I have done my first proper effort on the 2019 Joy of Six project – the Battle of Poltava 1709.  As I have stated before it will be a full blown table showing not just the main battle, but also the besieged Poltava, the Monastery and of course the redoubts (more background at the end of a previous blog here).

I did a inventory of the Swedish miniatures needed and found (not to a great surprise to be honest) that I have everything I need apart from some Cossacks and the models required for the Poltava Siege works (I want to make the siege lines, siege guns and sappers, etc), as for the forces on the table, all I need is (excluding artillery and command bases):

• 41 cavalry bases (60 by 30mm bases)
• 18 infantry bases (60 by 30mm bases)
• 24 Vallack and Cossack bases (large light horse bases 60 by 60mm)

That is 83 No. of bases (and detailed below) in total compared to 100 No. of bases for the Horka battle.

I will do the same review for the Russians, but I already know that there will be substantially more work as the number of bases for Horka was 155 No. but I will need a total of 259 No. for Poltava.

• 140 cavalry bases (60 by 30mm bases)
• 89 infantry bases (60 by 30mm bases)
• 30 Cossack and Kalmyk bases (large light horse bases)

Now all these did not fight in the main battle, but it allows a little bit of a reflection as to the relative strength of the Russians vs the Swedes in terms of available resources in the area. It will be a busy table, considering that it is about 40% more models (however they will be somewhat differently spread).

In the interim I do know that I have no Russian Horse Grenadiers and I need 3 No. regiments of 4 bases worth of models, so I have been painting some of these.

Horse Grenadiers

In 1708, Peter the Great, formed some Horse Grenadiers regiments, taken from the Grenadier company of existing Dragoon regiments.  It is a little bit confusing and unclear how these units were uniformed at the Poltava battle and how many were present, so what follows are an interpretation.  In game terms we will treat these as a better quality dragoon units and I have modelled these on a basis of 4 bases per regiment. Note that these are from Baccus Seven Years War range (and not from the WSS or GNW range) – they are wonderful little models and you can find them here.

A. Kropotov’s Horse Grenadiers

I painted these in the most common uniform combination of the Russian Army at the time with Green jacket with red facings, this is a speculative uniform combination. The flag is green and I am thinking of making some transfers to add some detail to them (I bought some printable transfer paper).

G. Kropotov’s Horse Grenadiers

Again speculative uniform – I made them as above but with blue instead of Green, apart from the flag.

von der Roop’s Horse Grenadiers

Yet again speculative uniform – I made them blue coats with red facings and a blue and red Mitre.

I have given them an ink wash (nut brown of course, see below) and will base them up shortly.

/ Hope that was of some interest

List of the Swedish units required for Poltava 1709 based on a rough guide of one base of 9 models of riders per 200 to 300 cavalry (about 2 squadrons) and the same for base of 24 models of infantry per 400 to 600 infantry (a battalion).

Unit	Type	Ref	Bases
Drabanterna	Cavalry	S01	1
Life Horse	Cavalry	S02	4
Life Dragoon	Cavalry	S03	2
Småland	Cavalry	S05	1
Nyland	Cavalry	S06	4
Östgota	Cavalry	S07	3
Norra Skånska	Cavalry	S08	2
Södra Skånska	Cavalry	S09	1
Hielm’s Dragoons	Cavalry	S10	2
Meierfeldt Dragoons	Cavalry	S11	4
Taube Dragoons	Cavalry	S12	2
Duckers Dragoons	Cavalry	S13	1
D Albedyhl Dragoons	Cavalry	S14	1
Gyllenstierna Dragoon	Cavalry	S15	1
Upplands 3 männingar	Cavalry	S16	1
Skånska Ståndsdragoon	Cavalry	S17	2
Vallacker (light horse)	Cavalry	S18	4
Karelska Horse	Cavalry	S21	4
Livlands Adelsfanan	Cavalry	S22	1
Schreiterfelt Dragoon	Cavalry	S24	1
Schlippenbach Dragoon	Cavalry	S25	2
Upplands Ståndsdragoon	Cavalry	S28	1
Livregementet	Infantry	S29	4
Upplands	Infantry	S30	1
Skaraborgs	Infantry	S31	1
Södermanlands	Infantry	S32	1
Kronobergs	Infantry	S33	1
Jonkoping	Infantry	S34	1
Dal	Infantry	S35	2
Östgota	Infantry	S36	1
Västmanland	Infantry	S37	2
Västerbotten	Infantry	S38	1
Kalmar	Infantry	S39	1
Närke-Värmland	Infantry	S40	2
Kossacker	Cavalry	S52	20