Brunswick Leib-Regiment

Way back in April, I finished painting the second battalion of the Brunswick Leib-Regiment. Yesterday, I finally finished painting the first battalion. The figures are from Pendraken’s Seven Years War Prussian range – the Brunswick army patterned their uniform after the Prussians, while their allies, the Hanoverians, patterned their uniforms after the British.

The battalions do not have their grenadier companies. The Brunswick, like the Prussians, fielded permanent converged grenadier battalions. Hanover, on the other hand converged grenadier companies into grenadier battalions on an ad hoc basis at the start of a campaign or battle.

After the defeat of the Allied Army of Observation at the battle of Hastenbeck, the Convention of Kloster-Zeven allowed the French to occupy Hanover and allowed regiments from other allied nations, such as Brunswick, to return to their home countries without being considered prisoners of war. Throughout the autumn of 1757, London and Versailles argued over the terms of Kloster-Zeven. At the end of October, King George II sent an envoy to the court of Frederick II and requested that Duke Ferdinand of Brusnwick be released from service in the Prussian army to take command of the Anglo Hanover army.

Meanwhile, Duke Ferdinand’s brother, Duke Karl of Brunswick, who actually ruled Brunswick, ordered the Brunswick troops to march home. When news of the Brunswick regiments’ march reached Ferdinand, he ordered General Zastrow to stop the Brunswickers by arresting their senior officers. This did not make the Brunswick troops very happy nor do much to convince them to fight under Duke Ferdinand even though he was their countryman.

Duke Ferdinand met with his nephew, the Hereditary Prince of Brunswick, who was on a diplomatic mission to the Dutch Republic, and convinced him to join the Allied Army and take command of the Brunswick troops. This satisfied the Brunswick troops and the Prince’s father gave his consent as “things had changed.”

For the rest of the war, the Brunswick Leib-Regiment was an integral component of any force commanded by the Hereditary Prince of Brunswick.

The regiment consisted of two battalions. The two grenadier companies were part of the Leib-Regiment/Imhoff Grenadier battalion. The regiment was commanded by Colonel Christoph Heinrich von Harling.

To denote the different battalions on the game table, the first battalion contains the Colonel’s Color and the Regimental Color, all of the other battalions of that regiment contain only the Regimental Color.

The Count

Well, it is somewhat obvious that I will not make the goal of painting 520 figures this year. But how close will I get? With the completion of these 35 10mm figures, my total for the year stands at 326 figures, 102 of which are 10mm Seven Years War figures.

I’ve found that painting 10mm figures is only slightly faster than painting 28mm figures. I don’t think I can ever accurately determine the exact time it takes to paint a smaller scale figure than a larger one. My painting sessions almost entirely depend on my mood and whether or not I’m tired. I tend to paint in spurts than with any disciplined regularity.

As always, your comments, suggestions, constructive criticism and heaps of lavish praise are always welcome.