Austrian Cuirassier Moulds

(Updated 14/04/18)

The nice postman delivered me a package today containing something I have been waiting for for quite some time. I now have the silicon test moulds for the Austrian cuirassiers - and as I am not at work this week had time to cast up a few.

Horse

One of the reasons we have taken so long to get to this stage was deciding how to cast separate horses and riders whilst keeping the semi-flat nature of the range. Consideration was given to a number of options:

• Full rider with legs straddling the horse - this would not fit in with  semi-flat range.
• Cut at waist - the joint was difficult to hide, especially where the loose coat had no waist belts present.

In the end we opted to cut around the coat tails, and leave the legs on the horse (my idea, so don't blame PA if you don't like it!).

Currently there is only one horse which is used for all the riders.

Trooper

As with the whole range,  all the figures have separate heads. Also, in order to get decent detail, the arms are separate (and generally interchangeable)

There should also be a carbine - but that is coming later😞

The figure fits neatly into the slot and it is difficult to see the join.

I think he will paint up very nicely!

Officer

As with the trooper there is a separate head and arm. (The arm will fit the trooper if you don't like the at rest pose.)

Not that you will notice it - but the head has no mustache.

Trumpeter

Standard Bearer

This chap needs a pile adding for his standard.

Size Comparison (Updated 14/04/18)

Comparison with Karoliners

These guys are big compared to the original Karoliner cavalry.

The new cuirassier alongside a Karoliner charging Russian cuirassier, this figure was converted by adding a SYW Russian  officer's head. (See photo lower down with a the same Karoliner without the head swap)

Comparison with HE

Rahway has requested a comparison with the old HE figures, so here is one alongside the HE cavalryman on the 5 legged 2 tailed horse (which actually works well to add variety to units).

The horse is clearly taller; exactly how much is difficult to measure; the SYW horse is probably about 41mm at the shoulder compared to 37mm on the old HE. The new one is clearly taller. however we are comparing a 16 hand cuirassier horse with a 15 hand for a dragoon, so overall only about 5% increase in scale, which is probably in line with the difference between the new SYW infantry and the old Karoliners.

The new SYW figures are however much more detailed, and bulkier. Being multi part, the horses and torsos can be cast different ways in the mould', allowing detail on the front of the figures, such as clasps on the breastplate.

The big difference is the rider; one of the major changes between the new SYW range and the older ranges is the heads, the old ones really were too small, particularly the hats - however he is actually a bit too big - see below.

Comparison with SYW infantry

The minimum height requirement for Austrian army was 5' 3", so 63", which happens to be almost the same as an Austrian cuirassier horse, for which the minimum height was 16 hands which is 64".

It can be seen that the SYW Austrian infantry (leaning forward) stand about the same height as the new horse, so the new horse fits in with the infantry. The Karoliner horses are clearly small relative to the Infantry.

Where there is an issue is the rider, which should be the same height as the infantry (cuirassiers were not taller than the infantry - my earlier mistake - sorry), however he is clearly taller.



So, in conclusion, the new cavalry will fit nicely with the new infantry (although the riders are a bit too big). However they will not mix in units with the older ranges - but neither will the infantry.


As always comments welcome.

First Artilley Castings

The blog has been very quiet as of late as the moulds are taking a long time - and I have to confess to my recent wargaming currently being in other scales and periods. Anyway, enough of the excuses, I finally received some test moulds over the weekend, and as it was good casting weather I gave them a go.

I was told in advance that it would be difficult to cast the wheels (it always is), however I did manage to get some good castings, by a combination of:

• Using the expensive Model Metal.
• Venting the wheels on every spoke.
• Applying talc between every pour - and then ensuring the vents were clear.
• The minimum clamping force I could get way with.
• Giving the moulds a good tap when full.
• Good luck/weather.

They do take a bit of cleaning up - but not too bad.

One of the reasons the mould production has been further delayed as Chris (the sculptor) decided that the spokes needed thickening up a bit to make casting easier (I have the unmodified version).

I have cast a gun to carry each of the four barrels, and they look pretty good, although compromises have to be made to allow all the barrel sizes to fit between the carriage cheeks.

Austrian 6pdr

The wheels measure about 33mm tall, and the crew are about 44mm to top of head. As the Austrian wheels were 51" high, that makes the crew 5' 8" tall, perhaps a bit on the tall size but not far off. (As is always the case with shots like this, the fact that the figures are on a thick base makes them look taller.)

Also, the moulds will not contain an elevating wedge, so I decided to make one by cutting a triangle off the corner of a 1.5mm thick MDF base using a razor saw.

The axles are round (I know that is wrong), which allows the wheel track to be adjusted. I have made the Austrian track 43" - which looks narrow - but distinctive.

The crew are painted in sleeveless waistcoats, not quite correct, the most noticeable differences being that there should be two rows of buttons on the front of the waistcoat, and the gunners amongst the crew (about half) should have boots rather than gaiters.

However overall I think it looks fine, which is what we were aiming for.

Russian Unicorn

The barrel on this is quite short, so I modified the position of the cross member below the back of the barrel, and added an elevating screw. However I am sure it will look fine with the barrel just glued on with no elevating mechanism.

The wheels are set further apart which makes it look much more distinct than it would be if just the barrel was changed.

The crew are the same as for the Austrians, this time painted with the waistcoats long sleeved. I could not resist adding a bombardier in the distinctive helmet.

Other Options

There are to other barrels in the moulds, which will make up a Prussian light 12pdr, for which I have just added the wedge.

I have not painted up a crew for the Prussian gun, as the ones I have cast have gone to Richard Hattersley for painting to use on the packaging.

And an Austrian 7pdr howitzer, for which I again added a wedge, and relocated the support cross member a bit lower and further forward  (and also set the wheels closer together).

And finally for a size comparison the new gun alongside the Karoliner 3pdr - which I might try with the new wheels?

I don't think these are far off production - but how many times have I said that?

As always comments are very welcome - particularly if they are positive....

................bring on the cavalry?

Extra photos to answer comments......

A close up of the wheel as cast with the vent holes.  In the production moulds the spokes will be heavier to simplify casting - I have not seen the new wheel yet and will cast a couple when I get  a mould.

Rahway asked about the vent on the Austrian guns - you can just about see the vent on the shot of the howitzer, however to put his mind at ease here is a close up on the 6pdr (the barrels will clean up better than this without too much work).

Rahway asked about the height of the figures. I have to confess that initially I thought that they are way too big when compared with the infantry.

They are probably a little bit larger, however the thing is that the gunners are bolt upright, whereas everything else has a very distinct lean, and the figures are similar distance heel to top of head.

The base IS too big, and that will be corrected in the production mould.

Artillery Equipment Sculpting Complete

Chris has now pretty much completed sculpting the artillery, and has used his computer wizardry to produce some graphics to show what the models and figures will look like.

Austrian 6pdr Gun

The original idea was to produce an accurate as possible Austrian 6pdr, and below is the almost finished article. (The only issue I know of is that the elevating wedge  (which will be a separate part) is too wide, so I have asked for it to be changed).

In order for the master figure to be robust enough to withstand repeated pressing in the mould making process,  there have had to be some compromises, such as leaving out the lighter cross pieces in the carriage trail, and locating the lifting handles of the barrel too close together. It is (in my opinion) a great improvement over the guns in the Karoliner and Rossbach ranges, and a welcome addition to the range.

And here it is with crew in waistcoats.

Austrian 7pdr Howitzer

The Liechtenstein system used the same wheels for all guns, so there is clearly some scope for reusing the wheels. Also the carriage of the 7pdr howitzer is reasonably close to that of the 6pdr, (it should be a bit deeper and heavier, and the support for the elevating wedge is in the wrong place). However I did not think we should miss the opportunity to add a howitzer to the range, so I asked Chris to produce a howitzer barrel - here it is on the 6pdr carriage.

 As discussed above, the elevating wedge is not in the right place. If it looks too far out when cast and made up, then a little work will be needed to cut out and move the wedge support forward and down - I don't have access to any castings, so cannot say how difficult it will be!

Barrels for other Nations

As the sculpting work progressed it became apparent that the gun would need to be split over two moulds, but the second would be half empty. This gave the opportunity to try and provide some reasonably representative artillery for other nations. There was no space for more wheels or carriages, but a couple of extra barrels could be squeezed in.

I carried out a review of all the information I had to hand and decided that a reasonable representation of some artillery could be provided on the Austrian carriage (purists turn away now)..........

Prussian light 12pdr

The closest I could find for the Prussians was the 12pdr M17/38, as this was a conic chambered piece it did not use such a large charge as a 'proper' 12pdr, so could sit on a smaller carriage. Here are details of the gun.............

....and here is the extra barrel on the Austrian carriage.

(Interestingly, if you look at the drawing, the Prussian barrel is identical size to the Austrian 12pdr, which also had the same wheel, but unfortunately the Austrian 12pdr carriage is 15% longer - worth a try at lengthening the cast carriage?)

And then for the Russians......

Russian 12pdr Unicorn

As far as I can figure out the 12pdr unicorn had the closest carriage size - drawings..

..and model

French Guns

As far as I can see they were all way bigger than these pieces (unless you know better)?

Interestingly the French Vallier 8pdr and famous Prussian 12pdr 'Brummer' looked very similar - so they would make a nice addition. Prince August currently have no plans to make these, so if you want them a good case will need to be made.

If you have stuck it out this far your then please take the time to comment?

06/04/17

Another view of the crew better showing the wheel height.

Cavalry - Digital Sculpting

Austrian Cuirassier

Trooper

Back in July last year I posted a picture of the 'green' for the Austrian cuirassier, which received encouraging feedback.

Soon afterwards PA decided to move over to digital sculpting. The changeover has not been as smooth as hoped, and nothing has been added to the range since the Russians, which were that last of the traditional sculptures. Things are now moving again, the French infantry are ready to go, with a few production problems being ironed out.

The figure has now been replicated digitally, and we think it is pretty much complete. In response to  comments last year the reins have been stylised a little to give the impression of being double, without making the area around the bit too heavy 

There are a couple of minor changes I have asked Chris to make:

• Modify the buckle positions on the harness, remove the top one at the intersection and replace with two more on the straps below.
• Add a line around the holster cover similar to the one on the saddlecloth.

I think it looks very nice, if there are any error/omissions please let me know.

Trumpeter

Progress on this is not quite as advanced, and the horse, sword etc. will be replaced with the one above - so please just consider this as a taster.

I asked him to base the pose on the old Holger Eriksson mould PA26, and I think it will end up looking great.

Officer and Standard Bearer

There will also be an officer with a sword pointing forwards and a standard bearer, both based on the trooper.  Progress is not sufficient to show, as the plan is to tidy up everything on the trooper first and move on from there.

Dragoons

Once the Austrian cuirassier are complete, in order to keep things moving we are considering issuing a 'Prussian' dragoon mould. This will just provide torsos and heads to fit the same horse, and would contain:

• Trooper, similar to above unless there are any suggestions (needs to fit this horse)
• Officer
• Drummer
• Standard bearer

Dragoons were pretty generic, and with minor changes such as tricorn style and the way the carbine is slung (it will be separate) the Austrians, Prussians, French  and quite a few others could be covered.

If we can squeeze them it we could add some horse grenadier heads - if not they will have to be taken from the infantry.

Russian Cavalry

Unlike the Austrians, Prussians etc the Russians had their sword belts on the outside of the coat, so these will need some additional moulds.

The French cuirassiers also had belts on the outside.

Prussian Cuirassiers

These will need separate moulds as they wore coats with shorter tails.



..............as always comments welcome.

Battle of Kolin - Part 2

My apologies for any typos and spelling errors on names and places (I can't pronounce them anyway). I noticed a lot in the final read through, but it really is not worth going back editing photos.

Starting positions

As discussed in the last post the game was set up with about half of the Austrian forces deployed on the hills, and the rest were marching across the rear, and not deployed (which was good as I was out of 'white' battalions).

The Prussians were mostly marching down the Kaiserstrasse. with just Schonaich's cavalry deployed to protect against Stampach's cavalry.

Game start time about 11:00

(Ooops - I have labelled 'Oak Wood' wrong - it should be the one in the distance!)

None of the players were SYW  'experts', and luckily none knew much about the battle. I gave them a quick run down of the prelude to the battle, explained that the whole board was swarming with grenz skirmishers, but that I would not represent them (it would slow down the game - and I have no figures yet - soon?). I did not mention that some of the villages were garrisoned, as Frederick did not think of it!

The two commanders were then asked to write simple orders for their commands.

• The Prussians opted to march around the Austrian right with Zieten and Hulsen, with a frontal attach by everyone else.

• The Austrians decided to hold as they were, but redeploy Wied's infantry to the area of the Oak Wood.

Zieten's hussars defeat Nadasdy's 

East of Kutlire Nadasdy's 6 units of hussars made a spirited attack on Zieten's 7 units of Prussian counterparts. (As you can see we are having to improvise with the cavalry, these should nearly all be hussars. We don't have enough hussar figures, as we have been waiting for the new ones.)

Game time 11:24

Unfortunately for the Austrians the superior tactics of the Prussians (dice) resulted in a comprehensive defeat, and the 4 remaining units went scampering back towards the gap between Oak Wood and Radowesnitz; leaving the 6 remaining Prussian units in control of the plain.

Game time 11:55

In the background can be seen Hulsen's infantry ready to exploit Zieten's sucess.

Schonaich attacks and defeats Stampach

Towards the west end of the battlefield Schonaich threw his two units of cuirassiers and one of dragoons into Stampach's two units each of cuirassiers and dragoons on Probertz Hill opposite  (improvising again - we don't have enough cuirassier figures - waiting for..............).

Game time 12:00

Yet again superior Prussian discipline (dice) allows them to defeat their Austrian counterparts and clear the hill.

Game time 12:24

However behind the hill is Serbellini with another to units each of Austrian Cuirassiers and dragoons, so the Prussian attack ran out of steam and Sebellini retook the hill.

Tresckow and Bevern attack on Austrian centre

The Prussian attack on the centre developed at the same time as Schonaich's cavalry attack, aimed at Andlau's infantry (on Przerovky Hill) and the grenadier reserve (on Krzeczor Hill), along with their two supporting heavy batteries. On the right can be seen Serbellini's cavalry back in possession of Pobertz Hill.

Game time 12:46

A general view of the battlefield at that time, as can be seen, the main Prussian attacks are developing, but the left wing flank attack has stalled.

Game time 12:47

Hulsen has delayed the attack on the main left flank attack, and committed his whole brigade to clear the grenze from Kultire, and also held back Zieten in support.

Game time 12:47

Tresckow and Bevern made it up into a firefight with the Austrians on the ridge, however the attack ran out of steam (it did kill off the grenadiers), and when the Prussians realised there were two more brigades of infantry in reserve behind the ridge they decided to call off the attack. (Sorry about photo quality, it is a zoom into a longer shot).

Game time 14:18

Pennavaire's cavalry make no impression on Puebla's infantry

Over to the west of the fiend Pennavaire rashly decides to try and break through the infantry of Puebla who are ensconced on Pobortz Hill with his three units of cuirassiers (one elite) and two of dragoons.

Game time 13:09

We lost count of the number of charges the elite cuirassiers made but due to the skill of both commanders (dice) the infantry held firm, but the cavalry took few casualties (must have run out of powder). They were still attacking when we finished playing!

Game time 14:22

Hulsen & Zieten  attacks on the Prussian right

After clearing the grenz out of Kultire Hulsen and Zieten finally put into motion the attack by the Prussian right flank.

Game time 13:44

However the grenz had done their job well and gained time for Wied to arrive on the flank with 7 battalions of foot to stabilise the Austrian right

Game time 14:19

The End

The game started to run out of steam about 14:30, we played on for another hour or so, but as players started to leave, I took over playing rather than 'umpiring' and only took occasional photos. The last photo I took was at 15:20, showing Bervern's infantry cresting Pobortz Hill, and seeing the massed Austrian reserves behind - enough is enough!

Conclusion

The Prussian attacks in the centre ran out of steam before their left hook got into motion, delaying to drive the grenz out of Kutlire really lost the Prussians any chance of success. Also, the attacks on the centre should have delayed to allow Hulsen & Zieten to get moving.

The Austrians were cautious with their reserve infantry, and only redeployed Wied to the right, keeping Sincere and Stahemberg behind Puebla and Andlau respectively, one of them should have been enough. If Hulsen had attacked earlier there is a good chance that the Prussians could have caused serious damage. But as in the actual battle, the Prussians really did not have much hope, as Daun could observe the Prussian flank march, and had the advantage of interior lines to redeploy his forces.

A thoroughly enjoyable game, and the rules worked well, giving a very realistic result. I will use them again for large battles.

Back to work tomorrow!