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 34) The British high command at Waterloo

 

This post concludes the Anglo-Allied army led by Wellington in the 100 days campaign. When I was making it in 28mm it was the smallest of the three but in 20mm is much more easily done as the variety of troops - British, Scottish, KGL, Dutch, Belgians, Nassauers and Brunswickers - allows for lots of conversions that in the smaller size work reasonably. The commander stands of the first corps and of the Dutch divisions were made previously.  

For this post was used the metal Wellington´s command by Waterloo1815, given to me by TC, and Italeri, Airfix, Waterloo1815 and Hat figures. 

Wellington´s command stand has (L to R), de Lancey, Uxbridge, the man himself and Picton. The figure of Ponsonby was placed in a individual stand as brigade commander and the Scottish officer in the box was not used. 

The tree is meant to be the famous Waterloo Helm, a good place at the Waterloo battlefield for observation were Wellingtons spent some of  time on the 18th of June. The tree was destroyed by tourists after the battle and some parts were taken to England from were at least one chair was made and sits nowadays at the Windsor castle: 

Even so I prefer the tree. 

Lt- Gen Lord Hill, commander of the II Corps, was made from the Italeri figure of Wellington with added plume according to the MSJ website. The ADC is Lord Hill younger brother, Clement. 

Now for the infantry divisional commanders (L to R): Cooke (1st Guards Division); Clinton (2nd Division); Alten (3rd  Division); Colville (4th Division);  Picton (again, this time as Co of the 5th Division) and Lambert ( 6th Division, in replacement of Lt Gen Cole who was fighting another far more interesting battle as he  was at his honeymoon). The Airfix officers got Hat bicornes, Cooke has no plume according to a famous portrait and the others had its plume burned for it to look closer to a General´s. I made no distinction between the Lieutenant and Major General as the differences in uniforms are extra gold in the former, something that at this scale I could not see properly - another advantage of 20mm :). 

The Cavalry Brigade commanders: Lord Somerset (Household Brigade); Ponsonby (Union Brigade); Dornberg (3rd Brigade);  Vandeleur (4th Brigade),  Vivian (6th Brigade) and  Arentchild (7th Brigade).  

In order to be sure nothing is left behind I generally make these charts were I tick with color what was already made. The red color was maybe at one fourth of the total when making all this in 28mm. Then yellow/green had to be used as the built went along in 20mm. 

Next: So much for this chart, only now I noticed the 5th Cavalry Brigade was not made and this one has to be next.

1813-15 battles in 20mm for AoE and V&F - (part 25) The Dutch Militia and high command at Waterloo

 

The Dutch militia is an important part of Wellington´s infantry (13%) on the 100 days campaign not only due to its numbers abut also because they didn´t behave that bad, at least as expected from militia, sometimes retreating but also placed in exposed positions against the Grand Batterie, as it was the case of Bylandt´s brigade. 

William, Prince of Orange, and its ADC are Waterloo1815 figures. He was wering this flamboyant uniform of Hussar influence at the 100 days. 

Obviously Waterloo1815 got the inspiration for the figure from this famous painting, were his horse, Wexy, is white. The white horse was usual in wartime paintings were it stood out in the middle of the black smoke of a battlefield. In fact this was not true in this and many other cases. 

 Wexy can still be see at the Royal Stables at Hague, were he was preserved after being taxidermied. Chestnut was his obvious colour. 

General Perponcher (2nd Dutch division) was in its 40s, so just a bit of white hair was painted. The figure is an Italeri Prussian. with its left side medal cut out. 

General Chassé (3rd Dutch division) is another Italeri figure, this time British in its birth. Chassé was in its 50s and a bit more white hair was added. I like these kind of details even if they are not significant in wargame terms but gives you the feel that you are doing the right things. 

The Dutch Militia here is Hat from the mixed box with Belgians. Only the officer and drummer are Italeri as the Hat box carries none of these. Also the flank companies have some Hat British light infantry due to the shoulder wings. I was about to use the officer and drummer from Hat´s Napoleonic British Command but Italeri places a lot of these figures in a box and you end up with too many of them which can be used here. Besides the officer of the Militia used the French influenced shako while the Hat British command only have the Belgian/Portuguese and the stovepipe shako. 

Next: British cavalry for Waterloo

1813-15 battles in 20mm 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 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 painted in Enamel colors as typical of those pre-internet and pre-acrylic days. 

They are for sure some of the most 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 for AoE and V&F - (part 4) First British arrive

 

These three brigades here are all repaints from the large group I exchanged with a fellow collector from Lisbon. From front to back you have the 2nd Foot Guards (Maitland´s brigade), the 2nd Coldstream Guards (Byng´s brigade) and the 14th Foot (Mitchell´s brigade). 

The 14th Foot is made of old and lovely Airfix figures that the previous owner managed to convert engineously to Peninsular British with Stovepipes. So the original Belgian shakos had to come back to the original but cords and the tall front had been erased so what I managed to make was some Belgian shakos covered in the waterproof material used at waterloo with the help of some paste. 

The Coldstream Guard are all the new Italeri with the Airfix mounted officer and Hat sapper. The main change here was to paint the trousers white but some small details like shoulder straps, eyes and such were also added. 

The Foot Guards are also Italeri with Hat sapper. The mounted officer is Waterloo1815. 

Next:Hanoverians for Waterloo in 20mm 

1813-15 battles in 20mm 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 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 28mm 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 greatcoated 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 greatcoated uniforms is quite nice as per the 28mm plastic Perry box. 

Next: more 1815 French infantry Airfix and Hat

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

 

Rapid Fire! NW Europe 44/45 - 101st US Airborne - 1st artillery battalion finished

 

The Airfix US paratroopers were outclassed by the Esci and Revell already many years ago. That is really a pity as they are excellent sculpts and very realistic. The problem with this set is having a bit too small figures compared to the other two rivals. 

Like that they are joining the artillery as they are very easy conversions. Most of the figures got something like a 75mm shell and some Milliput hands after cutting out Garands and Thompsons. 

The guns are Waterloo1815. 

To the left there is a 3d resin print. This Waterloo1815 is quite generous with three guns and 12 excellent artillerymen but they will end up in another project. 

Next. Greek infantry at Crete or more Slovaks

AOE (Age Of Eagles rules) The infantry regiments of the Russo-German Legion in 28mm at Waterloo 1815

The Russo-German Legion is one of those Prussian units that breaks the "dull Prussian army all-clad-in- dark-blue" myth. Together whith blue infantry and Landwehr, white Berg infantry, black Freikorps, grey reservists and green skirmishers this is another unit that adds color to the Prussian army of 1815. The uniforms were Russian (paid by England) and the personnel were mostly German as the previous Belgian, Dutch and other POW from the Russian 1812 campaign were already dismissed. In this shape, without colors that only arrived in late 1815, the two regiments - 30 and 31- can block Grouchy at the Wavre under Thielmann's command. 

The hard plastic figures used were mostly Hat Prussians with a few Perry in the marching IR No30. 

Once again the Perry can be placed along the Hat miniatures and form very reasonably looking stands. The shako should be the Russian Kiwer but the Prussian with the oil cloth cover making a front peak is a close thing. The Prussian uniform of these days was also heavily influenced by the Russian one which makes Prussian figures a good model for the Russo-German regiments. 

There were no more drums from the command box so I converted some hornists with new arms and drums from Victrix and Perry. 

The Perry figure maching close to the right in the front rank had his head switched to a Hat one and the result is reasonable. 

Next: most probably a return to Poland 1939. 

The Prussian army at Waterloo for AOE (Age of Eagles) rules in 28mm

This one was possible when Warlord and Perry released their Landwehr and Line infantry plastic boxes. Even so you can see plenty of my usual conversions based on the 28mm Hat figures and many metal officers and characters. Still no artillery, that will come from Perry, but some cavalry and all the infantry are here.

AOE (Age Of Eagles rules) British 3rd /Foot Guards and Prussian 11th Hussar in 28mm at Waterloo 1815

 

By adding the Foot Guards and General Cooke miniature the 1st British infantry division is done. The problem is that its only the ninth Brigade sized group of the Allied army to be built and some thirty are still to go ... glups!...

In better shape is my Prussian army with all infantry done - only missing was this stand of Jägers - and a few more cavalry joining the ranks from today.

The Foot Guards are a mix of Victrix and Perry all with Perry heads. The sapper is a metal Perry miniature. 

By mixing Victrix and Perry you can even mix their arms and having a complete set of different figure from each other. 

General George Cooke was made from a Perry metal Colonel and painted with light colored hair as it shows in period paintings. 

The Prussian Hussars are made from horses and torsos from the French Perry Hussars with the addition of Perry Prussian infantry heads. The shabraque´s teeth were smoothed with a hot iron in Prussian style. 

Unfortunatly only one of these Jäger bases is necessary for the entire Blücher´s army as these Perry figures are cleverly built with the same torso but with moving arms and head which changes their movement dramatically. 

Next: a video on the Waterloo Prussian army.

AOE (Age Of Eagles rules) 7th Belgian infantry in 28mm at Waterloo 1815

 

The 7th Belgian infantry line regiment was part of Bylandt famous brigade that fought at Quatre-Bras and also, two days later, bore the brunt of the massive d´Érlon´s attack. Here, using brigade level AOE rules, the 7th Beçgian line represent the entire brigade. The 7th was a veteran unit with many soldiers that previously fought for Napoleon. For a good story of this unit, use this link: 

http://7delinie.be/en/history/

The figures are a mix of parts from Victrix and Perry British plastic boxes. The main changes is the usage of the stovepipe provided in two different Victrix boxes on Perry´s bodies and the erasing of the lace. This last one is particularly time consuming. The officer in a circular stand is a marker for advancing/breakthrough unit (Irregular Miniatures with a shako from Victrix). Next to it is a Perry casualty marker. 

The good thing about mixing brands is that you don´t get two figures alike. 

 If you don´t want to have this trouble you can wait until Warlord releases a number of plastic boxes of Belgian/Dutch infantry and cavalry. They are next on their On the making list and I found them by accident while looking for inspiration for these ones. 

The Command stand. The Flag is warflag and all typical British uniform details - the strips of lace on both cuffs and coat - were erased with a scalpel and  now look more like a French uniform as it should. The "French" cuffs were simply painted on. 

The Grenadier company. 

Centre companies. 

Light company. 

Casualty and breakthrough markers. 

Next: The British Foot Guards at Waterloo