It’s a rare moment that the painting of a 12-man
battalion raised such celebrations in the 10mm
Schönbrunn Palace. It was just an Austrian line infantry
unit, after all. But its dark blue facings were very
important. Once painted, I realised that with their
painting I then had the whole of the Austrian Fifth
Column at Aspern-Essling painted. All four line infantry
regiments, cavalry, artillery, Grenzer and Freikorps at a
ratio of 1:50. And all with the correct facing colours!
The three battalions of Line Infantry Regiment No. 46
numbered 1,580 at Essling. At 1:50, that meant 30 figures
to represent the three battalions. I planned to have just
two units, one of 18 figures and this one of 12. Ideally, it
would have been nice to have had three battalions of 12
figures each. This, though, would have increased the
effectiveness of the regiment to the equivalent of 1,800
men. However, it was still an option. Even if their
French opponents objected.
Two battalions of Chasteler also produced sterling
service at Eggmühl where the regiment fought over the
wood and high ground above the village of
Oberlaiching before being withdrawn by FML
Rosenberg on the orders of Archduke Charles. We don’t
have a record of their number there – or at the Battle of
Dünzling, 19 April. But we do know that the regiment
was down to 1,190 men at Wagram where it fought as
part of Nordmann’s Advance Guard.
One Battalion of IR46 Chasteler
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