Portuguese 11th Almeida Cavalry Regiment

The last of my intended Portuguese cavalry units, the 11th Almeida:

This unit was part of the Southern Grand Division as indicated by their blue piping, although in the case of the 11th Almeida they had a sky-blue collar as their main distinguishing feature:

They were fairly actively engaged throughout the Peninsular War, and saw service at Salamanca and Vittoria:

These Front Rank charging figures are slightly more dynamic than their "at rest" dragoons and were, as usual, a pleasure to paint.

Now to finish some staff, and then on to the artillery...

Portuguese 4th Mecklemburg Cavalry Regiment

A quick post with a second regiment of Portuguese dragoons completed, this time the 4th Mecklemburg:

The regiment was apparently present at Fuentes De Onoro under Barbacena with (according to Oman) a mere 104 men, and weren't much engaged after that:

The 4th however represents another of the cavalry regiments from the Central Division, so it is possible that what few mounts they had may have been absorbed into other regiments.


The white piping is indicative of the Central Division, in this case with a red collar:

I have again utilised the Front Rank "at rest" figures for them, which I quite like even though the pose is perhaps a little less dynamic than some others:

That's two cavalry regiments completed now, with just the 11th Almeida to go. Hopefully I'll have them completed in the next week or so.

Portuguese 1st Alcantara Cavalry Regiment

The first post for a while as life does have a habit of getting in the way, luckily for all the right reasons so I'm not complaining. I managed to complete the first of three Portuguese cavalry units the week before last in the form of the first Alcantara:

The regiment was present at Albuera as part of Otway's brigade, and saw action at Salamanca as part of D'Urban's brigade under whose command they remained throughout the Vittoria campaign:

The Portuguese dragoon uniform is relatively uncomplicated, with the main distinction being the facing colour and piping. In the case of 1st Alcantara these were white:

Which indicated that they formed part of the Central Division:

That's the first of them done, with two more regiments to go. They are probably a little on the large size as far as Portuguese regiments go, but it is obviously an easy thing to remove a few figures when they are not required.

Portuguese 17th/2nd Elvas Regiment

This represents the last of the line regiments for the project, finally completed and assembled from the spares I had left over after having painted the other nine.

No matter how careful I think I'm being when I'm putting together orders, I always seem to have a large handful of spares left over (including another ten Portuguese GMB flags).

Consequently, while the first battalion is consistent with the Front Rank march attack figures:

There is a definite mixture of poses in the second battalion:

That said, I'm not unhappy that I have included this particular unit. The 17th was present at the battle of Vittoria and a number of the battles in the crossing of the Pyrenees and beyond, including the battles of the Nive, Orthez and Toulouse.

From Vitorria onward they were brigaded with the 1st and 3rd Cacadores, which I suspect may have been to provide a rallying-point should the Cacadores have needed to reform behind the line.

I gave myself a bit of a "free pass" with this unit in that, as part of the Southern division, they had red piping. Given that the collars and cuffs were also red this made them much easier to paint than most of the other regiments, where the piping on the collars and cuffs are in a contrasting colour:

That's the last of the line done, All four hundred and three of them, with the last three reserved for some command stands I have in the pipeline.

Now for some cavalry...

Portuguese 22nd Serpa Regiment

For the sake of a bit of variety I purchased a couple of battalions' worth of the Front Rank firing and loading figures, and painted them as the 22nd Serpa Regiment:

As another regiment from the Central Division they carried a white regimental flag and had white piping. I chose the 22nd primarily because of their light blue facings to provide something a little different from the usual reds and whites, and it was only after having completed them that I found they were not that heavily engaged at all during the Peninsular War. No matter, as that won't stop me putting them on the table if required:

The nice thing about the loading figure is that given the way it is posed it exposes all of the right-hand side turnback which meant that I could add the triangular strip of blue cloth, which was a feature of the Portuguese uniform but is obscured on most of the other figures:

Apart from those on the command stand. I managed to spill paint on the flags for this regiment and would have replaced them if I had any spare Central Division flags left (as opposed to the four I seem to have over-ordered for the Northern Division). I touched them up as best I could and believe it will pass all but the closest of inspections:

That's eighteen battalions completed which was originally going to be the total but, as usual, I found enough figures left over to complete two more, after ordering an additional seven marching figures from Front Rank.

It never ceases to amaze me that, no matter how careful I think I am being, I always end up with at least a spare battalion or two. I'll paint that regiment as the 17th/2nd Elvas, which I do know was extensively engaged throughout the war, and then on to either the Cacadores or some cavalry...

Portuguese 16th Viera Tellas Regiment

The last unit I managed to complete in 2015, on the morning of December 31st, but which I didn't have a chance to photograph and prepare a quick post on until today. One too many Gin and Tonics put paid to that I'm afraid.

The 16th Viera Tellas Regiment fought at Bussaco, Salamanca and Vittoria in Pack's brigade, and were under Campbell at the battle of the Nive:

I purchased Front Rank Portuguese "advancing" figures for this regiment as I knew my motivation would be starting to flag after having painted 280 or so of the marching figures, and am a little annoyed with myself that I didn't order a few more as I very much like the pose of these figures:

As another regiment which formed part of the Central Division they carried a white regimental standard and had white piping:

This makes sixteen Portuguese line battalions completed with, what I had originally thought, were only two more to go:

And so it was with a strange feeling of simultaneous delight and disappointment that I found I have enough figures for another two battalions beyond this.

When I think I'll ever get the chance to deploy twenty Portuguese line battalions I don't know, and I was quite looking forward to getting stuck into the Cacadores (where I also found enough figures for an additional battalion beyond the six I had originally planned), but I know I'll have to paint the line figures before I allow myself to move on.

Which just leaves me to say a big thank you to those who have read these thoughts during 2015 and left such kind comments, and to wish everyone a happy and fulfilling 2016.

Crescent Root 15mm World War II Buildings

I always think one of the nicest things in life is when reality surpasses all expectation, and this was the case with the purchase of Crescent Root's Series 3 15mm WWII buildings which arrived this morning.

I had been eyeing their products several years ago, when they were manufacturing in resin, but never managed to get around to purchasing any at the time. After an interlude of what must have been a year or two, they have now returned with rendered mdf models.

I have to admit that mdf terrain has never been my thing as I much prefer the feel of a resin building, and I have an absolute pile of Grand Manner and Hovels which I hope to get to in the next couple of years, but these are beautifully executed and I now have to consider myself a total convert.

Of course, like a kid at Christmas (or the week before at least) I couldn't help but unpack the lot to see how they looked:

The set comes with a mat, which I had to touch to double-check was actually flat and without flocking. The three-dimensional effect is very convincing:

Each building is multi-layered and, while I'm not a huge fan of laser-cut interiors generally, these look great.




Best of all, if one purchases the entire set, every house comes with an additional section which allows the roof and top floor to be removed, and a damaged one to be substituted:

The other nice thing is that every building has a base with paving stones and, in some cases, a garden:

The detail is great:

And, possibly one of the most important points, they arrive pre-painted and beautifully packed.

All things considered, one of my best purchases of 2015.