I should begin by saying these are big 15mm figures, more like 18mm really. You need to be mindful of that should you chose to substitute figures from other ranges. Most of mine come from QRF. The rest came from the Spanish company Capitan/ Warmodelling. The two are compatible in my view.
We are about to see my entire First Carlist War collection in a series of posts. Today, we are going to look at the Carlists.
You may notice that my painting
style evolves in the following pic’s. This is due to the glacially slow release of the QRF range.
That said the QRF range is happily now complete.
The Carlists were very much of an up and at them attitude. Partly because of disposition and also because they were often short of ammunition. Consequently they liked to charge sooner rather than later.
The other thing to note is that Carlist infantry moved faster than their opponents. They were also masters of difficult or broken ground. A Carlist Mountain Gun battery above.
Carlist brigades often deployed whole battalions in skirmish order backed by a reserve battalion in column. Unusually, Carlist skirmishers would charge home without forming into closer order.
Now, let us look at the cavalry. The first pic is of QRF Carlist cavalry. If you can get past the identical horses QRF have the fullest range of First Carlist War cavalry anywhere.
I think the use of a single horse figure let down the QRF (one piece casting) cavalry. A shame, because the riders are fine and the variety of units commendable. The normal solution is to substitute horses. You cannot do that with one piece castings.
I chose instead to mainly opt for the Capitan ones.
Carlist cavalry was often very effective. Lancers were popular. That said the Carlists never had anywhere near enough horseflesh to match the quantity available to their opponents. Above Merino's Lancers and the Ontoria Hussars. Both crack troops. Other Carlist lancers are perhaps best rated as regular. Interestingly, Carlist cavalry did not perform outpost or scouting duties. They were in short supply and reserved as battle cavalry.
While we are talking about QRF let me recommend their range of First Carlist War artillery pieces to you. They really are very nice.
My latest Carlist unit here. The Portuguese volunteers with their distinctive green boina. Note the two Totentaz grenadiers. The rest are QRF. Totentaz have some lovely Carlist War figures. Alas, the range is far from complete.
I seem to have enough figures for another two battalions and another squadron or two of lancers. I'll also be adding some cavalry command bases that will enable the cavalry to go further. I'll show them here along with the Carlist Generals when they are done.
Next the Cristinos aka Isabelinos.
After much delay I've returned to the Great Italian Wars. First on my to do list was completing the Swiss Pike units. All of them intended for the French Army, hence the profusion of white crosses. I had two units complete and one to do. The outstanding one was one of the biggest so I prevaricated. Above Venexia's offering and a fine one it is. Lots of variety.
Below, we have the Blue Moon Swiss.
Another pic' of the same troops in a deeper formation. Note that these fellows mainly lack armour even in the front ranks. They have the long white plumes indicative of young Swiss heroes. Accordingly, in Gonzalo, they will mover faster than their compatriots-themselves no slouches at the rapid advance.
There is much to commend the Blue Moon figures, not least an abundance of poses. Next, we see mainly Legio Heroica figures, once more variations abound, with a few Blue Moon thrown in. Call this band the interim stage.
Finally, the completed unit and the complete Swiss contingent. There's over 100 figures all told.
With officers from Blue Moon, one for each unit. Swiss command was collegiate.
Lastly,from Museum Miniatures.
An Organ Gun, this one is destined for Imperial or Spanish Service. So, I found myself on a roll, a Swiss roll in fact. That's not a sentence you often get to write.
Consequently, I have finally got to the Imperial Landsknechts, the French ones are already done. Four bases done so far, that's 24 figures. I'll be able to cheat of course, deploying back ranks to and from either formation.
Version 2 of my Gonzalo rules for The Great Italian Wars has been printed out too. A game is imminent.
My Great Northern War armies have long languished in the ranks of the uncompleted. No more. This is my Swedish Army for With Talon and Claw.
There’s a recorded remark by one of the Swedish cavalry commanders. He said he had thought his charging regiment was going to pass under the bellies of the horses of the Saxon cavalry they had targeted. It was an exaggeration, though not by much. Saxon horses were big and Swedish horses were ponies. Sometimes even quite small ponies. It is one of those things that makes you think. The Swedes won the engagement should you have wondered.
My Swedes are mainly from Dixon. The horses are appropriately small, certainly compared to other 15mm offerings. A happy chance, just luck. I didn’t know when I bought them. Another thing I didn’t know was just how large Swedish cavalry units were. Three or four squadrons was fairly standard even under campaign conditions.
As a result, my Swedish cavalry units are a bit too small. I only have one and two squadron units. On the plus side it really doesn’t matter in game terms. Also there is slightly more visual variety. I say slightly because it's mainly blue for the Swedes.
The balance of Swedish forces is also noteworthy. A Swedish Amy might well be half Horse and half Foot. Or even more Horse than Foot. Their artillery, although perfectly competent, was often left behind. Swedish commanders favoured swift moving attacks, artillery couldn't keep up.
Putting four infantry battalions into
good order was easily accomplished. The Swedish infantry were very good soldiers in every respect. In other armies an elite or veteran regiment might stand out. For the Swedes it is those who are merely well trained that are the exceptions. All are pike and shot formations and use Flintlocks.
The Dal Regiment.
Narka - Varmlands Regiment.
Above, and the Vasterbotten Regiment. Below, the Vastermanland Regiment. The figures are from Dixon and Roundway Miniatures.
I also have two battalions of Swedish Guards.
Veritable terrors on the table top.
Subsequently the Swedes will get at least one field gun. They did use them now and then.
What you can see here is a perfectly viable Swedish Army for With Talon and Claw. I have more, of course, but they can wait for their moment.
As an aside, I've just received an delivery of 15mm Gabions from Irregular Miniatures. They are very well done indeed.
Next week the Russians also completed!
