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Post by bellealliance on Nov 27, 2017 16:51:28 GMT
Once upon a time I had the Airfix model of La Haye Sainte. It rarely saw service as a complete model, usually being broken up into several smaller components. Our rules used a groundscale of 25 yards to 1 inch, so each structure could represent a village that didn't dominate the whole battlefield. The prototype La Haye Sainte is huge, something like 60 yd east-west by 75 yd north-south - plus extra for the orchard to the south, but at 1/72 it would be 30 in by 37-1/2 in. At my chosen groundscale, still 20-25 yards to 1 inch, this is only 2-1/4 in by 3 in on the tabletop. Clearly some compromise is necessary. One possibility is to use a single small building to represent the farm complex. I have a sample building that is just that size. If the battlefield were less well known, as a wargamer I'd probably go that way. But LHS is so iconic that some kind of artistic representation calls to me, at least. So here are my attempts at creating such a representation from cardboard and PVA. First a drawing on the back of a proverbial envelope. This is still about 6 in by 9 in. Transposed onto the piece of letter-sized cardboard that will become its base. The drawing was north to the top, the card is north to the left. Note that the card plan isn't identical to the paper plan, but the project evolves as I go, and even this will get moved around a little... Add some defenders from a KGL Light Battalion for flavor... To be continued, Kay
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Post by bellealliance on Nov 27, 2017 16:19:40 GMT
The carabinier company (HaT 8042) helps to screen the column. I haven't counted recently, but I must have completed about 40 battalions of French line and light infantry (4 divisions), all of them from the HaT line. Each battalion is 24 figures strong. While a drummer or NCO is easy to convert from the contents of 8041, and officers come aplenty with 8034, I am in great need of porte-aigles for this period. I will probably end up buying the new command set, pre-1812, a bit of carving/filling and painting might just do the trick. If there are four sprues per box then each division will require 1 box. The figures displaced from the 1er battalions become cadres for new units, and the army grows! These last two pics have the battalions attacking some KGL lights defending the base plan of La Haye Sainte, which is the other project I started work on. I will start another thread to view my process of creating a representation of this iconic farm. Wishing you all the best, Kay
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Post by bellealliance on Nov 27, 2017 15:59:50 GMT
Hello HaT Community, I'm back after a Thanksgiving spent at home with close family. Hope you're all doing well. Du Platt's KGL brigade is now complete! And I got to start on my project to represent La Haye Sainte for a wargames battlefield, and begin painting four buff-faced British line infantry battalions. But first, some French. I had thought of setting them up against the KGL. However, they had a photo opportunity with the Brunswickers first!
A battalion of line infantry (HaT 8041 and some 8034, with 8042 for the elite companies). The grenadier company is on the right in line nearest the camera. The voltigeur company skirmishing to the front. The close up of the voltigeurs shows a slight conversion obtained by removing a head and replacing it to be looking more over the left shoulder. Meanwhile, a battalion of light infantry swiftly takes ground to the flank (again HaT 8041 and 8042). There are more pics to follow...
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Post by bellealliance on Nov 21, 2017 19:24:32 GMT
Hi Chris,
Of course, feel free to use whatever conversions will work for you. This is what I love about the HaT forum and the old ETS, where we get to see how others have worked with the figures. When I started we only had Airfix products, and it was amazing what could be accomplished with just those!
I'm very much looking forward to seeing your Quatre Bras refight.
All the best, Kay
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Post by bellealliance on Nov 21, 2017 15:13:29 GMT
And the last ones before Thanksgiving: 2nd Line Battalion marches ahead of the brigade. And a couple more of the Hussars, including a close up.
Numbers wise, for the Army of the Netherlands, I have 22 battalions of Netherlands Infantry, 8 of Brunswick, and 26 (nearly 30) British Infantry
With a bit of luck, I'll return after the holiday with some French attacking the KGL.
All the best, Kay
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Post by bellealliance on Nov 21, 2017 14:56:03 GMT
The Brunswick Line brigade again, from left to right the 2nd Battalion, 1st Battalion and 3rd Battalion: Kay
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Post by bellealliance on Nov 21, 2017 14:52:50 GMT
And some pics of the "immense moving hearse". This time the Brigade of Line Infantry: Again, these are Brunswick Leib Battalion figures (HaT 8026) with their horsehair plumes cut down to pompons. The flags are carried by converted officer figures, the flags themselves printed from Alan Pendlebury's Napflags. Kay
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Post by bellealliance on Nov 21, 2017 14:05:22 GMT
Once more, beautiful painting, Marcin. My army has great need of great-coated elites. Shako cords may be pushing it for 1815, but I also have plans for headswaps, so no problems there for me. Kay
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Post by bellealliance on Nov 21, 2017 13:38:38 GMT
These are beautifully painted, Marcin. This has me wanting to start an earlier period army... Kay
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Post by bellealliance on Nov 20, 2017 17:11:21 GMT
And here is the Light Brigade and the squadron of hussars I mentioned earlier.
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Post by bellealliance on Nov 20, 2017 17:01:48 GMT
Happy Monday! A relatively productive weekend hobbywise for me, having almost completed my KGL infantry contingent. I did get to rebox the Netherlands troops, and unpack the Brunswick Corps - infantry for the most part. So here goes... In the center, the Leib Battalion, supported by Line and Light Battalions (HaT 8026). On the right Gelernte Jaeger of the Avant Garde battalion (HaT 8008). On the left, Light Infantry of the Avant Garde (Uses HaT 8026 with heads wearing the Corsehut provided as spares on the sprue). My Brunswick Infantry are organized in 4 companies of 8 figures. The Avant Garde battalion thus has 16 Gelernte Jaeger and 16 Light Infantry. I have a squadron of hussars at 8 figures (and 3 more projected, as well as a Uhlan squadron of 12 figures). No artillery as yet, but I'm thinking heads from the HaT Brunswickers on their British horse and foot equivalents, using French guns and limbers (System XI). The drivers would have single-breasted coats, so maybe the HaT Austrian drivers as a basis - I'll have to think some more about it.
As with Chris, I like to have limbers for my artillery. However, the models do take up a disproportionate space on the table compared to a ground scale around 25 yards to 1 inch.
Kay
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Post by bellealliance on Nov 17, 2017 16:12:14 GMT
...And the last, but not least, of my Netherlands units to date, the 8th South Netherlands Hussars. As with the 6th Hussars, the riders are from the Revell Guard Chasseurs a Cheval, with heads from Line Chasseurs a Cheval (HaT 8029), and riding on Netherlands Light Cavalry horses (HaT 8032). I need to rebox these, and unpack my Brunswick Corps infantry... Cheers to all, have a great weekend, Kay
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Post by bellealliance on Nov 17, 2017 16:05:40 GMT
Hi James, I started gaming with Bruce Quarrie's rules which used 1:33. For British this meant 10 companies of 2 figures, based 1 figure deep. I had a brief foray into WRG Napoleonics (15mm metal figures) which used 1:50 as a ratio, but I was never terribly happy with 12 figure battalions. Empire 3rd used 1:60 which yielded even smaller battalions. I liked the look of Peter Gilder's In The Grand Manner ruleset, and the Charles Grant sized battalions which you mention too. I'm also "old fashioned" in that I like to gloss varnish my figures for a toy soldier look. Like you I had some concern that my British organization of 4 Grenadier, 4 Lights and 24 Center Companies overemphasizes the light company. But see this source for the 79th Highlanders (p.53 and following), and you'll find it lists by company the names of all ranks! books.google.com/books?id=_AQkAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor:%22Great+Britain.+Army.+Queen%27s+Own+Cameron+Highlanders%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiu8PK2-8XXAhXM7yYKHXIFBhEQ6AEIKDAA#v=onepage&q&f=falseSummary: Grenadier Co. 4 Officers, 5 Sergeants, 81 OR Light Co. 3 Officers, 6 Sergeants, 81 OR 8 Center Cos. 29 Officers, 34 sergeants, 496 OR (Range: 3-5 Officers, 4-5 Sergeants, 57-64 OR) So maybe they tried to keep their flank companies up to strength, even when the remainder of the battalion was below establishment. There are probably other regimental histories out there that could verify the extent to which this practice was general. And now the final installments (for now) of the Netherlands Army. First, the 4th North Netherlands Light Dragoons (HaT 8032). These are pretty much out of the box, except to add a bugle. Best wishes, Kay
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Post by bellealliance on Nov 16, 2017 19:50:44 GMT
My reading suggests that the 2nd Carabiniers had helmets, while the 1st and 3rd had not received these before Waterloo. I'm using the Osprey book as a secondary source. Beyond helmets, each regiment later received single breasted coats. At Waterloo all three regiments wore double-breasted coats. I chose to depict the 2nd Carabiniers with the plastron buttoned back to reveal the facing color. A source you may know is the Vinkhuijzen Collection housed at the NY Public Library, but available online here: digitalcollections.nypl.org/collections/the-vinkhuijzen-collection-of-military-uniforms#/?tab=navigationMany countries, many periods, but images for the Netherlands Armies can be found under Netherlands, Belgium and Holland, and 1815 or thereabouts using the side bar for navigation. The images are not necessarily primary sources, but they are pre-1910. Interestingly they have a set of plates showing the South Netherlands Chasseurs (the 5th and 10th South Netherlands Chasseurs which became the 35th and 36th Chasseur Battalions in the combined numbering of the Netherlands Army) with "belgic shakos", so these shakos are not a 1960s assumption as the Osprey author asserts, but probably date back to the 19th century. Whether they were ever issued is another matter, but this is how I will model them. My figure ratio (and hence ground scale) has gotten progressively lower. When I started the project, I had thought 1:40 or 50, and then 1:33 or 40, and now 1:20 or 25. I model in "ideal" squadron or battalion size, generally 6 figures per squadron. The Netherlands infantry battalions are mostly 24 figures, although the Nassauers are 36. My French infantry battalions are at 24, British mostly 32, although Guards and some Lights are at 48 figures, while KGL have 24. The Hanoverians will have 32-figure battalions. I like the look of "large" battalions in as close order as I can base them, just feels Napoleonic to me. Kay
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Post by bellealliance on Nov 16, 2017 16:35:48 GMT
And Boreel's 6th North Netherlands Hussars These use heads with shakos from the French Chasseurs a Cheval (HaT 8029), and horses from the Netherlands light cavalry (HaT 8032). Below the neck, the riders are from the Revell Guard Chasseurs a Cheval. This leaves them a little over-equipped since each has a carbine. The HaT line chasseurs have had their heads replaced with a colpack from the Revell Guard chasseurs and will represent elite companies.
Kay
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Post by bellealliance on Nov 16, 2017 16:11:44 GMT
Here are the 5th South Netherlands Light Dragoons from HaT 8032. The officer has his head replaced with the shako rouleau provided on the spue. The bugler is a French Chasseur a Cheval on the Netherland light cavalry mount. Boreel's Hussars may be seen in the background. Kay
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Post by bellealliance on Nov 16, 2017 15:50:33 GMT
Thank you Chris. The church is cut from cardboard glued with PVA and crudely painted. I did cut out window holes, and backed them with black painted card. Maybe over Winter Break I'll construct a couple of the farms. I'm already in the design phase for La Haye Sainte. A 1/72 scale model is out of the question since my ground scale is 25 yards to the inch, so I'll scale down the height to maybe 1/120, and then reduce the dimensions further to represent something in the style of the original without it dominating the battlefield more than it should. I don't think I can avoid the model being too wide (in the east-west dimension), but by cutting back on the orchard and garden dimensions I think I can keep it a reasonable length (in the north-south dimension). For Quatre Bras, I think Gemioncourt would make a good model to attempt before the end of the year. And now, the test squadron of 2nd Carabiniers. I usually depict squadrons of 6 figures. The troopers' heads and their mounts are from the Italeri French Carabiniers. The bodies are from Bavarian Cavalry (HaT 8030). I used a strip of paper to make the boot tops. The bugle comes from the French Chasseurs (HaT 8029) - the various parts on the sprues are really helpful. The spare Bavarian mounts were or will be donated to other cavalry units.
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Post by bellealliance on Nov 15, 2017 14:21:06 GMT
Hi Graeme, As regards Waterloo Mamelukes - go for it! The Guard Chasseurs - I have painted 5 squadrons of 10 figures each - are from Revell. Unfortunately they are small compared to the Mamelukes. And for the delectation and delight of the HaT forum community, the pics continue... Today, I have a couple of rifle-armed units, one for Waterloo campaign, and the other for Spain. The Peninsular War has not been a major project of mine, but the Osprey books on the Spanish and Portuguese armies have piqued my interest. The terrain for the fighting in the western Pyrenees in 1813 also has captured my imagination. In each case, the rifle-armed figures are from the Revell set, but with HaT additions. I have given the Hanoverian Jaeger Corps Prussian 1815 Reserve Infantry heads (HaT 8052) and their officer is from the Nassau Infantry (HaT 8147), also with a Prussian Reserve Infantry head. The Brunswick Oels Jaeger 1811-14 have heads and their head man from the Brunswick Leib Battalion (HaT 8026). This is one company of three that I have planned. Not 1815 of course, but fun to have. And for a little more color, some Rocket Corps. Whinyates was allowed one section to accompany his 6-pounders for the campaign in 1815. The limber and horses from Revell were some spares I picked up on ebay. The wagon, frames and rocketeers are from HaT 8003. The section in the foreground are playing dangerously by launching their rocket along the ground! All the best, Kay
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Post by bellealliance on Nov 14, 2017 15:35:53 GMT
Magnificent! They are all great, and I was going write, especially that second picture with the sweeping cavalry charge. But realy, they are all spectacular. The fire and smoke effects, buildings, terrain, and a great story told. Congratulations, Kay
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Post by bellealliance on Nov 14, 2017 15:30:10 GMT
Looks beautiful. I enjoy the view of a large battle. And this encourages me to look into General D'Armee rules. Kay
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Post by bellealliance on Nov 13, 2017 16:32:10 GMT
And this is the interlude... The first HaT release 8001 were the French Mamelukes of the Guard, a unit I had dreamed of depicting as a kid. Bought them as soon as I learned about HaT Industrie in 1998, but only painted a couple of years ago. My project is to build the three 1815 Campaign armies at about 1 figure to 25 men. The Mamelukes were re-raised but there is no evidence that they served in their distinctive garb in 1815. In any case, they were fun to paint, and I enjoy having them now painted, rather than boxed, in my collection. All the best, Kay Attachments:
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Post by bellealliance on Nov 13, 2017 16:16:59 GMT
Thank you again for the encouragement. Back again with some Netherlands Militia pics (HaT 8096), standing defiantly before the Bois de Bossu. There are head swaps with caps from Prussian Reserve Infantry (HaT 8052). Officers and drummers from Dutch Infantry (HaT 8025), and one of my battalions has flanker companies with epaulettes from Nassau Grenadiers (HaT 8097). I've seen pictures with them having epaulettes, although I don't think this was regulation - I suppose they could be post-Waterloo additions obtained from French casualties.
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Post by bellealliance on Nov 9, 2017 19:48:10 GMT
Yay! E29F is great news for my Armee du Nord.
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Post by bellealliance on Nov 9, 2017 16:01:18 GMT
The post only allows three attachments. So, here is a view along the line of the infantry of Perponcher's Division. Kay Attachments:
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Post by bellealliance on Nov 9, 2017 15:52:47 GMT
Bijlandt's Brigade of 7th South Netherlands Infantry, 27th North Netherlands Jagers and 5th, 7th and 8th Militia Battalions. The Belgians and Militia are from HaT 8096, the Jagers from HaT8025. I'll get some better Militia pictures because there are headswaps from the Prussian Reservist (HaT8052). Best wishes, Kay
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