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Monday, December 9, 2019

SYW Prussian Artillery and Earthworks

Although not off the production line in time to see action at Zorndorf, two Prussian howitzers and a 12 lb battery roll out from the painting desk.  These two howitzers will definitely see action when Kunersdorf takes to the gaming table.  Figures are Eureka Miniatures.  Nice figures and about time I got around to painting them.
As for the Battle of Kunersdorf, good progress was made over the weekend.  The terrain was laid out including the construction of the earthworks present all along the ridge where the Russians deployed historically.  With the defensive works at Kunersdorf in mind, I placed a test order from Battlescale in early November for a number of 10mm earthworks. 
Defenses on the Mühlberg
After the order arrived, I set to work painting and flocking the pieces.  The initial order contained 27 pieces of earthworks.  Making them battle-ready was not too big of an effort.  Great pieces that should work for earthworks and redoubts for 10mm to 18mm figures.  What I found, though, was that 27 pieces of earthworks would not cover the entirety of the ridge.  Given that shortfall, a second order to Battlescale was sent off.  I am awaiting the arrival of the second order.

The earthworks are nicely cast with good detail.  The earthworks are backed by post and plank with earth piled up against one side.  With post and planks painted and the tailings flocked, the result is quite convincing.   
Earthworks detail
Even if Kunersdorf was to be presented before the additional earthworks arrive, most of the critical Russian positions would be protected.

48 comments:

  1. Lovely artillery, the aerial shot would make a good template for paper armies if you needed to supplement the guns.

    I really like the battlescale stuff. I have a couple of these earthwork pieces to try out and they are really effective while retaining a clever simplicity. I have just received an order with the 60mm emplacement and that is also a super piece, with a 60mm base fitting comfortably inside.

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    1. Thanks, Norm!

      I was impressed by my first order of Battlescale earthworks. A few of the 60mm emplacements are present in the follow-up order that is winging its way to me now. I ordered a small selection of buildings too.

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  2. Great looking artillery and nice batch of earthworks!
    Best Iain

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  3. Eureka do make some cool figures. Nice paintjob Jonathan. The earthworks look pretty cool too!

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    1. Thanks! Eureka is a favorite of mine and I love the BIG SYW cavalry. The earthworks ARE cool!

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  4. Very effective and good looking earth works. Well done!

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    1. Thank you! The earthworks are very nice and will be pressed into service in a number of battles in a number of scales. The earthworks will be particularly useful for my 10mm ACW battles.

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  5. Lovely paint job on the artillery and the earthworks look very good, which reminds me I have some that need assembling...

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    1. Thanks, Steve! I await to see what is in work on your workbench.

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  6. Great looking artillery batteries and terrain as well, Jonathan!

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  7. Excellent artillery Jonathan! I find it really hard to comment on your blog, posts and comments take ages to load, it's probably just that my iPad is really old.

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    1. Thanks, Mike!

      I really appreciate your feedback regarding your difficulty in commenting. It may be due to the LinkedWithin widget that finds related posts. With more than 1,000 posts, perhaps this is taking a long time to process? I removed that widget for now.

      Perhaps it is the Top Commentators widget contributing too? It, too, must search through all comments which number in the many thousands.

      Let me know if you continue experiencing slowness in commenting. I appreciate your persistence to comment even if slow.

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    2. I think it's the old i-pad; never any trouble from my pc!

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    3. Thanks for confirming, Peter. I cut back on the duration of the Top Commentator count from a one year look back to a six month look back. This may help with page load speed too.

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  8. Big SYW guns: always a good look (and nice terrain--very handy; I'll have to give those a look).

    Interesting tidbit: as reported in the old "Gorget and Sash" V1, #2, Bodart's Kriegslexicon (1908, Viennna) lists the ten bloodiest battles 1618-1905 (based on percent of combatants lost in a single day). Kunersdorf is #6 and Zorndorf is #1, both ahead of Borodino (which is #8).

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    1. Ed, the BattleScale earthworks are really nice. Give them a look!

      Those are interesting tidbits. I did nor know that both Kunersdorf and Zorndorf made the Top 10. Both were very bloody affairs, for sure. Two examples of the shield and spear paradox in practice.

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  9. Lovely artillery and great work on the earthworks. They do look very formidable.

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    1. Thank you, Lawrence! The Russians will be hoping that the earthworks are formidable when the Freddie attacks.

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  10. Great work Jonathan. I like the way you have positioned the gunners, there are some nice poses there.

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    1. Much appreciated, Mark! The crew are nicely sculpted and posed.

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  11. Very nice as always Jonathan, an incredible painting rate. I also have earthworks like those but for ACW, nice.

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    1. Glad you like them! Are your BattleScale earthworks 10mm ones?

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    2. I built them myself decades ago with dowling and matchsticks, 15mm, but they look almost the same.

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  12. Lovely looking artillery Jonathan and those earthworks will work a treat!

    Christopher

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  13. Kundersdorf is a fascinating battle and I've seen it done in 28s, can't wait to see your presentation of it.Love the guns, and will check out Battlescale stuff.
    Best,
    Michael

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    1. Kunersdorf presents challenges both in presentation and in tactics for both sides. The Prussians are particularly hampered by terrain. Luckily for the Prussians, the might of their army falls upon the unreliable Russian Observation Corps.

      Glad you like the gun work. BattelScale stuff is first-rate and a bargain.

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  14. Really liking all this stuff. The earthworks are going to offer a really cool scene on the tabletop.

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    1. Good to see that you are liking this stuff! The earthworks will be a good addition to a number of periods. First up will be SYW.

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  15. Earthworks always look good on the table. Though I find 10mm terrain to be too small for my 18mm ACW troops, but then again I have them on 3mm thick bases which adds to their height. 😀

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    1. I have the same dilemma. The 10mm earthworks look short for my 18mm SYW figures but I wanted to use these for 10mm ACW too. Since I use 6mm buildings for 18mm SYW to get the BUA footprint right, I went with the down-scaled earthworks too. I think they will look ok.

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    2. Oh yeah, they’ll do the trick. And it makes them useful for the variety of armies you have, which is great unless you want to have several sets of earthworks. 😀

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  16. The Prussian artillery look excellent, and I love the earthworks as well.

    Battlescale is the work of wargames e-freind Steve in the UK. He has a facebook page for the company that has frequent updates with new items. The success of the company allows him to bypass his former job as carpet installer, which was really doing in his knees!

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    1. Thanks, Peter!

      Seeing a success story such as Steve’s is encouraging. He makes a great product, communicates well, and delivers the goods in short order. I look forward to receiving my second order very soon.

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  17. Splendid toys... as always Jonathan.

    All the best. Aly

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  18. Wonderful looking artillery...and earthworks, superb!!

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