Hussars - painted at last!

I have finally got around to casting and painting up a couple of units of hussars. I don't know how everyone else is getting on with these moulds, but I found that they needed a lot of venting before I could get decent castings - they seem to be working fine now.

As I have said in the past I tend to be pretty easy going when it comes to interpreting uniforms, opting for things I fancy rather than strict interpretations; and I used that approach with the hussars.

Prussian Hussar Regiment No.7 - von Malachowski

In assembling the unit I made one significant change; back in 2017 (see post 20/03/2017) Aly Morrison made some heads with a mirliton streamer extended, and I used these heads on my figures. It was not possible for PA to make a head with the streamer trailing due to the pressures exerted on the master figure during manufacturing process (I did ask).

In 1743 Frederick had ordered the hussars to return their standards, however I really like my units to carry flags, so I looked around for an excuse to include one (I think I would have given them one anyway). On February 23 1758 detachments of Ruesch Hussars and Malachowski hussars captured four standards of the French Polleresky Hussards at Stöcken-Drebber and also one from Royal-Cravate Cavalerie at Düffelward on June 2 1758. For these actions, Frederick granted two of the Pollaresky Hussars standards to Malachowski Hussars - so they carry a French standard.

I gave up on trying to paint the dog-tooth edging to the saddle cloth, that amount of detail in yellow on blue was too much like hard work!

Austrian Hussar Regiment No. 10 - Palatinal

Most of the Austrian hussars wore the fur kolback, however as for the Prussians I fancied using Aly Morrison's mirliton heads, so I delved into my reference material to see if I could justify it. Kronoskaff came up trumps, according to the Bautzener Bilderhandschrift, both regiment No. 8 - Dessewffy (H 34) and No. 10 Palatinal (H 36) possibly wore black mirlitons - good enough for me. 

The Austrian officers and trumpeters would probably have worn a frock coat and tricorn, however PA decided not to include that option so the unit will have to make do with the same hussar officer as the Prussians; I did however give the officer a tricorn pinched from the Hungarian infantry. 

Suggestions for Future Moulds

This is a long post, so get yourself a drink before you start reading😊

There has recently been a fair bit of discussion on both the PA website and this blog about the wish list for future PA releases to their SYW range. I have tried to collate this below; if I have missed or misunderstood something let me know in the comments and I will update it.

Austrian, Prussian, Russian and French.

These ranges are almost complete, in my opinion PA should concentrate on filling the gaps in these before starting something else.

Austrian Cuirassiers

These were the first digital cavalry, and used slot in torsos, my idea, which I thought worked well, however PA have found it difficult to ensure a proper fit of torso into the horse, so the idea was abandoned. 

From the photo below it can be seen that the Austrian cuirassiers are way out of scale. In my opinion they need reprinting, they were sculpted digitally so it should be relatively simple to rescale them. 

Prussian Cuirassiers

The Prussian cuirassiers were quite distinct from the Austrians, the main differences being:

• Prussian tricorns have steeper fronts.
• The coat tails were significantly shorter.
• Most wore a sabertache like the hussars.
• Rounded saddle cloths.

The  tricorne is not a major issue as there are suitable heads elsewhere in the range, however the coat tails and sabertache are difficult to convert.

I have used converted figures from the Rossbach range, however they are a bit on the small side. This is a major omission from the range, all Prussian armies need cuirassiers, so I think they should be one of the top priorities,

Dragoon Heads

The heads in the dragoon moulds are very small so I have avoided using them, instead using the larger heads from the infantry moulds. These are digital and all sit in a single mould, so it should not be difficult to resize and reprint them.

Russian Cossacks

There has been a suggestion of some moulds for cossacks. A set of cossack moulds would be nice, however as far as I am aware they did not play a significant part in set piece battles, so at this stage I think they should drop well down the list. (There is a mould in the Rossbach range which might be useful.)

Artillery crew in coats

It would be nice to have two more moulds with artillery crew in coats to complement the current ones in shirtsleeves.

British and Hanoverian (British)

The British played an important part in both the European fighting, and also worldwide. If the range is to be complete, then PA need to properly cover the British. 

British Infantry

As discussed in an earlier post, the British infantry were quite distinctive, so would merit a range of four moulds to cover the hat men, fusiliers and grenadiers.

British Highlanders

These would make an interesting addition, and would probably merit another 4 moulds. When the time comes there needs to be a discussion on the most appropriate poses.

British Light Infantry

Again an interesting addition, particularly to also cover the various ranger units in North America.

British Cavalry

The 'heavy cavalry' can probably be covered by the existing dragoon moulds, but the 'light cavalry' with distinctive helmets (which are in the dragoon mould) and hussar style saddle cloths might merit a few moulds.

General Propose Figures

Infantry Standing & Firing

It has been suggested that figures are produced to cast units standing in line firing. As a gamer I try to avoid using troops in close order firing lines, as they simply do not work when put into columns, however I appreciate that some of you may want them.

The light infantry mould PA3129 'Austrian Jaeger Light Troops' was modelled with the intention of them doubling as figures for a close order firing line, the equipment is similar to the Prussian line infantry.

There is however a lack of standing command figures, so at some time it would be nice to add a couple of moulds to contain an officer, drummer, standard bearer and NCO in a standing position.

Limbers and Wagons

There is a limber and horses in the Karoliner range, these look quite different from the new SYW figures, however with replacement heads they fit in reasonably well.

Size wise they are a bit smaller, but not too bad, as they are usually some distance apart not a major problem. Although it would be nice to have some new ones, I think they would go well down the list.

With respect to a wagon, I did a bit of 3D printing - I found a file for a French Napoleonic wagon and rescaled it as close as I could to make an Austrian one. I appreciate not everyone has 3D printers, but if you have access to one it is a good option. 

Pioners etc.

A set of pioneers and labourers working with pick axes, shovels etc would be a nice addition. Perhaps 2 moulds with a selection of tools and poses.

How to Proceed?

Please note that all I can do is make suggestions to PA, I do not decide their production order and/or timetable. In my opinion, a sensible way forward would be as follows:

1. Austrian (& Russian) cuirassiers - rescale and reprint these figures. It might be a case of changing them to castings with the combines horse and torso, with some variety of horses as in the dragoons. (3 moulds)
2. Dragoon heads - rescale and reprint these heads. In addition to changing the mould in the dragoon set, offer this single mould as a replacement. (1 mould)
3. Prussian cuirassiers - modify the Austrian cuirassiers to the Prussian uniform, and introduce some variation on horse positions. (3 moulds)
4. British Line Infantry - 4 moulds as discussed in earlier post.
5. 'British' Artillery - a couple of moulds with generic crew in coats to cover all nations. (2 moulds)
6. British Highlanders (4 moulds?)
7. British Light Infantry (2 moulds)
8. British light cavalry (3 moulds)
9. Standing infantry command group (2 moulds)
10. Cossacks
11. Pioneers

Thus far PA have produced 34 moulds in 10 years, so the above list of 24 moulds will keep everyone busy for a while!

If you have stayed with it this far, your thoughts would be appreciated?

SYW Range - how is it progressing?

When PA started designing their SYW range (almost 10 years ago) I thought that a good indicator of how the range is progressing would be to see if it was possible to make figures illustrated in the Blandford book 'Uniforms of the Seven Years War 1756-63'. Although an old book, I often thumb through it for inspiration. 

I made a list of the illustrations in the book, and then tabulated how to make them using the PA moulds, with colour coding of progress (see the table below):

• Green - a mould for that troop type has been produced.
• Light Green - no specific mould, but it is possible to cast something pretty close by mixing available parts.
• Orange - hopefully moulds for these will be produced in the future.
• Light Blue - nothing in the SYW range, but a satisfactory figure can be made using older ranges.
• Red - not likely to be produced.

Yes - an indication of someone with too much time on their hands, however it was a useful tool in deciding what parts, particularly heads, needed to be squeezed into the moulds.

I've just had a look at the mould list on the PA website, and think the SYW range now has 34 moulds and over 180 separate parts. Looking at the chart the majority things are now covered, the main troops gaps (based on this book) are Prussian cuirassiers and British.

As discussed in the previous post PA are planning to produce more moulds, so hopefully these gaps will be filled.

British and Hanoverians?

 SYW range - progress so far

After ?&%$ years on the project, with the release of the hussars, the central and eastern theatres are pretty much covered by the moulds released so far. There are however still a few more things I would like to see done to tidy things up:

• Prussian Cuirassiers. This would need to be a 3 or 4 set collection. PA are unsure if these are different enough to sell - thoughts? (I have used Rossbach figures with SYW heads).
• Austrian Cuirassiers. I find these too big to use (so I have 3 x 8 man units just sitting in a box - does anyone want to buy them?). I have now replaced them with Karoliners converted with SYW heads. I personally think that PA should reprint them (they are digital) at the correct scale.
• Dragoon Heads. I find these too small and poorly detailed so do not use them. They are digital so I have asked PA if they can reprint them larger and with more pronounced detail.
• Artillery in Coats. Currently the artillery are in shirt sleeves to cover all armies (my idea - sorry); it would be nice to have a couple of moulds to produce a generic crew in coats.

Your thoughts would be appreciated.

British and Hanoverian Figures (British)

It has always been known that the lack of British figures left a big hole in the SYW range for western Europe; however the decision was made to have a range which would allow full armies to be produced by adding cavalry, artillery, light troops and staff officers before producing yet more infantry. 

With the release of the hussars, there have been requests on the PA Facebook page for British, and PA seem to be listening (it is always worth asking). I recently had a chat with the sculptor, and it seems PA are thinking of going ahead with some British - so keep commenting on their Facebook page - they do read it!

I think the following might be worth considering:

• British Infantry in their distinctive coats - perhaps 4 moulds (see below).
• Highlanders - I will do a separate post to discuss - I think 3 or 4 moulds.
• Artillery Crew - 2 moulds in coats to to fill gap above.
• Cavalry - not sure yet???

I will just cover the British Infantry in this post.

Hat Men, Fusiliers and Grenadiers

The illustrations show the typical differences between the hat men and grenadiers at the time of Minden, although there are a lot of variations (for example the hat man's green trousers and stiffened gaiters are an oddity).

The typical differences are:

• Obviously the tricorn and mitre caps.
• The grenadier carries a sword, which the line infantry had mostly abandoned.
• Grenadier coats had shoulder wings (well most did).
• Grenadiers had the match holder on the shoulder belt.

Some hat men are shown with belly pouches, however most illustrations seem to show them without them.

I think it might be worth having two moulds for the private soldiers, each with an advancing and marching figure as follows:

• Hat Men, with tricorn, without wings, sword, belly box or match box.
• Grenadiers with mitre cap, wings, sword, belly box and match box.

For the fusiliers use a grenadier mitre on a hat man torso.

Infantry Stance.

On Kronoskaf there is a sketch and description of the stance of the British infantry, which I have copied below. I would suggest that the 'standard' poses used on the other figures in the range are adopted, modified to 

When shouldering arms, the soldier was to keep his weapon nearly vertical, carried on the left shoulder, barrel facing outward, lock “turned up” and below breast level, with the butt flat against the hip, the weapon pressed against the body with the ball of the thumb. The musket was to be held with the index and thumb ahead of the corner of the stock, with the middle finger on the corner, the other fingers on the bottom of the stock. Soldiers were to stand with shoulders held back, stomach slightly tucked in, chest pressed out, chin up, and the right arm hanging down with the palms facing back. Finally, all but the rightmost man in the line was to have his head cocked to the right. The rightmost man kept his head straight forward. While not stated in any manual, the tricorne was generally worn cocked to one side—typically to the left. This was to allow the weapon to be shouldered, without hitting the hat.

Command Figures

As with the other ranges I suggest an officer,, standard bearer, drummer and NCO. From the illustrations above these are distinctive enough to not allow use of other nations.

Suggested Moulds...............

Mould 1:

• Officer with  shoulder sash and hand to take partisan, musket or sword.
• 1 x spontoon for officer
• Drummer with hanging sleeves
• 1 x tricorne head
• 1 x grenadier mitre head

Mould 2

• Standard Bearer 
• NCO and hand to take pole arm or musket.
• NCO musket
• 1 x tricorne head
• 1 x mitre cap head

Mould 3 - Hat Men (tricorne) - without sword, belly box, or shoulder wings.

• Marching torso  
• Arm for marching
• Advancing torso
• 2 x tricorne head

Mould 4 - Grenadiers (mitre cap)  - with sword, shoulder wings, belly box and match box.

• Marching torso  
• Arm for marching
• Advancing torso
• 2 x mitre cap head

As always feedback would be welcome to help try and get this right.

Hussar Size Comparison

In response to Ross's request, Peter Michael Prow has cast some figures (I still don't have the moulds) and photographed with the older Rossbach French Hussars (note there are no right arms on the new figures). The photos are on the PA Facebook Page - I have pinched them:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/princeaugust/

The Rossbach figures are the two bottom left. I have cast up a couple of units of the older figures, but personally I do not like the poses so only painted up one of them.

The new figures are more to my taste, and with the variation in horses and arms should make up some nice units.

And close ups with the two horse and head types (I think the officer horse might be different again).

And finally one with the Grenzer head.

If you have any questions please raise them in the comments and hopefully Peter will respond.

Hussar Moulds Released

 As you may have seen, PA have recently released their new SYW hussar moulds, just in time to add to Santa's list.

I had a fair bit of input into deciding what to put into the moulds, but due to other interests have lost contact with PA a little over the last few months, so have not had chance to try out the moulds in advance of release. I have a set on the way, and will cast up a few once I get hold of them - postal strike permitting. The pictures are just downloads from PA's website.

Although released as three separate moulds they are intended to work as a set taking advantage of interchangeable heads and arms.

3132 - Officer and Trumpeter in busby

The first mould shows a trumpeter in kolback, however looking at the mould contents it can be seen that there is also an arm with a sword, so he can make an officer pointing. This figure should differ from the other two moulds by not having the wide cross belt worn to by the troopers to carry the carbine (or the standard). 

  3133 - Trooper with busby 

The next mould has a trooper in kolback carrying a carbine. As with the officer, there is also an arm with a sword to allow variation, if the sword arm is used then a carbine needs to be found from the final mould (or from the dragoons).

If a standard bearer is wanted (not many carried them) the intention is to use the carbine arm and drill through.

3134 - Trooper with mirliton

And finally a trooper with a sword in mirliton. In addition to the sword arm this chap has a the separate carbine which needs to be attached. I am not keen on the head let off the horse as that will need some filing to sort out, however PA are squeezing a lot of goodies into these moulds.

So with the above it should be possible to make hussar units in either kolback or mirliton and with variation in arm and horse positions - it will be interesting to see if it works.

What is missing?

I asked for a fourth mould containing an Austrian hussar trooper with their distinctive long coat and tricorn, but I think I was pushing my luck a little. If people want it then it might be worth commenting on PA's Facebook page,

In all probability I will not be the first to use these moulds, so as always feedback would be appreciated.

New Grenz Mould

 A couple of weeks ago I got my greasy mitts on the new Grenz mould containing the advancing figure and drummer.

I am in the middle of another project at the moment (20mm WW2 Normandy - I went there earlier this year), so it could be a while before I get around to painting up a unit. However, I was interested to see how the figures have turned out, so spent a few hours casting up enough the figures for a couple of 16 man units.

My current casting set up is in my garage/wargames room - pretty simple and easy to pack up:

• The base board is just an offcut of kitchen unit shelving, it is fine under hot figures and small spillages, but would blister if a large lump of melted/hot metal was left in the same place for too long.
• A 300W solder pot (a bit bigger than the one PA sell) - and PA ladle.
• There is also a cheap digital thermometer (the thin twisted black wire on the right).
• Moulds (usually in pairs) are normally just held by 3 elastic bands, but this one needed a bit of extra pressure in the middle to prevent flash, so there is an additional PA clamp.
• I have a pin vice handy to push 1mm holes through the mould sides in difficult areas, in this case  it needed vents in the lower tips of both sword scabbards.
• Pliers for getting the figures from the moulds and snips for cutting off the ingates etc.

Below are photos of the new Grenz figures 'as cast' using Model Metal, I have cut off the ingates etc. but not cleaned them up any further - the head is 'as cast' and just pushed in. (You can see the marks on the scabbards where I have drilled vents.)

They are pretty clean and should not take a lot of preparation and I think will paint up well.

I intend to make 16 man 'close order' units, with 13 advancing, the drummer plus an officer and standard bearer from the Hungarian range. I will base them on single bases so that they can also act in open order.

I have also cast up a unit using 'scrap metal', they also cast easily, detail is not as crisp, but should also paint up well.

I hope someone buys them - as I had to twist PA's arm to get them made😟.

How much metal do I need?

Over the weekend I ran some participation games, which were re-runs of the Prague game we put on at Hammerhead back in March, but this time using the 'Field of Battle' rather than the 'A Gentleman's War' rules. Both are fun rules, however I found the FoB games ran quicker.

One of the players was considering building an army using the PA moulds, and asked how many figures can be cast from a bar of metal. I guessed a unit was about 250-500g (2-4 bars), but was not really sure - I have now looked into it in more detail..................

Prince August Metal Bars

PA's bars of Model Metal weigh 125g each, and according to their website will cast five 40mm foot figures.

Apparently the bars are sold by volume, so for interest I weighed 4 of each - Model Metal averaged 126g/bar and Casting Metal (surprisingly) a bit lighter at 121g/bar.

I also weighed a couple of my completed units (mostly scrap metal), after making allowance for the basing:

• A 16 figure infantry unit weighs about 325g, just over 20g per figure, so 5 or 6 foot figures per bar should be about right (3 bars per unit).
• An 8 figure dragoon unit as heavier at something like 500g, so 62.5g/figure - 2 per bar (4 bars per unit).

Looking on the PA site, there is currently (19/06/2022) little price difference between the two metals, assuming you buy 30 bars (enough for about 8-10 units), the cost per bar is:

• Model Metal - £3.47/bar
• Casting Metal - £3.25/bar

Model Metal generally produces much better castings, so at these prices there is little point in buying the cheaper metal (but prices are ever changing).

At the time of writing Model Metal is about £28/kilo (plus postage), so about £0.55 for infantry and £1.75 per cavalry; clearly if you can substitute/recycle  'free' scrap lead you can both save money and feel smug!

Scrap Lead

As I have said many times, the bulk of my figures are cast from scrap metal, although I do use Model Metal for fine detail such as heads, and Casting Metal when I run out of scrap.

For reference I weighed some bags of Old Glory ECW figures, these are small 28mm, both the foot (30 figures) and cavalry (10 figures) weight in around the 420g mark - about enough for a semi-flat unit. (I'm not suggesting you melt down new figures - it is just to give an idea of comparative weights.)

Anybody who knows someone who home casts, please don't throw away old figures, metal sprues etc. save them and get them recycled,

Printer's Metal

PA are currently selling old printer's metal at £15.83/1.9kg, so £8.50/kilo - less than the 1/3 price of Model Metal - has anyone tried it? 

If you can add any useful information please share it in the comments section.

More Frei Korps

Just to let you know I am still here and painting.

We have been playing a lot of games with the semi-flats over the last few months, unfortunately I never remember to take photos.

Frei Korps

I have painted up a unit of 'double blues' using advancing figures so that they can fit in close order. They are a bit generic so probably do not tie in exactly with any one unit, although du Verger (Quintus Icilius) is probably closest. I must confess that as this project progresses I am tending to paint things to my fancy rather than trying to be exact.

Frei Korps did not officially carry standards, I find it difficult to believe that units would not have some sort of rallying flag, and toy soldiers I think MUST have them, so I have painted spare figures to give them a flag (I think from Frei Korps von Kleist cavalry?)

New hussars - what moulds are needed?

One of the next things on Prince August's 'to do' list are SYW hussars. There are already a number of hussars in the Rossbach range, however they do not fit in with the new figures, the Prussian one with carbine is actually quite nice, but a little small, whereas the poses in the French moulds are not to my liking.

I don't know when these will be done, however it is worth having a discussion about what is wanted, before the sculptor starts work?

Prussian Hussars

There is only likely to be one set of hussar moulds, so these will need to be able to cast figures for many nations; consider the Prussians as a starting point as I have some nice pictures. 

Within a cavalry units I generally like to have the following figures:

• Officer which is different to the troopers.
• Standard Bearer - hussars did not usually carry standards, but they look good so add one.
• Musician, in this case a trumpeter.
• Trooper.

Uniform and Equipment

In order to cover all 4 figures, one option would be to provide a mould for each, however as there will be separate heads, right arms and carbines this could be done with less moulds, so possibly allowing for more variety in horse poses. Initially just consider two main body types.

Equipped with a wide cross belt. If assembled with a sword arm and carbine hung alongside, this will act as a trooper, alternatively with a suitable arm and no carbine  he would make a standard bearer (as was done in the dragoons, which look fine).

If there is no belt, then with a suitable sword arm he could act as an officer, or alternatively a musician with an arm carrying trumpet.

Heads

For the Prussians there are two types of head required, the kolback and the mirliton, so clearly both of these need to be provided.

Horses

The saddlecloths and leatherwork on the horses of all ranks all look similar (with the 'dog tooth' edging), so the same horses could be used for troopers and command figures.

As the torsos will be attached to the horses we need a minimum of two horse/torso moulds, however for these flamboyant types it might be worth asking PA to produce 3 to add some variety?

For the hussars I think the horses should be in a dynamic pose such as a canter or even a gallop, whilst still trying to maintain some of that 'old school' feel of the old Holger Erikkson figures.

Austrian Hussars

Austrian hussars were very similar to the Prussians, but  with some significant differences.

There were no 'dogs teeth' around the saddlecloth, just a wide stripe, so to be a 'universal' figure it is necessary to change the edging detail.

The Austrian trumpeters had a very distinct uniform, they did not wear the pelisse and kolback/mirliton, instead they wore a long tailed coat and tricorn. 

The undress uniform of the officers was similar (he would make a nice mounted Hungarian officer I suspect).

Russian Hussars

The Russians were again similar but with a couple of differences compared with the Prussians.

The saddle cloth, like the Austrians, they just had the plain striped edging

Reading both Osprey MAA 271 and Kronoskaff it appears they may not have been issued with carbines, although image 1 has a suspension belt to support one, and Kronoskaff states that one source says they had them. On that basis I think I would add them, however if anyone feels strongly enough that they should not carry them, then the whole unit could be made using the officer horse/torso with no cross belt. 

In Conclusion - at last

So after all that waffle, what do I think PA should consider making - I'm not sure how they will sell these - it might be best as a multiple pack like the dragoons?

Horse/torso

All saddle cloths to have simple wide stripe on the edge which will serve Austrians and Russians and act as a guide for the Prussian 'dog tooth'.

1 x Officer/trumpeter horse/torso with no carbine cross belt. This figure can be used for all officers and most musicians. It can also be used for Russians with no carbine, but unit will have little variation.

2 (or perhaps just one) x Trooper/standard with wide carbine/standard belt to be used for troopers and standard bearers. If two poses can be done it will give more variety in the horses. 

1 x Austrian trumpeter/officer horse/torso with no carbine cross belt, this figure is specific for Austrians. (It would possibly also make a Hungarian mounted officer).

Heads

The general requirement is for kolbacks and mirlitons.

The 'Austrian' mould needs a tricorne.

Arms

All arms need to be interchangeable with a round socket to allow the angle to be changed, with:

• Sword pointing ahead in 'charge'.
• Arm bent for standard (to be drilled out)
• Trumpet
• Possibly bent arm with sword?
• Possibly arm with carbine like first picture above?

As always your comments would be appreciated - and listened to.

I do not know when PA will be doing the hussar moulds, however i would be useful to have your thoughts - particularly if you are likely to be wanting to buy the moulds.

More Grenz Infantry?

Prince August have agreed to produce another mould to add variety to the Grenz, and we are trying to finalise what figures to include.

Advancing

Most importantly (from my point of view anyway) is an advancing figure, which will serve two main purposes:

• 
  It can be mixed into the skirmishing line to both give variety and stop the advancing officer sticking out like a sore thumb amongst the stationary firing poses.
• It can also be used to make up units of Grenz in close order.

Sculpting is almost complete, below are come screen shots of the near complete figure, in the same stance as all the other advancing figures.

Second Figure???

If PA stick with just one more mould, then what other figure is best to occupy the second space? There was a lot of similarity between the uniforms of the Grenz and Hungarian infantry, so the range needs to make best use of the Hungarian moulds:

• Officer - the Grenz and Hungarian officers were very similar, so there is no point in making another.
• Standard Bearer - it is doubtful the Grenz carried standards in the field, however if one is wanted (I will add one), then again the Hungarian officer with standard will be fine.
• NCO - a possibility, but perhaps a luxury.
• March Attack - again a possibility, however I envisage most Grenz on the table in 'open order' a lot of the time, so march attack not really 'dual purpose'.
• Musician - I think a musician is a must for any respectable close order unit. Little seems to be known about their uniforms, however I suspect they would be similar to the rank and file,

So in conclusion, I think the musician is the best bet for the second space, allowing close order units with the new advancing and musician figures plus Hungarian officer and standard bearer.

Grenz Musicians?

I have scoured my books and the internet, and can find very little about Grenz musicians. I suspect they should be drummers uniformed similar to the rank and file, although Crusader Miniatures give them a hornist? Just after the war I have read that they had 'swallows nests' on their shoulders, and Minden figures have them so it should be OK to add them.

If any of you have any details could you please let me have them, otherwise we will go with a drummer uniformed as the line but with swallows nests. 

As always comments and suggestions welcome.