10mm SYW Saxons

[Richard in Sachsen]

Hello everyone,

This is my first time in Big Battalions Adventures. However, I've been curious about the Age of Enlightenment and SYW. So I thought perhaps I'd start with a small Saxon army since it wasn't that big, from what I understand and Pendraken is running a 10% sale at the moment.

Nevertheless, I am not sure which Army to pick up. I would think either Prussians or Austrians with a Saxon green paint job, but I don't know which of the two comes the closest to Saxons.

Any help with that would be greatly appreciated.

[frank xerox]

You cant go wrong with Pendraken SYW - but as for Saxons/Prussina/Austrians it beats me

Have you tried Kronoskaf?
http://www.kronoskaf.com/syw/index.php?title=Armies

[Richard in Sachsen]

Thanks for the link. It seems that they may be similar to Prussians except for a couple of details, the sentence that led me to that sketchy conclusion was:

"The neck was protected by a neck stock (Halstuch) made of black or red crepe/etamin and linen lining and fastened with a brass buckle (contrarily to the Prussian army, where only strings were used)."

That, of course, can be ignored in 10mm. I suppose I should probably buy the Prussian army option rather than the Austrian army to paint up as Saxons.

Thanks again for the help

[frank xerox]

No worries ; buuuuut at the risk of complicating things, if you prefer an Austrian look, it seems reasonable to say that Saxon troops were reclothed in the Austrian style while they were in exile.

[Stosstruppen]

I'm doing some in 15mm. I used French foot with front and back turnbacks. They looked pretty close to what is on the SYW project site (Kronoskaf).

[Jemima Fawr]

You could use either Prussians or Austrians, but I'd opt for Austrians for the more generous look of the coat (i.e. bigger cuffs and baggier turnbacks) and waistcoat.  However, not having seen the figures, I'm not sure how apparent the differences are in 10mm.  Saxon grenadiers initially wore Prussian-style mitres, but only until the mass surrender at Pirna.  After that they wore hats and in 1761 adopted bearskins, so again you can use Austrian figures.

As for the cavalry, Saxon cuirassiers didn't have sabretaches, so Austrian cuirassiers are a better bet than Prussians.  Austrian dragoons are perfectly good for the Saxon chevauxleger regiments.

I'm not sure what you mean by 'Saxon green' though.  They mostly wore white, though the artillery and some of the chevauxlegers did wear green.

[Richard in Sachsen]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I'm glad I held off purchasing. Ok, so Austrian models would probably be the best fit it seems. Except early Saxon Grenadiers should have Prussian mitres. I did something similar with my 15mm Pontic army, having certain units to play before or after certain dates and I think 10mm would make that option affordable.

Saxon green - a deep forest green on the state coat-of-arms and that had once graced the walls of my study. Also the green on the coat of the SYW manikin outside a bar in Bautzen: white shirt, buff waistcoat, green coat with red turn backs and cuffs, black tricorn. Probably an artilleryman if it is at all accurate but that's not guaranteed.

Now that I know what models to purchase, I'll start looking for books to research the units and uniforms in more detail.

Thank you very much, everyone!

[Jemima Fawr]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I'm glad I held off purchasing. Ok, so Austrian models would probably be the best fit it seems. Except early Saxon Grenadiers should have Prussian mitres. I did something similar with my 15mm Pontic army, having certain units to play before or after certain dates and I think 10mm would make that option affordable.

Saxon green - a deep forest green on the state coat-of-arms and that had once graced the walls of my study. Also the green on the coat of the SYW manikin outside a bar in Bautzen: white shirt, buff waistcoat, green coat with red turn backs and cuffs, black tricorn. Probably an artilleryman if it is at all accurate but that's not guaranteed.

Now that I know what models to purchase, I'll start looking for books to research the units and uniforms in more detail.

Thank you very much, everyone!

Ah yes, he definitely sounds like an artilleryman (green coat, red facings, buff smallclothes and brass buttons).

If you want to save money on books, the Kronoskaf site (linked above) has pretty much all the information you'll need. I can recommend Maverick Models' range of flags and he'll make them in any size, material or texture you like.

[Richard in Sachsen]

Wow, thanks again for the advice - flags were my next step. All very helpful everyone, that's why I love this website!

[Jemima Fawr]

Wow, thanks again for the advice - flags were my next step. All very helpful everyone, that's why I love this website!

Here's Maverick's site: http://www.maverick-models.com/flags.htm

As it happens, I was looking at what to buy next for the Saxon army.  I've already got the three Chevauxleger regiments and the Leib-Carabiniers who avoided the surrender at Pirna and who then fought with the Austrian army.  I think I'll build the order of battle for the rebuilt Saxon army that fought under French command at Lutterberg: http://www.kronoskaf.com/syw/index.php?title=1758-10-10_-_Battle_of_Lutterberg

[LazyStudent]

Hi Richard,

You probably already know, but just in case, there is a shop in NRW that carries the full Pendraken range (https://www.worean.de/10mm-pendraken/) Might save on the shipping.

Best,
LS

[Richard in Sachsen]

No, I din't know that! Thanks LS! That will save!

[Richard in Sachsen]

As it happens, I was looking at what to buy next for the Saxon army.  I've already got the three Chevauxleger regiments and the Leib-Carabiniers who avoided the surrender at Pirna and who then fought with the Austrian army.

I'm just getting started in this period, but got interested after visiting the Sächsische Schweiz, where the  fortress Königstein is. But I've a lot of research to do, my area (profesionally and gaming) is the Migration Period, so I'm not as familiar with this, but since the Saxon army was relatively small and I'm in the area so it strikes my interest, I thought it would be a great starter project in this era.

[Jemima Fawr]

As it happens, I was looking at what to buy next for the Saxon army.  I've already got the three Chevauxleger regiments and the Leib-Carabiniers who avoided the surrender at Pirna and who then fought with the Austrian army.

I'm just getting started in this period, but got interested after visiting the Sächsische Schweiz, where the  fortress Königstein is. But I've a lot of research to do, my area (profesionally and gaming) is the Migration Period, so I'm not as familiar with this, but since the Saxon army was relatively small and I'm in the area so it strikes my interest, I thought it would be a great starter project in this era.

Ah, well the first thing you need to know is that the Saxon Army was taken out right at the start of the war, due to a surprise attack by Frederick (who had correctly guessed that Saxony had secretly joined the anti-Prussian alliance of France, Austria and Russia).  The Saxons were then besieged in a fortified camp at Pirna.  The Austrians tried to relieve them, but were then defeated by Frederick at Lobositz, so the Saxons had no choice but to surrender.

Some cavalry regiments escaped, as they were stationed in Poland at the time.  I've included them in an article on my blog here: http://www.jemimafawr.co.uk/2021/03/26/all-the-emperors-men-imperial-troops-of-the-seven-years-war-part-1/

More later. I've got to go to dinner!

[vtsaogames]

Do take a look at Jemima Fawr's excellent post on the armies of the Empire. If you like tough fighters, the small Wurzburg army (4 battalions) is fine. Larger and less capable is the Wurtembrug army. May have to add the Wurzburgers to my forces some time... after finishing my Napoleonic skirmish stands...