The Baden and Hessian contingents of Masséna´s IV Corps at Wagram 1809 for AOE and in 20mm

 

This post concludes the German contingents present at Wagram (a Bavarian division and the Saxon corps are already shown). This is being a very enjoyable trip back to Napoleonics and also a joy to see that some of the old boxes in the stash can still be useful. In fact all these figures are conversions as there are no plastic Bade or Hesse figures. 

The Bade contingent, brigade size, was made of the usual infantry, cavalry and artillery. For the infantry I used the Italeri and Esci Austrians as the base, the cavalry was made from the Revell British Dragoons and the artillery, well, that is more complicated :)

I chose the 2nd Regiment in order to represent the three regiments of Baden of the Brigade due to its colorful yellow facings and red flag. The flag color is a bit confusing but I stood by the red one after being convinced by the excellent Blunders on the Danube blog. You can find this excellent work at  

https://blundersonthedanube.blogspot.com/2022/12/hessen-darmstadt-leib-brigade-and-alps.html

Both Italeri and Esci figures got a taller crest and epaulettes for the flank companies. The ones without backpacks also got them whether from broken figures of made out of GreenStuff. The legs "in the air" were heated up until they could be placed at ground level. 

With Epaulettes and taller crests made, the lot was ready to be glued to bases and primed. 

The artillery is a mix of many different origins and one of the good things about registering it in a blog or whatever is that if not written it would be impossible to remember all the bits and pieces that made it. 

The guns came from the Revell set of the 7YW. In order to look more Napoleonic and French (many of these guns were in fact French) I used the surplus ammunition chests of the Esci artillery. The figures are again Esci French Imperial artillerymen with Italeri and Esci new heads. One of the many good things about the old Esci, Italeri and Revell figures is the very soft detail that can be easily disguised with paint and varnish creating new uniforms like that. 

The limbers and horses are based on the old Airfix box (just found a box filled with them a few days ago somewhere in my basement) with Irregular Miniatures metal wheels, Esci chest and British Dragoons Italeri bodies with Esci French heads and stollen swords from somewhere. A big mess but a reasonable result at the end! Of course if you want to avoid avoid all this trouble you can buy the excellent Franznap offer. 

Detail of the back of the limber before priming. 

I thought about using the Hat Wurttemberg cavalry for the four stands of Bade Dragoons and Hesse Chevaux-léger but as Hat is getting a rare issue in continental Europe I decided to convert them from the British Revell Heavy Dragoons of Waterloo fame (I make Waterloo in 28mm, so no need for them). New horses were used, Esci Polish Lancer's due to the saddle´s cloth, and the helmet crest was changed with some heat and GreenStuff.  The Esci horses are beautiful sculpts but somehow the designers never placed reigns on them. That was solved with a piece of wire. 

The slightly larger Hessian Brigade had the usual composition of Infantry, Cavalry and Artillery, even if the Bade and Hesse cavalry were on Lasalle´s division. 

Once again, old Esci Prussians mostly, and just a newer Hat Landwehr officer and drummer. The four Hessian infantry companies in a battalion were distinguished from each other by red, blue, white and black bicorne plumes. 

Many of these didn´t have backpacks so once again the crippled figures were of great help. 

The Hessian artillery already had shakoes from 1808 but the train drivers still had a funny Corsican hat with folded back. 

More of the same, Esci and Italeri bodies for the drivers and a new Corsican Hat made from EverGreen and plastic sprue. The whip is made from a piece of broom stick. 

The Hessian Chevaux- Léger are again Revell Dragoons with a crest modeled to stay half-way and not to fall to the front. 

Next: Wurttembergers or Russians 1812 or houses for Austria 1809.