Colonel of French Dragoons

A very small painting project completed – this is Colonel Piquet, of the 6eme Dragons, who is required to command one of the dragoon brigades of my Armée de Portugal, circa 1811-12. No big deal, and – as ever – my painting isn’t much to write home about, but I find this little figure quite interesting.

The officer himself is by Phoenix Model Developments – previously Les Higgins Ltd – and was mastered by Tim Richards around 1975. As I keep mentioning, the Higgins/PMD Napoleonic horses were not wonderful, and I regard them as particularly unsuitable for a brigade commander, so I have mounted Monsieur Piquet on a more sedate animal, courtesy of NapoleoN Miniaturas. The reason this is of some interest is that, during the brief spell (2008/9?) when they were producing the Higgins/PMD Napoleonic range, NapoleoN were giving serious consideration to offering their own horses with the PMD cavalry, as an option. I have always thought this would have been a good idea.

This particular pairing is not as brilliant as I had hoped – the rider comes from the period when PMD were trying a bit of sneaky upward scale creep. No matter – it is a well-known fact (disprove it if you can) that Piquet was quite a tall man, who had a favourite small, wiry horse which was ideal for the rough conditions in Spain.

Anyway – say bonjour to the colonel – I like him well enough, and the combination of castings gives a little glimpse of what might have been if NapoleoN had possessed stamina to match their flair.

Spanish Army - New Commander

Hot from the much-delayed parcel of Falcata figures, here - at last - is the Commander of my Nationalist "4th Army" for the Peninsular War. This is Mariscal de Campo Don Pedro Agostin Giron, Marquis de las Amarilas, Duque de Ahumada (1778–1842), accompanied by his trusty chief of staff, Colonel Sainz.

Giron was a competent, rather than exceptional leader, but the fact that General Castaños, the victor of Bailen, was his uncle must have been a big plus on his CV.

The tasteful yellow border to the base identifies the Spanish commander - house rules...

ECW - Just One More...

I need to get the painting desk returned to its alternative role of living room bureau, so have been tidying up and putting the pots away. I took the opportunity - since it might be the last for a week or more - to paint another  general. Simplest paint job I've done in years, but I really like this little figure, which I was first introduced to by Clive a couple of years ago.

This is REW57, Hinton Hunt's super little Puritan Roundhead General on Foot. Could it be that old Marcus had a sense of humour after all? There will not be a lot of smiling in this man's army, thank you very much...

Dressed to kill - but the blackened armour top would be a nightmare in the sun, and the bucket-top boots are a potential disaster in heavy rain (even when turned down at the knee for such conditions). Fashions change, but, if I was presenting myself as a hard case, I'm not sure I'd put a cake doily around my neck.

However, I'm not going to tell him myself.

I don't know yet how - or if - I might use generals on foot. It makes sense that a staff group would be on foot, but I'm not comfortable with the idea of a brigadier - even an infantry one - marching in with his men. Maybe a held horse? Maybe a standard bearer, or an aide? I'll think about it. He can stay on the bottle top until I have a better idea how to base him.

ECW - High-Ups #3

Let’s be honest about this – I am not unbiased. My liking for the Les Higgins ECW range is of many years’ standing, and the fact that they are available again in unlimited quantities (steady...) is probably the main reason for my opting for 20mm for this period – a choice which, let’s face it, is a lot less convenient than 15mm or 28mm would have been (or 6mm, as I am coming to realise).

Anyway, here is one of the two available Higgins senior officers – mounted on a Higgins horse, as promised. I don’t like Higgins horses all that much – I will certainly use quite a few, but I have a strong fancy for using SHQ horses as a standard default for mounted figures of any make (which is likely to include Tumbling Dice as well). If there is one thing calculated to help make differing ranges of cavalry figures look the same size, it is mounting them on the same horses. Expect, then, to see some Higgins cavalry on SHQ horses at some point.

But the point of this first batch of generals has been to compare and cross-reference men-on-horses as supplied by the various manufacturers, to get a feel for the possibilities without too much fudging. So let’s be appropriately critical of Higgins for a second. The horse is – well, OK. The figure of the officer is lovely – Les H was a sculptor, a real artist, and a proportion of his experience had been in the world of trophies and monumental figurines – thereby hangs a common criticism. His wargame figure poses are elegant, but stiff and without vigour. Lovely sculpting, a machine-quality finish which surpassed anything around at the time (circa 1970), but there is little attempt at natural animation, and a good number of the mounted poses have their weapon arms stuck out awkwardly, sideways, just to simplify the mould-joins for casting.

This little man is handsome, and is anatomically the most authentic of the three, but he lacks character. I guess there’s no answer to this. If I were a 28mm collector, I’d be able to buy bespoke castings for a whole crowd of named celebrities, so I guess this is all part of the consequence of going with 20mm.

OK then – I’m happy enough. The last picture from this episode is to show what I set out to prove in the first place – that three figures from three different manufacturers, each on the correct horse from the corresponding range, are fine together. Painted up, they are all happily and comfortably 20mm brothers – they can exist in the same world and on the same tabletop without awkwardness. The variety of style, indeed, becomes a strength.  

ECW - High-Ups #2

More of the same - this time Hinton Hunt's Royalist general figure. Here you see Sir Michael Earnley telling his men exactly where he wants the picnic lunch set out.

I am very fond of this classic little casting - I always have been. There is something about the styling and the poise that always puts me in mind of Alec Guinness as Charles I in the Cromwell movie - I can almost hear that Prime of Miss Jean Brodie accent. As ever, I find the Hintons hard to paint well - items like shoulder belts are kind of implied rather than obvious in the casting - too subtle for me? - but this chap is pleasing.

Overall, I'm not sure. I have a few HH general officer figures to paint, including the Roundhead one in the helmet. The figures are nice enough, but maybe a little bland - it's a personal thing (as always), but I like my generals to be definite personalities. And then there's the thing with Marcus Hinton's little legs...

Good so far - the Higgins chap is next.

ECW - High-Ups #1

It's half term at my son's school, so we have some plans to get away, and spend a couple of days visiting Loch Ness and Culloden. The plans are a bit vague - well, not so much vague as flexible. Even people with no real experience of Scotland will realise that such activities as these are heavily dependant on the weather. The latest idea is that, since the short-term forecast is iffy, and - more specifically - since the recent deluge is likely to have reduced the entire Highland area to a vast bog, we will go later in the week.

I thought I would take advantage of the spare time by painting a couple of general officers for the ECW. Some serious work has gone into planning for the production of my units of foot and horse, and - predictably - the easier bits, the generals and the artillery, which can be picked off in odd moments, have fallen behind.

Since this is all new to me, the first few such figures are a bit of a learning exercise. I decided to produce one test figure from each of the 3 principal brands of figure - Les Higgins, Hinton Hunt and Kennington/SHQ. Further, for this first series I am going to mount each figure on the "correct" (i.e. the same) make of horse, just to get the idea. Later, the intention is to mix and match pretty freely in this respect.

The first figure is the SHQ one - this is a fairly routine cavalry officer from the range, but he paints up well as a High Up. So here is Sir William Brereton, looking suitably belligerent. SHQ are relatively modern castings, with crisp detail, and are easy to paint, though the horses can require a lot of cleaning up first. My experience with Kennington Napoleonics taught me that their figures vary within the range in both height and stature, and that some have overscale hands, but the ECW cavalry are a superior breed all round. They are a very acceptable size match with the older 20mm ranges, though the infantry are a little chunkier. The swords are a bit sturdier than Higgins' ones, but that is not a bad thing for wargames figures.

Quite pleased with this - spare time permitting, some more should appear shortly.

Solo Campaign - ...and his Nephew

Now ready for The Cupboard, the Earl is joined by his ADC.

Captain John Edward Falconer, of Rufford, Lancashire, is the Earl's nephew. 22 years of age, he recently exchanged into the 4th Regt of Foot (The King's Own). He is described as "a flawless horseman, and exceeding polite" by his former regiment, and expresses himself delighted to be appointed to support the Earl's new adventure. The Earl's only concern over the arrangement (allegedly) is that, at 6 feet 4 inches, young Falconer is almost exactly a foot taller than him.

To make sure there is no confusion, the gaffer is on the right, the gopher on the left. I knew that frisky horse for Tarleton was a mistake.

Our family holiday starts in a few days, so it will be a week or two before these gentlemen are seen in action.

Solo Campaign - Situations Vacant - Poll

I need to appoint a successor to Wellington - I'd welcome votes in the little poll on the right, or comments or other nominations. All help and insight welcome. I reserve the right to ignore everything and make some daft, random appointment if I feel it's appropriate - the traditions of British government have to be observed. How about the Prince Regent as C-in-C, for example? Someone suggested the Duke of Brunswick. Someone even suggested Bernadotte, but I'll come up with some detail regulation to exclude him.

Solo Campaign - Excremento Profundo

 

Spencer Perceval - recently assassinated Prime Minister

no longer available to defend Wellington

Weeks 17 and 18 of my solo Peninsular campaign are in the process of being written up. Without wishing to give away the exciting bits of the plot, let it be said only that the continued run of bad results for the Allied Army has eventually resulted in a motion being tabled to remove Wellington from command. Despite the extraordinary alarm and distraction provided by the assassination of the Prime Minister, Spencer Perceval, just a week earlier, a vote in the British Parliament on 20^th May 1812 gave a substantial majority in favour of Wellington's removal. A further motion that the British Army be withdrawn from Portugal was defeated, however.

With immediate effect, Sir Thomas Graham, as senior British officer with the army will assume temporary command of the British and Hanoverian forces, until a permanent commander is selected and appointed. Here is a list, in seniority order, of the prominent candidates – some are unavailable through duties in remote parts of the Empire, many are in dubious physical health, some are plainly unsuitable for a major field command.

The successful candidate may be any of these, or may be someone else – the army works in mysterious ways. I have discounted the Duke of York himself from being seriously considered for the job. With all due appreciation of previous comments on this subject (most of which are reflected in the list) I would be very interested in any further nominations, applications(!) or comments.

Name	Age @ May 1812	Rank / date	Rating (1=poor, 3=good)	Current job	Comments
John Pitt, Lord Chatham	56	General, 1801	1	Governor of Jersey	Well connected politically, commanded army in Walcheren
Sir Banestre Tarleton	58	General, 1812	3	Governor of Berwick	Hero(?) of AWI, was strongly fancied to command in the Peninsula in 1809, but Wellington was preferred. Prominent Whig
Sir Eyre Coote	50	Lt.Genl, 1801	2	Governor of Jamaica	Another AWI veteran, unpopular
Sir David Baird	55	Lt.Genl, 1805	3		Highly rated, aggressive commander – was badly wounded at Corunna – health uncertain
Sir John Hope, Earl of Hopetoun	47	Lt.Genl, 1808	2	Military Governor of Ireland	Poor health – recently served in Peninsula
Sir Henry Paget, Earl of Uxbridge	44	Lt.Genl, 1808	3		Commanded cavalry under Moore with distinction – was unable to serve with Wellington because of family difficulties (having eloped with Wellington’s sister-in-law)
Sir John Stuart, Count of Maida	53	Lt.Genl, 1808	2	Governor of Grenada	Victor of Maida, but overall lack of experience and not rated highly – health not good.
Sir Thomas Graham, Lord Lynedoch	64	Lt.Genl, 1810	2	in Portugal	Competent commander, but (again) has repeating health problems
Sir John Murray	44	Lt.Genl, 1812	1		Very poor reputation – unable to follow orders
Sir Rowland Hill	50	Lt.Genl, 1812	2		Should be in Portugal, but he’s not in my campaign army(!). Wellington regarded him as the best of his subordinates
William Carr Beresford	44	Lt.Genl, 1812	2	Commander,  Portuguese Army	Wellington’s official deputy in the PW, because of his local rank. Good administrator but hesitant, ineffective battlefield commander.

What if.....?

Sir David Baird? - nah...

My previous post gives the details on a fairly substantial defeat for the Allied army in the Peninsula in my solo campaign, and Ross's appended comment to that post raises the question of comeback - poor old Arthur Wellesley, for all his changing titles and honours, lived constantly under the threat of being replaced if things went against him, or even if Parliament took a dislike to the manner in which they went in his favour.

I reproduce here a couple of relevant pages of the British Army List for January 1812. In all innocence, I ask the question - because I really have no idea - if Wellington had been pulled from the Peninsular in 1812 (or any time, really), who would have replaced him?

Most of his peers in the Army were geriatric and/or useless, his subordinates in Spain were maybe not the required material, either by talent or by seniority or by influence. Any suggestions? If Wellesley had been removed, who, of the available people, would have been

(1) a likely replacement, or

(2) a good replacement?

Just a bit of fun. I can't get past the David Bairds and the Dalrymples and the other aged good chaps, but there must have been someone. Graham was a good subordinate, but I'm not sure he could have handled the top job, and in any case his health was uncertain. Hill was healthier, but maybe typecast in the same way. Beresford was hated by most of the British General Staff (for whatever reason), and was basically an administrator. Cotton was strictly Wellington's second in command around this time, but he would have made an awkward supremo...

Any ideas? I was going to run a poll, but I thought that listing candidates would distort the results, and anyway I don't know how to do it! Here's the pages from the Army List for top guys in Jan 1812...