1866 Hesse-Darmstadters

Here we go again. More completed figures for my 1866 'runaway train' project. This time we have a brigade of Hesse-Darmstadt troops from the 3rd Division of the Federal VIII Corps. Pictured are four battalions of infantry, supported by a small unit of jäger/sharpshooters and a 4pdr Krupp artillery battery. The figures are all Battle Honours and the flags are from Maverick models. (They were still using Napoleonic era flags so no problem sourcing these for a change).  Some, but not all, of the figures are shown wearing the red/yellow/black arm band on their left arms, which was used to help distinguish between factions during the war, although there were still a few blue on blue incidents, such as the Austrians firing on the Kur-Hessen (friendly) hussars towards the end of the battle of Auschaffenberg. The brigadier is an Irregular mini.

 

 

 

 

 

 

1866 Saxons

I recently finished basing these units up and am now almost at the end of my accidental side project. (How many times have I said that?). This time we have the bulk of a brigade of Saxons. Four battalions of line. I'm working on the jäger and artillery. The Saxon army withdrew into Bohemia to fight with the main Austrian Army of the North but I believe the original plan was to have them join up with the Federal forces in Western Germany. What a difference that would have made! I deliberately chose a very light blue for their uniforms to make them stand out a bit more but the Army Painter quick shade seems to have done something to the colour. It may not/probably isn't the correct shade of blue, but I think the debate about that is ongoing and could go on for a long time yet. The flags are more or less the right design for 1866. Thanks to Molinary on the Pendraken forum for providing me with lots of very helpful information on Saxon and indeed various other minor German states' flags. (Battle Honours figures from Old Glory 15s in the USA. They fit in v well with Foundry although North Star do dwarf them very slightly, but you can't really tell when they're on the table).

more 1866 reinforcements.

The Prussian army campaigning in Western Germany was supported by a not insignificant number of contingents from states allied to Prussia, either by design or geography. One of the reasons for resurrecting my interest in this period was the chance to paint up several units in non-Prussian uniforms, either in style or colour.

First up is the Lippe-Detmold Fusilier Battalion. Their uniform was very similar to that worn by Prussian jäger but with black facings and a yellow and red cockade. This unit was attached to the Prussian 13th Division and saw it's fair share of fighting, notably at the Battle of Kissingen where they helped defeat the Bavarians. (Foundry).

Second is a battalion from the duchy of Brunswick, still resplendent in their black uniforms and sky blue facings, although were supposed to be changing to Prussian-style dress. They were apparently still carrying flags from the Napoleonic Wars ( as indeed were some of the Prussians, whose flags were in so e cases just a few tatters attached to the flag pole). Nobody does figures suitable for the Brunswickers of 1866 (or 1870 for that matter), so I've used a bit of licence and made do with North Star Prussians in forage caps. The Brunswick contingent were very slow to mobilise and formed part of the Prussian 2nd Reserve Corps along with troops from Mecklenberg, Oldenburg, Lubeck and Saxe-Altenberg.

More 1866 troops

Despite being distracted by England's performance against France on Saturday and Scotland's miserable showing against Ireland on Sunday I did get some bases done. First up, the Prussian 4th (Westphalian) Cuirassiers, which were part of the Army of the Main. (Irregular minis). I quite like this range produced by Irregular, especially the cavalry as they paint up well, are much cheaper by a mile than North Star and Foundry and fill a gap where other ranges fail to deliver all the troop types needed.

 Next are the Prussian 8th (Westphalian) Hussars who were brigaded with the 4th Cuirassiers in 13th Cavalry Brigade (Irregular minis).

Now the opposition. First, a regiment of Saxon Reiter. Ok the Saxon army withdrew into Bohemia to fight with the Austrian Army of North, but they could have been ordered to join up with Federal forces in the West. (Irregular minis)

The final unit of cavalry are a regiment of Hesse-Darmstadt Reiter, who served in the 3rd Hesse-Darmstadt Division in the VIII Federal Corps. (North Star - mounted Prussian officer in feldmutz).

At the bottom we have one brigade of my Prussian Division. It could represent any one of the divisions that formed part of the Army of the Main, in particular Von Goeben's 13th Division, although I have used a bit of licence with the flags just to get some variety. (Mainly Foundry with some North Star)

Confined to barracks

Well, sadly I won't be able to go to The York show this year. I am still recovering/suffering from my encounter with a surgeon's scalpel four months ago! Actually, having seen a similar operation on You Tube it's not surprising I'm still having trouble; as well as the scalpel the typical surgeons armoury for a discectomy and decompression includes circular saws, hammers and chisels! Ouch!

Anyway, it's snowing as I write this so maybe I wouldn't have got out of the house anyway at stupid o'clock in the morning if the snow keeps coming and sticks. I have plenty of figures to work on, and eight regiments of infantry and four of cavalry for my 1866 project that need their bases doing, a task that can be accomplished sat in front of a roaring fire watching the rugby this afternoon and tomorrow with a beer or two. I shall post some photos when they are done.

All I will need to do then is finish the Artillery for all the various contingents together with some casualty/disorder markers and a couple of command stands and it will be all done. If I HAD gone to York I would have spent my day trying to find some suitable figures to represent a couple of Nassau battalions, but I have more than enough Austrians, Bavarians, Hessians and Saxons to take on the Prussians and their North German allies.

Then it'll be back to the 'drawer of doom' for a rummage around. I think I have some 17th C Polish Cossacks in there somewhere.......