Gunners on the Go

It was my birthday this weekend, so I celebrated by finally putting the varnish on to my new French line artillery gunners.

The figures are sufficient for two batteries. They are vintage Hinton Hunt French Artillery of the Line 1807-12, being:

FN 30: Officer, pointing, x1
FN 31: Gunner firing the gun, x2
FN 32: Gunner holding cannonball,x2
FN 33: Gunner ramming home, x2
FN 35: Gunner, ammunition carrier, running, x1

It's taken me a full ten years to get round to actually painting any of these. I think the officer is my new favourite figure.

There's the guns to finish and all the basing up to do, but a line up of the all the Phase 1 and 2 French artillery (6 batteries, no less) shouldn't be too far off now.

I hope you all had a good one too,

WM

United Irishmen

It is the Spring of 1813 and the Irish Legion are marching to join a newly forming division in Southern Germany.

As they're a bit early for their rendezvous, Colonel Lawless decides to put them through their paces.

The Emperor and the rest of the division arrive. 

The figures are:

Der Kreigspielers Napoleoniques:

Set #19: Young Guard Voltigeurs, engaging, x 21;
Set #20: Young Guard Command, marching officer x 1, and eagle bearer x 1; and

Hinton Hunt:

FN 6: (French Infantry of the Line, 1812-15) Drummer (Recast and Converted), x 1

I think I'm going to have to call this the Traffic Light Division.

Have a great weekend everyone

WM

The Lone Huntsman

You'll have heard the news, no doubt, that New Zealand is not going through the best of times right now, and that it's about to get a lot worse.

I'm dealing with some of the anxiety by painting soldiers, which may partly account for the promising start I've made on my latest regiment, which is to be the 4e Chasseurs à Cheval. Once again, the plan is to paint the whole regiment in one go, with the sole exception of the wee test chasseur pictured below.

He's a vintage Hinton Hunt FN 122: French Chasseur a Cheval of the line charging. I think he's one of the loveliest HH one-piece-castings I've ever handled.

Far more impressive, however, is recent work by Rob G., who's been building a vintage 20mm Spanish army. Impossible, you say? Not if you have the artistry and ingenuity of Rob, who also turns out to be a genius with a soldering iron.

First up is Rob's 2nd/10th Guadalajara Regiment, which started life as what I think were Scruby 1806-era Prussians.

Not content with that, Rob has also produced the 1st/27th Princesa Regiment, using a few more of the Scrubys and grenadiers converted from Der Kriegspielers British Guard Grenadiers.

Simply stunning.

As my friend, DF, and the Wellington household are all vaccinated to the gills, we will be going ahead with our battle on Saturday. It's promising to be a corker.

Stay safe everyone,

WM

Edit: an earlier version of this post incorrectly stated that it was the 127th Princesas, and that the grenadiers were converted British fusiliers!

Lammings on the List

I was a bit too tied up with domestic duties to get my Lammings photographed yesterday, but I found a bit of time today.

I haven't quite decided who's going to command them yet (I have a Lamming French marshal, but he may be just a bit too enormous), so Marshal Quiestil is doing the honours for the time being.

The figures are all Lamming Miniatures from Bill's earliest French Napoleonic 20mm range, specifically:

FI/1: Line Voltigeur or Grenadier elite, x 5;

FI/2: Line Voltigeur officer, x1, converted into a standard bearer;;

FI/3: Imperial Guard Grenadier advancing, x 6 (albeit four different variants);

FI/5: Line Voltigeur cornet, x 1

FI/7: Voltigeur or Grenadier elite drummer, x1;

FI/8: Line fusilier, x 9; and

FI/9: Line infantry officer in bicorne hat, x1.

I really wasn't sure how all these were going to turn out, particularly as I was a bit doubtful about the fusiliers, but they've really grown on me. It was also far from clear how compatible they were going to be, which you never really know until they're all painted and based. I'm happy to say they seem to have blended in really well.

They even seem to work quite well as mixed battalions:

Next week the Neuchatel Battalion, now rebased for Muskets & Marshals, will receive their new commander....

Salutations,

WM

Tinker Bill

For the last few weeks I've been colouring in a battalion of 20mm Lamming French line infantry. I actually started these over two years ago, so I thought it might be a good idea to finally finish them.

It's been a fairly slow process so far because I've been trying to block out the entire battalion in their basic uniform colours before getting into the details. In theory this will make painting them a bit more efficient, but whether or not this really turns out to be the case remains to be seen.

Completed this evening were the two elite companies.

The voltigeurs were the trickiest, but the wonderful wee trumpeter I found for them was just too delicious to resist, so he kept me motivated.

The grenadiers were a lot simpler, but while painting them I discovered there were actually four slightly different variations, as I hope the next two pictures will illustrate. The first three have a rather Hinchliffey type quality, which makes me wonder a bit. Bill Lamming certainly seems to have tinkered about with the range quite a bit.

Next up should be the fusiliers, although I also have several personality figures in production, so we'll see how we go.

The luscious wooden surface they're all standing on is my new painting desk, which is a gorgeous old fold-up writing bureau which I've squeezed into a corner of the living room. It's a lot warmer in there and I can play my music on a proper sound system while I paint. I'm hoping this will do wonders for my productivity.

Stay safe my friends,

WM

Lance Heads

Greetings from the 'other side', as they say in these parts.

I was supposed to be painting gunners this weekend but somehow got distracted and ended up doing French line lancer conversions instead.

The officer is a conversion of a Der Kriegspieler Napoleoniques #49: French Guard lancer, with a Hinton Hunt French line lancer's head, a new sword to replace his lance, some new epaulettes and various other minor changes. It was nearly all done with solder apart from the sword, which started life as a Minifigs bayonet.

The trumpeter is a somewhat simpler recrafting of a broken Hinton Hunt FN 118: Light Horse Lancer in crested helmet, charging. Both are for my friend Rob G., by way of a swap and as a thank you for all sorts of vintage 20mm assistance over the last few years years. I may do a couple more like them for myself eventually....

We have a long weekend here in Welly, so there's still another day left to work on the gunners, but as the weather is rather glorious I don't rate their chances too highly.

Yours

WM

Update:

Rob reminded me that the trumpeter really ought to have fringed epaulettes of his own, so I popped some on this afternoon. The gunners never did get a look in.

Baby Boomer

It's New Year's Day, 2021, here in the Land of the Small Flightless Bird, and so I've decided to start the year with a bang.

It is New Year's Day, 1813, and
the Emperor is reviewing his Guard

The newly-raised Horse Artillery are ordered
to demonstrate their remarkable manoeuvrability.

The Battery Captain shows off his stuff  by advancing...

.....deploying and pivoting with speed and precision.

The Emperor is really quite chuffed.

My new battery looks ever-so-slightly ridiculous with its tiny wee Hinton Hunt gun, so perhaps it's less of a bang and more of a pop and and puff. Nevertheless, I'm delighted to have finally got my hands on one.

Happy New Year, everyone

WM

Edit: The gun, of course, is a vintage Hinton Hunt A3: French Field Gun. It's missing its little ammunition chest, unfortunately, but I have another gun which still has this which will be making an appearance eventually.

Horse Artillery Captain: What are you looking at, old boy?
Foot Artillery Captain: I'm trying to see what he's going to paint next.

Scruby Tuesday

Well it's Tuesday in New Zealand, although I suspect this hasn't yet happened for much of the rest of the planet.

My last post featuring Aly's wonderful Scrubys generated a fair bit of interest in things Scrubywise, so by special request I'm posting a few of the Scruby cavalry which I've picked up along the way.

These Polish Lancers are proper old campaigners:

As shown below, the horses have a faint trace of a bridle on their faces, but are otherwise completely nude. The lancer's portmanteau is simply moulded onto his bum!

I'm told there are other types of horse, however, which have reins moulded onto them, and that not every type of Scruby cavalry trooper is quite so lightly equipped. Scruby French dragoons, for example, are moulded with the troopers sitting  astride proper saddles and shabraques. 

I may even Scruby do these lancers some day, if I can find another pair of them.

WM

Cuirassiers Coming Closer.....

I can scarcely believe that another week has shot by. Nevertheless, time was somehow found for painting and I'm pleased to report that the dreaded cuirassiers are finally nearing  completion.

Once again, it's really only the metallics and a few gauntlets and what not left to do, so I'm full of confidence that they'll be finished by next week.

Mind you, these have been an absolute curse so far, so anything could happen....

Yours, fingers crossed,

WM

Snooty Nansouty

Étienne-Marie-Antoine Champion, comte de Nansouty and darling of the French heavy cavalry, seems to be a popular chap with Napoleonic military history buffs, if his Wikipedia entry is anything to go by. Even this extraordinary hagiography, however, makes it plain that he wasn't everyone's cup of tea.

The scion of minor Burgundian nobility, Nansouty was an outstanding cavalry commander with a particular knack for training his beloved cuirassiers, a superb eye for ground and an acute sense of timing. Almost uniquely amongst Napoleon's senior commanders, he also appears to have been honest - not for him the amassing of a vast ill-gotten fortune, or so it seems. What made him really insufferable as far as his fellow generals were concerned, however, was his absolute refusal to accept any kind of advice or criticism. In 1809 even the Emperor got a bit of a serve when Nansouty famously responded to criticism after the Battle of Wagram by saying: "It is not Your Majesty, at any rate, who can teach me how to handle cavalry." It was arrogance and withering sarcasm such as this which was probably responsible for his sudden departure from the army during the Campagne de France in 1814, although whether he resigned in a huff or was dismissed is not entirely clear.

One senses he was never really a Bonapartist and that he looked down a bit on his upstart Emperor and his rogues gallery of marshals. He was certainly near the front of the queue when it came to swearing allegiance to Louis XVIII. Whether he would have rallied to Napoleon during the 100 days, however, will never been known because he died in early 1815. The strain of ten years of ceaseless campaigning, during which he had been wounded on numerous occasions, had finally caught up with him.

Nansouty is reproduced here in the form of a really lovely vintage example of a Hinton Hunt FN 361: General Nansouty in Cuirassier General's uniform with cocked hat, painted faithfully according to Marcus Hinton's painting instructions. He looked a bit daunting at first, but in the end came together really nicely I think.

More cuirassiers, or at least a progress report about them, will be posted next week. I'm making good progress on these, having been greatly inspired by a battle I've been fighting via email with David C. David has produced the most extraordinary vintage spectacle, so if you haven't seen it yet hurry over to David's blog at http://miniatureminions.blogspot.com/ and have a butcher's. Things are really starting to heat up....

Yours

WM

Six Eighths Make a Half

 The first half of 8th Cuirassiers is complete (or at least they will be when the varnish dries).

A cavalcade of cuirassiers

Nansouty is just a little too sticky to mount on his horse, so he'll be appearing next week.

So, what do you think? Should I press on with the second squadron, or take a break and have a crack at some gunners?

Yours, as always

WM

Even Heavier Going

I've been very busy with other things again this week, but a bit of progress was made on the cuirassiers.

They don't look like much yet, but I'm pleased to say that most of the particularly tricky bits have been done. It's really only the metallic parts, plus a few other odds and ends, that need to be completed now. To keep my spirits up I'm also trying not to remember that there's another whole squadron to go when these are finished.

My friend Rob G, who challenged me to a horserace, notwithstanding my massive head start, is already way ahead of me. Pictured below are his wonderful takes on General Nansouty and the Brunswick Hussars.

Nansouty Reports for Duty

The Pride of Brunswick, with added Ponsonby

I think they're absolutely gorgeous and I can't wait to see what the second squadron is going to look like, which will be light dragoons by all accounts.

Have a good one,

WM