Review and Outlook

This issue marks our first look at the Russian contribution to the SYW as we feature the two battles that did not involve Frederick the Great: Gross Jagersdorf and Palzig (or Kay). The common theme of these battles is the presence of Prussian commanders, Lehwaldt and Wedel, who followed their king's strict orders to attack, but forgot to follow the classic Frederician tactics of the oblique order, i.e. attacking with one wing and refusing the other.

Arguably, Frederick might have performed better, but then we have to consider that the king's own employment of the oblique order against the Russians produced results that were less than spectacular, as evidenced by the bloody stalemate at Zorndorf in 1758 and the Kunersdorf disaster in 1759.

In future issues we will revisit the Russians and spend more time analyzing their organization and tactics. I am hopeful that the upcoming Duffy trip to Silesia will afford me an opportunity to see Zorndorf and Kunersdorf firsthand. No doubt that will compel me to write articles about the same.

Our look at the Russians also coincides with the recent release of Guernsey Foundry's 25mm line of SYW period Russians. I've been receiving boxes of samples from Brian Ansel over the past six months and I must say that I am sorely tempted to start painting the Green, or should I say Red Horde. These figures come primarily in summer uniform, i.e. the men are not wearing their familiar green coats, but instead, sport the longsleeved red waistcoat. This should make for a colorful looking tabletop army. Add to these some Cossacks and Bashkirs, a few horse grenadiers and LOTS OF ARTILLERY and you've got it made.

The 15th Annual SYWA Convention

This issue was delayed for a month so that I could report on our 15th Annual Seven Years War Association Convention, which was held in South Bend, Indiana on March 25-26, 1998. I have probably said this before, but each year's convention seems to surpass all others in terms of the fun, the quality of games and the exchange of information that seems to be the hallmark of ow annual gathering. A word of thanks and a "te deum" should be given to those men on horseback, Paul Petri and Brian Vizek, who once again organized and hosted the SYWA Convention. Paul and Brian make a hard job look easy.

By the way, Brian is moving to the UK (Oxford area) in May and we will truly miss Brian and the contributions that he has made to the SYW Association in the US. Who knows, perhaps Brian wil1 organization a SYWA gathering in the UK.

This year's convention effectively started on Thursday evening with about 20 members meeting for dinner at a nearby restaurant. We then reconvened back at the Alte Fritz Saloon (aka the hotel bar) where a lively discussion of politics, wargaming, rules and more ensued until, for me at least, one o'clock in the morning.

The convention officially kicked off at eight a.m. on Friday morning as we set up game and dealer tables in the Oak Room on the sixth floor of the Holiday Inn Downtown. We really had a good turnout for Friday morning. I would estimate 50 to 60 people in attendance in the morning and Paul reports that there were 90 by the end of Friday evening. So if you are planning to attend next year's convention, do plan to arrive on Thursday and get ready to rumble on Friday morning and on through the wee hours of Saturday night.

The Holiday Inn is really a terrific venue, and Paul and Brian made it even better by securing more space for our gaming activities. First of all, they addressed the problem of convention hall space by arranging to have higher wattage light bulbs placed in the lobby, whuch opened that area up for gaming. In addition, the banquet was moved up to the 20th floor of the hotel, freeing up even more gaming space on Saturday aftemoon.

There were a lot of quality games this year. Some that come to mind were and Kershner's siege warfare game in 15mm, featuring a beautiful Vauban-style fortress; Herb Gundt's French & Indian War skirmish game using his HG Walls buildings and Brother Against Brother rules, which seemed to work quite well for the 18th Century; the gang from the Dayton Painting Consortium hosted an immense 25mm rendition of Zorndorf and finally, Dean West staged Sandershausen 3 times in 15mm, then hosted a fourth game using Ken Bunger's wonderfully-painted figures and Dean's Final Argument of Kings rules. I know that there were many other games, and I apologize for not mentioning everyone's name; however, I was busy hosting 3 games myself (2 on Friday and 1 on Saturday), so I couldn't get around to check out the other games.

We also had a record number of dealers attending, including 4 newcomers. l managed to lighten my wallet by buying some SYW prints from The Last Square, and hauled home some more lead from Mr. GAJO, Dayton Painting (RSM), Wargames Inc, (Dixon and Essex) and Guernsey Foundry. I was also pleased to see that Hovels now produces 25mm farm animals (see review in newsletter section).

Three Games

I hosted three generic Austrian-Prussian encounters featuring rules written by Tim O'Connor. Tim has been working on these rules for 3 or 4 years and I first used them at my re-enactment of Kolin, awhile back. The rules are fast paced, simple to grasp and feature rolling big handfuls of dice. After one or two turns, I found that the players could pretty much run their own game. The Austrians won the first game after the Prussian center collapsed due to some unlucky morale rolls. In this game, one of the Austrian players used his Croats to great effect, distracting the Prussians enough to disrupt their attack. Even though his Croats were eventually wiped out or in rout, I could tell that the individual was having a grand time because he got so much out of a motley bunch of troops.

The second and third games were Prussian victories, the second by a narrow margin as the Austrian center routed on the final turn; and the third was a convincing win, though with high casualties. I want to thank those people who played in my games, for making the games fun and enjoyable.

A word of thanks also goes to Christopher Duffy, who has become a regular feature at our annual convention. It is really wonderful to have this resource on hand to answer any questions that we might have about the Seven Years War. This year, Professor Duffy gave a lecture about the effect of disease and medicine on casualties in the SYW that was both eye-opening and informative. You can also catch Professor Duffy at this year's Histoncon convention in July as he speaks about Suvurov's campaigns during the Napoleonic Wars.

At this time I find myself thinking ahead to the Duffy Tour of Silesia, which will begin in a few short weeks. I understand that approximately 24 people will attend, including those from the US, the UK, Australia and Germany. I can hardly wait to see the ground at Leuthen, Leignitz and Hohenfiedberg to name but a few of Frederick's great victories. I understand that we will also see either Kunasdorf or Zorndorf on the way from Berlin to Breslau.

Looking Ahead to the Next Issue

Issue number 3 will be prepared some time after l get back from Silesia at the end of May. That means that the issue will be mailed at the end of July. Undoubtedly there will be an account of the Duffy trip and Lord knows what else. I am starting to get to the bottom of the barrel in terms of available articles, so anyone with an urge to write something, anything about our period of history, is welcomed to do so. I am working on a translation for the battle of Burkersdorf (July 1762) and the battle of Breslau, which occurred prior to the battle of Leuthen in 1757. If anyone has any articles that might fit in with these topics, then please send them to me.

Tricon Convention

Please refer to the newsletter section for information about this convention, scheduled for October 24-25, 1998 in Concord, Massachusetts. Convention organizers Byron Champlin and Greg Symko have advised me that they need some SYWA members to step forward to host games at the convention. I ask anyone living in the eastern US to strongly consider stepping forward and volunteering your time for this worthy convention. Last year, my wife Anne and I flew out to Boston on a Friday and spent the afternoon touring Concord (home of Walden Pond, Nathaniel Hawthorne's home, and the Old North Bridge) and viewing the glorious fall foliage in the area. There is so much to do here, that you might consider bringing along your spouse to this convention and staying at one of the nearby inns. Afternoon tea at the Colonial Inn in Concord (drinking 'Boston Harbor Tea') is a must.

This is one gem of a convention that includes participation from a number of area American Revolution re-enactment units, quality vendors and wargames, and plenty of local history. The first year, there was a tour of Minuteman National Park on the following Sunday, while last year it was a tour of the battle of Bunker Hill. This is no ordinary convention and again I would like to encourage members to contact Byron Champlin and volunteer a game.

Translation Help Wanted

I would like to hear from any members who are fluent in German and can do some translation work for the SYWA. Modest compensation for expenses can be arranged with me. This would enable us to publish more information about the SYW in our journal.

New Additions to Ye Olde Editor's Forces

Over the past winter, my painting schedule slowed down due to a heavy work load, but I did manage to finish five units of Prussians using some of the new Guernsey Foundry miniatures. For the longest time, there were two units that I hoped to add to my Prussian army: the Garde Grenadier Regiment (IR6) and the Garde du Corps (CR13). I could have done the grenadiers at any time, but the GdC was somewhat of a problem in that no one made the specialized standard bearer for this unit.

That is of course, until Guernsey Foundry filled the bill.

Now that I have CR13 in my Prussian forces, I will have to add the Gens d'armes CR10. The two units were often brigaded together, and for good reason, from a wargame standpoint. The Garde du Corps is a 3 squadron unit (or 10 figures at 30:1) and I found that it has taken a regular pounding from the 5 squadron Austrian cavalry units in my wargame armies. The addition of 20 Gens d'armes should make for a more viable unit. I have 10 of these primed and ready to paint and I'm waiting for the other 10 that I ordered from GF just the other day.

Of course, I can't paint anything until I get this issue printed and in the mail. I don't allow myself to paint figures when I have to get an issue of this journal out.

Other additions to my Prussians include IR41 (Wied Fusiliers) and Frei Battalion No. 1 Le Noble. I particularly liked painting the 'double blues' or frei-korps unit. The GF figures are wonderful. I have an NCO with spontoon in the rear rank pushing the men in front of him forward, so that they won't run away. Another figure is sipping some sort of libation from a bottle.

The variety of figures in this unit is simply amazing and I look forward to adding another unit. After working on the Gross lagersdorf article in this issue, I have a hankering to add 1 or 2 garrison regiments to my Prussian army too.

I finally added an Alte Fritz command stand to my Prussian army, using the Front Rank Fritz and some GF officers as sfaff members on the command stand. At the recent SYWA convention, I picked up some Front Rank Austrian generals from the Elite Group (Loudon and Charles of Lorraine) and plan to use these figures to make a Daun command stand and perhaps a Loudon stand. The Austrians will also be beefing up their contingent of Croats in 1998. I have a bunch of Old Glory Croats on my painting table and have a packet of RSM Croats that need to take a bath in some primer. After seeing the amount of trouble that Croats can cause in my new O'Connor rules, I definitely want to have more of these in 1998.

The Mighty Yellow Hussars

Perhaps my favorite new unit is the Yellow Hussars, courtesy of Guernsey Foundry. In the last issue, I reported that I did not like the idea of having to assemble the GF hussars; but believe me, it is well worth the extra effort. This is probably the best looking unit that I can put on the wargame table.

The figures proved easier to assemble than I had first imagined. Taking a small flat file, I smoothed the surface of the lower legs/waist piece and the torso piece so that the two halves would adher well using super glue. Metal on metal fasteners easier if the surfaces are filed down slightly. Then I took some epoxy ribbon putty and put a small ball of putty in each cavity and applied the super glue. These parts will stick together for a long time with this method. Two of the hussars had damaged swords, so I clipped these off and replaced them with pin swords.

I Digress for a Moment: Pin Swords

You need common sewing pins for pin swords. Pound them flat on an anvi1 or piece of metal, then clip off the flat head of the pin (you know, the one that angels dance on). Then file down the surface of the pin sword at the hilt end before applying glue. I forgot, you also must drill a small hole into the hand or hilt of the figure (using a pin vise = miniature hand drill). Then stick the pin sword into this hole and apply super glue.

I have found the bond to be rather good, especially if the hole is drilled deep enough and you remember to file down the hilt end of the flattened pin. Remember, metal on metal adhere better. I hope that this description of how to make pin swords makes sense. From now on, if I think that a waving sword in hand looks weak and is likely to break off in use, then I am going to clip it off before painting and replace it with a pin sword.

Back to the Yellow Hussars

So I now had the hussars assembled, a couple of swords were replaced and they were ready to prime and paint. I chose black primer, because I like to outline and highlight everything and having a black undercoat speeds up the painting process. The one drawback is that light colors such as red and yellow don't cover the black very well.

To remedy this problem, I painted the yellow portions of the figure with an undercoat of khaki or sand, then applied the yellow. This makes the yellow really stand out. The end result was so spectacular that I decided to add more hussars to my Prussian army. The Black Hussars are next, and when Guernsey Foundry adds hussars in fur busby, then I will add the Green Hussars or do another 5 squadrons of the 10 squadron Zeiten hussars.

I should also mention that GF has released some dismounted hussars in mirliton which should come in handy for skirmish games; or, I suppose that you could organize a meeting engagement scenario and have your dismounted hussars and/or freikorps holding an important bridge, crossroads or ridge line until the rest of the army marches to their relief.

[sounds like the first day of Gettysburg, doesn't it."mein herr, zis looks like goot ground, ja?"

"Ja it ist goot ground"].

Or you could have your hussars ride around the flank of the enemy, dismount and pepper the flank with carbine fire. I hope that GF adds some horseholders and a standing horse with saddle to their range.

The Editor Reviews the Troops

In previous issues I have mentioned how I like to place al1 of my SYW troops out on a table in my basement and review what I have. This should be done on an annual basis. In past years, it has driven me to painting more figures, especially in the cavalry service for both armies. It is good to have a plan for what you want to have in your wargame armies, and seeing all of your figures at one time highlights the strengths and weaknesses of your armies.

The Prussians

My inventory of the Prussian army indicates that I have 290 cavalry figures in 15 regiments, 550 infantry figures in 27 battalions; 42 gunners and 12 cannon, and 18 command figures, for a total of 900 figures.Using the 30 to 1.0 man to figure ratio, this means that my Prussian army represents an army of 27,000 men and would represent the entire Prussian forces at such battles as Mollwitz, Chotusitz, Soor, Kesselsdorf, Lobositz, Gross Jagersdorf, Breslau, Rossbach, Hochkirch and Kay. Several other battles such as Leuthen and Kolin are within easy reach at this level.

This year's inspection reveals that I probably need to add 2-3 more hussar units (increasing these numbers from 3 to 6 regiments), 2 dragoon regiments (from 4 to 6), 2 more fusilier units (from 4 to 6 units), another freikorps or garrison regiment, and a Zeiten command stand and a dragoon general brigade command. I can see that it is time to rebase some of my old units that are currently based using cardboard and green flock, and rebase them on plastic stands with terrained bases (using Red Devil Spackel). This means rebasing 6 units of cavalry, 13 units of infantry and all of my artillery. CR8 may be ready for new horses, since the old ones are galloping with 1egs bundled together and some of the horses are close to breaking off at the legs. Since I have to rebase the unit anyway, I might as well put the whole unit on new and sturdier mounts.

Austrian Army:

The Austrians are in fairly good shape from a basing stand point. I rebased all of the infantry several years ago when I increased the unit size from 20 figures to 24 figures. I only have to rebase 5 cavalry regiments. There appear to be six units that need flag stand repairs.

My Austrian forces include 14 cavalry regiments (275 figures) or 6 each of dragoons and cuirassiers, I regiment of hussars and 1 regiment of horse grenadiers. I have avoided adding hussars since these don't play much of a battlefield role in the Austrian army. The infantry includes 36 regiments (844 figures) comprised of 24 musketeer battalions, 5 converged grenadier battalions, 2 Croat battalions and 5 battalions of Bavarian allies. The artillery component includes 43 figures manning six 12-pars, six 6-pars, 4 regimental guns and 2 Bavarian guns.

The total number of figures in this army is 1,175 figures including command stands, or representing an army of 35,250 men at the 30 to 1.0 ratio. I plan to add 2 more units of Croats and perhaps 2 hussar units and the Rot Wurzburg regiment. I probably will not add anymore musketeer battalions until I see what Guernsey Foundry comes up with. As of now, my Austrians are about 80% RSM figures, some Hinchcliffe, and the rest O1d G1ory.

So in summary, my Austrian army of 35,000 men faces off against the Prussian army of 27,000 men. It seems as if the proportions are fairly historical, though I might want to bump up the Austrians by enough to maintain a 10,000 man advantage.

See you next issue.

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