Great Northern War Project - Batch #5

Swedish Command Figures

Completing my Swedes for this project are three Swedish command figures.  As always, the camera is very unkind, as I swear they look much better 'in the flesh'. But it is what it is.

Below is Colonel Wallander, whose command this is.

A Swedish General of Horse:

And for the pièce de résistance, Charles XII of Sweden, himself!

The above psychological study of Charles has him setting lose 'the lads' on a hapless Russian fusilier.  I'm not sure what to call this one: "Unleash the Hounds", "Let Slip the Dogs of War", or "Feet, Don't Fail Me Now!".

 

Charles' finger in the air could mean "Fear God!" or, "That's one!"

The sharp end of war.

Charles prefers his super-sized sword (courtesy of Wargames Factory). Hounds, I believe, are old Ral Partha, while cavalry below are Old Glory. Fusiler is a conversion. As I said, it is what it is.

Great Northern War Project - Batch #4

Swedish Horse

This batch of Horse completes my Great Northern War Swedish Host for The Pikeman's Lament. Well, is an army ever complete? I still need to do some generals; and I could always use a few more Grenadiers; plus some terrain features; and what about Finnish Reindeer cavalry? But what I've got -- a little under 100 figs -- is sufficient unto the day.

I've painted up four units of six figs each -- three units of Vastgota Regt. 'Rytter' cavalry ('Gallopers'), and a single unit of  Bohuslans Dragoons. The later unit is all mounted, since sources agree that Swedish Dragoons were employed in exactly the same way as Rytters, and seldom if ever operated on foot. "Ga Pa!"

Close up shot of the Vastgota command element, warts and all.

Bohuslans Dragoon, in green coats. Just about the only native Swedish Dragoon Regt. in Chuck the Twelfth's army, since the rest were Germans, etc. They are fully mounted and ready for serious business -- no silly skirmishing from these lads! 

Great Northern War Project - Batch #3

Swedish Grenadiers 'Forlorn Hope'

While I've been busily painting up my GNW Swedish Horse, I've embarked on a slight detour: a Pikeman's Lament 'Forlorn Hope' of Swedish Grenadiers.

I've already got 48 infantry figures painted up, and since there were about 15% Grenadiers per battalion, the six that I've done completes it.

Plus, while re-reading the rules I noticed that the Forlorn Hope units are very powerful. One six fig unit is just about equal to two units of Pike or Shot, or 24 figures. Since my opponent Will's Russians consist of 12 Grenadiers plus an equal number of dismounted Dragoons, I could see that a 'Forlorn Hope Gap' was quickly developing! Clearly, something needed to be done (ahh, 'mission creep'!).

The problem was, where to get the figs? I've already got quite a number on the go, and didn't want to buy any more. So, I had a good look at the left-overs on the Wargames Factory sprues. 

Now, I know that many gamers love to be able customize their figures with all the options that come with such sprues. But frankly, I would rather simply have two or three extra figs, thanks very much! If you look at the sprue pictured above you'll see that in addition to the three figures that comes with it, you get enough spare parts for an additional three figs -- minus the lower halves of the bodies and sword hangers.

So I went digging through my inventory at home and found that I had a box of Wargames Factory WWII US GIs that I had bought on sale (but had proven totally out of scale for the smattering of WWII 28mm figures that I already had).

Necessity is the mother of invention. Out came the hacksaw and sandpaper, and what you see below is the result.

Match up the US GI lower bodies with the 18th century upper bodies, add some glue, and 'hey presto'! (Sorry about picture quality, but my camera started acting up. You get the idea.)

I also had to fabricate the lower half of the greatcoat, so out came the inevitable 'greenstuff'. The paper you see serves as a guide for the slice of greenstuff. 

I also needed to fabricate pockets on the greatcoat to give it the proper look. I cut out pocket shapes from wine bottle tinfoil and used a pin to make button shapes on the opposite side (small indentations facing outwards). 

Below: the green spot covers the hole in the washer base. 

Here are my completed Grenadiers, warts and all. The camera can see detail much better than I can, so I'll have to do some cleaning up.

Cheers!

Great Northern War Project - Batch #2

Here's a new batch of Great Northern War Swedes.

I've added a fourth 'company' to my Swedish Foot. My reasoning is as follows:

Each battalion (two per line regiment) was composed of four companies, each with c. 160 men, 30% of which were pikemen. So, about 640 per battalion. The pikemen from each of the companies were formed together in the centre of the battalion when it was arrayed for battle.

Adding a fourth unit (composed solely of pikemen) allows me to field either three units of Shot and one of Pike, or (which makes more sense), four blended units. Although it isn't stated as such, the nominal scale of The Pikeman's Lament (Osprey) seems to be 10-20 men per figure -- that's how it plays, anyway.  So what I've got is a battalion -- or perhaps four battalions using other sets of rules.

Four companies, Pikemen to the front.

Four companies, Pikemen interspersed.

Pastor Ilaff Christmannbogga leads the way.

Blue Sonja, Daughter of the Regiment.

Schmenge, the Dwarf Dudelsackpfeiffer encourages the lads.

Gunnar, leader of "Gunnar's Gunners" (kind of resembles Trevor Howard, maybe?).

Two twelve pounders.

A section of battalion guns.

The Regiment, marching through Pomerania.

"Good morning, my Dear!" Gunnar tries it on, the swine.


Since I always paint up my collections in opposing pairs, below is a first unit of Russians.

And more to come... unpainted Swedish Horse, below.

Cheers!

Great Northern War Project - Batch #1

Recently I've been assembling a 28mm Great Northern War army of Swedes to do battle with fellow gamer Will's splendid Russians, using The Pikeman's Lament set of rules (Osprey).

It's been a long slog, but here's the first batch, featuring Foot and Guns.

Fribytare-Regemente Wallander (Wallander's Regiment of Freebooters)

Three command stands combined to form a unit of Pikes.

Wallander's Regiment currently consists of three 12-fig. companies. I've based these so that they can be deployed in three different ways:

1. Pike & Shot

As seen below, this consists of two units of Shot and one of Pike, with the Pikes at the rear.

I wanted to avoid them looking like employees at a well-know big box store, and so I gave them a 'ragged rebel' appearance. By mid-war the stocks of material and dye in Sweden were getting pretty low. Many uniforms were made of homespun wool.

2. Three Blended Units

This would consist of each of the three companies having one of the command stands shown above, plus musket-armed figures. The units would perhaps shoot with a penalty, but would "Attack' (melee) with a bonus. This is to reflect the Swedes 'Ga Pa!' view on life.

3. Super-sized Units

This is stretching the rules a bit, but is my preferred option, as it really reflects the Swedish approach. Instead of three units, I field two, but each has 16 figures. The units fire normally with 12D6 (6D6 at half-strength), but melee with 16D6 (8D6 at half-strength). They cost more, of course, but no need for modifications. What I would like to avoid is the battles degenerating into War of the Spanish Succession firefights -- and something  has to explain the Swedes' well-nigh unstoppable cold-steal tactics!

(For a description of how the War of the Spanish Succession  plays with The Pikeman's Lament, checkout an earlier posting in this blog.)

Super-size me!

"Ga Pa!"

Special Characters

To add some spice, I've included some special characters, as per the rules:

The Reverend Ilaff Christmannbogga

Blue Sonja: Daughter of the Regiment

Schmenge, the Swedish Dudelsackpfeiffer

Gunnar Olufsen's Company of Gunnes (know locally as "Gunnar's Gunners")

(Better yet, how about "Bang! and Olufsen"? :-))

Gunnar's unit(s) comes in two different configurations: two units of 12-pounders, or supporting units(s) of 3-pounder battalion guns.

Above are two units of 12-pounders, deployed for siege work. The gunners are in homespun cloth and floppy hats (not unusual for the Swedes until late in the war), plus infantry as helpers. Gunnar himself, shown at right, of course appears in his finery!

A single unit of battalion guns (six gunner).

Next time, Batch #2, featuring Horse and Dragoons (including "Sedin's 'Goons").

Cheers,