Hungarian Grenadier

This is the test figure for my next unit which will be comprised of Hungarian Grenadiers in the firing position AN.33 Grenadier, firing. I've been wanting to paint this unit for a long time so I'm pleased to finally have them on the painting desk. When finished this will bring my total number of Austrian infantry units to 8 which I consider to be a respectable size for an army.

There's a lot of detail on these figures but they deserve the extra painting effort.

The figure pictured is a vintage casting but I will also be using some rather nice reproduction figures to make up the numbers.

I'm going with the facing colour and white on the bearskin patch which may not be historically accurate but looks good.

Now some of you may remember that my 51st Gabriel Spleny regiment has a 6-figure company of Grenadiers in its ranks. These figures will be transferred to the Grenadier battalion and their numbers made up with musketeers. I know some of you may object to me tinkering with the old regimental establishment but we must change with the times and anyway, the old unit can easily be reconstituted if needed.

Austrian 23rd Archduke Ferdinand Regiment

Here then are the Austrians I promised you in my last post. This unit will represent the 23rd Archduke Ferdinand Regiment because they have rather nice poppy red facings.

So how have I managed to knock out another unit so fast I hear you ask? Well, the answer is that I haven't actually done very much myself to contribute to their mustering-in. The original paintwork is by US gamer Don W and they have been spruced up by none other than Goya who added the black lining to match them to my own style. All I did was add in the command figures, base them, and give the whole lot three coats of gloss varnish.

Don's original brushwork gave them grey lined straps and Goya very kindly changed them to black to fit in with my other troops. The headgear is all Don's work.

The rank and file figures are all vintage castings that Don bought direct from Hinton Hunt in the early 80s. They are:

21 x AN/4 Musketeer, charging

1 x AN/1 Officer, charging

1 x DK Grenadier drummer (with head swap conversion)

1 x AN/9 Standard bearer (David Clayton)

Here you can see how neatly they fit in with the 26th Schroeder Regiment I completed last year.

Don has very kindly sent me quite a few castings so there will be more Austrians to come.

Attacked from the rear

After storm Eowyn visited us last Friday I found a few pieces of the Hinton Hut roofing-felt covering on the lawn but couldn't work out where they came from because by then the Hut roof was covered with snow. The Hut is a kit construction I built 5 years ago and the roof is covered with roofing-felt strips that overlap with a tile effect. Asthetically this is pleasing but the problem is that the wind can whip in behind the edges and blow them off.

I was finally able to get up on the roof today to investigate and make a temporary repair. Once the tiles rip off it is almost impossible to patch in without it looking a mess so I'm seeking a more long-term solution.

Normally when we get a gale it comes from the northeast and I've had to repair patches on that side of the roof several times but sneaky Eowyn came in from the southwest and attacked from behind taking me unawares. No problem, I have made a temporary repair whilst I plan a more permanent one for the Spring.

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I'm still working away slowly at Austrians so I have nothing new to show you but I did come across some photos of a Waterloo game held at Roy's house just prior to Vintage Waterloo. Here are a few that I don't think ever made it onto the blog.

In this game the table was extended quite a bit past Hougoumont and the French cavalry seem to be attempting to exploit the additional space.

The Emperor and his staff at La Belle Alliance - these figures are from Roy's collection.

An impressive looking French attack on Hougoumont.

The British make ready behind La Haye Sainte. The Highlanders on the right are the 42nd from my own collection, all the other figures visible are Roy's.

Baring's men prepare for the coming onslaught at La Haye Sainte. These figures were on loan from Goya's collection.

Next time it will be Austrians - promise!

Austrian General Staff

I've just finished another two of the lovely Hinton Compatriots Austrian commander sculpts recently sent to me by Don. These have been such fun to paint.

ANC08 General holding telescope on Horse H01. This one will represent General Colloredo who commanded the 1st Division at Dresden.

ANC05 German Grenadier Colonel on Horse H01. This one will represent General Chasteler who commanded the Grenadier Division. I know he wouldn't have actually worn a Colonel's uniform! 

And finally Hinton Hunt RN.85 Russian General (in plumed cocked hat - mounted) looking through spyglass (horse attached). He will be Schwarzenberg's Chief of Staff General Radetzky.

This brings the staff for my Austrian army to a total of 10 figures.

Group photo of the whole gang. Back row L-R, Klenau, Gyulay, Mack, Chasteler, Crennville. Front Row L-R, Colloredo, Schwarzenberg, Radetzky, Emperor Francis, Archduke Charles.

In our last game back in the summer we reverted to my original idea of having a command figure to represent the colonel of each infantry regiment (we used counters for the cavalry as I don't have enough figures for that). This adds a little bit of extra fun as nobody wants to be the person that loses Marshal Ney in a melee (or do they Nigel?). This recent boost to the Austrian General Staff means I will have plenty of 'Colonels' for the Dresden game.

If you missed the recent post with photos of Roy's Hinton Hunts in action over on the Cirencester Wargames blog click here.

I beg your pardon I never promised you a Grosser-Garten

I've had this idea in the back of my mind to try a small refight of the Battle of Dresden 1813. This has niggled away because of fond memories of a multi-player game I took part in back in the 90s, I think I played the French Marshal Saint-Cyr. I can't remember which side won but I was always impressed by the model of the Grosser-Garten that my friend M made for the game.

This is how it looks now but the palace is not the original structure of 1813 and at the time of the battle the place was surrounded by high walls.

So, with a fair bit of help from Goya (who made the palace building) I have knocked up this interpretation of the Garden suitable for play with Muskets & Marshals. Mrs S was less than impressed that I had missed off the fountains and lake but my modelling skills are not quite up to that and anyway, I needed to leave enough space to fit in some figures.

My version is built on an MDF base 18" x 9". The walls are foamboard covered with model railway brick paper. The palace is constructed in reinforced card from a cut-out book in Goya's possession. There's enough room to deploy at least 4 battalions for defence. 

The rather nice garden gate also came from Goya. In the actual battle all the entrances to the garden had been barricaded on Napoleon's orders.

The Austrians prepare to 'have a go'.

Emperor Francis and Archduke Charles consider the options for assault.

Meanwhile, the French make ready to repel them...

I'm pretty pleased with the result which should make a nice centre-piece for the game. Next I need to work on some Dresden type buildings.

Never Fight Uphill me Boys - Part 2

I was very fortunate recently to receive from Don W in the US, some Hinton Compatriots Austrian generals. This range of figures was commissioned a few years ago by Ron Marshall and sculpted by Andrew Stadden. The idea was to produce figures that would be compatable with Hinton Hunt that filled in some of the gaps in the original range such as Austrian infantry in helmets.

ANC07 - General on Horse - H02

There are several generals in the range and this is the first one I've completed. The castings are lovely and the horses are superb works of art, very unlike the Hinton Hunt horses in style but a joy to paint. The horses are perhaps a bit on the large side but the over all height of the mounted figure is exactly the same as a Hinton Hunt one. Thanks to Don for supplying them!

Last week, Goya invited me over to have another go at his Lundy's Lane scenario for the War of 1812. He has been beavering away expanding his American forces and has even introduced some cavalry and Native Americans into the mix, there are enough figures now to potentially refight the entire war! This time we tried out a variant of Mr Madisons War rules which were fun if not a bit bloody, I was the British again.

Initial set-up. The idea is that both sides want to occupy the hill on the left that is currently in British hands.

These beautifully painted Native Americans are by Strelets from a set that, according to Goya, is very hard to track down (but then that's probably as it should be).

My Belgians finally got the memo and turned out with a US flag supplied by Goya. They did some fine work against the Canadian Militia.

My lads had the high ground and a very impressive cannon.

A very unsporting cavalry charge by the US resulted in a rapid retreat from the table for this poor unit. Would never have happened if the Duke had been there!

The British are coming!

The battle in full swing. I was hard pressed on the left but my guns were holding off the US forces in the centre.

Winfield Scott tries to rally his boys for another attack. This is the same chap who years later found himself in charge of the Union army at the start of the Civil War.

We played 9 turns which was pretty good going for a ruleset we'd never used before. At the end of play my forces still controlled the hill but both sides were receiving considerable reinforcements so I think it could have gone either way.

At the start of the year I said I aimed to paint 150 Hinton Hunt figures over the course of 2024 and I'm pleased to announce that I've actually managed to paint 154. However, I also said I would buy absolutely nothing...er, ahem...

Austrian 26th Schroeder Regiment

This is my latest Austrian infantry unit finally cleared from the painting desk. They will represent the 26th Schroeder Regiment for no reason other than I fancied parrot green facings.

As previoulsy stated, the majority of the figures used are Der Kreigspieler ones with a few Clayton's mixed in. The standard bearer is another of my free-hand attempts and the drummer is once more a DK Grenadier one with a head swap.

The figures used are:

1 x AN/6 Officer, marching

20 x AN/4-DK88/1 Musketeer, charging

1 x AN/21 Officer, charging

1 x DK Grenadier drummer (with head-swap conversion)

1 x AN/9 Standard bearer

You may have noticed that the troops are on a movement tray. Those of you who have made it through the doors of the Hinton Hut will know that my troops are mounted in threes and they can be a right faff to keep in order when manoeuvering across the table. I'm hoping that these movement trays (custom cut by the helpful and efficient people at Warbases) will speed up play whilst preserving a soldierly-like appearence.