Hot Cross Huns

Marshal Blücher has arrived to inspect elements of a new division being formed by General Pirch.

Pirch: My new Westphalians are burning to get at the enemy, Herr Marshal.

The newly-raised 5th Westphalian Landwehr Infantry Regiment, under the veteran Baron von Klaptowt, are put through their paces.

Klaptowt: Westphalians....March!

Drilled to perfection in the best Prussian style under Old Fritz's expert tutelage, Klaptowt's men wheel, march and countermarch flawlessly.

Blücher is impressed!

Blücher: A fine body of men, Herr General! Ve must send you some Regulars to make up ze numbers.

The figures are:

from the 1973 Garrison 25mm Napoleonics range:

PN 12: Prussian Landwehr, marching x 21

PN 12: Prussian Landwehr, marching x 1, converted into a standard bearer
PN 12: Prussian Landwehr, marching x 1, converted into a drummer with a Musket Miniatures drum;

and

Hinton Hunt, PN 10: Prussian Garde Officer, charging x 1, converted into a Frederickan dugout with a mystery head.

Happy Easter everyone.

With special thanks to Rob Young and Lewis Gunner.

WM

Der Alte Fritz

My painting session today seemed to go like a dream with the result that my Westphalians are nearly finished.

Pictured below is the command group, featuring a delightful Hinton Hunt Conversion given to me a couple of years ago by the ever dependable Mr Lewis Gunner. He's a conversion of a Hinton Hunt PN 10: Prussian Garde Grenadiers, Officer charging, if I'm not mistaken, but with his aiguillettes removed and a new head. I've no idea where the head came from!

Baron von Klaptowt (for it is he): Take heart, my fine lads, und  give

 zose damned Kaiserlicks,.er, I mean, Frenchmen a good kicking!

He's a bit of a late entrant because I only rather belatedly remembered that I'd stashed him somewhere in a 'box of special things'. When I  eventually fished him out I thought he'd be just the chap to command my Westphalians. Not only does he look like some sort of late-Frederickan dugout, which is amusingly plausible for a Landwehr battalion, but his enormous hat gives him just the extra bit of stature needed to stand in line with those beefy Garrisons.

I just need to base them up now, which should only take a day or two.

Yours, locked down for the duration

WM

Doing things by halves

I've been hard at it on the 5th Westphalians this weekend and have finished the first half of the battalion. I suppose this makes them the 2.5th Westphalians.

I've been painting my infantry in half battalions like this since I started this project nigh on five years ago, but I still haven't found the secret of making the second half nearly as enjoyable as doing the first half. There is a rather interesting late substitute for my officer and my converted drummer to do in this case, however, so I'm hoping this will keep me keen.

Yours, shining on

WM

Gott Mit Uns

We all have our crosses to bear, and Prussian Landwehr in particular. I was hoping to get the first half-battalion of the 5th Westphalians finished today, but all my time was used up painting their fiddly little hats!

Never mind, I've done the hard yards with this lot and they stand a very good chance of being finished by the end of next weekend.

Cheers

WM

The Lost Garrison

It's the day after Waitangi Day here in the Land of the Long White Cloud, so I've been taking a bit of time off to paint toy soldiers. This has mostly been devoted to cuirassiers, but while I was about it I also had a crack at one of the wonderful Garrison Prussian Landwehr sent to me by Rob Y. This was a bad idea, as I want a whole battalion of these delightful figures now and they're really not allowed until I've finished Phase 2.

He's a Garrison PN 12: Prussian Landwehr marching, of 1973-design vintage, or thereabouts. The intent, I am assuming, was to expand the existing Garrison Prussian range, which the year before had included guard, line and landwehr in advancing poses. Alas, Rob tells me, the moulds for these are no more, but I've found a picture of some of them.

The image below of troops from Peter Gilder's collection appeared in Charles Grant's Napoleonic Wargaming, published in 1974. The troops in line attacking Plancenoit are Garrison Prussian Guards and Landwehr (codes PN 2 and PN 11, respectively according to the 1972 catalogue). Line infantry (PN 7s) can also be glimpsed in the village. Marching up in column behind them are Lammings, albeit with Hinton Hunt officers by the looks of them.

If anybody has any of these and would like to send me pictures of them, I would be extremely grateful.

There may or may not be another post this weekend. I have a couple of generals on the go and with a bit of luck I may have one of them to show off in a day or two.

WM

Prussian Presents 2

I must apologise for my atrocious posting rate of late. Work stress is the cause of it. Although this usually helps me with my hobby, as I find it so relaxing, it's reached such a level in the last few weeks that I've been spending the evenings and weekends absolutely prostrate. Needless to say, this has been having a very bad effect on my cuirassier production.

There are two things which have happened in the last two days which ought to improve this situation. The first is that I have delivered on the major project which was distracting me so seriously; and the second was the arrival this morning of these splendid chaps:

They are 23 x Garrison PN 12: Prussian Landwehr, marching. Rob Young, the proprietor of Garrison, very generously sent them to me. Followers of Rob's wondrous Eastern Garrison blog will have seen these in recent weeks. I cannot adequately express how grateful and delighted I am, not the least because Rob is not actually open for business these days, so this was a very special favour.

The photos really don't do justice to what is a really nicely proportioned and animated figure with subtle but excellent detailing. I'm going to love painting these.

The vital question. of course, is how compatible are they with Hinton Hunts? The answer is not too badly at all, as I hope the following will demonstrate. Pictured below are the PN 12s next to a battalion of vintage Hinton Hunt PN 8: Prussian Infantry of the Line 1810-15, Private, marching. If you click to embiggen you'll also see a David Clayton version of the Hinton Hunt PN 20: Prussian Landwehr officer, marching, commanding the Garrisons. He's certainly a little shorter, but with his thick Clayton base to give him a bit of a boost, I think he can still do the business.

A close up of the HH PN 8s next to the Garrison PN 12s is shown below. To even things up a bit, the Hinton Hunts are on my standard 2mm-thick bases, while the Garrisons are on 1.5mm-thick bases. As you can see, the Garrisons are still a little taller, but are a fair match nonetheless.

I'd been wondering what to paint for Phase 3 of my project, and for a while was seriously considering leaving Prussians off the list. There's no doubt now that there'll be at least two new Prussian battalions. They'd go rather well with the Lutzowers, I reckon, to recreate Tippelskirch's 5th Brigade of the Army of the Lower Rhine. This will require the Garrisons to be painted as the 5th Westphalian Landwehr, which will suit them very nicely, I think.

Thank you Rob!

All the best

WM

A Standard for the 2nd Silesians

I present the standard of the 11th (2nd Silesian) Infantry Regiment.

It was painted as a thank-you to Roy. A lot of the things on this blog simply wouldn't have happened if it hadn't been for Roy's encouragement.

The flag is being born aloft, as is only fitting, by another of Roy's splendidly executed conversions. The original, in this case, was a Hinton Hunt PN 17: Prussian Landwehr Officer, charging.

My apologies to Roy for the delay. It took me three attempts to get it right! Is it just me, or is silver more difficult to paint with than other types of metallics?

WM

Prussian Lancers 1

DK 139: Prussian Landwehr Lancers

The varnish was still too wet to paint the bases!

It's cavalry time at last here at the Hinton Spieler, in the form of six DK 139: Prussian Landwehr Lancers. DK 139s are almost identical to their Hinton Hunt equivalents, PN 39: Landwehr Lancers, Charging. An example of the latter can be seen on the indispensable Hinton Hunter blog here.

These particular lancers, however, are not intended to be landwehr cavalry but are painted to represent a regular regiment, the 3rd (Brandenburg) Uhlans. This was not difficult to do as until early 1815 most of the Prussian regular and landwehr lancer regiments, with the exception of the Guard Lancers, were dressed identically. The only way to tell them apart was from the colour of their lance pennants, buttons and shoulder straps. At Waterloo the 3rd Uhlans formed part of the 1st Cavalry Brigade of von Zeiten's I Corps.

In 1815 all the regular lancer regiments were ordered to adopt white and black lance pennants, but at Ian's request this particular squadron has retained their attractive yellow and blue pattern. Much of the Prussian Army was in transition in the period leading up to the 100 Days and the supply situation was chaotic, so it was not only lance pennants that were a problem. Indeed, squadrons of the same regiment took the field wearing radically different kit, as will be demonstrated in the next post!

Salut maintenant

WM

Landwehr Review

Attack Column

It is time for Generals Gneisenau and Bulow (for it is he) to conduct the by-now traditional review of the newly-raised 2nd Neumark Landwehr Infantry Regiment. Their drill has improved immeasurably now that they've been put onto their bases.

I've stuck to my original basing scheme on the grounds that I can't think of too many occasions, if any, that I would want to field a single row of close-order infantry figures. I've always thought that double rows of close-order infantry looked best in a Napoleonic game.

Form Line!

The battalion bases are made up of three 40mm x 30mm stands, and one each of 40mm x 15mm, 26.5mm x 15mm and 13.5mm x 15mm to allow for casualties. The generals are on 20mm x 30mm bases. As I have only two generals, adding individual names to their bases didn't seem very ugent!

About Turn!

The material used for the bases is 2mm plasticard. This is an excellent material: stiff, robust, easy to cut accurately and to shape as desired with a little light sanding. The only drawback is that the paint doesn't stick to it all that well. My solution to this problem is to lightly sand the surfaces.

The bases are painted with two coats of Humbrol 80 Grass Green. This is quite a pleasingly bright colour taken on its own, but turns much darker and muddier in appearance when a protective coat of varnish is applied, as seen here. I've yet to find the right shade of green to combat this problem. I may try some experiments with suitably coloured housepaint!

Column of Route

I'm still dithering about whether to start some cavalry, artillery, another battalion of infantry or just throw discipline out of the window and make a start on the enemy! However, as most of these projects depend on things that are currently on order or in the post, the answer may be provided by whatever turns up first!

Have a great weekend everyone.

WM

Form Square!

Landwehr Update 2

The 2nd Neumarks shuffling into view.

A mere 8 weeks delayed, but better late than never, I present the 1st Battalion, 2nd Neumark Landwehr Infantry Regiment.

All I have to do now is wait for Ian's cavalry to arrive, which ought to be any day now.

This is my fourth Prussian battalion, and something of a milestone. I have now painted 99 Prussians. I just wish I could do them a bit faster!

Mit Gott fűr König und Vaterland

PN 23, doing the National Union of Railwaymen proud

Although in the last post I said there was going to be a pause in Prussian production, I just couldn't resist having a go at a couple of Don's splendid Prussian Landwehr command figures.

There was always a strong chance that I was going to do a red flag for the 2nd Neumarks, as this was the colour of the flag carried by those Peter Gilder landwehr that inspired me all those years ago. Any doubt about the matter, however, was removed by a remark from Wellington Girl (aged 9). She wanted to know why I was painting a whole lot of Postman Pats. "Postmen?", I replied, "surely anyone can see that these are British Rail employees!". Having invoked the National Union of Railwaymen, anything other than a red flag would have been a disappointment.

It took two attempts to get it right. It was fiendishly difficult to get anything resembling a symmetrical cross on to the flag as it is anything but square and far from securely attached by that perilously thin lead flag pole.

PN 22: Prussian Landwehr Drummer

The other figure is Don's PN 22: Prussian Landwehr Drummer. This is a David Clayton figure (for more on the David Clayton range, see Ian's splendid blog here), which seems to have been made by grafting a Prussian landwehr head onto a French line infantry drummer, complete with the latter's fringed epaulettes and French imperial lace all over the the arms and chest. However, a little bit of work with a craft knife and a file soon made him a little more Prussiany.

Many thanks again to Don for this very generous donation.

These are positively the last Prussians for the next wee while. The next post, I promise, will be about something completely different.....

WM

Landwehr Update

PN 17 in fine smiting posture

The first half battalion of the 2nd Neumark Landwehr Infantry Regiment is almost complete.

One of the many fun things about starting a project like this is that each new figure is an adventure. One can never quite be certain how they are going to turn out.

The officer on the left is PN 17: Prussian Landwehr Officer, Charging. I think he has to be my favourite to date - something to do with the shape of his hat, I suspect. I'm also getting a lot more confident about putting on the buttons.

With steel bands on their muskets, naturally!

The rest of the battalion will be a little delayed as I have a new little project on my hands, about which more in the next post. However, normal Prussian service ought to resume in a couple of weeks or so.

Once the Landwehr are complete it may be time to make a start on a few cavalry.

Many thanks to Steve, Richard and Old John for making it all possible!

.PN 18s at the charge. I think I'm reconciled to the knapsacks.

WM

Prussian Presents!

I arrived home from work yesterday to find the most delightful surprise - a small parcel of Prussian command figures from Don in the USA. Readers of Ian's amazing Hinton Hunt Vintage Wargame Figures blog will recognise Don as Ian's friend and correspondent on all things related to Hinton Hunt, David Clayton and Der Kriegspielers. Don had enquired about my Prussian progress and has, at a stroke, completely solved my command crisis!

The commanders arrive!

The figures (I believe) are (from left to right):

PN 20:Prussian Landwehr Officer, Marching;

PN 23: Prussian Landwehr Colour Bearer;

PN 22: Prussian Landwehr Drummer;

3 x PN 5: Prussian Line Infantry (separate musket);

PN 1: Prussian Line Infantry Officier, Charging; and

PN 6 (although probably actually DK 120): Prussian Line Infantry Drummer.

The three landwehr figures are all David Clayton figures, judging by their rather thick bases, while the line infantry all look like they could be original Hinton Hunts, with the exception of the line infantry drummer, who bears all the signs of being a Der Kriegspieler

They have arrived in the nick of time. The landwehr drummer and colour bearer will be drafted straight into my 2nd Neumark Landwehr Infantry Regiment. As for the others...well they will require more Prussian line and reserve infantry battalions of course!

More posts to follow as the 2nd Neumarks develop. The flag will be a particular challenge: with edges varying from 18 to 20mm, it's quite a bit smaller than my other flags, which are 23mm square. I also have to decide how to paint it. There seem to be any number of highly speculative examples in other people's Prussian Landwehr units. If anyone has any particular suggestions, please let me know.

Thanks Don

Looking at Landwehr

I can still remember the excitement I felt when I first opened my copy of The Campaign of Leipzig 1813 (London: Osprey Publishing, 1979) by Jeff Parker with photos of figures supplied by the legendary Peter Gilder. It was produced as part of a series of Osprey wargame books edited by Terry Wise that didn't seem to go any further for some reason. One of the most spectacular images in the book was of the fighting in the streets of Mockern on 16 October 1813. A French column, preceded by a skirmish screen of voltigeurs, is confronted by an enormous mass of Prussian landwehr marching into the town square. Those in the lead had red facings and carried a red flag. I've wanted some red Prussian landwehr of my own ever since!

PN 18: Prussian Landwehr Infantry Charging

I haven't done any other test figures so far, but in this instance I felt compelled as I wasn't at all sure about the best way to paint his linen bread bag and canvas knapsack, or whether to paint the whole of his cuffs in facing colours or just the piping.

The results of the experiment are shown here. The figure is PN 18: Prussian Landwehr Infantry Charging, painted to represent the 2nd Neumark Landwehr Infantry Regiment. I chose this regiment for its attractive red facings and because it was brigaded alongside the 10th (1st Silesian) Infantry Regiment within Count Bulow's Prussian IV Corps during the Waterloo campaign.

Not sure about his knapsack!

I'm not sure about his knapsack. I think I chose this particular shade of grey as that was the colour of the 1950's pattern webbing pack that I bought from the Oxford Army Surplus shop in about 1984, and after years of using it to cart around university library books this is pretty much what it ended up looking like. Not sure about how it works on the figure, however! Comments welcome.