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.
