[StarSlayer]

This is my first foray into historical miniatures and I settled on the daunting task of a French Division of Infantry and a Division of Heavy Cavalry. The miniatures are all from Perry Miniatures' 28mm range, mostly plastics with a smattering of metals to add a unique element to each infantry battalion. Units are at a 1/20 ratio and I'm looking to base them so they can be utilized for both Black Powder and General de Brigade rule sets. So far I have completed(sans flocking and flagging) two battalions of Infanterie Légère. On the bench are my first box of French Dragoons done up as the 25me regiment and my first battalion of Ligne.

The following was the very first infantry unit I completed, a battalion of Légère.  I really love the Légère, and I knew I wanted at least one regiment of these fellows as part of the division, plus I think the solid blue uniforms were a slightly easier point of entry then the Ligne.  I can fit about half a battalion on the paint sticks at a time and its funny how much better the second half of the troops came out compared to the first.  Unfortunately for them the first eighteen all ended up being relegated to the second line, poor sods.  The captain figure I used for this unit is probably one of my favorite officer sculpts in the Perry line, bit of a dude with his coat hung jauntily from one shoulder.  I used this image from Knötel's superlative work as the reference for him.  The Chasseur NCO is a great looking figure as well, I put together the company so it looked like the dogfaces where shouting their assent to his barked orders. 

So far I've been avoiding the flags and basing, I'll need to figure out exactly what units I want these battalions to represent and I figure I'll try to do the basing in bulk so at least a brigade ready before the flocking.  I'll try and get pictures of the second unit I completed next which will be the 1st Battalion with the regimental 'head of column'.

Anyway on to the images:

[FreeSpaceFreak]

My own self-painted model airplanes all look like someone accidentally spilled paint over them, but you have some serious painting skills here sir

[Oddgrim]

indeed very impressive! c:
As for calvary force , a character in there based on Joachim Murat would be very cool.

[StarSlayer]

Thanks everybody!  I know I'm going to try and scratch a LaSalle looking fellow for the Light Cavalry Brigade and I'll see if there is a figure in the Perry range that might work for Murat, though more then likely the regular General de Division for the Heavies will be a Cuirassier type fellow.

Here is the next unit I completed, the 1st Battalion of the Légère Regiment. This unit marks the halfway point of the wrapping up my first Brigade.  I really enjoyed putting together the regimental command unit for this battalion, the sapeur, porte-aigle and his two cohorts especially.  I selected the bandaged officer with the chapeau to lead this bunch since he looked like a tough campaigner.  Once I get cracking with the flags I can add the Eagle and Halberds and they will look really sharp.























Next time I get a chance I'll put together some pics of the Dragoons I'm working on.

[Lorric]

Is that your garden? It's very nice.

Are the models for some sort of game, or are you just painting them for fun?

[StarSlayer]

Thats the back yard, the paddock fence where the dogs run amok.

As for the troops once I get together a Brigade strength I can start looking into gaming with them.  There are multiple rule sets for the period, I specifically have on hand General de Brigade and Black Powder.  This fellow's blog illustrates full sized forces in action on the table.  I haven't had an opportunity to play Naps but a former coworker and I dabbled in some historical war games using GHQ's 1/285th WWII micro armor.  It sort of plays out like XCOM or other turn based strategy games only much more manual.  

[StarSlayer]

"Venez avec la sabre: je suis pret pour Napoleon et la belle France."

Here is a quick preview of my French Dragoons.  They are still on the painting table but I figured I would throw up some wip shots.  They represent the 25e Régiment de Dragons which I was inspired to attempt after seeing this tough looking customer among Knötel's Plates.  I decided to use some GS to add overcoats wrapped horseshoe pattern around about half the troopers' shoulders to provide extra protection during combat.  This unit still requires quite a bit of detailing and clean up work but so far they seem to be shaping up nicely.  Since I'm aiming for 1/20th scale units I will need to pick up a second box to round out a unit of 24.



















More as it becomes available.

[StarSlayer]

As promised this is my first battalion of Infanterie de Ligne. After paging through Richard Knötel's plates I came upon this image of a Voltigeur from the 93e Regiment.  I used him as a model for the NCO and for my Volitgeurs in general.  Quite frankly green collars, epulates and blue stripe pants were hard to pass up.  I'm currently cranking through the 1st Battalion of the Regiment and will complete the first brigade. At which point I suppose I will have to break down and try my hand at basing and flags :? 

Anyway on to the pictures:

























..and I suppose the drummer needs something to bang on all day.  C'mon Colonel cough up the funds!

[Oddgrim]

Very impressive c:
Oh yeah you *need* to have a drummer for the regiment XD And perhaps some bannermen? (I can't recall if they even used that during the napolonic wars)

[StarSlayer]

Greetings Everyone,

Thanks for the comments, they are much appreciated.  So I finally completed the final battalion for the first brigade.  This unit represents the 1st Battalion of the 93e Regiment, as such it included the always joy to paint column head troops.  I really enjoyed the chef de battalion figure with his overcoat worn horseshoe style.  In addition I started playing around more with head and hat swaps with the plastics.  Now with all four battalions painted up the force is starting to present some mass when all lined up together.  Though I think I will go back and polish up the pom poms of the two légère battalions utilizing the more vibrant colours I used for the two ligne.

Onward to the pics:





































So up next will be a two pronged push to polish off the 25e Dragoons and artillery battery as well as entering the unknown murky waters of flagging and flocking. In addition I'll be dabbling in some higher officers and staff for the Brigade.  I also made a recent purchase from Perry's in order to fill out the remaining parts of the infantry and cavalry divisions (plus the foundation for the follow up to the French).  Once that's all firmed up I'll be kicking off the second Infantry Brigade.

C&C is welcome as always.

Cheers,

-JB

[StarSlayer]

Staff and Skirmishers Update.

Hello everyone,

I've made some progress that I figure is worth showing off.  I worked on the brigade commanders and staff as well as the skirmish screen for the Légère battalions.  In order to make the skirmishers diverse I've picked up the metal skirmisher sets as well as the 'high porte' sets.  These sets and the occasional spare officer I think should make for some dynamic skirmish troops for my brigades.  The command staff is composed of two Colonels, plus the General de Brigade and an ADC.  I based the ADC in part after this uniform from Herbert Knotel's work.  The days are getting shorter in New England and the lighting opportunities more sparse, so I apologize in advance for the picture quality. 

















































I'll be focusing on the skirmish screen for the two ligne battalions and the 25e Regiment of Dragoons in the near future.

Cheers,

-JB

[StarSlayer]

Since all the groups shots were less then stellar due to the lighting, a wild video appeared!

[StarSlayer]

A long time ago I picked up a bunch of crumbly paperbacks on sale for a few bucks at the Sanbornville Public Library, including One Spring in Picardy and enough of Alexander Kent's Richard Bolitho series to get me hooked.  Specific to this topic though was The Centurions by Damian Hunter.  As a kid the tale of Centurion Correus Appius Julianus pretty much kick-started my interest in the Legions of Rome.


 
While my first major foray into historic miniatures is the Napoleonic French I've always known I eventually would need to pay homage to the original "Eagles." I still have quite a ways to go in service to l'Empereur but I decided to spring for a few test  Legionaries to try my hand before I commit to a Legion.  I'd like legionnaires mostly equipped in mail and scale with a few segmentata thrown in for good measure, troops similar to this sketch I did a while ago.  After poking around I settled on Aventine's Range and procured a set of the Later Legionaries in Mail and Scale with Italic H.  They arrived promptly and in good order. 



I was very impressed with the castings, I'm used to a bit of prep work with my Perry metals but these only needed a little removal of some excess material from the bottom of the bases.  I was even more impressed the sculpts themselves, the detailing in the arms and armour is fantastic.  While I would have liked a little more variety in poses and faces, and Aventine's hamata and squamata legionaries seem to have a copious amount of rump, these are only minor gripes.  All in all these are some really lovely minis and I look forward to the opportunity to make a go at a full Legion. 

After a couple nights on the table I have enough paint on lead to show off some WIPs. They need a few touch ups here and there and I need to finish the scuta but these pretty much represent the final product. I originally wanted to try out some different tunic colours than the bog standard red, but realized with all the hamata, squamata and subarmalis these particular fellows are sporting only a wee bit o' tunic is in evidence.



















I'll post another set when I wrap them up. 

Thanks for looking!

Cheers,

-JB

[StarSlayer]

I have not been, unbusy...

While I would have preferred taking shots outside it is currently only suitable for Retreat from Moscow vignettes.  So I DIY'd a photo box:

Step 1: cut a hole in a box
Step 2: put your French in that box
Step 3: light and photo the box

It's my figs in a box!

Voltigeur companies deployed in skirmish, 93e Regt. L'infanterie de Ligne.








1er Battalion 92e Régiment de Ligne.








2e Battalion 92e Régiment de Ligne.












I'll be queuing up the cavalry for a photo op next, and then I suppose will need to paint more troops, though I am currently on a slight scale modelling kick.  Four more battalions of Ligne plus staff, skirmishers and a company d'Artillerie a Pied and I will have a 9th Division II Corps ready to field.  I picked up few of the characterful Calpe minis to add variety to the remaining battalions, I hope with the bayonets trimmed they won't look too out of place with the Perrys.

Thanks for looking.

Cheers,

-JB