Fanteria Russa (Granatieri) delle Guerre Napoleoniche, 1812–1814

Recensione dei Figurini ESCI in Scala 1:72

Soldatini del 18th (1st Westphalian) Reggimento Fanteria Prussiano, 1813–1815. We’ve used Granatieri Russi di ESCI for this conversion. The quattro men on the right flank of the unit, due loading e due kneeling, had the Kiver shakò replaced by a Schirmmütze taken from Landwehr prussiana di Airfix. The quattro men in the center are unchanged, except that a loading granatiere has been converted to a portabandiera. The musket has been removed e replaced by 0.6 mm pianowire. The flag was made from paper, it shows the Iron Cross which was introduced on 10th marzo 1813. The volunteer cacciatori in front of the unit sono fucilieri prussiani di ESCI, con the bicorno replaced by a shakò.

Contenuto

50 soldatini con 15 Poses – 23 mm pari a 166 cm di altezza

• Ufficiale (2)
• Trombettiere e Drummer
• 12 charging
• 12 standing & kneeling, tirante
• 9 advancing
• 6 loading
• 3 fighting
• 3 kneeling
• 1 wounded

War e Peace

Truppe russe participated in most of the important campaigns delle Guerre Napoleoniche, including the German Wars of Liberation e the occupation of Paris on 31st marzo 1814. Napoleon was banished to Elba, Francia returned to its 1792 borders e Bourbon rule was restored. With the war finally over, the armata russa began its long march home. Only 11 month later, Napoleon returned to Francia e raised a new army. Truppe russe were directed to turn around e marched back toward the theater of operations, but the allied victory at Waterloo decided the issue before the russi were even close enough to join the fight.

The ESCI soldatini are sculpted in the 1812 uniform, con the famous Kiver shakò. Soldati russi wore a very practical uniform, which was gradually adopted by other armies as well. A comfortable cappotto, the Shinel, often replaced the uniform coat on campaign. When not worn, the Shinel was rolled up e carried across the left shoulder, offering some protection against sabre cuts. The rolled cappotto was a distinguishing item of Russian dress, as can be seen in many 1812 uniform plates, like that of the Libava Regiment (7th Division, 2nd Brigade) above.

Valutazione

• Excellent Detail. Shakò e cords, buttons, cuffs e facings, crossbelts, ammo pouches, knapsacks, canteens, boots, armi e metal fittings are clearly visible.
• Useful historic poses. The advancing, firing e loading soldatini allow the formation of very realistic e cohesive looking wargame units.
• The soldatini are generic enough that they can be painted as Guardia, granatieri, moschettieri, carabinieri, cacciatori e fanti di marina. The main distinction being the metal badge on the shakò, a double-eagle in the Guard Regiments, crossed cannons for artiglieria, una granate a tre fiamme for granatieri in standing reggimenti granatieri e those in the line Elite Companies, o a single grenade for moschettieri, cacciatori e fanti di marina di linea. La granata a tre fiamme sculpted on these soldatini can be painted over to represent any of the other shakò plates.
• Excellent casting quality, very little flash. These soldiers are a delight to paint, because the raised detail remains visible even after the soldatini are undercoated.
• The Kiver shakò can be used for many interesting conversion, it was worn by ussari, cacciatori a cavallo e cannonieri russi dell’artiglieria a piedi.

• Only 36% of the soldatini are shown wearing the typical rolled cappotto across the shoulder, the others seem to have discarded it. When the soldatini are displayed in formations, the resulting mix of uniforms ed equipaggiamento is not historically accurate. Manufacturers need to make a decision about sculpting their soldatini in full-dress o campaign uniform e then be consistent con it. Anything else is a disappointment for the serious collector e military historian.
• Granatieri russi did wear their tall plumes on campaign, to distinguish themselves from the moschettieri. It is very unfortunate that the plumes were omitted on these soldatini. The conversion is rather difficult e time consuming, it would have been easier to have the plumes on the shakò e cut them off when they are not needed.
• Some soldatini are sculpted without the sabre e bayonet scabbard, but they still wear the crossbelt to which the scabbards were attached! In the unlikely event that a soldier decided to discard the sabre e bayonet, he would have dropped the entire bandoleer. An inexcusable mistake, considering the vast amount of available uniform information covering the armata russa of 1812. It is surprising that such mistakes are made at all, e that expensive molds are produced from obviously inaccurate master soldatini.
• Portabandiere not included. One dell’ufficiali e tre granatieri, particularly the man loading his musket, can easily be converted to a portabandiera. The conversion involves removing the weapon e pushing a flagstaff made from 0.6 mm pianowire through the figure’s hands.

Utilizzo Storico

• Standing Granatieri 1812–1814 (normally wearing tall plumes on the Kiver)
• Converged Granatieri, formed from the compagnia di granatieri of the Depot battaglioni (2^o) of the fanteria di linea, 1812–1814 (normally wearing tall plumes on the Kiver)
• Line Elites, called granatieri in the reggimenti di moschettieri e carabinieri in the reggimenti di cacciatori (Jäger), 1812–1814 (normally wearing tall plumes on the Kiver)

Conversioni Possibili

• Moschettieri prussiani, 1812–1814
• Cacciatori russi, 1812–1814
• Fanti da marina russi, 1812–1814
• Fanteria della Guardia russa, 1812–1814 (normally wearing tall plumes on the Kiver)
• 1^a e 2^a brigata della legione russo-tedesca 1812 to marzo 1815, transferred al servizio prussiano thereafter:
  • 30^o (4^o Rhenish) Reggimento Fanteria, Prussia 1815
  • 31^o (3^o Magdeburg) Reggimento Fanteria, Prussia 1815
• The Kiver shakò can be used to convert ussari e cannonieri prussiani into the equivalent russo.

I granatieri russi di ESCI sono correctly proportioned e wonderfully detailed, they look very realistic after painting. Soldati russi in the Kiver shakò are exceptionally popular con collezionisti e giocatori wargame, because this is the uniform worn in the decisive 1812 e 1813 campaigns. The russi fought at Smolensk, Borodino, Lützen (Großgörschen), Bautzen, Dresden, Kulm, at the Battle of Nations (Leipzig) e many other engagements. In 1814, they marched into Paris alongside the armate alleate. Unfortunately, l’armata russa delle guerre napoleoniche is virtually ignored by manufacturers of soldatini in scala 1:72, despite the fact that the 1812 campaign is the most popular wargame subject e the russi are needed to simulate the event. ESCI deserves praise for these attractive e versatile miniatures. It is hoped that dragoni russi, corazzieri, artiglieria a piedi, Cosacchi e Opolchenie (milizia) will become available some day, enabling the collector e wargamer to raise the victorious armata russa of 1812–1814.

ESCI Soldatini

Bibliografia

• Knötel-Sieg: Handbuch der Uniformkunde, pp. 315–317
• Haythornthwaite, Philip: Uniforms of 1812, Plates 57–63

Domande più frequenti

Per ulteriori informazioni, per favore contatta la redazione di Rivista Military Miniatures nel Miniatures Forum.

Soldatini Russi delle Guerre Napoleoniche

– Pubblicato: 1996 – Aggiornato: 06.10.2010
© 1996-2012 by IDL Software GmbH, Darmstadt, Germania. Tutti diritti reservati.