Dragoons, Cuirassiers and Carabiniers

(Left: Massed French Heavies charge the Russians)!
CHARGE! Nothing says "Napoleonic Glory" like the thunderous charge of Napoleon's "Heavies". All the miniatures are AB MINIATURES. The Heavies were painted by Model Citizen Miniatures.
Below: Carabineer Command Element, (I still have to attach standards)

Below: The Divivison Commander and Carabinieers, (1st Regiment).

Below: Div Commander and Trumpeter, (I wouldn't want to be the unfortunate infantryman laying wounded as the mass of horsemen sweep over).

Below: My Cuirassiers! They are the 2nd and 6th Regiments of 1812.

The Dragoons below are the work of FERNANDO ENTERPRISE, (FE) and REINFORCEMENTS BY POST, (RBP).

The Dragoons were the real "workhorses" (so to speak), of the French cavalry arm in my opinion.

See links to the painting services on the left.

Above and below: The French 23rd Dragoons; painted by FE.

Below: The French 7th Dragoons, Painted by RBP.

I'll upload pictures of my 1812 Italians next time. Cheers for now!

Grande Armee Lancers And Chasseurs A Cheval

Above: French 30th Mounted Chasseurs, (converted to a Lancer Regiment for the 1812 Campaign)
Hi All
In keeping with my current "Light Cavalry" theme, here are my Grande Armee 1812 Chasseurs a Cheval and Lancers.
All are AB Miniatures and almost all are the work of MCM Painting service, the exception being the Italian 2nd Chasseurs a Cheval, (who were painted by Fernando Enterprise).
Below: French 6th Chevauleger (Lancers).


Above: French 11th Chasseurs a Cheval

Above: French 8th Chasseurs a Cheval, (Elite Squadron)

and Below: the 2nd ITALIAN Chasseurs a Cheval

Next time I'll add pictures of my Dragoons and more Italian Cavalry.

Trailape OUT!

HUSSARS!

ABOVE: Marshal Murat. BELOW: The French "Light" Cavalry Mass, including Chasseurs A Cheval and Lancers.

Hi All

Here are some pictures of my AB Miniatures French Hussars.

All the Troopers were painted by MCM Painting service. The Horses were painted by me.

The Regiments (in no particular order), are the 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th. All are part of my Grande Armee of 1812. I do think there might be some "minor" errors with the uniforms, depending on your references. For example; the colour of Shakos for one of the Regiments; but over-all I'm very happy.

1st and 2nd WESTPHALIAN HUSSARS!

Hi All
As promised, here are some pictures of my Westphalian Hussars.
All are the magnificent AB MINIATURES French Hussar figures, painted as Westphalian, (or is it westfalian) Hussar Regiments 1 and 2.
As is only appropriate we have first the 1st Regiment in their Green uniforms. Obviously the 2nd Regiment is dressed in the Sky Blue.

Below are pictures of both Regiments.

I do intend to eventually have King Jerome's Hussars added to my collection. The latter being a particularly well dressed regiment.

All the Hussars were painted by MCM painting service, (to David's usual high standards).

The horses were painted by me.

I purchased the miniatures from EUREKA MINIATURES.

Trailape OUT!

Wurtemburger's by AB MINIATURES

Top: IR Prinz Paul. Above: Wurtemburg Horse Artillery. Below: The Wurtemburg Brigade arrayed!

Hi All
Here are some pictures of the AB Miniatures Wurtemburgers that my mate Dan painted for me.
They will form part of my French 1812 Grand Armee.
As usual, the ABs are fantastic miniatures, and Dan was able to paint them so as to show off what excellent little sculptures they are.
Dan has pictures of them un-based on his blog, (Click Here); but I thought they deserved another run "online" now that they are based and ready for action.
Dan really is an outstanding painter, and his work is the best I've seen, ("in the flesh", in this scale). The Units are:

A Battery of Horse Artillery, (I put these on "large" Bases to best show them off),

Infantry Regt Prinz Paul,
The 1st Light Infantry Battalion, (with the Jager Battalion Konig figs also based with them), and;
The 1st and 2nd Chevauleger Regiments.

I also have some Foot Artillery, but I'm awaiting a 12 Pounder from Dan before I base the foot gunners.

The pictures don't do the figures justice.

The next post will be pictures of my Westphalian Hussars, (the 1st and 2nd Regiments).

Trailape OUT!

BRUNSWICKERS! The "other" German Allies

Hi All

I thought I'd upload some pictures of some 18mm AB MINIATURES that I've painted for a change. I painted the bulk of these chaps about 10 years ago! It was about a year ago I thoght I'd better complete the little Brigade. Originaly they were painted flat black, with little in the way of highlights. I read on TMP however that by mixing "flesh" paint with "black" you could get a nice highlight for black.

Well, the results are below:

Below is a blurt I've obtained from "Wikipedia":

The Brunswickers were awarded various nicknames by their contemporaries, including the Black Crows, the Black Legion and the Black Horde. However, although the uniforms of the individual units that comprised the corps were, as the names suggest, predominantly black, they varied in their details.

• Infantry units wore a black pole skirt, simply trimmed and designed; either black or grey linen trousers; and black shoes with spats (usually dark grey in hue). They wore a Shako on their heads, sometimes adorned with a feather, and carried a bayonet sheath, bags for food and the like, and a form of military backpack for other essential supplies.
• Cavalry were garbed in a black, light blue collared Dolman with black trousers designed for horse mounting and riding. Similarly to the infantry, cavalry wore a dark Shako. They carried various other leather accessories and effects suited for equestrian activities.
• Artillerymen wore similar clothing to the cavalry: mostly black in colour with Collets and black trousers. They were additionally equipped with a standard Hussar sword should they have need to defend their guns.^[10]

There are a number of speculative theories on the origin of the Brunswickers' dark and seemingly grim choice of garb. It has been suggested that black was chosen to mourn Duke Frederick William's late father; as a sign of respect for the Duke; or in mourning for the Duke's occupied homeland.

I'll soon be uploading pictures of the Wurtemburg troops that my mate Dan, (of "GUNNER'S WARGAMING" fame), has painted for me.

Truly fantastic work for "THE GUNNER"!

Trailape OUT!

Foreign Regiments and MINIFIGS!

Hi All
Here I'm posting some pictures of two foreign Regiments in my French army of 1812. But first I thought I'd show you two old MINIFIG units I first got my hands on in late 1980 / early 1990!
First a unit of Guard Chasseurs a Cheval . I have this Regiment using AB MINIATURES, but have held on to this MINIFIG unit. Not as nice as the ABs, but not to shabby either.


Next we have the Elite Gendarmes. These guys rode big black horses, and were recruited from the Departmental Gendarmes, but also drew from the Heavy cavalry regiments. The rest of the army nicknamed them the "Immortals" as in the early days they didn't participate in any combat. I would love to have this regiment using AB MINIATURES, but alas, AB dont do an Elite Gendarmes figure; "sob"

Next we have the Joseph Napoleon regiment. Recruited in Spain for service with the Emperor Napoleon, and named for his Brother Joseph, the King Of Spain, (but not for long). By all accounts, they were a rather sad excuse of a regiment.

Finally the Provisional Illyarian ("Croat") Regiment. These guys were rather tough and hardy soldiers, but didn't have much passion for fighting for "old Boney" or France. Most rule systems rate them as only 2nd rate line.

Both Infantry units were painted mainly by FERNANDO ENTERPRISE. The Voltigeurs (of both Regiments), and Mounted Officer were painted by Model Citizen Miniatures. You can find links to both painting services on the left of this page.

Oh, and "YES", I know they are carrying "EAGLES", and shouldn't, but I can't bring myself to cut them off just yet,....

The infantry are all AB MINIATURES, purchased from EUREKA MINIATURES. As stated, the Cavalry are MINIFIGS, (purchased from TIN SOLDIER in Sydney; way back when,..).

Cheers