28mm Napoleonic Perry Miniatures - British Infantry - 48th (Northamptonshire) Regiment of Foot

After another long pause it's nice to get another Battalion painted up and ready for action.  This time its the 1st Battalion of the 48th (Northamptonshire) Regiment of Foot.  This Regiment had two Battalions at the Battle of Albuera.

Having visited the battlefield of Albuera last year, I have focused on painting units which were there.  The battlefield is pretty well unspoiled and the visitor is left with no doubt as to what a terrible slogging match the battle was on those barren open slopes.  This does leave a great impression on one's mind and also captures the imagination in terms of painting inspiration.  I have no idea how those troops just stood there in an ever shrinking line while hell was unleashed upon them  I think the main reason that I want to represent them is that I was just left in awe of them.

Above and below - The Light Infantry Company at the far left of the line with their green plumes

The figures are from the marvelous Perry Miniatures British Infantry box.  This box gives options for the Peninsular or later 'Waterloo' uniform.  The poses are for a firing line with a number of positions for loading, reaching for ammunition, cocking and aiming.  Some might prefer a more uniform appearance, and I would have done once, but I have no doubt that with the full noise of battle, very few are going to hear shouted firing orders after that first volley in the midst of battle, and the men will keep loading and firing on their own until an NCO slaps a man on the shoulder to cease.

My intention is to use these troops with the General d'Armee 2 rules after having play-tested them recently. The rules are certainly detailed, though I am sure I will play faster with them once I get more used to them.  I did enjoy using the rules and it did 'feel' Napoleonic which very few other rules I have used ever have done.  The GDA2 Facebook group is also a valuable resource as I was really stuck with understanding the orders phase. Putting the question up on the group brought a very helpful answer and all became clear.

Above and below - The Grenadier Company with their white plumes from the extreme right of the line

I am pleased with my change to a 50mm x 50mm stand for the troops (from 60mm x 50mm).  I like the closer order appearance. It's funny how just a reduction of 10mm width can reduce the base size so that it changes the look so much for the better.

The exception to this is the command stand.  I tried to use the new size of base but with flags that glorious (made by GMB), there was no way that I would want to reduce them to make everything fit.  British command stands will be 60mm x 50mm for me and I am perfectly happy with that.

Above and below - the command stand. I paint the flags with PVA glue and let it fully dry, before bending the wavy folds carefully into them. This helps to prevent the print detaching from the paper at the folds. I then apply a matt varnish spray over the whole to protect them (prior to basing)

I found it less daunting to paint just 12 figures at a time and then finish by painting the 5 man command stand.  This was good as it made painting the lace and detail less painful.  I type up a painting procedure of steps and paints used for every soldier type that I paint, and keep it in a large lever arch file. This way I don't forget which paints I used, and also I keep keep notes of any other information that helps (i.e. reminders to use certain arms for certain figures etc).

Below - The magnetic sheet basing with printed label. The label gets a coat of PVA glue too to protect it

I have some extra painting time at the moment as I'm currently between jobs.  I completed these figures about 9 days ago. In the 9 days since, I have painted up another whole Battalion as a production line instead of in the usual batches of 12 figures. This was complete insanity and I am burned out!  I'll post photos of that Battalion in due course, in the meantime I feel like doing something completely different...and with no lace!

28mm Napoleonic Perry Miniatures - Royal Artillery Company

 

This has been an enjoyable little project.  These are the Perry's Peninsular War Royal Artillery guns.  There are two 6 Pounders and one 5.5inch howitzer to create this Company/Battery.

By the mid-Peninsular War there would more usually be 6 guns in a Royal Artillery battery or to use the more contemporary term - 'a Company'.  The nomenclature of the British military has always been confusing (even to those who serve!) as words have different meanings depending on Regiment/Arm of Service etc.

When the guns were equipped with their drivers and horses they were called 'Brigaded'.

A pair of guns was called a 'Division'!

I recommend the excellent book "Wellington's Guns" by Colonel Nick Lipscombe for the definitive story of the Royal Artillery in the Napoleonic Wars.  This gives all the background information before diving much more deeply into the composition of each Company at each battle.  

The book also goes into some detail about Wellington's particular difficulties/feud with the Board of Ordnance who were responsible for the Royal Artillery.  This resulted in much petty bitterness between Wellington and his Artillery officers who were rarely given credit for their bravery and actions in Wellington's post battle reports.

The 6 pounders were able to fire ball, cannister and shrapnel shells.  They did not fire common shell and this was left for the 5.5 inch howitzers to fire.

I will be using these guns in battles using the General d'Armee rules. Hence I only have 3 guns in this Company/Battery rather than the full historic 6 guns.  I have play tested the rules once and it gave a superb game, certainly feeling very Napoleonic, though the detail will take me a number of play throughs before I feel I have got the mechanics fully understood.  That's standard though for me though.

The models were a joy to paint. I really like the artillerymen who do look like they are on campaign.  I have painted them up in my preferred style of keeping them soldier-like but with the inevitable dust/dirt of campaigning in such a harsh climate. 

The Royal Artillery uniform is very distinctive with the yellow braiding and lace. This of course makes it really challenging for the painter!  Though it does pay off the effort of putting the detail work in.  The guns needed a little cleaning up to remove some flash between the spokes, but it was not excessive. I am delighted to have finally got them done.  

These are the first Napoleonic British artillery figures and guns I have painted since the mid-1980's when I obsessively painted Airfix and Esci figures (they are all in my loft but I have no doubt that the paint will all have flaked off by now!).

I'm currently painting a few random things as a little break from Napoleonics, though there will be more to follow soon.

Wargaming Show - Partizan 2025

 

Had a great day today at the Partizan wargaming show at Newark (UK).  It's a bit of a trek to Nottinghamshire from Oxfordshire, but it is well worth it.  I think Ian put up with my moaning about the state of the roads and ever growing housing estates pretty well!   

I'm starting off with my haul of goodies in the first photo - I didn't go to excess (mostly from having been made redundant from work this week), but I did pick up my pre-order of Chain of Command 2, some much needed grass tufts, and a few Perry's Napoleonics.

What really makes Partizan is the quality of the games. They are splendid to look at and so much thought and time has clearly gone into them.  I find it all really inspiring and I pick up lots of ideas as I go around seeing the games.

Where I remembered, I tried to take photos of the signs explaining which battle was being portrayed. In some cases it was just too busy to be able to work my way through the crowd to get to the signs.  Below is a great Battle of Stamford Bridge game, with a really decent sized river - I think might have to get a wider one as this one looks really good.

The battle of Pirmasens 1793 below.  The use of contoured shapes for the terrain is very interesting.  I like the way it attempts to match the ground topography.  So many battle were defined by the ground, and I can probably do more to improve my own games in this area.  The difficulty always comes in the playability and troops sliding down hills for me.

Below is an excellent looking game from the League of Extraordinary Kriegspielers - The Battle of Wake Island.  The players looked like they were having a lot of fun too.

The Battle of Wagram game looked very impressive.  I do like the general appearance of 6mm games, it's the actual physical painting of them that I don't enjoy very much.  Looking at individual 28mm figures that I have painted pleases me, but the overall 'look' of  6mm is undeniably good.

The semi-transparent unit labelling was a nice touch. These can often be very ugly and obstructive, but they appeared almost like holograms on here and didn't detract from the action or the figures at all.

Below is the Battle of Germantown by the Yarkshire Gamer, famous for his very large battles, this one was no exception.

Perry Miniatures put on a Napoleonic Peninsular game using Valour and Fortitude rules.  As you can probably imagine - this was breathtaking.

I was immediately drawn to the battle below. I am very interested in the Wars of the Roses and have a pretty large collection - however, it does not compare to this!  The battle portrayed - The Battle of Boars Hill, Oxfordshire, was a fictitious battle but neverthess could have happened. Being fairly local to that area  - I kind of wish it did happen as it would make the area that much more interesting!

Sassanid Persians and Romans in battle below in Syria 295. This was by the Bramley Barn Wargames Group. I really must add more to my own Sassanid Persian collection!

Now this was outstanding - details are on the sign below. The gentleman at this stand was a delight to chat to and was very appreciative of my compliments.  There is so much detail to be spotted in the terrain - it must have taken so much planning and work to have created this.

                                                  

I had to laugh when I saw the fellow on the thunderbox below!

The Battle of Shimonoseki 1863 by the 'Like a Stone Wall' Wargames Club.

Below is one of the best games in show for me - it was Bill Gaskin's Seven Years War battle (I cannot recall if it was set on a particular battle) but the layout and the troops were simply amazing. Talking to one of Mr Gaskin's colleagues, I understood that the figures are very heavily converted by him so that few figures look the same. Bayonets are made and soldered on and hands individually sculpted to assist in creating the required look for the conversions.  The figures are beautifully painted - truly each one is a work of art and then to see them all together on the table...really quite amazing.

Below is the very impressive looking Battle of Intombe 1879 presented by BAD Wargamers.

There was so much to see and I kept forgetting to get my camera out to take photos.  Partizan is one of the wargaming highlights of the year for me.  I think I have definitely gained 12 months of inspiration until the next one!