Tirailleurs Corse

Thought I'd get these guys out in short order as I had them on the painting table for the last two weeks.  They are a bit of a hotch-potch and the recruiting sergeant cast a wide net for these lot, drafting them from wherever he could find them!  The figures include Victrix and Perry's plastics, Foundry, Perrys, Elite and even an old Hinchcliffe in amongst them!  Amazingly, they don't appear too out of place together - although that was more accident than design.

Tirailleurs Corses - Voltigeur, Carabinier and Tirailleur companies

Basically I scrounged 24 figures to put together a battalion of the famous Corsican Tirailleurs light infantry (known for obvious reasons as 'the Cousins' - Napoleon himself being from Corsica).  The idea is for a forthcoming game based on the battle of Ebelsberg in the 1809 campaign where these guys were prominent in charging across the 500 meter long bridge over the Traun river against huge odds into the Austrian held town, while under fire all the way.  It was a prodigious feat of arms but they were nearly wiped out in an equally heroic Austrian counter-charge by the newly recruited boys of the Vienna Volunteers Landwehr.  Napoleon was reportedly not well pleased with the horrendous butcher's bill for Ebelsberg which included over 500 men of the 900 strong Corsican veterans.

Voltigeur (yellow plumes) and Carabinier companies (red facings and green plumes)

Tirailleur companies

I have to say that I didn't actually paint any of these from scratch but rather converted them from other French and Italian figures.  As well as a fair bit of re-basing, it required repainting them in the famous Corsican (also shared with their cousins, the northern Italian Tirailleurs du Po) poo-brown uniform.  Actually its almost the same kind of brown as the Austrian artillerymen - a nice reddy-brown rather than tan or earth tones.

Carabinier company (ex-Italian line)

Voltigeur company (also formerly Italians)

Tirailleur companies - mix of figures with Perry's, Foundry, Elite and can you spot the old Hinchcliffe?

The sole Hinchcliffe figure is a survivor of the first metal figures that I acquired in my teens.  He's a real Lazarus and this latest uniform is about his fourth reincarnation!

I do like to use some marching casualty figures 

After Wagram the survivors of both Tirailleur battalions, reportedly around 300 effectives from about 1600 at the start of the campaign, were amalgamated with the 13th Legere, itself largely depleted from the action it saw in the 1809 - particularly at Ebelsberg.

Well, back to the Austrians again - I've still got a mountain of metal to paint up.

Austrian 'Wurst' Gun, Crew and Limber

Just completed one of the most challenging models I've put together in some time - one of the Perry's latest releases from their metal range of the Napoleonic Austrian army: the 'WurstKanone' with crew, limber and team.  Its a huge metal model - together with some of the Russian gun limbers, one of the largest Perry's make.  The metal kit consists of six horses, three of which have the 'Fuhrwesen' teamsters molded with the horse, the seven part limber (seven parts!), the 6 pdr gun and four man crew.  

Its a beautiful model and up to the Perry's usual high standard.  The poses of the teamsters and gun crew are fantastic with one leaning on his pommel while his horse crops the grass, another twisting in the saddle - so I've got him talking to the gun crew Kaporal who's probably telling him not to take off before the crew are properly perched on their precarious looking 'sausage seat' on the gun trail (and from whence the gun got its name).  I note there are no handrails or anything to hold onto, just a foot-rail on either side of the seat, so you'd think going at anything faster than a brisk trot could be a tad risky!

Although beautifully made, putting the limber together with its very fine metal parts and the two-piece limber shaft was a real pig! There are plenty of limber pieces - more than you'll need, so that putting the team together even with (if you were a real pedant) fine jeweler's chain is distinctly possible.

There is some flash on it here and there, requiring a bit of clean up with scalpel and fine file before gluing etc. Because of its size (its over 26 cm long) I decided to approach it a bit at a time, including dividing the base into three.  Once I'd finished putting the limber and gun together (the limber over and over again!), I base coated and painted all the figures horses and pieces separately.  Once these were just about finished - I did the mounted teamsters first on the middle base section, removing them from the paint sticks. [A word of warning here: I use a hot glue gun to put 'em on wooden ice cream sticks - don't overdo it with the hot glue!  The horse and figure bases are quite thin and will bend and break when removing them from the paint sticks unless very careful!]  After a few anxious moments I mounted the three teamsters & horses on the main base and let dry while I finished the gun, crew and limber.

I decided to mount up the gun on a separate base so that the limber can be used with or without and with a full six horse team or four (thinking about the size and the room it takes up on the wargaming table here).

The crew mounting up on the 'sausage seat'

The corporal has a word...

A precarious looking enterprise

The idea of just having a limber is so it can deploy behind the battery (once I've finished it!) or be limbered up - (about to be) on the move as it were.  The other piece I've got to go with this is the Austrian horse artillery caisson - it also looks like its going to be challenge!  Artillery batteries with attendant limbers, caissons, extra gun-handlers as well as the guns and crews themselves were an enormous enterprise and quite difficult to represent on the wargaming table.  The sheer room the establishment of a three or four gun battery requires would be just too prohibitive - mind you, if you were of a mind to, Perry's produce all the bits and bobs you'll need for any of the main armies. I did see one done once of a French battery with 'hired help' resting limbers, caissons - the lot.  The full thing looked magnificent but would have taken up a sizeable chunk of an average table!  What I want to do is have that higher level of detail but take up the minimum space.  At least that's the plan!

Four horse team and limber section

Detachable lead team

The gun and crew also presented a bit of a challenge to base separately as the gun trail had to be able to be mounted on the limber as well.  I'll just have to remember to lift it separately when I put it on the table for a game!

Gun base section

The thing to remember is that Austria was the only major army NOT to have true horse artillery!  The 'Wurst Kanone' were the closest thing that they did field - more of a mobile artillery than a true horse artillery.  I don't believe they moved anywhere near the speed of the cavalry they were meant to support - certainly not comparable with the French, Russian, British or even Prussian versions.  Limbered up with crew straddling the long gun seat they reportedly moved at a brisk trot at best.  These were not sprung so you can imagine it would have been a fairly bone-jarring trip across the battlefield before leaping off to unlimber and deploy.  The seat could be removed but it was often left on during action so they could rapidly limber up and move at a moment's notice - even if they didn't travel that fast!  Nonetheless they were a mobile artillery and considered themselves elite artillerymen - the Austrian artillery was never less than proficient and at least as professional as their French opponents, even if tactically they didn't match the French use of artillery.

So, a 'Wurst' battery is a must-have for any respectable Austrian army - one limber down, one caisson and battery to go!