Starting the war of 1866

[Charon]

To clarify, I’m not talking about Schleswig-Holstein!

Inspired by Mollinary’s battle report (http://www.pendrakenforum.co.uk/index.php/topic,5994.0.html ) I mentioned to the guys who I regularly game with that I thought the period looked quite interesting (sorry Cameronian, I meant THE period looked quite interesting) 

Bearing in mind one of my friends is obsessed with Austrian history I was always on a winner and left our last gaming session weighed down with the Prussian history of the war of 1866.

I managed to get a copy of “War of Empires I” off eBay and have now officially entered the planning stage of the project (my favourite part!)

Bearing in mind I’m still expanding my AWI stuff, I’m trying to do this period as cheaply as possible, with the majority of cash being spent on lead! I’m hoping that those of you who game the period would be able to give me some guidance;

Rules: As I said above I’ve bought a copy of War of Empires on eBay. Obviously I haven’t yet played them yet, but they do seem to be almost like board game rules and I’m wondering if they are “involved” enough for us. I’ve read reports of the 1866 set of rules which seem to suggest that it’s a fantastic source of information, but perhaps too detailed â€" does anyone have any other suggestions (I’m not keen on Black Powder though!)

Uniform Guides: I’ve struggled to find much information online and would rather not buy uniform guides at this stage in the project â€" does anyone know of any good online references?

Thank you!

Jon (Charon)

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

The Opsprey 1870 guide to 1870 Prussians is fine for 1866 uniforms, only the pukelhelms change. Or 'Battledress' by (oh hell, can't remember his name and I'm not at home) is really useful, it's available on Amazon.
There is a huge series of threads in resources about 1866 Saxons, all the sources will do Prussians too.
It does have a link for the uniform guides, but I'm not on my computer at the mo, so I can't copy and paste links. Dashed mobile phones! 
Cameronian, Mollinary and co are a wealth of informaton too.

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Battledress is by IT Schick
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Battledress-uniforms-worlds-armies-present/dp/0907408729/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1348332364&sr=8-2

German Armies V1 1870 - 1871
http://www.amazon.co.uk/German-Armies-1870-71-Prussia-Men-at-arms/dp/1841767549/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1348332421&sr=1-2

The Saxon Resources thread:
http://www.pendrakenforum.co.uk/index.php/topic,5467.0.html
I found these invaluable:
"A Guide to the Seven Weeks' War" by Nigel J Smith. (Helion)
"The Armies of 1866: A Guide to the Uniforms, Weapons and Organisation of the Armies of the Seven Weeks War", by N.J Smith. (Helion books). 
Both are soft back A 4 size at £9.95 pounds sterling. They cover all the states involved in the war in greater or lesser detail, including Italy, and has their OOBs as well as the detail you are looking for. it was my one stop intro to this period.   
The only note of caution, look elsewhere for the information on flags. The book contains material which is conjectural and inaccurate, even on things like Prussian flags.
Hope that helps.
Mad Lemmey

[cameronian]

Splendid decision, start with the relevant Ospreys for uniforms, read Craig's Konnigratz and Wawro's The Austro Prussian War (much of it is bollox but there's some good stuff too) for background; Bruce Weigle's 1866 is a must, its a really superb primer for the period even if you don't like the rules. Join the CWS, the fee is something daft like £5 and you get a CD with all the back issues stuffed with useful 1866 material. Helion press is owned by a renouned 1866 buff, Duncan Rogers, there's loads of books, pamphlets etc on his site. Join the Yahoo groups 1870 and Bloodandiron, both are full of 1866 anoraks (like me !) and are very useful for posting questions. Re rules I really like FOB 2; join the PIQUET Yahoo group then navigate to the FOB bit; our 1866 house rules are there as are the cards for download or purchase.
Welcome to the madhouse.
PS Mollinary is generally very sound especially on flags but pay no heed to his ravings re the Werndl carbine.

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

PS Mollinary is generally very sound especially on flags but pay no heed to his ravings re the Werndl carbine.

[cameronian]

Dammit Lemmey why aren't you painting Sir!

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Waiting for wife & daughter to retire for the evening sir! 

[sunjester]

I found this site quite useful for uniforms.

http://www.grosser-generalstab.de/sturm/sturm30.html

[Charon]

Thanks chaps, some excellent information there. Field of Battle 2 seems like the way to go, I've just read a couple of battle reports on various blogs and they seem to tick all the right boxes!

Also, and I know this is a completely "noob" question which I suspect I already know the answer to; where there any occasions on which the units of the Italian Army fought alongside those of the Prussian Army?

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

No. Completely different fronts. The Prussians would have had to either go through France or cross the entire Austro-Hungarian empire!
See map 7: http://homepages.wmich.edu/~hega/PSCI340/ps340map.html

[Charon]

No. Completely different fronts. The Prussians would have had to either go through France or cross the entire Austro-Hungarian empire!
See map 7: http://homepages.wmich.edu/~hega/PSCI340/ps340map.html

Thanks Lemmy, I suspected the geographical issues may have caused a problem! Quite fancied an Italian force but I think the rest of the group will be doing the Prussian front - Prussians for me then!

[Hwiccee]

We use a free fire and fury variant set here - http://www.wfgamers.org.uk/

You will also find lots of 1866 scenarios there.

[Charon]

That looks interesting - think I have a copy of F&F somewhere!

[Chad]

Charon

Apart from the Prussians vs Austrians & Saxons, you also have Prussians vs Bavarians + Federal 8th Corps. The latter is my 2013 project.

Many of the uniforms of the German States are similar enough so that in 10mm scale you can still do some of the forces involved even though Pendraken do not do a specific figure.

Chad

[Charon]

Charon

Apart from the Prussians vs Austrians & Saxons, you also have Prussians vs Bavarians + Federal 8th Corps. The latter is my 2013 project.

Many of the uniforms of the German States are similar enough so that in 10mm scale you can still do some of the forces involved even though Pendraken do not do a specific figure.

Chad

Thanks Chad, unfortunately it is a prerequisite of my mate's involvement that there must be Austrians! I usually like to go for more "unusual" armies (Spanish and Portuguese napoleonics for example), hence the question about Italians.

It looks like there will be four of us doing this and the others don't fancy doing the Italians at all  Better start polishing my Picklehaube!