Napoleonic & ECW wargaming, with a load of old Hooptedoodle on this & that


Thursday 9 May 2019

Bavarians - Light Artillery

Thanks to some splendid paintwork, very kindly carried out by Count Goya, the first artillery presence in my Bavarian 3rd Division is now ready for action. This is a battery of Leichte Artillerie, commanded, I believe, by Hauptmann Tausch.

The figure castings are by Franznap, as are the guns, which are Manson pattern 6pdrs (the gun masters were produced by 3D printing, I understand).


Some foot artillery are also coming along - currently they're on the bottletops. After them, I have to complete a regiment of dragoons and add a few staff and that is the 3rd Division complete - limber teams and a Wurstwagen will follow on after a respectable interval.

18 comments:

  1. They look great! Something about plain green bases, too, really helps to present figures well.

    Best Regards,

    Stokes

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    1. Thanks Stokes! As for the painting, I am lucky to have such kind and gifted friends. As for the green bases, they've become a house standard and I like them very much. They also irritate the bejesus out of the heroes at PMT, which is worth the effort on its own. Deep suspicion of anyone who does his own thing?

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  2. Quite lovely, Foy. I especially like the officer keeping an eye on things, though his horse may not like it when that linstock touches the gun!

    "a Wurstwagen will follow on after a respectable interval."

    Delighted to see that you are going from Bav to wurst. (I'll get my coat).

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    1. Oh dear, clearly 'the Bavarians are at the gates'..
      Lovely figures , of course!

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    2. Mike - thank you. The pun was ghastly, but much enjoyed.

      David - I like to do photos in the garden when possible - it brings a bit of variety to main catalogue. Yesterday the light was fading when I took these, so it was a bit of a rush.

      Jon - thanks very much. The Franznap figures are beautifully made, but rather slender in stature, so I try to keep them to themselves.

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  3. I think the Bavarian artillery may have shared some concepts with the Austrians. Though they did have French-style horse artillery later in the wars, the light artillery of 1809 seems simply to have been artillery equipped with lighter guns, and the gunners travelled around on a Wurstwagen artillery cart rather than riding on their own horses. Notwithstanding [what??], I have given them a horse-artillery style mounted officer to identify them, and for the moment they can use the horse artillery rules in C&CN/Ramekin.

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  4. Lovely looking toys Tony...
    That’s a very nice shade of blue...

    All the best. Aly

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    1. Thank you Aly - hope things are good with you.

      Goya and I had something of a debate about the appropriate shade of blue for these. First off, observe that my two photos, both taken out of doors within a few minutes of each other, appear to show quite a different blue. This is undoubtedly affected by the one on the rock being more directly sunlit than the other, but also blue seems to be one of the colours which my camera messes around with.

      I am aware that my perception of blue may be a bit dodgy. We agreed we needed a blue which was obviously darker than the infantry "cornflower", but not too grey (as we found two available shades of Prussian blue), not too bright, not too dark to show off the black lapels and (preferably) not obviously the same blue I've used by the gallon on French or Portuguese troops. I think Goya sent samples of 6 or 7 colours, being variously from Vallejo, Humbrol, Army Painter and Citadel. After some pondering, we went for the unexotic, and used Vallejo's shade 925, which is simply titled "blue".

      Although there may be some clamour that we should mix our own shade, the need for accurate repeats was a decisive argument in favour of a straight out-of-the-pot standard shade. In any case, I have very little confidence in my own judgement - I once had a mystifying conversation with my wife about an old sweater of mine which I thought was green and she thought was blue - or perhaps it was the other way round - anyway, I am sure I was wrong.

      The photo of the chaps standing on a wooden cabinet is probably nearer, but I think the shade of paint used is a tad darker than these photos!

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  5. Tony - they look very pleasing. I didn't think you had limber teams for your forces or is this something new?

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    1. I have a limber and a caisson for each (2 gun) battery for the French and the British - the other nations are lagging behind somewhat. Since the rules don't usually require limbers, they slip down the list a bit. Only one limber and one caisson per battery is simply because (a) I can't be bothered doing more and (b) the space taken up by the extra kit is horrifying (as it must have been in a real army).

      This is my first involvement with Franznap figures - they are nicely made, but they remind me of something - do you remember the Wottifers from "The Night Garden"? - not sure why. Time for my medication.

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    2. I see what you mean about the Wottifers [sic*]. That would make the Swiss infantry the Pontipines. All led by Marshal MacApacka, Duke of Iggle-Piggle.

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    3. Wottingers - that's the fellas. Here's a good example of what I had in mind.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8lMh1R4n5A

      Approx 13 years ago my youngest son was a big "Night Garden" fan, as was I. Now, of course, he will kill anyone who mentions the subject.

      Here's a nice clip of Makka Pakka - the last completely convincing TV celebrity. It has to be said that since we stopped believing in him, no-one washes the stones in our garden any more. So little magic, so much time to regret.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNnBqclN4IM



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  6. I like these a lot; but then, I have always liked the Bavarian Artillery uniforms. I try to always take my pictures outside on a cloudy day - perfect lighting!

    SLOW but steady progress continues to be made on my battalion for you. It has been a VERY busy month and I have accomplished little hobby wise (aside from running a convention game, and playing and assisting in our latest "Campaign in a Day, that is!)

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    1. Bless you, young sir - your strength is as the strength of thousands, because your heart is pure.

      You have certainly been busy. Mostly I have been spinning on the spot trying to decide which distraction to move on to next.

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    2. Doesn't that describe the customary nature of our hobby? :-)

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  7. Absolutely lovely, Foy.
    Best regards
    WM

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