British cassions and limbers

Cassions supporting British RFA and RHA

Continuing the artillery upgrades, now it's the British turn to have some more ammunition. Six Old Glory British cassions and three scratch built limbers.

The cassions came with a six horse crew, which was too much for the base sizes that I use, so I made it a four horse crew and made an additional three limbers with the spare horses.

Quite a few more to make if each gun is to have a supporting limber or cassion.

Scratch built limbers

Dutch and Belgian Artillery and Limbers

Dutch Horse Battery

Perponcher's 2nd Netherlands Division had two batteries of artillery at Quatre Bras - a Dutch Horse battery and a Belgian Foot battery. Each had six 6 pounders and two howitzers.

The Belgian Foot battery was over run by French Lancers and suffered heavy losses. Only two guns made it to Waterloo from that battery. They were deployed on the extreme left flank at Waterloo and saw no further action.

The guns are British from Redline. The crew are Redline French Line Foot and Horse artillery. The limber crew and horses are from Old Glory French Cassion team spares.

There were some spare riders and horses from the French cassions with suitable uniforms for the limber crews. A different paint scheme and they were ready to go. I like their uniform - dark grey with black collars and cuffs and red piping and turnbacks.

The Belgian Foot Battery

I needed to scratch build the limbers out of some balsa wood, tongue depressors and toothpicks, using some spare artillery wheels I had. It was easier than I thought, not bad for a recycling effort.

Base materials for the limbers - a Redline one as a guide

Seats cut from balsa, floors from a tongue depressor

Glued up

Axels made from tooth picks and left over wheels

Ready for priming

Finished limbers

Supporting the battery

Belgian Foot Artillery waiting for the French to arrive

More Ammunition!

The French cassions have arrived with more ammunition, just in time.

They are nice castings from Old Glory. As usual the wagons are solid and well proportioned. They came with 6 horses and 3 riders each, which is a bit much for the bases, so I have only used four on each.

The cassions were undercoated green, the black metals parts painted then a magic wash. The horses were undercoated brown, some detail added, then magic washed too.

The spare riders will be used to make some Dutch Belgian limber drivers, with a different uniform painted.

More artillery

Cannons and Cassions

You can never have too many cannons apparently. I needed to beef up the number of batteries on my 1815 forces so I worked on a big batch - 44 guns, all from Redline. Cannons are very affordable in 10mm, and quick to paint. An undercoat (olive for French, grey for Allied), bronze the cannon, paint all the metal bits black the magic wash. Shame the Artillery men are slower, I'll need to paint 132 to man the guns.

Then there will be the limbers, I will need to make one for each gun! I started six French Cassions from Old Glory. They have six horse teams, but I can only fit four on the base, so I have some spare for other projects, Maybe soem scratch built wagons later.

For the Artillery first off the painting rank is the two batteries the French Guard Horse Artillery (for the heavy cavalry brigade). The some British RHA and KGL Foot batteries to fill in gaps in the Allied line up.

Next I will paint some Dutch and Belgian batteries for the Quatre Bras OOB and some French Line Horse Artillery for the Heavy Cavalry Divisions, and some Foot to fill out the Line.

Imperial Guard Horse Artillery for the Heavy Cavalry Brigade

British RFA joining the 2nd British Division

Imperial Guard Horse Artillery

The Imperial Guard Horse Artillery had four batteries in 1815. Each with 4 6lb guns and 2 howitzers. Two batteries (3rd and 4th Companies) were attached to the Imperial Guard Heavy Brigade and two (1st and 2nd Companies) with the Light Brigade.

The 1st and 2nd were present at Quatre Bras and shelled the Allied troops in between cavalry attacks.

At Waterloo the 1st and 2nd Companies were on the eastern flank, the 3rd an 4th on the west near Hougoumont. Neither saw much action during the day.

I have painted the 1st and 2nd, that were involved in Quatre Bras. The figures and guns are Redline's. Great to paint as usual. The blue and red uniforms are quick to do.

Unfortunately I haven't had an opportunity to paint much else lately, so productivity has dropped.

I have been prepping a large amount of artillery for French, Dutch and British batteries. The focus is to finish most of the Artillery for the 1815 OOB's as well as number of cassions and limbers. 10mm is a great scale to have developed artillery parks.

Damaged Artillery Markers

I had some spare Old Glory French Artillery that had been painted before. After stripping the paint off them using Simple Green, I took to them with some small cutters. Broken wheels and chassies gave a destroyed look, although I am not sure how you would destroy artillery on the battlefield. Maybe with other artillery?

The artillery was primed with olive green undercoat, barrels bronzed and fittings painted black. I then used the black magic wash on the guns and let some drip onto the ground for a more blackened look.

I based them on the same bases as the normal artillery, added some ballast and flock. 7 done in an hour. The glue is still drying in the picture so you may see some white blobs. These will disappear tomorrow.

Limber up

I have finished 12 French Line limbers today. I configured six with guns and six without. I now have enough limbers etc to cover all my current French Artillery in an artillery park. This is something I would never been able to do in 28mm. So far I have painted up 22 bases for the French artillery park

• 12 Limbers
• 6 Supply Wagons
• 4 Forges

There are six French ammunition caissons left to do, probably after I make a few more batteries for them to support.

As part of "Republic to Empire" artillery has a limited ammunition supply. At the moment I represent this with some dice place next to the battery. I plan on making a scenic block that goes in between the limbers etc that will have a place for some 5mm dice to be slotted in. I'll decorate it with some various artillery accessories, probably make a mould and cast them in resin. They could be used by any nation.

Rockets!!!

The Rocketeers looking for some French to scare

Whinyates' RHA Rocket troop from British Cavalry Reserve Corps. These were painted as a diversion from the French Line I was doing this weekend (108 line and 36 light).

They were Magister Militum figures, who are the only ones who make a 10mm rocket troop. The men are HUGE compared to the usual Redline proportions. But as a one off, they will be fine. Easier than scratch building them. The set comes with three rockets, 12 men and a limber/wagon. There are no horses, so I thought I would do a little scene with a couple of spares men unloading some more rockets.

The rules I use, Republic to Empire, don't have a  Rocket section, so I think I will need some house rules. Something that randomises the direction and distance, to simulate the random nature of the ordinance. I don't think they will cause casualties, but rather force a morale check with a -2 modifier or something, enough to shake a nervous unit, but not enough to shake a solid one.

Very British Weekend

To celebrate Her Royal Majesty's visit to my town, I thought I would paint up a few British units to boost their numbers.

First off the rank were two British line units to complete Pack's Brigade. The 1st Royal Scots, also know as the Pontius Pilots bodyguards, had blue facings. The 44th East Essex, known as the Little Fighting Fours due to a large number of short soldiers serving in the unit in the Peninsular, had the yellow facing. They joined the previously painted 42nd Black Watch and the 92nd Gordon Highlanders. As part of Pictons 5th Reserve Division, there were some of the most experienced fighters during the Hundred days.

1st and 44th (left two) joining the 42nd and 92nd (right)

Both were part of the Redline range, fast to paint and well proportioned. I tried out a new magic wash formula (more about that in another post) which worked out really well until I tried to matt coat them with varnish. Not sure what happened but went frosted, dulled all the colours and generally looked pretty ordinary. I've tried to touch up the colours, but not a great improvment. Unfortunately not my best effort.

1/95th formed up and 2/95th in skirmish order

Next were two battalions of the 95th Rifles, one formed up and one skirmished. There were 3 battalions of the famous "Grasshoppers" at Waterloo as part of a couple of brigades - Kempt, and Adam. Kept's are the next brigade to paint as part of Picton's 5th Division. The rifles were part of the GH range, which are very detailed. I must admit I don't like their swords. They maybe the correct proportions but they seem very wispy to me, and bendy.


Finally to clear my painting desk, I finished off some British RHA limbers that had been sitting there for months. I wasn't happy with the colour my old magic wash turned the grey of the limbers (all brown and muddy), so I tried out my new black version, much better. The riders were quickly finished and based up to join a RHA battery done earlier.

Some of Redline's 4 horse RHA limbers

Limbers supporting a RHA battery

So now I have a brigade + of British to take on the French. Probably another weekend would see Kempt's brigade done and enough for a reasonable battle, with some help from the Brunswick. Now I need to pay attention to some French line, who at the moment are hopelessly out numbered about 13:7! Back to the blue and white.

1/95th and 2/95th (right), Pack's Brigade (centre right), KGL Hussars and Light Dragoons (centre left), RHA battery and limbers (right)

So I hope Her Majesty is pleased at my busy work.

Forging Ahead

Here the field forges are with Old Glory Supply Wagons.

I seem to be back on a roll with painting again. One of the projects sitting on the bench for a while was 4 French field forges from Magister Militum. These were part of building an Artillery Park, that Republic to Empire requires. Representing the various cassions, limbers and other supply elements makes it a little more realistic on the table. In 10mm this is very affordable to make.

I got two packets with two forges in each - one Line and one Guard.

Guard in front, Line behind

I found the Magistum Militium's figures alot chunkier than the Redline ones I am used to. At a distance the proportion difference are not as noticable. The forges however are superb. There was even an anvil and a bucket. I decided to keep these separate for other little diorama work later.

I still have 12 limbers and 6 cassions to finish to round out the various French Artillery parks.

A full artillery park with 2 batteries and supporting vehicles

Brunswick Corps 1815 Completed

I have finally finished the Brunswick Corps from 1815. I started full of enthusiasm at the beginning of the year and then got distracted with other side projects. After a mammoth effort over the last two days of painting the last 100 figures and basing them we're done.

The miniatures are all from Bend Sinister's Redline Range, except for the Ulhans and Leaders which are Old Glory conversions.

The OOB was taken from Quatre Bras with a few units beefed up a little. This I think represents the Brunswickers at their largest so could be useful for other battles. Its a nicely balanced Corps (actually more a Division) with a good mix of the three arms. Its a shame they were not that effective.

Now I need to ensure there are enough French to do battle with them.

I have divided them into three brigades - Light, Line and combined Cavalry and Artillery.

Light Brigade

Light Brigade
Avant Guard/ Jaegers Battalion 30 figures (600 men)
Lieb Battalion 36 figures (720 men)
1st Light Battalion 36 figures (720 men)
2nd Light Battalion 36 figures (720 men)
3rd Light Battalion 36 figures (720 men)

Line Brigade

Line Brigade
1st Line Battalion 36 figures (720 men)
2nd Line Battalion 36 figures (720 men)
3rd Line Battalion 36 figures (720 men)

Artillery / Cavalry Brigade

Cavalry / Artillery Brigade
Horse artillery 4 guns (8 guns)
Foot Artillery 4 guns (8 guns)
Ulhans 12 figures (240men)
Hussars 48 figures (960 men)


Total
Infantry 282 figures (5640 men)
Cavalry 60 figures (1200 men)
Artillery 8 guns (16 guns)


More pictures after the break