28mm Napoleonic French: 3 Rgt Fanteria di linea (Italian), 1 and 2 BTN

 Here are two more battalions for my French army, Perry plastics of course. Next will be 2 battalions of the 7^th Regiment to complete the brigade.

28mm Napoleonic French/Italian: Battaglione Granetieri Reali

 

In my French 1809 Napoleonic Army I have already done 12 battalions (in 3 brigades, 2 divisions) and was contemplating how to round them off with another brigade. I wanted plastics, if only because they were cheaper (and I find plastic assembly strangely therapeutic), so Poles, Swiss and Italians came to mind. As you can see from the title of this, the Italians won out. So I will do 4 Italian Line battalions plus one or two guard battalions. If I do another Guard battalion it will be Battaglione Cacciatori Reali, which was the sister battalion of chasseurs with mostly the same uniform except for a brass plate on the bearskin, pointed cuffs and red/green plumes.

This battalion came out of a box of FN250. I have assembled so many figures over the years that I have assorted trays of 'bits' which I hoard – bearskins, shakos with plumes, arms with epaulettes etc. That makes it easy to create specialized battalions.

I think they look rather smart.

28mm ECW Royalist: Lord Carnarvon's Horse

 The third and last unit on the Royalist right flank. This is the first time I have painted a plastic regiment from Warlord Games and they are decent. The previously seen two regiments were metals from 1^st Corps, which cost GBP36 each, and this one was GBP25

so a savings of GBP11 per regiment. But when you factor in postage from the UK to France the Warlord Games work out cheaper again as they seem to post from within Europe and avoid customs duties. But. on the other hand, the plastics need time to build.

I think for the other cavalry Brigade (and the commanded foot) I will probably use Warlord Games but for the infantry and artillery I will certainly continue with 1^st Corps.

The Cavalry Brigade commander (of the right wing) is Thomas Wentworth, 1^st Earl of Cleveland, who had a good reputation in that role. The figure is Gustavus Adolphus from Warlord Games and I like the pose although I have had to slightly alter the horse pose as it's clearly jumping a hedge.

28mm Napoleonic French: 1st Tirailleur Grenadiers 1st BTN

 

These figures, from Piano Miniatures, were a real challenge to paint. Lovely figures but very fiddly to paint. . I had no plans to add any guard to my French army but I wanted to get a close-up look at Piano Minis and they did not disappoint. Maybe I will have to buy another battalion's worth of figures at some stage as one battalion on it's own would feel rather lonely.

Or I could sell this battalion if anybody wants it – for the right price of course. PM me if you want to discuss it.

28mm ECW Royalist: Lord Molyneux Horse

 

Last of this current painting batch is the second horse regiment for the Royalists. I will return to this project soon as I have ordered a plastic regiment of Horse from Warlord Games just to see what they are like. Buy otherwise I have other projects for the next three months or so.

On a side note concerning the massive fires raging around Bordeaux. I live about 120 kilometres due east of that city and the other night the sky was filled with smoke which had drifted all the way here and the air was full of the acrid smell of burning. It was a reminder of what we are doing to our planet.

28mm ECW Royalist: Queen's Lifeguard Regiment of Foot.

 The fourth foot regiment so far completed out of a planned five for the Royalists. I will complete another horse regiment before I return in August to other projects.

28mm ECW Royalist: C-in-C Prince Maurice (Moritz Pfalzgraf von der Pfalz)

 

This is my three figure command base for the Royalist army. Maurice is an interesting chap and in many ways more charismatic, although less flamboyant, than his elder brother Prince Rupert. He also had a number of independent commands suitable for this small early-war army of 5,000.

Two of the figures are from 1^st Corps and the third from Avanpost which I bought many years ago before the war. The BCW Project has an excellent biography of him here:

https://bcw-project.org.uk/biography/prince-maurice