"Old Glory 15's Austrian 1866 Line Infantry" Topic

Just finished my first batch of figures from Old Glory15s' Austrian 1866 line. I think these are among the best of their mid-19th century figures.

Very nice

The 1866 Austrians look to be the same figures/poses as the 1859 Austrians with the exception of greatcoat rather than kittel. Is that correct?

Great figures, for sure but with a few oddities in sculpting.

Hi Jon. I actually found the 1866 Austrians to be more similar to the FPW French figures, with 2 or 3 different poses thrown in. My guess is that the sculptor created these figures using the same greatcoat-equipped bodies as the French. On the other hand, to his credit, he added accouterments (knapsack, cartridge/bayonet belts and canteen) that are associated with the Austrians. Unlike the 1859 Austrians, these figures actually have the correct round canteen as well.

The Italian (Piedmontese) figures are also built on of the same bodies as the French (again with a few original poses). In contrast to the 1866 Austrians, they share identical accouterments as the French figures. This means that you can easily convert these figures into Crimean War (and earlier) French forces. For example, they could be used for the Algerian conquest (1830s-40s). Maybe this will be a future project for me.

By the way, I should add that I altered the shakos of the 1866 Austrians in the photo above. They come out of the bag with uncovered shakos that have a small plume attached. These were filed down to depict the shakos covered in protective oil cloth covers more typical of field use.

Interesting! Since all of my OG Austrians are of the 1859 variety, I may pick up a bag of the 1866 for comparison.
Thanks.

I'd highly recommend it. Moving into 1866 Austrians is a natural progression for me.

I started with 1870-71 Franco-Prussian (French, Prussian, Bavarian) figures several years ago. Adding 1859 Austrians to my tabletop armies allows me to deploy my French for scenarios in this earlier campaign fought in northern Italy (and include some Italian troops, too). The 1866 Austrians will come in handy with scenarios facing off with the Prussians.

I've played ACW for many years. Moving across the Atlantic during roughly the same time period has allowed me to paint a lot of new (and very colorful) troops and expand my creative energies. I'd highly recommend it to anyone else who enjoys ACW-era gaming.

And you can fight Italians with your 1866 Austrians -some very interesting actions against Garibaldi for a start.