GDA2 uses a lot infantry miniatures. Fifteen or more battalions on the table is commonplace, and often more in their scenarios, and there are 24 figures in each one on my basing system (not counting large battalions). I didn’t have enough Prussians for some of the 1813 or 1815 published scenarios – except perhaps using some Landwehr as line infantry. I have similar problems for the French, where I have had to use Guard units in the line. So I needed reinforcements!
My immediate focus was on the GDA Lützen scenario. For this I needed lots of bog-standard Prussian line. Four regiments were involved (two Silesian and two West Prussians), with up to four battalions each and 13 altogether – plus two battalions of grenadiers and one of Silesian Shützen. And that’s not the full game size – though I doubt we will ever play the extended variant with another 3 battalions of late reinforcements. I have but three battalions of standard line infantry (from the 2nd, Pomeranian, regiment). In addition I can rustle up seven odd-looking battalions from the 1815 new regiments – previously reserve units (plus 8 Landwehr) – and I had a couple of bases of Silesian Shützen.
My plan was to put together another six and a half battalions. Four of line infantry – painted as the 2nd West Prussian regiment – and two of grenadiers (West Prussian and Pomeranian) and an extra couple of bases of Shützen. The line infantry and shützen I could cobble together from Old Glory figures in my lead mountain, with a few AB officers which I also had in stock – which would leave me with only a handful of unpainted Old Glory figures. I bought the grenadiers and some extra skirmishers from AB. AB do them in campaign uniform, without the fancy shako plumes – but with a couple of details different from line infantry, like badges on the cartridge box.
This project is especially significant because I bit the bullet and decided to change the basing. Until now my infantry (and cavalry) have been based on 25mm squares (and skirmishers on 25mm by 15mm bases). I decided to move them to 30mm wide, with the same depth. The tipping point was the decision that in my future grand-tactical rules I would articulate the bases individually, rather than forming them into lines and columns like individual battalions. When a base is on its own it looks a lot better as an oblong, so you can see readily which way it is facing. The difference is not so great that I can’t use them alongside my smaller bases: indeed a I have some British units, bought from a friend, on 30mm squares, which I have used successfully co-mingled. A second decision was to use pre-cut MDF bases (bought from Pendraken) rather than cutting them myself from thin cardboard. I use these bases on my smaller scale figures (6mm and 10mm) for ease of handling, and I have decided that the thicker bases aren’t so bad visually. The handling issue still applies, and the cardboard can warp.
This first picture shows the 1st and 2nd battalions of the 2 West Prussians. Each line battalion comes with a skirmisher base, and to these I have added a couple of bases of volunteer jagers. The 2nd West Prussian regiment actually contributed little (one or two battalions out of a possible four) to the Lützen order of battle for the GDA scenario – but I already had the flags in stock.
Next come the Fusiliers and the 3rd battalion. The Fusiliers count as a light unit for GDA purposes, so I did five skirmish bases. When fully deploying the unit my plan is to take off two bases from the main unit and put on four skirmish bases; this is not in the rules but has an almost identical effect. The 3rd battalions of Prussian infantry were only used at the start of the 1813 campaign. After Lützen they were folded into the other battalions. However, since all my 1st and 2nd battalions are standard sized, I can use bases from this unit to make them into large units (and the Fusiliers too if I just add a single base), typical of 1815, and even later in 1813.
And finally the grenadiers and shützen. The Pomeranian grenadiers are in the front rank. I chose this regiment rather than the Silesians (who were actually in the order of battle) to match with the Pomeranians I already have. Also there was Frederick the Great’s quote about Pomeranian grenadiers. The AB figures are lovely, and a cut above the Old Glory ones (though these are not bad – and quite characterful). The shützen are a combination of my old two bases, rebased and touched up, and two new ones. Likewise with the skirmish bases (where as a light unit, they get five – plus I did three bases of jagers for the other regiments). They integrate pretty smoothly, though getting them off the old bases, covered in static grass was less straightforward.
Doing seven units of infantry as a single project was easily my biggest at 18mm – but I it felt necessary to get the troops table-ready in reasonable time. I based and primed the units all together. I then did the basic painting by individual unit, so as to be able to see progress more easily. After the first four units, I finished the bases and gave them the final coat of varnish/wash for the ones completed so far. I then moved on to the final three units. Because I thought the wash dulled down the white webbing and the white/red facings a bit too much, I did this earlier in the process for the second batch, and did the final paintwork (the webbing, facings and metallics) in one big batch afterwards. I also did a little highlighting on the first batch to lift them a bit – including on the flesh parts, which looked a bit dull. I’m no expert at highlighting (getting the right weight of paint on the brush is a real skill) so I don’t think this added that much.
Incidentally the wash is one aspect that I have been experimenting with. This time I mixed a bit of sepia acrylic ink with acrylic airbrush matt varnish (from Liquitex). I have used black ink before, and found it a bit too strong. The sepia is better, and the finish of the varnish (if properly shaken before use) is exactly what I want. As I said, I still think the figures needed final highlighting – but this is not a big job.
How about the new bases? I’m not a total convert. The figures still look a little loose for close order infantry to my eye, especially in the “march attack” pose. When posed advancing with lowered weapons (only the shützen this time), and the ranks slightly offset, then the extra space works. For the light infantry I did try to offset the ranks, though this is barely visible. However, by modern wargames standards these units still count as densely packed, and the wider bases do look better on their own.
The first batch of units were finished in time to take part in one of my club games, mixed with my older units. You can see from this excerpt:
The shützen are on the front left; 3/2 West Prussian is the right of the limber (which is from the artillery batch described in the last post). There’s no problem mixing the two. But the big question lurks: do I rebase my old units? Not for now.
My Prussian lead mountain is now substantially reduced. I have some packs of AB Landwehr that I will paint up as Silesians. I have a couple of AB cavalry units that I don’t really need but would look good. My next Napoleonic project is French infantry reinforcements: six battalions in late uniform, including two of Young Guard.
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