Christmas 2019 - Light Infantry Update

As its that time of year again, I thought it worth logging on and wishing you all the best for Christmas and New Year, letting you know I am still here, and also giving you a bit of an update.........

I've not been doing s lot with the 40mm figures recently, however I have almost finished a couple of cavalry units, one of Prussian dragoons and the other Austrian horse  grenadiers, they just need the flags (ordered from Maverick) - I will post some photos when they are finished.

Future Releases

Although releases are few and far between, PA are still working on the range, and hopefully there should be some new releases in the not too distant future?

Grenz/Pandours

Sculpting is ongoing for some skirmishing Grenz/Pandour troops, and the plan is to have four poses, as discussed back in September 2014 (no point rushing is there):
Light Infantry (2) - Grenz & Pandours - Sept 2014

So far I have only seen images of the standing and kneeling figures, below is a sample of what I have been sent (these are computer images).

The kneeling figure looks to be almost there, as discussed back in 2014 the figures will have the 'Type F2' coat (the lacing on the coat was deliberately simplified so that it can be moulded and drop cast better) and is combined with 'Type K'  footwear.

As with the rest of the SYW range there will be separate heads. The main heads will be the fur hat for the Croats (on figure above), and a tapered shako to allow a close approximation to a Russian pandour (not shown).

The standing figure is also well advanced, but note that the head is an early option which will probably not be used - so visualise him wearing the same fur hat as the kneeling figure.

If there is space the plan is to fit in a head with a mirliton, not strictly correct for this figure, but useful to make Freikorps von Kleist in conjunction with either these moulds or the Hungarian ones (see post back in Feb 2019):
 Freikorps von Kleist - March 2019

Hopefully there will also be a figure advancing in the 'standard' pose so they can be ranked up, plus a loading figure.

Hungarian figures can be used for the command.

Other Light Troops

PA are also working on the troops for use as skirmishing Freikorps types, these should have kit similar to the Prussian line infantry, but with the firing and loading poses.

Heads for these will include a 'casket' to make up Austrian jager or similar (but they will have to be modelled with gaiters rather than boots).

As always feedback would be appreciated.

I hope Santa brings you plenty of lead - and not too much of that horrid plastic 😉

Steve Marthinsen's SYW Project

In response to my request for photographs of your projects, Steven Marthinsen has kindly sent me photographs of some of his infantry units.

I also asked him for some background to his SYW project to allow me some text to put with the photos. He sent me quite a long email, which he has agreed I can repeat pretty much in full, - as it gives an insight into why he chose to use the PA moulds, and what else he would like to see.

Steven's email

"My experience with the SYW came straight out of Charles Grant and Prince August.  Charles Grant's 'The Wargame' and his fictional imagination campaign books are just great and tremendous inspiration.  However, the SYW would never have come about without PA because I specifically wanted the toy soldier look for this project.  I already do Napoleonics in15/18mm so really did not need another horse and musket era unless it offered something unique and casting your own armies is certainly that!

I currently have 15 regiments of foot troops painted and based along with 13 guns and crews.  I have one cavalry regiment, hence the reason I have been asking for cavalry molds for so long!  I am excited about the new cuirassiers but do hope they prevent more scale creep within the series.  In general the molds have been well mastered and easy to cast.  I would like to see a remaster of the initial Prussian molds to bring them up to date with the others (buttons on gaiters, better musketeer head and slings on the muskets).  In terms of basic molds for the SYW, we are so close to getting it done I hope that PA recognizes the benefit of having a complete range to offer gamers.  More cuirassier torsos and everybody's dragoons would do nicely to round out the basics.  Hussars, command and light infantry could then be added in the future to really fill it out.  British troops would sell well, especially on your side of the pond, but I would not want those to slow down completing the basic line of European continental armies (but of course I would still buy them!).

I use PA Model Metal exclusively and casting issues have been few, although some are persistent.  I do not believe the hub on the artillery piece wheel has ever fully turned out leaving me to file it down before filling the hole with putty.  The more important thing is that I do get the wheel spokes on a consistent basis so I don't mind filing the hubs.  The pegs on the Russian infantry heads are too thick and each one has to be filed down to fit in the hole.  That is annoying but doable.  The hands for the artillerist with the trail spike are awkward and the fit questionable.  Still, these are essentially minor complaints and overall casting has been quite successful.

Going forward, I have some regular and conversion regiments on the block to paint.  Austrian regiment Puebla used scalloped lacing on their tricornes so I used the Prussian guard head for them.  I created my version of Saxon infantry by using the Austrian musketeer head on the Russian winter infantry body.  Three regiments of French troops are primed and patiently waiting the brush.  Of course, all of this can be interrupted by cavalry molds!

For rules, my original thought was to use The Wargame with half size regiments, and I still might,  However, I recently tried Honours of War and really liked them.  The idea for rules will be to make them fun and not too complicated so players can enjoy the game and retain some of the feel of the old school toy soldiers.

That's it for now but feel free to ask for more pictures or anything else I can do to help with the project.  This really is a unique opportunity for PA and for gamers alike to be able to purchase and cast their own armies.  I realize it is not for everyone but honestly it is a lot of fun and you really do have more investment in the armies when you create them yourself."

Back to me...............

Personally it is great to see how the new range are being used. If there is anyone else out there who would like to contribute to the blog PLEASE send me your photos and thoughts.

'Scale creep' is an issue,  it is one of the many difficulties which has arisen with the change to digital sculpting - hopefully it is being addressed?

I know there are some minor issues with the range, and even after the years spent on this project it is sometimes difficult to 'mould' PA into the mindset of the wargamer - but in general I think we re doing OK.

As always your comments are welcome, I do pass them to the sculptor (who follows this blog), and they are taken into account.

Aly Morrison's 'Hungarians'

Aly Morrison has kindly sent me some photos of units he has painted using the Hungarian moulds - rather nice I would say!

Hungarian Infantry

Frei Korps von Schony

(Made from Hungarian grenadiers)

 Frei Korps von Kliest

(Made from Hungarian grenadiers with heads sculpted by Aly - I have some on order)

The SYW range has now been going for some years.  If any of you have photos you are willing to share with the group please let me have them and I will load them onto the blog.

A head count.

After a couple of posts with eye candy, time for something a little duller (but I've added in some photos of Richard's painting to spice up the links from other blogs links - these are painted for the front of the packaging).

The Russians will be out in the next month or so (they have been delayed to try and squeeze in a belly box for the grenadiers), so I thought it a good time to have a look at where we have got to with the provision of heads for the Prussians, Austrians and Russians.

For my own purposes, to see what is missing from the range, I use a spreadsheet showing what headgear and hair various troop types wore. The boxes in the sheet are shaded to show what is already in the moulds, and what else is planned.

The results so far......................

Prussian Infantry

The Prussian 'close order' infantry moulds are all released - the tricorn is quite steep on the front.

As you can see most things are already covered, with just the need to add some heads for the light troops. These are planned to be included in with the moulds for skirmishing troops as discussed in posts back in September.

Austrian & Hungarian Infantry

Again the close order moulds are all released, the tricorns are moulded on a shallow slope at the front to be very distinct from the Prussians.

Again the coverage for the close order troops is pretty much complete.

German Grenadiers

Currently the heads for the grenadiers all have to come out of the Hungarian moulds, and so have their hair in plaits - from what I have read that is probably correct. 

There are however quite a few illustrations around showing German grenadiers in side curls, so it is appreciated that this option might be wanted. Chris has already produced a head with side curls. It was done ready for the 'German' infantry issue (my grenadiers in the post last April have that head), however when it was decided to just produce a single mould for these it could not sensibly be fitted in - so we decided to rely on the Hungarian heads. Austrian horse grenadiers are generally shown in side curls, so we will try and fit one in with the dragoons.

German grenadier officers possibly had side curls and no moustache, however it really is not worth a separate head for this - just trim off the mustache, or don't paint it.

Grenz & Jager

As discussed in posts back in September, it is planned to cover these in future releases.

Russian Infantry

I have listed these as if released, they are sculpted, but are waiting for some finishing touches, however I have not seen the mould listing yet, so cannot say what goes where, The tricorns are at a slope intermediate between the Austrian and Prussian moulds, and could probably be used for some of the Austrian units.

Again the close order infantry is covered pretty well, and the it is planned to put the Pandours in with the grenz when these are released.

Russian Grenadiers

After 1759 Russian grenadiers were ordered to swap the helmet for a tricorn, although I cannot see why any self respecting gamer would want to do such a trade. As present the best match is to use a musketeer head and paint a mustache (I assume they had one?), but a suitable head will soon come along somewhere in the cavalry.

Future Plans

It is good to see that with the addition of the light troops the the headdress for all infantry in these three armies will be covered - that is after all what I originally wanted from this project.

If anyone sees anything missing from, or wrong in the tables, let me know and I will change them and try and get any missing heads included in future moulds. (Please remember that these are only Prussia, Austria and Russia.)

Eventually I would like to continue this exercise to cover infantry and cavalry of all nations, and also torsos, to produce a 'parts list' to assemble all troops in the SYW - but not yet, 

(I actually find a good way of planning is to skim through the Blandord 'Uniforms of the Seven Years War' book and see what can, or cannot, be made with the moulds so far.)

As always comments welcome.

Hungarians Released

For any of you who are not on the PA mailing list I thought I would let you know that the three Hungarian molds are now available - so something for your Christmas list?

http://shop.princeaugust.ie/

Below are some photos of Richard Hattersley's figures which he has done for the packaging - he could have gone for a brighter blue!

The Hungarians are coming

The Hungarians are sculpted and the moulds ready, release is delayed for a few weeks waiting for the packaging to be finalised - but they are close.

Below are the mould diagrams so you can see how they are laid out.

Mould 3106 - Hungarian Officer and Standard Bearer

1. Officer's body

2. Officer's sword

3. Standard bearer's  body

4. Officer's head in tricorn with moustache (x2)

Mould 3107 - Hungarian NCO and Drummer

1. NCO's body.

2. NCO's pole arm (halberd)*

3. Drummer's body.

4. Fusilier's head in tricorn with pompom, hair in plaits and mustache (x2).

5. Grenadier's head in bearskin with cap plate.

* The halberd can be filed down to make a quite reasonable partizan for the officer (see post 10 September).

Mould 3108 - Infantry Advancing and March Attack

  

1. Infantry march attack body.

2. Arm and musket for march attack.

3. Grenadier bearskin  plain/grenade

4. Infantry advancing body

5. Grenadier head, with cap plate.

6. Fusilier's head in tricorn

(It might have been better with two tricorns in 3108 and the two grenadiers in 3107, however there are plenty of tricorns spread about so this should not be a problem).

As always feedback welcome.

Hungarians - after the red the BLUE

Hungarian Infantry

IR32 Forgach

These are cast from the test moulds. There are a few mistakes on the castings which have been corrected for the production moulds. The most obvious one being that the tricorns should have a pom-pom (so this is IR 32 which probably did not have one).

I think it's fair to say I went a bit overboard on the BLUE, but they are done now so I will have to live with them!

The Poses

The poses for the drummer and rank and file are the same as in the Prussians and Austrians, however there are new poses for three of the figures.

The new NCO with a halberd, but this is a separate weapon so can carry a sword or musket.

I think this is a very nice pose.

Similarly a new officer pose can carry an assortment of weapons.

(For the Russians we are considering a pose something like this, but with the left arm pointing, He could then be used to in the Prussians and Austrians for variety)

And finally the new standard bearer, we stayed with the same pose but made him an officer.

The flag is from Maverick models and is an early 'Hungarian' version with the Madonna on both sides.

(Again we are thinking of an officer with standard in the Russians so he can be used for variety in the other armies).

Mould Listing and Release Date

 I'm not sure of the mould listing or release date - I will let you know when I have more details.

Saxons - I fancied painting something Red!

Saxon Leibgrenadiergarde

As a break from Prussian blue and Austrian white I decided to paint something in red, both because red always looks good, and I have an opponent who I am trying to tempt into painting a British army. (Also - I really do not like painting Prussians, I have never mastered painting the red and the blue - just too much like hard work)

We already have a few battalions of white coated Saxons (Karoliners), so I opted for the Saxon Leibgrenadiergarde regiment - no point in messing about is there!

There are no figures for this, so it was a matter of getting as close as possible.

Bodies

The big decision was what body to use, Prussian or Austrian?

After reading all the material I had at hand, plus the compulsory visit to the Project SYW website, I came to the conclusion that the Saxons fell somewhere between the two:

• They carried a sword - Prussian
• Probably did not carry a bread bag - Austrian,
• Water bottle rectangular - Prussian
• Cuffs not particularly deep - Prussian

So on a 3:1 vote I went for the Prussian bodies. (I was initially tempted to go for the Austrian and add a sword, but then I decided that doing a lot of conversion work on the figures is not what we are aiming for with this range)

(When the Russians come out there will be figures with a sword and no baggage which would possibly fit the bill better),

Heads

The rank and file wore Prussian style grenadier mitres, so that was an easy choice.

The officers and NCOs wore tricorns with cockade, the shape looks more Austrian in style, so the Austrian officer head, with a mustache painted on the NCO (the Hungarian officer head has a mustache, so will be bang on when released, but that really is getting picky).

Standards

For the units in these new PA figures I have been using printed flag from Maverick Models.

Unfortunately the website does not list the Leibgrenadier flag, presumably as information is lacking. However Pengal and Hurt suggests that both the leibfahne and ordinarfahne were of the leibfahne style, with the former in white and the latter in yellow.

Stuart at Maverick Models very kindly modified his Saxon infantry leibfahne to give what we thought best fit the description. The one used on the unit is the white leibfahne which I put in the first battalion (silver grenadier front plates). I have a yellow version for use when/if I get the second battalion (brass front plates) painted; it is cast & primed...........but I now have some Hungarians to paint!

 I think they turned out OK, and show what we are trying to do with this range.

Hungarians

I had a chat with Chris (the sculptor) on Thursday, the Hungarians have gone to the factory and should be out end of October????  I have the test moulds, and have cast, assembled and primed an advancing unit ready to paint, so here's a preview. (These figures do not have a pom-pom, this has been added for the production moulds.

There is also a march attach figure which is not shown, and there are grenadier heads as well. We are not sure what will be in each mould yet, I hope to an update in a week or so

Advancing Hungarian fusiliers

Hungarian NCO, drummer, officer and standard bearer
(The officer pole arm is filed down from the halberd)

Accessories

There will probably also be an 'Accessories' mould, he is seeing what will fit in.


As usual - comments on the range would be appreciated.

Hungarian Infantry Update

I've been off on my holidays in 'sunny' northern England for the last week or so - which is my excuse for the long quiet spell.

Chris (Chris Tubb the sculptor) has sent me the photos of the greens for the Hungarian infantry, and I should get my grubby hands on the test moulds later this week.

I posted some photos of the officer and NCO back in May/June, now I can show you the rest. As usual they all can take separate heads so there will be fusilier and grenadier options.

Officer      

The officer is in a different pose to that in the Prussian 3101/1.     

In the new pose the right arm has been lowered to accept a separate pole arm or musket as an alternative to the sword shown.

Standard Bearer

The standard bearer is in the same pose as the Prussian 3101/4.

In the Austro/Hungarian army the standard could be carried by either an officer or NCO.

In action.with the NCO more likely to carry the standard; however we decided to go with an officer with an open coat to provide more variation in the range. (With a bit of conversion work he could provide an alternative standard bearer for other nationalities)

NCO

The NCO is another new pose and has been discussed before.

The right hand can carry a variety of weapons such as the pole arm shown, or a musket.

Drummer 

The drummer is in the same pose as 3102/4, but with the distinctive Hungarian uniform

Infantry March Attack

The same pose as 3104/4 & 3105/2, but in the distinctive Hungarian kit.

This is shown with the grenadier head, it could also be assembled as the fusilier option.

Infantry Advancing

And finally the old faithful advancing pose as 3103/1 and 3105/1 but in Hungarian kit.

A rear view (an earlier photo before the shoe laces), with the Austrian type kit, but with the sword as carried by all Hungarians.

I'm not sure when these will be released, hopefully not too long.

Next up are some cuirassier cavalry.
(Update 28/08/14), it looks like the cavalry are being delayed and the Russians infantry are next up.

As always please let me have your thoughts.

Another look at the Hungarians

Hungarian Officer

First of all another look at the Hungarian officer; the coat lace has now been corrected and more added to the cuffs.

With the tricorn he can command fusiliers, the right hand can accept different weapons so could have the sword as shown, or a pole arm. Also as with all the figures in the range the figure has a separate head, so for the grenadiers he could wear a bearskin and carry the sword or musket.

Hungarian NCO

In the Hungarians there will also be a new pose for the NCO figure, this has been made more animated than the Prussian offering. The left hand is raised to encourage (push) the troops forward, as with the officer, he could wear a bearskin and carry a musket to help command the grenadiers.

Some Eye Candy - Next Releases 3104 & 3105

Here is a photo of some of the forthcoming releases painted by Richard Hattersley (I avoid showing his figures as he puts me to shame).

From left to right:

• The new Prussian march attack figure with the new guard head (3104)
• The Prussian officer (3101) with the new guard officer head (3104)
• The new Austrian march attack figure (3105 - BUT note that the grenadier head is from the later Hungarians as there is not enough space in the Austrian mould, also the sword scabbard is added)
• The Prussian NCO (3102) with the new Austrian fusilier head (3105). The bags on the Prussian are not correct for the Austrian, but not it is considered worth another mould for this minor problem - possibly paint the lower bag brown to match the haversack on the rank and file.
• The new Austrian advancing fusilier (3105),
• Another grenadier (Richard likes guards, grenadiers............ and artillery!)
• The new Austrian march attack fusilier (3105)

As always comments are welcome............

Hungarian Officer

I've just come back from a weekend in London playing 15mm ancients to the Armati rules - the figures look really small after spending the last few months with 40mm!

The sculptor is currently working on the Hungarians, and in particular is making an officer in a different pose to that available in the Prussian moulds.

The right arm has been lowered so that it will look right carrying either a pole arm to command fusiliers, a musket to command grenadiers, or a sword to command either.

Also, by holding back the right arm the front lacing (which needs changing) can be shown better.

3101 Prussian Officer
The raised arm best suited for a sword

Proposed Hungarian Officer
Can carry sword, pole arm or musket.

Any thoughts?