British 45th Foot - 1809

British 45th Regiment (Nottinghamshire) added to my Peninsula Brigade.

I have been working on another British Napoleonic regiment to add to my brigade for our Iberian Campaign with Major General Pettygree. The figures are all from Elite Miniatures and the flags are my usual choice - GMB Designs. Through the Labor Day weekend, I have built the regiment up to 60 figures (or 600 men at our 1:10 ratio) and I have another company of 12 figures nearly completed. The regiment will eventually be 84 figures strong (or 840 men). 

I have decided that the regiment is of sufficient strength to have the finished component board ships and sail to Portugal, where they will be temporarily assigned to the Lisbon garrison. Eventually, they will join Alexander Sinclair's brigade which includes the 83rd and 94th Regiments and three companies of the 5/60th Rifles. The latter two regiments are part of Pettygree's army, currently deployed near Aveiro, south of the Duoro River. Once I paint the other 24 figures, the regiment will be completed, as will be the brigade. Three regiments in a brigade seems like enough figures to me.

While I have many more unpainted British figures (enough to add one British and one Highland regiment and one Portuguese regiment), I will probably leave them alone for awhile and wait to see how the campaign carries on. For one thing, I do not want to paint an endless number of redcoats. My original plan was to keep my force at one brigade and I would like to stick to that plan. Mind you, painting 90 Connoisseur Highlanders as the 42nd Regiment is a very tempting prospect as I love Highland regiments.

You might have noticed that I terrained the bases on the 45th, whereas my other two regiments have metal bases painted green, in a kind of Old School theme. However, it was always my intention to terrain all of my troops so I thought that I would break the ice by finishing off the bases on the 45th as I complete the painting of the same. This is better than putting off the task for another day -- that usually leads to nothing happening. I also applied the spackle compound and grit to the 83rd and the next step will be to dab brown ink onto the base, let it dry, then dry brush flesh color, and finally, add the static grass. I have chosen a dried out looking grass since the troops will be in the Peninsula, and I think that the effect is very pleasing to the eye.

This post is my 108th post of the year: a new record for this blog. The previous annual high posts was 107. I have surpassed that level with four months remaining in the year, so undoubtedly the records will continue to be broken.

Need Help Picking New British Peninsula Regiment

The British army of Major General William Justinian Pettygree grows stronger with every day, but it still has a long way to go before it can approach the strength of Marshal Soult's army in Portugal circa 1809. Accordingly, I am eager to paint more British regiments but am in a quandary deciding which one (s) to paint.

The problem boils down to the facing colors and the similarity of the figure poses that I'm using. I like the Elite Miniatures charging pose and used it for my 83rd Regiment (yellow facings). I just ordered another regiment of 84 figures this week and I was going to paint them as the 88th (Connaught Rangers), also in yellow facings. The 83rd, 94th and 88th were brigaded together and so the 88th would complete my brigade. The trouble is, since I use single-based figures on magnetic movement trays, once I start removing casualties, I will have difficulty distinguishing the 83rd from the 88th in the casualty pile. Thus the figures might not make it back to their regiment after we pick up the game and store away the figures. I know this is overly picky, but that's the way I am sometimes.

So now I'm thinking that I should order more Connoisseur figures and use those for the 88th since there is a noticeable difference in the figures, so the 88th and 83rd won't get mixed up. That said, I now need to pick a new regiment for the new order of Elite figures. It has to be a regiment that has anything but yellow facings. Maybe a dark green like the 45th or blue for one of the royal regiments (which one?) or a KGL or Guard regiment? What would you suggest. As a guideline, I'm trying to stay within Picton's Division for my roster of troops.

Eventually I will want to paint a British Guards regiment, but I'm wondering which brand of figures to use as I want the Guards to look extra special. I will NOT use plastic figures (we hate assembling plastic figures here in Hesse Seewald) so your suggestion needs to be from a metal range.

Oh, and I also plan to add the 42nd Highland Regt using Connoisseur figures that I already have (but I need to order a lot more of them).

Gentlemen, the floor is now open to you. Leave your suggestions in the Comment section at the bottom of this thread.

Some Old Veterans From Connoisseur

Connoisseur Peninsula British Light Company figures

This afternoon I took a little break from painting SYW cavalry to paint three old Connoisseur Peninsula British that I found laying in a box. They were partially painted (faces, basic red coat and grey pants blocked in) and I figure that they have been in that state since about 1992. So these guys are AT LEAST 20 YEARS OLD!

I have to say that Peter Gilder's Connoisseur range still holds up very well in comparison to the panoply of figures that are available on the market today. In fact, I would go further and say that when it comes to Napoleonics, I prefer Connoisseur figures over all else. They not only bring on a nostalgic twinge for me, but they still look so gosh darn good.

Light Co. Officer and Centre Co. ranker

Centre Co. ranker and Highlander Centre Co. figures

Front and rear views of the Light Co. ranker

I have a regiment of British figures on order from Bicorne Miniatures, the current owner of the Connoisseur range of figures and these will be about 84 figures strong: 1 to 10 ratio with 12 figures per company and 7 companies (including one each of the flank companies - grenadier and light). So the three extra figures that I had laying around were all light company figures: an Officer wearing a pelisse and two rankers standing and firing. This gives me a three figure head start on the regiment, which will become the 94th Regiment of Foot.

After our last battle at Costa Blanca (a French rout of the British army), it became clear to me and Bill that we need to add new British battalions, and fast! I will probably break the figures down into groups of a dozen and paint them here and there as time permits. It is kind of nice to have some primed figures "in stock" ready to paint when you fancy painting something a bit different from whatever it is that you are working on.

Some SYW Minden Figures

Here are several close up shots of some of the Minden cavalry that I am currently painting on commission for a collector. I'm really posting these pictures for him, but I thought that everyone else would enjoy peaking at them too. (PS: Your second box arrived today.)

Von Seydlitz - Minden Minatures

Esterhazy Hussar in Austrian Service - Minden Miniatures

Austrian Cuirassier Trooper - Minden Miniatures

Connoisseur Napoleonics

An assortment of Connoisseur French grenadiers and one Bicorne Carabinier in bearskin. Most of these were painted by Dennis Smail about 15 years ago. I painted the officer in the blue trousers in the front row.

Click on all pictures to enlarge the view.

Today on TMP several people were inquiring about Connoisseur Miniatures and wondered what they looked like and how they might compare to newer 28mm ranges of Napoleonic figures. Given the general lack of pictures on the internet, I rushed home and dug out a few "remainders " that I still had laying around the Closet O' Lead in my basement. I thought that everyone might want to take a closer look at these venerable old figures.


Another view of the same grouping of figures.


Guard Dutch Lancers in French service, partially painted and never finished. I may have to finish this group of figures to do them justice.

I sold nearly all of my 25/28mm Napoleonics several years ago, but I still had a few extra castings sitting around in the "bits box" of miscellaneous lead figures. These Connoisseur Dutch Lancers were going to be in my defunct Waterloo Project. My painting style has changed a little bit, so I may go back and touch them up and finish them off, now that I'm a little bit motivated to do so.

Connoisseur Bavarians


Connoisseur Bavarians

The unpainted figures shown above are from the Connoisseur range of Bavarians during the Napoleonic wars. These are suitable for 1809 to 1814. They also have light cavalry and artillery (I'm not sure about the artillery crew, but I think they were made). I rather like the Bavarians and think that they would fit in nicely with my Elite Miniatures 1805-07 French. Perhaps one day I will paint a brigade of these lads. They look nice to me.