Duchy of Warsaw 3rd Line Infantry, 1st Battalion

So at long last, they are done. Well the minis have actually been done since the beginning of the month, but until yesterday I was still waiting for the flag to go with them. Grahame from GMB shipped them almost exactly two weeks ago… how long can it take to ship something airmail from the UK to Germany… thanks Royal Mail and Deutsche Post! 😉

Anyway, they are now complete. I really enjoyed painting them… well as much as I ever enjoy painting the first unit for any nationality in a historic setting, given all the looking up of details and eventually getting one or two wrong after all it involves. But the minis themselves were just great. Nice clean castings and lots of character on every single one of them. Having just finished a lot of my WWII Brits last month, it is amazing how Paul Hicks skills, especially at sculpting faces, have evolved in the last decade (actually far shorter, looking at the metal Romans he did for Warlord about six years ago).

So what do we have here. As many of you know, my interests lie with the late Napoleonic Wars period. So essentially the 1812 invasion of Russia, the subsequent Befreiungskriege and the 100 Days. For the former two, Poles are a must have in my opinion and so it the Duchy or Warsaw I am painting now. The biggest decision is whether I want some for Borodio or Leipzig first. Since I want to paint a lot of Russians next, it is clear that it had to be Borodino, or more specifically the 16th Div.. Most amazing to me is, how small this formation actually was. As I discussed with von Peter in private a few weeks ago, a lot of people just see the heavy toll the winter took and the Grand Armee on the retreat from Moscow, but few see the toll heat had already taken on it one the way there. But back to the size of 16th Div.. For example the 3rd Line Regiment (of which we have the 1st Battalion here, entered battle with just 1275 men of all ranks, decided into three battalions, so just over 400 men each. Not a lot and this about the biggest regiment in a Division that only fielded a Regiment or two per Brigade. But this will also allow a fast build-up of a substantial subunit of the Grand Armee. The only mood point is, that the 3rd did not fight at Leipzig, so they will other have to act as stand-ins or will not see use for that at all.

Anyway… enough ramblings… here are the minis:

Duchy of Warsaw 3rd Line Infantry, 1st Battalion

Duchy of Warsaw 3rd Line Infantry, 1st Battalion (Voltigeurs)

Duchy of Warsaw 3rd Line Infantry, 1st Battalion (1st Fusilier stand)

Duchy of Warsaw 3rd Line Infantry, 1st Battalion (command stand)

Duchy of Warsaw 3rd Line Infantry, 1st Battalion (2nd Fusilier stand)

Duchy of Warsaw 3rd Line Infantry, 1st Battalion (Grenadiers)

Duchy of Warsaw 3rd Line Infantry, 1st Battalion

Before anyone points this out… yes I know the Voltigeurs and Grenadiers are on the wrong side of the formation… simply botched that up during photography! 😉