Sunday, September 2, 2012

Completed - Austrian 1st Uhlan Regiment 'Schwarzenberg'


As I mentioned in an earlier post these fellas have been kicking their heels on my paint desk for quite awhile, so I decided to take a break from my other stuff in order to get them done and in the cabinet.


The imperial Austrian army was composed of men from a bewildering range of ethnic backgrounds. In addition to those that were Germanic, the empire drew heavily upon men who were Hungarian, Romanian, Italian, Swiss, Croatian, Serbian, Ukrainian, Slovak, Bohemian, Czech, and Polish (phew, that's a passel of folks).



For generations the horsemen of Poland have proved to be excellent light cavalrymen, exhibiting particular expertise with the lance. The French created several regiments of  Polish Lancers as did the Russians and the Austrians. The Polish lancers, serving within all these imperial states, saw heavy action during the Napoleonic Wars. In fact, it would be interesting to know if any of these men ever had to face each other across the battlefield, fighting under different flags.


These are 28mm models from Wargames Foundry - quite old castings but I still quite like them. The pennants I made from glue-soaked paper, folded and cut to shape. The regimental colour is from 'Flag Dude'.


I'll probably add another dozen troopers down the road, but since I have quite a few other regiments to complete it will probably be another several years before these guys see any reinforcements - but I'm sure they'll hold their own on the tabletop!

26 comments:

  1. These are great, I am glad you got round to finishing them. The Austrian Army is my next project I thnk, but in 6mm!!!! Probably part of this years challenge???


    Ian

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    1. Thanks Ian. I look forward to seeing your upcoming Austrians in 6mm. I'm about to embark on a bit of work on my 3mm ACW stuff which will be a bit of change of pace.

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  2. Looking good Curt. I am sure you are glad to see them off the painting table - some things just do hang around don't they = looking at you , reminding you of past promises.

    Mind they will of course run away the first time - but then you know that!

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    1. Yes, they look good finally nestled in the display cabinet.

      I hope they run away as I'll probably be playing against them!

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  3. I happen to really like the old Foundry Nap range and these are no exception! Really nice work Curt!

    Christopher

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    1. Thanks Christopher. Yeah, I have a soft spot for them as well. Its nice that they're finally starting to dig up the old 'deleted' molds (and making the shipping more reasonable for us across the pond).

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  4. Excellent unit, Curt. Those old models from Foundry are really good. I like a lot, also, your bases.

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  5. Fabulous result, it must be great to do something so colourful as a break from the First World War project.

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    1. Thanks Michael. Yes, it is a breath of fresh air to open up the coloured pots!

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  6. Very nice indeed, love the basework too.

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  7. That unit is impressive!! I love them!! I´l paint some Napoleonics for me but in 15mm.

    Regards,

    Andrés.

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    1. 15mm is a great scale. 28mm is a conceit for me as I just enjoy the little extra 'real estate' for painting the uniforms.

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  8. Incredible stuff dude! Inspiring me to get some more Austrians under way...

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    1. Excellent! That's good to hear as I'd like us to have another dustup soon.

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  9. Beautiful work Curt, I don't envy you having to paint the flagpole!

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    1. Thanks Ray. Yes, it was a little mini-project in of itself. I can't tell you how many times I screwed up the sequence of the colour bands!

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  10. Very nice unit Curt! The individual pennats set it off very well, and I like the muted scenic base colours hinting at a more autumnal action?
    Beautiful!

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    1. Thanks Scott. Yeah, I thought that since its the end of summer here in the NA prairies I'd do something a little more autumnal - I found it actually worked fairly well with their uniform colours, which is a bonus.

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  11. Wonderful unit! Painting style and bases are impressive!

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  12. Very nice looking unit, and great bases.

    John

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    1. Thanks John! I hope your fishing trip was fun and you had some luck behind the reel.

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  13. wow they look really great, wonderful work

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    1. Thanks very much, Kent! Good luck with your upcoming Borodino game!

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Thanks for your comment! As long as you're not a spam droid I'll have it up on the blog soon. :)