War of Spanish Succession armies

[Minuteman]

An outstanding display.

Having decided I cover sufficient Horse & Musket periods, your WSS project is a sore temptation.

Can I also comment on the quality of the photos?

donald

Thank you donald.

As I have observed before, your SYW armies are magnificent and I admire your self-control in not allowing yourself to start a 'new' tricorne era. I myself might have been happy simply to collect some modest 'tricorne era' forces for the GNW, SYW and the AWIonly were it not for the introduction of the Strelets WoSS range a few short years ago. Since then I have been unable to stop collecting these great figures...and in the face of adversity they continue to produce new sets! Is there any hope for me??

[Minuteman]

Any more WSS updates for us Mark?! I need my regular progress reports on your WSS armies!

Apologies Rich! It had been my intention to post some more Dutch infantry and artillery over the summer, but circumstances (some unexpected) have been getting in the way and slowing things down a lot. Hopefully I will be able to post some more pictures here before too long.

In the meantime, let us enjoy the new Dutch infantry masters from Strelets, and hope that these make it into production before long.

[MABO]

I came back to your last post of the Dutch army to late, Mark. Great collection I must say! And it was fun to detect all the conversions and to find the origin of all the stuff. Hope to see more soon, but we all have the same problem to find time and mood to deal with the hobby.

[Minuteman]

Time has again been slipping by, with more modelling time being devoted in recent weeks to creating some early C18th European buildings than actually painting figures. The intention is to create a small village as a 'stage' for pictures depicting preparations for the defence of that village, and then the actual assault and the defence. The underlying reason for this...well, mainly to represent the importance of fortified villages and farms in several of Marlborough's key battles, notably Blenheim (1704), Ramillies (1706) and Malplaquet (1708).

So....the village is as yet a 'work in progress', but some of the units that will defend and attack are now painted, so here is a view of those that I have made it, slowly, off the painting table:

French Regiment de Provence:




French Regiment du Roi (at last!):





French dragoon Regiment Rohan Chabot:





And for the attackers, some of more Dutch, this time the Garde te Voet - the famous 'Blue Guards:






And as for the village buildings, well these are mainly scratchbuilt, although parts of the Airfix Waterloo Farmhouse, a cardboard Railway model church (modified) etc may make it into the build:



In their current state, they are mainly a ghostly white! Much still to do to turn these into convincing buildings for this period. And indeed, if any Forum members have pictures of late C17th/early C18th Flanders buildings, please let me know as I have been a little short of reference material.

As well as the buildings there are more units to paint - including regiments of the Scots mercenary brigade in Dutch pay - artillery for both sides, wagons (conversions for the most part) and lots of scenic bits and pieces and debris.

This may yet take a while!

But for the time being, thanks for looking in.

[Bessiere]

Very well painted army you have there! Knowing your skills I'm sure your village will turn out excellent. I do have a question though: what was the difference in warfare between the WSS and Napoleonic wars? Units and weapons seem roughly the same so it must be tactical - would that be correct? Just curious.
Cheers,
Bessiere

[PaulRPetri]

Great painting Minuteman!! Looking forward to seeing that completed village. Looks awesome already.

[Konrad]

Wow!
So many nice painted figs.
You are busy.
And very creative.

[Bessiere]

Did you paint those flags? incredible.
Cheers,
Bessiere

[Minuteman]

Did you paint those flags? incredible.
Cheers,
Bessiere

Credit for the Dutch flags goes to Maverick Models, who produce a huge range of flags for many periods, and which are scaleable to 1/72: http://www.maverick-models.com/WSS%20FL ... Dutch.html

I did slightly embelish (add extra decoration) to the Dutch Guard flags however.

The French flags are from Kronoskaf, a great resource and useful for French infantry flags which in the main stayed the same for most units through to the Revolutionary wars at the end of the C18th.

[Minuteman]

Very well painted army you have there! Knowing your skills I'm sure your village will turn out excellent. I do have a question though: what was the difference in warfare between the WSS and Napoleonic wars? Units and weapons seem roughly the same so it must be tactical - would that be correct? Just curious.
Cheers,
Bessiere

Thanks!

Regarding the big question, the difference between warfare in the WoSS and about a century later in the Napoleonic period. I guess one way of describing it might be in terms of 'strategic intensity', and another is 'scale'. In his book 'The Art of Warfare in the Age of Marlborough', the late David Chandler sets out a thesis which is that early C18th warfare was somehow 'limited', mainly by logistics but partly also by the caution of commanders. Movement was fairly slow, magazines of supplies and fortified towns and cities were pre-eminent, and military strategy was more about seizing and controlling geographical areas (hence, sieges important) than the big decisive battle. It was perhaps because Marlborough and Eugene actively sought the decisive battle - and usually won - that they made such a big name for themselves in this period. And the days of the Napoleonic army corps were a long, long way off!

Tactics on the battlefield were evolving, as was the balance of different arms within armies. The early C18th saw the end of the pike as a battlefield weapon, replaced universally by the flintlock musket and socket bayonet. But these developments in infantry weaponry were new and infantry tactics had to evolve; so, firing by ranks in 4-5 deep formations remained the rule for French infantry, whereas 3 ranks in Dutch, British and Prussian armies were starting to learn how to deliver 'platoon fire', rolling and continuous volleys. Cavalry were relatively numerous as a proportion of armies, but again there was a debate about whether they were best used as 'mobile firepower' or a battle-winning 'cold steel' arm, with the latter gaining ascendancy through the exploits of Charles XII's Swedes, tactics borrowed by the Allies and used to good effect by Danish, Dutch and British cavalry; the French followed suit pretty quickly. Artillery in massed batteries were also starting to make their presence felt, a precursor perhaps to the Napoleonic era, still many decades off of course.

And as mentioned in my post, properly defended and fortified sites on the battlefield had a high tactical value, especially when the defenders had learned to use musketry effectively and in conjunction with artillery...as at Malplaquet. I need also to correct my earlier post ... 11 September 1709 is the date of this battle, and the emphasis there (and a reason the French almost won on the day) was their effective use of field fortifications and defended woods.

It is fascinating military period, and well worth looking in to.

[Bessiere]

Thank you for that very informative reply. Every war has it's own unique facets and place in the progression of warfare. WSS commanders seemed averse to risk, the battles more about forcing the enemy to concede than simply destroying them. More of a "gentlemen's" war if such a concept is even possible? Obviously a shortcoming in my knowledge of history so WSS needs study.
Much obliged,
Bessiere

[Rich W]

Well worth the wait Mark! Excellent units-I especially like the Dutch regiment! So many figures and all to such a high standard...! I'm looking forward to seeing how you progress with the buildings and really like the idea that you're going to recreate an attack the village. If I had the skill, creativity and time this is a venture I'd like to do!

[Minuteman]

The Duke of Marlborough’s British Infantry 'will advance'!

“Then fall in lads behind the drum
With colours blazing like the sun.
Along the road to come what may
Over the hills and far away.”.....

A verse from ‘Over the Hills and Far Away’: I've taken this from John Tam's fine song, not necessarily the original version dating back to the C17th, and not necessarily the version that Marlborough’s infantrymen might have known, but stirring enough even so....

Since starting to collect the excellent Strelets War of Spanish Succession range, I have delayed painting British infantrymen ‘en masse’, and I am at a loss to explain why . I have painted plenty of French, quite a lot of Bavarians, quite a lot of Dutch infantrymen, and some British cavalry. So at the start of this year I resolved to set to and paint British infantrymen…and that is pretty much what I have been busy doing for about two months.

The following pictures show some of what I have managed to do so far. There are few more British units to do, a brigade of Hessians, and a small Brigade of Hanoverians; the latter are red-coated and look very similar too British infantry, so the ‘masse rouge’ will be evident when I eventually get all these figures together on a tabletop. It will also require quite a large table, as those linear formations do take up quite a lot of space.











The figures in these pictures are almost all from Strelets WSS range, in particular the 'British Infantry In Advance' set. Although the figures in this set show men still with marching packs (which would have been sent to the rear with the baggage before a full-scale battle) the poses and general 'look' of the figures is very good.

The flags shown here are in many cases taken and used (with permission) from the excellent Kronoskaf WSS site, which is expanding and becoming a very useful source of information for anyone interested in the military history of this period. My thanks to the team at Kronoskaf!
http://kronoskaf.com/wss/index.php?title=Main_Page

In planning the British contingent of my WSS Allied army, I have tended to chose a mix of regiments which are (a) famous! (b) were heavily engaged in the campaigns of Marlborough in Flanders and (for the 1704 Blenheim campaign) Bavaria and (c) have sufficient information about uniforms and flags. It is worth pointing out that, compared - say- with the Napoleonic period, there is less definite information about the details of uniforms and flags for the early 1700s...But, there is enough, and what is not there does allow a little scope for 'informed guesses' and artistic licence!

So, taking a famous regiment, here are some images of the 1st Foot Guards, a unit heavily engaged throughout the campaigns of the Duke of Marlborough:











Lord John Cutts leads the first line forward, as he did at Blenheim in August 1704. A career soldier, Cutts was a senior commander at the start of Marlborough's campaigns, and had earned the nickname 'Salamander Cutts' for his ability to lead from the front and withstand the fire of the enemy...and come out alive!



Lord Orkney's Regiment: a famous Scottish infantry unit, and one of the few British Regiments to field two battalions during the WSS (most fielded only one). Orkney's became the 1st Royal Scots when regimental numbering was introduced to the British army later in the 18th century.







Churchill's Regiment, later the 3rd Foot 'The Buffs': the flag here is an example of the excellent flags on the Kronoskaf website:







The Earl of Derby's Regiment, one of several British infantry units with white facings:





Together with their Dutch allies, the British favoured allocating light artillery to supplement infantry firepower: so here is a light 'galloper' gun taken from the Zvezda 'Artillery of Peter the Great' set:





There are a few more units yet to 'put on parade', and I'll post these in a few days time. For the time being, thanks for taking a look.

[C M Dodson]

Marvellous stuff in the ‘Grand Manner’ just what your troops demand.

Really nice painting an ‘air’ of the event and I love the flag tassels.

I forgot to knot mine for Antietam.

This brings back memories of ‘ Barry Lyndon ‘ and the little known to history skirmish with the French !

Brilliant stuff, keep it up.

Best wishes,

Chris

[Ochoin]

You simply just put on the best looking "tricorne" displays imaginable.

I really enjoy looking at your wonderful work.

donald

[Peter]

Always the same with my British friends. Give them a bottle of red paint and they start painting a British army!

Well done Mark!

[Rich W]

What a triumph! This was well worth the wait Mark! You've managed both quality and quantity with these units and I'm very jealous of this feat!

Great job with the flags, they do look much better than painted ones.

I'm enjoying looking at all the subtle conversions you've created, head swaps, changes to arm and head angles etc.

With the background scenery and windmill this really looks like an en masse assault on a Bavarian village.

I look forward to some more photos!!!

[Bessiere]

I can see why the WSS has been an obsession for you. Fantastic looking army you have made. The amount of attention you devote to every figure is really something. Inspiring work Mark!
Cheers,
Bessiere

[Santi Pérez]

Wonderful army, Minuteman. It's a delight for the eyes to see that impressive display of massed lines of red coats .

Santi.

[Minuteman]

Many thanks for these very generous and kind comments, a great encouragement and inspiration to me to keep painting these wonderful Strelets figures.

I took a lot of photographs over an afternoon of this latest 'parade', and so (at risk of exceeding the red-coat limit) here are just a few more.









General of Infantry Charles Churchill, younger brother of John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough. Charles played a significant role in the battles of Blenheim (1704) and Ramillies (1706), was governor of the Island of Guernsey from 1706, but was forced to retire his military career early owing to ill health. Here he is depicted on horseback, leading forward the second line....



Webbs Regiment of Foot. A famous regiment (later the 8th Regiment of Foot, the Kings Regiment) which was engaged at all Marlborough's key battles during the War of Spanish Succession. The colour is a slightly modified Kronoskaf flag.



Next: De Lalo's Regiment of Foot (1706). A Scottish regiment which was later renamed as The North British Regiment of Fusiliers, following the Act of Union between Scotland and England in 1707. Another regiment which featured prominently in Marlborough's battles, this was also a dangerous regiment to command, Its commanding officer, Colonel Archibald Rowe, was killed at the battle of Blenheim, and its next commander Sampson de Lalo, fell at the battle of Malplaquet in 1709.



As the Strelets 'British Infantry in Advance' set comes with plenty of grenadiers, and as there is some uncertainty as to the headgear worn by this regiment (although Osprey's MAA 'Marlborough Army' definitely show a sergeant wearing a fusilier cap) I have given the entire regiment grenadier caps. And besides, I like grenadiers or in this case, fusiliers)...!

The firing line in the following few pictures is Tatton's (in 1704), later Primrose's Regiment of Foot. This regiment was later the 24th Regiment of Foot. And later still it became the South Wales Borderers. Retaining the same green facings as shown here, this famous regiment fought in many of Queen Victoria's wars, fighting and dying against the Zulus at Isandlwana in 1879; B Company of the 2nd Battalion, 24th Regiment, defended a certain mission post known as Rorke's Drift, being awarded more Victoria Crosses in a single action than any other British Army unit. The rest, as they say, is history....








The advance continues....








And Peter is right : Give me a bottle of red paint and I'll paint a British army: Actually, I'm running low on Vallejo reds and need to re-stock. And my next figures in the 'painting queue' are Hessians, so mainly dark blue coats...for a change