Arrrgh! Gotta go back into camera settings on my iPhone to bring all of the frame into focus. Blast! Painting is underway on the 60 or so Minden Austrians, which are slated to become my version of the Anhalt-Zerbst Regiment of AWI renown. More or less indistinguishable from Austrians of the era really, right down to the red facings and turnbacks, but the eventual flags (already in my files) will set them apart. I went ahead and based-coated all of them over a couple of days lthe last week of August, using a mix of light gray and white acrylic gesso, before next applying my usual basic alkyd oil flesh tone to the faces and hands. In a day or two, I'll hit that with Army Painter Flesh Wash to tone things down a bit and bring some definition to the faces and hands. As usual, the plan is to focus on about 20 figures at a time, splitting the regiment roughly into thirds along with the color party and regimental staff. Depending on ...
Both the Stollenians, under the despondent Colonel von Grundig, and the Zichenauers, commanded by the dynamic Major von Hirschbiegel, suffered heavy casualties from musketry, artillery fire, and melee this turn. Zichenau's 11th Hussars suffered two casualties at the hands of Stollen's 4th Dragoons (Squadron B). However, Squadron A, 4th Dragoons was wiped out by grenzer fire from the church and double-townhouse. Ouch! Stollenian artillery fire inflicted 3 casualties though on the enemy grenzers stationed in the village church, reducing its garrison to a mounted colonel and company officer on foot. Meanwhile, Stollen's Von Laurenz Musketeers scored four hits on the detachment of The Newts in the village post office, however they suffered 6 casualties at the hand of those same men.
And to the southeast of Pickelhaubewicz, Major von Hirschbiegel's detatchment of Irish grenzers in the copse have just about reduced the fighting effectivenes of von Grundig's remaining Jaeger zu Fuss to zero. The troubled colonel studies the field and concludes the it was a good idea to dispatch his aide to Krankenstadt, carrying news of a defeat. A Stollenian victory seems increasingly less likely at this point. What to do, what to do?
Comments
To this point, the light infantry and cavalry have borne the brunt of the fight. To the north, the 1st company of the Grenzers have made it clear just how effective well-trained light infantry can be with their fire. Meanwhile, to the south, the 2nd company of grenzers and the two companies of Stollenian Jagers have been whittling each other down turn after turn with roughly equal withering fire. It's only in the last two turns that the line infantry and artillery have begun to really contribute.
--Dave
Steve.
Alan