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

1813-15 battles in 20mm and for AoE and V&F - (part 2) Four more French infantry brigades based in Airfix oldies but goldies

 

Another mix of brands, this time the usual coated Hat figures together with the old but charming Airfix most of them in yellow plastic! Frankly I get these old figures whenever I can and easily prefer them to newer and more accurate brands. The Hat figures are the only ones newly painted with all other retouched from the large collection I recently exchanged. The new details are cuffs, eyes, some missing white straps, red for the closed lapels, shading and some brass parts. The rest was already there and pretty nicely painted. The previous owner was using these post-1812 figures for the Peninsula and the flags were also taken out and replaced with the tricolores . 

As these figures were initially for the Peninsula the elite companies had large plumes added but I kept them as they look great even if they were discarded by the 1812 Bardin regulations. A funny detail I´ve never noticed on the old Airfix figures is that all figures have engraved epaulettes and large shoulders, which in fact is excellent as you can use them as fusiliers or as grenadiers or voltigeurs, the same happening to the British.  

So this was and easy group as the figures were already painted less a few additions. As usual I painted everything with the figures glued to the new bases and many of them are leaning and glued to each other for extra sturdiness. 

Next: whether more French or Hanoverians

1813-15 battles in 20mm and for AoE and V&F - (part 1) First two French infantry brigades

And so it begins. Better saying, re-starts but in a different scale. As building my Waterloo armies was becoming complicated (Brexit as main cause and also lack of material here in Portugal) I´m now making it in 20mm having exchanged my collection of a bit over 1100 painted and based 28mm figures by over 1600 painted and based 20mm figures. Also some 20 boxes of 28mm unpainted figures travelled from Coimbra to Lisbon, together with some 50/60 boxes of 20mm which made the other way round. 

These first two brigades were newly painted and represents Charlet and Bourgois brigades of D'Érlon corps. They are made of Italeri and coated Hat figures. The officer on horse is Waterloo 1815.

Not many conversions here as the only change was cutting out the plastic flags and replacing it by  paper ones. The coated Hat figures were glued with electric glue to the base so they could get as tall as the Italeri ones. 

The mix of Bardin and coated uniforms is quite nice as per the 28mm plastic Perry box. 

Next: more 1815 French infantry Airfix and Hat

The 1812 Russian army for AOE/ V&F rules in 20mm size.

Sorry but I did something stupid and if you want to see this video you have to paste it on the bar or see it on my YouTube channel:

https://youtu.be/NhOvhsYHMWc?si=z79kcseEVmnP13LF

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhOvhsYHMWc

The British army at Waterloo for AOE / V&F rules in 28mm

 

1st French Carabiniers and 1st Westphalian Cuirassiers at Wagram and Borodino for AOE/V&F in 20mm

French Carabiniers are a must for a battle were Napoleon was present. Together with Cuirassiers they were the heaviest French cavalry in the battlefield. I also used Italeri Carabiniers for the Westphalian Cuirassiers as they were similarly equipped and that included the same type of crested helmet, different from the helmet of the French Cuirassiers. 

The only conversion on these two units was the Westphalian cornet which had a busby taken from the an Italeri French Hussar. Also a tuft of Milliput was added to the Westphalians on the left side of the helmet. Not mandatory as these were probably not used in action but it makes them stand in the middle of others. 

The flags were hand painted (and that shows). 

Next: A video on the Russian Napoleonic army

A wargamer´s trip to Arnhem - (part 3 and final) The Bridge and surroundings

While arriving to Arnhem from the Oosterbeek direction you face the imposing St Elisabeth Hospital, today a block of apartments. Here, two famous ambushes occured: the first, a British one that  surprised a group of Germans parading in front of the hospital, from the initial 70, only 2 survived; the second, a German one made by Kampfgruppe Spindler (from the 9th SS PD) that blocked the British paratroopers and denied the possibility of linking the 1st and 3rd battalion with Frost´s 2nd battalion at the bridge also causing a carnage among the paratroopers which faced fire from three sides, including the fire of ex-French AA 75mm guns from the other side of the Nederrijn. 

Several details will be added to my model of the Hospital, everything under the surveillance of Elisabeth of Hungary. 

This simple AI diagram shows the axis of attack of the main German units against the tight perimeter of Frost´s men. 

The bunkers at the entrance of both ends of the bridge are still the ones from the battle, and at least this one had a 20mm AA gun on top on a wooden structure. The bridge itself was rebuilt after the battle. 

The distance from the houses on the right to the bridge during the days of the battle was much smaller. These new ones were built some 15 meters from the original site from were Frost men fired upon Graebnar´s column. The original ones were reduced to rubble, together with all the 18 houses that housed the 2nd battalion due to the german tactic of clearing with tank, artillery and Pzfaust fire one by one all houses that could but turned into a  British strongpoint. 

 

This is nowadays the place were the HQ of the 2nd battalion stood, around 100 meters to the west of the bridge. All those buildings, and many more all over Arnhem, completely destroyed, were rebuilt into a typical simple and modern Dutch look. 

The Church of St Walburgis, already with both towers (one was rammed by a FW190 during the battle) is an imposing site. Looking at it closely will also help to add more detail into the model. 

More small openings will have to be painted together with more detail on the arches. 

This place some 400m nort of the bridge ramp is the probable site of the assembly point  of  Kampfgruppe  Hummel (with Tiger I tanks)and Kampfgruppe Knaust. The Tiger IIs of 506th Heavy Panzer Battalion must have been around this place too but they were mostly used in reducing the Oosterbeek perimeter as they arrived late for the actions around the bridge. 

On the large square of the Arnhem court there is this beautiful building called the Sabelspoort which I want to model. It started to rain when this picture was taken so I went to the Web to find something better. 

~

And here it is a much better view taken in fair weather. 

The one I really wanted was the Devil´s House but it looks a bit complicated to scratch built. These two pictures are also from the Web as mine were taken during heavy rain. 

If you want to pay a visit to the model buildings I´ve made in the past regarding Arnhem and Ooosterbeek here they are:

https://jpwargamingplace.blogspot.com/2012/07/rapid-fire-battle-of-arnhem-buildings.html

Some are suffering changes while others will have still to be built, like the Oude kerk or the Sabelspoort. 

Next: More Napoleonic cavalry

The Napoleonic French allies for the campaigns of 1809 and 1812 for AoE/V&F rules in 20mm size

French Cuirassiers at Wagram and Borodino for AOE/V&F in 20mm

My 1809-12 French were designed around the Armée du Portugal that invaded Portugal in 1810. As this ratio is higher (1-100) than the AoE ratio (1-360 in infantry terms, for instance) I was not very worried about expanding French Line and Light infantry or Hussar, Chasseur or Dragoons as there are plenty in the shelves, but there were no Cuirassiers as they were not part of the Order of Battle of the Armée du Portugal.

Like that you need between 24 and 36 bases for Wagram (1809)  up to Borodino (1812). The first group of 24 bases divided in groups (brigades in AoE terms) is done with each brigade represented respectively by the 1st, 5th, 10th and 11th regiments. The good thing about painting Cuirassiers is that the differences between regiments is minimal and the painting process is quite straight forward with some changes in the facing colors. 

Another good thing about French Cuirassiers is their usage up to Waterloo as there is virtually no change in uniform. This has to do with my idea of returning to 20mm Waterloo and quitting my 28mm for that specific campaign. 

For this group I used (from front row to back row) Airfix figures, StreletsR and Zvezda. 

The Zvezda box is simply beautiful with a generous 19 figures provided. A few extra Airfix were added to make the total of 24 miniatures in two regiments. 

The Airfix figures are very old and incomplete so they needed some extra work, namely the addition of a plume in the helmet, a valise on the back part of the saddle (both made of Milliput) and a plastic scabbard on the left side of the cavalrymen. All horse´s "legs in the air" are glued to the base as usual but also as they are quite fiddly. 

All three additions can be seen here. Like this these oldies can became goldies. A paper flag was also added to the eagle pole. 

The StreletsR regiment is made of the usual funny figures made of shorties, when in fact the Cuirassiers were big guys on big horses. Even so all figures are different and very lively.

Next: photos from Arnhem

A wargamer´s trip to Arnhem - (part 2) The Crossroads at Oosterbeek and the Oude Kerk

 

Writing "Oude Kerk" (the old church of Oosterbeek), makes me look more cultivated for sure even if I don´t know any other word in Dutch. Even so I´m sure it attracted your attention as it surely attracted mine a few days ago as I had no idea how to write 'old church' in Dutch. 

This post is about the Crossroads and the Oude Kerk, particularly this last one as I don´t have many references in order to build the church which is an important building still missing in my collection. I have all other major buildings already made for years and it was very funny to see them in 1/1 scale :)

On top of the page you can see the modern Tafelberg.  First it had the old red brick walls and it was like this that served as General Model´s HQ (together with Hartenstein) and then as a critical MDS station for the British. Today is a private house. Only the front remains from the battle time and it was recently painted white. 

Going down Pieterbergseweg you have on the right the No 35, Hotel Johanna. On the previous post you can see the piece of wall paper taken from this place and used as a kill mark by a British sniper.

While looking for this house I asked a lady that was passing by were Hotel Johanna was. To my astonishement she was the daughter of Kate Ter Horst, and I think one of the few still alive from a total of 6 children. We chatted a bit and I could understand that she was 5 years old when the battle happenned. She was very sad when I couldn´t understand initially her mother´s name in Dutch but then, when I mentioned that I remembered her mother taking care and saving hundreds of British Paratroopers, she became slightly happier. I´m not sure but after looking in the Web she seems to be Sophie, probably the youngest daughter now with the beautiful age of 87. 

Next to No34 is this other beauty, in typical Oosterbeek style, maybe also deserving a model. 

Hotel Vreevijk on the Crossroads was another medical post. 

Schoonoord Hotel. In fact this row of buildings was rebuilt after the landing of a revengeful V-1 weapon strike on the 26 January 1945 which killed 26 people. 

Quatre-Bras is probably one of the most elegant buildings at Oosterbeek. But frankly in the middle of so many beautiful buildings its hard to say. The triangular monument at the right bottom corner remembers the sacrifice of the 21 Independent Parachute Company. 

And now to the main target of my visit to Ooosterbeek, the Old Church. This church is famous for being the oldest church ground of the Netherlands and it became the focal point of Lonsdale Force in the last few days of the perimeter. There is a nice model picture of this church in the first Rapid Fire! book on Market garden designed by  Dale Rawson  but I wanted more information and take some pictures in order to make the model in the future. 

The guy in the picture is my wife´s cousin, almost two meters tall and was useful for scale. Well, at least if you use Valiant 1st edition 1/72nd scale figures :). Besides scale he was also a great company. 

The lime tree to the right is still shattered from the battle and next to it 4 British paratroopers died from a mortar shell. 

Going left around the church and still facing the river you can see some details of the windows in Gothic style. They look to be new as the church suffered a lot of damage during the battle with plenty of bullet holes that can still be seen right and left of this door. 

The view from the left side (east). 

With your back to the river there are new structures and different, smaller, windows. 

Using AI I got this information: 

Following the Battle of Arnhem in September 1944, the Oosterbeek Old Church (Oude Kerk) was left in a state of near-ruin due to heavy artillery fire and its role as a final stronghold for the 1st Airborne Division. Restoration efforts between 1946 and 1961, directed by architect Berend Tobia Boeyinga, focused on rebuilding the church while altering its structure to reflect its historical origins. 

Key changes and structural alterations after the 1944 battle included:

• Removal of the 19th-Century Expansion: The extensive 1856 neo-Gothic additions, which included a transept and large windows, were not restored.
• Restoration to "Original" Style: The church was rebuilt to resemble its older, pre-19th-century form (circa 1400).
• Choir Modification: The severely damaged 15th-century Gothic choir was replaced with a new, smaller, and simpler pseudo-Romanesque choir that matched the 10th-century nave.
• Structural Changes to Walls and Windows: To emphasize the Romanesque origins, large windows were closed off and replaced with smaller ones.
• Consistory Addition: A new, smaller consistory (a room for church meetings) was added to the choir.
• Commemorative Features: While the structure was repaired, many battle scars, such as bullet holes, were left in the walls as a memorial. Inside, the church was adorned with memorials to the British and Polish soldiers, including special kneeling cushions with the Pegasus emblem of the Airborne Forces. 

So in order to make model of this church (no interior) you need:

- To add the transept 

- Make larger neo-gothic windows. 

- Take into consideration that the clocks are not contemporary of the battle and frankly I´m not sure if they even existed by then. 

This plate on the wall also clarifies the date of the major changes.

The view of the church from the river. To the left, the beautiful white building is the house of Kate Ter Horst family. 

And the view of the other side of the Lower Rhine river were the remnants of the 1st British Airborne Division and the Polish Brigade arrived after escaping the German encirclementon of Oosterbeek during Operation Berlin on the 25th and 26th September 1944, an operation made under constant fire from the Germans. The river is not very large but the current is very strong which caused trouble to the salvage boats and to swimmers on those days. 

Next: a visit to Arnhem itself