15/18mm French Revolutionary Infantry Comparison

Its been ages since I had time and motivation to get any painting done. I keep trying to get back into the mood, but I just haven't been able to. I suppose a promotion to a management position, mixed with a hectic and very stressful family situation has to take its toll somewhere, but I annoyed that it has been my hobby that has suffered - and therefor the blog has slowed as well.

But then it only takes a couple of things to get you back in the mood - for example a new release of figures. And that's whats happened. Campaign Game Miniatures in Spain have just released early French infantry, and they looked great. I had to get myself some, even though I have about 6 or 7 unpainted demi-brigades already.

An order was placed for a 32 man battalion, and while I was at it I thought I would add in another Austrian set, as I've never used CGMs infantry before. The Austrians were just as nice as the French turned out to be. I'm a little annoyed that I hadn't got these earlier, but I'll do another comparison with the Austrians very soon.

So what do you get in a 32 man battalion pack? CGM have packs available with varying amounts of figures, as well as the separate packs, so that you can choose exactly what you want. This pack was perfect for my needs, and its great to get all the figures you need without wasting money on spares.

As you can see, you get a variety of poses. For the bulk of the infantry there are 20 figures in four poses, with five of each pose. For the elite/Grenadier/light companies you get another four poses, two of each, plus the four figures in the command set. You get separate standards, one flag pole for early battalions, and an eagle for later.

The figures look really well cast, with sharp details, and no flash or visible mold lines - so these can go straight into the painting stage without lengthy a clean up first.

The important question when buying a new range is always, will these mix with what I have already? I think they will, especially with AB or Warmodelling (or Battlemodels as these are now called).

In this picture I've shown them alongside (from left to right) 2x Warmodelling, 2x AB, 2x Old Glory (Saxons as I don't have French), and finally 2x CGM. As you can see the size and proportions are very close to AB. The equipment looks the same, whereas I found that figures from Blue Moon for example, the muskets look totally different from other companies.

All in I would highly recommend these figures from CGM. They mix well with others, they look great, they are top quality, and the service from the company is excellent.

Marks out of ten, I'd say a high 9. And if they paint as well as the other figures I have from CGM that may go up to a full 10/10!

1o Reggimento Veneto Real, 1797 - 15mm AB Miniatures

I've always been interested in doing obscure regiments as part of my collection and Northern Italy in the late 18th Century has plenty of choice, from Venice to Verona, the Papal States to Piedmont, Sardinia and Modena, there are many small nations that are diverse in their armies and regiments.

After concentrating on the Austrians, with a few French regiments, I did a battalion of Piedmontese. Then I spotted some Venetian re-enactors wearing what looked like blue Austrian uniforms. This needed a bit of research and I uncovered a mass of online photographs of the I° Reggimento Veneto Real. This was the unit I decided to build.

In 1797 Venice still ruled over the Adriatic, with France controlling the majority of Italy. Although France wanted peace with the "Serene Republic", Venice was more inclined towards friendship with Austria, which led Napoleon to send a message to the Doge's government - "Your whole territory is imbued with revolutionary principles.  One single word from me will excite a blaze of insurrection through all your provinces.  Ally yourself with France, make a few modifications in your government, such as are indispensable for the welfare of the people, and we will pacify public opinion and will sustain your authority."

Venice continued to raise troops even while other Italian states were allying with the French republican feeling. When news came that Austria had seen some success against France ton the Tyrolian frontier the Venetians declared war. French garrisons were overthrown and Napoleons supply lines were cut. This was a huge mistake as Napoleon was far from forgiving. After defeating the Austrians he turned back on the Venetians.

"French blood has been treacherously shed," said Napoleon; "if you could offer me the treasures of Peru, if you could cover your whole dominion with gold - the atonement would be insufficient. You have murdered my children - the winged lion of St.Mark must lick the dust."

The short war that followed was a disaster for Venice. The Republic that had once been a major Mediterranean power was ended.

Here is the I° Reggimento Veneto Real, a unit built using AB miniatures Revolutionary period 18mm Austrians.

 

I'm really happy with how these have come out. Obviously AB are the highest quality miniatures out there but they really suit this colour scheme - and the blue and white uniforms are very smart. There is a bit of doubt about what shade of blue the uniforms should be, but I've decided to go with the lighter colour for this "Royal" regiment and the darker blue for the regular line regiments. The inclusion of the grenadier company is a guess; they may have had combined grenadier battalions similar to the Austrians.

 

A large percentage of the army was Slavonian mercenaries, and the skirmishers were Oltramarine (Oversea) troops from Albania. For these I used Russian light infantry from Old Glory's 15mm Seven Years War range, with the headgear converted. I was worried how these would scale beside AB, which are 18mm, but as you can see in the pictures below that they mix really well and look the same size (the Old Glory seem slightly larger in fact).

 

The battalion is finished now except for the flags. The ones I have added are only temporary inkjet prints and the final flags should be a lot brighter.

Finally, here are some nice shots of the Milizia Veneta, I° Reggimento Veneto Real re-enactment group. As you can see, the uniforms are very distinctive.

 

 

 

 

 

Cossacks - 15mm Old Glory

Back in March I posted a review and comparison of 15/18mm Cossack figures, and after picking these as my most "almost finished" unit they were quickly finished.

I've painted a few 15mm Old Glory figures recently and I've been really impressed by how well they come out. These are no different as they paint up really well.

I'm not planning on doing Russians, unless of course someone does Suvarov's troops for the Swiss/Italian campaigns.

The only issue I have with these figures is the bending of the lances. I'd replace these with steel lances if I had time.

15/18mm Austrian Cavalry Comparison Part 2

After I did the comparison post on Austrian cavalry it was pointed out that I'd missed some. Obviously I don't have every manufacturers figures to hand to compare them, but there are some that I did have that I forgot about including, so here is another comparison with other figures.

These are, from left to right in both pictures, an Austrian Hussar from Blue Moon, a Uhlan from Battle Honours, a Dragoon from Boki Miniatures on a Campaign Games Miniatures horse, a line infantry officer from Old Glory, and an AB general.

These are all roughly compatible, although the Old Glory figure and horse seem a lot smaller. For other Old Glory mounted figures I've remounted them on larger horses and they look fine, but this is a single piece casting, so maybe not the best representation.

The Battle Honours figure is a little small as well, but would possibly benefit again from going onto a larger mount.

Blue Moon's figure is by far the smallest of the separately cast riders, and although he's on a larger mount he still looks like a very small 15mm figure, especially when you consider that Blue Moon's foot figures are closer to 18mm than 15mm. The other issue with this range is that the horses are very thick through the body, so other figures can't sit on them comfortably.

So, the only range that I would like to have shown that is missing is the Fantassin/Warmodelling/Battle Models range.

Here's a link to the last comparison in case you missed it... LINK

Hopefully this is a help again.

Oltramarina Schiavoni - Venetian skirmishers Part 4

The first unit of Oltramarina Schiavoni are now finished - a 12-figure unit in skirmish order. These have turned out really colourful and great little characters. Hopefully I'll get the chance to put these on a tabletop and see if I can put up a stronger fight against the invading French than the actual Venetians managed. As far as I can find out it seems that these were not inferior troops, nor badly trained or equipped, but suffered from a lack of conviction from the Venetian political leadership and from a lack of support from the Austrians.

I've also found a few more reference images and have artwork set up for the flags for at least the three battalions I have planned for this small army.

First, here are the figures...

So the next plan for this army is a full battalion of these in close order. I've converted all but a couple of these and they look good. Once I'd done a few it got really easy. I could probably have narrowed the hat a little at the top, and the red cloth should have had a yellow tassle, but for 15mm figures I think I'll stick with what I have.

One question I am asking myself though, is should I trim of the bayonets? All the images show them without.

Here's a great image of these troops fighting in close order (and taking quite a pounding!). The troops firing from the window look like the 16 Reggimento Treviso. The artillery in the background is interesting as well.