Prussian Grand Manoeuvres

My last two Prussian commanders are all done and so, by popular demand (well, Michael, anyway) it's time for the Prussian Grand Manoeuvres.

The first of the new figures is Hinton Hunt PN 64: General, looking through spy-glass, with the head of PN 61: General Gneisenau. He is to be Lieutenant General Hans East Karl, Graf von Zieten, the commander of the Prussian I Corps at Waterloo.

Next to him is my other example of a PN 65: ADC to a General, painted as a flugeladjutant von der Infanterie. I've modified him by twisting his head ever so slightly to the right. Also distinguishing him is his mount, which is a Hinton Hunt BNH 4: British Light Dragoon Horse as I've run out of Prussian general staff horses.

Lt Gen von Zieten and his ADC arrive on the manoeuvre field in the nick of time
 and report to Blucher

The plan for the manoeuvres is delivered by the Generaladjutant von der Infanterie.
The orders from Berlin are that the Army is to practice the new Drill Regulations of 1812

The Army marches into position....

while Blucher leads his commanders over the manoeuvre field.

At long last the Army is deployed - infantry in the centre, artillery and cavalry on the flanks.
The 2nd Silesian Shutzen take up  position as the advance guard.

The Silesian riflemen and their supports shake out into skirmish formation.

Nearing the objective, the skirmishers fall back to the rear and flanks while the
Neumark Landwehr and 1st Silesians deploy into line.

The Guard and the 21st conduct a nifty passage of lines  and charge,  while the
cavalry swoop in from the flanks to complete the victory. 

Gathering his commanders, Blucher declares the manoeuvres a complete success!

There are 162 figures altogether: 115 Hinton Hunts, 46 Der Kriegspielers and one Lamming!

I have an awful lot of painting to do if I'm to catch up with the French.

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WM

Bigguns and Not So Big Guns

The Guard Artillery coming into action.

My second Prussian foot battery has taken a bit more time to complete than I intended, but this is not altogether surprising given that I decided to make things rather complicated for myself. My idea was to finish off the first part of the Prussian army with something a bit special.

The battery was simple enough. It was all the extra bits that took all the time.

The figures on the battery are (from left to right) Hinton Hunt Prussian Field Artillery:

PN 32: Gunner with rammer;
PN 34: Gunner, with hand spike;

Another view of the diminutive field piece.

PN 31: Gunner with porte-fire; and
PN 35: Gunner, ammunition runner.

The gunners are painted as Guard artillery. If you click to embiggen you may just be able to make out the yellow litzen on their collars and cuffs and the red shoulder straps marking them out as Guardsmen.

The gun is a Hinton Hunt A4 Prussian Field Gun with its little 6-pounder barrel. I wouldn't be the first to point out that field guns were not Marcus Hinton's greatest strength as a designer, but it's nice to have at least one for the collection!

The Silesian Battery gallops into action.

Completing my Phase-One Prussian artillery are Hinton Hunt:

2 x PN 38: Artillery driver, positioned for riding horse;
2 x  H 1: British nearside draught horse; and
2 x H 2: British offside draught horse.

The limber traces are made with 15-amp fuse wire soldered on to the rather prominent lugs cast onto each side of the horses. They are attached to swingletrees made out of 2 mm plasticard. It took me a whole day to do this, but I thought it was worth having a go if only to create something for the limber pole to rest on.

Riding on the limber is what I think is the Der Kriegspieler version of Hinton Hunt PN 36: Gunner, riding on limber, right side.

A close up of the limber rider. I think  he's meant to be on the right side!

The limber, like the gun it is pulling, is a little mysterious but I think it may be from the Minifig S-Range. If anyone is able to confirm this, please let me know! The only identifiable mark on the underside is "NFA", which I assume stands for Napoleonic Field Artillery.

Only two more command figures need to be completed and the Prussian Army will be ready for the Grand Manoeuvres!


WM

A Prussian Grand Battery

Getting More Adjutated

I'm back. It was quite a trip!

It occurred to me while I was away that I'm still quite a bit short of the command figures needed to lead my Prussians. I'm going to need another three if I'm to have a commander-in-chief and enough regimental commanders to lead my four close-order battalions and two cavalry regiments.

Marcus Hinton made only four Prussian command figures, so I've decided to have a go at a few conversions for my final three commanders.

Pictured is my first attempt, He's been painted to represent a Generaladjutant von der Infanterie. Gneisenau considered that there was a little too much of the cavalry spirit at General Headquarters and so this promising young infantry officer was despatched from Berlin bearing important new orders.

The figure is a PN 61: General Gneisenau with the head of a PN 10: Guard Officer Charging. The Guards officer was one of the original Hinton Hunt Prussian Guards army that I bought way back in 2014. He'd been badly converted into a standard bearer, so there was nothing for it but to promote him to the General Staff!


I'm hoping that the next post will feature a newly completed Guards artillery battery. The Prussian Grand Manoeuvres will start as soon as these are ready!