1813-15 battles in 20mm and for AoE and V&F - (part 12) The Young Guard at Waterloo

 

When I made my first two Brigades of Young Guard in 28mm I used the Perry plastics for most of them, that is, mixing some greatcoated infantry with Bardin uniforms. The greatcoated Young Guard - something that afflicted many French infantry units- is many times portrayed like this and even Hat called Young Guard to a box exclusively with greatcoats. Also the fantastic site Mont-Saint-Jean also shows the Young Guard, at least partially, in greatcoats.

  Now in 20mm the Esci  models were used. One reason for this was this fantastic plate taken from the H&C Soldiers and Uniforms of Napoleonic Wars by Hourtoulle, Girbal and Courcelle: 

Here Jack Girbal portrays all Young Guard, both Tirailleurs and Voltigeurs, in standard uniform as it is said on the subtitle that the greatcoats were probably wet from the previous night and that they were placed as normal strapped on top of the backpacks. This painting looks quite believable as I´ve been on those streets and also want to believe in this version. 

Another reason is the Esci "French Line Infantry" figures themselves. When I was a teenager I remember talking to two wargaming friends - the only ones I knew - and one of them saying "they are only good for Young Guard". I guess he was right as in fact the Esci French infantry is a big mess, with lapels pre-1812 and  Bardin on the tails. In fact this kind of "mistakes" convinced me that Esci was making enough figures so we could mix and match them as, for instance, you could get full pre-1812 uniforms from the Grenadier box and place shakos on them, or simply paint over the front of the infantry and get Bardin uniforms as the short tails were already there. 

This was what I did with these Young Guard figures. In fact the Esci detail is quite nice but not very deep - which I think was made on purpose so you can convert them more easily - and new detail can simply be painted over. 

So all figures got new front lapels, cuffs and even epaulettes for these two groups. Also only was strap was painted on the rank and file with NCO´s with two straps and sabretache. The final coat of varnish helps erase all molded original details that you don´t want. 

The only additions to many of these figures were the backpacks which were taken from Esci Grenadiers od Airfix figures. 

So all figures came from the Esci "Line infantry" and only the sappers are from the Grenadier box. The Young Guard didn´t have Eagles so I placed some hand painted company fanions on four of the stands. 

Next: the 95th rifles 

1813-15 battles in 20mm and for AoE and V&F - (part 11) The Chasseurs of the Old Guard

 

These represent the Old Guard Chasseurs of Cambronne and Pelet. Again the good thing of making Imperial Guard is that you can use them across the Napoleonic wars without any particular important uniform changes. Here they have the blue trousers that apparently equipped all of them at Waterloo as they were pretty well uniformed on the contrary of the Middle Guard. 

The cartridge box was painted white as per the protection that the Imperial Guard had for this item of equipment. 

All figures are Revell. This box works very well within itself as you can make a nice firing or advancing line. Only the kneeling figure was discarded as it would look a bit out of subject. The problem of Revell figures (if it can be considered a problem) is their slim figures with small heads, but I think they do it on purpose as to have distance to, say, Airfix and Esci, not counting the more recent eastern brands. 

Next: The Jeune Garde (Tirailleurs and Voltigeurs) 

1813-15 battles in 20mm and for AoE and V&F - (part 10) The Brunswick division at Quatre-Bras and Waterloo

   

These models were one of the reasons for the exchange I made recently between my 28mm armies and TC´s 20mm armies. This small group is some 40 years old and was kept dearly as my first Napoleonics. Then when I switched to 28mm I always felt sorry for leaving these ones behind in card boxes. When a late teenager I only had the rule book 'To the Sound of the Guns', some Napoleonics lists and the two volumes of Napoleonic Uniforms by the Funckens. Then, one day while in downtown I found in a local library my first Osprey book, Brunswick Troops. And fantastic it was as it portrayed excellent color plates an a very rich text as the unit is a relatively small one, so plenty of information was inside.

On those old days of the 80s there were already several Esci Napoleonic Boxes like the British, French and Russian. So all of them were used for this division: 

 The bodies of the Line and Light infantry had the British as base with carved tails and bedrolls; the Light infantry had French Shakoes while the Line had Russian kiwers. Some infantry is also based on Russian bodies without the bedroll on the torso for variety and getting some figures as NCO´s with the sabretache. The running figure was forced to cool down as it had his knees bent with some fire so both legs could touch the base. 

The blue/yellow shako tufts were made with a small pin enlarged with epoxy resin. 

The flags of the Line battalions (the Light battalions had no flags) were hand painted. They are bigger then they should but they were carefully painting in Enamel colors as typical of those pre-internet and Acrylic days. 

They are for sure some of the more beautiful flags of the period. 

The Avant Garde was made from Russian bodies with scratch-built Corsican hats made of EverGreen plastic card.

The artillery guns are Esci British with the Horse artillery made from British Esci due to the braiding and the Foot artillery made from Airfix French, all with new heads as for the Hussars.

The Hussars are Airfix with French Shakoes with tufts made from hardened cotton and pins with superglue. 

The lancers are direct Esci with needles instead of the small plastic lances. There was only one squadron of lancers so one base would be enough but three is better than one.

The duke of Brunswick is a Waterloo1815 figure painted straight from the box. 

 Today Hat Industries has with all these types made in several boxes - Avant Garde; Leib Infantry and Cavalry -  and StreletsR also has the Leib battalion, so all this converting/scratch build work is useless even if it was fun to make. 

Next: French Old  Guard Chasseurs

1813-15 battles in 20mm and for AoE and V&F - (part 9) Vivian´s Hussar Brigade

 

Major- Gen. Vivian´s brigade was holding the extreme left of the allied line at Waterloo and had the particularity of having its own troop of RHA. Later in the battle it was moved behind the center were it saw action against French cavalry. 

The figures are repaints of the old Airfix from TC´s exchange with horses glued to new bases in all legs (otherwise paint will flake). These ones were chosen because all have the Colpacks of two of Vivian´s regiments, the 18th Hussars and the 1st KGL Hussars. 

Next. Brunswickers at Waterloo

1813-15 battles in 20mm and for AoE and V&F - (part 8) Last Hanoverians added

 

This post finishes the four Hanoverian brigades of infantry and the brigade of cavalry necessary for Waterloo. 

This post is about some unknown heroes of the Waterloo campaign. I´m obviously speaking about the Airfix horses from the Hussar box, small animals that endured since 1972 the extra weight Hussars from the same box. Also all shabraques are the ones with pointy ends at the rear so only proper for officers.

 The figures were already painted by TC who made a nice work on them. Just new bases, new facings and minor details were added. The flags are not known and just some smaller models of the infantry flags were added. 

The horses had to be attached to the bases at least on three legs due to the thin plastic these are made of. 

The fantastic site Mont Saint-Jean is a big help for this campaign as it shows clearly all aspects of the uniforms of this campaign. These figures are from the Prinzregenten regiment which was at Hal, some 15km away from Waterloo, during the battle. In fact the only unit of the Hanoverian cavalry brigade that was present at Waterloo was the Cumberland Hussars. And present is an exaggeration as they shamelessly fled the battlefield causing panic in Brussels something that was rare as all other  Hanoverians behaved very well during the battle. 

This is the Hameln Landwehr battalion representing the Hanoverian brigade of Picton´s 5th infantry division. Its entirely made of Italeri British infantry with shakos squashed with fire until the shape of a peaked hat was achieved.

Next: 1815 British Hussars 

1813-15 battles in 20mm and for AoE and V&F - (part 7) Finishing the British line infantry

This post completes the British line infantry necessary for AoE as this is a Brigade level game. All other infantry will be Brunswickers, Nassauers, Belgian, Dutch and one missing Hanoverian brigade. My original idea when receiving this large batch of exchanged figures was to use the Airfix figures but these had received a cut at the top of the Belgian shako and had an inserted plume at the center, Peninsular style. No problem with the plume that can be taken out but the front curved top of the shako was gone making a second life for them in 1815 very difficult. Instead I used the Revell figures. They had suffered the same kind of surgery to become Peninsular infantry but TC (the previous owner) didn´t cut the top of the Belgian shako but just added some paste and the central plume for them to look like Peninsular infantry. So these ones just had the paste taken out. As the side plume was also gone I covered all shakos with a very dark gray color for it to look like covered Belgian shakos. 

The Revell figures are very elegant but its not easy to mix  with other brands as they have tall and slim bodies and small heads and headdress. In the picture you have the 4th Foot (Lambert´s brigade, 6th Infantry Division); 33rd Foot ( Halkett´s Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division and two KGL regiments for two brigades of the 2nd and 3rd Infantry Divisions.

There are also a few Hat figures in bonnets and bearskins as drummers, NCO´s and pioneers as these doesn´t impact the small Revell shakos. 

1813-15 battles in 20mm and for AoE and V&F - (part 6) "La Garde meurt mais ne se rend pas!"

 

I always wanted to put this title! In fact it sums pretty well the life and death of these fantastic soldiers, even if this sentence was said by Cambronne of the Guard Chasseurs.  The figures are all from the last batch of exchanged figures and were already painted. Even so I changed a number of details life the blue bedrolls, flags and golden details as these figures started their life as line grenadiers and now are Guard Grenadiers. 

The figures are Zvezda with two Kozak 3d printed. One of the drummers is Esci and one Officer is Hat from the 1805 range. 

A good thing about these figures is that you can use them without any relevant uniform change for most of the Napoleonic wars. 

Next: More British infantry. 

1813-15 battles in 20mm and for AoE and V&F - (part 5) Hanover time

Hanover gave a considerable contribution for Wellington´s army at Waterloo at around 17% of all Allied force. And, with the famous exception of Cumberland´s Hussars, all remained pretty steady in their positions, most in big rectangles, under French artillery fire, suffering many casualties. 

The majority of the infantry was  made of Landwehr battalions. Like their Prussian cousins and Russian Opolchenie, they had a soft hat that many discarded in favour of the British stovepipe. Even so I prefered to use the soft hat on them as they are more distinguishable both on the table and shelves. For that I squashed the Stovepipe of the Hat and Italeri figures after burning them with a lighter. I got used to this with the same figures but in 28mm and it was not difficult. If you use a blade to squash the soft hat its top becomes too flat so the finger is better. Just be careful and let the hot soft plastic become cooler for some 10 seconds. 

The battalions here are the Osnabruck and Verden, representing two Brigades of Hanoverians. 

This field battalion is Italeri and was easier to make as its made of British plain uniforms from the Peninsula period. The battalion is Bremen with its blue characteristic trousers. Some figures could still use the old green uniforms but I´m not a fan of that approach as it cuts the consistency of just a few figures representing hundreds of men. 

Next: The French Imperial Grenadiers

1813-15 battles in 20mm and for AoE and V&F - (part 4) First British arrive

 

These three brigades here are all repaints from the large group I exchanged with a fellow collector from Lisbon. From front to back you have the 2nd Foot Guards (Maitland´s brigade), the 2nd Coldstream Guards (Byng´s brigade) and the 14th Foot (Mitchell´s brigade). 

The 14th Foot is made of old and lovely Airfix figures that the previous owner managed to convert engineously to Peninsular British with Stovepipes. So the original Belgian shakos had to come back to the original but cords and the tall front had been erased so what I managed to make was some Belgian shakos covered in the waterproof material used at waterloo with the help of some paste. 

The Coldstream Guard are all the new Italeri with the Airfix mounted officer and Hat sapper. The main change here was to paint the trousers white but some small details like shoulder straps, eyes and such were also added. 

The Foot Guards are also Italeri with Hat sapper. The mounted officer is Waterloo1815. 

Next:Hanoverians for Waterloo in 20mm 

1813-15 battles in 20mm and for AoE and V&F - (part 3) Finials for the Tricolores

 

Most of the times I forget to place the finials and so I had to come back to them. The finials are made of string,wrapped beneath the Eagle and hardened with superglue. 

Next: British for Waterloo