Tuesday, September 3, 2013

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.

6 comments:

  1. As always, it's a pleasure to view your work!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yep, nothing quite like a line of Napoleonic British infantry. Good show!

    Best Regards,

    Stokes

    ReplyDelete
  3. Beautifully painted, although I have to question the actual miniatures themselves... I just find the Elite minis so awkward and unrealistic... Leaning forward and looking up... Blech, especially when there are Perry figures out there. Can I ask why you chose them?

    Wonderful regiment though, and huge!:)

    ReplyDelete
  4. The Elite figures have a sort of Old School look to them as they are the successor to Peter Gilder's Connoisseur range and have a sort of Suren style to them. Also, the anatomical proportions of the figures are realistic whereas Perry figures look a little short, stumpy and over fed in comparison. Put one of each figure together, side by side, and you will see what I mean. A large group of Elites has a dynamic, action oriented look to it that I like.

    The downside, as you point out, is that a lot of them seem to be looking to the sky and the sculpting style is what I would call Impressionistic, as opposed to the more realistic appearance of figures such as Perry.

    It's too bad that the Alban range wasn't more substantial or else we would have used those.

    ReplyDelete