Newcastle United

 It is the Spring of 1813, and the Emperor has called for his Chief of Staff.

Napoleon: Ah, Berthier, I've made you Prince of Neuchâtel!

                 Look, you get your own battalion.

Berthier: But Sire...I haven't led troops since 1778!

Napoleon: Don't worry. I've written instructions!

Berthier can barely decipher the Emperor's appalling handwriting.

Berthier:..Oh crumbs..er...Companies...Forward, Wheel Right!

Under the Emperor's watchful eye, Berthier scrambles to correct his mistakes.

Berthier: No, no, no!..um.. Halt! Face Front!

Berthier: MERDE!

Cambronne is scandalised.

Cambronne: My word!

The Emperor has seen enough.

Napoleon:...Nom de Dieu!

Today's vintage vignette was brought to you by:

Minfigs 25mm ('intermediate' range) FNX 12: Napoleon Standing;

Minifigs S-Range, NSF 1S: French Marshal Passing Orders; and

Minifigs S-Range, N 1S: Napoleon Seated at Table.

My special thanks to:

Aly Morrison, who sent me his wonderful Neuchâtel Battalion, which I 've finally got round to rebasing;
Rob G, who helped me get my grubby mitts on an FNX 12; and

The Archduke, who did the same for the N 1S.

Yours,
WM

Amateur Austronomy

I know, I should be working on Prussians, but all this fooling about with Austrians has distracted me. I couldn't resist getting them all out to have a look at them and to decide which, if any, could be cobbled together into a battalion.

It turns out that there are 98 of them - enough for four battalions with a couple to spare. For those curious to know what 98 distinctly dodgy-looking Austrians look like, they are pictured below.

Bring on the Clones

There was nothing for it after that but to get out my small collection of genuine, factory-painted Alberken/Minifig Austrians by way of comparison. These particular examples, I believe, are:

12 x AN 1W: German Line Fusilier, on guard;
2 x AN 2W: German Line Fusilier Officer;
1 x AN 15W: German Line Fusilier Standard Bearer; and
1 x AN 4W; German Line Grenadier Officer.

The Albert and Ken's

The good news is that having had a closer look at the home-casts, I decided that there may be, just possibly, a dozen or so which are genuine, in which case they're probably examples of the Alberken/Minifig code AN 5 or AN 5 W: Hungarian (or German) Line Fusilier, advancing.

The last shot is a closer view of what is definitely not an original, what might be an original, and one of the AN 1Ws. Do you know, I think one could actually make something of all of them: even the one who seems to be half man and half goat, with a bit of soldering.

What do you think? Should I do it?

Incidentally, I've started to post up a few pages about how I went about painting  the first wee man. If anyone wishes to make any comments (complementary or critical: both are very welcome), proffer advice or ask questions, please don't hesitate.

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