Painting Report - Budget units

 A Russian hussar regiment. In this case, the Serbski Regiment in cornflower blue. This unit should have 'tall' fur hats, but eBay could only provide me with short ones. These figures were £2 a pop, and I'll take the short fur hats, thank you. SYW experts might wince, but I'm happy to compromise - after all, I'm from the generation of war gamers who.....

 

4th Grenadier Regiment. This unit still needs a flag.

This latest units has a couple of ringers in it. I have sawed off some tricorns and replaced them with miters. I have replaced an NCO standard bearer's flag staff with a musket. Ebay can only go so far in providing what you want, but with a little time and effort it can be just enough. If you look VERY closely - but, who the hell does.

In these times of austerity........

Seven Years War upgrade update - The Russians

Following the decision to upgrade 16 man units up to 24, my Seven Years War collection is moving on quite nicely. Furthest ahead are the Russians; all existing units have been upgraded and rebased. Cavalry have remained the same strength, at 8 figures per unit.

Line infantry. 11 units, plus 3 (not pictured) grenadier regiments. 

Command stands. 

Cossacks: 5 units 

Line cavalry: 4 units.
Artillery: 3 batteries.
Grenadiers: 3 units














I've decided to go on with the Russians for a while. I have 2 units of line infantry, 4 x units of Observation Corps infantry (36 figs per), 2 units of grenadiers, 2 units of Hussars, and a battery of guns in stock. I'll purchase the missing cavalry (3 units) and crew for the 5th gun battery shortly.

Thankfully, Foundry Russians are VERY easy to paint.

The Prussian Plan

I have spent a little time upgrading some more Prussian units. I now have six and they are pictured below. Under the pics you will find the composition of the planned Prussian army.

I have also re-thought the basing. I have decided to do the infantry at six to a stand with each stand measuring 45mm x 45mm unless the unit needs extra depth to prevent 'bayonet clash' when opposing units come into contact or when the stands are placed in 'march column'; extra depth stands are 45mm x 60mm with a marks towards the back of the stand to show the extra depth (the marks were made before the stands were cut by drilling 2mm holes at the 45mm point).

Prussian Army Composition

Infantry

Painted units for upgrading to 24 man units: I have five units of line and two units of grenadiers by Foundry (6 pictured above). I have five units of line (including one fusilier), and one unit of grenadiers by Front Rank.

Unpainted units: I have 6 units of line (including two fusilier), and two units of grenadiers by Foundry.

In total there are a total of units, including 12 musketeer, 3 fusiliers, and 5 grenadiers. This gives a total of 480 figures.

Cavalry

Painted units of 8 figures: I have four units of cuirassier

Unpainted units: I have five Foundry units to paint. There are three cuirassier and two hussar units.

Unpurchased units: I need to buy two more units of dragoons. I will use Front Rank.

This gives a total of fifteen units comprising: Seven cuirassier, five dragoon and three hussar units. A total of 120 figures.

Artillery

I have three batteries of two guns each. I will increase this to five batteries. The figures are a mixture of Foundry and Front Rank. A total of 10 guns and 40 crew.

Command

There will be 9 command stands comprising 20 figures. They are a mixture of Front Rank and Foundry.

In total, there will be 660 figures in 40 units.

The Russian Plan

After doing the first two Prussian unit upgrades to 24 man units, and quickly adding two more (photos to follow), I decided to do some Russian unit upgrades. Whilst I sorted out the figures to upgrade 5 Russian units in their green coats, I also counted everything up. Below are 4 photos showing the newly upgraded units; they include the Apcheronski Regiment in their red gaiters, which would date them post 1759 - but who's counting. The figures are Foundry; painted by me in enamels; the flags are also by me in enamels.

Below the photos I've listed the planned units for this army. The list gives the number of units requiring upgrades from figures in stock, the number of new units from figures in stock, and the number of new units requiring a purchase.

 The Russian Army

As before, I plan to wargame at regimental and not battalion scale. This is because a regiment of cavalry, when in line, has a similar frontage to two infantry battalions. I have always had to scale most historical battles anyway, so this 'scale' makes even more sense in the round.

Ratios of types were quite roughly worked out from looking at the regiments present at Gross Jagersdorf, Zorndorf, and Kunnersdorf.

I have chosen to do the Observation Corps (all regiments) because the Russian infantry are almost indistinguishable from each other and it provides variety; I will have no problems using OC units as normal infantry where the OC was not present.

Russian cavalry is a problem for me as a wargamer. The Russian army, outside of its cossacks, seems to have fielded less cavalry than its western neighbours, and in smaller units than the Austrians and Prussians (my other SYW armies). I have decided to field more dragoons than were historically in evidence so that I can have them on both wings. I have decided to field cuirassier in units representing two regiments each - but with only one flag.

Infantry:

Painted in need of upgrade to 24 man units: I have five painted line units in coats (above), four line units in waistcoats, and three units of grenadiers - all by Foundry. I also have two Front Rank units  of line to be upgraded. 

24 man units to be painted from scratch: I have two line units, one in coats one in waistcoats. I have one unit of grenadiers. I have four units of Observation Corps line infantry and one unit of OC grenadiers in waistcoats - all by Foundry. 

This will give a total of 17 line units and 5 grenadier units - 528 figures in all. 

Cavalry:

Painted 8 figure units: I have two units of cuirassier and 3 units of cossacks by Foundry. I have one unit of horse grenadiers and one unit of hussars by Front Rank.

Unpainted 8 figure units: I have two units of cossacks and a unit of hussars by Foundry.

Required 8 figure units: I need to buy a unit of horse grenadiers and two units of dragoons. I will use Front Rank unless ebay come to the rescue first.

This gives a total of 13 units comprising 104 cavalry.

Artillery:

I have three painted batteries each of 2 guns and 8 crew they are a proper mixture of Foundry and Front Rank. I have the guns for three more batteries (again a mix of Foundry and Front Rank) but they are currently without crew. I will use Front Rank for the crew.

This gives a total of 12 guns and 48 crew.

Command:

A mixture of Front Rank and Foundry figures which will go towards making nine command stands. There are 15 figures.

This will give a Russian army of 695 figures in 41 units - a good night's game, and with a very 'campaignable' mix.

Seven Years War Non-project Begins

I'm going to call this pile of lead a non-project. What is the difference between a project and a non-project? A project supersedes all other painting and is the focus of paintbrush attention; a project has a finishing date; a non-project has neither.

Although a lot of the pile constitutes new units (perhaps 30) a good deal will be used to upgrade infantry units from 16 figures to 24 figures. I have never been happy with the basing method decided on by the Ilkley Lads, though it did get lots of units on the table quickly, but I conformed. Now I choose to rebel!!!!

Below are some shots of the first two 24 man units, each with 8 newly painted figures attached to them. The first photo shows before and after. Before, the figures were based 4 to a stand measuring 40mm frontage by 50mm deep. Now they are based 6 to a stand measuring 45mm frontage and 50mm deep. I think you will agree that the density (50% more figures on an extra 12% frontage) is much more SYW looking.

My first target will be to upgrade enough units to play scenario 12, Flank Attack, Scenarios for Wargamers, by Charles Grant. It is based on Leuthen. The forces will be Prussian (red) Vs Russian (blue) with cavalry increased by 50%. It shouldn't take too long to knock out the units.