Prussian III Korps Artillery Completed

Today I completed the final artillery company for the Napoleonic Prussian III Korps.

Foot Company #19 of Historifigs (ex-Scruby) gunners and guns.
The rammers are hand-made from wire and glue soaked paper.

Foot Company #19 (of the Prussian Artillery Brigade) is equipped with 6-lb guns and 7-lb howitzers.  It joins its other three companies in the corps artillery -- two heavy 12-lb equipped companies and one horse artillery company.  The corps artillery was used to reinforce the combat power of the brigades (division-equivalents) assigned to III Korps.  Each brigade only had one company of light foot artillery like the 19th Company.

Wings of War/Glory Storage

As I've increased my holdings of WW1 Wings of War/Glory biplanes, it has become quickly apparent that lugging all of them around has become prohibitive.  My current storage is two "legal size" clam shell document boxes plus the original boxes in which they came, all in one large plastic bin..

As you can see, I was using plastic 1/4" (~ 6.3 mm) H-columns placed just far enough apart that I could slide the bases and planes between them as well as keep the plane cards under each base.  But the planes were not perfectly secure as it is hard to keep the plastic columns perfectly aligned.

So I researched what other WoW/G gamers have done over on the "Wings of Glory Aerodrome" forum.  There were a couple of usable systems but in this time of "stay at home" I couldn't justify getting out to buy the components, especially as I fall into one of the "more likely to catch it" categories.  So I started planning to use what I did have.  My first foray was out of foam core but I quickly realized that wouldn't work - took up too much room and was difficult to cut and fit.

My second foray used a lattice of mat board about 1/16" (~ 1.5mm) thick.  That worked much better as it was easier to cut and gave me more room in the box I was using.  Here's the first completed box.

It holds 15 small fighters.  Eventually I'll have two of this type, one for Allied and one for Central Powers planes.  This "mixed" box has, from the left, three Fokker D VII, three Fokker Dr I, three Sopwith Camels, three SPAD XIII, and three Sopwith Snipes.  My Albatros D III, Pfalz D III, Phoenix D I, and Nieuport 17, 23, and 28 planes will all fit in this arrangement.  Overall I am very satisfied with this arrangement.

This is another view of the box showing how I attached the individual plane cards using a rubber coated paper clip.  The bottom is lined with a rubberized shelf liner that helps to keep the planes from sliding around too much.  I also have some thin padding that I'll use as well on the sides of each cell.

The other planes will go into three boxes -- one with three SE-5/5A, four Albatross D V, and five small two-seaters (Rolands and Ufags); one with eight larger two-seaters (all Allied); and one with five larger two-seaters (Central Powers and Allied) plus room for boxed maneuver and damage decks and bagged markers.

The boxes I'll use are by the Sterilite Company which I get at our local Target.  They are designed for American "letter" (11" x 8-1/2") paper.  I use them for troop storage, both 15mm and 25/28mm.  The interior dimensions are 12" (~ 305mm) by 9" (~ 229mm).  The lattice is 2" (~ 51mm) tall and notched to fit together.  The lattice fits into the box very snugly, preventing any lateral movement.  For additional security during movement I can lay a piece of bubble wrap on top.

This is the label of the box.  They are relatively inexpensive, about $7.00 (US) each.  The advantages of these boxes are they are dust and water resistant, have locking clasps, and will fit into a standard one-cubic foot cardboard box for easy transport.

I'll post additional pictures of the completed boxes once I get them done -- see link.

British Expeditionary Force, Northern Germany

Continuing with painting my Napoleonic forces for the 1813 post-armistice campaign in northern Germany, I added a company of Royal Artillery to my British forces.

Hunt's Company, Royal Artillery, equipped with 9-lb guns
[Miniature Figurines gunners, 2 Mini Fig 9-lg guns, 1 unknown 9-lb gun]

My British forces are (very) loosely based on the forces that were sent to northern Germany in 1813 after the armistice.  Most of what I've pictured below weren't actually sent to Germany but I've used "wargamers license" to add them as I own them.

Force Command group - Major General Archibald (left) and Colonel Campbell hisself (right)
[Archibald and staff officer are Der Kriegspilers and Campbell is an "antique" Airfix figure - painted by me]

Battalion of the 42nd Royal Highland Regiment, the Black Watch
[Miniature Figurines - bought already painted]

Battalion of the 71st Highland Light Infantry
[Miniature Figurines - bought already painted]

3rd Battalion, 95th Rifle Regiment, the Green Jackets
[Der Kriegspieler officer and bugler and Scruby other ranks - painted by me]

Battalion of Royal Marines landed from ships of the Baltic and North Sea flotillas
[Miniature Figurines - painted by me]

Luneburg Light Infantry Battalion, Kingdom of Hanover
[Der Kriegspieler officer and bugler and Scruby other ranks - painted by me]

  

Battalion of Brunswick Oels Jagers
[Der Kriegspieler - painted by me]

Battalion (-) of Corsican Rangers, transferred from the Mediterranean Theater
[Scruby Miniatures - painted by me]

11th Light Dragoon Regiment
[early Miniature Figurines - painted by me]

I do have many more to paint, eventually - 5 battalions of British infantry, 4 battalions of Hanoverian infantry, parts of 3 cavalry regiments, 1 Royal Artillery company and 1 Royal Horse Artillery Rocket Troop, plus a number of officers.  I'll also upgrade the Brunswick Oels and the Corsican Rangers to full 4-stand battalions.

Prussian 3rd Brigade and Corps Cavalry Completed!

I've been slightly delinquent in posting here about my miniature wargaming activities since our large Franco-German War game back in January.  But I'm hoping to make up for it now.

As the title states, I've finally completed the last detachments for the 3rd Prussian Brigade and regiments for the III Korps cavalry.  My previous post back in July 2019 recorded the completion of the 4th Brigade.  As I wrote there, the Prussian brigades in 1813 were really division equivalent all-arms commands and were called such to get around the onerous French restrictions after the Treaty of Tilsit.

The 3rd Brigade, commanded by Generalmajor Prinz von Hessen-Homburg, consisted of:
     Infantry Regiment #4, 3rd East Prussian of three battalions (two musketeer and one fusilier)
     Reserve Infantry Regiment #4 of three musketeer battalions
     2nd East Prussian Grenadier Battalion (with companies from both the 3rd and 4th East Prussian Regiments
     3rd East Prussian Landwehr Infantry Regiment of three musketeer battalions
     Hussar Regiment #1, 1st Leib Husaren
     Foot Artillery Company #5 with 6-lbr guns

The 3rd East Prussian Regiment, 2nd East Prussian Grenadier Battalion, and 1st Leib Husaren Regiment all had freiwilligen (volunteer) jager detachments.  These were composed of young men fron well-to-do families who provided their own items of clothing and equipment that had to generally meet army requirements.  The foot jagers were normally armed with the family's hunting rifle while the mounted jagers could have that or a short carbine.

Here are the foot jager detachments that I recently painted, completing the 3rd Brigade.  They are vintage Scruby true 25mm castings.

Volunteer Jager Detachment, 2nd East Prussian Grenadier Battalion

Two Volunteer Jager Detachments, 3rd East Prussian Infantry Regiment

I also completed the III Korps cavalry contingent.  The corps cavalry was where almost all the cavalry in the corps could be found, although some regiments could be attached to the brigades for various operations.  The III Korps Cavalry was commanded by Generalmajor von Oppen and  consisted of eight regiments:
     1st Brigade (Oberst [Colonel] von Teskow)
          Dragoon Regiment #1, Koningen (Queen's)
          Dragoon Regiment #4, 2nd West Prussian
          Dragoon Regiment #5, Brandenburg
     2nd Brigade (Oberst von Hobe)
          Hussar Regiment #6, 2nd Silesian
          Uhlan Regiment #1, West Prussian
     3rd Brigade (Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel) von Sydow)
          2nd Pomeranian Landwehr Cavalry Regiment
          2nd Kurmark Landwehr Cavalry Regiment
          4th Neumark Landwehr Cavalry Regiment

All three dragoon regiments and the uhlan regiment had mounted volunteer jager detachments.  The ones from the 2nd West Prussian Dragoons and West Prussian Uhlans were finally painted as well as the Kurmark and Neumark Landwehr Cavalry and the 3rd Brigade commander.

Volunteer Jager Detachments of the 2nd West Prussian Dragoons (left) and the West Prussian Uhlans (right).
The figures are MiniFigs Prussian riders on Prinz August (I think) horses.

Complete 2nd West Prussian Dragoon Regiment with volunteer jagers.
The dragoons are Prussian MiniFigs.
You can see that the jagers' horses are bigger so I may try to get MiniFigs horses to replace them.

Complete West Prussian Uhlan Regiment with volunteer jagers.
The uhlans are Hinchliffe figures.

2nd Kurmark Landwehr Cavalry Regiment (Hinchliffe figures).

4th Neumark Landwehr Cavalry Regiment (Hinchliffe figures)

Oberstleutnant con Sydow, 3rd Cavalry Brigade Commander.
A Hinchliffe figure wearing the uniform of the Pomeranian Landwehr Cavalry (from where he was assigned).

I now have two brigades (division equivalents) and the Corps cavalry completed from the Prussian III Korps, commanded by Generalleutnant von Bülow.  The corps was assigned to the allied Army of the North, commanded by the Prince Regent of Sweden (former French Marshall Bernadotte).  I'm also almost finished with the corps artillery, having only one 6-lbr foot company left to paint.  They should be done shortly as I have more time now-a-days.  Once I get that done, I plan of a major review of all my Prussian forces.  Stay tuned!