The Regimento de Infanteria de Linea de Espana del Rey, and Christmas

Hello everyone!

I hope that everyone had a very Merry Christmas. I know I sure did... I ate way too much, but it's a good thing to spend time with the family. Anyways, I managed to finish up the Regimento del Rey today, and I took some pictures.

(Remember to click on the pictures for bigger versions.)

The four stands I finished up today.

The Regimento del Rey drawn up into line.



El Regimento de Infanteria de Linea de Espana del Rey, or "The King of Spain's Line Infantry Regiment." Under the 1808 regulations, Spain's infantry regiments were named, not numbered.

These guys are a combination of the AWI figures I bought over a year ago, the AWI figures in the lot I bought last week, and some converted Heritage French as the Granaderos. These gentlemen are wearing the white 1806 uniform faced in purple with purple collars, cuffs and turnback piping, with high black gaiters and bicornes. Due to the somewhat haphazard nature of these figures' origins, they have a bunch of different equipment sculpted on them, which isn't nescessarily a bad thing. The Spanish Army during the first few years of the Peninsular War was woefully ill-equipped and put into service equipment from mny nations, both ally and enemy alike; I've tried to reflect a mixture of French and British equipment into the mix, namely British canteens and French packs, where appropriate. Most of the figures just have a cartridge pouch and a musket and bayonet, which I would say most Spanish soldiers would be lucky to have if they had that. I've painted the Regimento del Rey in full dress uniforms; after the uprising in Madrid on May 2, 1808 I would doubt if the Regiment would ever again look this good.

Fusilier and Grenadier of the Regimento del Rey in the 1806 uniform.

This is also the last unit I needed to paint for the game that I want to play next week. All I really need to do is to finish up some small terrain items and I'll be ready.

And now, some of the Christmas presents I recieved that may be of interest to my fellow wargamers:

A new organizer box for my Napoleonic figures; the old one is in the background, and was full (note the figures sitting on top of the box). This box can hold up to eighteen units. Also note the labels.

Another, different box. It has the large drawers in the bottom for units, and a bunch of small boxes in the top. These small boxes will organize my spare figures.

Adrian Goldsworthy's newest Napoleonic fiction Novel Run Them Ashore. I already own the first four in the series and am looking forward to reading this one. Mr. Goldsworthy's novels are quite good, and different from book series such as Sharpe and Aubrey/Maturin. You can check his site out for more information.

Some new brushes, which I needed badly. The ones I got for Christmas last year were wearing out.

All in all a pretty good Christmas, and these are just the Napoleonic items. With me joining the Navy I also recieved a bunch of books on the U.S. and Confederate Navies during the American Civil War, which are pretty cool. I don't think I'll have enough time to read them all before I report in February, though...

Coming soon: I'll probably finish up the terrain I need for next week's game first; all I need to do is to base p the trees from the Toob I got at Hobby Lobby, and make a Roman bridge. I'll throw myself upon the 1/88th after the terrain is done.

Questions, comments and suggestions are always welcomed and appreciated. Thanks for looking!

-Chuck

200 Years...

Hello everyone!

Today marks a historic occasion, and while I don't have any new figures painted and ready to display, I couldn't let the 200th Anniversary of the Treaty of Ghent come and go without mention. While most Napoleonics buffs are geeking out about the 200th Anniversary of Waterloo come June of next year(and rightfully so), as an American I didn't think it was right for this date to pass without giving a little bit of recognition to our own little sideline of the Napoleonic Wars, the War of 1812.

The Signing of the Treaty of Ghent

On December 24, 1814 the War of 1812 officially ended when the United States and Great Britain signed a peace treaty in the Flemish city of Ghent. I say "officially" because, due to the fact that word of the peace could only travel across the Atlantic as fast as the fastest sailing ship, hostilities weren't over on the North American continent: the Battle of New Orleans was fought on January 8th, 1815, and it is considered to be one of the greatest battles of the war, ironically fought after it officially ended.

Coming soon: I'm almost done with the Regimento del Rey, and I'll post some pictures when they're done.

Merry Christmas!

-Chuck

Portuguese Infantry

Hello everyone!

I finished up that stand of Portuguese infantry that's been sitting on my painting desk for over a year now (remember to click on the pictures for bigger versions).

These are all Minifigs British in belgic shako, but they're painted up in the old uniforms of the Portuguese Army wearing the barretina shako.

Coming soon: Well, I started looking at all of my painted figures and I've decided that I have almost enough to have a game. For the scenario I have in mind, I need to have a regiment of Spanish Infantry, so I pushed back the 1/88th Foot and brought the Regimento del Rey up to the front of the queue to be painted.

Questions, comments and suggestions are always welcomed and appreciated. Thanks for looking!

-Chuck

Pavlovsk Grenadiers

Hello everyone!

I based up the already-painted Russian Pavlovsk Grenadiers that arrived in the mail yesterday (remember to click on the pictures for bigger versions).

All I did to these guys was to touch up the paint in some places where it had rubbed off. The original owner had painted them all with an orange-ish flesh tone that made them all look like a bunch of Oompa-Loompas, so I hit the faces and hands with a bit more natural tone. I then made the regiment's flags from pieces of printer paper wrapped around the poles and stiffened in place with super glue, then painted. I then based them all as normal on a 4cm x 4cm base in two rows of three.

The officer on the command stand is wearing a mitre, which I think is technically wrong. When the Tsar allowed the Pavlovsk Regiment to keep its' mitre caps after the Battle of Friedland in 1807 as a recognition of its prowess and in exception to the rest of the Russian Army, for some reason this was only kept for the rank and file; officers did not wear the mitre. However, the figure came with a mitre, and I think they look really cool, so the whole regiment will be in mitres. It's my hobby, and I'm not afraid to fudge history a bit to make me happy. (Fun fact: the Pavlovsk Grenadiers kept their mitres for the rest of the 19th Century and into the 20th; in 1917 there were still 600 mitres left in inventory, some of them with bullet holes from the Napoleonic Wars!)

Coming soon: Portuguese infantry, then the 1/88th.

Questions, comments and suggestions are always welcomed and appreciated. Thanks for looking!

-Chuck

New Figures and Big News!

Hello everyone!

Today the mixed lot of 15mm figures came in the mail and I had a little time to sort through them and figure out what all I got. Sometimes buying lots like this yield some things you both expected due to the item description, as well as a surprise at times. While everything I expected was there, there were a few surprises as well.

(Remember to click on the pictures for bigger versions.)

Russian Pavlovsk Grenadiers. These are of two different manufacturers, one wearing greatcoats, the other (mainly command figures) are not. I will probably base these up as is, as the painting is pretty good.

Initial Impressions

The package arrived with all of the figures crammed in together in a blister pack. The vast majority were painted to a decent standard, but some were just primed; only one was bare metal. Six of the figures had broken completely off their bases at the ankles, but there were only three broken bases, leading me to believe that the seller threw them in to get rid of them not that I mind. This belief was reenforced with the addition of a stand of three 6mm figures of unknown type or origin, though they look viking-esque.

AWI infantry that will be used as Spanish infantry. The three to the upper left (in while and light blue) are actual honest-to-goodness Napoleonic Spanish. Two of them don't have feet, but they have the bottoms of their bases.

Scaleability

All of these figures, though they are a mix of manufacturers, are all true 15mm figures. They are bigger than Heritage figures, about on par with Essex, and quite a bit smaller than AB and Fantassin.

French infantry. The four on the left are wearing overcoats, which will doom them to one of my second battalions, while the four on the right don't have feet.

Quality

There are five "groups" that I could break these figures down into: Russian Pavlovsk Grenadiers, Revolutionary War Americans (which I use as Napoloenic Spanish; there were actually three honest-to-goodness Spanish Napoloenic Infantry in there with them), French infantry, French artillery, and two "other" figures. Other than the French artillery, which are Minifigs, I cannot readily identify the makers of the other figures, though I can see at least three distinct sculpting styles among the rest. With such a disparity of manufacturers, quality is still pretty good. The painting on the Pavlovsk grenadiers is actually pretty good, with not a lot of chipping and such; I may keep them as is without stripping them and using them as is. I can't say the same for the Revolutionary War figures. There was one mounted figure, what looks like a Russian or Austrian Heavy Cavalry bugler, which did not come with a horse, but I have spare horses.

French artillerymen, all by Minifigs. These guys are wearing bicornes, which would indicate pre-1809 troops.

Price

There were 48 figures in total, not including the 6mm vikings for which I have no use. The eBay lot description only mentioned 40 figs, so I got an 8 figure bonus. At $9.00 shipped, it averaged $0.19 a figure. This is a lot cheaper than I've bought metal figures for in the past, so I think I got a pretty good deal over all.

The "others." The first is either a Russian or Austrian Cuirassier bugler, with the distinct helmet and crest, while the second is a man with a hunting jacket and a top hat. Since I don't have Austrians the first will be a Russian, while I'll use the second as an American volunteer.

I also managed to strip most of the paint from the 15mm French cannon that arrived last week. They were a pain to strip, as they had been painted with a really thick, rubbery paint that I had to scrape off with a knife blade to get in the nooks and crannies, but they're clean as they're going to be now.

The guns: two twelve pounders, an eight pounder, and a howitzer.

And finally, the big news!

I'm joining the Navy! Being unemployed sucks, especially now that I'm well out of school and have nothing to do. I ship out in February, and I'm really excited to get started in a career in the Navy. As such, There probably won't be much in the way of blogging happening while I'm in boot camp and getting settled next year, but I'll be back. In the meantime, I have a month and a half to paint.

Coming soon: I'll probably base up the already-painted Pavlovsk Grenadiers. I'll have enough for a line stand as well as the command stand; I'll just have to make some flags and base them up. Then I need to finish up those Portuguese lads, then on to the 1/88th.

Questions, comments and observations are always welcomed and appreciated. Thanks for looking!

-Chuck

Huzzah!

Hello everyone!

Huzzah, the 3e Regiment de Hussards is done at last! Thank goodness! Here they are in all of their glory.

(Remember to click on the pictures for bigger versions.)

The three stands I most recently completed. All of them are rank and file troopers.

The entire Regiment lined up to charge. At almost a foot in total length (30cm), in line I could barely get them all in the same shot together!

The 3e Regiment de Hussards.

The regiment is made up of predominantly Heritage figures, with some Essex and an AB colonel. The colonel is actually the British Stapleton-Cotton figure painted up in the uniform of the French 3e; thankfully the major aspects of Hussar dress was pretty uniform, even across the armies of enemy nations.

The 3e's uniforms were grey with red and white piping, silver buttons, with grey pelisses edged with black fur. The pom-poms on the shakos are red, and the "elite" company is wearing colpacks (also called busbys) instead of shakos, in keeping with the tradition of elite formations wearing bearskins. The bugler (to the right of the colonel in the above pictures) is wearing reversed colors, with a red jacket and pelisse.

Since its formation as the 3e Hussars in 1791 until the end of the Napoleonic Wars, the regiment fought in a large number of battles all across Europe. From 1805 to 1815, the 3e participated in the following battles:

1805: Elchingen and Ulm; 1806: Jena, Magdebourg, and Gollup; 1807: Bartenstein, Langenheim, Hoff, and Guttstadt; 1808: Tudela; 1809: Calcabellos, Tanoris, Banos, Tamanies and Alba de Tormes; 1810: Ciudad-Rodrigo, Almeida, Leria and Alcoluto; 1811: Redhina and Fuentes-de-Onoro; 1812: Arapiles; 1813: Vittoria, Leipzig; 1814: Brienne, Montereau, and Sevenans; 1815: Belfort;

And the 3e earned battle honors at: Arlon 1793, Jena 1806, Friedland 1807, and Montereau 1814.

A big chunk of the 3e's time was spent in the Peninsula; that, as well as the fact that the 3e is Keith Carradine's character's regiment in The Duellists, is why I chose to paint up the 3e in the first place. And thank goodness they're done! I hate painting horses...

Also, today one of the ebay purchases I made arrived: four 15mm cannons!

Is it obvious that I like painting artillery almost as much as I dislike painting horses?

These were marketed as either British or American cannons from the American War of Independance, but as they are fairly standard Gribeauval carriages I'm happy to use them for another French Foot battery. The lot came with three guns (two eight pounders and a six pounder I'd say) as well as a howitzer, which is the same gun:howitzer ratio that I use anyway, so it worked out great. I've currently got these guns popped off their bases and soaking in a bath of Simple Green cleaner to strip the paint.

Coming soon: I've got a stand of Portuguese infantry started, then it's on to the 1/88th Regiment of Foot.

Questions, comments and suggestions are always welcomed and appreciated. Thanks for looking!

-Chuck

La Batterie d'Artillerie a Pied est Complete

Hello everyone!

The French Artillerie a Pied battery is now complete!

(Remember to click on the pictures for bigger versions.)

The two guns I finished up tonight, a pair of 8 pounders. The guns are AB, while the crews are all Heritage.

The battery deployed,

The entire battery, with limber.

Uniforms and guns are painted as I've described in the past couple of posts. The battery conforms to my own peculiar basing system: the number of guns in my units represent half of those that made up the actual battery in real life. In this case, there are four guns in my French battery because an actual Napoleonic French battery had eight guns. Also, each battery has a sepatately based battery commander and a limber that represents the battery on the move. Even though I plan on using Black Powder as my rules set, it calls for a single gun and limber to represent a full battery, which I find to be inadequate both visually and in terms of more accurately representing the width of a deployed battery in real life as well as its' firepower: thus my system.

Coming soon: the 3e Hussars! Finally! I'm sick of looking at them, and dang it I'm going to finish them this week. In fact here they are, along with a stand of Portuguese infantrymen that have been cluttering my workbench for a year now:

After them I have the rest of the British 1/88th Regiment of Foot on painting stands, eady to be primed.

(Questions, comments and criticisms are always welcomed and appreciated. Thanks for looking!

-Chuck