RSMs on Hinchcliffe horses and figure identification

I finally got around to pulling out the camera and taking a picture of the RSM95 figures mounted on Hinchcliffe horses. While I was at it, I also took a picture of a couple of Napoleonic figures that I need help identifying. If anyone recognizes the figures in the second photo, let me know. As always, click on the photos for an enlarged view.

My Kingdom for a Horse...

I've mentioned previously that I had six RSM95 mounted figures in need of horses, a mixture of French Generals and English Aides. Well, a few days ago I had a sudden epiphany, while trying to decide whether to get rid of a large number of 28mm Napoleonic figures that I acquired from a fellow gamer clearing out his collection. Included in the set were a number of Hinchliffe Napoleonic Austrian Hussars with an inadequate number of horses. So I had the idea to try mounting my horseless RSMs on some of the Hinchliffe horses.

They're not perfect, as there's as much as an eighth of an inch or so gap between saddle and horse back one some of them. But I think this is a gap that I can live with to save the $6.60 it would take to buy the RSM horses when my budget for buying anything non-essential for living stands at about $20 right now. ;) Maybe later, when I've filled out my units to satisfaction, I may come back and buy new mounts for them IF the Hinchliffe don't look right once painted up.

Also, if anyone desperately needs to buy Hinchliffe Napoleonic Austrian figures, let me know. I've got a number of Landwehr plus some Uhlans and the aforementioned Hussars in need of mounts. There's also a set of Cuirassiers I'm debating whether to keep or not.

Sunday's Painting and Cavenderian Ambassador

As promised, we have a series of photos from Sunday's output, as well as pictures of the Blue Moon civilians and the Ambassador figure sent to represent Cavenderia. Captions and photos below, and click on the pictures for a closer view. All paints are acrylics.

First up, we have the six-figure pioneer unit in its present state.The details, such as cross-belts and facings, are yet to be done, but I'm pleased with how they've turned out so far. Colors used are Liquitex Black Colored Gesso for the basecoat, Vallejo Model Color 70815 Basic Skintone for the face and hands, Delta Ceramcoat 02054 Golden Brown for the pants and axe handles, Vallejo Model Color 70960 Violet for the coat, and folkArt 420 Linen for the apron.


Next up, notice the beautifully painted Cavenderian ambassador to the right of the photo. This is a gorgeous figure, and finally pushed me over the edge to hunt down some civilians of my own. To the left (from the viewer's perspective) is my chosen figure for Furst Guntram Blauerwolf, wearing the same basecoat, Violet, and Linen (on pants and neck ruffle) as the figures above. I know it's bad form to not paint the skin first, but I needed to see how the colors looked on him. I still can't decide what color to paint his cuffs and the feathers on his hat. Continuing to the left is my chosen figure for the Furstin. Furst and Furstin and the unpainted civilians on the back row are all Blue Moon castings from the Duel box set. Continuing to the left again, we see an RSM95 Prussian Musketeer testing out the black basecoat with the Violet coat. I used, I think, Delta Ceramcoat 02126 Medium Flesh on him. Not necessarily fond of the medium shade. I may have to paint over it with a lighter one. I love the violet though.


And lastly, you can see a series of basecoated figures, from left to right... a night watchman from the Blue Moon set, a Revell 1/72 WW2 British Infantry officer, a Minden Miniatures SYW Prussian musketeer, an RSM95 SYW Prussian Grenadier, a Spencer Smith metal SYW officer, a Spencer Smith metal SYW grenadier, and a vintage Spencer Smith plastic SYW grenadier (the latter with linen pants painted experimentally). Oh, and on the far left, one of the old white gesso RSMs with a little excess purple painted onto one sleeve to test how it colors over white. I'm strongly considering stripping all my old white gesso-coated RSMs and redoing them in the black, not so much for coloration as because I made the white gesso too gloopy and covered detail on several.

Photos coming...

I've had a sudden burst of painting and basecoating today. No photos yet, as I may get more done before the day is out. But photos are planned.

At present, among other things, my 6-man pioneer company has acquired leather breaches and purple coat. A sample RSM95 Prussian Musketeer has been given a purple coat to test its appearance, as well, for my idea of going with purple coats instead of gray. I wiped a little excess purple on one of the older white basecoated RSM95s as well, just on a sleeve to see what I thought of it. I'm seriously considering stripping the white-coated ones and redoing the basecoat in black. This is partly because I made the white too thick, and it obscures lines on some of the RSM95s in unpleasant ways for finding what to paint which color.

Also acquiring a purple coat is my Blue Moon figure that I've chosen to represent Furst Gunter Blauerwolf. And I also intend to include a picture of the Cavenderian diplomat whose arrival I mentioned earlier.

A January Start

The game with Stokes is on hold till the middle of next week while he and the Grand Duchess enjoy some skiing. So expect more on the Stollen blog the latter part of next week regarding the game.

Yesterday's mail brought me the ordered black gesso, and today I opened the bottle and gave it its first run. I've coated a company of 9 RSM Prussians and a pioneer company of 6 Revell Austrian figures with it this afternoon, and am waiting for them to dry. I've also glued the rest of the company of Minden figures on their bases, with an eye to possibly doing a bit of painting on them as well.

I'm torn, where the Mindens are concerned. On the one hand, they offer the chance of completing something small as I only have 9 of the figures. On the other, their detail is intimidating as one feels the need to do the beautiful figures justice. I suspect that I am going to end up aiming to do the Pioneers fairly early on, and see how things go from there.

My puzzle on the Pioneers is what to paint them as. I've been figuring on the Revells mostly forming units for Ober-Schweinsberg combatants, but I'm tempted to do a company of pioneers for Hesse-Engelburg, because they're such an interesting figure.

Revising RSM Cavalry Again

After further checking, I've learned I was incorrect. The OG command pack includes 3 sets of officer, trumpeter, and standard, but only 1 NCO with pistol. So we're back to the drawing board again.

Meanwhile, there's some info on various Hussar command packs in the comments on the last posting.

RSM Cavalry Revision

I've refigured things since I posted about what my options were on the RSM Cavalry, and have realized that I actually don't need 1 bag of Hussars plus extras to make up 3 squadrons with the figures I have now. I had forgotten that the Old Glory command packs (which I'm not really fond of, but am using because it'd cost $40 or so to replace them) include an NCO with pistol, so if I used that figure as well as the officer/trumpeter/standard then I can make up 3 12-figure squadrons with just one more bag of the Hussars. 8 RSM Hussars plus the OG command pack per squadron.

I also have a single Sash & Saber NCO with pistol that was sent as a sample. I really love the sculpt, but I can't justify paying over $12 for a 4-figure set right now to replace the OGs. This will likely end up as an aide/guard for a command stand instead.

More News

I was going to have pictures posted last night, but the card reader didn't want to acknowledge that there were photos on the card. This morning, after unplugging it and plugging it back in, it finally admitted that I'd taken photos.

I had some big plans for yesterday, but they didn't turn out as I'd intended them. I was going to play a WW2 game using one of Charles S. Grant's tabletop teasers. This is not the same teaster stokes and I are using (more on that later). However, once I started looking at the troops I'd need for it, I realized I need to do more maintenance work before I can field them. My WW2 figures are unpainted plastic, but that wasn't the stopper. The stopper was that far too many of them still have to have the stubs of sprue cut off their bases so they can stand up.

So, instead, I ended up spending (besides more time online) some quality time with basing for the SYW figures. I repaired the bases on 10 of the Spencer Smith figures that had come unglued in shipping, and then proceeded to apply Litko bases to 6 that didn't have any bases, including 4 of the unpainted ones. Once I receive the new metal SSMs I ordered and get them on the same bases, I'll have the full battalion of SSMs based.

I also took my one sample SSM grenadier and the one Minden musketeer that I've had on my workbench and put them on Litko bases to see how they fit. I think the consistent basing will help the Mindens look that much better next to the other figures.

After that, I tried out basing one WW2 figure on a 3/4 inch round base from Litko, which I have 50 or more of that I received from a fellow gamer who'd changed his mind about what bases to use. Still haven't decided if I'm going to stick with it, but while doing this I had a sudden idea, and dug out some of my Revell plastic SYW figures. By gluing the figure on one of these thick 3/4 rounds, then gluing that onto my standard 1x1 square base, it produces a consistent footprint AND erases much of the height difference. While the 3/4 round is rather obvious in its thickness, I think the benefit in terms of making the heights more consistent is sufficient boon. So I based two 6-man companies of Austrian pioneers this way.

If you examine the photo below (click it to enlarge), you can see all of the above, with a RSM figure stuck in the center to show the height comparisons. Additionally, I glued together a 15mm paper cottage. I'm not sure where I got the original for that, but I believe it was a free sample from a producer of paper building designs. If I can dig up the original again, I may make more.


On the upcoming agenda, besides some more basing, is putting together my custom movement trays from Litko, which arrived last week. More photos to come when that's done.

Those of you who read the Grand Duchy of Stollen blog will know that he and I are preparing to play a game by email/blog in the latter part of November. We'll be using one of Charles S. Grant's tabletop teasers, and the game will be laid out in Stokes' wargame rule with myself issuing commands from afar based on photographs. I will be taking the role of the invading Electorate of Zichenau forces.

Basing and a Church

A big thank you to the gentlemen of the Old School Wargaming and Society of the Daisy lists for their contributions on basing. The vast majority recommended ordinary white glue for attaching all sorts of figures to bases, so yesterday and today I spent some time with my Litko bases attaching the figures for the Lintzer Musketeers to the 1"x1" bases with Elmer's "Glue All" white glue. I was also able to get the roof paint on the JR Miniatures church. All it will need now is windows and some touch-up work where paint has overlapped its areas. Photos below, as always click for a larger view.

First, a photo of the battalion fully based. You can see the partly painted first company on the right of the photo, and the grenadier company on the left of it. All figures by RSM95. The final frontage of the battalion is a whopping 17 inches with a total of 51 figures in 3 ranks. The battalion has 4 companies of 8 musketeers and one officer, a grenadier company of 8 grenadiers and one officer, and a central flag group of 2 standard bearers, 2 musketeers, 1 drummer, and 1 officer.

Next, a photo of the church with its red roof. However, I would note that the actual roof color is darker than this photo, as the flash seems to have brightened it considerably.

And lastly, the two together, giving a sense of the scale of the 15mm JR Miniatures buildings next to a big battalion of the RSM95s.

Figure Ponderings and other things

Firstly, the 100 1"x1" Litko bases have arrived. I hope to get some time to tinker with them by this weekend. We shall see!

Meanwhile, I'm expecting another small cash infusion, so I'm pondering some figure purchase options and am up for some advice. Stokes from the Grand Duchy of Stollen is currently pondering heavy cavalry options. I, in my turn, am currently pondering cavalry also, but not exclusively so. Nevertheless, let us discuss cavalry first.

My intended organization for cavalry squadrons is 1 officer, 1 standard, 1 musician, and 9 other ranks. I currently have the following:

Hussars - RSM95: 12 "other ranks", Old Glory 3 command sets: 1 officer, 1 standard, 1 musician, 1 man with pistol (NCO?).
Cuirassiers - RSM: 1 officer, 1 standard, 1 trumpeter, 9 other ranks.
Dragoons - a mixed bag of Spencer Smith plastics, including one officer and I think 11 others mingling dragoons and the "aide" with his sword pointed straight up. I have no difficulties painting all these as a dragoon regiment.

Options I'm pondering:

A) 1 bag of 12 RSM95 Prussian Dragoons - $22.20.
B) 1 bag of 12 RSM95 Hussars. - $22.20. This would give me two complete squadrons of Hussars and a portion of a third. I might ponder putting together enough funds to fill out the third.
C) 1 bag of 12 RSM95 Hanoverian Horse Grenadiers - $22.20. These are just a really tempting figure. You can see these on the November 4th posts at the Saxe-Bearstein blog: http://saxe-bearstein.blogspot.com/2007_11_01_archive.html
D) 1 bag of 12 Scruby ?? - $26.75 (counting $5 shipping). I'm tempted by the Saxon Dragoon in Fusilier Cap 3539C, or the Shaumburg-Lippe Karbineer 3530C. For an officer, I supposed I'd have to use the Dragoon in Tricorn 3511C? Does Scruby have musicians? Are these molded with their weapons in hand, or separate weapons? I'm guessing the former.

I also need 6 horses, for the RSM95 French General and English Aide figures I received off of Ebay, and 2 swords for the RSM95 French Officers (foot).

Other foot options:
RSM95 Hanoverians - I need about 30 figures to complete a battalion of these from the stray figures I received from Ebay. A 36-figure bag is $27.00. RSM is usually very nice about letting me customize a bag, so I could probably modify a Hanoverian bag with the right figure mix and an extra 6 foot figures.

RSM95 Highlanders - I currently have 6 standing firing poses, and 12 kneeling firing poses. I've debated how to handle these figures for a firing line. The only other pose of "other ranks" RSM makes is a marching pose. Would the marching pose work as a third rank for a normal 3-rank deployment? Or is that going to look silly and I should settle for a long two-rank firing line instead? Thoughts? If I did a 2-rank firing line, I'd probably go with 4 12-man companies, plus a 6-man command group. So I'd need another 36 figures precisely, for $27.00.

RSM95 Prussian Musketeers - I need a total of 45 figures to finish out a second Prussian Musketeer Battalion from the figures I have at hand. Assuming I was able to start with an infantry bag, this would cost me a total of $34.65

Scruby Jagers - Another option I considered was to build a battalion of jagers with Scruby figures. This would take 3 bags of 12 foot and 1 bag of 6 foot, giving me a total of 42 figures for $33.25 counting $7 postage.

Opinions from the gentlemen of the mess? Whatever I do, I can only afford to do one of the above options at present.

Figures Identified

Rich at DPC was kind enough to identify some of my mystery Ebay figures for me. The below photo shows some white-primed figures, and I'm listing their identifications:

1) S2-001 - French Officer Adv (There is a sword to put in his hand)
2) S2-101 - French Mounted General
3) S1-102 - English Mounted Aide
4) S7-006 Hanoverian Musketeer avancing

On #4, you can't see the pompom on his tricorn from this angle. If you have the same figure without the pompom, it's S1-008- English Hatman advancing.

So I have 2 French officers, 4 French generals, 2 English aides, and 11 Hanoverian musketeers. And also 2 additional Prussian officers with spontoon, which I was already familiar with of course. If someone is in desperate need of one or more of these items, let me know and we'll talk purchase or trade. Otherwise, it's on to figuring out how to properly integrate them into the army.

New Arrivals!

A long delayed package has arrived at my home, thanks to the generosity of a fellow wargamer who was thinning his collection. The same gentleman from whom I bought the earlier Spencer Smiths has turned up a large batch of unpainted ones. Photos to follow, of the SSMs as well as the Minot and RSM figures also included in the lot. As usual, click on a photo for a larger view.

First up, we have a batch of Spencer Smith grenadiers, complete with a pair of drummers and a mounted officer. I actually need 1-3 more of these to finish off this battalion properly.


Next, we have a "cavalry squadron" formed of a mixture of 1 Mounted Officer, 5 Dragoons, and 8 Charging Aide-de-Camp figures. There are a half dozen total mounted officers, one of whom will be joining my existing Musketeers probably, and the last few are undetermined.


Next up, we have a batch from Barry Minot's AWI range in plastic, a mixed handful of figures comprising 3 light infantry, 2 Highlanders, and 2 regulars.


Also from Barry Minot's AWI range is a group of 16 British Grenadiers, who will hopefully find some useful service to perform.


And lastly, we have yet another group of RSM95 figures. I'm guessing these are the firing versions of the Austrian Grenadier, but can anyone confirm?

Actual Painting!

Amazingly enough, I actually did a minor bit of painting this weekend, and the universe failed to explode.

Saturday, I spent a few minutes priming one of the two buildings of the JR Miniatures 15mm #1663 Worker's Quarters set, one of Frank's Minden Miniatures Prussians (directly behind the painted building), and one Revell WW2 British Infantry all with white artist's gesso (front right).

The first RSM95s I primed, which you can see in the background, I slapped this on a bit too thick on some, making them more blobbish. So I went a little thinner on it this time, and used the brush to keep excess from pooling.

Sunday, I put a first coat of paint on the Revell figure and did a trial of a pink coat on one of the old RSMs (slightly left of center). But the main focus was painting the building, which you can see in the middle of the photo, next to the unprimed second building from the same set. I still need to do a little more on it, but I was surprised at how well it came out with simply an undercoat and three colors of paint. I need to touch up a few spots of missing paint and add a few more details, but it's quite usable even in this state, which amazed me.

(click for larger photo)


All of them were primed with Liquitex white acrylic gesso. The pink uniform is Delta Ceramcoat Painted Desert. The WW2 Tommy is wearing Delta Ceramcoat Autumn Brown. Paints used on the building were Vallejo Basalt Gray for the walls, Delta Ceramcoat Autumn Brown for the door, and Delta Ceramcoat Golden Brown for the thatched roof.

The box in which they rest was originally put together for my trials of the Plasti-Dip spray rubber as a primer. I've abandoned the Plasti-Dip for the gesso, but the box serves as a very nice portable paint booth, as it were, since I have no permanent space for them right now. It's hoped that as we finish re-arranging the basement, there will be an available work surface as well as an available gaming surface.

Photos and More Photos

Here's photos of some of my recent acquisitions as promised, including a few mystery poses of RSM off of Ebay. As always, click the photo for a larger view.

RSM95 Prussian Cuirassiers. Swords and flagpoles are separate. The two right front figures are intended to do dual duty as an officer and a standard bearer, depending which item you equip them with.

Individual poses of Minden Miniatures Prussians. (l to r) NCO, Musketeer, Officer.

And finally, I have a set of figures that I'm fairly sure are RSM95s, but I need help identifying which group and pose they are:

JR Miniatures 15mm Napoleonic Church, and 15mm Napoleonic Servant's Quarters

Second Arrival

Photo to follow once I get a chance to take one, but Saturday's mail brought with it the arrival of a dozen Prussian Cuirassiers from RSM95. I really like them, although the twist on the officer/standard bearer figure looks a little uncomfortable. Eventually, I'll buy enough bags of these for a full regiment, as each bag gives me one squadron with officer, standard bearer, bugler, and 9 troopers. So it'll take 4 bags rather than 3.

Also, Friday's mail (I think) brough in the JR Miniatures buildings I mentioned in my earlier post. I'll try to get pictures of all of the above soon.

Awaiting Reinforcements

I'm currently involved in that grand thing known as the waiting game, for new wargaming items to arrive. It'll probably be a couple of weeks for most of them.

I did recently receive a copy of Donald Featherstone's "War Games", which I haven't gotten around to reading more than a little of. This is partly due to time constraints and partly due to waiting for it to air out, as it smells heavily of perfume.

There's also a half-dozen or so other books all picked up for decent prices. Among them is the second edition of Duffy's "Army of Frederick the Great". There's some disagreement as to whether the first or second edition is better, so now I have both. ;) Also picked up an Osprey on the Austrian army of the SYW period, and one on the Confederate Army of the American Civil War. A couple of others I don't have handy in memory. ;)

Additionally, I picked up from Stokes "They Died for Glory" Franco-Prussian War rules. I don't have any Franco-Prussian war figures at present, but the idea is tempting, and i also might see what needs to be modified to use them for my ACW figures.

But on to the expectations. I managed to sell a few wargaming items recently, and put the money made into financing a few new purchases. I'm waiting on several items to appear:

1) A company worth of Prussian figures from Minden Miniatures. The current exchange rate is painful, but Frank didn't mind a small order, so I've bought a company now and will gradually attempt to increase to a whole battalion when I can afford it. If the exchange rate doesn't shift dramatically, this should cost me between $130-150 all total over time. In comparison, I can form an RSM battalion to my organization for about $50, though if metal prices keep rising RSM is eventually going to have to raise their prices. Frank's figures are too lovely not to try to get some though.

2) A bag of RSM95 Prussian Cuirassiers. I'm looking forward to their arrival. Need some ideas, though, on the best way of attaching the swords/standards to hands. Solder them, glue them, what? I've never had to attach metal to metal before in anything too small for a bolt. ;) if I have the counts right, 3 bags of the Cuirassiers plus one extra each of an officer, standard bearer, and trumpeter will give me a full four squadrons. Of course, that's about $70 or so.

3) Somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 plastic Spencer Smiths, unpainted. Still waiting on these to ship.

4) Found some decently priced 15mm buildings. There's a ton I'd like but don't have the funds for. But I did pick up a church and a couple of "servants' quarters" buildings. Having buildings that are smaller than the troop scale doesn't bother me, as I operate with limited space anyway. I can appreciate the beauty of a properly scaled building, but it's not necessary to my enjoyment.

5) A friend found some spare parts to fix up the half a howitzer I have for my WW2 armies, and is sending that along with a couple of additional vehicles. An Opel command truck for my Germans, and parts to end up with either a tank or tank destroyer for my Americans.

And....I think that's everything. Not a bad lot of items. I need to sell some more stuff to keep financing. I'd like to get some Sash&Saber cavalry before the end of the month, as I really like the one sample hussar I have. But I need more funds first. I'd also like a few more buildings if those first two buys prove satisfactory.

Figure Comparison: Foot Officers

Next up in our series of comparison photos is foot officers. Click on the image for a zoomed view.

From left to right, the figures are:

1. Airfix Washington's Army 1/72 plastic
2. RSM95 Prussian Officer w/Cane 25mm
3. RSM95 Prussian Officer w/Spontoon 25mm
4. Old Glory SYW Austrian Grenadier officer 25mm
5. Old Glory SYW Austrian Grenadier officer 25mm
6. Old Glory SYW Austrian Grenadier officer 25mm
7. Old Glory AWI British Grenadier officer 25mm
8. Old Glory AWI British Grenadier officer 25mm
9. Imperialist Miniatures WSS (possibly WAS) French Officer of Foot 25mm (FO-3)
10. Hinchcliffe (Prussian) Von Kleist Officer (SYP13) 25mm
11. Hinchcliffe (Austrian) German Infantry Officer Advancing 25mm (SYA21)
12. Hinchcliffe (Austrian) Hungarian Officer Advancing 25mm (SYA9)
13. Spencer Smith 30mm plastic (based on a US penny)

Updated Figure Comparison: Infantry

As promised, here is a new figure comparison photo, to be followed hopefully by a few more. Click on the image for a zoomed view.

From left to right, the figures are:

1. Airfix Washington's Army 1/72 plastic
2. Airfix British Grenadiers 1/72 plastic
3. Revell SYW Prussian Infantry 1/72 plastic
4. Revell SYW Austrian Infantry 1/72 plastic
5. RSM95 Prussian SYW Grenadier March Attack 25mm
6. Sash & Saber Prussian SYW Grenadier Marching 25mm (YPSI6, I think)
7. Spencer Smith 30mm plastic (based on a US penny)
8. RSM95 Prussian SYW Musketeer March Attack 25mm
9. Imperialist Miniatures French WSS (possibly WAS) Musketeer 25mm
10. Minden Miniatures Prussian SYW Musketeer 1/56 scale
11. Old Glory AWI British Grenadier 25mm
12. Old Glory SYW Austrian Grenadier 25mm
13. RSM95 French & Indian Wars Highlander 25mm
14. Hinchcliffe AWI Minuteman Advancing (AW40) 25mm
15. Hinchcliffe AWI Marine Advancing 25mm (X45)
16. Hinchcliffe AWI Militia in Shirt Advancing 25mm (X43)
17. Hinchcliffe AWI American Militia Advancing 25mm (AW41)

Figure Comparisons

Stokes asked me for a comparison shot with Spencer Smith, RSM, and Revell SYW figures. While I had the camera out, I did a little more than that. As always, click on the photos for a larger view.


First up is the grand comparison photo of 18th century miniatures. From left to right, they are:

1. Airfix 1/72 British Grenadier (AWI)
2. Airfix 1/72 Washington's Army (AWI)
3. Revell SYW Austrian Infantry (SYW)
4. Revell SYW Prussian Infantry (SYW)
5. Spencer Smith plastic (18thC)
6. RSM95 Prussian Musketeer (SYW)
7. Old Glory Austrian Grenadier (SYW)
8. Minden Miniatures Prussian Musketeer (SYW)
9. RSM95 Highlander (F&IW/SYW)
10. Imperialist Miniatures French Musketeer (WSS)

Next, we have a group photo of the Imperialist Miniatures samples I received some months ago. They are, I believe, 25mm figures rather than 28/30, and are for the War of Spanish Succession rather than the Seven Years War. But they're gorgeous little figures, and only a little more expensive than RSMs. I've especially fallen in love with the French officer. From left to right, they are:

1. F-01 French musketeer
2. FO-11b French trooper of horse w/pistol, on Horse H3
3. FO-3 French officer of foot
4. F17 French drummer

Here we have a cavalry comparison, with the Imperialist French trooper between a RSM95 Prussian Mounted Officer on the left and RSM95 Prussian Hussar on the right. The size difference is rather glaringly obvious here. It's also a little odd looking for the Imperialist trooper to be unable to see over his horse's head. However, on a lark I switched figures and horses, and discovered that putting the RSM officer on the Imperialist horse, and vice versa, erased much of the immediate height difference between them. And both of them can see over their horse's heads.

Reoriganization and other stuff

Yeah, I know, I keep reorganizing my unit structure in spite of not getting much of anything painted. But I've done it yet again, after looking for too long at Der Alte Fritz' battalions on his blog.

The short way of explaining the new organization would be to say that it's the same as the large generic battalion in BAR, but with one file cut off of every company. This means a total of 9 men per company, plus a six-man headquarters (officer, drummer, 2 standard bearers, 2 regulars). All in three ranks of course. This gives me a strength of 42 without the grenadier company, 51 with.

Which means, instead of being able to field 1.5 battalions of RSM figures, I can field 1 full battalion IF I acquire two more RSM Prussian Grenadiers. And have all of 8 extra figures left, most of them officers.

To go with this, I've decided to also use a 12 figure squadron formation, matching the one illustrated in BAR. This means a 3 squadron regiment would be only slightly less strong than a 4 company battalion.

To go with these new organizations, I finally got around to sorting through the Revell figures I received from a good wargaming friend. I may have to obtain some spares to fill out a handful of figures I'm short on, but I've now set aside 4 Prussian Musketeer Battalions (2 with grenadier companies, 2 without), 1 Prussian standing grenadier battalion, 1 Austrian composite grenadier battalion, and 1 Austrian Musketeer Battalion (with grenadier company). Also, 1 slightly over-strength Austrian pioneer company.

At a minimum, I need to add 3 Austrian officers, 2 Austrian drummers, 5 Prussian officers, and 5 Prussian drummers. Ideal would be to have an additional 2 Austrian charging grenadier, 18 Prussian charging grenadier, and 48 Prussian standing firing pose. It would sweeten the pot a little further if I had another 12 Austrian standing firing pose.

At present, my Prussian Musketeer battalion companies use 2 ranks of 3 kneeling, 1 rank of 3 reloading. My Austrian Musketeer battalion uses 1 rank of 3 kneeling, one rank of 3 biting cartridge, and one rank of 2 reloading and 1 grenadier NCO.