1813-15 battles in 20mm for AoE and V&F - (part 27) The Airfix French artillery with some improvements

When I was a boy - maybe 8 or 9 yo, almost 50 years ago - I found with awe in downtown Coimbra a shop window crammed with Airfix boxes while strolling with my mother. Suddenly, in the Toy Shop street all other shops had the same thing: lots of Airfix kits in the shop windows! There also I understood that the mosquito that bit me didn´t bit other kids, as they would pass on the same shop windows and didn´t even look at those boxes that were for me the closest thing to paradise that I have ever seen. Quickly the deal with my mother was to take two at a time, after all a sole army needed someone to fight with. I´m not sure but I think the French artillery and some British infantry were the first. Or was it the French infantry against the British Guards band? Or both ACW sets of infantry? Frankly I can´t remember right as all free time and money became for ever connected with buying those magic small boxes. Of course I started to go with my grandmother to downtown too and had a particular interest in picking my father that worked nearby. In fact my father became my main assistant as he was also very fond of modelling even if he prefered cars, trains and peaceful stuff. So one model for him and two or three for me would be our deal each time we were passing on Adelino Veiga street. 

The French artillery set is beautifully designed but with many errors, which for me in those days were completely indifferent. Later on, I found in the Funcken books and in the Millitary Modelling magazines (also bought in downtown Coimbra) that the limbers were very wrong in toy like style, the gun tubes too large and the wheels too small. Even so these guns went to defend the Alamo or to attack it, went to the Napoleonic Spanish army while others I have no idea were they went. Some were converted like this others stayed like the originals. Recently I got a number of them from the exchange made with TC and decided to have a go at reusing them but with some changes. 

The wheels of the guns were discarded but reused for the limbers. For that I copied the measures of my own Hat industries limbers, built new ones from plastic card and tubing and stuck the wheels in the axle as the wheels of the Airfix guns  are the same size as the wheels of the Hat limber.  

The horses used are also from the Airfix set plus a few others from here and there. Next to the horses you can see the blue artillerymen which will be cut in half in order to produce drivers. The horses are in 1/76th scale while figures are 1/72nd but everything came from the same factory so I just hope they get along. 

The guns themselves got new and larger wheels from the Esci Russian Crimean artillery, a trick I learned from Will McNally of the super famous Fire at Will blog. 

 

The horses got new stowage made from GreenStuff and the figures torsos were pinned to Italeri Prussian Cuirassiers legs as knee tall cavalry boots are necessary. In the meantime, not shown here, the backpacks and epaulettes were melted with fire and some whips were glued to the right hand of the drivers. Also the ropes tying the limber to the horse got some heat for better hold and looks. 

They are ready to be painted.

Next: this lot painted. 

1813-15 battles in 20mm for AoE and V&F - (part 24) Les Géants

 

These were the "big Guys on big horses", the Grenadiers à Cheval de la Garde were the last unit of the French Guard still to be done. This is one more conversion this time using the horses and bodies of Italeri Dragoons and the heads of the very old Airfix Foot Grenadiers (the officer has a Zvezda head). 

In fact both French Horse Grenadiers and Dragoons shared the same uniform cut, which, even better, barely changed all along the Napoleonic wars. 

The good thing about the Airfix Grenadier heads are the big heads they have (compared with the bodies) and so they blend quite well with the much bigger Italeri bodies. 

The officer with Zvezda head had to have a plume and this why no Airfix figure was used here. 

Unfortunately you only need 4 stands for Waterloo AoE as these guys are a nice sight with their black horses and imposing figures. 

Next: More Dutch

1813-15 battles in 20mm for AoE and V&F - (part 22) Chasseurs à Cheval and Lancers of the French Guard

 

This another useful group to have for Napoleonic wargaming. The uniform didn´t change for years and all of them can be used up to the Waterloo campaign. You just have to be careful with the Polish lancers which started to carry the lance at the end of 1809 and the Dutch lancers in 1810. Even so you can use all the three units along the Russian campaign, the 1813 campaigns and the 100 days campaign, without change in uniform. The Polish Guard lancers were just a squadron at Waterloo but making 5 squadrons allows for the other campaigns. 

The Chasseurs à Cheval are Revell from  a nice and rich box that includes 17 mounted figures plus a dismouted one. 

The only conversion of the group was the making of a standard bearer from the figure with the sword at the front.

The Polish and Dutch Guard lancers are Esci from their 1985 box but even so a very nice box with very detailed figures as usual with Esci. 

The problem with these Esci figures was some memory problems of the designer who forgot to place reigns on the horses and saved on the lenght of the lance. Here you can see plastic (you can also use wire) pieces for the reigns and an alongated lance of 4cm when the original is only 3 cm. The trick is to cut 0,5cm from the original, glue the shaft to the hand and then to glue a 1,5cm piece of plastic to the back of the hand, making 4cm lances. It´s always better to try to sit the rear of the lance on the horse for sturdiness. 

The flag bearer is a conversion from the figure with a sword. 

The trumpeteer of the Dutch lancers is Zvezda while the other is Esci. The Zvezda box is a far superior product but with the two tricks of the reigns and alongated lances you can always improve the Esci figures. Regarding Esci, don´t forget to glue all horse´s legs to the base as they tend to be unbalanced. 

Finally I painted General Michel of the Foot Chasseurs guard division, a Waterloo 1815 figure that I got half painted from TC. There is still a debate around who said the famous sentence "La garde meurt mais ne se rend pas" between Cambronne and Michel. The known truth is that Michel was killed leading the charge of the 3e Chasseurs and his body is most probably in the big mass grave at Mont-Saint-Jean. 

Next: a return to Vietnam

1813-15 battles in 20mm 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 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 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

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

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

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

The Wurttembergers at Wagram and Borodino for AOE/V&F in 20mm

 

I collected a small Wurttemberg force from Hat during the Covid days. I think my first seriously painted Napoleonics were some Esci Austrians painted as Wurttembergers maybe 40 years ago. Then these went to a friend´s house when Hat released their own boxes. 

These are the three boxes of Hat Wurttembergers: one box of cavalry with 12 figures; one box of artillery with 4 guns (only 3 are necessary) and one box of infantry with 100 figures. After looking for the OB of the Wurttemberg contingent during the Wagram battle (they were near Vienna, guarding comunication lines and thus they didn´t participate in the battle) I divided them into three brigades of infantry (one of them of Jägers), one cavalry brigade and three batteries of artillery. At Borodino the contingent was much smaller but still included men from all three arms. 

The blue figures are Bavarian leftovers from StreletsR turned into Wurttembergers as 8 figures were still missing.

A good thing about this army is that the Wurttembergers fought in two lines, even if they also knew how to do it in three lines. This saves at least 40 figures as I place 6 figures in three lines for most of the Napoleonic armies.

Th 2nd and 4th IR were used to provide figures for the two line infantry brigades. Besides the few Bavarians turned into Wurttembergers, two of the four officers became flag bearers with the left hand heated up in order to hold the flag.

The StreletsR Bavarian figures had a 1mm slice of the Raupenhelm cut out and a bit of GreenStuff was used for the tip of the crest.

The Bavarian artillery figures are the best of the three Hat boxes together with a nice gun divided into several parts. 

The horse artillery limber is scratch built: Irregular Miniatures wheels; wood parts from EverGreen plastic card, converted figures from Revell, Esci and StreletsR and horses from Valiant IF8 infantry cart given to me by the great Colin Rumford from Rapid Fire! fame (together with some other 200 sprues!).

If you want to avoid this trouble you can go to Franznap but prepare to open your wallet. The good thing about Franznap is that you will get first class figures, probably the best around. 

The Jägers form the 3rd brigade. The individual figures are for another set of rules were they can be used as this is not the case of Age of Eagles (AOE) or Valour&Fortitude (V&F) which are brigade level games. 

The cavalry is represented by the König Chasseurs à Cheval regiment. I couldn´t find any information about a flag for these troopers but I added  a pink one to go along with the facing colors. 

Next: The Essling granary and more Austrians.

Borodino 1812 (part 9): The Imperial Guard 3e Grenadiers a pied (Dutch) and the Vistula Legion infantry for AOE in 20mm

Time for more French side units for the Russian campaign of 1812. These two were glued to some ugly strips of card waiting for years for a definitive set of rules and bases. Even so the Dutch Grenadiers needed four new figures and the Vistula infantry some ten. 

The Dutch imperial guardsmen are all Airfix and one pioneer from Esci. Exceptuating the pioneer figure, the Airfix box had everything you need for the foot Imperial Guard, flag bearer, officer, drummer and NCOs. 

The Polish Vistula Legion infantry is mostly made from Esci French due to the short jacket in Bardin style. A few Esci Russian bodies were also used with French shakoes. Apparently the Vistula infantry didn´t use the Czapka making these Esci figures a reasonable choice. The lapels were disguised with several coats of paint.  Here the problems start as the different sources (or interpretations, if you want) show many different details regarding cords, cuffs and even chin strap colors. The only thing they all agree is the white epaulettes for the grenadiers. I hope that the amount of yellow on these figures makes them stand apart from the masses of French infantry nearby.

Again the figures are glued to each other in order to have a sturdier base with no paint coming out. 

The problem with these old boxes from Esci is the lack of equipment in many figures. So all of them had a backpack from a deceased figure namely the kneeling figure at the front row and the shooting figure in the second row. In the third row there are some Airfix French artillerymen with a Pom Pom made of a piece of heated plastic. Finally there are also some Hat figures for variety. 

The flags were taken from this image on the Web.This is my usual way to produce flags: I simply doubled them into a word page and resized it into a convenient size. 

Next: Retroranda 3d prints and FtF models for WW2 or more Napoleonics