Kreisinfanterieregiment Württemberg

Here is the last Wurttemberg infantry unit I will be painting and it is a unit that served with the Kreis army. In the fullness of time I will probably paint the entire Kreis force from each Circle.

It was these beautiful flags that drew me into an interest in the Kreis Circles many years ago and this type of flag appeared to be used in the south-western corner of the Empire - Baden-Baden and Baden-Durlach, both neighbours of Wurttemberg, had similar flags.

This regiment appears to have been only one battalion strong but at some time either during the SYW or just prior to it, it was increased to two battalions. The grenadier company will be detached for service with other grenadiers. At an earlier date this unit may well have all worn the mitre but during the SYW they wore the tricorne, the switch possibly taking place when the regiment went to two battalions from one.

I'm off to the USA tonight for a couple of weeks to celebrate my 60th birthday so there will be a pause in painting.

40mm: Two battalions of Prussian IR11 Rebentisch

It has taken me a while to paint this regiment in 40mm but I just love these Trident figures and the flags are glorious. The lace is a little tricky though.

The last image is Copyrighted to Franco Saudelli and Dr Marco Pagan and appears on Kronoskaf. I reproduce it with their permission.

I think I have finally ditched my faithful old Sony digital camera which should now rest in retirement in a museum. These pictures were taken using the camera on my phone (hey - technology advances and even I get in on the act) and you will have to tell me if they are an improvement - I hope they are!

The Inhaber of this regiment from September 12 1758 to June 25 1763 was Major-General Johann Carl Baron von Rebentisch who was convicted in court martial, imprisoned and later dismissed from the Prussian service for his capitulation at Maxen in November 1759. I feel sorry for him so I think I will try to do him justice in a brigade commander at some point.

40mm Prussian SYW

Just enough time to squeeze some images in of the Prussians done so far for this 40mm project. Most of what you have seen the last few years has been Austrians and the Prussians have been lagging behind - in fact it was back in September 2011 when you last saw these chaps. The figures are from Trident and, I think, are very pretty. They are actually Hessians for the AWI so here is an irony - I use Hessian figures in 40mm for my Prussians and in 28mm I use Prussian figures for my Hessians.

By the way, the figures above show the first battalion of IR22 Moritz Prince of Anhalt-Dessau. On my desk at the moment are two battalions of IR11 Johann Carl Baron von Rebentisch. I'm not sure when they will be finished as these are very detailed figures and take a lot of time to complete but sometime next month.

Happy New Year to you all. I'm off to Saigon - well Ho Chi Min city as it is these days. In my mind it is still Saigon and who can forget that iconic image of the helicopter leaving the city before it fell.

Württemberg Infantry Regiment Prinz Friedrich Wilhelm

It's been a long haul through the Wurttemberg army but all the 'regular' infantry are done and I have only got the artillery, one light infantry unit, some small cavalry units and one Kreis infantry regiment to do. Now a two week break beckons and we are off to Vietnam for New Years - to Saigon (well Ho Chi Min city). So I wish you all a happy Christmas and New Year and see you back here in 2-3 weeks time.

Hessian IR1 Leibgarde zu Fuß - revamped

Cross fertilization!
Please check out my other blog at http://landgraviateofhessen-kasselinthesyw.blogspot.com/

Württemberg Infantry Regiment von Werneck

This is the penultimate regiment of Wurttemberg 'regular' infantry. The last one will be done this week. I have Kreisinfanterieregiment Württemberg still to do but that will be next year. There is still artillery to sort out and a few smaller exotic units and then this army will be done. Actually it will be somewhat larger than the Duke was contractually able to supply so it will be a very strong auxiliary force attached to either the French or Austrian armies.

Note that this time I have applied ArmyPainter to the figures and I think that they are greatly improved by it.

The product makes the unit look weathered and less pristine, which I prefer although that is a personal choice. I will put it on all the other Wurttemberg units I have previously painted.

1st Battalion Artois

This is a brief interlude from painting Wurttembergers of the SYW. Here I have painted the new French SYW 28mm infantry from Black Hussar, a German company – see the link on the right. I have painted a 20 figure battalion of the regiment Artois.

I hope the pictures do justice to these magnificent figures. They are so facially expressive and the uniform detail is spot on – the coat is baggy, the leather strapping properly shown and, the cartridge box large as it was. The figures look very WAS or early SYW although, interestingly, the designer/sculptor has shown the coat with turn-backs. But, in my view, these are not ‘real’ turn-backs but coats that have turned back the coat corners to make marching easier. This allows you to paint the coat with turn-backs in the coat colour (as I have done here) or to paint them as foreign regiments in French service, such as Swiss, Germans or Irish, which did have genuine coloured turn-backs. If I have one single gripe it is that he, the designer, has indented the buttons whereas anybody who paints figures by the thousands (as I do) will know that raised buttons are far easier to paint. Also note the two different tones of gold lace for the tricornes because the French used a false gold lace for the rank and file (I have used brass) and ‘real’ gold for the Officer’s and NCO. I have also gone for the WAS white cockade in preference to the SYW black.

Please note the lovely scarves at the flag finials too. These are accurate and beautiful and I have turned them gently with a pair of pliers to show even greater movement.

I must also mention the drummer who wears a huge feathered tricorne and consequently looks very foppish. There is an NCO, standard bearer, one officer and three variant fusiliers in the new range.  All in all, these are the best 25/28mm SYW French out there anywhere. I encourage you to buy some (I have no connection to this company!) if only because painting them is such fun! Finally, I have used ArmyPainter  for extra character and I think these chaps look like they have had a long day’s march to reach the battlefield.