Napoleonic Cavalry Roll Call

So, with the additional figures completed, here are the 8-figure cavalry units on parade. There are 5 French units: two units of 9th Hussars; a unit each of dragoons, cuirassiers and carabiniers. Only two British 1st KGL Hussar units at the moment. A Spanish heavy cavalry unit will be added soon.

Except for the recently painted 8 figures, the rest of the figures were painted some years ago.

All of the figures are Perry plastics.

Some Spanish style buildings in the background. Except for the later-styled carabiniers, all of these cavalry units participated in the Peninsular War.

The image below includes the 7 newly painted figures - along with earlier painted ones.

I am looking forward to a game day in September to see how these cavalry units will perform using Black Powder. I plan to limit movement to 12 inches per move. Thank you again for stopping by and checking out the blog.

7 Horsemen - WIP - Horses Stained

Managed to slap some paint onto the horses; followed by a Minwax stain.

This is what they looked like prior to the staining.

After shot of Testors Dullcote, they'll get some touching up and highlighting.

After these are done, I have some Perry French Infantry and Cuirassiers to work on. I'm sort of back into Napoleonics at the moment.

7 Horsemen - Riders Completed

Still need to do the horses, but that shouldn't take too long as I will just block paint them followed by Minwax staining. So, here are one each French carabiner, dragoon officer and cuirassier. In the rear of them are the earlier completed French 9th Hussars and 1st KGL Hussars  officers and trumpeter.

Once mounted, the saddles will cover up most of the seat of the riders.

I was able to match the colors pretty closely to the existing figures in the units these will accompany. However, I couldn't get the pink facings for the dragoon right. I can't remember how I got the sort of magenta color on the earlier figures. Guess the officer used more expensive cloth or something.

Thanks again for stopping by; the next post should have all of these guys joined with their respective units.

7 Horsemen - WIP - Hussars Completed

Well, the riders anyway - still need to do the horses. But, nevertheless, here are the command figures for a unit each of French 9th Hussars and 1st KGL Hussars.

With these additional command figures, there will be two units each of these regiments - all with 8 figures.

I was glad to find that I had kept the pre-printed sabretaches which I used for the original box of French Hussars.

The sabretache images for all French regiments were kindly posted on a now dead link by TMP Aldo - this was back in 2010, so no idea if these exists in cyberspace anymore.

Thankfully, the British, including the KGL, used plain black leather sabretaches for the field. Next up will be one each: carabinier, cuirassier and dragoon.

Errata: I now see I forgot to paint the 9th Hussar officer's collar, and the dolman braiding on the KGL trumpeter.

7 Horsemen - WIP

Started work on 7 cavalry figures that will be used to round-up existing units to flesh them out to 8-figures each. These 7 consist of a trumpeter and officer each for the French 9th Hussars and 1st KGL Hussars; one each cuirassier and carabinier trooper; and finally a French dragoon officer.

With all the lacing on some of the figures (hussars), I decided to use the black undercoat technique where a bit of black is left between colors for a black lining effect. I learned of this method some years ago from NHMGS buddy Doug H (Dots of Paint blog). It's very effective and a bit counter intuitive from other painting methods - especially when I use the Minwax stain. For the stain method, I usually use a white undercoat and colors that are a shade or two lighter than what the result is expected to be. I also paint colors right up to each other with no gaps between colors.

Anyway, it's been a while since I've used this black undercoat method, but it is very suitable to Napoleonics - with all the lacing and piping.

Incidentally, the horses will be painted using the Minwax staining method.

It's ways out, but I've already volunteered to run a Black Powder game in September at the annual Fix Bayonet game day at historic Fort Steilacoom. It'll be a playtest of sorts for a larger Black Powder game I hope to host at next year's Enfilade! Thanks again for stopping by and best wishes on your hobby projects and gaming.

"Wellington's on the run! I caught him at Quatre Bras! He's retreating!"

"If Wellington is retreating, what are you doing here?!" Just a little Napoleonic teaser while I await more reinforcements from the Perry's.

As you may know, these are figures that I painted some years ago, but only gamed a few time in the past. I started out with Sharp Practice, but ended up with enough figures for Black Powder games. The Highlanders are Victrix and the French heavy cavalry are Perry's. In the background is a metal Perry RHA gun and crew - they took too long to get into the square.

The mat was a gift from Chris Hughes of Cigar Box Battle Mats. He played in two of my WotR Lion Rampant games a couple of months ago. Anyway, I'll be pulling the rest of the Napoleonics out of the cabinet to see how they fit on the gaming table in their newly "downsized" unit configuration. I hope to have enough manuever space for 6 players with about 5-6 units each on an 8X5' table.

Perry British Napoleonic Infantry - Coldstream Guards - Completed

Here are the completed Perry British infantry representing the Coldstream Guards as they may have appeared in the Peninsula with the earlier "stovepipe" shako. The colors were downloaded from the excellent War Flag website.

This is actually the second time I've painted up the Coldstream Guards using the same Perry set. The earlier set was painted up using the later "Belgic" shako - some from left over Victrix figures. I sold them to a buddy a couple of years ago. Here's a link to how that previously painted unit looked.

Above image shows them broken down into the two 16-figure units. Elements of this regiment served extensively in the Peninsular War, as well as at Waterloo - specifically the defense of Hougoumont.

I spent a fair amount of time and effort on the front of the figures - particularly the lacing and trousers. I left the rear untouched after the staining, save for a little dry-brushing over the trousers. I'm getting lazy in my "old age" and looking for shortcuts when I can.

There are now 8 16-figure line infantry units for the British. Along with these units, there are several Rifles and Spanish Guerrilla units - as well as 1st KGL Hussars and RHA batteries. I plan to build 8-figure cavalry units as well. In fact, I just ordered a few "accessory" sprues from Perry to flesh out the 14 figure sets I already have. Yes, it appears I am smitten with the Napoleonic flu - which may develop into a Spanish Ulcer! Thank you very much for visiting and well wishes to all!

Happy 4th of July, And The British Are Coming...

Along pretty nicely - Perry British Napoleonic Line Infantry, that is. After taking a bit of a break after finishing up the Victrix French Middle Guard, finally got back to this Perry set. We had family visiting us last week and we did the normal hosting routine - checking out Puget Sound and Mount Rainier, among other things. Anyway, here are 32 of the plastic Perry's with a fresh coat of Minwax Tudor Satin stain - they'll be broken down into two units of 16 figures each representing the Coldstream Guards.

After allowing them to dry a day or two, they'll be given a shot of Testors Dullcote. Then some touching up and highlighting prior to basing.

These required a little bit more effort to put together than the Victrix Middle Guard set. Mainly due to the more varied arm options. Painting also was a bit more intensive as they aren't in greatcoats, and details like lacing and buttons had to be addressed.

Here they are prior to the staining, block painted.

Again, Happy 4th of July to all - even our brothers in arms across the great wine dark sea.

Victrix Middle/Young Guard Completed & Ready for Black Powder

Here are a unit each of Fusilier-Grenadiers, Fusilier-Chasseurs and Voltigeurs of the Imperial Guard as they may have appeared while participating in the Peninsular War.

After the Minwax staining, a bit of highlighting was added - particularly on the edges of the clothing.

I was pleased to find a few flags from a previous box of Victrix French from years ago. This particular set didn't come with flags. Granted the numerals on the flags don't correspond to the units, but at arm's length you really can't make them out.

With four bases, the units can be formed into Attack Column or Square, as well as Line and March Column.

16 figures per unit looks good enough for me, and it allows for more units to deploy on a smaller table; not to mention that much less figures to paint. :)

Fusilier-Grenadiers

Fusilier-Chasseurs

Voltigeurs of the Guard

As mentioned in the previous post, this set comes with 60 figures, so there are 12 remaining figures which I haven't decided how to paint up. In the meanwhile, I will start on the box of Perry British Line Infantry. Thanks for stopping by and best wishes to all!

Victrix Middle Guard - WIP +2

So managed to finish up the remaining figures with block painting and gave them a brush on wash of Minwax Tudor Satin stain. I tried to dab off excess pooling at the bottom of the figures - particularly the edges of the greatcoats.

 Once they're completely dried they'll be sprayed with Testors Dullcote.

After the Dullcote, some highlighting and touching up will be done.

As they'll be based in close formation, 4 figures per 40mm squares - a lot of minor imperfections will not be readily visible.

There are 12 remaining figures from this set, and I may add them to the 4 "extra" Perry French Light Infantry figures I have once I break that unit down to 16-man units. Anyway, I'm happy to have come this far on this project. Best to all.

Victrix Middle Guard - WIP +1

Just a quick update to let you know I haven't flaked out on this project. Although the sloppy block painting may seem a bit flaky. Fear not though, I picked up a new can of Minwax Tudor Satin stain which will, hopefully, disguise a lot of the flakiness. Also, highlighting should enhance the overall look. Besides these are strictly gaming figues, by George. Anyway, here they are - I managed to just about finish the block painting of the Fusilier-Grenadiers (in front). The remaining two units of one each, Fusilier-Chasseurs and Voltiguers just need a few finishing touches - namely the command groups.

I'm not really happy with the dark blue, but highlighting will hopefully fix this. I mixed some black and a little red with the Game Color Ultramarine Blue that I have from the set I picked up from ebay last year. I much rather use a basic blue, but too lazy to pick up another bottle.

The Fusilier-Chasseurs in the foreground. I jazzed up their trousers with red stripes. Not sure how historically accurate this is, but like the look.

The backpacks are a easy to paint up with the greatcoats not on top. This kit has the sword and bayonet scabbard molded on the bodies, which not only speeds up putting the figures together, but makes them very durable for gaming. Well, time to take a break and watch some dumb videos on YouTube. Thanks for stopping by and best regards.

Victrix Middle Guard - WIP

Managed to put together 48 of the 60 figures; grouped into 3 16-figure units. I used some of the Grenadier and Chasseur bearskins for officers. I plan to paint the units up as Fusilier-Grenadiers, Fusilier-Chasseurs and Voltigeurs of the Guard. This set has far less separate parts than the previous Victrix sets, and the plastic seems to be a lot more durable. Hopefully, they'll paint up pretty easily too, as they're wearing greatcoats (the backpacks reflect this too).

Images from a nice uniform book which will be used as a painting guide.

Next, the figures will be glue-gunned to popsicle sticks - may have to make a run to Joann's to pick up more sticks. Thanks again for stopping by.