"TYW Swedish Army?" Topic

I'm interested in the so called, "Coloured Regiments." From my Osprey MAA there is the assertion that the Coloured Regiments are mercenary units. Yet one get's the feeling reading accounts that the four coloured regiments (Yellow, Blue, Red & Green) form the senior regiments of the army. Is this so? Do the Swedish native units take a backseat to the coloured regiments? Any information is appreciated.

Yes, to all the above. Most of the native Swedish infantry were preserved as lines of communication and garrison troops and most serious fighting was done by German mercenary units. Native Swedish and Finnish cavalry were more prominent in the major engagements than their infantry.

No to all of the above ;-)

The issue is to complex to be answered simply in a yes or no fashion. The Swedish regiments always ranked as the senior line regiments of the army in Gustavus Lifetime.
They were always deployed in the position of honour (1st line, furthest to the right)

At Breitenfeld the half of the brigades deployed in the first line (i.e those expected to bear the brunt of Tillys attack) were native Swedish troops. Hardly typical of LOC or Garrison troops who supposedly took a back seat to the Mercs. The Scots & the Green regimen were put in the second line. Later on the native Swedish infantry is consistently found fighting in the frontline be it at Lech am Rain, Alte Feste or Lützen.

Of the Coloured regiments only The Yellow and Blue regiments can be said to have had a special status.

The Hovregementet (Court regiment aka Yellow regiment) were a special case due to their status as Royal Household troops (But not 'Guards', only the Lifeguard company were counted as such)

As the 2nd oldest merceanry regiment the Blue regiment was clearly considered a fine fightign unit and having avoided beign caught in the disaster at Nördligne it would become the senior mercenary regiment of the army in 1635 as the Red & Green regiments were disbanded and the Yellow regiment (having lost it's household status upon the death of Gustavus) went into French service with the rest of the Weimarians.

But the Red and the Green regiments had lower status although they ranked above the other mercenary units.
Unlike the native Swedes and the Yellow & Blue regiments Gustavus did not keep these units with at all times if possible. They are both detached from the main army and either served in one of the lesser Swedish corps or as garrison troops. The first to go was the Red regiment followed by the Green.

The reason the Swedes were used to guard the Swedish conquests was not that they were 2nd rate troops as implied abpove but that they were both efficient and reliable. The mercenaries did much of the fighting simply beacuse they were easy to replace something the veteran Swedes were not.
The basic idea was to fight the 'German war' with German soldiers and German money.

Thanks for the information Gustav and huevans. Just double checking, The Yellow and Blue regiments were filled with Germans. Correct? Do either of you have websites or books you could point me to for further reading on the Swedish army of the period (beyond Osprey)?