Young Guard Voltigeurs Update 3

Well, here they are at last. Rumours of approaching Prussian cavalry had something to do with it!

If their dressing is looking a bit skew whiff this is because they are not glued to their bases. These fashionable Frenchmen have a rather long flight ahead of them, so they'll need to be individually wrapped and packed.

Many many thanks to Roy for giving me the opportunity to paint these figures and experience them first hand. I think I can say I've had as close a look at these wonderful little sculptures as it's possible to get!

Going back to Prussians may be a bit of a disappointment after these chaps. I want to do some Frenchmen of my own now! However, I'm determined to be disciplined. No Frenchmen or their allies will be allowed until I have at least the makings of a proper Prussian army. By my reckoning I'll need one or two more infantry battalions for this, four to five cavalry squadrons and a battery of artillery. I think it'll probably be approaching Christmas before I get anywhere near that target!

Now, where did I put that that glass of delicious Central Otago Pinot Noir?....

Until the next post, cheers and Vive L'Empereur!

WM

Young Guard Voltigeurs Update 2

WN 10 showing off his new colours!

It's been all pointy cuffs and white piping this weekend working on the second half of Roy's Young Guard Voltigeurs.

I'm racing to get them done before the cavalry I've promised to do for Roy's Vintage Waterloo opponent, Ian, arrive from Dear Old Blighty. If I'm really quick I may even get a chance to sneak in some Landwehr before they show up.

I'd probably have made better progress if I hadn't given into temptation to press ahead and finish Roy's Voltigeur chef de bataillon. The figure Roy chose for this gig is the eminently adaptable WN 10: Grand Duchy of Warsaw Infantry of the Line, Fusilier Officer Charging.

I think I've seen it written somewhere that Young Guard officers wore the uniform of the Old Guard Chasseurs. Other sources, however, disagree, so I've decked him out in the highly attractive Voltigeur colour scheme. As WN 10 doesn't have pointy cuffs or tapering lapels I had to simply paint these on. Fortunately this wasn't too difficult to do as it's hard to beat Humbrol paints for opacity!

Salut maintenant,

WM

Young Guard Voltigeurs Update

I've reached the half-way stage on Roy's Young Guard Voltigeurs.

Having got them off their wine bottle tops I can now see that the flag bearer is a lovely conversion of FN 70: Young Guard Officer, Charging. The Drummer is Roy's equally splendid conversion of the standard FN 75: Young Guard Voltigeur Charging.

Much as I wish I could claim to have suddenly acquired a war games table, I have to admit that they've actually been photographed standing on a bit of green paper, with some blue paper tacked up on the wall behind them. This had strange effects on the colour balance on my camera, so apologies for the colour variance in the photos!  However, I thought I'd give this a go to see what they might look like on the type of abstract terrain used by Charles Grant in his 1971 classic The War Game. This is the type of look I'm thinking of going for when I do build a games table. Some of you may notice that I've managed to get hold of a few "Merit" plastic model railway trees, which I think add a nice contemporary feel.

The Last photo is a shot of my Jaegers, which I thought they deserved as I've finally got round to basing them all. It's rather large for a unit of skirmishers, but I'll probably have them divided up into detached companies when my Prussian Army is finished.

Although I'd originally intended to finish my somewhat neglected Neumark Landwehr Infantry Regiment once I'd got though half of Roy's guardsmen, I've decided to crack on with the Young Guard as I've finally established a bit of momentum with them. I'd also be very sorry if I didn't get them finished in time for Vintage Waterloo!

Have a great weekend everyone.

WM

En Avant, à la Baionette!

Young Guard Voltigeur Officer with battalion Fanion

The reason why my Prussians have come to such an abrupt halt is that I've taken on a commission to paint a 24-figure battalion of Young Guard Voltigeurs for Roy. This is the first figure-painting commission I've ever attempted.

The majority of the figures are FN 75: Young Guard Voltigeur, Charging, commanded by some of Roy's superb one-off conversions. Roy's splendid standard bearer conversion is on the right.

Young Guard regiments were not allowed to carry eagles and so had to make do with battalion fanions instead: red for the voltigeurs, and white for the tirailleurs. The fanions were supposed to be plain affairs, devoid of devices that would identify the battalions as guardsmen. However, it seems that the Voltiguers didn't pay very much attention to this order!

Roy's man carries my interpretation of the fanion of the 1^er bataillon, 1^er régiment de voltigeurs de la Garde impériale. It's somewhat larger than the real battalion fanion would have been, but at just 16mm square I'm not sure that I could actually have made it any smaller!

These Guardsmen are much more complicated than anything I've attempted so far. My Prussians were merely an apprenticeship.

 

FN 75: Voltigeurs of the Guard. Oodles of Gallic Swagger!

They are stunningly beautiful sculpts, and have really brought it home to me why Hinton Hunts have such a loyal following. They are simply overflowing with Gallic charm and swagger, as any self-respecting Imperial Guardsmen ought to be.

It's taken me the best part of two weekends to complete just three of them. However, now that I've got a better idea about how to do them I hope the rest will follow more swiftly.

I certainly need to crack on if they are to take part in Ian and Roy's re-fight of Waterloo. For more on this project, take a look at Ian's blog here.

The Prussians are in big trouble!

Have a great weekend everyone.

WM