Holger Eriksson Artillerymen

Something For The Weekend Sir?

It's been said before by many wargamers, but allow me to repeat here that a nice part of the hobby is when one of those little packages drops onto the front doormat. And this time, it came all the way from Sweden!

Address deliberately obscured - thanks Steve.

I like to dabble in bits and pieces from other figure ranges apart from my normal RSM95s, and this time it was the turn of Holger Eriksson figures, ordered via the Spencer Smith website. Just a few artillerymen, but they were needed to fill a gap. SSM have to order them via Sweden, so postage is a little higher than normal, but full marks to the guys for pointing this out before taking the order.

Unfortunately the arrival of the package coincided with the departure of our family to a rare weekend in the country. No sooner did I have the little box in my hands than my wife was indicating that there was no time for fiddling around with toy soldiers - the car needed packing up and we needed to get away to beat the Friday afternoon traffic. So the packet came with me: unopened.

Quite why this should be a source of amusement and ridicule to my wife and children I have no idea. Opening my little parcel and checking out the contents would simply add to the pleasure of the weekend. And in this I was quite correct. (Thank goodness they didn't catch me taking the above photo at the cottage). 

The Figures

So, just 8 artillerymen to unwrap. Elegantly proportioned figures with little or no flash and an acceptable amount of detail - much better in this respect than the Spencer Smith miniatures themselves. Being Swedish they lack the pigtails and turnbacks usual in mid-18th century soldiers, but the figures are very compatible with RSMs and ranges like Willie. If used in small numbers I reckon they add variety without anyone really noticing that the uniforms are a bit wrong. In this spirit I painted the first 2 figures as Bavarian artillerists, and here they are flanking an RSM figure. And no, I didn't take my paints with me for the weekend. Cleaning up and painting took place after my return!

Yes, my painting standard isn't really designed to cope with close up shots.
You'll just have to put up with it.

Now, according to Knottel, SYW Bavarian artillerymen did have the usual 'Germanic' style uniforms, with turnbacks and lapels etc, as well as crossbelts, so even the RSM figure is wrong. You'd be better off using Prussian figures. But I think the light grey and cornflower blue work very well. I also like the 'clutching a cannonball' pose on the right. And frankly I'm not that bothered about strict accuracy. These guys will also be manning a yellow painted Austrian howitzer, instead of a grey-blue coloured Bavarian piece, as the artillery itself is already painted: my decision to go Bavarian for the crew was last minute. But I enjoyed my little painting exercise and these guys can join the small Bavarian contingent fighting alongside my Austrian army.