HONVED INFANTRY: STAGE ONE COMPLETE

5 out of 6 units done

I completed 5 units in this project, leaving me 1 more unit on hand to complete. I did 3 units of Honved infantry and 2 of National Guard (the latter are visible in the second rank above).  During the Hungarian Revolt (1848-49), the Hungarian forces started with Hungarian units of the Austrian Army that went over to the Hungarian side.  In addition, there were locally raised units of National Guard and a nationally-raised force (the Honved: which began with 10 battalions but was expanded beyond that as time wore on).  In this post, as usual, you may clix pix for BIG PIX.

Illustrations are once again from the excellent Gyozo Smogyi Honved Army, 1848-49 book. The Honved infantry was intended to be centrally equipped and wear a brown coat with typical Hungarian touches (known as an "attila": above left). Given circumstances, however, there wound up being quite a bit of variety in actual practice. Among these, there were some units that wore a gray attila (above right). I did 2 units in the brown and 1 in the gray attila.  In progress is the 31st battalion (the fellow in the short white coat and kepi in the right hand picture above)--that unit is a conversion and will be covered in a separate post once complete. 

There was a regular issue for the Hungarian National Guard (above) that was basically the regular uniform and equipment but with a blue jacket with black lace.  Although there was much more variety in how these units wound up being uniformed, I choose to go with the above given that the figures I had would work for both.  The figures are all from the excellent Steve Barber Models Hungarian Honved infantry.

                                             Brown and Gray Attila Honved Infantry. 

                                                       Blue-coated National Guard
 
When done, the Honved infantry should present a colorful array. In addition to these and the 31st Battalion, I'll be adding 2 more units in brown attila with different colored kepis  (one red and one white).  I've also commissioned Honved Jagers, who will add a bit more flair to the look.  Of course, all the Hungarian cavalry were hussars (speaking of color), but those will be another project...