Napoleonic French Cavalry Completed

After having recently completed the last regiment of Napoleonic French cavalry I found a bit of time over the weekend to haul them all out again for a few group pictures:

The figures are all Wargames Foundry or Perry, with the flags from GMB. First up a couple of pictures of the line chasseurs and lancers:

The dragoons and cuirassiers:

And the hussars and guard, along with a regiment of carabiniers:

The final tally is as follows:

• 3 x regiments of line chasseurs
• 3 x regiments of line lancers
• 4 x regiments of dragoons
• 5 x regiments of cuirassiers
• 1 x regiment of carabiniers
• 3 x regiments of hussars
• 5 x regiments of Guard cavalry

That gives a total of 312 mounted figures. I estimate it took me ten months all up to do this lot which in retrospect is not bad going. 

Now for some 15mm medieval Spanish, which I am hoping should only take a few months to get through, if I can get some momentum going.

Polish Lancers

The twenty-fourth and final regiment of French cavalry completed, the Polish Lancers need no introduction. I read somewhere that each squadron had a different coloured horse which probably didn't last long on campaign, but I thought it would be a nice idea to do them that way. The colours were black, bay, chestnut and grey, which I think makes a pleasing combination: 

The figures are Wargame Foundry and have been in the pile for twelve years with some of the other previously completed regiments, so it was nice to finally give them some attention:

The lance pennons and flag are again from GMB:

I have to admit to a sense of satisfaction having finished this lot, and found painting them very enjoyable mainly due to all the variety present in French cavalry regiments:

I have prepared some French artillery, but before I move on to them I want to squeeze in a 15mm medieval army or two, starting with some Spanish which I am hoping should only take me a couple of months to complete. Well, that's the plan at least, so I'll see how it turns out come the end of July.

French 3rd Regiment of Line Lancers

The last of the three line lance regiments, and an excuse to break out my Foundry pink triad again for the facings:

The figures are Perry this time, unlike the last two regiments which are Wargames Foundry. The flag is from GMB again:

I also included some elite company figures to provide a bit of variety:

I can't remember whether the Perry figures came with lances or not when I prepped these some time ago, but I ended up using the sturdy North Star wire spears which fit nicely and look the part with the GMB pennons attached:

I also purchased three of the Perry casualty figures which I thought I would paint up while I was in the mood, making this a fifteen figure unit in total although only twelve are likely to make the table at any one time:

Only the Polish lancers to go now, which I hope to have completed within the next week.

French 2nd Regiment of Line Lancers

 Here are a few pictures of my recently completed 2nd Regiment of Line Lancers, chosen mainly because I thought the yellow facings would make a nice contrast against the green:

The figures are again Foundry, purchased over twelve years ago so it was nice to see them completed:

The lance pennons are from GMB:

Nice to use, and not too fiddly to apply although I like to paint the edges to mask the white seam:

The regimental flag is obviously also from GMB:

That is now twenty-two of twenty-four regiments completed, with just one more regiment of line lancers and the Polish Lancers still to go. I can hear the call of the medieval Spanish getting louder.

French 1st Regiment of Line Lancers

The first of the line lancer units in the queue, the 1st Regiment were converted from the 1st Dragoon regiment which, I subsequently remembered I have also completed. No great problem as if they ever make it onto a table at the same time, the 1st Dragoons can make way and become the 3rd Dragoons (or I might simply go back and just change the label on the command stand and be done with it):

The figures are Foundry, and the flag from GMB as usual:

The lance pennons are also from GMB. They would have been easy enough to make myself, but I like the subtle shading on the GMB flags and pennons which gives the appearance of material fluttering in the breeze:

The figures were actually quite difficult to glue on to the horses as the contact point wasn't obvious with these figures. With the added steps of gluing pennons to lances and lances to figures I got myself into a bit of a mess at one stage, with lances stuck to the back of my hand and pennons which I subsequently realised I had affixed upside down.

I also went a little darker than the green I used for the dragoons. I realise it could perhaps be a shade or two lighter, but am not unhappy with the result.

That's the first of three lancer regiments completed then, with the other two hopefully following within the next week and a bit. I hope I'm not boring people too much with this procession of French cavalry but I want to get all 24 regiments completed before I become distracted again, especially as some 15mm Medieval Spanish are threatening to jump the queue.

French 1st Carabiniers

 Next off the production line is the 1e Carabiniers a Cheval. With only two Carabinier regiments in the French army, at least I can say I have now painted half of them:

The figures are again Foundry, and were nice clean castings again with next to no cleanup required:

The flags are again from GMB. The light blue I have used looks rather more vivid in these pictures than is apparent in normal light:

At around the halfway point I was a little disappointed with the way they were looking, but once I applied the different shades of white it really pulled all the colours together and I was pleased with the final result. Much more pleased than I thought I was going to be:

That's twenty French cavalry regiments now completed, with just four regiments of lancers left to go:

I also completed three more figures to add on to the 8th Cuirassier regiment:

My original purchase included three casualty figures. Although they added a bit of variety to the unit they were not overly practical from a gaming perspective, so I completed these to use alongside the other charging figures in that unit:

Next will be the first of the line lancer regiments which I am hoping to complete over Easter.