Albert and Ken again

When I was a lad growing up in the 70s, the wargaming books of that era were full of wonderful photographs of little soldiers that I didn't have a clue how to identify.

Depicted below are some I found to be particuarly mysterious. They were clearly British light infantry of some description, seen here guarding Hougoumont in the amazing Waterloo layout created by Peter Gilder for David Chandler's The Art of Warfare on Land (London: Hamlyn, 1974), but I had no idea who made them or where I could find any of them.

Fast forward to 2023, and a parcel of these wee treasures arrived in the post, courtesy of Aly Morrison:

And in 2024 arrived a few more, courtesy of Mark Dudley:

Mark identifies them as Alberken/early Minifigs British Riflemen, and I haven't the slightest doubt that he is correct.

In my view, however, it is to be Hanoverian riflemen, and the 2nd Light Battalion of the King's German Legion in particular, that is their true destiny. I had a bit of time off this week, so I thought I'd test this hypothesis by painting a few of them.

First up is an Alberken BN 3: Rifleman on Guard:

He's been cleaned up a bit and has had some some buttons added and the belt plate removed, but is otherwise unchanged.

Next up is my conversion of an Alberken BN 4: Rifleman Officer to make him look a wee bit more Hanoverian:

The head was donated by a Hinton Hunt BN 15 British Rifles Officer, which I'm fairly certain was a pirate, so no harm done. He's also got some new buttons and a new bandolier made with flattened soldering wire. This was bent round his chest and soldered at the back, with the resulting blob of solder carved into the shape of a cartidge box.

Although 2nd KGL LI officers are usually depicted in light grey trousers, credible sources suggest that they may very well have worn black, so I decided to go with that. I reckoned he'd look a bit gnarlier that way.

A Hinton Hunt BN 20 British Rifles bugler completes the command group:

Definitely meant to be KGL, I'd say.

Only 21 more to go, although a farmhouse might also be in order.

Cheers,

WM

An Austro-Russo-Hanoverian

It's a dark and stormy night here in Wellington, but the fire is roaring in the hearth and there's a wee dram of very fine single malt parked up beside me, so all is well with the world.

As promised, I have a new general to show off. He's a beauriful old vintage Hinton Hunt RN 85: Russian General Staff General with spy glass, who had a rather adventurous journey before he finally came to me, but he got here in the end. He's painted almost exactly as specified in  Marcus Hinton's painting instructions (thank you Clive!). He is to be Ludwig Georg Thedel Graf von Wallmoden, aka Ludwig von Wallmoden-Gimborn, the commander of my Anglo-Russian-Hanoverian corps (which I really must get round to finishing some day).

Wallmoden was an extremely capable and very highly decorated Austrian soldier who also happened to be a grandson of George II. He was a specialist in leading light troops, so in 1813 he was just the chap, or so it seemed, to  keep Davout's Corps safely locked up in Hamburg while the rest of the allied armies marched against Napoleon. He succeeded in this task very well, although he could never quite manage to corner Davout or his Danish allies. Nevertheless, in doing so he kept the Prussians out of Hanover, which was all that his British paymasters really cared about.

Wallmoden was in Russian service in 1813, so this is probably what he would have been dressed like during that year. His Chief of Staff was none other than the famous Carl von Clausewitz, who was also serving the Tsar at this point, so I'll probably need to paint him too.

The RN 85 was the only Russian General produced by Hinton Hunt so until I can get another one I thought he'd also do very well as a temporary commander for the Leib Grenadiers.

Auf Wiedersehen and Do svidaniya

WM

Fit for a Prince

My much delayed Estorff Hussars, AKA the Prince Regent's Own (by 1815), are finished.

I was able to grab a few quick shots of them before racing out for a social engagement.

The figures, as before, are all Der Kriegspielers Napoleoniques from set 164: British Cavalry 1815, Hussars, albeit with two conversions to make the officer and the trumpeter. As is ususal with DKs, they are a little on the slim side, but were beautifully crisp castings made from strong, bright, high-quality metal. I wish all DKs were as nice as these.

The Estorffs have not gone down in history for their martial prowess. My main reason for painting them was...well...er..I had them to hand and I needed to get something onto the table for Wallmoden's Army. I hope JC enjoys weilding them. They'll be able to threaten a charge at least!

Toodle Pip.

WM

Dörnberg: Charge!........!!?!&$@#!

Estorff Salad

One of the glories of Napoleonic wargaming is the riot of colour that results once you've managed to paint up a few of the opposing regiments. Hanoverian hussars, however, manage to be a colour riot all on their own.

The regiment I've chosen to do is the Lüneburg Hussars, more popularly known as Estorff's Hussars after the Hanoverian notable who raised them in 1813. I'll say a little more about them in my next few posts, but in the meantime suffice to say they are painted according to one of the versions of the uniform they are thought to have been wearing by 1815.

The figures are all Der Kriegspielers from set 164: British Cavalry 1815, Hussars. My intention is to keep plodding away on them until the regiment is finished, but there's a distinct possibility I'll crack and do something else for a while.

Speaking of which, I must be off to finish the Sunday roast!

Best regards,

WM

General Uprising

Wallmoden's Corps of 1813 consisted of about 25,000 men, of whom something like 6,000 were cavalry composed more or less exclusively of hussars and cossacks. I've made a start on some hussars, but all I have to show at the moment is their commander. He is Major General Wilhelm Caspar Ferdinand von Dörnberg, or "Uprising Dörnberg" as he became known for his part in an abortive attempt to kidnap Napoleon's brother, Jerome, the new-crowned King of Westphalia, in 1809.

I can't say that I know a great deal more about him. After escaping from Germany, Dörnberg wound up in Britain and eventually rose to command the Brunswick Hussars in Spain. The British anglicised his name to William de Dornberg. Volunteering for service in Russia in 1812, by the following year he was in North Germany where he was given command of a brigade of Hanoverian hussars, stiffened by the 3rd Regiment of Hussars of the King's German Legion, which had been hurriedly sent over from Spain.

Dörnberg's only other claim to fame, at least far as the Anglosphere is concerned, is his failure to pass on early intelligence that Napoleon's army was about to invade Belgium in June 1815! However, he seems to have made up for this by leading numerous gallant charges at the head of the 3rd British Cavalry Brigade at Waterloo.

Vintage 20mm Napoleonics connoisseurs will instantly recognise the figure I've used as the Alberken/Minifigs version of the Earl of Uxbridge. I thought he'd be just the ticket for Dörnberg, however, after I found a portrait of him made in 1813 held in the Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection. This can be seen here.

The first squadron of the hussars he is to command are now quite advanced and so with a little bit of luck I may be able show them off next weekend.

Till then

WM

Edit: I've added another shot to give a slightly clearer view of his face. Alberken commanders can be a bit vague in the face department, but this one's not too bad.

Rid Jarmins

Having failed to deliver a completed Field Battalion Bremen as promised last week, this week's post comes with a bonus Hanoverian general. He is Hinton Hunt BN 254: Lieut-Gen. Charles. Count von Alten, in General's full dress uniform, on horse BNH 11. Both figures are David Clayton castings, I believe, but are very fine.

Marcus Hinton clearly based him on the magnificent portrait of Alten that hangs in the Bomann Museum in Celle. The painting even provides an intriguing little peek at the decoration in the corner of his general officer's shabraque, which one only very rarely gets to see as paintings from the era always seem to show just the plain blue-grey shabraque cover used by British general officers on campaign. I liked this detail so much that I even had a go at incorporating it on my figure.

Alten is to command the now completed Field Battalion Bremen, with whom I am really quite chuffed, having wanted a 'thin red line' of my own for about as long as I can remember. Less successful, however, is the new shade of green I've been trialling for my tabletop. As in previous attempts, it's played havoc with the colour balance on my camera. The last shot, taken with the flash turned on, is the closest I could get to capturing anything like the actual tones. It may pay to invest in some whiter light bulbs, perhaps.

In other news, I'd like to say a big "hello" to David C, who has now embarked on his grand design to refurbish an army of Der Kriegspielers and Hinton Hunts. If you haven't seen them already, do take a look at the splendid first results on David's Miniature Minions blog.

Even more Hinton Hunt goodness is also now on show on Mark Dudley's Ilkley Old School blog. Mark's Austrians are simply stunning.

Finally, Rob G has sent me some photos of his absolutely spiffy Spencer Smiffies in action during a recent game. Further photos and one of Rob's uproariously entertaining write ups of the game should be appearing in a forthcoming addition of the Wargamers' Notebook.

Happy Easter everyone!

WM

Edit: I've added an extra shot of Alten to show his nearside. The resemblance to the painting is a lot clearer from this angle!

At The Sign of the White Horse

As promised, I present the Field Battalion Bremen's command group and their ever-so-slightly speculative flag.

The flag design is based an illustration in an article by Ottfried Neubecker in Die Fahnen und Standarten der Armee des Koenigreichs Hannover, which was published in several parts in the Zeitschrift für Heereskunde (Berlin) in 1934, A flag of this form, according to Neubecker, was carried by at least some of the field battalions, although it is unclear whether they were actually carried before 1816.

Neubecker also doesn't specify any of the colours on the flag, so what I have presented here is an educated guess based on other Hanoverian flags and heraldry.

The figure is a Der Kriegspieler British line or guard infantry regimental colour bearer from the set # 150: British Line/Guard Infantry 1815, Command Group.

The first task was to rub off the original British regimental colour markings using a steel burnishing tool from a ceramic arts set. I then inscribed the roundels using another steel ceramic arts tool. The roundels are a little larger than they ought to be as I wanted to give myself a little space to work with and to help fill up the huge expanse of white on the rest of the flag.

The officer is from the same set #150. I've pictured him next to an original unpainted example to show how I've modified him.  That right arm was so horribly modeled that I simply had to do something about it.

One of the interesting things about this figure is that it is not based on the Hinton Hunt British infantry officers, but on the British Royal Artillery officer instead. Whoever made him evidently forgot to remove his sword hilt from his left hip!

I could have used British light infantry officers for this battalion, but went for the line infantry variants as it seems fairly clear that the Bremen battalion's officers wore Belgic shakos. There's a very good illustration of one (albeit in his original light infantry green) in the Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection, here.

The rest of the battalion is past the halfway mark and should be ready to put on show by next weekend.

Wir sehen uns dann!

WM

King George's Other Army

The first half of my first Phase-Two infantry battalion is ready for inspection. It is the Field Battalion Bremen, one of the regiments of King George III's Hanoverian Army.

Strengthened with a sprinkling of British troops and German freikorps units in British pay, this new army sprang into existence in 1813 following the collapse of French power in Northern Germany. After campaigning in Germany in 1813 and 1814, the Hanoverians would eventually march to the Low Countries and were still garrisoned there when the Napoleonic Wars broke out afresh in early 1815.

In its early days the Bremen and Verden Battalion, as it was originally called, was dressed as light troops in stovepipe shakos and Rifle green. By the time of Waterloo, however, it had been re-organised and equipped as a redcoat battalion. Opinions differ about the other details - some sources suggest they were also issued with new Belgic shakos, for example, and had blue rather than the black facings I've given them here. However, most agree they retained their distinctive dark blue trousers and black leather equipment. Whatever the details, they're certain to brighten up my Prussians a bit, and provide a brilliant excuse for adding all sorts of other weird and wonderful units.

The figures I've painted so far for this battalion are taken from the Der Kriegspielers sets:

# 153: British Light Infantry Battalion 1815, Firing x 11; and
# 154: British Light Infantry Battalion Command Group, Drummer, x 1.

The next post will feature the rest of the command group and an ever-so-slightly speculative flag!

Have a great weekend,

WM