28mm Finnish war 1808 Savolax Brigade complete

With the addition of the Karelian dragoons, I believe I've now completed my 28mm Savolax brigade for now. There would be two additional demi-battalions of infantry and the Karelian jägers to add, but the brigade was broken up early in the war and the Savonian infantry battalions didn't fight together so this is more like a typical force. I've designed this set to be used using Sharp Practice, so the dragoons are a bit overrepresented (the unit size in SP is 8). All in all, I think they came out nice. Now, if I could just muster the will to start doing some Russians for them to fight...

For a comparison, here is the same force in 6mm: http://mazikainen.blogspot.com/2015/08/savolax-brigade-1808.html

A colonel and a Savonian cannon for Finnish war 1808-1809

There are some models I needed for my Russo-Swedish War 1808 project that haven't been made yet by the Perrys. There is no artillery for the Swedes and they don't have a mounted officer available, so I checked their catalogue and found a couple of sets that were ripe for converting.

This Swedish mounted colonel was made from a Perry French colonel. The uniform was almost a perfect match to the Swedish m/1801 uniform many of the higher-up officers used during the war. I just needed to remove all the doo-dads the original model had across his chest, work on the bicorne a bit and give him that white armband. The figure was an absolute joy to paint and I love that heroic pose. I haven't decided who exactly this model represents but Sandels isn't far off?

The Savolax Brigade I'm working on had their own artillery company. The guns were mostly 3-pounders and the men wore the same uniforms as the Savonian jägers did. The Perry Danish 3pdr was a pretty good match. I had to do a bit of filing and sculpting on the shakos to match the Savonian one, but it was just four models so it was quick to do.

Here's a couple of uniform reference pics:

Savolax jäger regiment, 1808

"The Savonian sharpshooters who were the most dangerous of our enemies in this land were farmers. They lived in the wooded and swampy region called Savolax next to a vast lake called 'Kallavesi'. They wore grey trousers and a short jacket and had a round hat on their heads. Their equipment was of plain, black boot leather. In peacetime these riflemen lived in their homes, farming, fishing and hunting, and took part in military excercises for a few weeks once per year. They conserved their ammunition and rarely shot at random.. They all fought bravely and were sworn enemies of the Russians."
-Memoirs of Faddei Bulgarin, an uhlan who fought in the war.

Hot on the heels of the Savolax infantry regiment I finished my Savolax Jägers. They were established in 1770 after the lessons of the seven years' war had start to sunk in and the usefulness of light, independent troops became apparent. The Savo region was also an especially suitable home for a large number of jägers as they could act as sentries in the wilderness bordering Russia and were well suited to fighting in broken terrain.

The Savolax jägers were not part of the allotment system but were rather an enlisted unit in the Swedish army. They did not however spend their time in garrison but were also farmers in their spare time, so their level of professionalism didn't probably differ much from your average Finnish allotment soldier. They had a good reputation however and were in the thick of fighting throughout the war.

They were not just skirmishers screening the infantry battalions either. They were frequently used in raiding operations behind enemy lines (I used to live a stones' throw away from a site where the Savolax jägers ambushed a Russian supply column) as well as supporting and training civilian militias that rose up against the Russians (Especially in Karelia).

The figures took only minor conversion to look appropriate and painted up nicely. The camera shows brutally where I got sloppy with my painting, especially the faces but they look fine IRL so I'm happy :)
 

Savolax light infantry regiment, 1808

I already have a 6mm russo-swedish war project with the Savolax Brigade already complete, but since Perry Miniatures decided to do them in 28mm, I simply couldn't resist! I'll probably use these in Sharp practice or something else where I don't need so many figures. Big Battle Napoleonics in 28mm is a level of madness I'd rather avoid.

The army of Finland during the 1808 Russian invasion was an allotment system where farms and villages were required to equip and maintain soldiers for the Swedish army. This meant that every few houses would pool their resources together to recruit a soldier, offer him a small house and a patch of land to farm, pay for his equipment and give him a modest pay. The soldiers of the allotment system were basically farmers who also took part in army excercises and the occasional war.  As you might guess, your mileage would vary on the quality of these soldiers as the intensity of their training and the quality of the recruits would vary a lot.

The Savolax light infantry regiment was different to your average infantry regiment in a couple of ways. First, it was divided into four demi-battalions instead of the usual two (I made two demi-battalions for this project which should be enough since the regiment was dispersed around Finland for most of the war). Secondly, a lot of attention was put into training them to operate in open order in the broken terrain of Savolax. Working together with Savolax Jägers they were well suited for the Finnish woodlands.

Painting these seemed to take forever for such, basically pretty simple figures. Don't know why I took so long, maybe I'm out of shape with 28mm historicals. The Perry models are otherwise great, but the uniform on the figures is actually of a later model than the one worn by Finnish regiments during the war. Luckily the differences between the uniforms are mostly obscured by other gear or too minute to be noticed by all but the most dedicated uniform fetishists, so it took only a bit of conversion work and creative painting.

There is an excellent article on the evolution of the uniform on the Northern Wargaming blog, go check it out if you're interested!

Savolax Brigade 1808

On the 25th of February 1808, a couple of weeks before the battle of Leppävirta, the Savolax Brigade stood in formation on the parade ground in Mikkeli in the middle of the night. It was freezing cold (-36 Celsius according to some sources) and the men were not allowed to light fires to warm themselves up, so as to keep them hidden from the enemy. In reality, the Russians were still far off from Mikkeli, but a rumour spread into town by a traveler claiming the Russians had cut off the Swedish route of retreat at Juva had spooked Cronstedt, their commander, into putting the brigade into full alert. A hundred men would be hospitalized after the long night, all of whom would be left behind when the brigade began it's march north on the 29th. This false alarm cost Cronstedt more than ten times the men than those who would become casualties at Leppävirta.

The composition of the Savolax Brigade when departing from Mikkeli was as follows:
- Savolax infantry regiment, 1000 men, four half-battalions
- Savolax jaeger regiment, 1170 men, two battalions
- Karelian dragoons, 210 men, two squadrons
- Savolax brigade artillery company, 158 men
- Plus assorted hangarounds not present at battles or incorporated into the existing units in our games.

The Brigade also included the Karelian jaeger regiment, but they didn't link up with the main force until later in the winter so I have some more time to paint them. The models are 6mm figures from Heroics & Ros. The models are noticeably smaller than Baccus and do not fit together very well. I think you can use them in opposing armies if you're not too picky however.

1. Savolax Infantry

2. Savolax Infantry

3. Savolax Infantry

4. Savolax Infantry

An officer of the Savolax infantry regiment

1. Savolax Jaegers. It was uncommon for jaeger regiments to have their own flag, but I've read from a couple of sources that the Savolax jaegers had one, so of course I had to give them one!

2. Savolax Jaegers. These jaegers are also sporting different headwear than "normal" jaegers in the Swedish army. Using French Voltigeurs from the Heroics&Ros line works well.

Savolax Jaegers.

Karelian Dragoons, lower Savolax squadron. These men did not have the new hats that were issued to the dragoons unlike the upper Savolax squadron. The owner of Heroics and Ros suggested I use Spanish Dragoons for the figures and they fit the description just fine.

The upper Savolax squadron with their brand new hats.

Karelian lower Savolax squadron on the left. On the right, a Nyland dragoon but his hat is identical to what the Upper Savolax squadron would have had.

The Savolax artillery company. I ended up doing too many gun models that's appropriate for the figure:man ratio. Three or four guns is more appropriate for the single battery they could field.

Another angle.

And just so you remember, the pictures you saw were magnified. Here are the same figures next to a coin.

I was kind of worried about the Heroics & Ros line of figures as there really is a lot less detail on the models than on Baccus ones. They paint up nicely though and I'm happy with them as units.

At the moment we use a figure-to-man ratio of 1:10 and a two guns per model ratio for artillery. We "round up" any stands so that if a line infantry unit is 22 models strong, I will have three stands on the table but still count the actual models used. The figures are based on 20mm squares and the artillery on 25mm squares. We use General de Brigade rules because they offer a good skirmishing system which is necessary for the skirmisher-heavy Finnish war.

I also have a nice set of uniform plates to go with these, but I first have to find  a way to convert pdf scans to images properly.