Prussians in the garden

I think they're up to something 

I used water based yacht varnish - which is nice but took two coats to get the required shine. I think I may have to stick the brain cell endangering oil based version.

I'm reading Mike Embree's "Too Little, Too Late" at present about the Austro Prussian War of 1866.  Which would suggest these chaps are up to skullduggery. 

Sadly I don't think there are any moulds available that would allow me to make additional Prussian infantry. 

A Prussian Purgatory

Into the tub they go...

Life hasn't been allowing much leisure time for messing about with toy soldiers of late, but with the prospect of some time off in march there is every possibility that we might get a game in.  With that in mind, I've been prepping some Prussians with a view to maybe getting to the CCN epic Waterloo scenario. 

These boys (and their pals) were part of a lot I picked up before Christmas on eBay. They weren't amenable to rebasing, so I tried a trick from Tony over at Toy Soldiering On. This involved soaking the bases in water for a couple of hours.

After an hour or two. 

And as it turned out it was super successful.  These are plastic figures unlike Tony's Wargames foundry boys and so there was a slight problem that the figures float when placed in water. But a little judicious weighting worked wonders. 

Looking pretty good actually. 

I've always considered rebasing a bit of a wargamers Purgatory. It is the dull exercise one must go through in order to reach the promised land - and I will do practically anything to avoid it. However these figures were too good a bargain to pass up and have turned out rather well I think. I am very grateful to Tony for this trick. 

Command & Colours Napoleonics: The Prussians - Part Two

General Du Gourmand was not amused

I have been tardy in posting this apparently - so I've decided to repair the fault and hop to it as apparently I was upsetting General Du Gourmands digestion by not getting to this sooner. So without further ado, allow me to present the block count in the upcoming Command & Colours Napoleonics Prussian expansion. 

Along with some thoughts on how to replace the blocks with plastic for those of use considering building a post Scharnhorst reforms Prussian army. 

Line infantry 9 units 4 blocks per unit 36 blocks

Revell do a very nice set of late Prussian infantry, but to be honest there is only one real choice here. HAT recently released a three box set of late Prussian infantry and they are lovely. Each box is about the price of a pint and holds 40 figures in either marching (see above), action or command poses. They are very find indeed and for those of use who like our Napoleonics marching along, they couldn't be bettered. 

Light infantry  5 units 4 blocks per unit 20 blocks

HAT again do good box of Prussian lights in a variety of skirmishing poses. The figures aren't perhaps quite as nice as their line infantry brethern, they are still quite good. However, the box only includes rankers, so officers, nco's and hornists will have to be got elsewhere. 

Prussian Guard Jaeger by Knotel

Grenadier inf 2 units 4 blocks per unit 8 blocks

Guard Grenadier (labeled Guard) 1 unit 4 blocks per unit 4 blocks 

These I think will have to be metal, though so far as I can tell the only thing that really distinguishes the Guard from the line is the addition of plumes, which were most likely packed away while they were on campaign.  However, never being a man to let practicality get in the way of a good show, I would certainly field 'em with plumes, though a quick scan of the Kennington/SHQ website shows that they stock Prussian Guards. 

Landwehr Infantry  4 units 4 blocks per unit 16 blocks

Now this is an interesting one - Airfix did a set of Napoleonic Prussian infantry that was almost entirely Landwehr and it was one of their best. I've never had a set, but I always thought they looked rather well. I can't see a reason not to use this particular set. 

Reserve Infantry   5 units 4 blocks per unit 20 blocks 

These fellas are a new unit type that hasn't been present in Command & Colours Napoleonics before, so it will be interesting to see how they act.  Now as it happens, HAT do a very nice set of Prussian Reserve infantry in peaked cap and with rolled blanket. Normally, I would be beating a path to their door, but I know that Great Britain sent large number of uniforms in British cut, shakos, muskets, etc to the Prussian in 1813.  I happen to have a mountain of HAT British Peninsular Infantry that are looking for a home, so I was thinking it might be an idea both for the sake of clarity (different head gear making it easier to tell the Reserve and the Landwehr apart) and economy, that I may dress my Prussian reserve in Lancashire cloth. 

Light Cavalry 3 units 3 blocks per unit 9 blocks 

I will always associate the Prussians with hussars, mainly because of Bluchers association with the cavalry arm, but we're spoiled for choice when it comes to Prussian Light Cavalry. I would suggested using the HAT late war Prussian cavalry set, but Waterloo 1815 have brought out not one, but two sets of Prussian hussars for the period and they are exquisite.  I know Plastic Soldier Review had some problems with the fact that they have slung pelisses (the HAT boys wear theirs), but I think they look grand. 

But my weakness of hussars almost compromised my decision to stick to an 1813 army as I have a box of the old Revell Seven Years War set and some Zvesda hussars as well and they are wonderful. 

Lancer (labeled Uhlan) 1 unit 3 blocks per unit 3 blocks

HAT produce a set of Prussian Uhlans and sadly, they are one of the worst sets they produce.  As this a single unit, I will probably go with the beautiful (albeit pricey) Art Miniaturen figures above. They just look so well. 

Militia Cavalry  ( Uhlan Landwehrt) 3 units 3 blocks per unit 9 blocks

These are the HAT Uhlans I was referring to above and they just aren't very nice. Damned if I know what I'll do about them. 

Dragoons 3 units 3 blocks per unit 9 blocks

These fellas share horses with the HAT Uhlans and likewise they don't exactly set a heart racing in terms of sculpting quality. Raising six cavalry units in metal may stretch the treasury more than it can bear. 

Cuirassier 2 units 3 blocks per unit 6 blocks 

The figures shown above are the Italeri Prussian cuirassiers, by 1813 they had abandoned that particular uniform and moved to something with a helmet.  I'm not 100% sure, but I think it may be possible to use Zvesda's Russian or Saxon cuirassiers as an acceptable substitute with a paint conversion.  Something to mull over. 

Foot Arty 4 units 3 blocks per unit 12 blocks – 24 stickers

Horse Arty 2 units 3 blocks per unit 6 blocks – 12 stickers

HAT is the only company offering Prussian artillery in plastic at present and they are fine, if a touch uninspired.  As unlike cavalry, raising a unit in metal doesn't cost the Earth, I may look at that as a possibility. We shall see. 

No one produces Prussian Horse Artillery in plastic at present, but I imagine there will be options in metal. 

Leaders 5 blocks 

Now, as it happens I have quite a few Prussian generals from the Italeri box above.  They are fine simple sculpts and they look rather well. I may spend some mad money on a metal Blucher and possible a metal Zieten as they are my two favourite Prussian generals, but in the meantime, these will do very well. 

Command & Colours Napoleonics: The Prussians - Part One

General Blucher

A man once described by Capability Savage 

as "...one horned helmet away from being a bloody Viking."

The next Command & Colours Napoleonic Expansion is coming and it's going to be a doozy.  If the Austrians are the hard working, unpopular kids in the High School Teen drama of Napoleonic Europe, the Prussians are the big sporty types.  Though I think that would mean that Spain is the strange, troubled child with problems at home.  Britain is the "normal" one, the Harry Potter of the situation if you will, while France is the obnoxious rich kid that has the audience rooting for his downfall within two scenes. 

At least, when I direct the Napoleonic version of "The Breakfast Club" that is exactly what it's going to be like. 

It will look just like this, but with more shakos. 

So, the jocks are arriving in the next few months. There are 18 scenarios in the box which are listed below. So we have the first lot. 

Saalfeld - 10 October 1806
Schleiz - 11 October 1806
Jena - 14 October 1806
Auerstädt - 14 October 1806
Greussen - 16 October 1806
Halle - 17 October 1806
Prenzlau - 28 October 1806
Waren-Nossentin - 1 November 1806

To be honest, I'm only really familiar with Jena and Auerstadt of these. But I'll have the opportunity to get genned up in the next few months. These eight scenarios make up the first half of those included in the box and take place before the Scharnhorst reforms.  I'm curious to see whether the Prussian special rules will change depending on the year. 

The second lot are. 

Lutzen - 2 May 1813

Bautzen - 21 May 1813
Grossbeeren - 23 August 1813
Grossbeeren (Blankenfelde) 23 August 1813
Leipzig (Möckern) - 16 October 1813

Chateau Thierry - 12 February 1814

Laon - 9 March 1814

Ligny - 16 June 1815
Wavre - 18 June 1815
Waterloo (Plancenoit) - 18 June 1815

These I'm a lot more familiar with, though to an extent that's an artifact of the last three scenarios being part of "The Hundred Days". There's an interesting mix of stuff there and I think there's a lot to look forward too, particularly those games set during the 1813 campaign. I suspect the Prussian player is going to be a bit of whipping box in the 1806 games, but as time and tide turn against the French, the 1813 games will be rather more satisfactory. 

So this of course begs the question. Which army do I collect? 

Like so many things in wargaming this comes down to a matter of hats. The Prussian army of 1806 wears a very fetching side to side lid.  Unfortunately, the only figures available for that army in plastic are these fellows from HAT. 

And they I think you'll agree are not going to win any beauty contests.  I understand that this is totally irrational, as these fellows have similiar proportions to alot of the Strelets figures in my collection. But, I really like Strelets figures and I don't like these. 

HAT's late war Prussian Napoleonic Infantry 

These on the other hand, are just lovely, simple figures. They are available in the HAT Marching-Action-Command format and they're just lovely.  They also have the advantage of being from the period when the Prussians weren't being kicked around by the French quite so much. 

So I've decided that my Prussian army will be aimed at the latter part of the Napoleonic wars. Though knowing me, we're probably just talking about my first Prussian army. 

Coming in Part Two - The Block count for the Prussian Army and some ideas for figures to use.