"Austro-Prussian War, the Italian Front, an AAR" Topic

I put a report of an Austro-Italian battle we played today on my blog stracmark.blogspot.co.nz

Great stuff!

Always good to see your games.

The figures were all of my design, cast for me some ten years ago.

Got any more info on the figures?

or on the rules used?

How absolutely wonderful!
The mid-19th century is so charming.

Nice to see something other than Prussians beating up on everyone.

The figures were designed by me and cast by a local casting specialist. I have had a fascination with the Austro-Prussian War that goes back to the 1980s, but there were no manufacturers around then. After reading the Geoffrey Wawro book on it in the late 1990s I looked at it more seriously and decided to have a go myself. I was happy with the first results for the Austrians – they weren't the greatest figures in the world, but they were available and they were mine. I continued on to make all the figures – infantry, cavalry and artillery – for the Austrians, Italians, Bavarians, Hanoverians, Saxons and a few Wurtembergers, plus some French and Austrians for 1859 and Danes for 1864 (the figures were designed to be compatible with the Foundry FPW Prussians of which our group has significant collections so there was no need to make Prussians). I had significant armies of Austrians and Italians cast. It was never the intention to set up a range for sale – I spent fifteen years in the "industry" and had no desire to go back there.

The next phase was to cast up the Saxons, but the caster made a hash of the moulds, over pressurising them and distorting the castings. Only a few of the figures were usable. This episode was rather deflating and I haven't had the heart (or cash) to continue with it. So there the project stands, with masters for the Bavarians, Hanoverians, etc, still sitting in their boxes in the cupboard. You never know, one day…

The rules are completely homegrown, developed from various ideas in the last 30 years.