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Thursday 2 April 2015

Kronoskaf - website of the month!

(Note 03/04/15 - I have added some more photos at the bottom of the post)


Project Seven Years War

First of all thanks to Richard Couture at Kronoskaf for making my blog his 'Website of the Month'; and welcome to any of you who have used the link to get here.

If you are interested in home casting 40mm Seven Years War figures, and the Prince August range in particular then please follow this blog, and contribute by making comments. Prince August are developing this new SYW 'wargaming' range taking into account feedback from this blog, so your comments do matter.

If you are interested in the Seven Years War, and have not yet found the Kronoskaf site then you really must make a habit of visiting the site - it is a real gold mine of information:

http://www.kronoskaf.com/syw


A game using Maurice

I had another game with the 40mm figures at the club again on Tuesday, and took a few photos. This time I managed two decent shots before the flash came on without me noticing.

This time we played with the Maurice rules, basing to these rules and Field of Battle is pretty much identical, so we use them for either, depending on what we fancy.

We used every one of the 17 new range infantry units I have managed to paint. The armies represented Austrian (with some Russian help) and Prussian (with Saxons). For those of you who use Maurice we added some national characteristics as follows:

  • Austria; 'Artillery Acadamy' and 'Cavaliers' giving them an edge in artillery and cavalry.
  • Prussia; 'Lethal Volleys' and 'Oblique Order' making their infantry both more maneuverable and more effective in the firefight.

Unfortunately I did not take enough photos to track the progress (I always get too tied up in the game), however a rough sequence of events was:
  • The preliminary Austrian bombardment with their 'superior' 4 guns was spectacularly ineffective.
  • The initial Austrian infantry assault (the Austrains were the attackers) was driven back by the 3 Prussian guns, who must have had laser rangefinders. (Including a second humiliating rout by the Russian grenadiers!)
  • A Prussian cavalry attack around the Austrian left was driven back by an infantry line
  • An Austrian cavalry attack around the Prussian left was initially successful but the stumbled up against some previously unseen bad ground (the ;'Not on the Map!' card being played and terrain placed in front of them).
  • A final push of the Austrian infantry in the centre broke the Prussian army morale (we did not even realise it at the time as we had worked out the break points wrong), but only by 'beardy' use of the last cards by the Prussian. 
Overall result, a very enjoyable draw.

Some photos.......


Austrian infantry centre ready to go (grenadiers confidently marching out to their doom in the distance).



Prussian infantry and guns waiting for the assault.


Guns on left of Prussian centre (Karoliners painted as Prussian)



Austrian  artillery firing without bothering loading the balls (Karoliners painted as French - waiting for new SYW artillery!)



Hungarian infantry assault Saxon grenadiers - result was misery for the Hungarians.



A view from behind the Austrain centre,



And then I forgot to take any more photos!

Some more photos..................


BUT, my opponent Paul Scrivens-Smith (see his blog http://scrivsland.blogspot.co.uk/ ) has just sent me some photos he took, These give a better overall view of the battle, I have added them in below:











And as a play - how about black and white?



Monday 30 March 2015

Russian grenadiers' first outing.

A couple of weeks ago I took a boot full of 40mm figures down the club for a game of Field of Battle (FoB). No particular battle, just line them up and show my opponent how to play the rules.

Unfortunately Martin had the most abysmal dice rolling I have seen for years, and my new Russian grenadiers bravely marched forward - and legged it - well that's their first battle jitters over (see his blog)!

I took a few photos, but I forgot to switch off the flash, so they were mostly rubbish, below is the only one taken without a flash.


I have just discovered (see comment 13 on previous post) that Martin took a few photos on his phone and put them on his blog:

http://tabletopmog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/old-school-rules.html

Grenadiers on the run.
Grenadiers on the run - pinched from Martin's blog.

The infantry are all the new SYW range, the cavalry and artillery old Karoliners and HE.

I have a game of Maurice with them tomorrow, so must try and take some photos.

Sunday 15 March 2015

More Russians

I've painted up another couple of units to show some more of the range.

Grenadiers in summer uniform


The march attack figures have a separate arm, but assemble and paint up easily. The new grenadier head/helmet is very nice, and is a really valuable addition to the range.

One other thing I would mention, I always file down the bayonets to a triangular section, they look much better.

(And, it is worth rotating the left hands on the officer and NCO, otherwise they look like a Nazi salute).

The flags are from Maverick Models, these are relatively inexpensive, and can be printed to the size you want (within reason).


The bodies in the moulds are for musketeers, and so do not have the cartridge pouch on the waist belt which was characteristic for the grenadiers (or the correct grenade pouch on the shoulder strap), however the difference was not really enough to justify a complete new set of moulds. 


The original plan was to have a separate 'stick on' waist pouch to convert the figure, unfortunately this could not be fitted in, and was thought too delicate for the mould making process, so when the figure is assembled with the grenadier head it is not quite correct. It would still look pretty good, however I chose to make my own pouches out of plasticard (Renedra bases). I made the pouches a bit too big, but they don't look too bad. However when/if PA produce their 'accessories' mould it might be possible to include a strip of pouches?



(Update 29/05/15, the waist pouch will now be included in the moulds, and looks much better than my effort.)


Musketeers in winter uniform


I have no plans to paint up many of this figure, as intend to paint my Russian infantry in summer dress. However as there has been some concern about this new pose I painted up a unit to see what they look like.

I agree there is some scope to improve the pose - but I still think this is a very fine figure,


This pose is more upright than anything in the range, and this presents some problems with the command figures. The officer is the new Russian, he does lean forward to match the rest of the range, but as he is leading from the front rank he looks fine.

There is no new NCO in winter uniform, and the Prussian figure is not right as it has belts over the wrong shoulder, and a bread bag. This is not a big problem as the Russian NCOs were armed with muskets, and dressed identical to the rank and file - other than extra decoration which can be painted on.


The drummer is Prussian, again leaning forward in the front rank, so looks fine.


















I decided not to use the new standard bearer (officer), as I put the standards in the rear rank, and the forward lean did not look right back there. Instead I decided to make an NCO by converting one of the rank and file, a surprisingly simple job by just drilling through the hands, which are both on the body, and cutting the musket off the separate arm - before gluing it on. I know it's not quite right as he has a cartridge box - but he has to carry his vodka somewhere!

As always comments welcome.

Extra photo added to show rear of coat.


Saturday 21 February 2015

Russian Infantry - in summer uniform

Chris has sent me the test moulds for the Russian infantry so I have cast up enough figures for a few 16 man units.

First I decided to paint up a unit of advancing musketeers in summer dress to see how they look. With the red waistcoat and trousers, and no turn backs they are very easy to paint, especially as the red is straight out of a can (Army Painter 'pure red', with any missed bits and tidying up in Vallejo 'vermilion'). They could do with some shading or lining between the waist coat and trousers, but I am trying to resist it!


I have some flags on order from Maverick Models, which should arrive in the next few days - but I could not resist getting the unit finished and on the blog so the flag shown is downloaded from Kronoskaf.


There are 8 figures in the new moulds, and this unit uses 5 of them, so
is a good indication of what is to come. The figures not shown are the two infantry in winter dress and the march attack in summer uniform - and perhaps more importantly the grenadier helmets - I'll have to get something painted.


It's worth noting that the Russians were not the only ones to fight in waistcoats in hot weather, the Saxons and probably French and others did as well, The Saxons would be particularly interesting as there was a lot of variation in waistcoat colours. The figures in summer uniform would probably work well as colonial or miltia units, particularly in 'imagination' armies.

And I've finally got around to doing the second battalion of the Saxon Leibgrenadier Guard, so I took a photo while I had the camera out.





I think this is the end of the new infantry moulds for a while - I am looking forward to seeing how the cavalry work out!

As always keep the comments coming.




Tuesday 3 February 2015

Russian Infantry - ready to go


Chris has now finished the changes to the figures, they look really good, I will not reload photos of them all, just some examples.

Winter Uniform - Grenadiers


The helmet has been changed to give a longer rear peak, and the coat improved by adding buttons, and pleats in the back to break up the plain area.























Guard Grenadiers




We thought it worth squeezing in a head (in one of the command moulds) for those of you who fancied some guards units, never used in the field, but they will look good in those imaginations!









































Summer Uniform - Musketeers


And with the summer uniform a vent has been added to the back of the waistcoat. And the angle on the tricorn has been steepened a little.


















As always comments welcome.

Saturday 31 January 2015

French Infantry

Some thoughts on future plans - probably a looooooooong way off yet.

All quiet on the western front.


The Russians are due out in the the next couple of months, and that should complete the 'close order' infantry for the eastern theater. PA have always planned to get the troops done for the eastern conflict before moving on to the west, however recent discussions, and looking at what troops are already in the moulds has made me wonder what is actually needed for the west?

Certainly the British uniforms were distinctive, particularly the highlanders, so these warrant quite a few new moulds, so quite a major undertaking.

But what about the French, who operated without the British as opponents alongside the Imperial Army as at Rossbach, is much needed to release these?

Is there actually any need for French infantry moulds?


As far as I can see the French uniforms were very similar to the Russians (and to some extent Austrians and Prussians), the main difference being that many, but by no means all, illustrations show the waist belt still worn on the outside; so the Russians would probably be fine provided you are happy with the belts on the inside. (Also, I already have 100's of Karoliners painted up as French, and I suspect so do many others), so is there really a place for French moulds??


The answer is no..........and yes, I don't think they are really needed, however PA want this SYW range to be a stand alone, so yes it is worth doing something.

What to put in?


The answer is probably to treat the French in a similar way to the Austrians, and release a single mould (two bodies and three heads), which has the parts needed to allow the French to be built up using Russian, Austrian and Prussian figures - so what is needed?

For the bodies


I think stick with the old formula:

  • Infantry advancing - waist belt outside
  • Infantry march attack - waist belt outside
  • (Or possibly a drummer without turnbacks?)


Heads

  • Two French tricorns
  • A grenadier bearskin

I could do with a bit of help here as I find the information confusing:

  • Would the French tricorns be different from the Russians?
  • Did the French wear mustaches (just grenadiers)?
  • Was the French bearskin different to the Austrian - any pictures welcome (particularly the back)?


As I have said these are only initial thoughts, however it does look as if the French infantry can be covered quite well with a single mould - any thoughts?

Tuesday 27 January 2015

Russian Infantry ........... almost there.

A belated Happy New Year to you all.

The Russian greens are now almost ready, a few changes changes are still needed, however I thought it worth sharing the photos (as I've not posted for over a month) :

  • The most obvious change needed is that the grenadier helmet needs the rear peak lengthening.
  • Cuff buttons to be added.
  • A vent needs adding in the back of the summer uniform waistcoat.

I should get the test moulds in the next couple of weeks and cast up some units (weather permitting), so production moulds not too far away?

As usual all figures have separate heads, so can be Russian musketeers or grenadiers, and can be mixed with the Prussians, Austrians and Hungarians.


3109 – Russian  officers in winter/parade uniform


These should also (with a bit of work) be useful for other nations, for example the officer will make a good grenadier officer for the Austrians,

Russian officer


The musket is replaceable so could carry pole arm or sword (there should be a sword in the mould).




Standard bearer (officer)


We made this an officer for some variation in the Austrians and Prussians. If an NCO is preferred use the Prussian with Russian head.



 3110 – Russian drummer and NCO in summer uniform


The Russians fought most of their battles in the summer without their coats on (officers still wore their coats), so two moulds have been dedicated to the summer uniform.


NCO


The musket is detachable, so can carry pole arm etc.


Drummer


A drummer in summer uniform has been provided, for parade/winter uniform, use one of the Prussian drummers.



 3111 – Russian  musketeers/grenadiers in summer uniform

Advancing





March attack




3112 – Russian  musketeers/grenadiers in winter/parade uniform


Advancing - with grenadier head


(The helmet needs the rear peak extending to shoulder. and also a pleat will be added to break up the plain area between the coat tails).


















March Attack


This the march attack pose has been changed in this figure to be a more upright, slower pace (as with the advancing figure pleats will be added between the tails).

I think it is really good and possibly the best figure so far!



I think that Chris has done a good job on these, and they look as if they may be some of the best so far - but it depends how they cast! 

Next up Austrian cuirassiers - if we can figure out how to fit them together!

As usual comments welcome.