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Thursday, January 21, 2016

Austrian IR#43 in 18mm AB

Having proclaimed that 2016 would see more painting effort focused on 15/18mm in general and the 1799 and 1859 projects in particular, off the painting desk are two battalions of Austrian (German) fusiliers for the 1799 project. 
While all of the other painted Austrians for the project are, thus far, wearing the pre-regulation 1798 casquet as headgear, IR43 is fielded in the post-1798 helmet.  The 1798 helmet likely was not introduced in a timely fashion so having most of the Austrian regiments donning the casquet into 1800 (or even later) seems a plausible decision to me.
Following IR43 is another two battalion Austrian regiment for the 1799 project.  With the next regiment in the queue, I return to casquet-wearing, German fusiliers.  In queue are a few artillery pieces to provide a bit of punch to the Austrians and Russians.  As I dig through The Lead Pile, I see that more artillery for all combatants is needed.  Of course, I could press existing artillery from the main Napoleonic collection into service for this project but I have decided to field era specific crew rather that using figures from the later periods.  Since the 1809 Austrian artillerymen are wearing bicorne, they could be easily pressed into service if needed.  For now, my goal is to supply separate artillery but I may change my mind.  More attention is needed on fielding cavalry too.  
With focus and energy returning to this project, time to begin pouring over OBs for a few of the 1799/1800 battles.  Which battle to address first?

33 comments:

  1. lovely looking Regiment Jon!
    what are the base sizes?

    cheers,

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    1. Thanks, Phil! Each infantry base is 1.5" x 2.5" holding 12 foot and one mounted.

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  2. Very nice! Love the two flags of the early battalions. No drummers, though? I find they give a much needed splash of colours to the Austrian battalions.

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    1. Thank you! Drummers are in the back rank of each battalion. They can be seen more clearly in the photo taken from behind the battalion.

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    2. Indeed they are! I missed it ;-)

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  3. Wow, amazing! I always marvel at the detail in such small scale, and these are excellently done. Cheers!

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  4. Top painting Jonathan, Austrians always look cool on the table!

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    1. Quite Right, Paul! Austrians do look cool on the table and one of my favorite Napoleonic armies.

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  5. Looking nice, Jon. I have been spending a fair bit of time with those sculpts myself.

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    1. Thank you, Scott! I have been following your "little" project. By the time you are finished, you will be able to paint AB Napoleonics with your eyes closed.

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  6. Hi Jon,
    The regiment looks great! What rules are you using for basing the unit? Thanks.

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    1. Thank you! For rules, I use a modified version of Republique (www.wtj.com) or my own depending on the granularity I want in a game. Any set of rules where one base equals one MU ought to work though.

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  7. These look great, I really like the Austrian neoclassical helmet for their line in this period, you've done a fine job on these
    Best Iain

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    1. Thank you, Iain! Iam fond of the Austrian neo-classical helmet too. My dilemma is that I also think the earlier casquet an equally nifty headgear!

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  8. Looks good! Great job!
    I love the Austrian helmets!

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  9. Great looking unit with ? Kaisergelb facings.
    Castiglione (1796) is a favorite battle from the early era. The "Wurmser's ... Offensive" mini campaigns from the Courier are another thought!

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    1. Thank you, Peter! Castiglione is not one of the earlier battles that has seen action on my table. Bernhard Voykowitsch's Castiglione is a favorite of mine, though. Good suggestion on the Courier article. Unfortunately, I don't have it. In fact, Rivoli might be the only one that has seen table top action. That oversight must be remedied.

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  10. Superbly done, Jonathan. Your productivity, quality and diverse range of periods and scales amazing.

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    1. Thank you, Dean! Painting keeps me out of harms' way in the evenings...

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  11. Nice looking unit. I really like the look of incorporating a mounted leader into these single stand units.

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    1. Thanks, Jake! I only started adding a mounted officer when the 1799 project began. I have considered going back to the main 15mm Napoleonic collection and adding a mounted officer to each stand. No, that would be madness!

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    2. I am considering doing the same thing with my 6mm Napoleonics as well. From time to time, I think about rebasing them. Then I look at the shelves a of painted figs, and the backlog of unpainted figs.. Perhaps another day.

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