15/18mm French Revolutionary Infantry Comparison - Part 2

I posted a few comparisons on my blog in the past and they have all been very popular, so after doing one of Revolutionary and early Napoleonic era French, I thought I'd give you an other quick side-by-side comparison of some command bases.

This image consists of, from left to right...

1. AB French Line in greatcoats with Blue Moon also in greatcoats. These mix reasonably well. I would have used Blue Moon command figures but they came with an eagle whereas the AB had a standard flag pole. Blue Moon are nice models but the have very short bayonets compared to other brands.

2. French Legere in Egypt from Fighting 15s, previously Black Hat.

3. Demi-brigade using Warmodelling, previously Fantassin and now Capitan or Battle Models. Its hard to keep up with what this range is called. These are nice and mix really well with AB, but they are suffering from some poor casting. This is supposed to be getting sorted but I'd check before ordering.

4. These are the newest entry for this period and are from Campaign Games Miniatures in Spain. These are lovely figures and paint up really nice. There is a choice of two command sets and you can have the grenadiers in bicorne or bearskin. The standard bearer comes with separate flag pole or eagle, so you can use these as later as well.

Hopefully this will be as useful as the previous comparison posts.

Austrian Mariassy Jägers - Warmodelling/Battlemodels miniatures

I'm on a bit of a roll and getting some figures finished. And guess what! I've done some Austrians!

I eventually got round to finishing a 16-man unit of Austrian Jägers using Warmodelling's 18mm figures (I only needed 12 but went for a larger unit fe reason). I had started these on four figure bases but felt that this looked wrong, so split them to have two per base.

The figures themselves are not the best that I've worked on recently. Warmodelling were suffering from increasingly poor castings when these were purchased, which they are apparently in the process of correcting. I did order some Hussars from them but the quality of those was terrible - luckily their service is still good and I eventually got replacements, but if you want their figures I would recommend waiting until they are remastered. The jaegers may benefit from this as well hopefully, as pose-wise they are nice enough. Its just some lost detail that affects them.

These seem to be in uniforms which are possibly too late for Marengo, so will be replaced at some point with suitable figures in helmets, if I can find some with the shorter musket.

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!

15/18mm Prussian Landwehr - Just for Waterloo's Anniversary

A long time ago now, back when I started getting back into Napoleonics, the first unit I built was a Prussian Landwehr Battalion.

Seeing that everybody is going Waterloo crazy right now for some reason, I pulled out the old unit and took some new photos. The figures are a mix of Warmodelling and AB.

Edit: One thing I just noticed is that one of the figures has gone grey! Is he a ghost? What's happened here? Any ideas?

Consular Guard and Dragoons, and some comparisons.

I was having a look for specific figures for Napoleon's Consular Guard and for the French Dragoon regiments at Marengo, but there seem to be few 15/18mm figures to choose from. From what I can see the main differences in the uniforms from 1800 and the later styles are slight, with the main difference being the length of the coats.

As I had a set of Old Guard Grenadiers and a later French Dragoon regiment sitting doing nothing I've had a go at painting these for Marengo and hoping they work well enough until the correct miniatures become available - I know AB do Dragoons for this period but the cost for two 12 man and an 18 man regiment would be a little too much just now.

Consular Guard Grenadiers - Using Warmodelling Old Guard Grenadiers
For the list I am working to for Marengo I have to build a 40 figure Consular Guard Grenadier battalion. The figures I have are a mix of Warmodelling's Old Guard plus other line Grenadiers, some with green-stuff added plumes and cords. I would have preferred to get AB figures for this set, but the AB figures are standing ready whereas these figures are marching.

I've had a look at as many reference pictures as I can find and I think that apart from the shorter tails, the main difference between the Consular and Imperial uniforms is in the colour of the turnbacks, collar, and cords.

I've painted a base as a test and think they look fine.

French 9e Dragoon Regiment - Using Campaign Games Miniatures Dragoons
Again, as with the Consular Guard, the main difference I could see between the 1800 Dragoons and the later uniform is the length of the coat tails, so already having a set of Campaign Games Miniatures (CGM) Dragoons sitting unfinished I thought I could use these for the 9e Dragoons at Marengo. I've painted up a command base of three figures to see how they look, and the main change I made was to trim the eagle down to as close to the proper shape (it still needs filed down a bit as the metal is quite hard and getting it smoother without the proper tools didn't work - I need to straighten the standard as well)

 

COMPARISON PICTURES
I've been posting on this blog for over a year now and some of the most popular posts are the comparison pictures between different companies, so here are some more. I hope these are helpful...
 Cavalry Comparison - Blue Moon, Warmodelling, Campaign Games
The first picture is of three command bases, the first one from the left is Austrian Hussars from Blue Moon, next is Warmodelling Spanish Cavalry painted to represent French Heavy Cavalry, and the last is CMG's French Dragoons.
My opinion had been that the Blue Moon figures were my preferred figures, but after painting the Warmodelling figures and seeing them side by side I find the BM figures to be far too small. The CMG figures' poses are a little rigid, and a little lacking in animation, but they are solid looking figures.

Grenadier Comparison - Warmodelling, Old Glory, Blue Moon
This picture is a selection of French "grenadier" figures from various companies, and different periods, again just to show scale. The figure bases from left to right are French Old Guard (painted as Consular Guard) from Warmodelling, Old Glory's Polish Line Infantry Grenadiers in Czapka, Warmodelling Line Grenadiers, Warmodelling Line Grenadiers for 1806-15, and lastly a Blue Moon Line Grenadier company.

2nd Heavy Cavalry - Updated with added Plumes

As the French Heavy Cavalry had plumes on their bicornes, and the figures I had used didn't, I decided to add plumes to the next unit I'm painting, which will be the 20th - a regiment that had pink facings and pink and black plumes.

I used a little green stuff, rolled into a carrot shape and carefully added these to the existing figures, and as I was happy with the results I then added plumes to the 2nd.

I think the paint I used is a little thick looking, so it'll need a little more work, but the plumes give these figures an extra "frenchness".

Here is the 2nd Heavy Cavalry with added plumes...

I also printed off a flag for these, but as you can see from the results, it makes sense to use properly printed flags rather than inkjet printed.

And here are the 2nd with the (in progress) 20th at the rear...

Kellerman and the 2nd Heavy Cavalry

Francois Etienne de Kellerman was noted for his daring and skillful exploits during the Napoleonic Wars. He was born in Metz and served for a short time in his father's regiment of Hussars until 1791 and returned to the army in 1793 where he again served under his father's command in the Alps, and in 1796 he rose to the rank of chef de brigade.

In the latter part of Bonaparte's 1796-97 Italian campaign he attracted the future emperor's attention at Tagliamento. He was made general of brigade and continued in Italy in the armies of Rome and Naples under Macdonald and Championnet.
At the Marengo he commanded a heavy cavalry brigade with which he conducted one of the most famous cavalry charges of history, which, with Desaix's infantry attack, decided the issue of the battle defeating three Austrian grenadier battalions. Then rapidly reforming his troopers, charged and routed an Austrian dragoon regiment. The dragoons stampeded through the Austrian army, causing a general rout that effectively ended the Austrian's battle.
 

Kellerman's Brigade

2e Heavy Cavalry               12 Figures.    Grade: Line 

20e Heavy Cavalry             12 Figures.    Grade: Line
21e Heavy Cavalry             12 Figures.    Grade: Line

The 2nd Heavy Cavalry

Putting together a unit of French Heavy Cavalry for Marengo was not as easy as I first thought. There is a very limited choice of figures with virtually none available that I felt would fit in with what I already had. Plus with cost constraints meaning I had limited funds to spend. First of all I had to do a little research on what the Heavy Cavalry looked like at this battle. There were a few contradictory images online and in book reference, but here are some that I used as reference for painting this unit.

As I really want to concentrate on my Austrian army I didn't want to spend too much time and money on these, but I also wanted something that would be of similar quality to my other units. I had a few suggestions from the TMP Napoleonic forum which included using Spanish troops as my French, and with a lot of help from Mike at Warmodelling UK, I have managed to put together two units of twelve cavalrymen each using their Spanish Cavalry range, all at a very cheap price. Unfortunately Mike is no longer supplying Warmodelling miniatures so the next and final unit will have to be ordered from Spain.

The figures themselves are reasonably good, but with the slight roughness that lower the quality of Warmodelling's figures, and some of the horses didn't look like they were from the same sculptor. Also a couple of the figures are holding pistols (I may change these if I can get more sword-bearing spares).

I've painted these a little quicker than they deserve, but with increasing arthritis pain in my hands, and decreasing eye-sight quality, they were a bit of a struggle. I also hate painting horses for some reason, and this is probably the very first mounted unit I've completed.

The flags still need to be done, with new artwork needed, and then a visit to the printers.

I hope you like them. And comments as to whether these work as Heavy French Cavalry or not are welcome...

 

 

I also found this very nice image of French Generals suitable for this period...

 



Gardanne and the 44e Demi-Brigade d'Infanterie de Ligne

Gen de Div. Gardanne
44e Demi-brigade

Gaspard-Amédée Gardanne had become governor of Alessandria in 1799, but in July of that year the city was besieged and Gardanne was forced to surrender, being taken as a prisoner of war. Before long he was exchanged for Austrian General Mack and released. Once back in Paris, Gardanne assisted Bonaparte with the coup d'état.

In early 1800 Gardanne was promoted to Général de Division.  He joined the Army of the Reserve in April 1800 and then took command of a new division in June. Leading his division, he fought at Montebello.

On the 13th of June 1800, Gardanne was in command of the advanced guard and had positioned himself to lead his troops in to Alessandria with just the creek separating the opposing forces. Neither side was aware of each others strength, and the terrain favoured the advancing Austrians, but Gardanne distinguished himself nonetheless.

Gardanne later received a sabre of honor for his conduct at Marengo and he went on to serve with the Army of Italy until the summer of 1801 when he returned to France.

Gardanne was in command of Saxon troops in Silesia in 1807 when he fell ill and died.

Gardanne's Brigade

44e Demi-brigade de bataille              3x 30 Figures.    Grade: Line 

101e Demi-brigade de bataille             2x 30 Figures.    Grade: Line
Skirmishers                                          12 Figures.         Grade: Line

 

44e Demi-brigade, 1st Battalion

Regimental History

1642: Created
1645: Named Regiment Mazarin-Italien
1651: Renamed Regiment Anjou-Etranger
1660: Renamed Regiment de Orleans
1791: 44e Regiment de Infanterie
1793: 44e demi-brigade de bataille (formed from the following):

2e bataillon 22e Regiment de Infanterie
2e bataillon Volontaires de la Correze
5e bataillon Volontaires de Rhone-et-Loire

1796: 44e demi-brigade d'Infanterie de ligne (formed from the following): 

92e demi-brigade de bataille (2e Bat 46e Regt d'Inf, 5e Bat Vol de la Haute-Saone and 2e Bat Vol d'Eure-et-Loir)
2e and Depot bataillons 44e Regiment de Infanterie

The 44e Demi-Brigade d'Infanterie de Ligne fought at Marengo with its battalions split between Gardanne's Brigade and Dampierre's Brigade according to the army list that I am working from (which appeared in issue 290 of Wargames Illustrated). According to this list there were three battalions with Gardanne and a further one battalion with Dampierre, although I was of the impression that the regiment would only have three battalions. To remedy this I think that for one of the battalions I will not include a flag, unless I find it the meantime that there were more than three battalions in a demi-brigade.

The Chef-de-Brigade for the 44e at Marengo was either Francois-Joseph Offenstein or Adrien-Joseph Sauder, but I've found conflicting sources for who was in command at that time.

This unit has been built using Blue Moon's 1805 French in Greatcoats and command figures from AB. The Blue Moon command figures have an Eagle Bearer rather than a standard flag so rather than convert the figures I used the AB range. They mix quite well as you can see.

 

 

For comparison purposes here is the Blue Moon battalion alongside the previous battalion I've completed, which uses Warmodelling Miniatures. The Blue Moon are noticeably smaller and in more regimental poses, bur they should look fine on the same tabletop.

 

 

While painting these I had a look for some inspirational images on the internet and found these pictures.