Renegade German Field Gun Crew

[Will Bailie]

one of the figures that comes with the Renegade Miniatures Late War German Field Gun is holding a long pole with a tube on it.  What is this thing, what is it used for, and where does this chap fit in with the rest of the gun crew?




Is it just me, or do the Renegade artillery crews seem to be standing around the gun, while GWM and BH guns crews look like they are actually trying to man the piece?  I'm not a gunner, so I could easily be mistaken...

Cheers

Will

[Poliorketes]

The renegade gunners are posed as if the gun is being shot, only nobody is shooting...
The problem with GWM is that you can't use all gunners, as some are handling the gun and others just sitting around ON the gun. Looks silly.

[brigadegames]

Without looking it up, I would imagine that the long pole is a barrel swab of some kind. It may have been used to clean and/or cool down the barrel or even put out any remaining embers in the chamber before the next shell was loaded.

[Will Bailie]

Thanks for fixing the image links, Prof!

[Helen]

Hi Will,

Please look at this link:
http://www.lovettartillery.com/Aiming%20Stakes_Bore_Brush.html

[Will Bailie]

Thanks for the link, Helen.  And it looks like I am not limited to red and white for the aiming stake colours!

Will

[archangel1]

The renegade gunners are posed as if the gun is being shot, only nobody is shooting...
The problem with GWM is that you can't use all gunners, as some are handling the gun and others just sitting around ON the gun. Looks silly.

That's the problem I find with almost every artillery piece that has been modelled, no matter the scale or period.  I know most minis are used for gaming, but I just wish that someone would release a gun with a full crew, not just 4 extraneous dudes.
I notice that the Perry Twins, though, have released a set of extra Foot Artillery crew figures that will work with their French Napoleonic gun teams plus a set of Infantry 'helpers' dragooned into hauling the gun around.  Now you can model a gun with 7 or 8 figures working it, a much more realistic situation.  Definitely on my future 'to buy' list!

[carlos marighela]

Thanks for the link, Helen.  And it looks like I am not limited to red and white for the aiming stake colours!

Will

Yeah but red and white aiming stakes look incredibly cool set against the gun.

Most companies with the exception of the Perrys seem to sit on the fence regarding the poses for gun crew. Designers take note the Perry AWI gun crews are designed as a team and with a particular action sequence in mind, loading firing etc. That said I rarely use more than 2-3 figures per gun at the scale I play at and I've found the sitting around blokes very useful for other purposes. The Copplestone Russians and even the OLd Glory Brits and German seated crew figures are excellen for crewing LLedo vehicles, the seated Bits can bicely fill out the back of a Crossley tender or used as drivers.