GREEN HATTED FREIWILLIGER JAGERS FOR ONE HOUR SKIRMISH

 

The new contingent of Frei Corps for my One Hour Skirmish (OHSK) collection.

Greetings, dear reader(s).  Here's another modest update on my continued work on figures for OHSK gaming.  

Previously, I had done a contingent of Freiwillger Jagers in the distinctive Porge style cap with plume. This look is distinctly Austrian/ Catholic German. I wanted to add another version to expand the possibilities. In particular, I was inspired by a natty look that applied more widely across these freicorps, volunteers, and legions: a plumed green hat with turned up brim...

...three examples of green-hatted freiwillger jagers in Austrian service...

...and an example of same from Northern Europe: a volunteer from the Schleswig Holstein war. 

I had previously done a unit of "green hats" for my Chocolate Box Wars collection by converting Perry miniatures from the British Intervention Force British Infantry in straw hats (I turned up the brim and added the plume). These worked out fine, but I only had two individually mounted figures left over. For my OHSK gaming, I wanted to have at least eight. Rather than going the conversion route again, I used the German Legion figures from the old Steve Barber Hungarian Revolt line (this line was later offered by Keelman, but seems to be no longer out there: I lose track of where these figures might be now, if anywhere). 

Side by side comparison of the Steve Barber/Keelman (?) German Legion figures next to my earlier Perry Conversions.  My aim with this latest batch was to have a representative element for the type as opposed to any specific unit. 

The German Legion figures needed no conversion: they came with the jaunty plumed hat with turned up brim, and the lines of the tunic, trousers, and equipment are spot on for the type.  I also went with the universal gray/blue toned uniform that nearly all of these units donned. 

Being a "squad" level game, their leader is an NCO.  In this image, you can see the black lining that I wound up adding in order to set the green cuffs off from the blue/gray tunics. 

The "three foot view" of the "green hats" from the player's perspective. 

Excelsior!

GAGGLE OF GRENZERS

 

New contingent of individually mounted Grenzers. 

Greetings, dear reader(s)! This is just a modest post to show that I'm still here and to keep the old blog alive and active. In my ongoing effort to round out my collection for One Hour Skirmish gaming (my 19th Century version), I decided that it would be good to expand the number of Grenzers on hand. And so I did. 

These are Keelman (former Steve Barber) 28mm Grenzers in greatcoat from the Hungarian Revolt line. Given the universal look of the greatcoats (sans equipment), and the distinctive late-century forage caps, they will work for scenarios set most anytime in the mid to late 19th Century (particularly in Balkan and Frontier contexts that are the focus of  my One Hour Skirmish collection). 

Not being able to find a match for the pink distinctions I did on my earlier Hungarian Grenzers, I decided to do these with yellow distinctions.  I believe that I used my last bit of Humbrol Polish Crimson to do the pink on the others--a color that is now discontinued--so I reverted to yellow for the expanded greatcoat contingent. 

The famous Grenzer Bowling Pin formation...this is the perspective that players will have of them on the table. The yellow stands out nicely against the brown forage caps and the gray coats. Not "peacocks," but smart and businesslike in their own way, they'll do nicely in their role of "regulars" in the context of frontier policing and border skirmish actions.  

Excelsior!

1866 JAGERS FOR ONE HOUR SKIRMISH

 

9th Prussian Jagers in action at Gravelotte, 1870

Austrian Kaiser Jager, 1866

Greetings, dear reader(s).  The blogging tempo 'round here has been a bit slacker than it's usual rate (which could best be described as "tepid"). Real life has been interfering with art, but there has been activity on the hobby front, and I've managed to steal a brief interlude to put together a brief "show and tell" post on a recent pair of additions to my One Hour Skirmish "Musket to Rifle" collection.  Specifically, I've added two contingents of Jagers (for those not familiar, "jager" is german for "hunter"), one Prussian and one Austrian.  Each of these sets will provide enough figures to play a substantial One Hour Skirmish game. These figures are former Northstar, now to be found among the Eagles of Empire offerings.  As usual, in this post, you may clix pix for BIG PIX. 

PRUSSIAN JAGERS

Completed contingent of Prussian Jagers.

Study of the figures and my treatment of them: I find these figures not only historically spot on, but superbly suited for conveying vignettes given their realistic proportions and poses.  

Prussian specialty figures: left to right: NCO, Officer, and Trumpeter. 

AUSTRIAN JAGERS

Completed contingent of Austrian Jagers

Study of the Austrians and my treatment of them: like the Prussians (and all the figures in the Old Northstar/Eagles of Empire 1866 line), the dynamic poses and variety are particularly well suited to small unit use where each model stands on its own. 

Austrian Leader figures: Officer flanked by two NCOs. 

Detail of one of the Austrian NCOs.  These were a study in gray tones. I used a drybrush of Humbrol mid blue over the gray of the trousers to render the distinctive "pike gray" that differentiates them from the overcoat gray (refer to the opening picture of the Austrian Kaiser Jager for an illustration).

With these two new contingents, I have expanded my options for One Hour Skirmish gaming to 1866: Prussian versus Austrian "hunters": a classic combination!

Excelsior!