Fly me two dragoons

Not many people know but back in 1812, Napoleon was experimenting with a balloon observation corps. Obviously horses were short at the time due to the army eating most of them on the retreat from Moscow. As his Dragoons were considered quite flexible (ie being converted to Lancers or serving on foot) he decided these would be the guys to man his fledgling aerial service. Meanwhile Marshal Ney was commanding the rearguard on the retreat and had no cavalry left to scout for the dreaded Cossacks. So he sent an urgent communique to the Emperor, which has since been memorialised in song by none other than Francis Albert Sinatra, "Fly me two Dragoons so I can slay among the Tsars!".

Apologies for the appalling humour, I blame over-indulgence over the festive period.

Meanwhile here are my completed 1st Dragoons

As they arrived from Ebay:-

Refurbished:-

Seasons greetings to all.

Cheers

Dave

Back with bearskins!

After a hobby lay-off of quite a few weeks I managed to get some painting done this week, my first attempt at a French Old Guard Grenadier battalion.

Next up will either be some French artillery or a French Dragoon unit

Painting Postponed

A couple of weeks ago I had an operation to start reconstruction of my nose following an earlier procedure to remove a skin cancer tumour. I now have a flap of skin connecting my forehead to my lower nose which could be in place for several weeks. This means I can't wear my spectacles, so can't focus close enough to do any painting.

So, I've been using my time to think about rules. I always intended to use Charles Grant's Napoleonic Wargaming rules as serialised in Military Modelling in the early 1970's and subsequently published in book form, but scaled down to 1 inch = 20 yards, 24 figure battalions, 12 figure cavalry units and 1 gun batteries. Some of the original rules relied on having figures mounted singly and units having supernumerary officers to represent Command and Control. Officers =1 point, Colonel =2 points, for a total of 6, which would be reduced as officers became casualties. Grant himself suggests (at least in the book version) that instead you could assess officer casualties in proportion to overall losses. So this is the way I decided to go. With that in mind I've produced a couple of tables which should (hopefully) be the basis for implementing playable Morale rules. The following link should open a pdf from my Google Drive:-

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QRDYqyAz00rhmwLk7lwEF3lOvtwLsXrt/view?usp=sharing

I've run through a couple of scenarios using these and they seem to work quite well.
I pitted two French battalions in column in an attack on two British units in line.

The right-hand British unit managed to decimate their French opposition, who halted, then broke and ran after getting reduced to 50% strength. The left-hand Brits were less lucky with their dice throws and the French managed to charge home, breaking the line. I repeated the scenario several times, in all cases the columns were repulsed. So, all-in-all, I think the result was reasonably accurate historically, while giving troops in column at least an outside chance of success. The columns would have had a better chance if the lines had been supported by an initial artillery bombardment!

Premier Francais, Part Deux

Here's the first French line infantry I've painted in 40 years!
A mix of Hinton Hunt and Alberken / early Minifigs.

Next up will probably be a battalion of Imperial Guard Grenadiers. Lets face it, it's got to be done.

First French Finished

First French infantry unit finished, a light infantry battalion, which I'm designating as the 17th Legere, not based on any definitive research, but they have to have a name. I recall from my general reading that the 17th served from Lodi to the 100 days, so that will do for now.

These are Hinton Hunt original castings, apart from the eagle-bearer (Alberken / early Minifigs) and the horn player (not sure of the make, here's a pic before I flocked the base, maybe someone recognises it?)

I've based them in twos and ones so they can be deployed in open or close order, I think this is a good compromise, because although most Napoleonic light infantry were employed tactically the same as line infantry I like to have the option to diverge from historical practice if I so wish.

First French

Time to get started on some opposition for my British / Allied troops.
These will be the first French Napoleonics I've painted in 40 years.

I've started with these elite light infantry, which coincidentally were the first Hinton Hunt figures I bought when I started collecting about 3 years ago. That was the start of the slippery slope!

These are 1809-ish uniforms, I put the carabiniers in colpacks as well as the voltigeurs because a) I don't have any figures wearing the taller bearskins, b) I do have the figures in colpacks. Seen a bit of debate on various discussion sites and there is evidence that some units were attired this way and often retained this style up to 1812 and beyond, despite official regulations. Work on the Chasseur companies will start this week.

This was the first time I've used the black undercoat method and think I'll stick to it in future.

It's also the first time I've concentrated on a small batch of figures, it's certainly less tedious than painting a full unit of 24 at once. But I've calculated it will take me at least twice as long to complete a battalion, so will probably go back to the production line method in future.

This week I received 3 x British Light Infantry in exchange for 3 x BN5 British line infantry so have nearly enough for my British Light battalion now. Just need a couple of officers and I'll be good to go. On this subject, the guy who sent me these needs still more BN5's to complete his project, I said I'd make a request on his behalf to the good folk who read this blog, let me know if you can help and I'll put you in touch.

Back in Black

The Brunswick Leib Regiment

When I bought these they were painted with all black uniforms and equipment, which was a bit boring, so I gave them brown packs, grey greatcoat rolls, light coloured haversacks and blue water bottles, with a stylised white horse on the backpack. This was justified by some illustrations in an old Osprey uniform guide and the fact that they are in British service so may have  acquired some non-standard kit.

50 Shades of Grey....

.....well maybe 12 shades if I'm honest, and all quite similar.
Which is my clumsy way of introducing the 2nd Royal North British Dragoons (Scots Greys).

Left view

Right view

Rear view

Lady Butler style view

This is one of those iconic units which any Napoleonic British army has to include, it's an unwritten law.
These are original HH one-piece castings. Some missing swords needed replacing. Looking at the finished results I wish I'd replaced them all, as a few are a bit stubby and look more like butchers' cleavers. I find the pose quite amusing, as if the riders are all a bit shy and are trying to hide their faces.

The Duke and the Dandy

Decided it was time my growing British and Allied forces had some firm leadership.

The Iron Duke, in his trademark plain dark blue, meets Sir Stapleton Cotton, who clearly has a slightly more elaborate sense of military fashion. These are original HH. Not entirely happy with Wellington's mount, Copenhagen was an ex-racehorse 3/4 thoroughbred and 1/4 arab, the HH horse is a bit chunky for that.

Some nicer horse castings on the following which came to me from ebay ready painted, not sure of the manufacturer. Slightly larger than HH, possibly Lamming?

They depict Wellington in Full Dress uniform seated, with a major general, a guards colonel and an officer of engineers apparently.

6th Dragoons (Inniskillings)

Recent ebay purchase, these are Newline Design, fairly slight compared to HH or DK, but not a bad match. They were painted to a level / style very similar to my own, so just needed a coat of gloss varnish and re-basing.

Posed these with a DK Royal Horse Guard for comparison.

Edit: Added front and side view comparisons for Captain Nolan:-

The Newline figures definitely look slighter, but strangely take up more space laterally than DK. They only just fit 2 abreast on a 30mm frontage base. Could be because I'm comparing DK one-piece castings with Newline separate horse / rider combo?

Edit: Adding comparison pics of Newline and HH 'dismountable' as requested by Mark D. What was Marcus Hinton thinking of to describe these as dismountable? The HH Hussar was part of a swap with Tony S, they will get completed very soon! Definitely wouldn't mix these in the same unit.

5th Battalion / 60th foot

The first 4 battalions of the 60th were I believe formed from American colonists, hence the name 'Royal American Rifles'. But I think the 5th battalion was formed in Napoleonic times from British and ex-pat Germans. Have painted the jacket in a lighter green than would probably have been worn in the field, just because it looks better to me in this scale.

In the background is a Brunswick infantry regiment, came to me from ebay ready painted, just needs a little re-touching and basing. Only 20 strong though, including 2 officers, and the HH catalogue from 1973 indicates MH never did musicians or standard bearers. Anybody know if DK did Brunswick command figures?

Brunswick Hussars

Latest addition to the British / Allied roster:-

Next up will be a 24 strong British Rifle battalion. Probably 5th Bn / 60th Foot, just because I like the red facings.

Retro B+W version:-

Hooray, it's the RA!

Finished two 4-man British foot artillery crews today, posed here with previously completed 9pdr and howitzer.

Next on the painting table will be a unit of Brunswick Hussars or a British Rifle unit, haven't quite decided yet.

Royal Horse Guards Realised

These are DK figures which came as a trade all the way from New Zealand (thanks Matt!).
Some were painted, others part painted, I've just finished them off to my usual 'that'll do' level with the aim of getting a couple of armies on the table by Christmas (can't guarantee which year though!)

Fusiliers finished

Today I was "Working From Home" for various reasons. Note the inverted commas. So I managed to finish my British Fusilier battalion, once again an eBay win which came painted and I have restricted myself to basic retouching, gloss varnishing and flocking the bases.

While waiting for successive coats of paint to dry I like to pick up my old guitar and strum a few chords ( BTW my guitar playing is even worse than my painting! ) , 100 house points for anyone who recognises what I was attempting to play ( NB the number of times a chord is written down here doesn't necessarily reflect the number of times it is played ) .

Brunswick Jaegers

The Brunswick Jaegers join the battle line.

Slightly understrength battalion, I may not field the officers which are Hinchcliffe and dwarf the other ranks.

I'm starting to get a feel for the level of painting / re-painting needed to achieve the desired 'retro' look. Basically 'less is more' and this approach means I should get the project completed before I have to sell the collection to help pay my care-home fees!

Edit: Just renewed my supply of Humbrol Matt Green #80 and gloss varnish, the two paints I use most of, and this reminded me of some discussion among fellow collectors of the variable quality of #80 recently. At least two people have mentioned taking a sample to their local DIY store and getting a large quantity matched and mixed. Take my advice, just use #80 as an undercoat and flock your bases, problem solved!

Highland Hankering and Longing for Lights

Thanks to a generous swap with Tony S I now have enough command figures for my highland battalion. Just need 8 more rank and file figures to get up to strength. The existing ORs are DK highlanders at high porte,

If anyone has any of these to spare please get in contact. I guess HH advancing figures would mix well with these and give a little variation.

I'm also close to getting enough figures for a British Light battalion, need 10 more of these, including command figures. The ones I have don't have the HH model number on the base so may be copies, but if so they are good ones.

I'm gradually identifying what I have available for swaps, let me know what you need. Currently have about 10 RHA crew (not all HH, some possibly Alberken/early Minifigs) , some Scots Greys, French Line lancers, French Dragoons, and a couple of French Cuirassiers and Carabiniers.If you are interested I can send photos.

Cheers

Dave

January blues (slightly delayed)

This should have been my January post, but it was delayed due to home improvement stuff, as per my last post. Better late than never, and the theme this month is 'Blue'.

On the left is a battalion of British infantry with blue facings, so could represent one of several regiments, or even a generic KGL unit. My original idea was to do dark blue/green facings and have them represent the 45th foot (The Sherwood Foresters) as a tribute to the area where I was born and raised, but I couldn't make a blue green mix that looked convincing in this scale. It either looked green or black. Oh well, I may well field them as the 45th anyway.

On the right is an 1815 Belgian battalion, dressed in a blue version of the British uniform. Figures kindly provided by Wellington Man. My sources vary on the light / grenadier plumes and hackles, so I've gone with what looks good to me, ie green for light and white for grenadiers with white over red plumes for centre companies.

Continuing with the Blue theme, in the background are a dozen Life Guards which will be my next painting task, time to have a go at painting some horseflesh after being a horse owner for 10 years. My OH will give me some stick if I get these wrong! The figures are DK, part of a swap with, once again, Wellington Man.

BTW if anyone has any british light cavalry (Hussars or Light Dragoons) available for swaps or for sale, please let me know!

Cheers

Dave

HintonHull hiatus

I was hoping my January post would include pictures of a couple more finished units ,unfortunately I can't physically get anywhere near my painting desk because the hobby room currently looks like this!

We're getting the bathroom updated and this is the only space where the fitter can store his stuff.
When this work is done we'll be 80% of the way to completing the house renovation, which is currently into the second year of what was supposed to be a six month project. I will have to devote some effort into completing the last 20% , so I'll be painting walls, ceilings and woodwork instead of wargame figures for a few weeks.

The upside is that the hobby room is double the size it was a year ago, which means I actually have room for a wargame table. Just need to negotiate with the long suffering OH to let me extend it from it's current 4x4 feet to 6x4 feet and I'll be a happy bunny.

Belated happy new year to all!