Thursday 9 January 2014

Walloon Guards


The Walloon Guards, or Guardias de Infanteria Walonna, are the last of my projected Spanish regular units and one of my favourites. Originally raised in 1704 from the area of what is now Belgium at a time when that region was under the Spanish Crown, they were assimilated into the royal household alongside the then recently established Spanish Guards. I went with Eagle Miniatures for these figures which, like their Swiss, have the longer tails on the coats but also have the paired buttonhole lace which was apparently a distinctive feature of the regiment's uniform:


















The only downside is that there aren't any matching grenadiers available, but the figures themselves are nicely detailed if a lot slighter than my usual Front Rank:


















The flags are by Adolfo Ramos which I think look great and are well and truly up there with GMB's, although I have found that they are a little more absorbent and one has to ensure that they are lined up first time as they don't "slide" around as much as what I am used to with the GMB designs:


































Now it's back to Front Rank, and the four militia battalions which I am hoping to have completed by the end of the month.

5 comments:

  1. These look fantastic. I have been thinking about some Eagle figures and am glad you have given me the opportunity of seeing them in the flesh, so to speak. Their website does not do their figures many favours. Just as a matter of interest, what codes are the figures (I am being lazy here).
    Cheers
    Brian

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    1. Thanks Brian. I agree that the website is quite difficult to navigate, and I can vaguely recall I had to place the order via email with a little bit of correspondence.

      I ended up ordering the following for the Guard, Swiss and Spanish Light Cavalry:

      SPN14 Walloon Guard March Attack
      SPN15 Swiss Infantry March Attack
      SPN7 Drummer
      SPN8 Regular Ensign (Standard Bearers)
      Officers suitable for the Swiss (SPN6 or 6a?)
      Officer suitable for the Walloon Guard (SPN6b?)

      SPNC5 Hussar Trooper
      SPNC6 Hussar Officer
      SPNC7 Hussar Trumpeter
      Horses for the above (a mix of H35 and H36?)

      SPNC8 Cazadore Trooper
      SPNC9 Cazadore Officer
      SPNC10 Cazadore Trumpeter
      Horses for the above

      SPNC1 La Mancha Lancer Trooper
      SPNC2 La Mancha Lancer Officer
      SPNC3 La Mancha Lancer Trumpeter
      SPNC5 La Mancha Lancer Standard Bearer
      Horses for the above

      It is just a pity that they don't have a grenadier figure in long-tailed coats to match the Guard and the Swiss, although you could probably throw in a few of their standard grenadiers.

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  2. Lovely figures painted to a very high standard!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Peter. I really enjoyed painting this unit, although I fear they have finally pushed me over the edge and I have booked an appointment with the optometrist on Monday next week for my first pair of specs. Probably not bad going given that I am 50 this year, I suppose.

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  3. I was thinking that the Grenadiers wouldn't look out of place unless someone was being really pedantic :)

    Thanks for the info.

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