1813-15 battles in 20mm for AoE and V&F - (part 44) Prussians have a go with a first and strange option

 

In the last few months I manage to get everything necessary to build Blücher´s army at brigade level. First I got plenty of unpainted boxes from the exchange made with TC, then I found a few more  boxes here and there and finally Vinted helped finding the last few boxes. In total some 30 boxes were gathered, Hat, Airfix, Italeri and Revell. 

Funilly enough I was quick finding all artillery and cavalry, exactly the opposite of what I was able to do in the previous 28mm Prussian army were Perry and Warlord cheap and available plastics filled quicky the ranks of the line infantry and the Landwehr. 

Even so there is a need of 306 figures for the Line infantry for this project (six figures in three ranks per stand) and only 280 were on the stash as I used plenty of the Revell Prussians for 1812 Russians. So a quick order from Aliexpress was meant to solve the issue: in their site there is a shop that sells sprues of 1/72nd Hat Miniatures that I´m used to order from. But sometimes I get the wrong thing as I believe the level of organization of that shop is the same of the friend´s football groups before Whatssapp. And this time it happened again: I got 28mm marching Prussians instead of 1/72nd scale, probably the only ones they have, but, also probably, they can´t distinguish the two sizes. On the positive side I was getting seven sprues instead of the six that were ordered. 

A few years ago I painted some of these marching 28mm Hat figures but with Perry plastic heads and the result was quite nice with these cheaper and slender figures standing pretty well next to the Perry and Warlord. The issue with these figures in terms of 28mm is the small heads (hence the usage of the much bigger Perry´s) which, on the other side are not much bigger then 1/72nd scale heads. So, by burning the feet of these figures you get what you can see on the pictures, figures that go along with some the large (oversized...) 1/72nd scale figures by Italeri and even Hat. Judge it by yourself and comment, please, as I need some (positive) comments in order to overcome this heresy.

Here they are with burned boots next to the Russian Opolchenie Hat officer (left) and the Prussian Line officer by Italeri. Obviously the 28mm are larger bulkier figures but even so, due to their small faces, the difference is not that much comparing to 1/72nd figures sculpted on the fatty and big side.

These conversions will go mostly to the IR25 FreiKorps as they were mostly young (and well fed) people. 

What say you? 

Next: Steinmetz brigade

1813-15 battles in 20mm for AoE and V&F - (part 43) The French Generals for Waterloo

 

In 1999 Italeri released a juicy box with French Officers and ADC´s and that included one figure of the Man itself. I used a good number of them for my Bussaco French order of battle, converting many to figures like Massena, Soult, Reynier, Loison, etc. When my Waterloo project abandoned 28mm and became 20mm I found six Napoleons in the stash meaning six of this boxes have been piled up along the years. The box is great but in reality, if you want generals on horse, each box only provides three of them. So others had to be converted from "foot generals" to generals on horse. 

There were not enough proper horses for this group so some were recruited from the Prussian Cuirassiers box by Italeri that you can see in sand color. Some chaperons were made from card were they didn´t exist. 

The full group already painted. 

This stand had no conversions and was made from the Italeri HQ set with two Chasseurs from the artillery set. The Mamluk Ali (true name Saint Denis, Roustam was long gone) was painted with aproximate colors from the MSJ website; La Bédoyére had his face painted in a quite fair tone as he was only 29 y.o. at Waterloo and Napoleon had a simple paint job with its famous sourtout and chasseur dress. 

The Guard Chasseurs in the Italeri HQ set can be reinforced with the ones from the guard artillery set for extra variety. 

Around half time of the painting process some Greenstuff was added to increase the plumage of the Italeri bicornes which is too small in the Italeri figures. This one in particular is a conversion from a foot officer with Italeri austrian officer legs and bended arm. My trick to paint the awful gold color on top of blue is to paint it first in yellow as a base for gold color as you can see here. 

The Corps Commanders, D´Erlon, Reille and Lobau had white increased plumage on the bicornes and larger bases were an ADC could be used. These ADC´s were made from the ADC on horse with a small (and strange) shako replaced here by a Hat British bicorne from their command set. I didn´t use for these generals the Grand Cordon that can be done with a strip of thin paper. I´m not sure about its usage by the corps commanders at Waterloo even if they were entitled to use them. When I was making Waterloo in 28mm I used Perry´s metal Waterloo corps commanders and they were not sculpted with the Grand Cordon.

Even if British the new bicorne without distinctions from Hat goes pretty well for the French ADC´s. 

With Michel already done previously these four guard division commanders were made: Lefebvre-Desnouettes of the light cavalry; Guyot of the heavy cavalry; Friant (Chasseurs à Pied) and Duhesme (Jeune Guard).

The great reconstitution to the left was the inspiration for painting Lefebvre-Desnouettes, a figure from the Imperial artillery set by Italeri. 

General Guyot was made from the ADC figure with a Zvezda head. I read that Guyot had the normal uniform for a general of its rank but the uniform of the Grenadiers à Cheval is always tempting. 

The divisional commanders of the 1st Corps: Quiot; Donzelot; Marcognet; Durutte (with one eye only) and Jacquinot. The figures without bicornes on the head are foot figures with legs from Revell 7YW cavalry. 

The officer´s figures on foot were coupled with Austrian legs both from the Italeri Napoleonic officers and also from the Revell 7YW Dragoons, as both of them have a long coat tail that fit these nicely. Some sword scabbards were also glued to the legs while the two bigger parts were pinned to each other. 

Reille Corps with Bachelu; Foy; Jerôme Bonaparte and Piré. 

Lobau Corps with Simmer; Jeanin; Domon and Subervie. 

The plate to the left by Albert Rigondaud was great to create General Subervie, made from an Italeri Hussar with a Hat light infantry head. 

The III and IV Reserve Cavalry Corps divisional Commanders: L´Héritier; D´Hurbal; Watier and Delort.

In the future I want to make four more stands with Ney and Soult and the cavalry Corps commanders (maybe I´ll use the figures from the Buçaco OB), Kellerman and Milhaud but I´m out of figures. 

Next: "C´est Grouchy! (... merde, sont les Prussians...)".

1813-15 battles in 20mm for AoE and V&F - (part 42) The last French infantry brigades (Bony, Thevenet and Tromelin)

This a farewell to the beautiful Bardin uniforms as this post completes the last few three brigades for the French army at Waterloo. The brigade to the left is Bony´s and is made exclusively of Italeri figures; the small one in the middle is Tromelin brigade, the smallest in the entire army and is made of Italeri and two conversions from Hat; the last one to the rear is again Hat conversions with a few Airfix, Italeri and Esci figures. 

The Esci and Hat figures got new sabres taken from surplus grenadiers for the elite companies. The front Bardin details were simply painted. 

The Hat figures with the old long tails of the 100 figures box had their tails cut down to look like the bardin uniform. 

So around half of these figures got some sort of conversion for them to look Ok for the final battles of the Napoleonic wars. The lack of figures dressed in overcoats is due to the fact that I have no more, with this project having eaten 150 of them. Like this they look a bit too pristine but at least there are  a few brigades looking sharp on the shelves. 

Next: Napoleon´s generals

1813-15 battles in 20mm for AoE and V&F - (part 41) The last French artillery models

 

In the last few weeks I managed to find the last few artillery models for my French and that was made in old style model shops, my favourite way of getting our stuff. There were still six horse artillery of the line models and two line models to be made so the full French artillery at Waterloo can be complete at brigade level rules. 

The gun models came from Italeri/Esci and Zvezda while all artillerymen figures are the old Airfix with two Hat figures mixed in. The limber is Italeri. 

While all horse artillerymen had their backpacks taken out the line artillerymen had them placed in as you can see with the figure struggling to carry a shell. The colour of the French artillery was made mixing two parts of ochre and one of black as in real life the French artillery green was obtained. Like that you can´t get it wrong. 

The painting of one more line horse limber changed a bit the looks of the figures as the Guard and Line horse artillerymen was different.

Next: the last few Infantry brigades and a stand with the Man itself. 

1813-15 battles in 20mm for AoE and V&F - (part 40) The French Tissot, which were always on time, and Bellair brigades

These two brigades were based on the Emhar French infantry. These figures were made for the Peninsula campaign but are better for other places as they look too neat for the harsh conditions of the Peninsula warfare. But with a cut (or two) on the tail of the coat and the front red lines of the plastron lapels painted Bardin style you can have some reasonable late French infantry. Emhar is also good for this as the detail is very fine and not carved too deep in Esci style.  As usual there are a few figures with overcoats from Hat, a few from Kozak 3d and Esci, one from Odemars and one from Airfix. Not counting the Airfix and Odemars, all others go very well as a group as they have shakoes of the same size. 

Last week I got these Emhar figures from Paul´s Dublin Model Shop, an amazing small place in this beautiful city, a bit far from the center but worth a visit (or renting a room nearby, I wish). Here I also got a few more Hat boxes (French 1805 and the Wurst wagons) and a number of bags with figures (Waterloo1815 Sioux indians; Airfix Cowboys and the 7th cavalry and Italeri AWI French). The Sioux for example came in a big bag with 100 horses ( from Nexus which is much better ) and 100 horsemen for 20 euros, that means some 9 boxes total for a bit more than 2 euros each! My lack of Sioux horsemen for Little Big Horn is solved.  Paul bought a large batch of 1/72 from a closing shop, so large that he didn´t have space for everything. His solution was taking all figures from the sprues and selling them at discount inside small plastic bags. And there are still dozens of them pinned and hanging from the shelves.  

I also visited two other shops, the also very good Mark´s models and Banba Toymaster and got my hands on a few more Italeri French and artillery sets and some paints, solving definitly my issue with the lack of French to finish this Waterloo project. In total I managed to pack some 20 new boxes everything divided in small bags into the younger kid´s backpack (which went empty for a good reason), Ryanair oblige, together with a few Osprey Campaigns from Hodges Figgis, a hell of a book store. 

Here you can see the cut off  tails of the Emhar figures. 

One of the Emhar figures came with a broken rifle but he quickly learned how to play the drum. The flagbearer is Odemars. 

The Emhar figures have broad shoulders in Airfix style which is helpful if you want to turn them into elite companies by painting epaulettes. The only things you need to add are the sabres which came from old Esci grenadiers. 

Next: the last French artillery

1813-15 battles in 20mm for AoE and V&F - (part 39) The French Soye brigade

 

General Jean-Louis Soye´s brigade was sucked into the fighting at Hougoumont and spent a good part of the Waterloo battle around woods and trying to breech the wall of the farm. It was  a large brigade with 3500 men and is represented here by the 1e de Ligne with a total of 9 stands. 

The figures are the usual mix of Airfix (the majority of the figures); Hat in overcoats; Hat with 1808 tails cut to look like the Bardin uniform; Esci (some with new backpacks) and Italeri for the drummer and eagle bearer. 

Next: it depends on what I will be able to get in the next few days as my to-do French infantry and artillery is closing to zero. If I can´t get new French figures I will start the 1815 Prussians. Eventually If I get something that sparks my imagination, something totally different will be made. 

1813-15 battles in 20mm for AoE and V&F - (part 38) More French Légère and line artillery

 

The 13e Légère/Schmitz Brigade was my last unit to finish D´Erlon corps. Also added are more line artillery with just four other artillery stands missing to complete the whole French army for the Waterloo battle. In a worse shape are the line infantry, with 4/5 brigades missing (counting here Tromelin brigade with only 2 stands), and the "worse" comes from the fact that I only have figures for one or two of these brigades. I hope in my next trip, next week, to find more "bread and butter" French infantry of the likes of Airfix or Italeri. 

Schmitz Brigade is made again of Hat 1805 light infantry with a few Hat coats. Some changes are mandatory and the left side plume was cut out and a small part of it was inserted at the the middle front. The 1808-12 cords are still there as cutting/erasing them would make a mess out of the shakoes, at least with my nowadays patience. Again, I like to think that, without acces to the new 1812 shako, these guys asked their wives or mothers to send them the older shakoes and that they arrived by La Poste express to the front lines :).

The cornet and officer are 3d Kozak miniatures.  

The artillery guns are Hat with the old but beautiful French Airfix crew. 

Next. more French, let´s see what

1813-15 battles in 20mm for AoE and V&F - (part 37) The French "Chaos brigade"

 

With this title I´m sure I´ve captured your attention. This group is meant to be Marechal de Camp Jean-Luis- Brue brigade represented here by 95e regiment de ligne one of the units of D´Erlon Corps. 

From this picture you can understand the "Chaos" term. This group was made from bits and leftovers of all possible origins: You can see many marching Airfix figures from the artillery set, some ex-Westphalians, all with new pom-poms made of Milliput; Esci figures with backpacks added, new Italeri, coated Hat and some figures with Zvezda heads. 

After painting the group is more or less homogeneous. 

I like the idea of old items of equipment and clothing being used at the 100 days campaign. Now read this story carefully as I will only say this once: In my last visit to France I found in a Bric-a-Brac shop  (antique shop) in Paris, on a place I was asked not to disclose, a letter dated 1st of May 1815, from Jean Menteur, a Grenadier of the 95e de ligne, to his wife Marie de la Tricheur with the following text: "Chère Marie, je besoin de mon plumet de grenadier...", well. as most of you read and write in English and have no idea what French is,  I´ll translate: " Dear Mary, I need my grenadier plume, as my shako has no pom-pom, please send it ASAP by post. Don´t forget the cords of the shako! From you husband who loves you. Jean". And here you have it, a living proof that the French used old items of equipment already phased out around 1812, still 3 years later! 

This story is one more total BS but serves to illustrate my aproach in the finishing the French for Waterloo and also a bit of despair!

The Grenadier on the rear right is a 1808-12 Hat figure. What I already did to some of them is to cut the tail of the coat so it looks like the bardin coat. Then at the front a different paint job makes the rest. 

Next: more 1815 French

1813-15 battles in 20mm for AoE and V&F - (part 36) The two last brigades of British finished (Adam and Pack)

 

Inititally I was thinking I had enough Scottish units with kilts due to the Bussaco units made and also that the 52nd LIR was already made. In fact when placing everything on the table for a video on Wellington´s army at Waterloo I realised my 52nd LIR had white trousers and there were not enough kilts in the shelves. So these two units were made quickly, the Scottish from Esci and Italeri figures and the 52nd from Hat figures. All command stands are Hat with the Scottish stand with heads from Esci.  

See the video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbCZA4Gto4Q&t=943s

1813-15 battles in 20mm for AoE and V&F - (part 35) The British finished and some more French to keep them busy

 

Don´t know why but the 5th British Cavalry Brigade was not part of my original OB in the chart I´ve made for my 28mm Waterloo allies. In fact that is a big mistake as the brigade was heavily involved in the fighting at Waterloo, with Colquhoun Grant, Its commander, having five horses shot under him and 

a total of 31% casualties. Well, the mistake is corrected and another brigade of French infantry was also added. 

The 5th Cavalry Brigade is represented by the the 7th Hussars which is made of Esci figures and horses with plastic reigns. 

Only the horse of Lt-Col.Kerrison is Airfix due to the need of a pointy shabraque. 

Sir Colquhoun Grant uniform was based on AI information. I think we are dealing with the same guy that was a kind of spy during the Peninsula period (and also of Sharpe fame). The period portraits of the man show him in the typical scarlet coat but AI gave me the uniform of the 15th Hussars. Is it correct? The figure is Italeri fom the French HQ set.  

This French brigade is Jamin´s represented here by the 4eme Légère. The figures are converted 1806 French Light infantry by Hat from the exchange made with TC. The surgery consisted in cutting the side plume on the shako, drilling a hole at the front and inserting half of the plume there changing the plume to a company pompom. These figures are particularly nice for 1815 French light infantry as they are on the small size (as French lights should be) and they have the short back tails, Bardin style. I think these units were in fact the first ones to have short tails in the French Napoleonic infantry. I was lazy in carving out most of the sabres and thus this unit is mostly composed of corporals :) Regarding the front, a simple paint job solves the issue. There are also a few Kozak 3d prints, namely the oficer next to the drummer and the cornet in the voltigeur stand and some coated Hat figures. 

Next: a video on the allies at Waterloo