Russian Generals

A mix of AB, WM and OG. Can you tell which is which? Both OG and WM do a Barclay de Tolly figure, thats the chap with the receding forhead waving his hat about. The AB pair are actually Prussians! The difference appears to be that the Russians do not have a blanket roll at the back of the saddle while the Prussians do have one.

After posting this I've just noticed that I've missed off some of the white braid on the colonels Kwier. Blast!

Russian Dragoons

These are WM figures, they carry the flags of the Kiev (yellow) and the Ingermanland (red cross) dragoons but the facings are in fact a bit different! Easy to paint, there was little detail to worry about and now I'm getting quite used to painting cavalry. The figures look better in real life, as the artificial light from my modellers lamp hides the shading/highlights.

There was a division of dragoons present at Brienne (which was fought 200 years ago to this day), even at the rate I'm churning out the figures it's going to be a couple weeks before I can get my forces ready. The 2nd battle, La Rotheire is even bigger and requires the Bavarians and Austrians. I'm not painting the Wurrtemburgers who were present and will probably use Prussians instead to represent them.

Next to be completed are some command bases, (yes, you've guessed right - Russian!)

Russian Hussars

These are Warmodelling figures, as usual in 12 man units. The grey clad gents with the red breeches belong to the Soumy regiment, the other regiment to be honest I'm nor sure! I think its either the lifeguard hussars or the Izum. I simply searched the internet for uniforms I liked. The blue/red regiment is the one on the Zvezda box of 1/72 Russian hussars as shown below. Next to be completed are some Russian dragoons.

Moscow, Livonia and Tarnopol Regiments

The commands are a mixture of Warmodelling and Old Glory - all of the ensigns are WM as I ran out of OG. In fact in order to make three units of 24 miniatures I had to use up the spare drummers and 'enthusiastic infantry' from the OG command pack.

The Orange flag is the Moscow inspection, the blueish flag is the Livonia inspection and the yellow/red flag is the Tarnopol regiment. By my calculations I now have eight units of Russian line infantry which is the number of brigades fielded by the Russians at Brienne - the first battle of 1814.

I'm planning on painting up some OG landwehr  cavalry as Cossacks, I bought these years ago but was so disappointed by the size difference between the AB & WM cavalry figures that they languished in their drawer. However, they should make reasonable Cossacks with their caps, lances and overcoats.

Russian Cuirassiers

These are waiting for their flag to arrive from maverick models, the figures are from Warmodelling/Fantassin. The standard bearer needed the original pole removed and a cutdown 25mm metal spear put in it's place. I think I'll need another three units of these if I'm to do the 1814 campaign at brigade level. I have three units of Russian infantry nearly completed, but I need to complete three command stands, two hussar and two dragoon units, another Cossack unit. Paint fatigue is setting in and I haven't even touched the Bavarians, Austrians or Wurrtenburgers! In fact I'm not looking forward to the Austrians with all that white to paint.

Russian Horse Artillery

Just completed four horse artillery cannons and crew. I always give the horse batteries three crewmen and the foot four men. These are Warmodelling/Fantassin figures, the cannons were a little bit awkward to assemble as the holes in the wheels were too big for pins and the barrels were a bit loose for the body. I ended up super-gluing more of myself than the cannons and as a result the barrels are at slightly different angles! Although I'm happy enough with the end result it was a bit of a fiddle. So be warned if you intend to buy from this range.

Russian Foot Artillery

These are old glory figures, they are a mixed bag of poses, some good some bad. Typical OG artillery pack with 24 figures and six guns (a variety of gun types from a single 12lb to a mortar and licorne). Some folks may not like the variety but I don't mind. The figures are mainly wearing Kiwier shako's but with a couple of gunner in caps. I'm not too sure if I got the colour of the guns right, I know they had a darker hue than the French apple green. So I mixed 50/50 of vallejo military green and sick green.

Next in line is a unit of WM Russian Curassiers. 

2nd Regiment Old Guard Grenadiers

Here we have 1st and 2nd battalions of the 2nd Regiment of Grenadiers - apart from the mounted AB colonel these are old glory 15mm, the flags are by Maverick Models. I must apologise for the quality of the photographs, again I can't seem to get the lighting just right. The campaign of 1814 saw Napoleon increasingly use his guard regiments as front line troops due to manpower shortages, they were used to either clinch a victory or to escape from a battlefield by the skin of his teeth.

For all my guard units I use the 1804 french flag as it makes them quite distinctive from the line units, which all have the 1812/1815 flag. As I uploaded the photos I noticed I forgotten to paint the red sash of the ensign. hence the 1st photograph was taken on my work bench. I painted them them with white summertime gaiters as I prefer these to the black winter ones.