Big Navy, Small Army, Diplomacy and financial support… and many coalitions!
In the end it produced the ultimate Campaign of the Napoleonic Wars (why not the Old Monarchies Wars eludes me).
Thought I would give you some pics of a quite profesional Army that was nearly defeated at Waterloo… and rescued by the Prussians in the nick of time!… to do not mention the Allies (Dutch&Belgian, Brunswickers, Nassauers, Hannoverians, and KGL to just mention a few whom in general terms fought as hard as the Britons…).
I can understand you and all the rest, it was my obsession for thirty years!… that Corsican Emperor and his Regiments… MINIFIGS 25mm all the way (seee elsewhere in this Blog if you are really interested… Waterloo would do if you want to see the little soldiers I painted one by one painstakingly for years… (LOL)… and then sold away tired of that scale (too little to be 54mm… too big to wargame with… you need all sorts you know…).
At least I can remember the happy times when my brother and I tried (some time vainly and quite historically… to win at Waterloo) and one time succeeded in storming that bloody ridge! (knowing all the time that the Russians and the Austrians would not quit anyway…)… those were the days…
Well, in a way, those were some of my days… deeply involved in 6mm as readers of this webpage know already… but it is SOLO wargaming for me nowadays…
Enjoy!
Napoleonic Imperial Old Guard Grenadiers (I guess again from the WHC)Napoleonic French Imperial Foot Artillery (ditto)… the pic is not from Waterloo at all…
Wonderful work!… useful for wargaming?… I guess not at all… but at the current prices of wargames figures in 28mm I understand the trend.
Happily for all of you I have never tried to be an “influencer” (chicks do that)… I do not care at all what is what you are doing with your hobby as long as you have fun with it!
Quite static piece if you ask me.
Enjoy for what it is!
Another example of Military Modeling in 28mm… as seen in facebook… the chap got a medal for this one or other similar published there… Congratulations! (suspect the work is from Francesco Thau)
I think they are King&Country… splendid figures if you like the variety of stances. They do not come better before starting to think Military Modeling you know.
French Napoleonic figures are a joy to paint because the uniforms are gaudy … and the the plumed shakos are a must!… after a time you realize the changes in uniform in a span of 20 years… but who cares… even the design of the flags changed… look at a Carabinier (mounted) of the early times and of the Waterloo type… nothing in common… lol
A fantastic era for the painters!… so you pay your money and take your choice!
The pic is of Light Infantry of course!
If yesterday was the Brits… today is the French (both sides… pardon the pun)
My first love when I discovered metal soldiers was the Waterloo battle (see elsewhere in this same web page), then I was convinced that it was a British/French affair (lol)… much later I discovered the King’s German Legion, The Hanoverians, The Dutch&Belgian, the Nassauers and of course the Prussians! (LOL). It was a long journey… and now at seventy I know that the main pleasure was in the “journey”… all those years buying books, reading about it, checking (and double-checking ) my Armies compositions etc etc etc.
It was a great hobby, and I was entertained for more or around thirty years by it!… I have no regrets. But I must comment that one of the things that put me out of it was when the “finish of the painting job” become Military Modeling like!… I have nothing against it mind… but in my mind the point was not there, the pic of today shows what can be achieved in that scale (and inferiors too) by extremely good painters. Transforming a wargames unit (I must admit I was more Toy Soldier focused) in a mini diorama. You need all sorts you know!… Suddenly my painfully researched and balanced Waterloo Armies looked as “past” as a British Two Seater if you know what I mean (my other hobby been cars). So I quitted.
Military Modeling like minis…
Not wargaming mind, I still have the thrills!, but you’ll need a magnifying glass to see my 6mm ACW paintjobs! (lol again)… seriously even having a permanent quite big table (see elsewhere in the webpage) I love to have more “room to manoeuvre”… “no secure flanks”… and “lines of supply”… I understand perfectly the trend to downsize the minis and have more fun with the game itself. Now I simply collect in the traditional 54mm scale (as I have always done), display them on cabinets ad hoc… and wargame in 6mm.
Mind, I still love those units as the pic of today shows but my time for them has passed away, nor I have the room to field them, nor the funds or time to get them “right” (I have abstained to enter in the argument of “parade look” versus “campaign look” on purpose… I always preferred the former…).
So, without much more to say today… I will let you ponder on it. Enjoy.
Poor chaps… their time had passed… they ended in an epic manner… but nevertheless 1805 was ten years away…
It is a curious thing (since I started this web page or Blog or whatever) that my obsession for thirty years (yes it was the Waterloo battle) reflected in the post MINIFIGS, Napoleon or Waterloo… is one with the less hits of all the manifold… strange I thought it would be popular… maybe its overexposed and overknown… well… it still surprises me… the time and energy I spent painting those hundreds of Anglo-Allied, French and Prussians WAS FUN!… so no complains at all… it simply puzzles me.
200 years… and still present in our collective memory for what it was… a genius (with faults and virtues) and I personally think quite ahead of its time. Nobody seriously studies Napoleon without noticing that it was not exclusively Napoleon fighting offensive wars (mainly) but defending France against old monarchies coalitions because of the ideas (seen as dangerous) of the French Revolution (which has also controversy attached). Of course having a military background (after all he was an Artillery Officer) and following the European tradition that Clausewitz will formulate a posteriori he went to war frequently enough (understatement) as it was the custom in Europe, nowadays he is still remembered for his Civil Code (nearly 200 years of life) and abolishing feudal privileges. He also reinstated slavery in the Caribbean Sea (to his shame). He was not perfect but had a great brain and “je ne sais quoi”.
This post has really a lot of pics!
Napoleonic wargaming was my passion for almost thirty years, in 25mm because I was stupid enough to do not choose 15mm in the first place (minis in the late seventies had no such vast offer and traders… even if MINIFIGS did 15mm too!) so MINIFIGS 25mm (after all I was coming down from 54mm) I went I and no regrets, was quite happy with my collection who also extended to other periods and wars (I though it would be very difficult to paint such small figures in 15mm because of the lavish uniforms of the napoleonic wars!).
Was interested for many years (obsessed is a better description) with the battle of Waterloo, could the Emperor have won? In context and after years of reading about it, I arrived at the conclusion that it was a NO WIN – NO WIN situation, it would have been 1813 all over again… with Austrians and Russians and what not invading France which was exhausted… and that’s that.
Have some pics of my years indulging in that particular wargamers fetish.
Battling with my little brother… many years from now… yours truly on the left.Waterloo set on my “wargames room” in fact part of my office!… weekend well employed.Prussians arriving on the French right flank… 1815. The dark green area was a removable extension of the biggest table at my office.French Grand battery close up.Waterloo 1815 (Solo wargame).Another view.Waterloo lateral view.Waterloo view from the French side.The British Heavy Cavalry charge. Waterloo 1815.British “heavy” (in fact medium) Cavalry close up.Waterloo Allied Cavalry close up.Wellington under his tree…British and Hanoverian Infantry 1815.French Heavy Cavalry of the Imperial Guard + Cuirassiers on their left.French Light Cavalry of the Imperial Guard.French Grand battery (background out of focus)The fictional South Essex of Cornwell’s Sharpe (see right of pic).Ditto.Denmark Infantry. With a change of Command stand they become Swiss…The Prussians arrival!Austrian Grenadiers, Swedish Infantry and Russian Grenadiers.Portuguese Line and Light Infantry (Caçadores).The 9th Leger “L’Incomparable”Napoleonic units: early Spanish 1808 , Duchy of Warsaw and Wurtemberg Infantry.French Artillery.Different Napoleonic units: Kingdom of Naples, Saxons and Bavarians.Aspern-Essling 1809
After a deep crisis with 25mm wargaming I sold them all. After some years toying with Playmobil (75mm) conversions and quite classical 54mm toy soldier collecting I went back to wargaming but in 6mm this time! (see the other Posts). Cheers
