Light Infantry (2) - Grenz & Pandours

Last updated 19/09/14.........

Following on from discussions about Frei Corps and Jager, some thoughts about the Grenz and Pandour. A hole in the PA range which needs filling.

Pandour Uniforms

Austrian Grenz

There was quite a lot of variation in the uniform worn by the Austrian Grenz regiments, so one of the troop types needs to be chosen. The Pengel & Hurt book on Austrian infantry contains a lot of useful information, including the illustrations and table below.

The table is useful, as at a  glance it can be seen that the ones with coat type 'F2' are marginally more common, so it makes sense to produce a figure which represents 60-63 & 69. Below is an illustration from an Osprey book, type 'F2' is on the left and type 'E' one on the right. Of course a good representation of any of them can be done with a bit of work and a paint job. 

  3 - Gz IR 60 Carlstadt Liccaner  (F2)       2 -Gz IR 64 Waradin Creutzer  (E) 

Russian Pandours

There is another reason for choosing the 'F2' type - it is also the one which is most similar to the Russian pandour regiments.

There are minor differences, but the Austrian figure is pretty close. 

This is a grenadier, others would be similar but with no plate on the hat.

Head Types

This really depends how many moulds are made, as depending on what else goes in beween two and four heads will fit.

Going back to the P&H illustrations and table it can be seen that  head types  'A' and 'D' are most common. These are very similar so just the type A would be enough, so a couple of these in each mould.

The Russian hat tapered slightly towards the top, so at least one of these.

The Cloak?

Austrian Grenz were famous for their red cloaks, which were generally rolled up over the haversack, but as far as I am aware there are no illustrations showing the Russian Pandour with them (if anyone has some let me know), so there are really three options:

• Give all the figures a cloak, and accept the Russians will be wrong
• Give none of them a cloak
• Cast the cloak a stick on - not sure how easy this is for multiple poses.

What does everyone think?

Officers

Grenz officers were very similar to  those in the Hungarians, so I would suggest  there is no need for additional figures.

Poses

As there is no need for officer figures, and following on from earlier discussions on poses I would be temped to have two moulds, so four figures, and I would go for:

1. Infantry standing firing

2. Infantry kneeling firing

3. Infantry advancing

4. Not sure, options (in current order of preference):

      a. Infantry loading

      b. Infantry/NCO at trail, pointing

      c. Musician

As usual comments welcome.

Plans for the Russians

PA are planning to do three moulds for the Russian 'line' infantry, so six figures plus a selection of heads and weapons.

When putting together this range, the Greenwood and Ball range of booklets are often used during reference and discussion, although relatively slim at 24 pages these booklets are packed with information. Nigel Billington at 18th Century Press has kindly allowed me to reproduce some of the pictures from the Russian book to describe what is being planned:
http://www.18thcenturypress.com/syw.html

 Summer Uniform

For the Russian infantry, during summer it was normal to leave their heavy coat and knapsack with the baggage, and fight in their waistcoats. Equipment would be light with just their cartridge box on a single shoulder belt, and a sword on their waist belt.


In the Seven Years War the Russians fought all of their major battles in the summer, so the summer uniform seems a good option. It also means that the figures are quite distinct from those of the Prussians and Austrians.





For the summer uniform, as far as I can figure out, the rank and file and NCOs would strip down to their waistcoats. The officers would probably wear their coats, officially drummers should retain their coats, but G&B, Osprey and others show them in waistcoats, so either is fine. So the current plan is:

• Rank and file - waistcoat - two new figures
• NCO - waistcoat - new figure
• Drummer - waistcoat - new figure (if you want the coat use a Prussian)
• Standard bearer - in coat (use the Prussian)
• Officer - in coat (use the Prussian)

Grenadiers

The Russian grenadiers wore a very distinctive helmet, which clearly needs to be covered by a separate head.

Another item which distinguished the grenadiers from the musketeers was the cartridge box worn on the front of their waist belts. At first sight it would seem that a separate figure is needed for his, however due to the pose and semi-flat nature of these figures the box would hardly be visible, and can just be painted or stuck on, so we decided it was not worth a separate figure?

The first two Russian moulds

We have pretty much firmed up on the first two moulds.

Mould 3109

• Musketeer/grenadier (summer uniform) advancing
• Musketeer/grenadier (summer uniform) march attack
• Heads for musketeers and grenadiers

Mould 3110

• NCO (summer uniform) with separate musket
• Drummer  (summer uniform)
• Again heads for musketeers and grenadiers

And the third mould????

There are still spaces for two more figures in a third mould and we have not finalised this yet - current favorites are in bold:

• Observation Corps musketeer in summer uniform advancing?
• Observation Corps musketeer in summer uniform marching?
• Musketeer/grenadier in winter uniform advancing?
• Musketeer/grenadier in winter uniform marching?
• Musketeer/grenadier officer winter uniform with musket?

(The Observation Corps wore their cartridge box on the front and had no shoulder belt, they also wore dragoon boots rather than gaiters. The suggestion is that the figure is in summer uniform, so no coat).

Any thoughts?