Waterloo in 20mm: 2015

Monday 21 December 2015

Horse Artillery of the Imperial Guard

Here are two batteries of the Horse Artillery of the Imperial Guard:

The Italieri set with some metal figures from Hagen which seem to be modelled on the Italieri originals:

Some Airfix conversions:

Some resin figures from Surfeur:

Some Hinton Hunt:

Some S Range:

Sunday 20 December 2015

5th Hussars

Here are the 5th Hussars. These are a mixture of Italieri, Strelets, Art Miniaturen, Garrison, Waterloo 1815, Franznap and one or two others.

I like this Art Miniaturen officer at the front:

And here is another Art Miniaturen officer with one of their trumpeters to a flank.

I have taken some liberties converting Austrian and Prussian hussars for this regiment, which is easy enough given the ubiquitous nature of the Hussar uniform.

A Waterloo 1815 figure

One of the Zvezda ADCs back with his regiment.

Two dismounted hussars from Hagen.

Saturday 21 February 2015

After the Old Guard, the Cuirassiers at Waterloo seem to have some iconic hold over the imagination. Here are my Cuirassiers. I have around a thousand and they are from many different manufacturers. During the production of this entry I found 200 more, which goes to show this project is getting out of hand: to be exact there are 1109 Cuirassiers on parade. I love the glint of silver which comes off massed heavy cavalry.

Les Higgins and Zvezda

Art Miniaturen and Kennington. The ensign is a conversion from the Italieri Dragoons.

Legio only ever produced one plastic set, their Cuirassiers.

Newline -slightly smaller than many figures, but nicely compatible with Airfix and Esci, the mainstay of my cuirassier force.

Hinton Hunt - Hinton figures are so distinctive. I have used a Strelets officer and ensign with them - they are surprisingly compatible.

Les Higgins and Art Miniaturen.

Airfix and Esci

A mix of metal and plastic

Strelets in cloaks. The chunky nature of Strelets can be distracting but in this case the style works well with Cuirassiers.

Qualicast and IT. Neither company lasted long and I wish the Qualicast figures were back in production.

Panorama

A few Call to Arms figures among the Esci and Airfix - the horses are too small, but are fine in this company.

More Strelets. The plumes seem huge but contemporary pictures show this to be the case.

An RSM trumpeter with an Atlantic conversion. They ought to be in the Bardin Green livery, but I like the reverse colours.

Les Higgins and Zvezda, which go well together.

The extra row are the 200 I forgot about!

Friday 20 February 2015

Carriages

At first glance, one wouldn't think there would be many carriages present at a battle. But both Napoleon's carriages were captured at Waterloo and accounts of the era frequently refer to carriages blocking routes along narrow muddy lanes. Napoleon was so irritated by private transport blocking artillery getting into the firing line before Borodino that he ordered his Service Squadron to dismount and set them alight.

This is the S Range open carriage with a marshal seated. The plume on his cocked hat is enormous.

This is the Imex stagecoach adapted for service as Napoleon's baggage carriage. The two riders are conversions using General Picton's head from the Strelets set. This is complete imagination, but I had fun doing it, whatever its historic inaccuracies.

This is the actual dormeuse captured and then displayed at Madame Tussaud.

Ali the Mameluke (Roustam tried to rejoin Napoleon in 1815, but having defected the year before, Napoleon refused to have him back).

Camp Life

Before the start of the battle, both sides of the Waterloo battlefield must have been alive with men, horses and equipment stirring themselves after a wet and uncomfortable night. Here are a mix of figures, including the Strelets set and numerous conversions, with some rare metal figurs thrown in.

Here are some French prisoners of war, taken at Quatre Bras being led to the rear.