Spanish 15mm Army

Even though the bulk of it was completed two years or so ago, I have only in the past month put the finishing touches on this Spanish 15mm Napoleonic army to the point where I can now consider it complete.

It is probably self-indulgent but, as I probably won't get the chance to assemble it again in its entirety, I thought I would set it up for a a few group photos, if nothing else than to remind me what I actually had actually managed to assemble.

Firstly, a view of the army from the front:

And another view of the same from the flank:

The figures are all Essex Miniatures 15mm, apart from the staff figures which are from Warmodelling who have an excellent range of Spanish personality figures covering most of the Peninsular war.

Here is a shot of the Warmodelling General Jose Pascual de Zayas figure in front of some light cavalry, who was one of the most ably performed of the Spanish Generals and performed so creditably at Albuera (primarily because he had taken the time to put his troops through several weeks' worth of manoeuvres prior to the battle):

All of the flags are GMB, with the exception of those of the Spanish Guard and Swiss which I again purchased from Adolfo Ramos in Spain:

The flag of the Guardias Royale in particular is amongst my favourite Napoleonic flags as it is quite distinctive:

Twelve regiments of cavalry in all, including five of the yellow-coated dragoons seen here from the back, with a unit of guerrillas at their rear (which I am not sure I would be completely comfortable with):

Here they are again from the front, with two hussar regiments and a line of artillery spread before them:

I managed fourteen artillery pieces in all, with the number of figures representing how many pieces there are in each battery, with either three or four crew figures on each base:

I attempted to add a bit of variety to the limbers by including a few ox-drawn pieces, to represent the difficulty the Spanish had in finding decent horseflesh. Notwithstanding that, the Spanish artillery was one of their best-performing arms:

Also included are six units of light infantry to provide the army with a decent skirmish screen, seen here spread across the front:

And with the also very able General Don Pedro Caro y Sureda, 3rd Marquis de Romana, and his staff visible in the background:

The one nice surprise I found when putting together both this and its larger 28mm couterpart was how much colour and variety is to be found in a Spanish Napoleonic army, particularly that of the earlier part of the war before the rather more drab British supplies found their way through as replacements. Some of that may be seen in the following overhead shot, which includes elements of the line, converged grenadier battalions, the Swiss, the Guard, an Irish battalion, along with some hussars, dragoons and heavy calavlry:

In case anyone is interested (and to help my own failing memory), the final numbers for the army is as follows:

23 line battalions of 24 figures each
3 Guard battalions of 25 figures each
6 composite Grenadier battalions of 12 figures each
8 provincial militia battalions of 15 figures each
1 urban militia battalion of 20 figures
4 light battalions of 20 figures each
2 light battalions of 16 figures each
1 band of guerrillas of 20 figures
14 artillery pieces with 48 crew
12 limbers with 20 figures and 50 horses and oxen
5 dragoon regiments of 16 figures each
3 heavy cavalry regiments of 16 figures each
4 light and hussar regiments of 16 figures each
25 mounted and 9 foot staff figures

This gives a total of 1,265 figures along with 267 horses.

Probably more than I will ever need, but hopefully enough variation to cover most scenarios:

Now to complete my 28mm Portuguese project, which I am optimistic enough to believe might be achieved before the end of the year.

Spanish Guard

I used standard Essex Miniatures 15mm figures for the guard battalions. Even though they had a longer coat than the standard line, at 15mm I really don't think many will be able to tell the difference, especially as the tails on coats of the Essex figures come down to back of their knees anyway:

The Walloon Guards are in front, with a battalion of Spanish Guards to the rear. Both flags are from Adolfo Ramos. Great flags, although you do have to be careful to correctly position them at the first attempt as they are more porous than, for example, those from GMB or Maverick models:

A second battalion of the Guards is to the left, and carries a Maverick Models flag:

Swiss and Irish in Spanish Service

Amongst my favourite Napoleonic regiments, I have completed three Swiss battalions in Spanish service - Reding, Betschart and Preux:

This is possibly where the lack of variety in some of the older Essex Miniature 15mm range is highlighted, in that there isn't a figure with the longer tails of the guard, and there are really only the two poses of the line. This is in direct contrast to their Portuguese for example, where each bag can contain six different poses across eight figures. That said, this is 15mm so I suppose the object is to put as much on the table as possible, and the detail is still just as crisp on these as later figures:

I have only managed one Irish unit in 15mm, but am quite happy with them all the same:

Another of my favourite Napoleonic uniforms, with a combination of colour that really stands out on the table:

Now to affix the flags on some converged grenadier units...

Spanish 28mm Army

I couldn't resist putting the whole army together as a group before they get stored away whilst they await the advent of their French protagonists:

This was a fun project, although I am not sorry that it is over especially as it was on the back of around seventy or eighty 15mm Essex Spanish units which I am also in the process of finalising. I have probably now painted enough Spanish to last me a life-time:

I like this picture as I believe it conveys some of the diversity of colour that can be found in a Spanish Napoleonic army, in this case the Irlanda, Ultonia, and Swiss regiments, a light battalion and an artillery battery.

All up, the army includes the following:

• 19 line battalions (including the 1st and 2nd Irlanda and 1st Ultonia battalions)
• 2 composite grenadier battalions
• 3 Swiss battalions
• 1 Guard battalion
• 2 light battalions
• 4 militia battalions
• 7 cavalry regiments
• 2 artillery batteries
• 1 guerrilla unit

Which is around 709 infantry and cavalry figures, with 98 horses and 6 cannon.

My next project is to put the finishing touches on some 15mm Spanish, and then move on to Portuguese in both 15mm and 28mm.

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.

Swiss in Spanish Service

I have managed to complete three more battalions for my Spanish project, representing three of the Swiss regiments in Spanish service at the time of the French invasion in 1808. The three battalions are from the Preux, Reding and Betschart regiments:

They distinguished themselves at Bailen, even coming up against fellow Swiss who had been pressed into service as part of Dupont's army, which caused the latter to defect from the French back to the Spanish side:

The figures are from Eagle Miniatures, and represent quite well the longer tails of the Swiss coats. Unfortunately there were no grenadier figures available, so I decided to pad the units out with fusiliers:

The rather distinctive-looking Swiss flags are from Adolfo Ramos in Spain, and I think they really serve to give the units a unique appearance:

The Eagle figures are quite nicely detailed, although they are a lot slimmer than my usual Front Rank and would not mix well in the same unit. They are around the same height however, and to my eye do not look out of place as a separate unit:

They also carry the French-style backpacks, which I believe also adds to the overall appearance: