Austrian Infantry, 1909–1915

HaT Industrie 1:72 Scale Figure Review

Austrian Infantry of World War One, 1:72 Miniatures HaT Industrie 8060.

Austrian Infantry wearing the pike grey 1909 pattern field uniform and the special trousers with cloth anklets. The miniatures are mounted on section-sized bases compatible with Crossfire wargame rules. There are enough troops in this box to raise an Austrian infantry company for Crossfire. The soldiers may be converted to early assault infantry by replacing the kepi with a German type M.1916 steel helmet. Later in the war, the trousers would be worn with puttees.

Contents

48 Figures in 8 Poses – 23 mm equal 166 cm Height

  • Austrian General (4)
  • Austrian Rifleman, marching (4)
  • Austrian Rifleman, advancing (8)
  • Austrian Rifleman, advancing with raised rifle (8)
  • Austrian Rifleman, advancing with levelled rifle (8)
  • Austrian Rifleman, standing, firing (8)
  • Austrian Rifleman, kneeling, firing (4)
  • Austrian Rifleman, kneeling, loading (4)
Austrian Infantry of World War One, 1:72 Miniatures HaT Industrie 8060

Evaluation

Excellent choice of subject, Austrian Infantry of World War One is unique in this scale.

Acceptable wargaming poses, the figures may be used to raise infantry platoons and companies for Crossfire and similar rules systems.

Substandard casting quality. Obvious flash and mould lines need to be removed prior to painting. The editor used the Rai-Ro ZEP-70 heated spatula to blend mould lines into the surface of the model.

The officer figure is wearing the grey cylindrical kepi reserved for generals and general staff officers. The general may be converted to an infantry officer by replacing the peace-time kepi with a kepi taken from one of the riflemen in the figure set.

Some of the riflemen carry the Kochgeschirr mess tin attached to the outside of the Tornister knapsack, others don’t.

The two kneeling riflemen have dropped the knapsack as is common in the combat zone. However, it’s unlikely that they would have been permitted to discard the bayonet, entrenching tool and haversack as well.

The right leg of the standing rifleman looks like it is shattered at the knee, the folds in the trousers are obviously incorrect. The advancing rifleman has a similar problem with his left knee. It seems that the folds in some of the trousers were added as an afterthought, and engraved directly into the mould.

The standing rifleman wears his bayonet and entrenching tool on the left thigh, rather than behind the left hip. Clearly, that’s silly and highly dangerous for the wearer; no soldier in his right mind would do a thing like that.

The advancing rifleman has discarded the bayonet and entrenching tool. If this is a figure designer’s creative interpretation of campaign dress, it’s the wrong approach.

One of the advancing riflemen has a damaged blanket-roll around his knapsack. The same figure pose next to it is ok.

Historical Employment

  • Austrian Infantry 1909–1915

Conversions

  • Austrian Assault Infantry 1916
    Replace the kepi with an M.1916 steel helmet taken from Revell’s German infantry of World War One. Add grenades and ammunition bandoliers, remove knapsacks.
  • Hungarian Infantry 1909–1915
    Convert the trousers to represent Hungarian breeches with typical Hungarian braid on each thigh.

The Austrian Infantry are a welcome addition to the growing range of World War One infantry, artillery and vehicles available in 1:72 scale plastic. The design and casting quality of this particular figure set is below standard, but wargamers may want to recruit a few of these troops anyway.

Bibliography

HaT Miniatures

World War One Miniatures