The Habsburg ruler of Austria in 1701 was Leopold I (1640-1705), who followed a long family tradition by also being elected emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, to give it its full title. This did not mean that the Empire, which was made up of many kingdoms, principalities, bishoprics, duchys – small and large – would necessarily support the emperor when he called for it, and indeed some, including Bavaria, Liège and Cologne, chose to support France in the War of the Spanish Succession. Some others remained neutral, but the emperor was fairly successful in getting much of the Empire to support him in his war to have his second son, Archduke Charles (1685-1740), made the new king of Spain. Naturally the military contribution of each of these states was partly dependent on their size, and some maintained a larger force than they could easily afford by hiring their troops out to others, including during the conflict with France.

The uniforms worn by the infantry of all of these states followed the general fashion of the time, and only varied in colour and smaller details. All wore a coat with big cuffs over a waistcoat and shirt, and wore breeches and stockings with shoes on the feet (although often, as with these figures, long gaiters were worn over the stockings). Normal infantry headwear was the tricorn hat, but by this date the tradition was firmly established of grenadiers wearing a different form of headgear without a protruding brim. Exactly what form this took varied considerably, and there were no absolute rules, but in general the Catholic states of Europe such as France, Bavaria and Austria gave their grenadiers a fur cap, while the Protestant states such as Britain, the Netherlands, Sweden and Prussia issued a fabric stocking cap stiffened to stand upright, sometimes with a metal plate to the front. All the grenadiers in this set wear a fur cap with a stiffened front plate and a bag hanging from the back, and so follow the ‘Catholic’ style. Despite the picture on the box, the sculptor has given these caps a plain front merely edged with fur, which is not a style we have come across before, although if an all-fur front is required this is easily achieved by painting. Some Empire states such as Bavaria did dress their grenadiers this way, although exact details for each of the states are hard to come by, so while these caps are not appropriate for all the Imperial states, they are suitable for some.

Grenadiers were formed into companies within their regiment, but were often taken from the regiment and grouped into composite units, particularly if they were to be used as shock troops. Despite their name, there were few opportunities for using the grenade, since this could only be thrown a short distance, and on the field of battle it would be just as likely to harm friend and foe alike at such short ranges. Consequently, most of these poses are using their musket just like any other infantry, and they all also carry a sabre from their waist belt. On their right hip is a large pouch suspended from a belt over the shoulder, but every man also has a second pouch attached to the front of his waist belt. One pouch was for musket ammunition and the other for grenades, although which was kept in which seems to have been somewhat variable. Each man also has his bayonet scabbard on the front left side, but this represents the complete kit found on these figures, so there are no other sacks, water bottles or hatchets, for example.

Our last row shows the command figures in this set, which are an NCO, flag-bearer, drummer and officer. The NCO is armed and dressed like the men, and is only distinguishable by the cane hanging from a button on his coat. The flag-bearer has a more decorated coat and wears a sash across his body as a mark of his rank, as well as having better dressed hair in contrast to the queues of the men. The drummer wears a normal tricorn, and would have had a more distinctive coat, particularly the decorative flashes on the shoulders. Finally, the officer also wears a finer coat, and the same cap as his men, as well as his sash of rank. It was becoming common for grenadier officers to be armed with a fusil rather than the more traditional bladed polearms of regular infantry, and this gentleman is so equipped, though the finery of his attire would leave no one in any doubt as to his status.

As we have said, the usual weapon of the grenadier was the musket, which in this case is a flintlock and has been nicely done with bayonet fixed in all cases. The three men handling grenades all have their firelock slung on their back, so everyone here is suitably armed and equipped. The poses of those handling the musket follow the usual formula of men firing or reloading, advancing or marching. All are fairly standard and very useful, but the last figure in the third row is more interesting as he is in the ‘recover’ position. The three men with grenades are lighting the fuse or in the act of throwing, which are all decent poses, although the left arm of the third figure is strangely twisted and not a great choice in our view. As we have said, the dangers of this weapon meant they were very seldom used in the open, so we must therefore imagine these men about to throw their grenade into a building or trench, for example, or perhaps over or down some wall so as to shield themselves and their friends from any blast.

The sculpting of these figures matches the very nice standard Strelets have set for the rest of this range. Detail is nice and clear, and features like the moustachioed faces are great. The musket barrels could have been better, however, but we appreciated some smaller details like the matches in the left hand of the grenade men (though this might also have been wound round the wrist), and the match case itself on the crossbelt. Our example of this set had virtually no flash, and only small areas of excess plastic hidden from the mould such as around the sabre.

The flag in this set is 18mm (1.3 metres) square, plus a fringe all the way round, and is not engraved with any design, though it does have cords and a spearpoint finial. Whether this was appropriate for all German states we do not know, though it is likely that they varied, but this is not a bad compromise. The drum is a good size, but very poorly positioned, since the strap holding it is over the right shoulder (as it should be), yet the drum is also on the right side of the body, despite clearly not being supported by the man at all.

It makes sense to depict grenadiers in lively, assaulting poses, and this set does exactly that. The three ‘grenade men’ may be rather less useful than the others in an open battle, but their inclusion is understandable given the subject, and doubtless they will be put to use on many tabletop encounters. It is also understandable that Strelets have not been specific about the German state to which these men belong, since there were so many of them, and these figures could serve for several. With only a couple of small glitches already described, this is mainly a very good and appealing set with lots of action, and while the vagueness of the title prevents us from being specific about comparisons with individual states, these are a pretty fair representation of grenadiers of the day, with only the style of grenadier cap limiting their use to certain armies.