New French Marins Infantry (1870-1871)

 

I finally finished my special project after several months.  It is a unit of Askari Miniatures French naval infantry in shore uniforms that 'Askari Al' had recently released.  They are equipped in what became the 'standard' uniform for French sailors used as land-based infantry by the Republican armies during the Franco-German War.  Please click on picture for a large image.

These figures are very well sculpted as one would expect from Askari Miniatures.  They came with standard French-style backpacks but I did not use them.

This unit will replace one of my older Old Glory Boxer Rebellion figure battalions as the "new" 5th Battalion, Toulon Regiment des Marins of the 1st Division, 15th Loire Corps.  Overtime I plan on replacing the other two battalions with these very nice figures.

French Naval Auto-Cannon (FPW: 1870-1871)

I haven't done a lot of painting so far this month.  I have done a little on a 15mm Confederate brigade for my "On to Richmond!" ACW rules based forces and a little on my special project (more on this once I get it completed).  The one element I completed is an auto-cannon manned by French naval gunners that will be used in my Franco-German War (1870-1871) French Republican forces.

I've had this 'large' Gatling style gun for a number of years as part of a collection of figures I bought.  I think it was manufactured by Falcon Miniatures as the wheel spacing resembled the heavy Krupp guns that I used as Hessian heavy artillery.  The gun carriage was rather wide and looked rather spindly.  So I shortened the axle and glued a reinforcing wire to hold the barrel mechanism.  I had to drill fairly deeply into the bottom of the barrel under the ammunition box, through the center of the gun carriage, and then bend the wire along underneath the trail of the carriage.

After painting, it turned out rather well.  The gun is manned by two Askari Miniatures French naval gunners from the Sailors line.  I bought two 4-figure packs and used six of them for the French naval heavy battery that I included in an earlier blog post.

This gun will be included as part of the Naval Heavy Artillery Battery in the 15th Loire Corps artillery.  If need be, I can also use it to support any French naval or land forces conducting operations in the Victorian Colonial period.

More Prussian 1870-1871 Artillery

The other day I completed painting the newly acquired gunners for the 3rd and 4th Light Batteries, part of the IX Armeekorps artillery for my 1870-1871 Prussian forces.

These two batteries each have 3 Frontier Krupp guns, 4 Foundry gunners, and 2 Frontier gunners.

Along with the 3rd and 4th Heavy Batteries, these compose the 2nd Battalion, 9th Artillery Regiment 'Schleswig-Holstein.'  The 3rd Battalion is attached to the 18th Infantry Division, IX Armeekorps while the 1st Battalion is attached to the 17th Infantry Division which is currently helping to guard the North Sea coast in northwestern Prussia.

This will basically conclude my painting 1870-1871 forces for a while.  Now to complete my Confederate forces so I can run some American Civil War games.

Rest of Hessian Artillery

After a brief diversion to paint WW2 German tanks, I returned to the 1870-1871 Franco-German War to finish the artillery assigned to the 25th (Grand Ducal Hessian) Division of the Prussian IX Armeekorps.  These are the last three of the six batteries of that division.

 The 2nd Heavy Battery, part of the 1st Abteilung (Battalion) consists of three Falcon Krupp guns and six gunners - one Foundry officer (with binoculars), two vintage Scruby 1" figures, and three Castaway Arts gunners.

The 1st Horse Battery, also part of the 1st Abteilung consists of three Ral Partha Krupp guns, two Foundry gunners (on middle gun), three Eagles of Empire gunners (left and right guns), and one Castaway Arts gunner (right gun).

These two batteries, plus the 1st Heavy Battery compose the 1st Abteilung.

The 3rd Light Battery, part of the 2nd Abteilung, consists of three Ral Partha Krupp guns and six Castaway Arts gunners.  Its two companion batteries in the 2nd Abteilung are the 1st Light and 2nd Light.

Now all I have to do to complete the 25th Division is paint five battalions of infantry (four musketeer and one jager) [120 figures plus a two-man brigade command group and two mounted regimental colonels] and two regiments of cavalry [32 dragoons and a two-man brigade command group].  That's only 195 human and horse figures.  Peace of cake, right!

That doesn't consider three more batteries of artillery (two Prussian and one French), five battalions of infantry (French), and ten regiments of cavalry (five Prussian and five French) plus assorted command figures.  That's only 668 individual humans, horses, and guns, including the above unpainted Hessians.

Oh well, just like eating an elephant -- one bite at a time!

Prussian and Hessian Heavy Artillery, 1870-1871

The Fabrik Eisenmuhlen has been busy these past weeks turning out artillery for the German forces.  Three more batteries of artillery have joined or rejoined the Prussian IX Armeekorps, two Prussian and one Hessian.

Please click on each image to view a larger picture.

The two Prussian batteries are each composed of three Old Glory Krupp guns and six Foundry gunners.  I painted and assembled the guns but the gunners were bought already painted.

3rd (left) and 4th (right) Prussian Heavy Batteries

In addition, the 1st Hessian Heavy Battery has been 'upgunned' with two of its older, non-standard guns exchanged for two 'vintage' Falcon Krupp guns.  The gunners are 'vintage' Scruby 1" figures that I bought already painted.

1st Hessian Heavy Battery
The original gun is in the center, flanked by the two additions.

The German army at this time was well equipped with artillery.  My rendition of the Prussian IX Armeekorps will eventually have sixteen batteries of artillery, against the French 15th Loire Corps with only eleven batteries (three heavy, four light, one horse, and three Mitrailleuse).  That is not unusual as the German forces normally had much more artillery than did the French and employed it much better than the French.  That helped to make up for the difference in effective ranges between the German Dreyse 'needlegun' rifles and the French Chassepot rifles.

IX Armeekorps artillery -- two heavy batteries, two light batteries, and one horse battery

18th Prussian Infantry Division -- two heavy batteries and two light batteries

25th Hessian Infantry Division -- two heavy batteries, three light batteries, and one horse battery 

16th Prussian Cavalry Division -- one horse battery

All of the above except four Prussian batteries are complete.  The 2nd Hessian Heavy, 3rd Hessian Light, and 1st Hessian Horse batteries are complete but not yet painted.  The Prussian 3rd and 4th Light Batteries are painted but lack three gunners each.  The 1st Prussian Horse Battery has all of its guns but only one of its gunners, while the 2nd Prussian Horse Battery only has one gunner available.  I'm working on acquiring the remaining three guns for the Prussians as well as all the needed gunners.

 As I related in an earlier post, the French only lack their horse battery which needs three guns and five gunners, the officer already being available.

Well, now on to getting the three Hessian batteries completed.

 

Prussian 1870-1871 Artillery

In response to the increase in French artillery in the 15th Loire Corps, the Prussian IX Armeekorps has received new, heavier guns for two of its heavy batteries.  These new guns were supplied by the Frabrik Eisenmuhlen, originally established by Lukas Trask, Baron von Traskon in the 1740s.  His foundry has continued to supply artillery to the Kingdom of Prussia and other states in the North German Confederation, including these C/61 6-pounder (91.6 mm) breechloading rifled guns.

As usual, please click on the image for a larger picture.

5th Heavy Battery, 18th Infantry Division artillery
composed of Old Glory Krupp guns and Castaway Arts gunners

6th Heavy Battery, 18th Infantry Division artillery
composed of Old Glory Krupp guns and Foundry gunners

Originally these two batteries had smaller gun models, but needing additional "light" guns for the corps artillery, I replaced them with Old Glory Krupp guns.  These versions are actually from Old Glory's Egyptian-Sudan line but they were the closest I could get nowadays in the US.  I wasn't going to pay an arm and two legs for Foundry guns.  These will work just fine.  All painting except for the 6 Foundry gunners was done in Col Campbell's 'art studio.'

Next in line are the two heavy batteries (3rd & 4th) for the Corps artillery.

P.S.  As with the French foundry, Fabrik Eisenmuhlen and its founder Baron von Traskon are part of my 1750s-1760s imaginations.  Besides, Space Vikings is such a good book by a great science fiction writer.

Revitalized Frontier Miniatures

 

Some time ago I acquired a batch of 12 painted Frontier Miniatures French 19th Century light cavalry that were already based on 2" squares.  They sat in a box for a while until I got the "bug" to do something about them.  Since the base size doesn't match with the cavalry base size for the "Chassepot & Needlegun" rules I use, that had to be changed.  An overnight soak in water softened the adhesive enough that I could gently pry each figure off the old base.

I was able to identify them as French chasseurs a cheval in their 'trademark' green jacket and black sheep wool busby.  But I needed 16 to make a full regiment.  As part of the same acquisition there were 4 other apparently French light cavalry.  A little research in the two volume Ospreys on the French Army, 1870-1871 revealed that at least three of them were hussars.  The fourth looked close enough even though it had a white havelock.  Since Frontier made figures for several wars during the mid-1800s in which the French were involved and the figure fit in, I decided to use it as well.  Besides this regiment would be part of my post-Sedan "revolutionary" French Army so the exact uniform wasn't that much of a concern.

A little touching up of the paint, including repainting all four hussar kepis, and the regiment was ready for their new bases.

Please click on image for a larger picture.

3rd Mixed Light Cavalry Regiment with hussars on the left of the photo and the rest chasseurs.

I now present the 3rd Mixed Light Cavalry Regiment of the 2nd Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, 15th Corps, Army of the Loire.  Because of all of the losses of cavalry at Sedan and Metz, the French were doing whatever they could to get their cavalry arm reformed.  This regiment is a typical example where squadrons from four different regimental depots were organized into a regiment.  In this case, three squadrons of chasseurs and one of hussars.  Temporarily they'll join the 3rd Spahi Regiment in the 3rd Cavalry Brigade.

And here is the 3rd Brigade, in all its 'glory!'

3rd Spahis on left, brigade command group in center, 3rd Mixed Light Cavalry on right
All figures are Frontier Miniatures!

I painted the brigade command group and the 3rd Spahis way back in April 2007, 14 years ago (yikes!).  It has taken this long to add to my French cavalry.  But the Germans are still stuck with one cavalry regiment, the 6th Magdeburg Dragoons, even though I have several that are complete but unpainted.  Just as the French have several more regiments complete but unpainted.  Can you tell I don't particularly like to paint horses!

Now to painting more German artillery, two Prussian and three Hessian batteries!

French 1870-1871 Artillery

Well, the Fonderie de Bullion has been working overtime to increase the artillery strength of the 15th Loire Corps of the Republique de France.  Originally founded by Mestre-de-Ordinance Jacques Riviere, Comte de Bullion ( J R Bullion ) in the 1760s to answer the improvements in artillery made by the Austrians and Prussians, the foundry has continued to provide  artillery pieces to the French army, even during the dark days of the war with the Germans.

Please click on each image for a larger picture.

The 2nd Division, 15th Loire Corps obtained their two light artillery batteries.  All of the gunners are from Foundry Miniatures and were bought already painted.  The guns are Old Glory ACW Union Napoleons "masquerading" as French guns because I cannot locate reasonable priced French guns.

The 4th Light Battery of six 4-lbr canon de campagne de 4 La Hitte.
In the "Chassepot and Needlegun" rules, each battery of 6 pieces has three guns and six gunners.

The 5th Light Battery of six 4-lbr canon de campagne de 4 La Hitte.

These two batteries have joined the 6th Mitrailleuse Battery to complete the division's direct support artillery complement.

The 15th Loire Corps has gained a fourth battery, this one manned by gunners from the French fleet at Toulon.  The gunners are Askari Miniatures French naval gunners and the guns are Falcon Miniatures.

The Naval Battery has six 85mm canon de campagne de 7 de Reffye modèle 1870.

This battery has joined the 7th and 8th Heavy Batteries (also similarly equipped) and the 9th Mitrailleuse (Gatling) Battery in the corps artillery.  

That leaves one one battery to go, the 10th Light Battery a cheval which will be raised as soon as funds are available to obtain the guns and gunners.

P.S.  I hope that by now you've guessed that the Fonderie de Bullion is "imaginary" and based on one of my imagi-nations 18th Century Gallian commanders.  It is fun to be able to cross over between imagi-nations in an earlier century and the "real-world" in a later century.

French 9th Mitrailleuse Battery, 15th Loire Corps Artillery

During the Republican period (post Sedan and Metz) of the Franco-German War (1870-1871), the French forces were obtaining weapons from whatever source they could to replace all the ones lost when almost all of the Imperial Army surrendered.  One of the weapons they obtained was the American Gatling gun.

Having several extra Ral Partha Victorian Gatlings laying around, I decided to make my corps artillery Mitrailleuse battery with the Gatlings.

The 9th Mitrailleuse Battery, 15th Loire Corps Artillery

The guns are Ral Partha while the figures are, I believe, either Frontier or Falcon.  I obtained them from various sources over the years.  While the uniform may not be quite right, for the Republican period they are sufficient.

This has been my "break" from painting WW2 Germans, which I'll start again with the heavy weapons support for my kampfgruppe -- an MG-42 on a sustained firing mount and a medium mortar.

French 1870-1871 Zouave Regiment Completed

This past weekend I completed the 3rd and last battalion for my French 1870-1871 Zouave Regiment de Marche for the 15th Corps of the Army of the Loire.  After the fall of Sedan and Metz with the loss of the last original field armies, the French were forced to raise troops as quickly as they could.  Part of this reestablishment of the French field armies was combining depot units into 'ad hoc' regiments known as "regiments de marche" or march regiments.  These 'ad hoc' regiments did much of the heavy fighting against the various German forces covering the siege of Paris.

With the loss of the four regular Zouave regiments, their depots were combed and new recruits added to form one regiment de marche which was assigned to the Army of the Loire.  In my French force, it is part of the 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, 15th Corps.  It, as are all my Franco-German War forces, organized in accordance with Larry Brom's "Chassepot and Needlegun" rules.

Please click on the photographs for larger images.

 And here is the 3rd Battalion, Zouave Regiment de March deployed in battle formation.

The figures are all Askari Miniatures French Zouaves from the French Army of Africa range.

 Here is the battalion "command" stand that shows the battalion sergeant carrying a tri-color field guidon.  The three blue dots on the rear of the stand designate that this is the third battalion of the Zouave regiment.  All of my French and German are distinctively marked so the players will know which unit is in which command.

And the entire regiment with the 1st Battalion in the center, the 2nd Battalion to camera right, and the 3rd Battalion to camera left.  The mounted colonel is between the 1st and 3rd Battalions.  All figures are Askari Miniatures except the colonel, which is a Falcon mounted officer.

And here is the entire 1st Division in their storage boxes.

 The 1st Brigade with the Regiment Legion Entrangere to camera right, the Tirailleur Algerien Regiment de Marche to camera left, and the combined chasseur battalion and one of the light artillery batteries at camera top.  The two regimental colonels are in the center.

The 2nd Brigade with the Toulon Regiment des Marins to camera right, the Zouave Regiment de Marche to camera left, and the other light artillery battery, the two brigade command groups, and the Mitrailleuse battery at camera top.  The two regimental colonels are in the center.

Because of the size of the base, the division command group is in a different box with the corps command group, the 2nd Division command group, and other corps level troops.

Now that the 1st Division is complete I can move on to my next project -- more WW2 German  and British infantry to battle in northwest Europe.

Help Identifying a Manufacturer

Last week I posted a picture of the command group for my 1870-1871 25th Hessian Division, commanded by Prinz Louis of Hesse.  The figure I used for the prince was labeled on the bag in which I got him as "EXT-15 Baron von Gruber." 

But I have no indication of a manufacturer.  He is definitely a latter 19th Century mid-European mounted officer of distinction.

Does anyone have an idea of who manufactured him?

Thanks, Jim

More Franco-German War Units plus British Marines

As May 2020 drew to a close, I hastened to complete several more Franco-German War units and a command group.

First up is the command group for the French 2nd Loire Division.

Composed of two mounted Castaway Arts French officers, one portraying General de Division (Admiral) Bernard Jaureguiberry.  Although an admiral in command of the French naval forces at Toulon, he was appointed as an auxiliary General de Division in the French Republican forces.

  The foot officer is, I believe, a Frontier figure.

This command stand also flies a standard French division commander's guidon to help the troops recognize him in the thick of the fighting.  Of course it might also be a "bullet magnet" for the Germans.

And the Zouave Regiment de Marche has added the 2nd Battalion to its strength.  Composed of 18 Askari Miniatures colonial Zouaves, they fit the bill rather nicely.

This is the "Zouaves advancing unit pack" offered by Askari in the French Army of Africa line.

To supplement the French 15th Loire Corps artillery, I've added another heavy battery, the 8th Battery.

It has three Falcon French guns (E-9005) [OOP] and six Castaway Arts French gunners.  I think that I will need to repaint the battery commander's kepi as blue with gold embroidery rather than red.  Oops!

And while I was getting the gunners ready for attaching to the bases, I had the loaders all lined up on my auxiliary painting table.  I then noticed that they seemed to form a "chorus line."

So I present the "Dancing French Gunners" straight from a stint at the Follies Bergère.  😁

As I got all these French ready, including attaching the command guidon, I realized that I had forgotten to put one on the Hessian 25th Division command group.  So here is Prinz Louis von Hesse with his command flag.

The colored dots on the back of the stand will help players determine which units fall under his command as they will have a corresponding colored dot as well.

And the very last unit I painted in May is a battalion of British Royal Marines for my 1813 "British Expeditionary Force - North Germany" (BEF-NG).

Composed of Miniature Figurines figures, this battalion (designated the 2nd) will join the 1st Royal Marine Battalion and other British and North German units in the fight against the Corsican Ogre.

And now back to the painting desk to finish the 1871 French Zouave Regiment de Marche's 3rd Battalion before flitting off to 1944 North Europe to paint some British and German troops from WW2.

Hessian Commander and Artillery

The command group for the 25th Infantry Division (Grand Ducal Hessian) of the IX Korps has joined the German forces in France.  Commanded by Prince Louis von Hesse, the heir to the Grand Ducal throne, it consisted of two infantry brigades (49th and 50th), a cavalry brigade, and an artillery force of six batteries, divided into two abteilungen (or battalions).

Click on the images for a larger view.

Organized for Larry Brom's "Chassepot and Needlegun" rules, a division command group has three figures.  The two foot figures are Foundry Miniatures but I'm not sure which manufacturer made the impressive mounted officer.  He was a single figure labeled "EXT-15 Baron von Gruber."  Any assistance in identifying the manufacturer would be appreciated.

And the Hessian artillery force received the 2nd Light Battery as a reinforcement.  It consists of three light 4-lb guns, each with two gunners, per Brom's organization.

The guns are substitutes using Ral Partha Colonial Krupp guns.  They are close enough to what the Prussian guns looked like.  The gunners are from Castaway Arts run by my friend from Down-Under Gerry Webb.

I'm now working on the command group from the French 2nd Loire Division and the 8th Heavy Artillery Battery.  I'm hoping to get them completed before the end of the month.

Turcos Are Completed!!

Finally this past weekend I completed my Regiment Tirailleurs Algerien (or Turcos) for my 1870-1871 Republican French army.  The Turcos were North African native troops (primarily Algerian) recruited into the French Army of Africa during the middle part of the 19th century.  They were very tough fighters.

There were three regiments in the Imperial French Army during the early part of the war but most of them were killed or captured at either Sedan or Metz.  During the Republican phase a 'regiment de marche' of Turcos was established from the various depot companies and survivors of the earlier fighting.  This regiment is what I'm representing.  The figures are Askari Miniatures from Al's 'French Army of Africa' line.  They are very well sculpted figures and were fairly easy to paint.  They are based for Larry Brom's "Chassepot and Needlegun" Franco-German War rules.

The 3rd Battalion, Tirailleurs Algerien (minus a battalion guidon)

They joined their previously painted 1st and 2nd Battalions to form the complete regiment.

From left - 2nd Battalion, regimental commander, 1st Battalion, and 3rd Battalion

The regiment forms the 1st Brigade, 1st Division, 15th Corps, Army of the Loire (my Republican French corps) along with the Regiment Legion Entrangere (French Foreign legion) and a composite chasseur battalion.

As a note, the French African forces also included Tirailleurs Senegalais but they weren't involved in the Franco-German War, staying in west Africa.

6mm Franco-German War Figures - 1st Try

Some time ago, I purchased a sample pack of Baccus 6mm Franco-German War figures when I bought the "Bloody Big Battles" rules.  I painted up the infantry and artillery but not the cavalry.  Finally during this "stay at home" period, I completed the cavalry.

The painting job is very basic which is about as good as I can get with 6mm figures at my age.  So here they are.  They are temporarily based on thin cardboard (pasteboard) stands and are without flags for the infantry.  Please click on the pictures for a larger image.

First, the French - from left:  cavalry (dragoons and hussars), chasseurs a pied, Turcos, line infantry, and artillery.

Then the Prussians - from left: uhlans, dragoons and hussars, line infantry with jager skirmishers, line infantry, line infantry skirmishers, and artillery.

I was (and still am) hoping to put together forces for the Franco-German War but will have to wait until Baccus resumes taking orders.  I may also expand into other 19th Century periods, but will have to wait and see on that.  I'm also waiting on Litko to reopen so I can order bases from them.  Ah, the times in which we're currently living.

Stay safe, comrades!

January Painting - Franco-German War Units

The following units were completed during January 2020.  They were all used in our January 20 "Carnage and Glory" Franco-German War game.

French 7th Heavy Artillery Battery, 15th Loire Corps

This battery of 12-lb rifled muzzle loading artillery is part of the artillery reserve of the French 15th Loire Corps.  It is composed of three Falcon Miniatures guns and six Castaway Arts French gunners.

2nd Battalion, 2nd Hessian Infantry Regiment (Grand Duke's)

This battalion of Hessians completes the 1st Hessian Infantry Brigade, 25th Grand Ducal Hessian Division, IX Prussian Corps.  It is composed of sixteen Foundry Miniatures figures.

1st Hessian Light Artillery Battery, 25th Grand Ducal Hessian Division

This battery of Krupp 4-lb rifled breech loading artillery is part of the 2nd Battalion, Grossherzoglisches [Grand Duke's] Artilleriecorps.  It is composed of three Ral Partha "colonial" Krupp guns (only guns I can get that are close enough) and six Castaway Arts German gunners.  It provides direct artillery support to the 1st Hessian Infantry Brigade.

Although I said last month that I would take a break from painting Franco-German figures, I do have some more on the painting desk -- the 3rd Battalion of Tirailleurs Algerien (Turcos) and a composite French chasseur battalion made up of drafts from the Turcos, Zouaves, and Marins of the 1st Infantry Division, 15th Loire Corps.  These two battalions will complete the 1st Brigade.  After that I have two more battalions of Zouaves to paint to complete the 2nd Brigade and thus the entire 1st Division.

Additional Hessians and French

Throughout the month of December 2019 I've been working on more troop units for our January MLK Day game.  Here's what I've completed so far.

Regimental Commander, 25th Regiment Gardes Mobiles de Gironde

The commander of the 25th Regiment Gardes Mobiles de Gironde is a Falcon Miniatures French officer.  So far only his 3rd Battalion has been completely outfitted (see previous post).

Commander, 2nd Regiment (Grand Duke's), 25th Grand Ducal Hessian Division

The second regiment in the 49th Brigade, 25th Grand Ducal Hessian Division, is the Grand Duke's Regiment.  Its commander is a Foundry (I think) Prussian dragoon officer.  His white collar designates the 2nd Regiment, as each of the four Grand Ducal Hessian regiments had different colored collars.  The white dot on his base also serves to identify the regimental affiliation for the players.

1st Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment (Grand Duke's)

And the 1st Battalion of the 2nd Infantry Regiment has been completed, composed of Foundry figures.  This battalion shows a variety of the Foundry Prussian infantry figures since I bought some previously owned figures.  They were not very well painted, especially the blue coats which were too light, so I soaked and cleaned them, then repainted.  They'll be joined by the 2nd Battalion sometime in January prior to our January 20th game.

2nd Battalion, Tirailleurs Algerien de Marche

The 2nd Battalion of the Tirailleurs Algerien Regiment de Marche also joined the French forces.  Called "Turcos" this regiment is formed of soldiers from the Turcos' depots, survivors of one of the four regiments mobilized at the beginning of the war (which were trapped in the fortresses of Metz or Sedan), and newly raised soldiers from Algeria.  The Turcos were known as fierce fighters and were rightly feared by the Prussians.  This battalion consists of figures from Askari Miniatures.

Turcos Battalion Command

A close-up of the battalion command stand showing a French officer (in native costume) and one of the guidons that were flown by the battalions and individual companies.

January will see, as stated above, the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Hessian Regiment join the forces as well as a Hessian light artillery battery and a French heavy artillery battery.  I'm not sure in what genre I'll be painting after I finish these.  I think I'll be a little "burned out" with the Franco-German War and will go with something else.

Here's hoping everyone had a blessed and merry Christmas and will have a prosperous and joyous new year!!

Hessians and French in the Franco-German War

As promised in my last post, here are the initial units and commanders for my burgeoning German and French forces for the 1870-1871 Franco-German (AKA Prussian) War.  In raising my forces, I've been concentrating on the Republican phase of the war from after the fall of Sedan and the abdication of Napoleon III (the Little) in late 1870 through the final French surrender in early 1871.  My German forces are organized around the Prussian IX Korps with its 18th Prussian and 25th Grand Ducal Hessian Divisions, reinforced by the 6th Prussian Cavalry Division.  My French forces are an amalgam called the 15th Corps, 1st Army of the Loire with the 1st and 2nd Infantry Divisions and the 15th Cavalry Divisions.

First the Hessians:

Command Group, 49th Brigade, 25th Grand Ducal Hessian Division

The commander of the 49th Brigade, 25th Grand Ducal Hessian Division was Oberst (Colonel) von Winckler.  Here he is represented by a figure titled "Baron von Gruber, EXT-15."  But I can't recall from which manufacturer I procured him.  (Anyone have any idea?)  He's a nice stout German officer adjusting his monocle for a better view of the battlefield.  His aide, a vintage Scruby 1" Prussian officer, is holding his bay mare (made by Castaway Arts in Australia).  His brigade will consist of the 1st "Life Guard" Infantry Regiment, the 2nd "Grand Duke's" Infantry Regiment, and the 1st Guards Jager Battalion.

Hessian 1st Guards Jager Battalion

This battalion is composed of 24 Helion figures of Prussian jagers from their 1866 line, now sold by Northstar Miniatures.  These are very well sculpted figures and with the proper paint job pass easily for Hessian jagers.

And now some French:

Command Group, 1st Infantry Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division

In my version of the French 15th Corps, 1st Army of the Loire, the 1st Infantry Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division is commanded by General de Brigade Daries.  The general and his horse are Falcon Miniatures castings while the aide is from Castaway Arts.  His brigade will consist of the 30th Regiment de Ligne de Marche and the Volontaires de l'Ouest (the former Papal Zouave Regiment).  In the French Republican forces, "march" units were created using the various depot battalions, late mobilizers, and new recruits.  Some of them were good, solid units and some weren't.  I haven't decided how good (or poor) the 30th will be.  The Volontaires were a very good unit who fought with great courage, many of the men being long-term professionals from their service in Italy in defense of the Pontifical States and Rome itself.

As an aside, the colored dots on the rear of the base designate which regiments are in this brigade -- white and red for the 30th and medium blue for the Volontaires.  All of my units have their own distinct "dot" and their brigade and division commander groups have dots from all their subordinate units.  This allows a player to keep track of who belongs to whom in the heat of the battle.

Next is part of the 5th Chasseur (light infantry) Battalion of the 1st Brigade, 1st Loire Division.

5th Chasseur Battalion with a mix of Foundry and Castaway Arts infantry and some unidentified manufacturer's officers.

I still have another six figures to paint to complete the battalion but only have four on-hand.  But that's OK as we only need 4 stands per unit for our game in January being run by our visiting Tim C. from North Carolina (an original member of the Jackson Gamers from our days at Mississippi State University in the early 1970s).  He brings his computer and the Carnage and Glory rules every Martin Luther King holiday for a game.  This year being the 150th anniversary of the war, we decided to start off with a bang.

Unidentified manufactuer's French officers.

Can you help identify the manufacturer of these two French officers?  They are not Foundry (as far as I can tell from their current listings) or Castaway Arts.  Any assistance would be appreciated.

3rd Battalion, 25th Gardes Mobiles de Gironde

And the final unit is a battalion of Gardes Mobiles from the Department of the Gironde.  I chose this unit because its troops were in the French Loire forces and there is a nice illustration of a soldier in the Osprey Republican France volume.  This battalion also has one of those unidentified manufacturer's officers.  I believe that I got these figures from the late Mark "Doc Ord" Stevens, one of our Jackson Gamers stalwarts.  According to the Osprey, they were armed with the .43 Egyptian (11 mm) Remington rolling block rifle.  We'll see how well (or poorly) they do in the January game.

Well, that's all for November's painting.  Next up are the two battalions and regimental commander of the Hessian 2nd "Grand Duke's" Infantry Regiment, a Hessian light artillery battery, and a French heavy artillery battery, plus the regimental commander for the 25th Gardes Mobiles de Gironde.

I hope that all my American readers had a wonderful and filling Thanksgiving!

No More an Unknown Soldier

Some months ago, I purchased a batch of Franco-Prussian War figures that included 24 painted Prussian infantry mounted four to a stand.  I had never seen this type of sculpt but I figured that they were an older sculpting just from the more slender appearance.

Unfortunately the bases were too big for the rule set I use, Chassepot and Needlegun.  So I was forced to soak and separate the figures from the bases, which went without any problems.  Once the figures were cleaned of glue and flocking, I searched for any markings.

Here is a picture of one of the infantrymen showing the round base.  There were no markings on bottom of the base but there was something engraved on the top.

As I looked at all of the bases, there were several where the base color had remained in the etching.

And lo, almost like the "One Ring," I could discern the word "Willie."  These were vintage Willie figures!!

So now I have a battalion of Willie German infantry.  With a little judicious repainting, mainly the cuffs, they have become the 2nd Battalion, 1st Hessian Infantry Regiment, Lieb Garde, of the 49th Infantry Brigade, 25th Ducal Hessian Infantry Division, IX Corps.  Their compatriot 1st Battalion is composed of vintage 1" Scruby figures.  And being the Lieb Garde, it is only fitting that both battalions be composed of such vintage figures.