Third Painting Challenge Submission - 28mm Prussian Jagers for the Franco-Prussian War

28mm Prussian Jagers for the Franco-Prussian War from Helion

Happy new year everyone! Well, no big surprise for my third submission to Curt's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge - more 28mm Franco-Prussian War stuff! This time it is two squads (I think?) of Prussian Jagers for the Franco-Prussian War.  These are 28mm castings purchased via Eagles of Empire, but the castings are actually from the Helion range, and are being sold by Eagles of Empire through some manner of partnership arrangement with the good people of North Star Miniatures. This was clever and useful for gamers, as it adds some "one-stop" shopping!

One squad of Jagers - I used tufts of blue flowers to help with quick ID on the table

Where the Eagles of Empire castings have certain unique characteristics - thin bodies, skinny weapons and necks, and are rather tall - these Helion castings are much more classic and robust "heroic" 28mm wargaming miniatures.  They were a real treat to paint, and unlike some of my Eagles of Empire figures, these rifles will not snap off at some point.

Senior officer on a hex-shaped base - this is a system used by Curt to help with quick table identification, one I have copied repeatedly...

There is one senior officer (on a hex-shaped base) and two squads of seven figures, each led by an NCO on a square-shaped base.

The Jagers add a splash of colour and dash to the otherwise dour appearance of the Imperial Prussian Army in the 1870 period.  They are also devoid of the goofy pointy-helmets, clad in shakos that are more reminiscent (to me) of the earlier Napoleonic era.  Generally speaking, each Prussian corps had one battalion of Jagers attached to perform the various and sundry "light" infantry tasks that somehow rendered them to be considered as "elite".  While Jagers were a smaller proportion of the overall infantry contingent of the Prussian army in 1870-71, for skirmish purposes I'm pretty sure they would be a common sight, so I wanted to include some in my Prussian forces for skirmish games in that setting.

The "red-flowered" squad

I was confused by the different colour references I found for these troops - whether the buttons and cipher etc were gold or brass, whether the facings were red or white, and what shade the green was supposed to be...I think it varied depending on whether they were in a "guard" unit or not.  I wanted my lads to be a regular joes, and so hopefully found colours that matched the regular battalions.

A view showing the mess kit, and of course, the ubiquitous long coats tied around the bodies of the troops...

As for the shade of green, well, sometimes you have to go with what paints you happen to have on hand...so to the surprise of nobody, this shade of green rather closely matches that seen on the armour plates of my 16th Legion forces for 30k sci-fi gaming *cough*.  Just a coincidence, I'm sure...

There are fifteen 28mm figures here, which added a 75-point shot in the arm towards my goal of 1000 points of painting.  Stay tuned for more Prussians!