Russian Horse Artillery 1812+

Regiment of the Day

Russian Horse Artillery - 1812+

New Project for May ... well, same old Project really, painting tonnes of 15mm Russians ready for battle, and writing software to control the whole game.

Thought I would start off a "May Day" Parade to try and get back up to date with the blogging and photography anyway.

So here we go .... welcome to my May Day Parade effort, concentrating on the Russian Army of 1813.

Will try and keep rolling through May to get all my Napoleonic Russians up to date on this blog.

French Line in Bardin Uniform - Leipzig 1813

Tour de France - Stage 8

Great racing last nice with another long stage of over 100 miles, with lots of nasty hills ... and some more unfortunate accidents.

Was shocking to see Sanchez (defending Olympic gold medalist) crash out with a broken collar bone, so he is out for London 2012.

What we did see though was a memorable win for a young French rider in his first tour. It was one of these rare occasions where the risk of hopping onto the breakaway group actually pays off.

A memorable win for Thibaut Pinot - the youngest rider in the race !

What better way to capture that in miniature, than finish off a unit of French Ligne using some of the youngest (newest) figures available ... Eureka's own amazing late French in Bardin uniform in 18mm.

Von Kochitsky Karabiniers

Regiment of the Day

Getting on with posting my monster backlog of forces

Some 1806 Saxon Heavy Cavalry - Karabiniers von Kochitsky.

These are around 5 squadrons at full strength, attached to Zechwitzs 2nd Division (Saxon), part of Hohenlohes Army  Group South.

In Republique scaling ... that comes out to 1 base of Cavalry. Yay !


It was the Southern army group that ended up getting smashed at Jena by several combined French Corps.  By all accounts, the Saxons had a favorable position on the flank, and came out of the engagement in better shape than the Prussians.

The Saxons managed to extract themselves from the battlefield in good order, never once falling to pieces in the same fashion as the less fortunate Prussian brigades.

Napoleon was so impressed by the Saxons, especially their heavy cavalry, that he went out of his way to sign up Saxony in an alliance and incorporate their forces into the Grande Armee, where they continued to serve with great distinction pretty much up to the end in 1813.

As always .. my history lesson is probably a little off there, but that interpretation makes for a ripping yarn if ever there was one.

Saxon 2 Div - 2nd Brigade

Regiment of the Day

Another unit of Saxons before going for a big re-org to 1:60 scaling.

Saxon Boguslawski Fusilers

Regiment of the Day

A few more Eureka Saxons out the way today ... this one is a small detachment of sharpshooters to provide a token skirmish screen for the main line troops.

Again, I have gone with a distinctive non-regulation jacket colour for these light troops. Same colours as the Saxon artillery uniforms in this case.

And the little green plumes to denote that they are sharpshooters.

Saxon 2 Div - 1st Brigade

Regiment of the Day

Just documenting a Saxon 'brigade' at the moment - currently set up as 5 bases of figures for Republique, before I expand them out at 1:60 into a set of large Battalions

All figures from Eureka's excellent 18mm range

28mm Ned Kelly on Penny Farthing

Diversion of the Day

Another 28mm piece for the shop - another bike related theme.

Another Mike Broadbent sculpt, casting by Eureka Miniatures.

Really enjoyed the simplicity and sense of movement in this casting.  The mounting base in this case captures the raw feel of the Australian backwoods, where Ned Kelly and gang of bushrangers made their name.

28nn Penny Farthing

Diversion of the Day

Something a little different today ...

A 28mm scale Penny Farthing from Eureka.

The good pastor and his faithful nieces

Horde of the Day

Today we have a useful addition to any field army from pretty much any period from 50 AD through to the present.

The return of the Marquis de Chenoncoix (Part 1)

Horde of the Day

Somewhere in Middle Europe, in the mid-1750's ... as the shadows of the day grow longer, men of the regiments of France take up defensive positions around a hamlet and the surrounding farmlands.

Rumours abound that the infamous Marquis de Chenoncoix  has returned from many years in exile to reclaim his ancestral titles.

A period portrait of the Marquis de Chenoncoix.

It was the year 1708 which saw the Marquis de Chenoncoix at the height of his fortunes - known as a pious man, a kind benefactor  to his people, the Marquis was popular, successful and prosperous in every way.

That year he sailed to the East Indies on a goodwill mission to assist the sick and build a lavish home for orphans in that distant land.

Danger Danger - Partisans !! Bulgarians !!

Company of the Day

Something completely different today - I picked up some Soviet Partisans and WW1 Bulgarians from Eureka, and had an absolute ball painting them up.

What nice figures they are for 15mm scale !

These are from Eureka's 300 club, filling in a little touched gap in the WW1 market. I have painted these guys up for use as Polish troops or paramilitaries during the long and often crazy 'interwar' period of 1919 - 1930 something.

The whole period is filled with a distinct lack of uniformity, so you can easily throw a number of figures together to represent all sorts of interesting forces involved in this period.

Saxon Advanced Guard Division - Jena 1806

Corps of the Day

Today we will put together all of the Saxon units in the Advanced Guard Division at Jena, and see how they operate on the battlefield.

Infantry Brigade Belvilaqua, Jena 1806

Regiment of the Day

To complete our Saxon Advanced Guard Division at the battle of Jena, we have today the Infantry Brigade Belvilaqua.

This is a composite brigade made up of the following regiments :
Müffling Musketeers, Prince Clemens, Kurfurst.

It presents something of a challenge then to model as a single brigade. We some battalions of a Prussian Regiment, IR 49 ... and battlions of 2 different Saxon regiments.

In other Divisions, there are similar infantry brigades, again made up of battalions pulled from several different regiments.

Bit of a mess there .... what to do ?

Fusiliers von Pelet, Jena 1806

Regiment of the Day

More 18mm Saxons from Eureka. Today we have the Light Infantry Brigade from the Saxon Advanced Guard Division at Jena, 1806.

Light infantry is not the first thing that comes to mind when you think of the Prussian army during the 1806 campaign.

However, the Saxon forces which fought at Jena, contained a high proportion of light troops compared to the Prussians. Especially in the Advanced Guard Division, we find 3 'regiments'  (at Battalion strength) brigaded to form a large brigade of light troops.

Specialist sharp shooters, the Saxon light infantry were the equal of the French in the theory of light infantry. However, their small numbers and their lack of real experience separated them dramatically from the French.

So today, we have my interpretation of a brigade of mixed Saxon light infantry battalions  at Jena, 1806

Saxon 1806 Artillery (Jena Auerstadt)

Regiment of the Day

Today we dive back into some of my 18mm Eureka Saxons from Jena Auerstadt.

The artillery component of the Saxon Advanced Guard Division !

Saxon von Trützchler Hussars, Jena 1806

Regiment of the Day

Today we have a small unit of rather elite cavalry - the von Trützchler Hussars, being part of the Saxon advanced guard division at Jena 1806.