Sunday 21 September 2014

Gå På (2): Figure Review Mars Swedish Infantry

I'm a bit excited, I have just finished my first units of Swedes for the Great Northern War.


Gå På! I particularly like these two pike figures from the Mars set (pikes made using wire)












As I mentioned in my review of the Gå På rules, the Great Northern War has been a period of interest to me every since my father introduced me to it c/- Almedingen’s Lion of the North. It's only now, with the combination of my wargaming renaissance, thanks to combining with Mark and Julian to form our little group of like-minded wargamig amigos, plus the availability (since the late 1990s) of lovely 1/72nd figures for the period from Zvezda, Strelets and Mars that I am ready to make it a wargaming reality.

So, whilst the principal game that we are preparing for at present is the bicentennial of Waterloo, I am allowing myself to slip in a unit or two of troops for the Great Northern War along with my Napoleonic French, so as to contribute to our developing capacity in this period.



My first Swedish units painted for the Great Northern War: Närke-Värmlands (left) and Södermanlands (right).

The first figures that I decided to paint were Mars Swedish Infantry. While they did not impress our friends at Plastic Soldier Review (PSR)* I knew immediately that I saw the pictures on-line that they'd be the sort of figures that I would like to paint.

* I encourage anyone interested in a full review of the set to visit Plastic Soldier Review.




My roughly painted flags don't bear too-close scrutiny!












The reasons that the reviewer on PSR puts forward for being less than-impressed with these figures—'rough' mould, the nature of the poses and generally large build of the figures—are the aspects that attract me to them. (That's one of the many marvellous things about PSR. The aspects that lead the reviewer to form his opinion are clearly given, so It matters not whether one agrees or disagrees as the review and accompanying photos make it easy to form one's own decision). I thought that they'd look great when painted, even by a painter such as me who is average, at best.

The uniform details came from the descriptions and pictures in volume 1 of Höglund and Sallnäs' marvellous two-volume uniform books of this period. I painted the Närke-Värmlands regiment (above) with the red stockings that they wore from around 1704.


The Södermanlands regiment are sporting the white stockings that they wore from around 1702. The standing pikemen is a simple conversion of a wounded figure which I think worked quite well.








Our 'standard' unit size for the 18th Century is 12 figures of infantry, although units of larger size can easily be fielded, especially with the Gå På rules. I have one more full unit to paint using these Mars figures, so plan to paint them as the Västerbottens regiment.

Uniform source
Höglund, L-E and Sallnäs, Å (2006) The Great Northern War 1700 - 1721 - Volume 1 - Colours and Uniformes. Acedia Press, Karlstad. 142 pp.

14 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Thanks Peter. Not sure that they quite deserve the epithet of 'suave'. Having finally made a start on these I am keen to do more and, of course, to get them on the table.

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  2. Lovely figures James! Really interesting uniform colours.

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    1. Thanks Paul. Most of the Swedes were uniformed similarly to the Södermanlands regt, i.e. blue coats with yellow facings and various combinations of yellow, blue and buff/pale yellow for the stockings and waistcoats. Like most (?) wargamers I chose to do some of the units that wore other colours first--at least from amongst those that were in Charles' army for the majority of the war. Hence, the next unit that I have now begun, the Västerbottens regt has white facings, stockings and waistcoat!

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  3. Nice job, love these uniforms too!

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    1. Thanks Phil. The uniforms have less details than Napoleonic ones, but there is lots of colour and they look great, especially en masse on the table.

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  4. Nice work and interesting choice of period!

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    1. Thank you Ian. I am itching to get sufficient done to have them on the board and to try the rules for a period that has 'gestated' for so long with me!

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  5. The flags look great and the zombie pikemen are an inspiration. Not sure about the yawning grenadier (?) though, or is it a comment on the inaccuracy of the enemy musketry?

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    1. Sven and his friends can lift heavy things all day! I think that the grenadiers are telling the Russians how many of them they intend to hit! Actually, I am happy that he's in the second stage of a four(?) part process; the step before he turns and then throws the grendae. The gents at PSR did not like these poses...

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  6. They look fine to me. You've gotten a commendable degree of detail into these figures and they will look sharp on the tabletop. Hopefully they'll fight as well as they look!
    Cheers,
    Michael

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    1. You are too kind Michael. My painting won't win any comps, but it does the job for the tabletop! Most importantly, I am keen to do more units, 'cause it's all about the numbers!

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  7. The plastics look good to me and I think your flags are fantastic! Looking forward to seeing a game using Ga Pa.

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    1. Thanks Jonathan. The flags are fine for effect on the tabletop, which is what it is about for me, but the leaves on the wreathes are about twice the size that they should be!
      I'm over half-way through the next two units so our first game is getting that bit closer. Did you end up looking at the rules again yourself? If so, what did you think?

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