Sharp Practice 1809 Project - Update 2/2025: Württembergers!

[DintheDin]

This Landau can be a centerpiece! Eager to see it painted! Cheers!

[Battle Brush Sigur]

@Stosstruppen: Thanks very much for the suggestion! Considering the speed at which I proceed with the Austrians.... well, let's see about all these other armies.

@Baron von Wreckedoften: Oh, I'm more than okay with German language publications. I'm sitting here right outside Vienna. Would you rate the series highly in general? I got the volumes on Pappenheim and Christian von Braunschweig and they struck me as being pretty good as a sort of concise source of info.

@LazyStudent: Cheers!

@DintheDin: Thanks. After the thing sat on the sidelines for two months I think I'll change my approach to the project. Granted, it was two very busy (and of course crazy) months, but still. I think I'll do the actual troops first now and THEN proceed to the fancy extras. Eventually it will be a nice centrepiece though (or so I hope).


Right, hello. Here I am again. Feels like ages. I thought I'd done this thread in January or something.

Anyway, while another project is soaking in cleaner I thought I'd go back to the Austrians and now approach the project from a more productive angle. I think I got mixed up in too many extras and support and so on. Now I went back to the core troops (line infantry, 6 groups thereof, plus two leaders) and got to work on those.

Now I ran into a problem. Social media and the internet on the whole wore me down to the point at which I can't quite decide, and I'd like to hear your input on the matter of which regiment to go with. The figures I'm using are 'German', and so far I plan to use them for 1809 things in general, including Tyrol, Poland, defence along the Danube and possibly Northern Italy. Originally of course plans were to go with Tyrol primarily. Now it's gotten a bit silent around this whole project, and Tyrol would be the one main thing that limits choice of regiments, given how there were IG 16 (violet turnbacks/cuffs) and IG 26 (popinjay turnbacks/cuffs) around with Chasteler's division. Looking at the Austrian order of battle for the Polish campaign there is no overlap what so ever in terms of cuff/turnback colours.

So either I just stick to the Tyrol plan and go with either IG 16 or IG 26, or I just go with any old colour which strikes my fancy and decide that it's not that important.

Any of you have suggestions for how to tackle this or any particular preferences concerning Austrian turnback/cuff colours?

cheers.

[jon_1066]

If Tyrol is your main area where you think they will be used then go with the violet as it sounds snazzy.  If anyone complains the cuffs are the wrong colour for Poland then they have some serious issues!

[Battle Brush Sigur]

If Tyrol is your main area where you think they will be used then go with the violet as it sounds snazzy.  If anyone complains the cuffs are the wrong colour for Poland then they have some serious issues!

yeah, I guess you very much are the voice of reason there. Following your advice I went with IR 16 (Lusignan). Here are some WIP shots:


full size image:

a bit of a closer-up shot:


4 units of 8 fusiliers each, 2 units of 6 third rank skirmishers, a Korporal and an officer on foot for leaders. All from one Victrix box.

Glad I overcame the fascination with the fancy models and instead shifted the focus on the proper line troops. Getting these done will be good for painting morale on this project.  Once these are done I suppose i'll do some Jägers (got one unit of six lying around, maybe I'll get another one) for Tyrol and then some Grenzers for ....well, everywhere else. I'm not a "plastics only" person, but I'm very much looking forward to those Perrys plastics cavalry minis. Then it's time for some Cheveaulegers. Those will become either the very, very, very sombre Hohenzollern Cheveaulegers (who were in Tyrol with Chasteler's Corps) or the extra fancy Kaiser Cheveaulegers (who were in Poland with Erzherzog Ferdinand Karl). And then I suppose it's time to start counting the days until the Perrys come in with the other Austrian plastic cavalry box (Uhlans and Hussars)..

[commissarmoody]

Dang! They look great!

[DintheDin]

A real treat with their so beautiful facings! Cheers!
And you managed perfectly the shading on their whites!

[Baron von Wreckedoften]

@Baron von Wreckedoften: Oh, I'm more than okay with German language publications. I'm sitting here right outside Vienna. Would you rate the series highly in general? I got the volumes on Pappenheim and Christian von Braunschweig and they struck me as being pretty good as a sort of concise source of info.

The Bavarian book is the only one I have, so I can't really judge it on the larger scale.  That tome, however, is very good in my opinion.  In size and detail, they are essentially an Osprey MAA booklet, expanded to the size of an Osprey Campaign, which can't be bad.

[Shahbahraz]

Oh pretty!  I have a soft spot for Austrians, as they were my first 25mm Napoleonics (long ago in Minifigs). And those are lovely.

[Warboss Nick]

Those will become either the very, very, very sombre Hohenzollern Cheveaulegers (who were in Tyrol with Chasteler's Corps) or the extra fancy Kaiser Cheveaulegers (who were in Poland with Erzherzog Ferdinand Karl).

Simple, do both! 

Lovely project that tempts me to start Austrians myself.

[Battle Brush Sigur]

@commissarmoody: Thanks very much!

@DintheDin: Cheers. Facings could be a bit more colourful, but with the contrasting off-white I think they work just fine.

@Baron von Wreckedoften: I'll see if I pick up the Bavarian one then! Certainly will get the Historybookman's volume on the Bavarians too, because those are just such great value and so useful. The Austrian one's become one of my first go-to sources for uniforms.

@Shahbarhraz: Thanks very much! In fact I got a soft spot for Minifigs. They were the first Napoleonics I painted proper, and by now I painted quite a lot of the chaps (for a gentleman with a huge Minifigs collection). Challenging, but with their very own charm and good proportions.

@Warboss Nick: Yeah, well, but what if I decide to turn them into a proper full brigade and need more minis to a unit? Can't have a squadron which is half Hohenzollers and half Kaisers! Well, technically I could, but you know what it's like... Given the situation and the fact that I won't order the box directly from Alan Perry I think I still got time to consider.



For now here's the mainstay of the force, line infantry of Lusignan regiment (No.16):


full size image:

Those are mostly done now, bar for final neatening-up and basing. In Sharp Practice game terms these are four units of 8 line infantry each and two units of 6 third-rank skirmishers each. Plus a Korporal and an officer on foot.

Next up: Ho-hum. I assume Jägers? I might have to pick up another unit of those first though. Last night I found something interesting - Old Glory do Austrian Landwehr in 'Hetherington hats'. It's a bit of a gamble, since they only come in packs of 30 figures and I have no experience with Old Glory Napoleonics. Does any of you? I got some ACW figures from their Sash&Sabre range, and those are nice on the whole. Casting's a bit wonky, and the metal is kinda soft, but overall I liked them. I assume the OG Nappys will be along the same lines. Preview picture on the website's as small as ever, but given how nobody else seems to do Landwehr in those hats and frankly the minis being pretty inexpensive I think I'll go for them. What do you think?

[Digits]

Having had a holiday in the Tyrol last year, and only just seen this great thread, I shall be following with interest.  These chaps look splendid, I’m looking forward to how you tackle the Tyrolleans themselves.

I was staying in Niederau in the Wildschönau Valley.  Between there and the next village, Oberau, was a fascinating little museum with many artefacts and weapons etc from the uprising.  A few of the restaurants and drinking holes I visited in the area often had paintings / murals covering the front facing walls of the brave locals that fought.

Also, saw these Trent minis on ebay

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Trent-Miniatures-TYROLEAN-LANDESSCHUTZEN-AH98-10-28mm-/182859600730

[Bloggard]

look superb.

any chance of posting an image or 3 of your minifig commission?
I've wondered whenever I've seen them again online what they'd look like dealt with by a top-class painter.
They produced such a beautiful catalogue in their 'mature' period - and the figures looked lovely (if a little 'doll-ish') in the bare metal.
Had quite a few in the past, don't recall ever daubing any!

[Battle Brush Sigur]

@Digits: Oh, cool! Back in school I used to go on skiing holidays to Tyrol with the family. Right, Trent Miniatures. These were 'the other ones' who did Tyroleans, apart from the excellent Eureka range. Thanks for the link! The problem is that I most probably won't be tackling the Tyroleans themselves. We got four players for the whole affair: Virago playing the dastardly Bavarians, Nikfu already has a collection of Bavarians lying around (half-painted, according to his account), CptShandy said he'd do French if he doesn't have to do any research or much painting, because he refuses to get into anything that disturbs his ACW studies these days. And I'll do the Austrian Corps Chasteler.

@Bloggard: Sure, you can find most of them here: https://www.battlebrushstudios.com/search/label/25mm. More recently I finished the 3rd, 6th and 8th Uhlans of the Duchy of Warsaw which should be up on the site in ...a little while. Oh well, here they are (more photos will be posted on the blog):

6th Uhlans:

full size image: https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2020_01/done1achrift.jpg.a598472156f4178d17527dda1c24dc23.jpg

8th Uhlans:

full size image: https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2020_01/done3schrift.jpg.3956c55cd5af8122d68bb4dcce229f30.jpg

...and the 3rd Uhlans:

full size image: https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2020_01/3done2schrift.jpg.8b29d1ff5aa7fed66a45707613ab6745.jpg

I have to say that I paint these for a gentleman who is a.) an expert on the period and the Duchy of Warsaw specifically, b.) has been an avid wargamer and painter of the period for 40 years, so he has very specific ideas and wishes for what things are to look like. When I did the first unit for him (which was also basically my entry point to Napoleonics) this was one of the most challenging things to me I can remember when it comes to painting, but as years went by I not only learned a whole lot in general, but also the way the gentleman likes his figures painted.

Here they are with their comrades at home:

full size image: https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2020_01/kasten7.jpg.65bddc8faa5d13fbe593665a6ab6d3b7.jpg

In terms of Minifigs, the next I got on the plate are Sappeurs of the Imperial Guard and then I'll do the odd little duck of a unit that was the 14th Cuirassiers of the Duchy of Warsaw. Napoleon didn't like them, Dąbrowski really wanted them though, so even direct orders from Paris to turn them into Chasseurs went unheard until the beginning of the 1812 campaign, when the unit was all set up and ready to go.

So yeah, that's that. Now back to 1809. As it happens Victrix just announced working on plastic Bavarian line infantry!




Craziness, right? Sure, sure, it'll take like 2 more years or something until we can hope to have them in hands (and sure, metals are cooler ), but in general this is quite cool, right?

[Ray Rivers]

 

Man... you really like Uhlans don't ya?

[Battle Brush Sigur]

Well, the Poles do! And I only do what I'm told to do. That being said, after the severe shock of getting pushed into Napoleonics via intrictate and very exact instructions for how things are to be done I developed a severe case of Stockholm syndrome for the army of the Duchy of Warsaw.