paints a Napoleonic caricature.
The finest artillery in Europe!
Well, that is what most contemporary observers thought at the onset of the Wars of the French Revolution. Gamers can now try to decide the issue on the tabletop with the first release in our 28mm Austrian artillery miniatures for 1792-1798, designed and sculpted by Alan Marsh. Guns, accessories, gunners, and the first of the 'Handlangers' are all here (including a special set), with more to come.
The Austrian artillery arm had been at the forefront of ordnance development during the 18th Century introducing many innovations and technical improvements. Although by 1792 it had been surpassed in some aspects by the famous French Gribeauval artillery system (which itself had been largely copied from its Austrian antecedent during the 1770's), the Austrian artillery remained a potent weapon with proven equipment and a core of professional offices and gunners who could rank themselves amongst the finest in Europe.
At the outbreak of the Wars of the French Revolution, the organisation of the Austrian artillery reflected the widely accepted view of the tactical employment of artillery on the 18th Century battlefield. Much of the emphasis was placed on providing close artillery support for as many of the individual infantry regiments as possible. The bulk of the lighter guns, especially the ubiquitous 3-pdr, were therefore spread thinly across the infantry - ideally assigned at two guns per battalion. These might be concentrated at the local level into temporary batteries, but for the most part they were expected to stay with, and support, their parent infantry units. The heavier guns meanwhile were placed in reserve or "positional" batteries, and controlled centrally from the highest levels of command. This in practice often meant they were allocated a position at the beginning of a battle - from where they seldom strayed or maneuvered for the duration! This type of two-tier operational system, largely born out of a belief that the infantry always needed one or two friendly guns close by to stiffen their resolve, was the accepted philosophy across Europe. Many armies, most notably the French, were to abandon their battalion guns around 1800 to ultimately replace them with more flexible and powerful brigade or divisional batteries, but the Austrians stubbornly clung to their battalion guns until 1808.
Our first release for the Austrian artillery includes a 3-pdr and 6-pdr piece, each with equipment and accessories (rammers, spikes, ammunition boxes, bucket etc), and a choice of gunners in either firing or loading poses. There is also an officer, and for this release we have rushed out the first of the Handlangers, or infantry helpers, that were drawn from the ranks to help manhandle the battalion guns around and provide some general 'muscle'. These first Handlangers are wearing Hungarian infantry uniform, and collectors should supplement the artillery crews for their Hungarian battalion guns with a few of them. Handlangers in 'German' infantry uniform will soon be available for your Austrian regiments' battalion guns. And, for those of you who like to dress up your battlefields with the occasional diorama piece, we have made a one-off Realigning the Gun vignette set of seven Hungarian Handlangers in the act of aiming a gun with ropes and tail spike. This was inspired by an illustration in Terence Wise's old Osprey volume Artillery Equipment of the Napoleonic Wars (Men-at-Arms Series, No. 96).
Finally, a few words on the uniforms. The Austrian artillery crewmen presented us with a few dilemmas. Opinion differs as to the choice of headgear and leg-wear, and the sources are inconclusive on some of the details. We are content that at the start of the wars in 1792, the majority of (if not all) Austrian gunners were still wearing the 18th Century tricorne (or at least the later, flat-fronted version of it), but we acknowledge that as the 1790s progressed, the tricorne was replaced by a low domed, broad-brimmed round hat. The rate of this change and at what date the round hat gained total ascendancy over the tricorne is debatable. The tricorne may well have continued to be worn well into the mid 1790s and even beyond, although illustrations of Austrian artillery crew from the late 1790s usually show the round hat - often with the brim turned up, as a precursor to the later Corsehut hat. To further confuse matters, the neo-classical style helmet which was supposed to be officially issued to the artillery in 1798 (at the same time as the infantry received their helmets) does not appear to have been issued in any significant numbers. We have decided to stick with the tricorne for now, but if there is enough customer demand, we will also produce versions of these figures in the round hat. Our choice of gaiters was also problematic, as some authorities believe they were still wearing the long boots of the mid-18th Century. Gaiters certainly replaced the boots at some point, but again the problem is exactly when, and the evidence is not clear cut. In the end, we were led by an illustration by R. von Ottenfeld showing an artilleryman purporting to be from this period wearing gaiters, but we recognize that Ottenfeld - while a valued source - is not infallible in these matters. One of the general problems when assessing Austrian uniforms and their appearance at this time is the very slow and erratic way new regulations were enforced and the new uniforms and equipment issued. This is particularly well demonstrated in a contemporary illustration by J. B. Seele, which shows a single gun crew manning their piece c.1800, wearing a mixture of both pre- and post-1798 uniforms. A Handlanger standing to one side is still wearing the full pre-1798 infantryman's uniform - some two years after the regulations had supposedly replaced it.
As well as the forthcoming Austrian Handlangers, future releases in this range will include a 12-pdr and a 7-pdr howitzer, as well as their 'cavalry' gun versions with the wurst seat.
Here are the codes and details for the new figures:
28mm Austrian Artillery 1792-1798
Sculpted by Alan Marsh
Figures are sold individually unless a set is indicated. The number in parentheses denotes the number of available variants for that product code. Variants are supplied randomly, but Eureka Miniatures will always endeavor to supply a representative sample.
Guns
100WFR600 - Austrian 3-pdr gun, with equipment
100WFR601 - Austrian 6-pdr gun, with equipment
Austrian Artillery Crew (c.1792-1798)
100WFR610 - Artilleryman, firing gun, in flat fronted tricorne (4)
100WFR611 - Artilleryman, loading gun, in flat fronted tricorne (4)
100WFR612 - Artillery Officer, in flat fronted tricorne (1)
100WFR614 - Artillery Handlanger, in Hungarian infantry uniform, assisting regular gun crew (3)
100WFR615 - "Realigning the gun" vignette: set of seven Hungarian Handlangers, for shifting a gun with ropes and tail spike (1)
Coming soon:
100WFR613 - Artillery Handlanger, in Austrian infantry uniform, assisting regular gun crew (3)
Customers in the U.S.A. or the U.K. can choose to order our figures from our representatives Eureka Miniatures U.S.A. or Fighting 15s respectively, as well as directly from us.