These Austrians sporting waffenrock full skirted tunics and tapered stove pipe shakoes are really post 1850 . This time I have two weak units representing Infantry Regiments 40 and 41.
IR40 Baron Koudelka 1834 to 1849 probably means the men with light blue facings are from IR40 Inhaber (Ceremonial Commander in Chief) Baron Rossbach who took over in 1850.
IR41 with sulphur yellow facings, under Baron Sivkovich from 1841 then handed over to Baron Kellner in 1857
These are weak Field of Battle Battalions at only 3 bases. Right now I tend to paint the figures by sprue and “Waterloo 1815 manufactured” Austrians come with 10 figures including a mounted officer. So I get 3 bases of 3 foot figures.
I use the excellent Osprey Men At Arms 323 by Darko Pavlovic as my main reference.
This Austrian Artillery Battery works for the 1st and 2nd Italian Independence Wars of 1848/49 and 1859/60 respectively. We are still in muzzle loading smoothbore territory but with rifling growing in popularity.
This time I opted for individually based figures.
Previously I had based some of them for Piquet Field of Battle rules.
The artillery pieces are Irregular Miniatures Russian guns.
My Wars of the Italian Unification (WotIU) see the grip of the former Holy Roman Empire, now the Austro-Hungarian Empire loosened and then effectively removed. Some consider the period to be 1848 to 1866. Others take a more broader approach of 1815 to 1870.
Waterloo 1815 fortunately produced some key figure sets covering the Franco-Austrian War of 1859 – as Italy did not exist! it was not considered a belligerent in this war…….The Kingdom of Sardinia was the junior partner of the French side. To be fair the Kingdom of Two Sicilies (Naples) and the Papal States still sided with Austria.
So Waterloo1815 Bersaglieri should be called something other than Italian for 1859. Strelets call their Bersaglieri Sardinian and are shown in the Crimean War (1854) section by Plastic Soldier Review.
Whichever period you settle on, two dates are signficant. 1848 and 1859. In 1848 it was a last hurrah for the Austrians while in 1859 it was the last hurrah for the 2nd French Empire under Napoleon III. As usual the “Italians” provided the battleground and a lot of suffering.
Thats why 1870 is the best date to view Italian unification when the French were effectively removed from the peninsula as the Prussians marched on Paris.
My 1859 Austrian artillery – two Piquet batteries although I think I might just double them up when I get enough done. 2 guns always “looks” better as a battery on the game table.
During the period 1815 to 1870 the Austrian army infantry uniforms changed from all white with tails, gaiters and helmets or shakoes to white kittels with blue trousers, maybe short gaiters and kepi’s plus greatcoats.
The Osprey Nos 323 and 329 Austrian Army 1836-1866 give you the infantry and cavalry but sadly no artillery. Both authored by Darko Pavlovic these pair are an excellent reference book to get started in this period.
First up are my Austrian Artillery who are made by Waterloo1815 in 1/72 and present in 1859 era uniforms and kit. Plastic Soldier Review was not impressed picking out detail errors plus deciding “the look” was all wrong.
Once you get beyond the Napoleonic period though, apart from the Amercian Civil War, it is like tumbleweed blowing across the painting desk until you arrive at World War 1!
I like the brown and blue uniforms
And Plastic Soldier Review comes up short on ideas for the 1859 Franco-Austro-Italian wars anyway. Just 10 sets on offer.
Having opted for 1/72 and essentially 24mm high = six foot tall real humans, I have made this my problem.
I think the artillery pieces look very good although plastic soldier review were appalled at the lifting dolphins locations.
Dolphins a problem? For the solo wargamer though it is an opportunity – CHANCE CARD – Austrian foundries supply miscast barrel dolphins leading to breakages in handling. D6 for number of batteries unavailable at start of campaign!
In previous posts I have set out my thoughts on figure choice and especially the tricky issue of scale figure height.
Given that 28mm scale which is relatively new could not establish some fixed limits then I think the rule is always “if you like it go with it”.
Back to these Austrian Artillerists. They will do for me and as it happens I quite like the quirky design style with their tall kepi’s balanced on their moustachieoed heads.
The Wargaming Erratic 