Thursday, March 8, 2007

SYW Prussians


I'll be posting more about Hesse-Fedora, including the first initiates of the Grand Order of the Maltese Falcon in the coming days. But right now, I've only got time for a description of part of my SYW project:

SYW Prussians

My current SYW project grew out of the SYW games played at the local club, Lone Star Historical Miniatures. LSHM uses 15mm figures and home-brew rules adapted over the years.

But several years ago I got hooked on the spectacle of 28mm gaming, especially using “Big Battalions.” I decided to start a Napoleonic project, but in the end opted for the SYW instead. I have been acquiring figures for several years, and have now amassed a pair of substantial armies.

1st Musketeer Brigade (4 battalions)



Infantry Regiment (IR) 5 alt-Braunschweig (2 bn)


IR 9 jung-Kleist (2 bn)

2nd Musketeer Brigade (4 battalions)



IR 13 von Itzenplitz (2 bn)


IR 18 Prinz von Preussen (2 bn)

3rd Fusilier Brigade (4 battalions)



Fusilier Regiment (FR) 35 Prinz Heinrich (2 bn)


FR 36 alt-Münchow (2 bn)

4th Grenadier Brigade (4 battalions)



Grenadier Battalion (GB) 13/18 von Finck


GB 5/9 von Billerbeck


GB 35/36 von Scheckendorff


Standing Grenadier Battalion 1

Cavalry Brigade (14 squadrons)



Cuirassier Regiment 8 von Seydlitz (4 sqd)


Dragoon Regiment 6 von Schorlemer (5 sqd)


Hussar Regiment 4 von Puttkamer (5 sqd)

Artillery Brigade



1st Artillery Battery


2nd Artillery Battery

Other Troops



Frei Battalion Le Noble

Battalions are 24 figures on four stands. Each musketeer and fusilier battalion has a fifth stand of grenadiers, which are converged to form the grenadier battalions listed. Sadly, I wasn’t paying close attention when choosing units, and the grenadiers don’t all match historically. IR5 should be with IR20; IR9 should be with IR10; IR13 should be matched with IR26; and IR18 should be with IR15. I did get it right with the fusilier regiments, as FR35 and FR36 actually did form a battalion under Major von Scheckendorff. The Standing Grenadier Battalion 1 is made up of the grenadier companies of its historical counterparts: Garrison Regiments 3 and 4 and the “New” Garrison Regiment.

The cavalry is made up of 6 figure squadrons, with 3 figures to the base. My original intent was two stands per historical squadron, keeping a 30:1 troop ratio. However, I made a math error along the way, and while the dragoons and hussars both have 30 figures, my Seydlitz Cuirassiers have detached a squadron somewhere en route and have only 24 figures present and ready for duty.

The artillery consists of two batteries, each of 2 model guns with 3 gunners per model.

The figures are a mix of Front Rank, Foundry, and Old Glory.

The entire Prussian force is therefore 17 battalions, 14 squadrons, and 2 batteries.

3 comments:

  1. Hey Ed, that's some Prussian army you've got there! Will they double as your Hesse-Fedoran army? How about posting some photos of your troops here? We'd love to ogle them ;-) How about the enemy? On which country will you model the appearance of those trrops?

    By the way, in light of the remarks over on OSW by a certain someone concerning the historical veracity of names and fictitious 18th century states/armies -- Horse Hockey! It's your project. You call your countries and regiments what you'd like.

    OSW is a great and supportive (mostly) discussion forum. But there are a few over there who take themselves waaaayyyy too seriously. Don't let those dark clouds rain on your parade. I, for one, can't wait to see how your Hesse-Fedoran project takes shape.

    Best Regards,

    Stokes Schwartz

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  2. Thanks for the support, Stokes. As to historical veracity, my troops will all be painted in "real" uniforms. But let's not get started discussing what "real" uniforms would have looked like!

    As you probably already read, the Fedorans will be based on "real life" Brunswick using RSM figures.

    Cheers,
    Ed

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  3. Ed,

    As to the jager question you posed on an OSW post . . . the RSM jagers come in a mix of two poses -- standing firing and kneeling firing (at least that's how the French I ordered came.

    I would suggest perhaps using the kneeling figures as rifle-armed and the rest as smoothbore-armed. Or ignore the historical model and cause them all to be issued the same weapon.

    A nice start. Congratulations!


    -- Jeff

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