Tuesday, February 04, 2014

Not the Peninsula Project I intended...


My latest Perry Miniatures based and undercoated


I have always had a hankering to paint some units for the Peninsula War and, thanks to Sharpe, initially was looking at doing Talavera, which featured in both the book and the TV adaption Sharpe's Eagle.    Later I became interested in the battle of Barossa where Sergeant Patrick Masterson  of the 87th foot took the first French Eagle of the Napoleonic Wars for the British (and was promoted to ensign as a result).  Indeed, I actually started to paint quite a lot of 20mm plastic figures, so I could reenact this battle, about 15 years ago.  More recently, I bought quite a lot of Victrix plastics but just couldn't face putting them together. There were no instructions and I couldn't work out what pose they would eventually be in from looking at the parts.  I also didn't like the anatomy on them (particularly the French). I bought Sharp Practice thinking I might do some skirmishes but that never happened.

More recently, I finished my first full Napoleonic unit,the 27th Dutch Jaegers and started to paint some Perry Prussians, having now got over my fear of painting Napoleonics.  They were slow and tedious work but I wasn't frightened of them any more.  My biggest problem has been that I try to paint forces only for historical battles.  I can't bring myself to line up random units for a fictional encounter.  As Steve the Wargamer said in a recent post it's because I also come at wargaming through an interest in history.  Therefore trying to paint figures for a specific Napoleonic battle (even a small one) is patently insane when you are doing both sides.

Anyway, I was thinking about all this again when I saw the first of the Perry's Confederation of the Rhine figures.  Now I have always only ever been interested in the 100 Days and the Peninsula.  I dismissed all the people who bang on about Austerlitz, Lützen and Leipzig and wanted Austrian and Russian armies.  I had no interest in these parts of the Napoleonic Wars at all.  I have to confess that I didn't even know whose side the Confederation of the Rhine was on!  So I ignored the first Perry figures in this range.  Recently, however, they have brought out some troops for Reuss and Waldeck and I am lost!




For no reason I can logically explain I fell in love with the uniforms of these principalities because of my Blandford Military Uniforms of the World book by Preben Kannik.  I must have been given this book just a few years after it came out in 1967.  My favourite part of the book, when I was little, were the twenty pages of Napoleonic uniforms and my favourites of these were the Reuss and Waldeck uniforms.  They were not even the flashiest Napoleonic uniforms in the book but their striking blue and white colours appealed to me.  I even painted some of my Airfix French (the soldiers from the French artillery set with the big shakos) in the colours of Waldeck.   I never imagined that figures for these forces would ever be released in 28mm.  Once I saw them I knew I had to have them but what would I do with them?  Then I discovered that they fought in the Peninsula in a composite battalion.  I could have both the Reuss and Waldeck figures in the same unit: the 6th Confederation of the Rhine regiment.  The Perry Miniatures site even has a helpful organisation chart for the battalion in Spain.




So I will need six companies altogether in the French manner. One company of Waldeck grenadiers, two of Waldeck fusiliers and three companies of Reuss fusiliers.  I will aim at 6 companies of four to start with, with the option to expand to companies of six if I get along with them.  I need to buy a command pack and can include one figure in each company.

Even more interesting they fought in the battle of La Bisbal. It wasn't much of a battle and the outnumbered Confederation troops soon surrendered having been pinned down in a small castle in the town centre.  It all took place, however, in a part of Spain where I used to go on holiday when I was young. So names like Palamós and  Girona resonate with me.  The only source I can find on the battle mentions 2 battalions of the 6th Confederation of the Rhine and two battalions of the 5th, the figures for which the Perries also do.


The very promising looking Eagle Figures


For the Spanish it was in the period before they were issued with the British-made uniforms so would have been still resplendent in their bicornes. I have found a company I have never heard of before called Eagle Figures which does figures of a similar build to the Perry ones (the Front Rank ones are far too chunky, for example).  They even do a figure representing one of the Swiss regiments which was present at La Bisbal plus artillery and cavalry.  They only sell figures individually (no choice of poses but then the Perry ones are all in the marching position too - very old school) so I have ordered one to see what it looks like compared with the Perry ones.




One thing I have discovered as regards searching on the internet is that it pays to search in the language of, in this case, the location of the battle you are looking for, so I managed to find some pictures of a 200th anniversary reenactment of the battle which has given me at least one interpretation of the uniforms of the Spanish.  Fortunately, this does match with at least one written source I have found. Interestingly, the Spanish also had basically light blue and white uniforms ,so the two sides will compliment each other most artistically!  Having started off saying that I am not interested in fictional battles this one will be a slightly "what if" conflict given that a bunch of Germans holed up in a castle who surrender as soon as the Spanish started massing outside doesn't make for a very interesting wargame.  Anyway my wargames projects are all only really an excuse to paint figures.  The gaming bit almost never happens!

So, another Napoleonic project begins but I am very aware that the only unit of Napoleonics I have finished took seven years to complete!  Still, you're not a proper wargamer if you don't have some part-painted Napoleonics under way!  Any progress on this will be recorded on my Napoleonic blog.


As a budding artist at school I was always really offended by the appalling perspective on the cannon on the LP cover!


Today's music was actually written to commemorate a Peninsula battle (Vitoria): Beethoven's Wellington' s Victory.  This, again, is my favourite version which I had on record before I found the CD. It is Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra again, in full flight.  The 1812 on this record is also my favourite version. A few years ago I had a very clever CD player which brilliantly removed all the bangs on the basis that it thought they must be faults on the disc!  

18 comments:

  1. Great Article!

    I still have the blandford book on Uniforms of Waterloo - great little books. Were they the forerunners to Osprey?

    For my sins I painted over 2000 Napoleonic figures about six years back - I should add in 10mm. I doubt If they have seen more than a handful of battles, and when they do come out its only a few stands.

    Thankfully I realised my folly when I finished painting the French so I only focussed on a few British battalions and regiments. One day I'll get them all out on the table and refight Quatre Bras - the original aim

    PS How many blogs are you writing for - Napoleonic, Victoriana etc

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    1. Yes, the Blandfords were about the only uniform books you could get at the time, I had two on just British uniforms and another favourite Warriors and Weapons of Ancient times. i have over twenty blogs which I why I don't get much painting done!

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  2. Are you still planning on using Sharpes Practice for the rules for skirmish gaming or do you have something more grandiose in mind?

    Several times I have tried to get into Naps, but rarely manage to maintain interest as, as a period, I guess its just not my thing... which makes being put off by the required fiddly paintjobs for the uniforms, facings and straps, all the more likely...

    Best of luck with your ambitions!

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    1. I can't even think about rules until I have some figures done. I did start on six last night and even with only basic colours down they look really striking!

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  3. Great looking figs in the works. I have the uniform book that first image is from - and lovely uniforms those are. Dean

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    1. Yes, I've done four base colours on one figures and he does look smart!

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  4. It'll be interesting to follow this project. I've always had a hankering after the Confederation of the Rhine (though I'll never do it, as I have now totally shut the gate on doing any more Napoleonics).

    I must say that one of the Eagle figures you showed has a rather strange crotch. Talk about a thigh gap ;-}

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  5. Yes! I'm hoping the one in the bicorne is more typical.

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  6. I also had that book as a kid (probably in the year it came out) and it was the only uniform book I had for years. I found it frustrating because there wasn't enough information on any one country to paint up all the figure types I needed. Fortunately Hinton Hunt produced a painting instruction sheet for every figure in their range but it was not the same as seeing a colour plate! I will follow the progress of your unit with great interest - actually 7 years isn't too bad for a Napoleonic unit...

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    1. I used it to paint all my Airfix ACW figures so my Confederates were all resplendent in sky blue trousers - coincidentally the same Humbrol Colour I am using for my Reuss Fusiliers!

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  7. I was really interested in these figures - as you say, the uniforms just look so much fun to paint. I bought the Peter Bunde uniform plates as well - I really recommend those. Then I realised I just can't justify buying any more figures until I've worked through the leadpile a bit.

    Best of luck with these - I'll enjoy watching how this project progresses.

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  8. Yes, I ordered the uniform plates last night too. I can't justify them either!

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  9. Yes, I try to only paint units for historical battles, I suppose that is why I have painted up the South Essex! But really thanks for the info, I am always looking for unusual units for the peninsula, and these are very interesting indeed.

    The thing about painting Napoleonics is that you just have to get on with it.

    John

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  10. You may also like to look at Brigade Games' Spanish figures. I've got the officer and some of the guerillas, and they really are quite splendid figures:

    http://brigadegames.3dcartstores.com/Spanish_c_349.html

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  11. I like the smaller German states as well. As a schoolboy I always planned to collect the whole Westphalian Army but never got further than 2 units of 25mm that were sold long ago...

    Perhaps I'll redo it one day.

    Mike

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  12. Hedlius - it's not often i find myself recommending Fantassin to anybody but take a look at these guys: http://www.warmodellingminiatures.com/index.php?id_category=74&controller=category&id_lang=4

    There are some nice figures there. And if you mix a command group with some of the Perry Carlist militia types you could have a militia battalion with a cadre of regular troops.

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    1. Thanks for that link. I hadn't seen them before. Certainly, too, there were some militia involved in the flight and I had forgotten about the Carlist range. I would guess that the clothes wouldn't change too much in thirty years.

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