For my Austrian army at Marengo, I require four battalions of Grenadiers. This first one, like all Grenadier Battalions was created from the Grenadier companies of the regiments present in the division. Therefore the facing colours could vary within the Grenadier Battalion dependent on which regiments the companies were drawn from.
The Austrian Hungarian Regiments present at Marengo were IR52 Anton and IR53 Jellacic. Both these Regiments had the same colour of facings, but with different coloured buttons, and as I'm painting 15mm scale figures, I'll not be attempting to paint buttons unless really necessary. So this Battalion has consistent facing colouring throughout the miniatures.
The figures are from Blue Moon, and as usual are very well cast, with tons of character. The detail on these is superb, from the back of the fur cap showing the proper bag-like material that other companies seem to miss, to the raised piping down the legs of the Hungarian breeches. They were a joy to paint - though I did feel I was going nowhere with the unit for a while, painting the white, the blue, then the yellow, then the pink, before even doing the packs and muskets! How many colours can one unit have?
These figure look great when finished, and when seen standing alongside my other Blue Moon battalions, Blue Moon are becoming my favourite figures. My only thought on the range is, where is the Hungarian Infantry in helmets? Why only shakos?
Here are the Blue Moon regiments all together and another picture that shows the great detailing on the breeches.
And as this isn't my first Hungarian Battalion I thought I'd post the Grenadiers alongside the first battalion I painted for this project, the 4th Banat Grenzers. That unit used figures from Warmodelling, and although I'm happy with it, I may get myself a Blue Moon Grenz battalion as well, just because I like their miniatures so much.
Welcome to my new Blog. It has taken a while to start this as I've been concentrating on getting some figures painted so that there is something to show on here, but now I'm ready to get the blog up and running.
I've had an interest in Napoleonic wargaming for many years and have started quite a few armies, but never completed that many. I've had French, Russians, Prussian, British, and Austrian, all from a range of manufacturers including Minifigs, Essex, Old Glory.
The newer and larger miniatures from companies like AB, Warmodelling, Blue Moon etc, where you also get a few poses rather than a single pose like we had way back, have reignited my interest. So during the summer holidays I put aside my 15mm scifi project and my 28mm World of the Greeks project, and started a new army - a 15mm Austrian army for the Battle of Marengo, 1800.
I was lucky to spot a Order of Battle for Marengo in a back issue of Wargames Illustrated. The OB was for the General de Brigade rules, and I'm not sure how accurate it was, but it was a good basis for making a start.
My first battalion to be completed was the Banat Regiment of Grenzers. Although I'd had some Austrians from Minifigs many years ago, I never had any Grenzers, so I decided to try something different from the usual white uniformed troops that make up the majority of an Austrian army.
Here is my first completed battalion;
The Banater Grenz IR#4.
The figures are from Warmodelling (previously Fantassin).
Next up was my first line infantry battalion. I was lucky enough to pick up a bundle of figures from eBay that was composed of exactly how many figures I needed for a battalion, so this was the next unit, a German line unit. The IR23 Toscana comprised three battalions, this represents the first of the three;
Toscana Regiment IR#23/1
The figures are from Old Glory (currently available from Timecast).
I'll post more figures as I complete the units, with more line infantry, artillery, jagers, and generals all almost ready for the table.
