Peninsular War: Anglo-Portuguese Army: The Third Division, May 1811

This unit is comprised of figures which were my first attempt at painting 28 mm Napoleonics. I started these figures in the late spring of 2006. Looking back at the figures now, I can see my painting style was quite rudimentary, but I think fairly accurate in respect to the uniform details, aside from a few idiosyncrasies. The first figures I bought were Foundry which make up the majority of the figures in the 1st Brigade, as well as Major General Picton. My big purchase of Front Rank Figures came in January of 2007, and these can be seen in the 3rd Brigade. The 2nd Brigade is mixed. The 2 English brigadier generals and the Portuguese artillery (actually converted British) are from Redoubt, these were painted about a year ago. I really find Redoubt figures are no match in quality to Front Rank or Foundry. Artillery units are quite expensive, and I got these at 80% off.

I have recently moved the figures around so the rank and file in each battalion are from one manufacturer. A bit of repainting of facings and base repairs were required, but the figures are otherwise as painted at the time. Most of the British battalions at the Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro fielded a little over 500 men, so the figure ratio here is around 1 figure for every 40 men. I have not bothered with grenadier companies, but each battalion has their light company based a skirmishers (2 figures).

Sir Thomas Picton, as he would have appeared at the Battle of Waterloo, but who could resist.
1st Brigade, led by Colonel Henry MacKinnon. The 74th Highland Foot was de-kilted by this time, but for some reason that escapes me now, I decided to dress the battalion colonel in full highland kit. Next is the 1st battalion of the 88th Foot, the famous Connaught Rangers. The last unit is the 45th (Nottinghamshire) Foot. The 60th Royal American Rifles had three companies assigned to this Brigade.
2nd Brigade, led by Major-General Charles Colville. Leading the brigade are the 5th (Northumberland) Foot, followed by the 2nd battalion of the 83rd Foot and the 2nd battalion 88th Foot. The last battalion in the OB is 94th (The Scotch Brigade) Foot.
5th Northumberland Fusiliers, painted in error as fusiliers: The Fighting Fifth did not receive this distinction until 1836. I am not sure why their regimental colours do not match the colour of their facings (gosling green)
3rd Brigade led by Colonel Manly Power, here dressed as a Portuguese brigadier general. Here we have the 1st and 2nd battalion of the 9th line (Viana) regiment and the 1st battalion of the 21st line (Valanza) regiment, all in the Portuguese Northern Division. The command stand of the 1st/9 regiment was painted this weekend (I was short one stand)
Portuguese Artillery, 4 batteries were at the battle, de Preto's and de Rozziere's of the 1st (Lisbon) Portuguese Artillery Regiment and de Sequerra's and Rosado's batteries of the 2nd (Algarve) Portuguese Artillery Regiment. each battery had five 9 pounders and one 5.5" howitzer by 1812 in Wellington's army. There were around 140 men in each battery, thus 3 figures on each stand.
5th battalion, 60th Royal American Rifles, with slightly lighter green jackets then the 95th, red facings and nice blue trousers.

Photographing Miniatures: White Balance

I am not an intuitive photographer, at times I am not even sure what looks good. I use a Panasonic Lumix 10x optical zoom, 9 megapixal camera. It is nice and compact; but I feel the pictures, I take, could be better. I wonder if I could get some help with white balance. I am curious on what you think is the best setting. The halogen setting seems to capture the colour of the blue background most accurately, but I wonder if the green is right?

Below you can see my trial set up for photographing miniatures. I am using 2 lamps with 100w Daylight CFL bulbs. In the ceiling, there is a halogen spot aimed at the table. I think I need 1 more overhead light, but I am still trying to find something that is inexpensive.

iA: This is the automatic setting on the camera.
What follows are the manual settings (macro, no flash, spot focus, auto ISO), with variable white balance.
Average White Balance
Daylight
Halogen
White Set (I am not sure what this means)

Peninsular War: Anglo-Portuguese Army: The British Light Division, May 1811

The first of my peninsular units is the famous Light Division. They are represented here as they were at Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro. I probably painted these units 2 years ago. Only the 43rd (the Monmouthshire Light Regiment) and the 1/2 52nd (the Oxfordshire Light Regiment) battalions have colours. Neither, the Portuguese Caçadores or the 95th Rifles carried or I think had regimental colours.

The 52nd and the 43rd are based as in battalion order (3 figures to a base) while both the caçadores and the rifles are based in skirmishing order (2 figures to a base). The figures of the 52nd and 43rd are from Elite Miniatures and the Cacadores and the Rifles are from Front Rank. The flags are from GMB Flags.

"Black Bob" Crauford, the general in command of the Light Division. These are Foundry figures.

The 2nd Brigade, under Colonel George Drummond, comprising the 1/2 battalions of 52nd Light infantry regiment. The skirmishing units are elements of 1/95th Rifles and 1st Caçadores.
Close up of the 52nd.
Here is the first Brigade under Colonel Beckwith, late of the 95th Rifles. The brigade was made up of the 43rd Light infantry battalion, units of the 1/2 95th Rifles and the 3rd Caçadores.
And of course, the Light Brigade's usual companion; the 1st KGL Hussars.

Victrix Voltiguer Skirmishers

These voltiguers are the first off the painting table from the new Victrix French Napoleonic Infantry. As previously observed, I found these quite difficult to assemble. Generally, I do not like crouching figures as they are hard to set up in battalion order. Since I had no skirmishing stands for my French battalions, I thought that these 8 figures from the box could be used in skirmish order on 40 x 20 mm bases. Only 4 of the figures are voltiguers (the ones on your right on each base), but the differences are obvious only on the left side of each figure. I think it would be unlikely that I shall ever notice. All those little extra heads are very useful.

I was hoping that they would be easy to paint, but I found them a little challenging. I suppose, that I have never painted such an elaborate uniform and the fact that they were in a crouching position made some of the details of the uniform difficult to tease out.

Generally, GW washes were used over a white prime coat, with the details picked out using acrylic GW paints. Overall, I am not completely satisfied with the result, I feel I have done better. I shall have to see how the standing infantry figures go.

Huzzah, Huzzah.....New Napoleonic Forum

Go to Clash of Empires for the new Napoleonic forum.

What a mess...what a mess...

In a recent post's comments, I said I was going to start to post photos, a division at a time, of my figures completed to date. The above photo show all the Anglo-Portuguese units I have now painted. I started painting on a regular basis 3-4 years ago. At the time, I decided to attempt to paint the forces, at around a 1:50 figure ratio, that were present at the Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro in May 1811. This was a pretty ambitious project and I am surprised that I am about maybe a third of the way there.

Above are the Third, Light, First and Cotton's Cavalry divisions, aside from the Scots Guards and 2 regiments of cavalry, which are still left to do. All the command figures (Wellington, the divisional and brigade stands) and artillery are also done.

Looking back now, though I realise there are many problems. It is amazing how little I knew at the time about uniforms. The most glaring error is that the is that they are all in Belgic shakos!!!! Also I bought figures with a firing pose which are a nightmare to pose on the small bases I like. They look good on the base, but are difficult to align into march column. Certainly too late to change out the figures.

It is also interesting to look at my painting style. At the time I use a black undercoat and was a very poor block painter with some elementary shading. I did not appreciate the subtleties of the detail on the figures and never painted in the muskets etc. properly. Well I do not think that I am going to repaint them and they do document the evolution of my painting ability (my wife says I have improved greatly; I do not show her the photos of some of your work!).

Another problem is that I switched from basically Foundry figures to Front Rank figures somewhere along the way. If I remember correctly, I think it was because of the way that Foundry command figures were packaged. When I started to paint the Front Rank's, I liked them and started to buy their basic infantrymen. Somehow or another, I ended up mixing the figures together within the battalion unit. I think I will fix this as much as I can by moving around the figures and repainting the appropriate facing as needed. This I hope will not be too big a job.

I am also going to slightly change my basing scheme. My original thoughts on basing has changed. I am ok with the everything I originally planned, except the the British Infantry battalions. I think now that I will increase the unit size to 14-15 figures (5 bases) from 11-12 (4 bases) figures. You may notice that all my British infantry battalions have an integrated mounted officer while my French units have the mounted officer at the regimental level (3 battalions). The British units look lopsided with one 40x40mm base and three 20x40mm bases. I realise the 3 figure 20x40mm base is not the norm and that most of you use 4 figure square (40,45 or 50mm) bases. I am not really in to creating mini-dioramas so I feel my scheme is more historically accurate, ie. it gives a thinner looking line. I can also suck this up historically as the British arrayed themselves in lines of 2 deep, while the French were 3 deep. Therefore I think it reasonable that my British Battalions when in line are 200 mm wide, while the French are 160mm wide for units with generally the same number of men (500-600).

So how shall I start? Well, I am going to have to raid some of the infantrymen of the 4 battalions of KGL line to build up the other British units to 5 bases and to make the battalions uniformly either Front Rank or Foundry. I hope this is not too much work. In the end I can order some new figures for these units with stovepipe shakos and they should stand out nicely.

I also still want to adhere to some historical orders of battle for my units, so I am still not sure how many figures I will use in the large Guard (Coldstream and Scots)and Light (52nd) infantry units. I would appreciate any suggestions.

War of the Sixth Coalition: Allied Army of the North: Wallmoden's Korps, Division Tettenborn, September 1813

I have finally completed one of the four divisions in my Wallmoden's Korps project. I actually think it is wrong to use the term division in respect to a Prussian Korps, but most will understand what I mean. The unit contained a brigade of infantry with an attached artillery battery and a brigade of cavalry. Most of the figures are Calpe, with the exception of the Tyrolean jaegers and Hanoverian Foot Artillery (Perry Brunswick and Hanoverian ranges) and the Cossacks (Front Rank).

Baron Friedrich Karl of Tettenborn

The standing figure represents a general staff figure rather then an ADC.

Ratt: Infantry Brigade Commander

Lutzow's Freikorps

Von Reiche's Feldjaegers

Hanoverian Kielsmansegge's Feldjaegers

Hanseatic Artillery

(if someone can find me a picture of what an artillery unit from the Hanseatic states looked like in 1813, I will change out the unit; otherwise we will keep this Hanoverian battery as is)

Tyrolean Jaegers

Ludwig Adolf Wilhelm von Lützow

I decided to paint Lutzow as a hussar officer and make him the cavalry brigade commander.

Lutzow's Hussars

Don Cossacks

I am not sure if I would do that again!!

I am sure that I have spent at least 15 hours assembling and prepping this box of Victrix French Infantry. I used every figure in the box, plus 6 extra figures from the Perry French. I got five 12 figure battalions and 8 skirmishing voltiguers. There is still prep work to do on 2 of the sticks and I notice I am missing a left arm on one of the voltiguers. They still need their knapsacks attached (I will do that after the figures are painted) and the swords for the elites are still not glued. And although they are nice figures and relatively easy to paint, I am not sure if they are worth the work. I could have had 2 battalions of Calpe or Front Rank painted in the time it will taken me to just prep these figures. Maybe I am just slow.

Latest Units off the Painting Table

Russian Cossacks from Front Rank for my Wallmoden's Korps. Aside from the piping and the horse leather, the figures were done with GW washes over a white primer. The headgear were done with just a black wash, but the distinct difference in the chords and the colpack was done varying both the number of coats and the dilution of the wash.

My Highland battalions

The new Hanoverian range from Perry.

AR for FoB: Engagement at the Ventosa

For my second go at solo wargaming using the Field of Battle Rules, I thought I would do the Engagement at Ventosa, the action on the left flank of the British forces in the Battle of Vimeiro fought in August 1808. For a brief synopsis of the battle see Wikipedia. The order of battle is here.

Junot, the commander of the French forces was badly outnumbered, and hoped that a flanking maneuver would give him an advantage. He sent two infantry brigades north and then to the east in an hope to surprise Wellesley on his left flank, northeast of Vimeiro. On reaching the farm at Ventosa the lead French brigade commander Solignac could see some British skirmishers west of him on top of a small hill. He ordered his brigade to attack. What he did not know was that on the other side of the hill were the 3 British brigades of Nightingale, Ferguson and Bowes. Solignac's only support was Brennier's infantry brigade with an attached dragoon regiment, which was almost a mile east of Ventosa.

I took the idea of the scenario from the General de Brigade rulebook, thus there are some alterations in the order of battle. It will be a 3 turn game.

Order of Battle

Terrain (scale 1"=25yds)

Vimeiro is in the extreme west. There is a class III forest north of the farm at Ventosa. The hill has 2 access points (both Class I terrain), the one to the east is 250 yds wide, the other on the northwest face is 150 yds wide, the hill is otherwise class III. The rest of the terrain is class I. The Maceira river, the town of Vimeiro, and the features in the corners of the terrain should not come into play.

The position of the 5 brigades is described below, all units start the game in a column of march, except the 1/95th which are attached to Nightingale's brigade who are in skirmish order. The other 2&3/95th are in line at the beginning of the game. The 3rd Dragoons attached to Brennier's brigade are just off the table and come on with Brennier's first move card. Nightingale's and Solignac's ADCs assume the Group Commander role for their respective brigades.

Looking from west to east with the town of Vimeiro in the foreground. There is Wellesley west of the river!!!

Victory Conditions

I am still thinking about this, maybe I will poll TMP. ...................Well, that was useful!! So let us decide on some victory conditions. Well if the British or French drive their opponent off the hill at the end of 3 turns they win. If at the end of 3 turns both sides have men on the ridge the calculation will depend on the total AMP lost. Well on to the game.

First Turn

Here is Brennier's brigade at the far east of the terrain.

So the cards were shuffled and the die were thrown, both D12 leadership dice: French throw a 12 and the British a 4; 8 Initiative ponts, French take first go and have 8+ cards to turn. Not much happens, poor cards turned, some movement, the dragoons get on the table, both French brigades creep forward, Solignac's brigade maneuvers into attack column.

The British move forward, Nightingale's brigade maneuvers into line. History repeats itself!! Bowe's brigade moves forward.

Desultory die throws occur, cards are slow, but then suddenly the French throw again for 8 IP and the game moves quickly. The 3e Dragoons move into line and advance, Solignac's brigade moves forward. The 1/95th skirmishers spot the 3 French infantry battalions advancing rapidly in attack column.

Solignac's brigade crests the hill, the 95th opportunity fire; no effect. The 29th Foot opportunity fire and the 58e ligne fall back out of command. The 12e léger and 15e ligne advance to engage, they hold their fire.
More move cards are drawn (the French have a superior deck), Solignac's brigade is relentless. The 12e légere and 15e ligne fire and the 1/95th are routed back, the French smell blood. The 12e engage the 82nd in melee and the 15e and the 58e engage the 29th in melee.
The 15e rout the 29th, but not before the 29th rout the 58e, but the unit integrity of 29th drops below zero and they are destroyed. The 12e rout the 82nd and fire into the retreating 82nd, their unit integrity drops to zero.

End of Turn 1. So history may not repeat itself, the French are in good position as they have only 1 unit in rout, have lost zero Army Morale Points, have a lot of leadership cards in their deck and hopefully Brennier is close. The British have lost the 29th, and both the 1/95th and the 82nd are at zero Unit Integrity. They have lost all their AMP. Not a good situation!!

Second Turn

An 11 vs 7 for 4 IP in favour of the French is thrown. Brennier's brigade moves forward, they are at the base of the hill. Solignac is able to bring his units back in command. The british get their Foot Artillery up the slope and the rest of Ferguson's brigade advances. The 3e Dragoons maneuver into attack column and advance and engage the 6th Foot in melee, they are repulsed. On the third IP throw, evens are thrown and turn 2 comes to an end.

Third Turn

The French again capture the initiative, the 3e Dragoons again attack the 6th but they stand firm. The remaining units of Bowe's brigade; 2/95th and 32nd Foot form square.

Almost all of Brennier's brigade is on the summit, the French advance is relentless.

Brennier's and Solignac's brigades can now smell blood, they advance rapidly firing as they go, the 6th Foot and the 2/95th are routed.

The French maneuver into position, the British initiative is lost, poor cards are drawn and the leadership fail to rally the troops.

The French move forward in attack column firing as they go, the 2/95th and the 6th are destroyed. The Foot Artillery battery is enveloped by multiple French infantry units. The situation is hopeless. The French are victorious.

Game Over
Well the French certainly trounced the English in this scenario. The British had lost all their AMP by the first turn and by the end of turn 3 the French had 5 extra AMP. What happened, well maybe I favoured the French a little in this scenario; I have a tendency to favour the underdog. At the same time the random generator had given the French a average card deck and the British a poor card deck. The die also seemed to favour the French. The turn ended before the British were completely turned off the hill, but it was very close to happening.

I still do not really have the rules down. I missed that on the lull card, the opposite side get a chance to turn a card. I am also still struggling a bit with close in movement, but a re-read of the rule book (thankfully very short) cleared a lot of things up.