28mm Austrians (1806-1814)

I painted this army during my teenage years (ie. many decades ago....).  My painting style was very different back then, as was my view of what an army looked like, hence the single pose regiments.  Their monolithic appearance sits well, however, with an Austrian army and its reputation for rigidity.

I also had a different approach to painting : I would be incapable today of painting a 28mm army comprising 11 staff officers, 284 infantry, 42 cavalry and 7 guns.  It took me over a year to complete.

The shako first appeared in 1806 but spread only slowly through the army.  The "German" units wearing their crested helmet are certainly appropriate in 1809, and are not completely anachronistic in 1813-1814 as units waited until the crested helmet was worn out before replacing it with the shako.

Hungarian infantry of the Infanterie-Regiment n° 2 (von Hiller) and n° 39 (von Duka) (112 figures in all) :

German infantry of the Infanterie-Regiment n° 3 (Karl Ludwig) and n° 50 (Stain) (120 figures) :

1st Walasiches Grenzers (12 figures) and 2nd Mahr Freiwilliger Jagers (18 figures) deploy :

Grenadiers (18 figures).  The ones in the first photo are a recent surprise gift from my friend Sylvain :

Despite their flamboyant grenadier-style uniform, these (6 figures) are one of the small militia freikorps (the Niederosterreiches Freiwilliger corps), to add colour :

The cannon prepare to fire (5 batteries; 1 of 12-pdrs, the others are 6-pdrs) :

Heavy cavalry (dragoons from the Riesch regiment to the fore, 18 figures strong, and 12-strong cuirassiers from the Montz Liechtenstein regiment in the background) :

Hussar squadrons from the Ott and Liechtensetein regiments (12 figures) :

and their horse artillery support (2 batteries of 6-pdrs) :

The general staff (11 officers in all) discuss the best way to stem the offensive of those damned Frenchies.  The central figure is a Feldmarschalleutnant (FML), equivalent to a Major-General, the one on the right a Generalmajor (equivalent to a Brigadier-General) and the two others are the colonels of the IR n° 2 and the IR n° 50.