More Russians are coming

Somewhat inspired by the armies and rules we used at the recent AMG weekender I decided that my Russian army really needed to be a little bigger and more imposing. 

The original plan was for a handful of battalions of Observation Corps, supporting arty and cavalry. To be fair that would have been fine for Honours of War and have fitted in with my other armies. But after seeing the Prussians and Austrians a couple of weeks back quantity took on a whole quality of its own! 

I dug out the order of battle for Zorndorf from Kronoscarf and the excellent Obscure Battles site and did some scribbling. Going 1:1 is just plain megalomania, but I noticed that the Russians were organised in roughly 4 battalion brigades, each of two regiments. I figured that was an easy number to work with and so decided to go with a 1:4 ratio. 

Thus the army will be -

Right Wing
Horse Grenadiers, Cuirassiers, Dragoons, Hussars, Cossacks - two stands each of the first 3 and a whole unit of the Hussars (Serbsky) and Cossacks.

Center
10 infantry units - 6-8 line and 2-4 grenadiers, not quite settled on the proportions but probably 8-2. This represents the 10 brigades of Russian Musketeers and Grenadiers
4 Observation Corps Musketeers, 1 Observation Corps Grenadiers - these are the figures I already have painted up.

Left Wing
Cuirassier Rgt, Hussar Rgt and 2 stands of Dragoons. 

 - Again the DR are understrength but can be brigaded with the other 2 stands if required. 

Artillery
1x 12lb battery (2)
1x 8lb battery (2)
2x Unicorn Battery(4)
Limbers.

Plus Officers and Command, hangers on, etc, etc.

I have the 4 Observation Corps, 1 unit each of the Hussars, Dragoons, Horse Grens, Cossacks and Cuirassiers and the Unicorns (the former and the latter need painted, the rest are done). So that really leaves the Musketeers and Grenadiers and 4 other guns, plus some limbers and commanders and some little bits to brighten up the table. 

I will be going with Crusader for my remaining inf as sadly Ingo's Figuren don't make any decent non Obs Corps Russian infantry. They do have some rather nice figures reloading but the matching firing poses look a little odd. It's the butt of the gun and the elbow. Anyway Crusader seem to match the build of my existing Ingo figures without seeming underfed or over chunky, so they'll do the trick. 

Besides which, ordering stuff in Euro's isn't cost effective now - thank you Boris!!!!!!!!!!!

Quite a lot to do but with such simple summer uniforms, it will be relatively straightforward. Eventually this will pan out to be around 15 units of foot 8 guns, 7 cavalry, limbers, officers, equipment, etc. Still not huge, but the upper limit of what I have room for! It should take me to the end of the year to complete. Not a bad plan, lets see how it goes!!

I've already made a start and done a trial paint job on the Serbskiy Hussars. Nice and bright and a contrast to the Reds and greens which will follow. If used a fine nib pen for the detail on the sabretache. I like these chaps!

Cossacks - the sons of Taras Bulba!

The Russian project continues. I wanted some Cossacks but not the regular kaftan wearing types of the late 18th and 19thC with regulation equipment and uniform. I wanted some wild steppe warriors who were happy to fight anyone as long as there was plunder to be had and songs to be sung!

TAG seemed like the obvious choice as their Renaissance range had some wild looking fellows. I'd never bought from them before and had no idea of what I would be getting although their figures did look good in the pictures. After a slight xmas related glitch the figs arrived a few weeks ago.

I was disappointed with the horses, they looked, well, almost dog-like and I was tempted to change them out for something else. However I stuck with them and when the horse and rider were saddled up they didn't look so bad. The riders were just the bunch of rag tag cut throats I was looking for!

Here they are again in the bare metal. 

For inspiration I stuck on the Yul Brynner film Taras Bulba - after all what Saturday afternoon isn't complete without a matinee - especially one with sword fights and a cast of thousands! It was terrible, but terrible in a good way and certainly inspired the painting.

As some of these fellows were stripped to the waste it was clear they were riding in midsummer, so white blouses with some cuff and hem trims were the order of the day for those who weren't feeling the heat. Those insisting on wearing something thicker were given a blue kaftan to match in with my Cossacks gunners and to continue their theme. Everything was give a wash or army painted sting tone ink. This made them look a little bit more weather worn and brought out the shading and details. This is a perfect replacement for my old citadel inks. 

Lastly they needed a flag. As they were Cossacks flighting for the Tsar and not the Sultan I thought a religious icon would be appropriate so I found a pic and scaled it down and stuck it to some wine bottle foil I had. A little disguising with some paint hid the foil/paper join.

As I wanted to use these figures for skirmish games I used single bases which will sit on the round bases I had with the recess cut. I've sanded down the double width edge this time so it looks a little  flatter and less of a step. 

Base texturing will take place when I finish the next unit of Russian foot.

Cossack Artillery from Westfalia Miniatures

Finished these today. 

Nice figures, sculpted by Paul Hicks. They crew up a sled gun, however that's not much cop for me as the rest of the Russians are in summer uniform. I will find a galloper gun for them, rather than one of the unicorns.

Next to do are the Grenadiers. 

That will give me 4 out of the 8 foot I plan to have. I think this is ticking along nicely. 

Some flags for the Observation Corps

Time to do some flags now I have two painted units.

I use 1.5mm OD x 0.8mm ID brass tube for the part of the pole round the flag itself. Although commercial flag are available I usually make my own either by finding the flag details via Google and cutting and pasting the detailed into a template I've made up or by finding a flag from a site, in this case Kronoscaf. A little tweaking of the dimensions is usually required. I like round about 40mm x 40mm.

The brass tube is cut to fit the flag + roughly 0.5mm. This will make the finial at the top of the pole. I use a hacksaw to cut the tube as this ensures the cut end stays open and is not squashed or distorted. This is important when cutting subsequent lengths from the tube.

Taking a pair of pliers I crush one end of the brass tube flat. Then taking a needle file at 45 degrees, rub the flattened end to a point. As its soft brass this is fairly easy to do. 

The flags are cut from the paper and pritt sticked. This tacky paper glue works perfectly and allows me to slide the two halves of the flag into place round the brass tube. The finial pokes out of the top like a spear head.

Sometimes I touch up the edges of the flag with a mix of coloured paint. This hides any white bits and adds a little texture if needed. The glue needs to dry and set, which doesn't take long, then the flag can be crushed up to give it the look of cloth flapping in the breeze. 

Finally the flags can be added to the poles. I use 0.4mm wire for the flag poles. The brass tube slips down over the top and the bottom of the flag comes to rest round about hat height. Should some disaster befall the flag then it can be replaced quite easily, as it can if it turns out to be wrong!!!! 

The Russians Are Coming!

Just before the holidays I bought some of Ingo's Figures 28mm Russians. Nice clean castings with a basic pose that was straightforward and business like.

I finished my those figures yesterday and just need to add flags and basing.

I have more on the way, another 3 units of Observation Corps infantry and some artillery crew for unicorn guns. That should see me for a good few weeks painting, by which time I ought to have the Foundry Hussars and Crusader Cuirassier off to the painters. 

By the end of March I ought to have more than half the army done. After that  I plan on having some dragoons, a unit of foot grenadiers and a further infantry unit and mounted command. 

As each of my units really represent 2 battalions and the Russians fielded 3 per regiment I need to work out how best to represent this - as they are Russians and "quantity has a quality all of its own" I'll need to get more!

For Flags I may make some up myself based on the excellent examples on the Kronoscaf SYW site. (If you've not seen this, go look!). On the other hand by the time I have all this lot done I might treat myself to some ready made examples. 

This is my main project for the year and possibly my last SYW army. I'll have Hoegaarden, Naples and the Russians, plus my "late" Austrians. I don't think I have space for another army - I still have bits and pieces to paint and add - like the foundry character sets, civilians etc., the Austrians need some cavalry,  Naples needs more officers, so there's plenty to keep them going. Looking far ahead I really do fancy getting some more AWI too and no doubt Crann Tara will ruin everything and bring out more excellent generic Savoia figures........!

Russian SYW - Schilling Figuren

I'm looking ahead to next years project as my Neapolitan Army is almost complete. Years ago whilst I worked in Holland I collected and painted a 15mm Russian Army based for Volley and Bayonet. This was made up of Observation Corps troops using French inf in Waistcoat from the Essex F&I range and I think some Old glory figs in normal uniform. I always liked the look of the Observation corps and the small number of units in the formation made it an attractive proposition for 28mm.

But which manufacturer? 

Minden and Crann Tara don't do Russians and their unusual grenadier cap/helmet means other figs can't stand in for them. As much as I like the graceful style of these figures I had to discount them. 

So I took to the net and googled......up popped Ingo's Figuren at Schilling. Link

Infantry and grenadiers are available. Nice clean looking figs, simple poses, decent prices at €1.25 each....right I thought, let's give it a go.

I ordered enough for a unit of infantry for the rules I play. 12 musketeers, 2 standard bearer, officer and....a fifer. I like these and it's a nice wee change from drummers, ask my Neapolitans! Ordering was easy and Ulrike at Schilling was good enough to give me the tracking number so I could check on their progress. (Actually Ulrike was very helpful with this and a couple of other points - a nice guy and great service.)

So here they are - 

           Ingo, Minden, Perry, Ingo, Crann, Minden

They are probably most compatible with Perry miniatures in terms of height and build. Bigger and bulkier than Minden or Crann Tara - not hugely so - they wouldn't mix well in a unit, but then they aren't going to and I'd have no problem placing them against one another on the same table. 

The figs are cleanly cast, with no flash. The level of detail is good, remembering the uniform and equipment is plain and simple. Two poses of musketeer are available, with slightly different arm and head poses, so you can have a little variety. 

Overall I am very pleased with these and plan to stick with them for my Russian infantry for 2016.