French in Egypt Project - part III: nearing completion (sort of)

My French in Egypt project has made further progress with more infantry, cavalry and artillery added to my 'Armee l'Orient': an extra battalion for the 21st Legere DB (historically they had three) plus one of the 61st Ligne DB which together with the mauve coats of the 88th completes the representation of Desaix' original infantry force. 

For cavalry there is a small unit (8 figures of unknown make - Eureka? Trent? ??) of the 7th bis Hussars which I have done in their tenue de embarcation - basically their original European uniform with the conical mirliton. 

Like the rest of the French army they soon wore out or replaced their heavy European uniforms but I'm guessing for the cavalry like the Hussars their first priority was obtaining suitable horses (most arrived in Egypt sans cheval ) so they still could have had mirlitons etc, at the time of the Desaix expedition down the Nile. For the purists there are a lovely line of Perrys French Hussars in their Kleber clobber with peaked shakos etc. which they wore by 1800.  For my cavalry force (still a regiment of Guides/Chasseurs to go) I also have the gorgeous Perry's French-in-Egypt Horse Artillery. Really superb figures and beautifully made guns and equipment. To complete the artillery compliment I will have another two 6pdr Foot artillery (in Bicorne) and two with crew in Kleber. Those in bicorne are currently on the painting table.

For the infantry of the 61st DB I used the Perrys figures I'd ordered but found I did not have enough in elite uniform so had to literally make them up from their very useful box of French Elite Companies (1807-1814) using their metal bicorne heads and some green stuff for neckflaps which seems to work. Currently awaiting my final order from Brigade of more wonderful Paul Hicks sculpted infantry (in Kleber) with enough elites in bicorne and some dismounted Dragoons (they fought as much on foot in square as on horseback - nobody wanted to mess with ferocious mounted Mamelukes in hand-to-hand!) 

Above includes the grenadier company (of about 60-80 men, one per battalion) in bicorne which they favoured over the Kleber leather casket - some even kept their bearskins which must have been hell to wear and maintain in the desert! The last one above is of the Demi-Brigade sharpshooter unit which was the forerunner of the Voltigeur light infantry company. The Demi-Brigade battalions were reorganised in Egypt into one elite (grenadier) and five line companies as opposed to one (smaller) elite and eight(!) line companies so I've made mine 24 figures on six 4 figure stands, with the elites/sharpshooters on two figure stands to represent their ability to skirmish although those tactics were not much called for in Egypt!

Last but not least - the Horse Artillery. Ironically they rode but the guns were pulled on limbers operated by a contracted civilian service. At that time in France the artillery train service was being organised as a part of the military but this was not the case with the Army of the Orient. Perrys show them in plain mustard-coloured tunics and bicornes without ornament which is a pity as somehow I have THREE limbers with riders in plumed bicornes etc. I may make one up with a bit a scalpel work as a civvy haulage a la Egypt! 

Sacre Bleu! Les Mamelukes - tirrez mon braves!

Nearly done with the force so far now consisting of 4 x bttn @ 24, 2 x bttn @ 18, 1 x bttn @ 16 of infantry, Dromadaire & 1 x regt @ 12 and 1 x regt @ 8 (bis!) of cavalry, 2 x 6pdr guns (Horse Arty), 1 x 6pdr with Naval crew (5) & 10 dismounted Dromadaire, two mounted Generals. 

O la vache!

Its starting to take shape now which is good as our local sports club at which our wargaming group used to meet has just announced they're coming out of Covid lockdown and resuming operations so hopefully not too long before we can stage a decent game again. Hopefully.

Cheers, Doc

Camel Corp commission

Recently completed a commission for a mate (ok, ok - it was for my lead pimp Doug - I'm now his official painting bitch alright?!!!) consisting of a horde of proto-Napoleonics. The figures are from my favourite period - Napoleon's campaign in Egypt - and my favourite unit his Camel Corps (des Dromadaires?) The figures are mostly Brigade and look like (as in probably are) Paul Hicks sculpts.  Beautiful figures, I am envious of Doug's collection of French from this most underdone of pre-Napoleonic eras.







Unfortunately the camels suffer from the spindly leg syndrome as bad as the Brigade Mameluke figures I painted last year. If you use the hot glue gun to put 'em on paint sticks remember to use a hairdryer to heat and melt the glue a bit when getting them off or you'll be in for busted fetlocks (if fetlocks is wot camels 'as orright?!) The very long muskets, all with pointy bayonets is the other vulnerable bit to look out for. I must have repaired at least half a dozen of the bl*%dy things!





They have the most colourful of uniforms, of which there were several varieties during their short-lived time in Egypt. They were formed from dismounted hussars (French originally had a shortage of suitable horses after they landed) and various odds and sods from the infantry, operating as a mounted or mobile infantry unit. They quickly changed from the tight-fitting hussar style uniform to a more Oriental one with baggy red high waisted pants and even the cocked hats for various types of turban. Clothing shortages meant nothing was implemented uniformly as it were and there was a wide variety - withe the black fur-trimmed long bright red overcoat for the officers being just one of the bizarre variations.  Sky-blue and bright red seem to have been the most consistent colours. Never more than about 4 squadrons of 2-300 mounted with another 80-100 each on foot (or in carriage!) they were nonetheless quite effective scouts, operating as a mounted infantry.



The other figures I painted up was an early horse artillery gun and crew. The figures look like Eureka and are quite nice in a chunky way.  The horse artillery of the period was really just a more mobile version of the foot artillery, most of the crew riding athwart a sausage wagon a la Austrien style. The chafing they must have suffered rattling across the rocky desert in the Middle East doesn't bear thinking about! Very rough on the old Jatz crackers eh wot? Mercifully didn't have to do another one of those sausage wagons and riders for Doug. Nicely animated figures, they fit in well with the Brigade Cameleers.







In addition to the camel patrol - some of the Brigade Mamelukes come charging in!



I also re-based one of those I'd done previously and added a third figure and camel. Improvised to have him dismounted and holding the camel. The ridiculous WRG basing insists on three of these mounted figures to a 60 x 40 base. This used to work well with 25mm but the scale creep in the last 20 years means 28-30mm figures are now the norm, and this size base gets mighty crowded. Its cheating a bit - but there are three figures to a base!



Where I had to use a bit of invention was in the standard used. As they were a mounted infantry I opted for an infantry style flag.  There is some conjecture about what they actually carried so a large Revolutionary style flag seems appropriate.  I did two of the same for the mounted and dismounted Camel Corps unit. There was a Revolutionary Commissar - type figure that could easily be a young Bonaparte which I quite liked and have added into the command group, this time on top of one of the flat roofed mud houses.





Last but not least, the mounted version.



Still have my own Ottoman Turks to finish but these and others should give Doug and I enough to stage a Napoleon-in-Egypt game later this year.

Austrian Cavalry Artillery Battery

As I've explained in previous posts on the Perry's Napoleonic Austrian artillery I'm doing up, the Austrians didn't have horse artillery in the true sense.  They had a kind of mobile light artillery, unique amongst the armies of the Napoleonic era.  They used it predominantly in support their cavalry formations, hence the reason it became known as cavalry artillery.

The Austrian artillery sets produced by Perry's are amongst their finest and some of the best I have ever seen.  When they came out with them I just had to have a complete set for an Austrian cavalry artillery battery!

Its been a long haul with lots of other figures demanding paint and the odd spot of wargaming too, but I've finally finished my complete cavalry artillery battery set.  Really pleased with how they turned out, even though they occupy a rather large piece of wargaming real estate when you set them up on the table.

The artillery crews come in two basic poses: firing or loading.  The latter kind of adds to the overall base as the guns themselves are long and the rather slender rammer is longer than the gun barrel again.  I'll have to watch them carefully when gaming as the rammers are a bit bendy.

Achtung! Feuer Kanone!

The figures do have fairly fine tendrils of metal flash that have to be carefully trimmed off, some are so fine that they are difficult to spot amongst the other fine detail on the figures.  These figures are 'true' 28mm and the bases are thinner than other makes, which means the figures don't tower over their guns (a real problem I had once with Old Glory's Russian Horse Artillery).  The guns are, as you'd expect, fiddly to make with those funny looking seats on them (their appearance earning them the name 'sausage guns') that come in three sections and a slender handle that attaches to the rear of the gun trail.  All glued together with much Superglue and more patience!

Another shot of the crew loading - note the figure immediately behind.  He's about to place his leather encased thumb over the touch-hole so there's no nasty premature detonation during loading!  

The guy rummaging about in the ammo caisson fits in quite nicely although he is a little too close to the guns - the crew behind are eyeing him nervously!

I've still got a few limbers to do up for my other Austrian batteries but they can wait as I'm doing some Warasdiner Grenz at the moment.  Just been doing a bit of research to make sure I get the colours right, especially on the facings. Grenz Regiment #6 were 'crab red' - an Austrian colour that was closer to a very dark orange than red.  And the cloaks on the back were a really dark red, almost crimson rather than the fire-engine red they are usually depicted as.  This sage advice comes from no less an authority than Osprey author Dave Hollins himself, so I'm going to stick with it. The only concession I'll make is on the webbing which Dave says was mostly standard white as for the rest of the Austrian infantry in 1809.  The black webbing, same as the Jaegers, was only introduced sporadically before then and not for all the Grenzer regiments until after the 1809 campaign.  But I'm going for the esthetics of the black, just for appearances sake.  Like a true heretic.  I'll post 'em up when I've finished them as I also have a regiment of hussars to do as well.  I tell ya folks, for this curmudgeonly old pensioner, the fun just never ends!

Austrian 'Wurst' Gun, Crew and Limber

Just completed one of the most challenging models I've put together in some time - one of the Perry's latest releases from their metal range of the Napoleonic Austrian army: the 'WurstKanone' with crew, limber and team.  Its a huge metal model - together with some of the Russian gun limbers, one of the largest Perry's make.  The metal kit consists of six horses, three of which have the 'Fuhrwesen' teamsters molded with the horse, the seven part limber (seven parts!), the 6 pdr gun and four man crew.  

Its a beautiful model and up to the Perry's usual high standard.  The poses of the teamsters and gun crew are fantastic with one leaning on his pommel while his horse crops the grass, another twisting in the saddle - so I've got him talking to the gun crew Kaporal who's probably telling him not to take off before the crew are properly perched on their precarious looking 'sausage seat' on the gun trail (and from whence the gun got its name).  I note there are no handrails or anything to hold onto, just a foot-rail on either side of the seat, so you'd think going at anything faster than a brisk trot could be a tad risky!

Although beautifully made, putting the limber together with its very fine metal parts and the two-piece limber shaft was a real pig! There are plenty of limber pieces - more than you'll need, so that putting the team together even with (if you were a real pedant) fine jeweler's chain is distinctly possible.

There is some flash on it here and there, requiring a bit of clean up with scalpel and fine file before gluing etc. Because of its size (its over 26 cm long) I decided to approach it a bit at a time, including dividing the base into three.  Once I'd finished putting the limber and gun together (the limber over and over again!), I base coated and painted all the figures horses and pieces separately.  Once these were just about finished - I did the mounted teamsters first on the middle base section, removing them from the paint sticks. [A word of warning here: I use a hot glue gun to put 'em on wooden ice cream sticks - don't overdo it with the hot glue!  The horse and figure bases are quite thin and will bend and break when removing them from the paint sticks unless very careful!]  After a few anxious moments I mounted the three teamsters & horses on the main base and let dry while I finished the gun, crew and limber.

I decided to mount up the gun on a separate base so that the limber can be used with or without and with a full six horse team or four (thinking about the size and the room it takes up on the wargaming table here).

The crew mounting up on the 'sausage seat'

The corporal has a word...

A precarious looking enterprise

The idea of just having a limber is so it can deploy behind the battery (once I've finished it!) or be limbered up - (about to be) on the move as it were.  The other piece I've got to go with this is the Austrian horse artillery caisson - it also looks like its going to be challenge!  Artillery batteries with attendant limbers, caissons, extra gun-handlers as well as the guns and crews themselves were an enormous enterprise and quite difficult to represent on the wargaming table.  The sheer room the establishment of a three or four gun battery requires would be just too prohibitive - mind you, if you were of a mind to, Perry's produce all the bits and bobs you'll need for any of the main armies. I did see one done once of a French battery with 'hired help' resting limbers, caissons - the lot.  The full thing looked magnificent but would have taken up a sizeable chunk of an average table!  What I want to do is have that higher level of detail but take up the minimum space.  At least that's the plan!

Four horse team and limber section

Detachable lead team

The gun and crew also presented a bit of a challenge to base separately as the gun trail had to be able to be mounted on the limber as well.  I'll just have to remember to lift it separately when I put it on the table for a game!

Gun base section

The thing to remember is that Austria was the only major army NOT to have true horse artillery!  The 'Wurst Kanone' were the closest thing that they did field - more of a mobile artillery than a true horse artillery.  I don't believe they moved anywhere near the speed of the cavalry they were meant to support - certainly not comparable with the French, Russian, British or even Prussian versions.  Limbered up with crew straddling the long gun seat they reportedly moved at a brisk trot at best.  These were not sprung so you can imagine it would have been a fairly bone-jarring trip across the battlefield before leaping off to unlimber and deploy.  The seat could be removed but it was often left on during action so they could rapidly limber up and move at a moment's notice - even if they didn't travel that fast!  Nonetheless they were a mobile artillery and considered themselves elite artillerymen - the Austrian artillery was never less than proficient and at least as professional as their French opponents, even if tactically they didn't match the French use of artillery.

So, a 'Wurst' battery is a must-have for any respectable Austrian army - one limber down, one caisson and battery to go!