New Miniatures: French Dragoons, British Officers and Naval Infantry

Hello everyone!

So last week the buying bug bit me and I placed an order with Brigade Games. Earlier this week a parcel arrived in my mailbox from New Jersey, and I proceeded to tear into it with childish delight in anticipation of my new shiny soldiers! Here they are in all their wonderful, 28mm glory:

First up, the reason I placed the order in the first place: Dismounted French Dragoon command figures, both a trumpeter and an officer. These will form the basis for a dismounted Dragoon command stand.

Next, two Peninsular War British colonels, wearing bicornes and reminding all within earshot that they are in charge! Also included with this set is a British pioneer in full kit, featuring two head options: either the earlier stovepipe shako or the later 1812 pattern Belgic shako.

Finally, the bulk of my purchase: enough Jolly Jack Tars to form a full 'battalion' of men, i.e. six 4cm x 4cm bases with two figures each, like my American militia. The top row contains (from left to right) a Lieutenant, a Boatswain, and two Midshipmen, while the middle and bottom rows contain armed seamen with muskets, pistols, and various hand weapons. One of my favorite figures is the chap second from the left in the middle row, who is armed with only a cutlass... because he only has one arm! The empty sleeve is neatly pinned to his jacket, a detail that I very much appreciate and come to expect from figures sculpted by that maestro Paul Hicks.

In addition to these new figures, I managed to finally base the painted French Dragoon from my last post:

He's mounted on a 50mm diameter round wooded base from a package of wood shaped that I found at the local Michael's craft store for very cheap, less than $3 for the whole pack, which contains two different sizes of wood circles and several different oval shapes.

I think that there were ten of the 50mm circles that I use for brigade commander bases, but this is okay since I really don't need a whole bunch of brigade commanders at a given time.

Finally I added four more books to my Napoleonic library:

Die Hard! Dramatic Actions from the Napoleonic Wars by Philip J. Haythronthwaite. I bought this off of eBay for a song, mainly because I enjoy reading accounts of ordinary men in extraordinary circumstances.

I found this (slightly faded) copy of Osprey's Nile 1798: Nelson's First Great Victory by Gregory Fremont-Barnes and illustrated by H. Gerrard. I was on the fence about buying this one as it falls outside of my Napoleonic "niche," but then I saw an illustration within that showed one of the French captains who continued to fight his ship even though he lost both legs and an arm to British round shot. As a Navy man myself, this kind of bad-assery was not lost upon me, and I subsequently purchased the book.

These last two Osprey titles, Napoleon's German Allies (5): Hessen-Darmstadt and Hessen-Kassel by Otto Von Pivka and Bryan Fosten and Napoleon's Egyptian Campaigns 1798-1801 by Michael Barthorp and G. A. Embleton , were purchased from my favorite second hand book shop. Again, whilst not in my "niche" per se, they were cheap and were the last Napoleonic Osprey books the shop had.

This brings the total number of Napoleonic books I've acquired this year up to 11.

"These go to eleven."

Coming soon: Work continues (slowly) on my Nassauers... work's been busy as of late, but I will soldier on.

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

-Chuck

28mm Foot Dragoon, New Figures and Books!

Hello everyone!

Work progresses on the command figures for the 2nd Nassau Infantry Regiment; each currently has painted pants and boots! I'll continue work on them sporadically when I get opportunities. I did manage to finally finish up the dismounted French Dragoon that I started over my New Year's holiday back home.

He turned out rather well. I then spent an evening going through my lead pile (not an easy task, especially considering that it is packed behind the seat of my pickup) looking for the mounted Dragoon figure that came with the 25mm figures I bought on eBay last fall. When I finally dug him out, to my dismay I discovered that it was not, in fact, a Dragoon, but a Cuirassier. Sigh.

Naturally, my only recourse was to purchase some new figures! An order was placed with Brigade Games, an in addition to a 28mm Dismounted French Dragoon officer and trumpeter, I picked up a pair of mounted 28mm British officers to use as commanders for my 28mm brigades (this pack also came with a pioneer figures), and enough figures to build a unit of British naval infantry in 28mm (12 figures). Most if not all of these figs are Paul Hicks sculpts and I know sight-unseen that they will be wonderful minis.

Last week I went over to the bookstore again, and, as per usual, I found some more good books for sale, including a real gem!

British Military Uniforms and Equipment, 1788-1830: Volume 1, Researched by P.W. Kingsland, under direction of the National Army Museum (London) and illustrated by Peter Henville and Malcolm McGregor. I LOVE this book; it's huge! Probably 18 x 12 inches. It features huge, full color illustrations printed on high quality slick paper; I imagine these were originally intended to be removed and framed. Accompanying each print are researched articles on the uniforms and equipment employed by the soldiers in the print. Also, the frontispiece indicates that only 2500 copies of this edition were ever printed, so it's relatively rare. What a find! That's why I love second hand bookshops.

Osprey's Flags of the Napoleonic Wars (3) by Terence Wise and Guido Rosignoli. This one features flags (both in color and in black and white) of Anhalt, Kleve-Berg, Brunswick, Denmark, Finland, Hanover, Hesse, The Netherlands, Mecklenburg, Nassau, Portugal, Reuss, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Westphalia. I mainly got this because of my ongoing Nassau project, but it will be useful for my Spaniards and Portuguese as well.  

Another Osprey: Napoleon's Campaigns in Italy by Philip Haythorntwaite and Richard Hook. To be honest I bought this book as a source of reference for a writing project I've been kicking around.

And finally Hornblower and the Hotspur by C.S. Forester. Because Hornblower.

Coming soon: More work on the Nassauers.

Also, the long lost figures that I ordered last November finally made their way to me after being lost in the Navy's mail system for two months. It is a limber for my 15mm British rocket artillery. Additionally, I put together the first test figure for my KGL Hussars the other day. I'm pleased with how he came out; he certainly went together a lot easier than my Nassau drummer!

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

-Chuck

Christmas, Lost Mojo, New Figures and Books

Merry Christmas everyone!

It's been a little while since my last post, and for that I apologize. I was waiting for some figures to arrive in the mail before making another post, but since the military's mail system is slow as molasses they haven't yet arrived and I wished to post at least once more before year's end.

Unfortunately, I seem to have lost a bit of my painting mojo as of late, ever since I arrived at my first command and have yet to move off the ship. Navy ships are not known for the vat amount of space they afford their crews, so I have not the space for painting. But this hasn't stopped me from picking up a few figures, here and there.

I discovered a new local game shop here in San Diego, and there I was pleased find some Perry Napoleonic figures. So I picked up a box of 28mm plastic British Hussars, which I more than likely will paint up as one of the KGL Hussar regiments.

They are very nice figures, and I look forward to putting them together as soon as I move into a bigger place.

Additionally, I found an Essex miniatures British Rocket Battery caisson on sale online, and picked it up to complement the Minifigs Rocket Battery figures I picked up on eBay a couple of years ago. This is what's currently bogged down in the military mail system.

Finally, I have picked up a couple more interesting books. While out shopping for my mother's Christmas present today, I found a nice little second-hand book shop where I picked up the following two books cheap:

 

The Anatomy of Nelson's Ships  by C. Nepean Longridge is an illustrated guide to all parts of Napoleonic Wars-era sailing ships. from deck plans, obscure bits of rigging, guns, ship's boats, you name it. I rather wish I had had this book handy whilst I was reading Patrick O'Brien's Aubrey-Maturin books in high school.

1815: The Armies at Waterloo by Ugo Pericoli covers the history and tactics of the Battle of Waterloo in its first couple of sections, but the last two thirds of the book is devoted to beautifully illustrated, full-color uniform plates of the different belligerents. While I don't game Waterloo, I am a sucker for books with uniform plates, and so I had to add this to my collection.

Well, that's about it. I get to go home for the first two months of January, which will be nice. I hope to get some painting done, hopefully. I would also like to do a "Year in Review" post, to cover what all I accomplished over 2015. Until then, I hope you all have a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!

Thanks for looking,

-Chuck

More Brits, in Both 28 &15mm

Hello everyone!

It's been a minute since I've been on the blog, and for that I apologize. I just returned from two weeks of Rest and Rehabilitation visiting my parents back in Kentucky, and now that I am back I've finally had a chance to sit down an blog about what I was able to accomplish over the break.

I managed to get some painting done while I was at home, in addition to moving my entire Naps collection across the country so I can paint and game to my heart's content! Here's what I managed to get done: a center company stand for the 1/4th Regiment of Foot and another casualty marker, as well as some conversions (remember to click on the pictures for bigger versions).

These are 28mm Knuckleduster minis, and were a joy to paint up as usual. The only things really differentiating these chaps as being in a center company is their red and white shako plumes, as all other uniform differences are hidden by their greatcoats. These lads are mounted on one of the wooden 40mm x 40mm bases I purchased last month. This brings the 1/4th up to four completed stands out of six.

It was hard to get good pictures of this casualty marker because of how small it is. This is a 15mm AB British casualty figure. As with all AB figures I've ever worked with, this one is sculpted perfectly and painted up really fast, even considering its small size. I painted him up with dark blue facings of a generic "Royal" regiment. The base is a strip of card approximately 40mm long by 20mm wide.

Finally, I managed to sort out the Brigade Games figures I'm using for Whyte's West Indies Regiment that arrived without their heads. I had thought about what might work to recreate the round hats required, and so I gathered the materials I thought I would need.

Here's what I (thought) I needed: two 28mm plastic heads from the Wargames Factory Zulus sprue and a pair of 1/72 Spanish militiamen in round hats. My original plan was to cut off the round hats and use them as is: in practice however, this looked like they were wearing one of the tiny top hats that were all the rage in Victorian ladies' fashion:

Not really the look I was going for...

So I fell back and punted, and turned to greenstuff. I cut down the Zulu heads to fix, then glued them to the figures. I then used a flat disc of greenstuff to form the brim of their round hats.

After this had set for 24 hours I added the crowns, made from carved pieces of a 1/4" wood dowel. I then sculpted on their plumes with a bit more greenstuff. In the end I think it came out rather well.

Coming soon: I actually ended up starting to paint on some other figures while I was at home, but didn't end up finishing them before I had to leave. As I'm currently living aboard ship for the time being until I can get a place of my own, I really don't have the space or time for painting, and I probably won't for a couple of months. I will work on stuff when and where I can I guess.

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

-Chuck

1st (Whyte's) W.I. Regiment Colour Party--28mm

Hello everyone,

A quick post today, as I managed to finish up the command stand and colour party for the 1st (Whyte's ) West Indies Regiment. (Remember to click on the pictures for bigger versions.)

These are all Brigade Games figures, sculpted by the very talented Paul Hicks. Like the rest of this regiment, these figures are all wearing round hats and older style uniforms. The European officers are all wearing the old coats with long tails, and have their hair pulled back in queues, though the hair hasn't been powdered. The drummer is of African decent, as were most of the rank and file of the West Indies regiments, and he is wearing the typical reversed colors of musicians in the British Army.

The flags are hand painted by myself, as I shared in my last post. The regimental color's Union is wonky, but it's too late to fix now. Flagpoles are pieces of straw from a whisk broom cut down to size.

Coming soon: I'm working on a stand of the greatcoated 1/4th Regiment currently, and we'll see if I can get them finished up tomorrow. After that I'll be leaving for home for a couple of weeks of well-deserved R&R, so maybe I can work on something then.

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

-Chuck

The 2/4th Foot Colour Party and New Old-School 25mm Figures

Hello everyone!

There have been several developments hobby-wise that have happened here recently, namely the arrival of a big lot of figures off of eBay. I also managed to get a little painted done yesterday, this time some more British: the start of the 2/4th Regiment of Foot (remember to click on the pictures for bigger versions).

The drummer and both ensigns are old, true 25mm Minifigs that came in a large mixed lot of figures that I bought off of eBay (more pics of these below), and as such they are just a tad smaller than the larger 28mm Foundry and Knuckleduster figures I own. They are all wearing the post 1812 uniforms, with short coatees, grey trousers and Belgic shakoes. They are painted in the dark blue facings of the 4th (King's Own) Regiment of Foot; this will be the 2nd Battalion, as my greatcoated battalion is the 4th's 1st Battalion.

I really like the dashing Battalion commander figure; he looks like he's rallying his men to push on despite the storm of steel around him. He seems kind of old school, even compared to the Minifigs, like some Hinton Spieler or Der Kriegspieliers figs I've seen. I tried looking him up myself, but my Google-fu was weak. Does anybody have any idea who made him? The code on the bottom of the base was BN28.

The Colours are my usual hand painted creations, as per usual. I actually did two sets at once; these as well as the Colours for the 1st (Whyte's) West India Regiment.

I'm planning on finishing the command stand for Whyte's W.I. Regiment before the weekend is out, you'll be seeing these flags again shortly.

So I picked up another large lot of figures off of eBay, this time a mixed lot of seventy 25mm Minifigs (and others) miniatures. There are both British and French miniatures, with a mix of different troop types.

The entire lot of 70 figures, cleaned up after unpacking. Unfortunately, several bayonets didn't survive the journey through the US postal system.

The French: Clockwise from the rear, 13 Old Guard Grenadiers , 4 French Artillerymen, 1 mounted French Dragoon, and 11 Line Infantrymen.

The British: Clockwise from top left, 7 Scotsmen, 28 Line Infantry, and 6 Foot Artillerymen.

Again, these are true 25mm figures, and so are smaller than my other 28mm minis. They are still large enough however that only four figs will fit on a 40mm x 40mm base, meaning a regiment of these lads will be 24 strong, just like their large 28mm cousins. The bulk of the British Line Infantry above will form the 2/4th Foot, which I started last night. These guys are very old school, which I like, and, though they are not the most detailed or dynamic sculpts in the world, as you see they paint up very nicely.

Coming soon: The figures for the command stand for Whyte's W.I. Regiment and those of a stand of the 1/4th Foot are on painting bases right now, and I expect to finish them before the weekend is out.

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

-Chuck

More 28mm Sash & Saber ACW Figures Converted to Napoleonic Casualties

Hello everyone!

Another quick post tonight. Based on the success of the last casualty figure I did based on a Sash & Saber ACW figure I had lying around, I took another look at the other minis I had. While I only have a small number of ACW casualty figs (which I will probably never use), most of them have very distinctively late 19th Century uniforms and equipment, that would not be conducive to conversion. I did, however, find two that, with a little carving, sculpting, creative painting, and a fair amount of research for one fellow in particular, would work, and I present them here now. (Remember to click on the pictures for bigger versions.)

The lad in green is meant to depict a dead Russian. The original ACW figure already had a blanket roll, so I decided to use him basically "as-is"--really the only conversion I had to do was some trimming and greenstuffing to turn his anachronistic kepi into a flat forage cap. The forage cap allows this guy to be used with any of my Russian units, to include my Pavlovs. I think it worked out rather well. The original Sash & Saber fig was wearing an open shell jacket, so I painted this as a coatee that had been opened by the victim to get at his wound: a nasty (an fatal) gutshot.

The gentleman in red is another dead Briton, this time in the dark green facings of the 51st (2nd Yorkshire West Riding) Regiment of Foot, a regiment of light infantry, though he will represent any British unit that is in need of casualty markers. Why light infantry? Because of his curious choice of kit, namely his blanket/greatcoat blanket sling. When I first looked at this ACW figure, I wondered if I could use him as a Napoleonic casualty because of the figure's rolled blanket strapped across his back. Now I had never heard of such a practice being used in any of the armies I collect, nor had I read of this used in the Napoleonic Wars at all. So I fired up Google and went to work, and what I found surprised me. I actually found a blog post about a group of AWI reenactors who discussed blanket slings, and in fact had a number of pictures contemporary to the Napoleonic Wars of British soldiers using them both in 1800 and in 1808 at Corunna, as well as a picture of an extant British blanket sling dated 1804 (the blog post can be found here):

In use in 1800

 

At Corunna in 1808

An actual surviving blanket sling, dated 1804

During summer campaigning troops would often leave their knapsacks with the baggage to have less of a load to bear, and I would imagine that lightly equipped, fast moving and overall sneaky formations such as light infantry regiments (like the 51st) would have taken to such devices readily. I had never heard of blanket/greatcoat slings until I read about this, and I was pleased to have learned something new. When it boils down to it, isn't that why any of us really games, to learn new things about our favorite eras of history? Situations like this are the reason why I've stuck to this hobby over the years while others have fallen to the wayside.

Other than the research to justify my figure choice, really the only converting I had to do was to use greenstuff to make a shoulder strap for his cartridge box. Evertything else is just clever painting to bring this ACW fig back to the Napoleonic Wars.

Coming soon: probably some Brits, either West Indies Regiment or the King's Own, though I feel that my French could use some loving... Then again, getting the green out for my Russian casualty was satisfying too... we'll see.

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

-Chuck