Whilst building my 6mm Napoleonic’s, I decided that my Prussians would be part of a historic formation. I decided that the Battle of Leipzig worked as it was in 1813 when the Prussian rebuilding was finished and the later Prussian army was starting to approach its peak. 1813 also gave me the chance to work in some other troops as well if I felt the desire. The Battle of Leipzig occurred in 1813 and on the one side were the Prussians, Russians, Austrians and Swedes. Perfect. Plenty of variety available for the future.
I had checked George Nafziger’s Order of Battle for Leipzig looking for something to fit. I had painted the first Prussian battalion (my test painting effort shown above) as the 1st battalion of the West Prussian regiment. II Corps of the Prussian Army was therefore the logical choice. I will need to buy more figures to make this up (great excuse for a wargamer) but what I have now gives me a good start. The Order of Battle of II Corps and my painting information for them is shown below.
These are being done for Polemos General de Division wargame Rules available from Baccus. I started doing the Prussians using Heroics and Ros figures so all the Prussians will be from that manufacturer. At the moment I have sufficient for 6 battalions of regular Infantry, 4 battalions of Landwehr, 4 squadrons of Dragoons and 3 batteries of artillery. I will need to get more.
The Prussian Corps were part of the Army of Bohemia under the overall command of General Prinz Schwarzenberg.
The OOB is below:
| 2nd Prussian Corps: Generallieutenant von Kleist | |||||
| Unit | Bases | Coats | Collar | Cuffs | Comments |
| 9th Brigade: Generalmajor von Klüx – 5,833 men | Infantry: Oberst von Schmalensee | ||||
| 1st, 2nd and Fusilier battalions/1st West Prussian Infantry Regiment | 3 | Dark Blue | Carmine | Carmine | Black shako (or shako cover) |
| 1st, 2nd and 3rd battalions/6th Reserve Infantry Regiment | 3 | Dark Blue | Pink | Pink | Using British with stovepipe shako for these. dark blue trousers. |
| Silesian Schützen Battalion (2 companies) | 1 | Green | Deep red | Deep red | There was only one battalion of Silesian Schützen around this time so I have modelled them as a single base of infantry. Grey trousers, uniform similar to the regular infantry. |
| 1st and 2nd battalions/7th Silesian Landwehr Infantry Regiment | 2 | Dark Blue | Yellow | Yellow | Trousers were grey or white. Yellow band around the hat as well – hat appears to be dark blue. |
| 1st squadron/1st Silesian Landwehr Cavalry Regiment | 1 | Dark Blue | Yellow | Yellow | As this would be a weak base it has been combined with the squadron in the 11th brigade below to make a normal base. Armed with curved sabres and lances. Leather belts and shakos were black. |
| 6pdr Horse Battery #10 | 1 | Blue | Black | Black | Also includes limber on separate base |
| 10th Brigade: Generalmajor Pirch I – 4,551 men | Infantry: Oberst von Jagow | ||||
| 1st, 2nd and Fusilier battalions/2nd West Prussian Infantry Regiment | 3 | Dark Blue | Carmine | Carmine | Black shako (or shako cover) |
| 1st battalion/7th Reserve Infantry Regiment | 1 | Dark Blue | Pink | Pink | Using British with stovepipe shako for these. dark blue trousers. |
| Combined 2nd and 3rd battalions/7th Reserve Infantry Regiment | 2 | Dark Blue | Pink | Pink | Using British with stovepipe shako for these. dark blue trousers. Note – this should probably be a single base only as it is two battalions combined however I am making it two bases for symmetry. |
| Combined 1st, 3rd and 4th battalions/9th Silesian Landwehr Infantry Regiment | 1 | Dark Blue | Yellow | Yellow | Trousers were grey or white. Yellow band around the hat as well – hat appears to be dark blue. As these appear to have been below strength during the Battle of Leipzig, I have modelled them at full strength. |
| 2nd battalion/9th Silesian Landwehr Infantry Regiment | 1 | Dark Blue | Yellow | Yellow | Trousers were grey or white. Yellow band around the hat as well – hat appears to be dark blue. |
| 3rd and 4th squadrons, Silesian Landwehr Cavalry Regiment | 1 | Dark Blue | Yellow | Yellow | Armed with curved sabres and lances. Leather belts and shakos were black. |
| 6pdr Foot Battery #8 | 1 | Blue | Black | Black | Also includes limber on separate base |
| 11th Brigade: Generalmajor Ziethen – 5,363 men | Infantry: Oberst von Carnall | ||||
| 1st, 2nd and Fusilier battalions/1st Silesian Infantry Regiment | 3 | Dark Blue | Yellow | Yellow | Black shako (or shako cover) |
| 1st battalion/10th Reserve Infantry Regiment | 1 | Dark Blue | Madder Red | Madder Red | Using British with stovepipe shako for these. dark blue trousers. |
| Combined 2nd and 3rd battalions/10th Reserve Infantry Regiment | 2 | Dark Blue | Madder Red | Madder Red | Using British with stovepipe shako for these. dark blue trousers. Note – this should probably be a single base only as it is two battalions combined however I am making it two bases for symmetry. |
| Silesian Schützen Battalion (2 coy) | Modelled in the 9th Brigade above – there was only one battalion of these until about 1814 when a second was formed. | ||||
| Combined 1st and 3rd battalions/8th Silesian Landwehr Infantry Regiment | 1 | Dark Blue | Yellow | Yellow | Trousers were grey or white. Yellow band around the hat as well – hat appears to be dark blue. |
| Combined 2nd and 4th battalions/8th Silesian Landwehr Infantry Regiment | 1 | Dark Blue | Yellow | Yellow | Trousers were grey or white. Yellow band around the hat as well – hat appears to be dark blue. |
| 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th squadrons/Neumärk Dragoon Regiment | 2 | Light Blue | Light Red | Light Blue | Saddle cloth was light blue with two stripes of light red colour. |
| 1st squadron/1st Silesian Landwehr Cavalry Regiment | 0 | Dark Blue | Yellow | Yellow | Armed with curved sabres and lances. Leather belts and shakos were black. Combined and represented as a full base with the 9th Brigade above. |
| 6pdr Foot Battery #11 | 1 | Blue | Black | Black | Also includes limber on separate base |
| 12th Brigade: Generalmajor August von Preussen – 5,419 men | Infantry: Oberst von Funk | ||||
| 1st, 2nd and Fusilier battalions/2nd Silesian Infantry Regiment | 3 | Dark Blue | Yellow | Yellow | Black shako (or shako cover) |
| 1st, 2nd and 3rd battalions/11th Reserve Infantry Regiment | 3 | Dark Blue | Madder Red | Madder Red | Using British with stovepipe shako for these. dark blue trousers. |
| 10th Silesian Landwehr Infantry Regiment (2 battalions) | 2 | Dark Blue | Yellow | Yellow | Trousers were grey or white. Yellow band around the hat as well – hat appears to be dark blue. |
| 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th squadrons/Silesian Uhlan Regiment | 2 | Dark Blue | Red shoulder straps and Collar | Grey trousers, black shako, red over blue lance pennant, brown lance shaft. | |
| 2nd squadron/1st Silesian Landwehr Cavalry Regiment | 1 | Dark Blue | Yellow | Yellow | Armed with curved sabres and lances. Leather belts and shakos were black. |
| 6pdr Foot Battery #13 “Held” | 1 | Blue | Black | Black | Also includes limber on separate base. I am not sure what the “held” refers to in the OOB – kept out of the battle perhaps? |
| Reserve Cavalry: Generalmajor von Röder | |||||
| Brigade: Oberst von Wrangel | |||||
| 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th squadrons/East Prussian Cuirassier Regiment | 2 | White | Light Blue | Light Blue | Saddle cloth was light blue with two white stripes. Leather belts were white, scabbards iron, helmet was black leather with black comb and brass plate and fittings. |
| 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th squadrons/Silesian Cuirassier Regiment | 2 | White | Black | Black | Saddle cloth was Black with two yellow stripes. Leather belts were white, scabbards iron, helmet was black leather with black comb and brass plate and fittings. |
| 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th squadrons/Brandenburg Cuirassier Regiment | 2 | White | Poppy Red | Poppy Red | Saddle cloth was poppy red with two yellow stripes. Leather belts were white, scabbards iron, helmet was black leather with black comb and brass plate and fittings. |
| Brigade: Oberst von Mutius – 2,350 men | |||||
| 1st and 2nd squadrons/7th Silesian Landwehr Cavalry Regiment | 1 | Dark Blue | Yellow | Yellow | Armed with curved sabres and lances. Leather belts and shakos were black. |
| 1st and 2nd squadrons/8th Silesian Landwehr Cavalry Regiment | 1 | Dark Blue | Yellow | Yellow | Armed with curved sabres and lances. Leather belts and shakos were black. |
| Artillery: | |||||
| Horse Battery #7 | 1 | Blue | Black | Black | Also includes limber on separate base |
| Horse Battery #8 | 1 | Blue | Black | Black | Also includes limber on separate base |
| Reserve Artillery: Oberst von Braun – 735 men | |||||
| 12pdr Foot Batteries #3 and #6 | 2 | Blue | Black | Black | Also includes limbers on separate bases |
| 6pdr Foot Batteries #7, #14, and #21 | 3 | Blue | Black | Black | Also includes limbers on separate bases |
| 7pdr Howitzer Battery #1 | 1 | Blue | Black | Black | Also includes limber on separate base |
| Horse Battery #9 | 1 | Blue | Black | Black | Also includes limber on separate base |
| 2 Field Pioneer Companies | 2 | Blue | Black | Black | Based as sappers under the rules. These guys look like regular infantry substituting axes and shovels for muskets. Based on a 30mm x 30mm base. |
This then is the target for the Prussians. The Polemos rules give the following details for bases.
Infantry base – One base covers 400 to 800 men approximately (this is the effective size of most battalions at the time).
Cavalry base – One base represents two to three squadrons of cavalry – a small regiment’s effectives in the field. Larger cavalry units may have two or three bases. I am using a base to be the equivalent of 2 squadrons for the Prussians.
Artillery base – One base represents 6 to 8 guns (a normal battery of the times). Larger batteries would be represented by multiple bases. Limbers are represented as well on a separate base to the artillery piece.
This is a total of:
- 33 Infantry Bases (792 figures)
- 14 Cavalry Bases (140 figures)
- 12 Artillery Bases (12 guns, 12 limbers and 60 crew)
Better get painting I think!
Only slightly more than my current Brits… 28 bases of foot, 16 bases of mounted, 6 batteries plus sundry engineers and command figures… roughly equivalent to 50 full sized bases. i have finished 5.5 so about 10% completed… hi-ho hi-ho, it's off to the painting table I go.
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Today is finishing the basing on two more batteries and starting 5 battalions of foot – oh, and ordering a butt-load more figures too, of course 😆
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Hi,
I am doing something similar but aiming for a more generic Prussian army corps late 1813 using Baccus figures for Polemos MDE.
I wonder even by late 1813 if the Prussian army was particulary well uniformed especially the Landwehr.
Baccus do a Prussian reserve infantry line but I am wondering if using stovepipe Brits would be more accurate!?
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I'm building mine in Heroics and Ros figures – I'll be using Baccus for the Duchy of Warsaw later. Heroics do a Prussian musketeer which I use for the musketeers and fusiliers, the stovepipe British for the reserve infantry and then the landwehr figures for the landwehr. That seems to provide enough variety between the figures.
The landwehr will be dark blue coats, same the regulars, but some will be in white trousers, some in grey. Perhaps even form a couple of battalions I'll mix the trousers in the battalion. I haven't thought that far in yey.
The reserve infantry (British in stovepipe shako) look the part, esepecially compared to some of the images from the time. The only minor quibble I have with the detail is that the Brits have a backpack and the almost ubiquitous Prussian blanket roll is missing. To be fair to myself however, I have seen a picture of a Prussian reserve infantry figure like that. Colour will be a mix of grey and blue uniforms … maybe even a red battalion – again, I am still researching that.
I picked an actual division to model a little as that II Corps fits well with the results you get when rolling up armies in Polemos.
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