Battle of Seneffe 1674 Command base: Death of Marqués de Asentar

Hi guys

This time I bring you a special topic, my first miniature sculpted by the AI, using Meshy.ai , I tried to replicate a wonderful illustration of a Desperta Ferro magazine about the last tercios, from 1660 to the reform of 1704.

The aim was to make a command base for my Spanish army of Flanders in the bloody battle of Seneffe in 1674.

 the original illustration is fantastic, I really wanted to have a similar last stand command base in my collection, and as nobody produces a similar miniature, and I have no sculpting skills, I resorted to a new (for me) method, Meshy, although it is not free, I think it worth the price.

This part is translation by me  from Spanish Magazine Desperta Ferro:

At the death of Pedro de Acuña y Meneses, Marquis of Assentar, in the Battle of Seneffe, the Spanish soldiers present there, following the example of the fallen commander, fought so fiercely against the French that they became known as the “Sacrificed of Seneffe.”

Assentar began his military career under Philip IV in 1640 and had to flee to Castile. He commanded the regiments of Spain (1655–1659) and Lombardy (1659–1662). He took part in the victory of Valenciennes (1656), the campaign of Mardyck (1657), and the sieges of Novara (1662–1665) and Ceuta (1665–1672). With the outbreak of the Franco-Dutch War, he was appointed Maestre de Campo of the Army of Flanders. As commander of the Army of the Low Countries and second in commando of the Count of Monterrey, governor of the Spanish Netherlands.

 An  Imperial contingent joined the combined Dutch-Spanish army in the summer of 1674, adding strength to the troops of William III of Orange.

At first, the French army under the Prince of Condé launched a surprise attack against the troops of William III, while the Allies marched between Nivelles and Mons in an attempt to outflank the French position at Trivières. The battle soon became bloody and fierce: 62,000 Allied soldiers clashed against 44,200 French troops.

The allied army marched through a vast wooded area full of ravines, which caused the Marquis to show a fatalistic mood, he said to an officer, "If we succeed today it would be a miracle, but I do not blame myself, because I am doing my job and those in command of the combined army do not listen my advice...  for I know my end is near, and no one shall deprive me of the glory of what is to come..."

Suddenly, the thunder of the cannon and the musketry announced the battle, A Dutch officer came in hurry announcing that all the rearguard of the army was collpasing and some fleeing. The Marquis had advanced too far and was now being pursued by the French. "We saw all of Valdemont’s cavalry came rushing back in flight, and the confusion with which they returned threw most of our rearguard into panic."

 The chronicler Félix de Lucio Espinosa y Malo relates what happened next:

“Seeing this disaster, the Marquis of Assentar ordered five or six large infantry battalions and one squadron of cavalry to halt. Drawing his sword, he encouraged the men, who had been pushed back so rapidly, although they had gained some time, their line started to collapse under French pressure. Even though the Marquis of Assentar was grievously wounded, 7 times,  he fought with such boldness and extraordinary courage that he finally gave his life, despite receiving assistance for the many wounds he had suffered.”

The French, after driving the Spaniards from the village of Saint-Nicolas and finding the Marquis’s body in their possession after the battle, returned it to the Spanish camp. The fighting finished in a bloody draw, where both sides claimed "victory", it had caused some fourteen thousand casualties between the two armies, and contemporary accounts describe the battle as one of the bloodiest slaughters ever seen in Europe for many years.

 The base diorama itseld was 3d printed in resin, and the miniature is not perfect, there aresome mistakes in an officer hand, shoes, the horse head is missing... but with some touches here and there, I fixed most of them and painted it in the usual way of Vallejo and Foundry triads.

I hope you like it!

Cheers

Bolt Action: Jagdpanzer IV/70 (A) and Volkssturm soldier

 

Hi guys,

I just finished a a couple of 3d printed models, a test model of a Volkssturm young soldier and a Jagdpanzer IV/70 (A) from 2021, so not as detailed as latest 3d models, but with some improvements it does the job. 

I added mesh schürzen from a Rubicon Models Panzer IV J, and a couple of bits like the caterpillars as an extra defense in the front plate of the armor.

This Jagdpanzer variant was armed with the same gun as the Panther Pak42 L/70, and only 278 were built by Nibelungenwerke from August 1944 to March 1945.

The painting was the usual method;

Airbrushing the colors with some color modulation using zenithal light technique, all the weathering ( filter, oil dots fading, pin washes, scratches and streaking grime and dirt, then some pigments and mud) and matt varnish.

The volkssturm man is by (I think) 3d models by Propylene Foliescu and I like it very much,  easy to paint model with a rare weapon, Volkssturmgewehr , a last ditch line of rifles and assault weapons.

I have already a Normandy force German and US, and an Axis forces for Sicily 1943, now I wanted some late WW2 in 1945 wester front force, for Remagen, Ruhr Pocket etc.

I hope you like this little WW2 update.

                                        

Finally a picture I took back in 2015 of the real vehicle at the Saumur tank museum in France, as far as I know, is the only surviving example of this type.

III century 3rd legionary unit.

 

Hi guys,

I have been working on a third century legionary unit. For this unit, I have exclusively used plastic and 3d printed resin miniatures, both from Wargames Atlantic, plus a couple of plastic Gripping Beast bodies.

I'm very pleased with the quality of the Wargames Atlantic Digital sculpts, specifically the chainmail hoods and Lorica Segmentata bodies are very well done and researched in my opinion.

The shields have a "Relic Miniatures" decal sheet  used on them, I really like the design that this Canadian company has made, so I placed an order from Spain and it arrived quickly and without any problems.

The unit is based for Impetus, because I love this basing system, but I also play Hail Caesar.

I painted the unit by airbrushing dark metal vallejo paint all over the primed miniatures,  then basecoated all the colors, washes and highlights using the good old triad method with Foundry Paints and Vallejo. After that, I applied Ultra matt varnish with brush in all the non metal parts.

This is my "army" so far, 3 heavy infantry bases, I also need archers, mid and heavy cavalry, a general, Praetorians, Palestine clubmen, Palmyrene dromedarii...  so a lot of work to do, besides my many other projects.

I hope you like this little update.

3D printed 1/200 Spanish galley XVII c.

 Hello guys,

Here I am again with more galleys. This time a 3D printed galley from Henry Turner miniatures 1/600 galley, scaled down to 1/1200.  

I printed also some smaller fustas or galiots, just scaling it down even more the original file with Anycubic Workshop app for the future.

The model comes with its base, and lucky me, it was exactly the same size of my other galley's bases in metal, by Ark Royal miniatures.  The base was too thin to leave it as it comes, so I glued it to a piece of plastic of a similar thickness of my other metal bases.

I substituted the 3d printed resin mast with a metal wire, and attached the sail. I still prefer the metal models than the 3d printed models, but this are quite nice , detailed and cheap, although more modelling skills are required, the material is a little bit brittle and the process is messy and smelly.

I painted the model with the same paints and style (basecoat, wash, a couple of highlights) as the other metal galleys from Ark Royal miniatures. The flags are again from Minairons, excellen quality and historically accurate.

The rigging is simplest possible, made with broom bristles following this tutorial

http://leagueofaugsburg.blogspot.com/2021/07/much-requested-video-on-rigging-ships.html

·3D Printed galley next to metal galley from Ark Royal miniatures

I hope you like them!

Cheers

Civilian gun and militia for the siege of Gerona 1684: PART II FINAL

 

Hello guys,

Here is the part II and final of the civilian and milita unit for the siege of Gerona 1684.

I've added an unarmored pikeman from NorthStar 1672, turned into a gunner, painted in earthy colors, in order to give him a more civilian look. Also a Front Rank militiaman, from the "Monmouth Rebellion" range, I replaced his scythe with a halberd, to give him a more military touch. 

Front Rank late XVII c artillery man with a green stuff feather

Civilian Hero

The gabions are 3D printed, the Chevaux de Frise is from Warfare Miniatures, and the fence is resin from a Polish brand whose name I can't remember (sorry!). Regarding the gun/saker, it's a mixture of various brands... Warlord carriage, Warhammer wheels...

These defenders, although painted and modeled to "serve" in the 1684 Siege of Girona, are nevertheless generic and versatile enough to fight in any 17th century siege from 1665 onwards.

In this particular case, they will load the cannon with shrapnel, nails, stones, buttons, or coins to wreak havoc on attackers at close range, plus it can fight well in melee mode and musketry fire, making it a potent unit: entrenched, with melee and ranged attacks!

The other two guys; kneeling musketeer and soldier with plug bayonet were shown in the previous post about this unit, and they are Bicorne and Front Rank miniatures respectively.

I hope you like them!