Here come the Dons!

New Spanish troops

I was in Rugby at the weekend and popped into Joto Hobbies, a brilliant little shop opposite the school. It looks the short of "shoppe" that you might find Harry Potter nosing around in. 

As it happens they had received a delivery of the latest HaT Spanish troops and I took advantage by purchasing one of each:

8300 Light infantry

8301 Grenadiers

8302 Line Infantry

8303 Command

The plastic is quite soft but the sculpting is great. Nice boxes too...

So, that's the infantry sorted out but what about cavalry (perhaps the Hat Saxon or Prussian 1806 cavalry with the big hats?) and artillery (Prussian 1806?).

The Spanish will go very well with my planned Bavarian, Wurttemberg and Swedish armies. Nothing like the mainstream!

I'm also pondering a visit to Derby this weekend. Now I have my Spanish troops there is nothing on my immediate shopping list but I'm sure I'll find some inspiration there.

Bavarians for 1809

Not there yet, just prepping

I have purchased some Bavarians for the 1809 campaign. This was a long time ago and I feel the need to get on with painting them. The rules will be Neil Thomas' Napoleonic Wargaming, or such an approximation as I can get together. The troops are from Hat.

First things first, have we got an army list? Well, we do now:

Bavarian 1809
Line infantry	2-4	(Close Order Infantry (Musket), Average)
Light infantry	1-2	(Light Infantry (Musket), Average)
Tyrolean Jaegers	0-1	(Light Infantry (Rifle), Elite)
Dragoons	0-1	(Heavy Cavalry, Elite)
Chevaux Legers	1-2	(Light Cavalry (Carbine), Average)
Artillery	0-1
Notes:   1.    Only the elite company of the light infantry had rifles so the whole unit is treated as musket armed. 2.    For the Tyrolean Jaegers I plan to use the Hat Austrian infantry in shakos in a suitable paint job. Strictly they are 1807 only but I couldn’t resist them. 3.    Dragoons are horse cavalry only, they do not have dismounted ability. 4.    I have no special rules for the Bavarians, although I am tempted to build in a Black Forest Gateaux moment as a command and control limit when Bavarians are fighting anyone other than fellow cake eaters, such as the Austrians!

And what colour do we paint them? Lets look up the book (Osprey 106 Napoleon's German Allies (4): Bavaria):

Bavarian Paint Chart 1	Infantry	Light infantry	Artillery
Coat	Light blue	Dark green	Dark blue
Facings (Collar, Cuffs, Lapels)	Red, yellow, poppy, green	Black piped red	Scarlet collar and cuffs, black lapels
Turnbacks	Red	Red	Scarlet
Bandoliers	White	White	White
Trousers	Grey	Grey	Dark blue
Gaiters	Black	Black	Black/yellow buttons
Musket sling	Red	Red	Red
Cartridge box	Black	Black	Black

Bavarian Paint Chart 2	Tyrolean Jaegers	Dragoons (1st “Minucci”	Chevaux Legers (2nd “Koenig”
Coat	Dark grey	White	Dark green
Facings (Collar, Cuffs, Lapels)	Light blue	Red collar; cuffs and lapels red.	Red
Turnbacks	Red	White piped red	Red
Bandoliers	Black	White	White
Trousers	Grey	Dark grey	White
Gaiters	Black	NA	NA
Musket sling	Red	Red	NA
Cartridge box	Black	Back	Black
Saddle furniture		Red , white/blue border	Grey, white edging
Sash		Red	Grey

And what colour is Bavarian blue? Some say it is a dark blue, some say the dark blue faded to a cornflower or grey blue, others say that the blue turned purple from the soldiers perspiration. Well, one guy says use Vallejo Andrea blue (841 (65)), another says do something different. hey ho, nobody knows! I'll have a look at Deep Sky Blue (844 (66)) and Sky Blue (961 (67)) as well.