CàP in Hand

The Chasseurs à Pied are ready, and I'm even prepared to admit that I'm quite chuffed with them.

Only two paint conversions were required to turn my Dutch grenadiers into Chasseurs: a change to their cuffs to make them pointy, and an extra little tassel on their bearskins.

They were easier to paint than ordinary line infantry, although I complicated things a bit by giving them their full-dress, summer gaiters. The original plan was to paint these black as I'd noticed that wargamers tend to paint their Chasseurs in a rather grungy, campaign-stained style, no doubt as a way of adding a bit of variety to their otherwise pristine guard divisions. When I saw the effect of the white gaiters on my test figure, however, I was hooked.

I was hoping that finishing this battalion would cure my very long-standing desire for French guardsmen for the time being, but I'm wondering what they'd look like in white and red as Dutch grenadiers now!

WM

If the CàP fits....

How does one say thank you? You know, properly, in a sincere and manly way, without sounding like a gushing nitwit?

In New Zealand, the land of stunning understatement, the approved method is to stare at your feet, take a deep breath, and then very rapidly mutter "aaaawww, cheers mate" in a deep, gravelly and barely audible manner, followed by coughing.

It's a massive problem for me. I'm continually being humbled by the industrial-strength generosity of complete strangers who read my blog and then send me treasures beyond all imagining. The torture is refined when they absolutely refuse to take anything in return.

The latest Wellington Man-humbler is Rob. Rob doesn't collect Hinton Hunts, so when he acquired some when he was really after something else, he sent his unwanted surplus to me. Here's a picture of them.

The figures are Hinton Hunt:

FN 36: French Artillery Driver x 9
H 3: French (nearside) Gun Horse x 9
H4: French (offside) Gun Horse x 9

There's enough there for four gun teams, with a pair to spare. Rob also threw in spare muskets sufficient to equip a battalion and a couple of SHQ French 12 pdrs (not pictured) for good measure.

Not only did Rob fill a gap, but he also solved a problem, which was how to finish off the Phase One French. I was dithering about this something terrible the whole time I was painting the 7th Lancers.

Once I was able to get up close and personal  with the FN 36s, I could see that they are actually guard artillery drivers! Their tall plumes, fancy waistcoats and dainty little hussar boots leave no room for doubt. Now, it just so happen that I have a Hinton Hunt Foot Artillery of the Guard set to go with them, and some infantry that I've been dying to paint up as guardsmen for ages.

My guard infantry are Der Kriegslpielers 220: Dutch Grenadier Battalion, Defending. As soon as I saw these I knew they'd do very well as Old Guard Chasseurs à Pied. All they needed was a little paint conversion on the cuffs. Readers may remember that I also used a few of these for my Swiss battalion.

Progress to date is pictured below, with the Swiss grenadier versions included by way of comparison.

Commanding them will be three really splendid examples from the Der Kriegspielers set number 20: French Guard Infantry Command. This set included both Chasseur and Grenadier variants. Pictured below are the Chasseur marching officer, standard bearer and drummer. Their bases are marked: "CHASS 20", which is rather helpful.

Yes, I know, it's not exactly "painting them as intended", which I've been a bit pious about in the past. However, I have another battalion, and they really are going to be Dutch Grenadiers!

The last three shots were supplied by Rob. They show his breathtakingly magnificent Spencer Smiths, complete with his superb hand-made buildings and terrain. Rob even supplied some of the plans. The bridges explode, and the buildings lift up to reveal ruins beneath! Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.

 Aaaww, cheers mate. *cough*

WM

EDIT: As LewisGunner reveals in his comments below, the Artillery Drivers are actually Hinton Hunt FN 188 rather than FN 36 as I originally assumed.

Swiss Mobilisation

Waiting for Russians!

Marching through the Russian forests

The 3rd Swiss are complete and ready to take the field.

Now, I could say lots of seemingly plausible things about how collecting vintage figures makes it next to impossible to reconstruct historic orders of battle, and that armies consisting of an eclectic mix of styles, nationalities and periods are more or less inevitable in a project such as this. However, nobody forced me to paint my DK Swiss as actual Swiss, and I certainly didn't have my arms twisted to paint French chasseurs and Dutch Grenadiers as Swiss either. So let's be honest: it was the spectacle I was after!

Having said that, Napoleon's Swiss regiments provided much more than just bling battalions. Although they had a somewhat mixed record in Spain, including the surrender of a couple of battalions to the Spanish at Baylen in 1808, in Russia they fought like tigers. On several occasions single Swiss regiments more than held their own against entire Russian divisions.

Enemy in sight!

As my French have now reached close-order parity with the Prussians, the logical choice for the next unit would be a French skirmisher battalion. However, I still don't have any cavalry. Completing Ian's cavalry has given me a bit more confidence in this area so perhaps the next post should be devoted to thundering hooves and flashing sabres. I'm very tempted to try some hussars, but this may be a little too ambitious!

WM

Form Square!

The 3rd Swiss will advance!

Fancy Flankers

It will come as no surprise to anyone at all that I have completely caved in and gone for both voltigeur and grenadier companies for the 3rd Swiss. However, I have an excuse.

The figures are from two different sets: DK 4: French 1809 Légère, assaulting; and DK 220: Dutch Grenadier Battalion, defending. In both cases I've turned their heads ever so slightly to the left to make them blend in a bit more with my DK 176: Swiss Line Infantry.

The DK 4s are not particularly lovely figures, but I think they'll look OK as a company. The Dutchmen, on the other hand, are very handsome indeed in my opinion, despite being somewhat precariously balanced on their bases! I was very lucky to find a couple of battalions of these, with six left over for spares.


My excuse for this extravagance is that I've found two more Swiss fusiliers (complete with musket butts, I'm glad to say) from the small stash of unidentified figures I have in my collection.These two will provide me with just enough fusiliers to fill out the two centre companies of  a second Swiss unit. The beginnings of the Neuchâtel Battalion, perhaps?


The origin of these last two figures is a bit of  a mystery. I'm convinced they are neither Hinton Hunts nor Der Kriegspielers, but something else entirely. Inscribed under their bases is what looks like "FF", followed by something undecipherable. If anyone has come across anything like these before, please let me know!

WM