More French FRW Flag stands

 A while ago I posted pictures of my first two FRW French infantry in white coats & Tarleton helmets - flag stands.   You can see my earlier blog here.

Two more flag units have now been produced and will be making their debut at Joy of Six on Sunday 14 July.

Black faced unit - 1st Bn 3rd Regt, Pink faced unit - 1st Bn 36 Regt 

Both stands have Grenadier figures in Bicorne - not all troops got/liked/retained their Tarleton helmets, many that did get them then got rid of them!

Flags I made on my computer...😊

Baccus 6mm Spanish Light infantry, British Horse Artillery Officer, French skirmisher in Bicorne.

French Revolutionary War - French infantry stands for BBB

A little while ago I got the idea that I could create French line infantry stands with flag for use with BBB rules.

I searched high and low on the internet but could not find any 1/300 French infantry in Tarleton helmets that I could use, so I repurposed Baccus Spanish skirmishers by creating drummers and flag bearers from the "loading" figures.  The front rank is firing and the second rank loading, drumming, flag waving or leading.  I have taken a British horse artillery officer (leader figure in Tarleton) as an officer on one stand.

I plan to add some figures in bicornes, as well as those in tarletan helmets, to mix it up a little on future bases.

I created the flags in excel and then printed my own sheet.  By choosing regiments that had easy to reproduce geometric shapes, these were easy to knock up (why make life harder??!).  

Here are the pics of the first two units:

The facing colour over white plumes really "pop"

Here are the units in the classic "ordre mixte"

Here is the top of the sheet I created for the flags:

Here is the master flag - the hoist part of the flag is sized to go round a 0.5mm pole in 6mm, which is why it's a bit wide...   This gives you an idea of the teeny tiny detail on there.

So, there's more of these bases in the pipeline - and I readily admit that I really like these colourful additions to my FRW French army.

Just in case this inspires you to have a go, the figures are Baccus NSP19 Skirmishers in Tarleton, with a RHA Officer thrown in.  

Contact me if you'd like a copy of the flag sheet as a word document.  I've done 2 flags x 3 sizes, enough to test fit on models and make the occasional mistake.

Enjoy!

Napoleonic Austrians 1792-98 - Command Group - MK2 Conversions from AWL02 - FINISHED !

 I posted earlier about the "Mk 2" Austrian Command conversions of the Baccus AWL02 Loyalist skirmisher loading figure into drummers and flag bearers.  Austrian command figures 1792-98 Mk2 - part 1

I attach photos of the finished command bases, now that they are "game ready".  I'm really quite pleased with them, not too hard to make and no head swaps to worry about.  

I am going to make more for raw unit commands (no flag, flautist instead) and trained (with flag) commanded by an officer in a tricorne.

Once again, I hope this inspires you to make some of these conversions.  

French Elite Light infantry - Tirailleurs Corse & Po 1809

 As part of the Danube 1809 campaign I need two light infantry units - the Tirailleurs Corse & Tirailleurs du Po.  It would appear that the Tirailleurs Corse were uniformed as normal French light infantry, with a side plumed shako and their cartridge box on a waist belt, not a shoulder belt.  

There is a debate on the internet about the uniform, so this unit is often portrayed as wearing a brown uniform.  The balance of the argument is for blue, so that's what I went with.

The Tirailleurs du Po wore white waistcoats with red lapels, bicorne hats with a red "droopy" plume.  That's what I went with!

The flags were sourced on the internet, manipulated using excel and word then printed.

OK, here they are:

Another week, another new page - French Revolutionary Wars Army

 I've added a new page - my French Revolutionary Army.  Teaser pics!

Austrian Napoleonic - Command & Control........ the slow way.....

Austrian Generals.  In 1809 the Austrian Generals C&C system relied upon lots of highly detailed orders and a discouragement of local initiative.  For many battles in BBB, you don't need many (or any!!) Austrian Generals, as they are unlikely to add anything (in games terms).  

Having said that, Austrian Generals are needed on the table for many battles, so after our Aspern-Essling game in March 2020, I made sure I had "enough".  

The base with 3 figures is the CinC, probably Archduke Charles, with two ADCs to carry and transmit the reams of orders needed.  There are 3 x two figure bases, a general & his Stabs-dragoon body guard.  3 single Generals rounds off the Austrian C&C.

I also made a "fun" figure - Arch Duke Charles seizing a flag and leading the charge....

Once again, all figures are Baccus.  

Napoleonic Austrians - Landwehr - Styria

 More Landwehr - Styria this time.  Styrian Landwehr were supposed to wear a spruce green coat and a Hetherington Hat - a style that we know as the "top hat".  Equipment shortages meant that most troops wore Grey coats and Round hats...

A side shot showing the City of Graz flag chosen by me for Styria

Figures Baccus, based for BBB.  This unit gets skirmishers - all in Round Hats.  Top Hat skirmishers will follow, in due course.

Napoleonic Austrians - Landwehr - Inner Austria

As a contrast to the massed ranks of off-white Austrian troops, I thought I would showcase some more colourful* and less known units - the Landwehr.  The Landwehr were raised in 1809 and were present at many of the battles with the French, albeit sometimes fleetingly!

Whilst the regular Austrian army regarded most volunteer and irregular troops with suspicion, some Landwehr did aquit themselves well.  Most Landwehr units, sadly, did suffer from desertion and a tendency to depart the field of battle at high speed once the firing started.  

So, the first set of figures - Inner Austria.  Grey coats, red facings.

Side shot - showing the flag.  Landwehr units had flags (probably) that were old model Austrian eagles on the right hand side and a local emblem on the left, which was usually a coat of arms.  In this case, I chose Zwettl.

Figures are Baccus, I gave them a more "ragged" look by removing some of the bayonets, to suggest poorly equipped troops.  The flag was downloaded from Napflags (for the eagle) & the internet for the coat of arms.  Based for BBB on 1" square 2mm mdf from Warbases.

*OK - grey - but it's NOT white!!

Napoleonic Bavarians of 1809 have got their own page !

 I have just created a page to showcase my 1809 Bavarians, based for the BBB ruleset. 

Here's a couple of pictures to whet your appetite!

Hussars - 7th Hussar Command Base for BBB Napoleonics

Last century, when my Brother and I started wargaming, he bought volume 1 of the Funcken book of French Napoleonic uniforms.  As we were at the Belgian Army museum in Brussels, this was, of course, in French...

It is beautifully illustrated (though sometimes there are debates about the accuracy of some of the uniforms within) and inspired us both to keep on wargaming.  At some point I was given the book.  

In the last couple of years, having decided to build 1/300 / 6mm armies suitable for Napoleonic gaming using the BBB rules system, I started painting up the French army for 1809.  

Most recently I've been painting French Hussars (both 1809 & 1796-1800) so I've used the page below, together with sources on the internet, to pick colourful and flamboyant uniforms.

Here is the double page of Hussars (or as much as I can get in the scanner!):

The 7th Hussar Trumpeter from the Elite Company, resplendent in red uniform & white colpack, was an obvious choice.  

For BBB we use Standard bearers/flag stands to indicate troop quality (Raw = no flag stand, Trained = 1 Flag stand & Veterans = 2 Flag stands) - I wanted a 7th Hussar Command Base, with flag and Elite Company Trumpeter.  

I used 4 x Baccus French Hussars (NFR06) with 2 x French Elite Light Cavalry (NFR12).  The addition of Elite cavalry to each base provides elan and helps spread the Hussars further, so I can have more!  

The Elite troopers are based on the Chasseur a Cheval de la Garde Imperiale, so the plumes were moved to the front of the colpack.  I made a standard bearer by removing a trooper's sword and replacing it with a dress makers pin.  The flag is from Napflags and is free on the internet.

Here they are:

Here they are with the 5th Hussars (also a command stand):

So, a further stand finished - ready for the backlog of Napoleonic battles I hope to fight once we restart face to face gaming.  I hope that this inspires some of you to give these troops a go.

Stay safe & keep painting!

There's a bit more fluff on the photo table than normal, as it is currently part of a mask production line...  Also - now I've photo'd them, I have noticed that the bases need a little bit of tidying up....