FPW Infantry and Guns

Some additions to feed into the Franco-Prussian War collection.

First up, an imperial French line infantry unit.  The figures are from Eagle Miniatures. I like these. The lads at the company are helpful, and you can buy the figures individually.

Next are two mitrailleuse. Figures and guns I believe are from Irregular Miniatures.

Finally, two French 4 pounder guns. These bad boys come from Essex Miniatures.

I still have a couple of French infantry units to finish before I move onto I do not know what. Perhaps some Prussian artillery... I am as much in the dark on this as you are!!!  I'll see where my fancy takes me.

Tulips and Paintings

I had a very pleasant week away with my beautiful better half.  Absolutely no wargaming related activities involved I'm afraid.

It was a trip to enjoy the renowned tulip fields of Holland, a quick homage to Vermeer at Delft and some time in Belgium at Bruges.

So, first a view one of the tulip fields.

As Holland has the virtue of being flat, it would have been remiss not to spend a day cycling.  We just happened to choose the coldest, wettest and windiest day of our stay to do it... fun nonetheless.

We decided to stop overnight in Bruges on the way home.  A beautiful medieval town.

An unexpected gem was a visit to the town hall.  The meeting hall was stunning, and in a side room was an excellent geographical history of the town.  Well worth the 8 Euros admission.

This hall is still used by the town council for their meetings.  What a great place in which to do business.

Along one wall was a painting representing the return of the victorious army from the Battle of the Golden Spurs in 1302.

At the battle a force of untrained Flemish militia made up mainly of members from trade guilds, mostly weavers, defeated an experienced Royal French army with a large cavalry contingent.

Judging from the painter's representation, the Flemings are being shown as the noble victors and of a higher birth than perhaps they actually were. A degree of chivalric myth making perhaps.

Thanks for briefly joining me in the lowlands.

Revolutionary Wars Austrians Off The Painting Desk

Earlier this year Jonathan Freitag (Palouse Wargaming Journal) very kindly gifted me some 28mm Austrian infantry by Eureka Miniatures.  The figures are in the uniform of the the Austrian army during the French Revolutionary Wars, 1792 to 1797.  The uniform changed round about 1798, with the most notable change being the headwear from the kasket to the (firemans!) helmet.

It would've been rude of me not to push these to the front of the painting queue.  So, here they are.

I have painted them as IR16 Terzy.  A regiment raised in Styria.  They have violet turnbacks and cuffs.  This meant that I had to find and reinvigorate a very old pot of paint.

As my focus tends to be the 1796-97 Italian Campaign, The Terzy regiment fits nicely, having fought at the battles of Voltri, Montenotte, Dego, and at Lodi.

I look forward to these seeing some tabletop action later this year.

In the meantime I hope that Jonathan approves of their finish and for confirming what I already knew, which was the inherent generosity of our wargaming community.