IR 25 von Kalckstein

Another fine Prussian SYW regiment - in this case No.25 von Kalckstein. Figures are Foundry, Crusader and Front Rank.

The pictures are a little dark and I must apologise for that. When I put them through my normal process of lightening and sharpening (a rather dodgy and old piece of software that I continue to use because I know how it works!) it really hated the apple green and yellow colours in the flags and it threw a 'wobbly' which I was able to 'undo' fortunately. Oh, what would we do without an 'undo' button on our computers! Pitty there isn't one for mistakes made in our lives.

Beauvilliers SYW French Cavalry

This is Beauvilliers regiment of cavalry from the SYW. The figures are all by Front Rank.
Provincial and noble regiments present a problem when it comes to knowing the colour scheme for musicians. If they had been Royal regiments then one would use the blue and red commonly- seen dress. These regimental musicians were dressed entirely at the whim of their colonel-proprietors and, in this case, I have used the regimental lace (Isabella - a coffee brown - and red chains) to cover a coat coloured as for the rest of the regiment. It might be right but it probably is wrong - but, hey, nobody really knows.

28mm SYW Prussians

Brigaded together are my two favourite Prussian infantry regiments - numbers 11 and 12 (11 has the red flags). A total of four battalions, each battalion has twenty figures in it. This post shows a mixture of figures from 3 manufacturers - Foundry, Front Rank and Crusader.
In my view, they reflect the fact that people come in different sizes too. The most noticeable difference, in the top picture for example, is with the standard bearers - on the left is a shorter, stockier Front Rank figure and on the right, the somewhat taller Crusader colleague.

Still, I think they work well together and being able to mix figures from all three sources gives you greater variety.

4th Squadron of the 4th Hussars

Perry Hussars painted as the 4th (French) Hussars around 1812-15. My stamina must be flagging because I find myself only able to paint these squadron (6 figures) by squadron.
They are lovely figures but fiddly.

With summer in full flow I have less time to paint these days - come, sweet winter!

Valhubert

Phase one of this Napoleonics project is the initial French force consisting of a Division of infantry. Each battalion is 36 figs plus a further six duplicated voltigeur company, which is exactly the contents of a Perry box of plastics. These are pretty much done and I’ll be showing them over the next few weeks. Also to be done in Phase one are Generals, one battery of artillery and 4 squadrons of hussars.

Phase two will be a similar sized Prussian force and as I progress I’ll add additional divisions with the aim of using as many plastics as I can and as many figures designed by the Perrys.

The aim is for them to be used from 1812-1815 but with a focus on the year 1813.

Pictured above is the first brigade of the Division (GD Foy’s) and it is commanded by General de Brigade Valhubert who was killed at the battle of Austerlitz. But I have resurrected him because I used to leave near the Normandy town of Avranches, where he was born and where there is a splendid statue of him erected by King Charles X in 1832.

He commands two battalions, the first and second, of the 6th Legere. I extracted most of the figures without greatcoats from 10 Perry boxes to give these chaps a more regular appearance.

He also commands three battalions of the 30th Ligne making his command a total of five battalions or 210 figures.

SYW French Cavalry: Colonel Général

This is the very excellent French Cavalry regiment No.1 Colonel Général. All figures by Front Rank. The following article is from Kronoskaf and is useful although it only covers the regiment's early war record.

Organisation and pre-SYW service

This regiment was raised probably raised in 1631 by the duke of Saxe-Weimar when Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden intervened in the affairs of Germany. The regiment was among the contingent who joined the French service in 1633. It was incorporated into the French army on October 26 1635.

In 1651, the house of Turenne acquired the regiment. On April 24 1657, when Turenne became colonel-general, his regiment was renamed Colonel-Général Cavalerie and took precedence over all other line cavalry regiments and ranked first.

During the War of the Polish Succession, the regiment served on the Rhine in 1733, taking part to the siege of Kehl. In 1734, it was at Ettlengen and Philippsburg, in 1735 at Klausen.

During the War of the Austrian Succession, the regiment took part to the invasion of Bohemia in 1741. In February 1743, it returned to France. In 1744, the regiment served at Saint-Quentin, then in Flanders. On May 11 1745, it took part to the battle of Fontenoy. In 1746, it was at Bruxelles and fought at Rocoux on October 11. On July 2 1747, it took part to the battle of Lauffeld. In 1748, it was at the siege of Maastricht.

Exceptionally, this regiment counted 3 squadrons.

During the Seven Years' War, the regiment ranked 1^st among the line cavalry and was under the command of:

• since July 7 1740: Godefroi Charles Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, prince de Turenne
• from April 16 1759: Armand, marquis de Béthune

When the French cavalry was reorganised on December 1 1761, the regiment was increased to 4 squadrons, each of them consisting of 4 companies of 40 troopers, for a total of 640 troopers. The additional squadron came from I./Montcalm Cavalerie.

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SYW service

In 1756, the regiment was stationed at Strasbourg.

In June 1757, the regiment was with the Lower Rhine Army under d'Estrees encamped at Bielefeld. On July 26, the regiment took part in the battle of Hastenbeck where it was among the cavalry of the right wing. After the victory, the regiment encamped at Grosselsen near Hameln with the main body of the Lower Rhine Army from July 31 to August 2. After the Convention of Kloster-Zeven (September 8), it followed the main body, led by the maréchal de Richelieu, who encamped at Halberstadt from September 28 to November 5. The regiment was placed on the first line of the right wing. At the end of the year, it took its winter quarters in Weener in Ostfriese, in the fourth line of the French Army.

In April 1758, when Clermont redeployed his army along the Rhine, the regiment was stationed in the villages of Till, Moyland, Huisberden, Warbeyen, Grieth, Kaltenberg, Hasselt and Bedburg in the area of Kleve. After the successful crossing of the Rhine by Ferdinand's army on May 31, the regiment retired towards Rheinberg where it joined Clermont's army on June 2. It remained in this camp until June 12. It was placed on the right wing of the first line. On June 23, the regiment took part to the battle of Krefeld where it was placed on the right wing of the first line, under d'Armentières. In Mid August, after Ferdinand's retreat to the east bank of the Rhine, the regiment, as part of the army of the Lower Rhine under Contades recrossed the Rhine to follow the Allied army. On August 20, it was encamped near Wesel where it was placed on the right wing of the first line.

SYW French Cavalry: La Reine

La Reine French cavalry regiment of the WAS/SYW, figures by Front Rank. These were sculpted over ten years ago but are still, in my opinion, the best French cavalry available in 28mm. Although there are only two basic rank and file cavalrymen, you can, with a pair of pliers, move the arm into a slightly different angle and give them more variety. Beware though-livery is a fiddly nightmare!

This commences a 2-3 month run on French cavalry although there will be some surprises too. In fact, the beginning of my Napoleonics.