Last Roar of the Lion

This post gives the background to my Gustav II Adolf command base for the Lutzen game.

Gustav II Adolf, the 'Lion of the North' is one of the iconic figures of the Thirty Years War, and is famous amongst wargamers for many military innovations.  Lutzen, 1632, was the second and last of Gustav's major battles in the Thirty Years War.  His death in the battle cemented Gustav's position as a hero of the Protestant cause at the time, and as a national icon for Sweden to this day.

In some ways you could say that Gustav was a risk taker.  He was not the sort of general who commanded from the rear.   He took decisions based on being in the thick of the action.  There appear to be numerous occasions in his earlier Polish campaigns where he narrowly missed serious injury, death or capture.  It was one such narrow escape which saw him wounded and this wound which continued to make it too painful for him to wear armour.  So, at Lutzen the scene was set.  Being at the front of the action led to Gustav receiving another wound.  While trying to retire to the rear, poor visibility seems to have led to Gustav and his entourage blundering in to the path of Imperial cavalry who recognised a senior enemy commander, even if they were not sure of who exactly it was.  His entourage were either killed or dispersed, and Gustav was killed trying to escape.

As I said in my previous post, I really like the Warlord Games Gustav figure (here).  He is in a really dynamic pose, charging in to the thick of the action.  Very in character for him, especially at the battle where this boldness probably led to his untimely demise.  His horse appears to be just landing after jumping some obstacle.  I used an old cannon model I had in my bits box to provide the obstacle that Streiff, Gustav's mount, had just leapt over.  Interestingly Streiff, who died after the battle, was stuffed and is still to be seen at the Royal Armoury museum in Stockholm (link).

The model was a joy to paint.  A nicely detailed metal casting that fitted together (man and horse) very easily.  I undercoated in Humbrol enamel matt black (seems to be a growing trend!) and then painted in Vallejo acrylics.  Finished off with a coat of Daler-Rowney matt acrylic varnish, which I find to be the mattest finish out there.  I have tried to give an impression of Gustav in the same clothing looted from his body in the battle, riding Streiff.

Gustav is accompanied by two equally excitable companions, also leaping their horses over the broken cannon debris.  These are two further Warlord figures, Fairfax and Rupert.  Rupert went together very nicely, while Fairfax needed a tiny smidge of green stuff to make the join between his body and legs work.  I also decided to change Fairfax's helmet.  He has a very nice three barred English pot helmet, with the three barred visor raised.  This type of helmet is more typical of the English Civil Wars rather than the conflicts on the continent.  I snipped off the raised visor, and then cut this down to be just a peak that I glued back on to his helmet.  I then added small pieces above and below the peak to represent the adjustable nasal bar of a Dutch pot helmet.  A bit fiddly but I think it looks ok.

I still need to add some flock and tufts, but I am pretty pleased with the command stand.  I hope Gustav will be luckier at the Lutzen refight on the 6th April and manage to survive!

Until next time.