28mm Napoleonic French Command vignette

At last my Napoleonic French Staff command vignette is finished, comprising a mix of staff officers, generals, adcs etc. all Perry miniatures figures.

Mounted on a 100m mdf base I wanted a busy scene to impart a bit of atmosphere to my battlefields, hopefully I can acquire an ambulance set, a supply wagon set and a pontoon set in the near future.

 The two tables with scrolls, maps, ink pot and chairs come with one of the figures set.

 The cobbles are 'Wills granite sets' scenic pack bought from a model shop in Redcar.

 I was hoping to make it look like a farm courtyard.

Two adcs are from the 7th Regiment of Hussars, one from a Chasseur regiment, one a dedicated staff adc. Two staff officers writing and handing out orders, with two cavalry generals chatting one an Imperial Guard Dragoon the other a Carabinier, and two marshals discussing tactics over a battle map.

Any how I have a Bavarian Generals command base to complete with Bavarian light infantry battalion next.

All the Best,
Peter.

28mm Napoleon Bonaparte's Command vignette

28mm Napoleon Bonaparte's Command vignette....done :)

Comprising Napoleon Bonaparte on a white Charger, Mameluke Ali on an Arab Grey horse, with Marshal Soult chatting to an aide-de-camp from a chasseur a cheval Regiment.

All figures are by Perry miniatures, with a lick of paint here and there by moi.

Louis Étienne Saint-Denis otherwise known as Mameluke Ali to Napoleon, he was appointed as a second to Roustam Napoleon's bodyguard. Saint-Denis accompanied Napoleon during the Russian campaign, went to Elba with him, returned with him to France for the Waterloo campaign and accompanied Napoleon in exile to St. Helena, where he served as second valet and as Napoleon’s librarian.

So hopefully I'll be ready for a late Napoleonic campaign in the near future, probably 1814-1815 or I could stretch it back to 1812 if I can acquire a Russian army, finances permitting.

Again this is a 100mm mdf base (2mm thick) textured with rough filler which sets rock hard, covered in PVA glue with grit and tea leaves sprinkled generously to create a grass effect, 4mm tufts are added once the whole base is dry brushed in several coats of dirt and grass colours where appropriate using enamels and oils. And varnished with stinky 'Testores Dullcote' the best matt varnish spray on the market.

Any how next will be a French Staff command base.

All the Best,
Peter.

28mm The Duke of Wellington's Command stand

I've been busy vignette building, this is one of three 100mm diameter command stands for the later Napoleonic Wars.

 The Duke's horse is 'Copenhagen' an eight year old chestnut.

Lord Uxbridge is a conversion wearing the correct hussar Busby of the 7th Hussars slightly modified.

 I painted these in enamels, oils and acrylics to obtain the best pigment colours.

 Perry miniatures supply some of the finest 28mm figures from their Napoleonic ranges.

 The tufts I made earlier, they are 4mm in height, longer fibers for example 6mm tend to be difficult to make satisfactorily. I'd like to figure out how to make wheat clumps someday.

 The base has textured filler spread onto it and various grades of rock clumps glued on with PVA glue.

 Dry brushing techniques were used for the dirt effects.

 The whole vignette was then varnished with 'Testors Dullcote' varnish to even out the shiny and matt effects of the paint.

 I may have over done the effect with a small gorse bush in the front.

 I like to paint the horses with pink noses, having lived near the countryside with plenty of horses around, it's one feature that I like to pick up on.

The vignette comprises The Duke of Wellington - Arthur Wellesley with a telescope, the 2nd Earl of Uxbridge - Henry Paget in the uniform of the 7th Hussars, Major Henry Percy - the Duke's aide-de-camp from the 14 Light Dragoons, and two other officers. The idea was to base it for a Waterloo 1815 Hundred Days Campaign.

Anyhow, Napoleon's command base will be featured next,
All the Best, Peter.

28mm Ancients - Julius Caesars command stand

 A stab of nostalgia gave me some energy to finish off Julius Caesars command stand this month, this vignette was on the back burner for a few weeks until I finally got the chance to finish it. An mdf disc approximately 85mm in diameter forms the base with a stack of real slate glued together and painted grey to create uniformity, with the gaps filled in with silver grey milliput.

 Most of the figures are 'Copplestone' minis bought through 'Wargames Foundry' a long time ago, the Caesar figure was bought through 'Companion miniatures', though I missed out on the Pompey figure due to lack of funds. I do have the mounted varient but I'm still looking for a suitable horse as a mount.
 Shields are 'Aventine miniatures' oval scuta.

 Caesar's German personal bodyguard is present, a conversion of a 'Foundry' torso, 'Black Tree Designs' head and right arm and legs with copiously modeled green stuff to fill in the gaps.

 As always I have added the tufts made by me of which I frequently seem to be running out of.

 I chose to have the aquilifer carrying the eagle standard wearing a brown bear skin cape.

12 Cretan archers add some firepower to the Caesarean Army I started a long time ago
A group of Cretan archers were known to accompany Caesar fighting the Gauls and the Germans, as well as Numidian archers and Gallic archers and Balearic slingers.

I think I have to paint another 1 or 2 cohorts all 'Copplestone' minis with 'Aventine' shields.

As always I try to get the feel of the period I'm portraying by listening to audio books: In this case Caesar's own account and commentaries on the Gallic and the German war on you tube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snft290-FRc 

 Not having listened to these accounts for awhile I was surprised at the clarity of the accounts and of course all the under handed back stabbing that went on during the wars.

Anyhow back to Napoleonics next month.
Best Regards,
Peter.

28mm Napoleonic 6th Bavarian, 1st Nassau-Usingen & French 7th Hussars

It has been a very busy few weeks, but I've managed to finish a second Bavarian infantry battalion and a Nassau battalion for an upcoming Napoleonic campaign, so here are a few pics
28mm Bavarian Infantry
6th Regiment of Line, circa 1812-15.

28mm 1st Nassau-Usingen Infantry Regiment.
 The 1st Regiment Nassau can be used for late Napoleonic campaigns as part of the French contingent or Allied contingent in the Hundred Days/Waterloo 1815 campaign.

Showing off their green uniforms with yellow piping the Nassau-Usingen regiments have to be the best dressed German regiments in the Napoleonic wars especially when compared with their dour Prussian cousins. It adds a nice colourful touch to any army.

French 7th Hussars
To fund my projects I managed to sell these French Hussars on eBay to some very kind customers :)

The 7th Hussars were the only French Hussar regiment actually present at the battle of Waterloo 18th June 1815. The miniatures are Perry plastic with a 'GMB designs' flag. I cut the fringed edge of the flag painting it in a variety of colours and highlighted with gold to give a nice 3D effect.

Any how just waiting for 'GMB designs' to send me some flags to complete a third Bavarian infantry regiment, next blog I hope to finish a French staff command vignette I've been constructing over the last few days...
All the Best
Peter