Bavarian 5th Chevauleger Regiment (Leiningen) and a Unique Little Find

You've come a long way baby!  From start to finish the Bavarian 5th Chevauleger Regiment (Leiningen) was a challenging regiment to refine and paint.  They started life as three Hinton Hunt original castings (BVN / 44) which were customized into the Oberstkommandant, Trumpeter and Major, as well as ten lesser quality Der Kriegspieler castings (216).  The DK castings were particularly challenging because they appear to have not copied the HH BVN / 44 figure, but that of a British cavalryman with a head transplant!  To transform them into Bavarians, the distinctive British canteen and Sabretache had to be painstakingly removed and the sword beneath re-shaped.  Forage bags were also added to disguise some of the surgery.  The swords on the DK castings were also particularly short and rather than have them look like gladius wielding Roman wanna-bes, I replaced the swords with flattened pins that were given a slight curve and filed to shape.  A lot of work, but the end result I hope speaks for itself.

I thought it would ad some visual interest to angle the swords rather than the more traditional straight up and down.

All of the blue diamonds on the shabraque was quite the task, but I just settled in and over the course of three evenings added those with a micron ink pen.

Here you can see the addition of the forage bag.  I added this primarily to match the Hinton Hunt figure design.  The method of holding the carbine I suspect is more British than Bavarian, so I painted in the metal hook for the carbine on the bottom of the crossbelt, which I believe was the more common way of carrying it.  The painted hook also helps to visually break up an area where detail was lacking and cover up some of the rough texture from some trimming I had to do on that side of the figure.

I realized after basing these that I had cut the bases to the wrong width.  Thus these bases will be recycled shortly and trimmed down to use on a Portuguese infantry battalion currently getting the glossy treatment.  I'll have to cut some new bases for the Bavarians that give them a tad more room side to side.

Oberstkommandant Johann Nepomuk Baron von Viereck commanded the Leiningen regiment from October 29, 1809 to April 15, 1812.  The original Hinton Hunt figure was weilding his sword so the scabbard was empty.  I have added a sword hilt from a Zvezda plastic cuirassier set to fill the gap.

The original Hinton Hunt castings really are so much nicer and of course a tad more robust than their Der Kriegspieler copies.  To modify the trooper into the Oberstkommandant (Colonel), I removed the carbine and covered the scar with the tail end of the command sash.  The scar was rough enough that I don't think I even added any green stuff epoxy putty, just painted it on.

The Major has retained his sword and carbine and is essentially the standard trooper with the crossbelt just painted as a command sash.

The trumpet and gauntlet was scavenged from a set of plastic cuirassiers and simply replaced the sword hand.  I really should have taken the time to file down the buttons on the opposite arm and build up the gauntlet with epoxy putty, but without the aid of magnification, you really don't need all that for the paint to read as a guantlet.

This is a before picture of the DK castings.  Note the giant pit under his extended arm which was a casting flaw on all of the DKs that had to be removed and filed smooth.  Also of note is the gladius instead of a proper saber.

Here you can see the chief sin of the DKs, which is the British style canteen over a square shoulder bag, as well as the Sabretache covering the sword.  I got lots of practice with my snippers and x-acto knife to get those modifications looking reasonable.

On a completely unrelated note, I saw these and thought they might be Hintons, so on a lark just picked them up off eBay.  They turned out to be Phoenix Miniature Design's (PMD) extension to the Les Higgins Napoleonic line.

The figures are true 25mm scale, so a tad big to mix with DKs, but if I ever find some original Hinton Hunt French Old Guard horse gunners, they could add some nice variety

A Miscellany of Colonels, a New Mom, and the 6th Cacadores

 Anticipating a need for some more Colonels to lead the Portuguese Brigade, and another battalion of Dutch Grenadiers, I decided to knock out their Colonels so they could busy themselves recruiting the rank and file while I work on other projects.

 

From left to right are:  Colonel Ralph Dundas Tindall of the 3rd Dutch Grenadiers of the Imperial Old Guard, a Vivandiere who follows him to battle, Lieutenant Colonel Manuel Pamplona and his subordinate, a British Lt. Colonel for the 18th Portuguese 2nd battalion.

Colonel Pampolona - possibly to be renamed as Lt. Col. Sebastião Pinto de Araújo Correia (both commanded the 18th so it is just a matter of who commanded at the most appropriate time), started life as an SHQ British Colonel.  A head swap and a little tinkering with the position of the arm and viola - a Portuguese Lieutenant Colonel.  I'm hoping the head came from a Dave Clayton recast, otherwise the gods of all thing Hinton Hunt may never forgive me.

Colonel Tindal started life as a Franznap Old Guard Colonel in campaign uniform.  Another head swap with an SHQ Old Guard Grenadier gave him some more formal attire for his sandy locks, and some judicious trimming with an x-acto knife got rid of the greatcoat over his shoulder.

He turned out to be a suitably haughty regal fellow.

Another Franznap sculpt to keep Colonol Tindal Company is this rather lovely Vivandiere with a newborn.

And here we have a rather heretical addition for a supposedly Old School collection.  This rather smashing looking chap is actually a soft plastic command figure from the Waterloo 1815 toy soldier company.  I wanted to add a little variety to the British Lieutenant Colonels so I decided to branch out a bit.

I quite like the figure and once all glossed up he still could pass muster as a good old school toy soldier.

Here we have the 6th Cacadores painted by Richard Tennant.   I have done minimal work to these, just a little highlighting on the browns, yellows and greens to brighten them up a wee bit, as well as a bit of shading for the faces and hands.  These were still in great condition, so other than one replacement plume, they required very little work to touch up.

The battalion is lead by Major Tiago Pedro Martins.  The figures are Hinton Hunt PTN 14 Portuguese Cacadore charging, PTN 6 Portuguese officer marching, BN 96 British light infantry at trail, and BN 20 Rifleman Bugler.

I decided to base these with the reserve and headquarter companies on one 6 figure base, which leaves two 9 figure skirmish companies to throw out in front of the Portuguese Brigade.  As the British army in the Tennant Collection is a bit light infantry heavy, I will not mourn the loss of a few potential skirmishers, besides, I just received a few more riflemen so I can now model a few companies of the 2nd/95th.

As a teaser here is what is on deck:  an absolutely stunning Franznap 6 horse Bavarian limber and 6 lb gun with all of the associated gunners and command, a battalion of Les Higgins Old Guard Grenadiers with command all primed and ready, and finally a battalion of French Marines of the Old Guard, the last twelve of which are on the painting table getting a final trim before priming.  The Bavarian Chevau-Leger are on the painting table, and now that all of these figures are almost prepped, I can forge ahead getting some paint on them!

 

Rolica Revisited

 Rolica Revisited!

With the CDC indicating that vaccinations against COVID are highly effective, we thought it time to have a gathering of fully vaccinated gamers for the first time since the Pandemic started.  Interestingly one of the participants let me know my last Muskets and Marshals game held in early 2020, was his last game before the pandemic struck, so very fitting that we should reintroduce social gaming with  a Napoleonic Muskets and Marshals reprise.

For this latest test of Rolica I tweaked a few of the rules for the larger battalions yet again, and all worked out very well.  I reduced the fire power of skirmishers a bit, and moderated the effect of disorganization in melee. Neither tweak had any effect on the length of the game or the fun and  speed of a combat or firefight resolution.  Many, many thanks to Striker over at the Hinton Hunt Vintage Wargame Figures blog for his work on these fantastic and fun rules.  I love the old school feel of the simultaneous movement, which really helps speed the game along.

The Likely suspects: James, Stephen, Eddie, Mike and David - a great crew to open up the garage to and have some fun.

A quick review of the historical situation, a very brief review of the rules, and we were off the the races.

Jockeying for position under the glow of the Miller Lite Billiards fixture.

British canon fire opens the ball.

The 71st moves forward - they would play a crucial role in the actions ahead.

Wellington briefs his staff for his first at bat in the Peninsula.  The French on the hill in the background ready to repel the invaders.

Four companies of the 39th take up position at the top of the hill over-looking steep cliffs.  Two of the battalion's six companies have been sent to garrison a small village where one of Wellington's flanking columns have been seen approaching.

To the right of the cliffs two British battalions Come into assault position.  The Gordon Highlanders will assault up a steep slope while the 50th follow the creek bed into the valley to hopefully come up behind the 39th.

On the left the Black Watch attempt to form line while the 24th makes a run for the village.  Unbeknownst to the Brits, The two companies of the 39th garrisoned in the village have sallied forth and burst through the trees right as the Black Watch is forming into line, throwing them into confusion.  In thew distance the 42nd can hear the drums of another French battalion striking the Pas de Charge.

But wait, what is this, just as the 42nd are thrown into confusion, the Legion Hanovrienne (playing a Swiss battalion), reverse muskets and surrender to the British.  They have had enough of the mistreatment by their French overlords!

While this creates a hole in the center of the French line, the British are not well placed to take advantage, as they have to spend a while assessing the situation and finally spin off several companies from the 58th battalion to escort the Legion Hanovrienne to the rear.

On the left there is more bad news for the 42nd Black Watch Highlanders.  Their illustrious Colonel Macara is knocked from the saddle by well aimed musket ball from the ever present French Voltigeurs.  The loss of their Colonel, the surprise and fierceness of the French attack, and the impending arrival of another French battalion, is just too much and the Highlanders rout away in panic.

The sacrifice of the highlanders was not in vain however.  Having drawn the French forward, they would find themselves completely cut off from the rest of their army.

Meanwhile in the center, the 71st, spurred on by the impetuous Lieutenant-Colonel Cadogan, charge up a ravine in march column hoping to get up the steep hill and behind the bulk of the French forces.  Both the defection of the Swiss (Legion Hanovrienne), and the impetuous charge up the gorge, were historical events.  In this case the roll of a 1 on a die at the beginning of each turn triggered the start of 1 of 3 special events.  The last was yet to come...

Back on the right, despite the steepness of the hill, the Gordons have charged home, disordering the remaining four companies of the 39th.

Unknown to the Gordons, two squadrons of Chasseurs have just charged some British riflemen who unwisely burst into view on the top of the hill in good ground for the Chasseurs.  Some were able to flee to the woods, but about half of the riflemen were ridden down by the merciless Chasseurs.

The Gordons, flush with victory pursue the routing 39th unaware of their danger, and are hit in the flank by the Chasseurs, who ride them down and rout them.  At the same time the 71st Highlanders are charged by the 1st battalion of the 39th.  The 71st were almost able to form line, but the French assault was well time and once again sent another British battalion packing.  Just out of the frame on the bottom right, the 50th were gaining the top of the hill behind the French lines unopposed!

The battle hangs in the balance, but what is this - 2 battalions of Portuguese suddenly appear and begin their inexorable march to the rear of the French formations.  Another "1" at the beginning of the 8th turn has triggered the third special event!

To make matters worse for the French, with the Legere out of position and the Legion Hanovrienne gone, the British light dragoons bolt up the road past modest skirmisher fire which is ineffective due to the pine scrub which gives the horsemen some small protection, but most of all they just got lucky!

The light Dragoons will gain the top of the hill, just as the last of the French guns guarding the road are silenced due to some counter-battery fire that finally found its mark.  Almost simultaneously the 24th British line battalion also gained the top of the hill, putting a strong force of infantry and cavalry in place behind the French blocking the road, with more troops coming up fast on both flanks!  The British paid dearly for their victory, with three battalions chased from the field, but in the end the French were left unable to withdraw and reinforce the army at Vimiero.  So while the French made a good showing, loosing only 1 battalion, based on the positions at the end of turn 10, very few if any would have been able to avoid being made prisoner.

Suddenly the closeness of the battle is explained, as old Nosey apparently left the field of battle to go have a chat with the village laundresses!   Clearly that happy event was suppressed in the history books of the time...

What a fun day it was!  A special thanks to my friends who sacrificed being outside on a beautiful Saturday afternoon to spend time around a games table.  Fortunately we were able to leave the garage doors open, so it almost felt like being outside.  A special thanks to David R for taking some absolutely wonderful photographs, and to Eddie and his son James who drove eighty miles each way to join us!  Thanks to Mike for providing good beer and a thorough reading of the rules and to Stephen, whose humor when half of his force defected kept a smile on all our faces.  Can't wait for the next time!

Works in Progress - Bavarians, Colonels and Old Guard Grenadiers

 With the completion of the Dutch Grenadiers, I have started in on a few new units which are in various stages of completion.  Even more importantly, given expanded access to the vaccine, I have an actual game planned for next week with actual real live people.  I'm not sure I remember how to be sociable, so I may have to practice with my pups before the weekend!

Les Higgins French Old Guard Grenadiers are on deck for prepping and priming.  A few bayonets need repair, but most figures are in excellent condition.  I will be mixing in a few SHQ command types, which mix pretty well with Les Higgins.  There is also a Franznap Colonel and a copy of the Hinton Hunt FN 367 figure of General Cambronne, who may serve instead as General  de Brigade Michel, along with a Les Higgins Major.  Collecting this many out of production figures is no easy feat, so I would be remiss to not thank Wellington Man for finding the majority of these on ebay for me, and Rob G who contributed a some excellent extras that looked virtually brand new as well as General Cambronne.

Here we have some Der Kriegspieler Bavarian Chevau-leger.  A lot of work has gone into these to better approximate the uniform of the Bavarian Chevau-leger.   The command figures are Hinton Hunt and of much higher quality and sculpting accuracy.

While I am working on painting the Bavarians and prepping the French, a battalion of French Marines of the Guard are soaking in the Dettol to remove the old paint.  Thanks to Bill W who generously provided the Marines!

Finally we have just a few odds and ends in process.  Colonel Ralph Dundas Tindall at the far right will take over command of the Dutch Grenadiers.  Next to him is a wonderful Franznap figure of a French Vivandierre nursing her baby.  Finally there is a conversion of a Portuguese Colonel.  I need to spruce up two more of Dick Tennant's Portuguese battalions to complete the British 1st Infantry Division, so I will probably get those done before starting the paintwork on the Les Higgins Old Guard Grenadiers.