Austrian Herzog Württemberg Dragoons

More Austrian dragoons - this time a fine regiment with a good reputation not to mention a long history. It was formed in 1688 and from 1740 until 1793 it's inhaber was the Duke of Wurttemberg although in the field it's commander for most of the SYW was Johann Philipp count Pachta.

Figures are from Crusader although the musician is from Front Rank.

Modena Cuirassiers

This was the only Cuirassier regiment in Austrian service with blue facings and it makes a nice change from the other 17 regiments with red facings.

I'm going to show each regiment as it gets painted and when all nine Cuirassier and Dragoon regiments are done I'll post 45 squadrons in one mass.

The very confusing Piedmontese Generallieutenant Count Aspremont

When I paint an army I like to try to put its commander in as close to the correct uniform as I can. But the 18^th century poses some problems in this regard as many countries, indeed the majority, had no dress code for senior officers it being the custom for them to wear the uniform of whatever regiment they personally commanded or owned, with sometimes extra embellishments to distinguish them from the hoi polloi.

So began the hunt to find the appropriate figure and uniform to serve as the Piedmontese commander in the WAS. The overall commander will be an Austrian, Traun, as he was the commander of the Allied army at Compo Santo but Aspremont commanded the Piedmontese. The Austrians had regulations for their generals, but the Piedmontese did not.

My first mistaken idea was that he was Piedmontese as he was, in fact, Inhaber of Piedmontese Infantry Regiment ‘Nice’. Fine - white coat with blue facings, no problems. Wrong of course. He was a Belgian and therefore Austrian as he hailed from the Austrian Netherlands. Concepts of ‘nationality’ and passports as we understand them today did not exist at this time. Officers (so long as they came from the nobility) could switch service at the drop of a hat. Russia, for example, was a fertile recruiter of European nobility to fill the ranks of its officer corps and nobody batted an eye if, after a few year, the officer in question returned to his country of birth with promotions under his belt and a decent pension.

Back to Aspremont. He was a Belgian-Austrian in Piedmontese service with an Austrian rank of general and so he wore that uniform. So a hasty figure switch was required. (An interesting aside is that if you zoom forward fifty years another Austrian, General Colli, commanded the Piedmontese against Napoleon in his first Italian campaign).

Looking at the new figure (Front Rank SYAP1) another issue arose. This gentleman has a very pronounced sash over his shoulder but under his coat. As an Austrian he would have worn the red and white sash of the order of Marie Theresa but the only problem with that is that this order was not introduced until 1757 post the battle of Kolin. But an apple green sash for the order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus will work well as this was the Piedmontese order of chivalry that existed at this time, although I cannot say if our hero was ever given this award or not.

The last issue to resolve is cockade colour but I have decided on black as this was the Austrian colour for this period. Piedmont had blue and Kronoskaf suggests that some Austrians wore a green/white cockade but in the end he remains an Austrian through and through – with the sole exception of his dapper green sash.

The second figure on the base is the original figure I was going to use for Aspremont. He now serves as an ADC from his regiment ‘Nice’ with the addition of non-regulation lapels.

                           

"Mille millions de mille milliards de mille sabords!"

Please excuse the Tintin reference in the title – it’s one of Captain Haddock’s delicious expressions. But I think it’s apt as we photograph here 20 squadrons of 28mm Austrian SYW cavalry charging across the plain and ready to crush anything in their path.

SYW Austrians: Jung-Modena Dragoons

Another splendid Austrian dragoon regiment taking a day-off for photographic duties. The Horse Grenadier company has joined them (back rank) though they will soon be joining others of their ilk in a converged elite unit.

All figures are from Crusader 28mm SYW range.

WAS: Reale Piemonte Horse

There were two regiments of Horse in the Piedmontese army - both with the same uniform distinguished apart only by button colour.

This is (obviously) the yellow button regiment. The white-button regiment was called Savoia.

I have shown them with three squadrons even though I have painted four. Technically they could field 5 squadrons but the north Italian state appears to have been very short on horses as no OOB seems to show more than 3 squadrons present at any engagement. I'll use the extra squadron as the basis for the Savoia regiment.

Kolowrat-Krakowski Dragoons

It was the beautiful illustration by Franco Saudelli (above) that inspired me to paint this regiment in the two-tone-blue that was, I think, unique amongst cavalry regiments.

According to Kronoskaf, quoting the Bautzener Bilderhandschrift, the coat was "... a much lighter shade of blue which looks more like sky blue". It makes a very interesting contrast.

The figures are mostly Crusader except for the drummers who are from Front Rank.