In the meantime I shifted my painting/carpet-soiling operations into the dining room, and now have the first battalion of Granaderos Provinciales - complete apart from the flag, which should follow in a day or so. The flag, since I mentioned it, is going to be a bit of a flight of fancy - units of granaderos of the line were normally assembled on campaign from the grenadier companies in a division, which means that, as provisional entities, they did not have flags unless someone lent them one. Not so for the Provinciales - the grenadier companies were supplied by the Provincial Militia units of a particular - erm, province, I guess - but they were then given a permanent identity and treated as a distinct regiment. Thus they had a flag, I understand.
These chaps, then, are the 3rd "Division" of Provincial Grenadiers - namely those of Andalucia (other "divisions" were for Galicia, and New and Old Castille). As grenadiers they manage to avoid categorisation as militia in my rules (with all the potentially disastrous implications that would bring), and count as bog-standard line infantry. They are not without a certain prestige, in fact the colonel at the Battle of Ucles would be Pedro Giron, who later was C-in-C of one of the main Spanish field armies. They will form part of the Reserve division of the Army of La Mancha - in company with various guard battalions and the very attractive Irlanda.
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| Granaderos Provinciales de Andalucia - short of a flag |
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| ...and, of course, they have to look good when retreating - note minimalist flammes |
Their flag will be some fairly generic coronela - if anyone knows better, please feel free to shout. I'll provide a more official picture when the flag is issued and the chaps are ready for action.
The other such battalion is partly complete - thus far they have their command finished, and the rest of the chaps are undercoated and have had the white paint done (lots of white paint) - they can go back in the Really Useful Box for a respite period, while we sort out the domestic collateral damage.
Oh yes - figures are Falcata castings - the rank and file laboriously (and grumpily) fettled and cleaned up prior to painting - they came out OK, I think - the mounted officer is a conversion involving a Kennington Frenchman and other bits, and the standard bearer is by NapoleoN.
They turned out very well Tony, worth the effort prepping them.
ReplyDeleteThank you Lee - still another battalion to finish - will the carpets survive?
DeletePrepping the marching figure with hand underneath the end of the musket stock (that's about 9 of these fellows) required me pretty much to recarve the left hand and cuff and the lower right leg. Thank goodness for black gaiters. The zoomed-in version of these photos shows that buttons are painted on cuff-flaps which exist primarily in the painter's imagination - surprising how well unpromising castings can paint up, though! Thank goodness, too, for 20mm figures and blurred eyesight. Whatever detail you wish to see, it is there - join the dots and pass the bottle.
DeleteSplendid looking chaps!
ReplyDeleteI think I have captured fairly closely their appearance just after leaving the depot, in fine weather. Two leagues down the road they will have ditched the gaiters, changed into their civilian overalls and sandals, got rid of all that heavy ammunition and stuff, and sold their boots to buy cigarillos. And then there's those stupid hats. First shower of rain and the uniforms will fall apart. Nothing can go wrong.
DeleteAgreed! And suitably 18th century looking to grab and keep my attention.
ReplyDeleteBest Regards,
Stokes
They were a bit old fashioned, weren't they? - considering the rate at which they received new dress regulations, they are definitely a Bourbon army.
DeleteSharp work! I would have enjoyed seeing renderings of the embroidered scrolls on the bag but your minimalist approach works.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jon - ref "renderings" - wrong blog, man! I might have a serious go at one or two figures in 28mm, but it would take someone with real ability with the brush to make fully embroidered flammes anything but ridiculous in this scale. Shades of Gary Larson's "Cow Tools"!
DeleteI'm sure you could do a nice job, mind.
Are you sure you shouldn't have used S Range grenadiers? I think I have a bunch of them somewhere...
ReplyDeleteThere was a point during the grinding and hacking prep work when I was thinking about just that. I am, as you know, very fond of S-Rangers, but they work better for a complete army - my 1812 Spaniards use a lot of S-Range, with uniforms made in Lancashire.
DeleteLovely work, Tony. They make me want to tackle those Dutch grenadiers that have been nagging at me for a couple of years now! However, the castings I have for them aren't a patch on yours.
ReplyDeleteThey are reminiscent of the Dutch Grenadiers, aren't they? You should do them - and then there's those lovely sky-blue musicians. Now I come to think of it, did the Dutch Grenadiers just march about with the rest of the guard? - I don't know much about their service record.
DeleteIt wasn't hugely impressive, as far as I can tell. They were only in existence for about two years before being totally destroyed, along with so many other colourful and exotic formations, during the Russian campaign.
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