Strike up the Band

A few weeks back I came across the Miniature Figurines S-range Imperial Guard Band that Tony kindly gave me a couple of years ago. Looking at the figures again it struck me it was a shame that they were hidden away in a box as they are a really charming little set and the painter had done a good job.

Now, of course, these are not Hinton Hunt but they are contemporary being from the period when Miniature Figurines produced 20mm figures. I vaguely remember seeing listings for the band set in 1970c but back then I would never have invested pocket money in non-combatants. I have no catalogue now, but the code numbers are clearly stamped on the top of the bases. This is what I have:

2 x No1 Bassoon

2 x No2 French Horn

2 x No3 Trombone

2 x No4 Serpent Horn

1 x No5 Trumpet

3 x No6 Oboe

2 x No7 Flute

1 x No8 Drum

1 x No9 Drum

1 x No10 Bass Drum

2 x No11 Cymbals

1 x No12 Triangle

1 x No13 Jingling Johnny

1 x No15 Bandmaster

Percussion section

Brass section

Woodwind section

As far as I can find out the complete band should be in three ranks of seven (percussion, brass, woodwind) plus the bandmaster. I’m a bit puzzled as to what the missing number 14 would have been – any ideas?

I didn’t repaint these as that would have been a diversion too far, so I just jazzed them up (no pun intended) by touching up the white then giving them a couple of coats of gloss varnish and basing in my house style.

Order of Battle – I have added a new page to the blog listing all my units together with links to their debut appearances. This has been useful to me in focussing my mind on gaps in the OOB’s and hopefully you’ll like perusing them too. There is a link under the ‘pages’ heading on the sidebar or just click here.

More French Infantry

During my recent reappraisal of this project, I realised that, believe it or not, I don’t have enough French infantry units painted. Now I know ‘enough’ is a bit of a moot point for wargamers but I’m basing my requirement on the French army I need to balance either the Anglo-Allied-Prussian forces or the Austro-Russian-Swedish-Prussian forces. Whichever way I look at it I’m shy of about three French infantry units.

So, I have begun work on another unit using the FN/5 Fusilier (charging) figure but for a bit of variation I will be painting these as Light Infantry. As far as I can see by 1815 there was no difference between the employment or organisation of Light Infantry and Line Infantry. However, the difference in uniform is a help for me when trying to tell one unit from another on the table where they’re made up of the same figure type.

To be honest when I’ve brought the French side up to strength I will have about as many troops as I can use on my maximum 8’ x 4’ table but of course that won’t stop me painting more.

Guard Cavalry Review

With the upgrade to the Guard Lancers finished my Imperial Guard cavalry contingent is complete. Yes, I did say COMPLETE unless of course I ever find enough Chasseur-a-Cheval to make up a full unit.

Another boyhood dream ticked off the list.

Lancers of the Guard

The Red Lancers have taken their place alongside the Polish Lancers to complete my unit of Lancers of the Guard.

The figures used for the full unit are:

1 x FN/40 Officer (mounted) charging

1 x FN/41 Trumpeter (mounted) charging

7 x FN/43 Lancer (mounted) charging

3 x FN/44 Lancer (mounted) charging with separate lance

(all the castings are vintage ones)

Thanks to Tony for kindly providing the last few figures I needed to complete this unit.

Red Lancer progress and revising the plan

The Red Lancers are finished and fully glossed up but not yet based. I’ve really enjoyed painting these so here is a sneak preview.

I have recently been taking a long hard look at the lead pile and considering it against what I’m ever likely to paint for this project. At best I manage 120 or so Hinton Hunts per year so unless I’m going to live a very long time (and retain reasonable eyesight throughout) it’s probably time to set some sensible limits.

With that in mind I have gone delete happy on my master-plan spreadsheet to bring the total ‘to do’ list down to around 500 figures. In doing this I have thought about likely scenarios in relation to what I can fit on my maximum 8’ x 4’ table. Waterloo is top of my list, and it looks like I only need 4 more units for a scaled-down representation of that battle, so the immediate plan is to fill in those gaps.

Beyond that I need to balance out the various army OOB’s and make sure that I paint all the favourites in the pile making sure the vintage figures take priority.

Red Lancer Command

I’ve just completed this officer and trumpeter for the Guard Red Lancers. These figures are unique across all the Hinton Hunt ranges being the only cavalry command figures that Marcus Hinton produced. It’s a bit odd that no others were made but perhaps it was assumed that wargamers enjoyed the challenge of making their own conversions.

Left: FN/40 Officer, Right: FN/41 Trumpeter. The trumpeter is painted to the Hinton Hunt painting instructions whilst the officer is (mostly) from Funken.

Those of you who follow the blog will realise that by expanding the Eclaireurs to a full unit I have been left with a single troop of six Guard Polish Lancers. My initial thought was to expand the Poles to a full twelve figures, but I wanted to try my hand at the Red Lancers so have settled on a combined unit of six figures of each. This does of course have an historical justification in that the Polish Lancers and Red Lancers did fight together at Waterloo.  

A Dozen Eclaireurs

This unit has been a long time coming. Originally I only had 9 riders which is why they began service as a 6-figure squadron combined with the Polish Guard Lancers. It was only when I finally obtained the missing riders that I realised I was also short on horses – doh!

Thankfully Nigel stepped into the breach and kindly provided the extra mounts I required to bring the regiment up to full 12-figure strength.

The figures I used are:

*12 x FN/308 Eclaireur Lancer of the Guard (horse FNH/3)

*One figure has been converted to a trumpeter

I’m pretty pleased with the way these turned out and they’re certainly a colourful addition to the French OOB.