SYW dead/fallen soldiers. They are perfect for casualty markers.
But do you know if can buy them from a British distributor?
Timecast sell OG 15s, but don't do casualties. They used to be included in the big bags of 100 figures, back when Old Glory themselves still sold the range.
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(e.g. I actually prefer the old total FMR rules for divisional break-points rather than the 2nd Edition total number of units method).
Me too, why did they change it, for faster play I suppose!
>:(
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Timecast sell OG 15s, but don't do casualties. They used to be included in the big bags of 100 figures, back when Old Glory themselves still sold the range.
This is a pity, I have seen them painted in some blog, they are gorgeous and excellent for casualty markers.
Blue Moon in its catalogue promises British and French casualties, but have passed at least three years I'm looking for this.
I would still like to find somewhere at least one pack of them OG 15s casualties.
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Me too, why did they change it, for faster play I suppose!
>:(
I guess so. Well that's agreed then! :D
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This is a pity, I have seen them painted in some blog, they are gorgeous and excellent for casualty markers.
Blue Moon in its catalogue promises British and French casualties, but have passed at least three years I'm looking for this.
I would still like to find somewhere at least one pack of them OG 15s casualties.
Yeah, the OG Napoleonic ranges included casualty packs, but the SYW ranges just sprinkled in casualties. Most of them were 'falling dead', so I just mix those into battalions (there's one among the Wurzburgers and another among the Wurrtembergers), but there was also the odd 'lying dead' figures, so I've collected those together and will eventually get around to painting them as disorder markers. I've also got some Freikorps casualty packs for the same purpose. OG also included a nice sprinkling of bare-headed and bandaged-headed troops.
I've only just started buying them from Timecast (three packs of Austrians), so don't know if they still mix those in, but it doesn't look like it.
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Thanks to some rare November sunshine, I've been out photographing my old SYW armies, starting with the Prussians:
http://www.jemimafawr.co.uk/2020/11/10/rogues-do-you-want-to-stay-in-the-toolbox-forever-my-15mm-seven-years-war-prussian-army-part-1-generals-artillery/
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/640x480q90/923/WlJEgb.jpg)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/640x480q90/923/JG9Rx9.jpg)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/640x480q90/923/4dL4aU.jpg)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/640x480q90/924/vc9KtE.jpg)
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About OG casualties it is a pity, I'll continue searching if I can find some.
Your Prussian Command Staff is superb! Who is making the seated Alte Fritz?
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About OG casualties it is a pity, I'll continue searching if I can find some.
Your Prussian Command Staff is superb! Who is making the seated Alte Fritz?
Ah, you have to follow the blog link to get the answer... ;) :D lol
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Ah, you have to follow the blog link to get the answer... ;) :D lol
Thanks! lol
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You're most welcome. :D
And thank you for visiting. lol
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:o
What a massive collection! :-*
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:o
What a massive collection! :-*
Thanks, but size isn't everything. :D
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I've added some Seven Years War Prussian infantry to the blog:
http://www.jemimafawr.co.uk/2020/11/16/rogues-do-you-want-to-stay-in-the-toolbox-forever-my-15mm-seven-years-war-prussian-army-part-2-infantry/
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/640x480q90/922/3jzRgK.jpg)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/640x480q90/923/8pn1HE.jpg)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/640x480q90/922/oibEVi.jpg)
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The annoying thing with digging out old armies is that you start spotting all the mistakes that were purely down to simply not having as much access to good research during the pre-internet era... :(
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I come again and again to visit this page to admire these newly painted units of yours!
Red Wurtzburg are on my next plans.
I like so much those Old Glory 15s, they are so characterful!
By the way, I must find the OG SYW dead/fallen soldiers. They are perfect for casualty markers.
But do you know if can buy them from a British distributor?
Hey Din, I found the casualties and they are on Timecast's list as a pack of 25 'generic' SYW casualties. I've ordered a pack.
http://www.timecastmodels.co.uk/og15syw/og15syw.html
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Hey Din, I found the casualties and they are on Timecast's list as a pack of 25 'generic' SYW casualties. I've ordered a pack.
http://www.timecastmodels.co.uk/og15syw/og15syw.html
Already spotted! Thanks! I'll make my order the sooner possible. In the meanwhile, it will be sure that you will have received your order sooner, so please post a picture how they look.
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Already spotted! Thanks! I'll make my order the sooner possible. In the meanwhile, it will be sure that you will have received your order sooner, so please post a picture how they look.
They arrived today. I can't post a picture from here, so will do that when I get home in the morning. There are three poses and they are all face-down, flat-out dead, so no 'falling wounded' poses. One is lying dead bare-headed, another is lying dead wearing a tricorne and the third is lying dead over a drum (this last figure I've seen before in the old 100-strong Austrian infantry pack). So very generic and great for any nationality.
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Here you go:
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/640x480q90/923/Wgouae.jpg)
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I've got some Prussian cavalry on the blog today:
http://www.jemimafawr.co.uk/2020/11/20/rogues-do-you-want-to-stay-in-the-toolbox-forever-my-15mm-seven-years-war-prussian-army-part-3-cavalry/
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/640x480q90/922/Gt7I3L.jpg)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/640x480q90/922/PEsi4D.jpg)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/640x480q90/924/5feLa1.jpg)
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Massive and gorgeous cavalry! :-*
And thank you for posting the casualty figures!
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Cheers Din!
A friend sent me this (along with some other pics) from a 1998 copy of Wargames Illustrated. This is my demo game of the Battle of Lobositz 1756, as photographed by Duncan at the August Partizan. We also took it to Warfare at Reading, where it got a prize and to John Tuckey's little show at Marston Magna, where it won Best of Show with 100% of the popular vote! 8)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/640x480q90/922/5qRwCU.jpg)
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Cheers Jemima!
We had also played Lobositz
http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=109572.0
But judging from just one picture, your game was more spectacular and massive!
Beautiful terrain and the troops formations is just what one would like to see for a 18c battle!
And so well photo staged, no doubt that it won prizes!
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Cheers Jemima!
We had also played Lobositz
http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=109572.0
But judging from just one picture, your game was more spectacular and massive!
Beautiful terrain and the troops formations is just what one would like to see for a 18c battle!
And so well photo staged, no doubt that it won prizes!
Lovely troops on your table, as always! :-*
Funnily enough, if your map is 8x6 feet (which it appears to do), that's exactly the same size as mine! :) Our terrain exactly matched that map (which I presume is also derived from the map in Duffy's works?)
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Cheers Din!
A friend sent me this (along with some other pics) from a 1998 copy of Wargames Illustrated. This is my demo game of the Battle of Lobositz 1756, as photographed by Duncan at the August Partizan. We also took it to Warfare at Reading, where it got a prize and to John Tuckey's little show at Marston Magna, where it won Best of Show with 100% of the popular vote! 8)
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/640x480q90/922/5qRwCU.jpg)
A great picture! I have seen many pictures of the battle [seems to be very popular], but this is the best depiction of the ridge and the stone fences look so real (... as they should be at the time) A very inspiring picture. I also love your Prussian cavalry on the black horses and the Infantry. Most of it is ESSEX MINIATURES isn't it?
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Cheers! :D
After building that terrain I've found other (better) maps that show there were also stone-walled vineyards on the forward slope of the Homolka hill (where the Prussian battery and left-hand group of Prussian cavalry is). Those walls were a pain in the backside - made using PVA and cat-litter (unused!).
As it happens, we didn't use any Essex figures at all! :)
The Austrians are mostly Lancashire Games and the Prussians are mostly Old Glory with a few Lancashire Games.
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I came within a whisker of completing my Wurttember Challenge today (which was my last painting day of the month). All I needed to do was to finish the bases on the last grenadier battalion and gun and just one more hour would have clinched it. I blame myself... I got distracted painting 15 casualties as disorder markers for tomorrow's game and also painted a Bavarian general and a Saxon general for no apparent reason...
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/8243/5VbCLz.jpg)
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One apparent reason is that these generals are gorgeous! It was worth it!
But also the grenadiers marching forward are very well done!
Eagerly waiting to learn news from you about the game!
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Cheers Din!
Sadly I had to bin the game due to work, so will try to do a solo game at home after the weekend (if Mrs Fawr can be persuaded to clear her sh... precious things off the dining table... ::)
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lol ;)