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

The Black Duke has arrived!

The Duke pointing something out to his staff - probably a hiding Frenchman

With my Brunswick 100 days force nearly completed (2 units of Lights to go), my focus has shifted to make sure they are ably led. No manufacturer that I am aware of makes a 10mm Brunswick command (not a big seller) so conversion was the only option.

A few months ago I picked up a packet of 10mm Old Glory Prussian Generals with the view of using them as a base. Old Glory has some inconsistent scaling with its mounted figures.  Some of the riders look a lot smaller than others, but from a distance it is not noticeable as long as you base them seperately.

The Black Duke just needed a longer shabraque. One of his ADC's had his bicorne cut off and replace with a small ball of greenstuff and flattened. Two brigade commanders needed bicornes cut off and replaced with shakos and plumes as well as the saddles fixed. The other Brigade commander just needed a saddle adjustment.

There is always a bit of fiddling getting Old Glory riders to sit on the horses. While is in nice to have interchangeable horses, there is a fair bit of fiddling around to get them to sit well. This is ok for half a dozen command figures, but I'm not to keen on doing this for a heavy calvary division. Much easier having them moulded as one unit like Redline or Pendraken.

The foot officer with a telescope is left over from the Brunswick Horse Artillery pack from GHQ. A little tall compared to the riders, but slim enough to disguise it.

Painting is pretty straight forward, and I think they turned out quite well. 10mm is easy to convert as distance and smallness is on your side.

Hussar !!!

After a long break between painting, life gets in the way, the drought has been broken with the new Brunswick Hussars from Bend Sinister. 48 of them! The OOB of Quatre Bras I am building towards has 36 Hussars in the Brunswick contingent, but they come in packets of 24, so I had to get two of them. I am sure they will come in handy someday.

The castings are very good, with very little flash and good definition. They have been based on the French Hussar sculpts with some nice little Brunswick touches - plumes, longer shabraques and a remodelled shako.  They are very fast to paint with a black undercoat, some dark grey dry brushing, flesh, silver and light blue piping. All in all a nice little unit.

While I was doing these I also painted the  French 7th Hussars, a bit quicker with only 24 of them. I like the colour scheme of these - green, red and yellow. Very fetching. Shame there weren't more hussars during the 100 days campaign.

The Escape of the Black Duke - a mini campaign

I have been planning a series of linked scenarios as a mini-campaign following the Duke of Brunswick's escape to the coast in 1809. While not a full blown campaign with complete freedom of movement across a map with changing forces, this was a way to play a series of games that are linked with consequences.

I have five planned scenarios. Depending on the success of each, the Duke's forces will grow from scenario to scenario. Victory condition will be defined for each scenario with bonus depending on if it is a major or minor victory. Defeats may have consequences of a reduction in forces.

The Scenarios:

1. Capture the supplies

• A French garrison is waiting for a relief column with supplies of rifles and ammunition
• A small Brunswick force is looking to capture the supplies to outfit more battalions
• A major win will get another battalion of Line and Light fro the Black Band

2. Blow the bridge

• The French are after the Black Duke and his growing force
• The Duke has to beat a small French garrison in the village to then cross the river and blow the bridge
• A larger French brigade is in hot pursuit
• A major win will see another battalion of Line and Light join up

3. Take the stables

• In an effort to increase his calvary, the Duke has to capture three small villages and their stables
• There is a French cavalry brigade in the area, as well as the local garrisons
• A Brunswick major win will get a regiment of Hussars for the Black Band

4. Rescue the Duke's Uncle

• The Duke's Uncle has been captured by the French who are not happy at the Duke's adventures in the area.
• The Black Band must rescue the Uncle and his troops from a larger town under French control
• A major win will see more artillery and additional 6 troops (120 men) join each of the three Line and Light battalions

5. Escape to the coast

• The Duke and his men have arranged for the British Navy to take them off to England
• They must get to the Port, past the French division sent to catch them
• A small British brigade has secured the point and is sent out to assist the Duke's escape

I'm currently drawing up some maps and working out some OOB's for a reasonably balanced game. It will be slightly weighted in favor of the Brunswickers so it will flow through, but not a walk over. It also allows me to paint up the troops gradually for the later games.

I'll post the details of each scenario as I go.

Happy for any feedback or advice about making an enjoyable series of games.

Some new recruits

A few more units joining up for the war.

First two units of French Legere - 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 4th Legere.  I used a bright blue undercoat, which came out quite well after the final wash.

Next a battalion of Brunswick Jaegers / Avant Garde - 15 of each, and the 1st Brunswick Light Regiment. The Jaegers / Avant Garde are based in skirmish order, ready to harass the French. All the figures are from the Redline range.

There is half a battalion of British skirmishers just waiting to be flocked up, then they will join in. Getting close to having a small brigade a side. Few more weeks I think.

On the painting bench

With the sudden increase in the Brunswick ranks, the French side is looking a little thin. I've prepped up two battalions of French Legere from Redline as a start. I used Army painter navy blue undercoat which seems very blue. I think when I wash it with the wood stain it will tone down. At least the majority of the colour is done. Some flesh, brown backpacks and rifles, white highlights and some bits of red should see them done.

Also waiting to be finished are the Brunswick Avant Garde and 1st light regiment as well as some British line skirmishers.

It will be interesting to see how they turn out with different undercoats, and how they respond to the wood stain.

Brunswick 1st Brigade

Late last week a box of reinforcements arrived from Bend Sinister. Si is very helpful and quick on the postage considering he is sending them across the world. A few days later the Black Duke has some infantry under his command.

Left to Right 3rd, 2nd and 1st Brunswick Line

First on the painting bench were the Brunswick Line regiments. Quick to paint, it took longer to mount and dismount them of the painting sticks than really to paint them. The only difference between the 1st, 2nd and 3rd regiments are the collar colours. Flags were from Napflags.

Leib Regiment

The Leib regiment was even easier as their plumes are black. As they had no standards, I had to cut off the poles and paint them brown to look like muskets. Hard to tell at a distance. One base of 6 is missing as I lost one of the men while cutting them off the painting sticks. It's in the room somewhere, I just can't find it. A reward has been offered to find the deserter.

Leib, 3rd, 2nd, and 1st Line

Each unit has 30 figures based in groups of six (except the Lieb regiment). I think I'll order another packet of Brunswick line to fill out the units two six bases of six.

Brunswick 1st Brigade finished, just waiting for their commander

The 1st, 2nd and 3rd Light are next  on the list with the Avant Garde/ Jaegers soon following.  Then it is just the hussars to finish the Brunswick Division. And I have to find a Black Duke and commanders. I've ordered some Old Glory Prussian Generals and thought I could do some minor conversions.

Brunswick Ulhans

As part of the Black Duke's Black Band (say that fast!), he had a squadron of Uhlans or Lancers. While only numbering 240 in size they were attached to the larger Hussars and fought at Quatre Bras and Waterloo as well as in the Peninsular.

For my 1:20 units I needed only 12. Unfortunately no one makes them as such, which isn't really a problem with 10mm. I did find a packet of 30 Old Glory French Guard Lancers. There were 30 in the pack with two sets of command figures. A quick snip to remove the plume and a black and blue paint job. Done.

Now I just need to wait for Bend Sinister's Brunswick Hussars, the all the Brunswick Cavalry is complete.

Fastest unit to paint?

Aside from an invisible ninja army, it has to be Brunswick Horse Artillery. Black uniforms with black braid, black cartridge pouch and belts, black hat, and black plume! Officers have a gold sash and silver waist belt.

So after a black spray undercoat (obvious I know) a good dry brush all over with dark grey, then I picked out the face and hands. A wash with some brown ink to pick up the facial features. Then paint the equipment - silver scabbard, brown shafts on the artillery bits, some silver highlights on different parts and that is about it.

This were my first GHQ miniatures, quite different to the Redline ones. Very clear detail, but quite stiff and formal poses. Maybe they are doing drill. The swords and flagpoles are ridiculously thin, I know they are supposed to be true to scale but they are very, very thin. The guns have a fantastic level of detail in them,  almost too much for the 10mm scale. There was a wide variety of poses in the 13 figures per box, and a different combination in each box. I only need three crew per gun so I have a bunch left over for maybe some small vignettes with leaders or in the "artillery park".

All up it took 2 hours to clean up, undercoat, paint, detail, glue to the base and sand 26 men and 4 guns. Twenty more minutes to drybrush the base and flock and they are done. I'm sure I can improve this speed with practice.

It's a pity there was only ever 8 Horse Artillery guns total in the Bruswick army. I use a 1:2 scale so I have painted the whole battery. I'll have to find someone who make a foot artillery line so I can improve my black speed painting.

I have ordered all the infantry of the Brunswick army (1 Leib, 3 Line, 3 Light, and 1 Jaegers/Avantegarde) from Bend Sinister so I can have them painted up in quick time. Si at Bend Sinister is currently working on making Brunswick Hussars available shortly. Then I just need to convert some mounted officers for the Black Duke himself and his small staff. I've ordered some Old Glory Prussian Officers to see if I can make something.

Shame the troops were so raw in battle, brave and feisty, but raw.