Sunday 26 November 2017

Rebooting the Reservists

What with the non-appearance of the rest of my Prussian reservists and all that fooling about with Austrians, it's become painfully obvious that I'd been going through a bit of a soft patch, so radical measures were necessary.

The solution, I decided, was to make a start on something I've been dying to do for well over a year, which is a battalion of Garrison French infantry. Those with very long memories may remember that I painted a test Garrison figure in the middle of last year. He's been sitting about accusingly ever since.


The Garrisons, I've decided, will be an 1809-ish era regiment, complete with fancy flank companies. The command group and the grenadier company will be first, not least because it was an excuse to do a few more conversions and some sword-forging on my rail anvil.

Getting the Garrisons prepared and out onto the painting table, I hoped, would motivate me to get back to work on my Prussians, and I'm very pleased to say this has worked. The Prussians have all their muskets and equipment blacked-up now, which means they're finally past the half-way stage. I find that painting always goes quickly after this point as the troops really start to look like proper little soldiers. The complete battalion is now not too far off at all.

WM

P.S. I haven't abandoned my Austrian project - I've just parked it for a wee while until I've made a little more progress on phase two. This needs two more battalions, a cavalry regiment and two gun batteries before I can claim to have reached the half-way point.

15 comments :

  1. Great to see your work in progress! Those Garrison figures do look very nice.

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    1. I'm not sure why I was so reticent about showing my work in progress, Ian, but whatever it was has been exorcised by deciding to write up an account of how I paint. I'll be letting it all hang out from now on.

      I'm a massive fan of Garrisons. Massed columns of them were in all the best vintage wargaming books. The only people holding up any sort of torch for them in recent times, however, has been M. Foy and Mr Dudley. I hope I do them justice.

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  2. Six grenadiers, and I presume six voltigeurs, will make for a well endowed battalion that is only 24-strong all up. However, this just what they need to see off those hordes of ill-trained Prussian peasants currently on the painting table.

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    1. Quite so, Rob. Wellington Lad II is going through the misery of his final school exams at the moment, so providing him with a crack battalion for wreaking revenge on the dastardly Driberg is the least I can do.

      I uuhmed and aahed for ages about whether or not to include two full flank companies for this lot, but as all my other French battalions have them I thought: why not? It certainly makes painting them a lot more fun.

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  3. ok, which bit of "Hinton Spieler" is Garrison? I allow myself that unnecessary remark as the impurest of the purists. They are good looking figures, and if they have given the Reservists a boost, then vivent les Garrisons. Now, if you need any advice on parking Austrians, my Habsburg army has been imminent for at least 20 years...........

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    1. It's been hiding in plain sight in the small print, Archduke - you know, where it says "and other vintage Napoleonic wargames figures". I've been dreaming of Garrisons ever since I was given a copy of Grant's "Napoleonic Wargaming" some 40 years ago. This is just as well, because I seem to have ended up with loads of them.

      They have another psychological purpose, however. Painting them, I've told myself, is the price of admission to the stash of incredibly special things I've got lined up for 2018.


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    2. ....and as for the Austrians...I'm still thinking about it!

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    3. athe Garrisons are fine figures, but be a bit careful with the muskets as they can be vulnerable where they join the hand of the figure. .
      I am not sure that it is fair to call the Landwehr ill trained. The Prussians had a large army in 1806, then got smashed at ZJena Auerstadt and were much reduced in number of troops alliwed. However 1806 is only 7 years from 1813 so a man who was 20 in 1806 was only 27 by the time of Mockern when recalled to the colours. Secondly the Prussians used their reduced army as a cadre ( so I understand) and rotated soldiers through it so that , whilst they maibtained it at the treaty size, it was capable of rapid expansion and many of the reserve and Landwehr would be rather better than the French Marie- Louises. Of course they had poor equipment and were short on boots, coats and even muskets, but most units would surely have a competent core which might explain their quite acceptable performance.

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    4. These are all good points, LG. I was thinking that perhaps the answer would be to vary the classification - say C Class in 1813, but rising to B for 1814-15? Another approach would be dice throws for each unit. It could throw up some nasty surprises for the French!

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  4. Good to see the reservists back in vogue, looking forward to seeing these completed. What are your overall plans for the Prussians and French, in terms of numbers?

    Paul

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    1. Phase 2 will bring each army up to 10 battalions a side, Paul. I'm not sure what Phase 3 will do yet, but it's often said that the ideal army size is 12 infantry units per player, so I guess that's what I'll be aiming for over the next three to four years. The hard part is deciding what these units should be.

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    2. This is what I need - a plan. My small collection is being assembled in a totally chaotic fashion.

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  5. Don't forget the Garrison cavalry are also quite nice

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  6. I have not forgotten that, VW, and plan to do something about it in the not-too-distant future!

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  7. I like your idea of dice throws for choosing the grade of Landwehr units! It does introduce an element of bookeeping, perhaps a suitable single figure attached to the unit, such as an ammo chest, three stacked muskets, a surgeon or spare officer or extra musician? It could be more than just the class that is decided by lot, perhaps some special attribute such as become B class and march up to two inches faster, or C class but A class if defending a building. if infantry. One would not want two many such additions, but it would add to the fun, especially if the choice was always made when coming into range of the enemy.

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