Re-building a SYW French army

[kontos]

Originally Posted by john svensson

Well, hopefully you are painting Baccus figs Frank, they are a Big 6.....try some Heoric & Ros's.......painful. John

Baccus it is, John, but "Big 6" doesn't seem to be helping.

[timurilank]

I am waiting for an order from Old Glory which hopefully will be here this coming week. This will add a further 25 elements of French line from the "old" regiments and 6 more guns, and will finish the order of battle for the French at Hastenbeck.

After the battle on the 26th of July, the French continued their invasion of Northern Germany and on the 9th of September, the Convention of Kloster Zeven was signed, effectively ending hostilities between the Allies and France.

Reserve formations from the Army of the Lower Rhine marched to Saxony and joined the assembled French and Reichsarmee under General Soubise. After repetitive march and counter-march against the Prussians, a decisive battle was fought at Rossbach. With the Prussian victory, the British Government rennounced the Convention of Kloster Zeven and the Allies were back in business.

More minis!

[timurilank]

Ten days later and the French have not yet arrived. I think suspect the package is lingering at Customs. I have though been busy.

BUA are nearly done. I will post photos tomorrow, but perhaps good news for followers of the 18th c. Sojourn blog, I have revised the Index of topics so you may easily find terrain and painting projects. I surprised myself finding articles which have been long forgotten.

http://18thcenturysojourn.blogspot.com/

After subsequent postings you will easily find the index by clicking on the appropriate labled box located under the "followers" to the right.

[Haardrada]

SYW was a major favourite at my last club with 2 French armies, a British and an Allied army, 2 Prussian, a Saxon, a Russian and 2 Austrian armies.So were never short of opponents.We did a large campaign that the British & Allies won by completely destroying every French army they met! Even though the Austrians had repeatedly beaten the Prussians and were besieging Berlin! Good luck with your army.

[blacksven]

Originally Posted by kontos

Those are looking real "Dandy" there, Robert. Good job! I am painting up 6mm WSS Marlbourians for a new game system - Maurice. I'll be fighting my friend's Franco-Bavarian host. Love the "mass" of 6mm but hate painting the little buggers. Its a real strain on these old eyes - magnifier or not!

Continue to post your progress and a finale pic of your armies would be a sight to see!

Maurice has generated a lot of interest in this period for our group as well - also in 6mm. It's likely going to be our rules set of choice for this period.

[timurilank]

Originally Posted by blacksven

Maurice has generated a lot of interest in this period for our group as well - also in 6mm. It's likely going to be our rules set of choice for this period.

Whichever rule set invites you to try 18th century warfare is fine. Use it as a springboard to study more about the period and you will enjoy the games much more.

We started SYW with the WRG 1685 - 1845 set and moved to DBA-HX for the sake of speed and simplicity, also for the fact we have been playing with the basic system for 30 years.

With DBA-HX as our basic rule set, we could introduce facets of 18th century warfare that most rule sets did not cover. We were equally fascinated by all the "pre-battle" maneuver that took place between field forces. An armies ablility to maneuver was directly linked to their ability to supply or not and it was during this moment of the campaign that le petite guerre or small war, became a useful tool to hamper the enemy resources.

All the above and more we have added to a campaign supplement which uses the "nodal" system for movement. With a minimum of record keeping we could break camp, march or force march and set up camp. Further, night marches, night attacks and ambushes were also possible and carried out to good effect during our Bohemian campaign of 1757, May through June.

There are good on-line resources and one I have mentioned frequently is Kronoskaf.com. The uniform sections are a wealth of information, but investigate the campaign section and take the time to read further the bibliograhy. The e-books listed are a treasure trove of first and second hand resources, all there for free.

Good luck with your journey

[timurilank]

I have just posted photos of my latest work for the French army. This was the long awaited order from the US which took one month to arrive. From what I have read at TMP, goods are also screened before leaving the US which will add further delays.

http://18thcenturysojourn.blogspot.nl/

So, I have set aside painting the Legio Heroica figures to give the French top priority. Within a week, these will complete the French army at Hastenbeck, with every regiment/battalion represented by an element.

[timurilank]

SYF-02 is the item number for French infantry with front turnbacks. I am quite surprised, as these are the best castings of the French line. Poses are different, but do have a likeness to the Knötel plates one can find on the Internet.

The standard 16 command figures consist of officer, standard bearer, drummer and sergeant. The later no longer carries the sponton, but has his musket sling and marching at a brisk pace.

The "front turnbacks" is somewhat misleading as the front corners are not turned back at all. I have the impression the coat is further unbuttoned to allow the legs to stretch out while marching, as the knees or tops of the gaiters can be seen.

All four poses have the musket carried on the left with the right hand and head in slightly different positions. This was one item I purposely avoided ordering because of the "front turnback" description. Now, you can definately mix SYF-01 and 02 with no problem.

I shall paint these up tomorrow.

[timurilank]

With both batches of French infantry done, all that remain are the artillery of 6 pieces and crew. In a few days, these will be based and flocked, ready to join ranks with the entire French army.

http://18thcenturysojourn.blogspot.nl/

With good weather, I will post photos of a Grand review and list the complete order of battle as well.

Next stop, the opposition at Hastenbeck under the command of the Duke of Cumberland.

[timurilank]

Last of the infantry and artillery are done. If the sun shines this weekend I may have more photos of a general review.

http://18thcenturysojourn.blogspot.nl/

I will no doubt be adding more units in time, but the complete French order of battle for Hastenbeck is done.