War of the Spanish Succession Project - Introduction

While being an avid history nerd, I have a sweet spot for the "horse and musket" era of history and wargaming. Beyond the Napoleonics collected in the 1990s, back in 2013 or so I purchased a couple of boxes of Zvezda Great Northern War figures. I have painted up some of them to the best of my skills.

Recently I wanted to get rid of my "pile of shame" and discovered that I still have many of these figures in unopened boxes. This prompted me to find out what to do with them and it has come into my mind that they should be converted to a theme which is more connected to Hungarian history than a bout between Swedes and Russians.

In parallel with the War of the Spanish Succession, an independence war raged in Hungary called Rákóczi's Independence War. The conflict sparked in 1703 due to discontent with the Habsburg policies towards the war-torn country (Hungary suffered heavily between 1683 and 1699 during the Great Turkish War, and the absolutist Imperial policies violated almost all of the society, inflicting huge taxes on the commoners and eliminating some important rights/privileges of the nobility).

"Pro Libertate" - motto of the revolution on a warflag.
Image taken from a public Hungarian educational website.

This independence movement might have achieved success only if the Franco-Bavarian armies knocked Austria out of the war, but their failure at Höchstadt (a.k.a. Blenheim a.k.a. Blindheim) meant that the insurgents had to fight on their own. Therefore I chose this campaign as it had a significant, albeit indirect impact on the history of my country.

Furthermore, the Great Turkish War which liberated Hungary from Ottoman rule involved troops from the entire Holy Roman Empire and even beyond. I'd love to keep open the opportunity to wargame this fascinating period of history as well. 

After counting the miniatures available I organized them into regiments. An infantry batallion should consist of approx. 24 figures on 4 bases, while a cavalry squadron shall be 8 figures on 4 bases likewise.

Currently I have figures enough for 6 units of infantry, 6 units of cavalry and 10 guns with abundant artillery crew. All of these are the excellent Zvezda miniatures, which had been out of production for a while but recently started re-appearing at retailers. I think I might purchase some more boxes, and I also keep a keen eye on the dashing Strelets releases for the WSS.

Before moving on to new purchases however, my initial plan is to paint up a Bavarian and an Imperial force. I started with the Swedes-turned Bavarians as they had a full infantry box unpainted, therefore I did not have to bother with stripping the paint from older minis.

Once finished, my Bavarian division should consist of 3 foot batallions and 2 or 3 cavalry squadrons. My regiments of choice are the Leibregiment, IR Tattenbach and another infantry regiment I have not decided on yet, completed by the Torring-Seefeld dragoons, the Guard Carabiniers and probably another dragoon unit, either Monasreol's or Santini's.

I'd like to build good-looking units without excessively going into detail, so I made a compromise between quality and ease of painting. At least I hope it looks decent for tabletop quality.

Yesterday I finished a unit of Torring-Seefeld dragoons on horseback - only some final touch-ups and basing await. I took a photo and posted in a Facebook group dedicated to 1/72 miniatures, where I got an enormous support which I did not expect at all. It is awesome to connect with enthusiasts from all around the world of the same hobby, and it is an honour to be part of such an inspiring community.

I'll try to improve my photo skills, still experimenting with lights and contrasts...

This support lifted my spirits so high that I started the Tattenbach infantry batallion the same evening, and with Pentecostal Monday being a bank holiday in Hungary, I do hope that I'll be able to post a progress report sometime during next week.