1813-15 battles in 20mm and for AoE and V&F - (part 18) 3rd batch of French Line infantry

 

Two more brigades of Line Infantry for the French, Pégot and Aulard for a total of eight up to now. Some of Airfix figures were already painted by TC, while other Airfix and Hat were painted by me. The only extra piece in each figure is the pom-pom on the shako which was enlarged on the Airfix figures with small blobs of Milliput. 

I prefer to paint the greatcoats in one color - blue grey - as it looks to have been the most common. Like this I think the units get enough diversity, but not exaggerated.

The two officers and one drummer are Italeri and two of the eagle guard were nicely converted by TC from the artillery set with the help of Hat guidons. . 

Next: Trip´s heavy cavalry

1813-15 battles in 20mm and for AoE and V&F - (part 17) Imperial Guard artillery reserve (Napoleon´s "Beautiful Daughters")

 

These three batteries of the reserve Imperial Guard were big 12 pdr guns of terrifying power last time used at Waterloo but already with a deadly record at Wagram and Borodino, just as examples. In fact this group is intended for Waterloo but is a mixed bag: 

- the artillerymen are using the white gaiters, which were no longer used since 1813, just because they look nice;

-  General Drouot is here still a Major and this is how he was uniformed at Wagram;

-  the limber drivers are still using the uniform of 1812.

Drouot is the Airfix French officer with a Hat bicorne increased slightly in height with gel superglue. 

The limber is Zvezda and comes from one of the best boxes in the market, the French Foot Artillery, a box filled with marvellous miniature figures, 3 guns, a limber and one ammunition wagon. 

One of the artilleryman is in fact a Grenadier (Esci conversion) as the Imperial artillery had plenty of help from the Grenadiers and Chasseurs during many battles as these last ones didn´t like to stay iddle. 

The guns and crew are Esci with one of the 12 pdr barrels coming from the Zvezda set. 

Next: more French infantry

1813-15 battles in 20mm and for AoE and V&F - (part 16) 1st Infantry Regiment of Nassau

 

If you want to avoid trouble making converted Nassau infantry like this you can go to two boxes of Hat: one is the older Lutzow Freikorps & Nassau grenadiers, which gives nice Nassau figures with colpacks, and the more recent and larger set of 100 figures of exclusive Nassau figures.

I have none of them as I my Waterloo was entirely 28mm. Besides I have excess Italeri new French which can give very reasonable Nassauers. 

Some changes need to be done to produce voltigeurs and grenadiers. The voltigeurs were made from Hat figures with cut down shako plumes and coat tails as you can see to the left; the grenadiers are new Italeri with Airfix heads over 50 years old but nice for these ones. Besides using Hat or Italeri figures you are somewhat right as the uniform is mostly French influenced as the typical waist coat shown in many period images was discarded in the last adopted jacket. In both these boxes the buttons need to be carved out as all Nassauers only used them at the middle. 

The centre of the flag was handpainted on top of a Dutch print with two lions. 

Another interesting feature of the Nassau infantry was their waterproof covered white shako and (at least in Haythornthwaite Uniforms of Waterloo) also white covered cartridge boxes. MSJ1815 only places the 2nd regiment with shakos on the grenadiers but I like these with colpacks as this is a typical Nassau thing. 

The Hat voltigeurs had several coats of wood glue on the shako plates and cut out cords. 

The Italeri/Airfix grenadiers only have these two poses due to the sabre and epaulettes but the end result is reasonable. 

Next: Napoleon´s "Beautiful Daughters"

1813-15 battles in 20mm and for AoE and V&F - (part 15) Middle Guard Chasseurs

The Brigade Middle of Guard Chasseurs completes the French Guard at Waterloo. They were painted with white trousers as it seems they had few blue trousers in June 1815. All figures are Hat taken from both the Line Grenadier box and the big 100 figures of French infantry which includes also some 16 Grenadiers. 

The flags (company guidons) were hand painted and taken from the Mont Saint jean website.

 Next: The Nassauers at Waterloo.

1813-15 battles in 20mm and for AoE and V&F - (part 14) Middle Guard Grenadiers

 

The French Middle Guard wasn´t very well dressed around Waterloo time. Apparently some items of the equipment were missing to equip the 3rd and 4th regiments of both Guard Grenadiers and Chasseurs, like bearskins, blue trousers and coats. Thus the white trousers and  greatcoats were common and even the guard bicorne was used as main headdress by some. 

These four regiments didn´t have eagles but 24 company fanions were distributed. Alexis Cabaret, the author of the absolutely amazing site MSJ 1815, shows them as similar to the ones of 1812-13 but I added a large "N" with some laurels just for the central white rectangle being happier. 

The figures are Esci, Revell, the pioneer is Zvezda and there are also three Hat figures in bicornes and greatcoats. Half of the Esci figures didn´t have a backpack and got theirs from old Airfix Grenadiers. 

Next: probably Nassauers or Dutch Militia. Eventually a go at the Papelotte farm.

1813-15 battles in 20mm and for AoE and V&F - (part 13) Empress Dragoons Vs 95th Rifles

Well, with so many enemy units entering to the shelves sooner or later this would have to become a brawl! The Old Guard Empress Dragoons charge the 95th Rifles as it happened in the afternoon of the battle of Waterloo. The figures were mostly painted by TC and I just added different facings and details on the Empress Dragoons and the 95th Rifles, as well as new bases. The beauty of both units is that they are not only famous but they didn´t change uniform throughout most of the war making them apt for many campaigns. 

The 95th Rifles are the new and big Italeri figures. These are also great as the plastic is semi-rigid keeping the paint very well.

The Empress Dragoons are Zvezda and Italeri. The flag bearer and the officer got new plumes and a paper flag with these being the only additions. 

Next: The Imperial Middle Guard

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 old 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 pre-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