From RayR - Retreat from Moscow - 23rd/24th Chasseur a Cheval Sledge 35pts

 

Its finally here, my last post of this years Challenge, I'm chuffed with all I've managed to get finished, but also gutted for what I didn't manage to get started. Including the figures in the post. My plan was to have 1 unit of 4 sledges. Perry's make 2 sledges, 1 walking and this one running. But the 2nd running sledge has been out of stock for ages, only coming back last week, so it scuppered my plans.

I started painting this back in January, but held off finishing it off until the other sledge turned up, but as time ran out, I thought it could be my last post.

"During the Retreat from Moscow, Colonel Marbot seeing that

his regiment, the 23rd Chasseurs a Cheval, was falling apart,

decided to dismount them, use their remaining horses to pull two-man peasant

sledges easily found in local villages. The 23rd formed up with the

24th Chasseurs a Cheval to create a sledge born brigade. At night

these formed squares which were frequently used by Marshal Ney and General

Maison for shelter. Each man was ordered to have two muskets to enable them to

resist attacks with ‘the liveliest musketry"

from Perry Miniatures website.

https://www.perry-miniatures.com/product/fn-177-marbots-two-man-sledge-galloping-retreat-from-moscow-1812/

I really can't wait to get a unit of these out on the tabletop.

I've got to thank Curt and Sarah for all their hard work in putting the Challenge together and running it, also thanks to my favorite Fin, Teemu, for putting up with me since December, as well as all the other Minions and fellow Challengers and commenters who helped drag me along.

As for the points 5pts for the 2 figures and horse = 15pts

and 20pts for the sledge, making 35pts altogether!

Thanks!

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A fantastic final volley, Ray. These are such characterful models and you've really done them justice with your brush and basing. I have both variants in my collection, but I think I like your rendition of this one better. 

Thank you for joining in with us again Ray. I very much look forward to your wrap-up photos and your upcoming games with Lee. Bravo to you for sticking with this fabulous project. Well done!

From RayR - Retreat from Moscow - Mixed Infantry & Cavalry (60 Points)

My penultimate post in this years Challenge, and guess what?

More figures my and Lee's Retreat from Moscow project!

All the figures bar 2 are from Perry Miniatures.

The Commander, second left is a Front Rank figure and is my last figure in the Challenge that has had some conversion work, I've added a small cloak and a scarf which is holding his bicorne on. The Sapper 2nd row far right is the second non Perry mini, but I'm not sure who made this figure and if he is indeed a French figures??

Any ideas???

The rest of the figures are from pack FN169 Dismounted  Cavalry Skirmishing, my favourite is the chap in the middle, painted up as a Trumpeter of  the Dutch Lancers of the Guard. This is what I love about this project, you get the chance to paint up figures and uniforms that you wouldn't normally do.

Then you have the red crested French Carabinier, firing 2 pistols, what a great figure to paint up!

Lastly the usual rear shot!! I wasn't going to paint up the figure sitting firing behind a fallen friend, as I'm not sure how to fit him into a unit, because of the base size?? So he might end up as a piece of scenery or perhaps an objective marker?

So to the points, 9 figures for 45pts, then 2 figures on one base, one kneeling and one laying, so I'll give in to tonight's minion to decide the final score, your never know I might even get some bonus points for the conversion work? Cough!

____________________________

Terrific work Ray - such a colourful and varied project - a real treat for the eyes. Let's add 7 for the two figures and another 8 for the conversion work, so 60 points total.

- Curt

from RayR - Retreat from Moscow - French Limbers and Wagons (62pts)

 

Last week I posted up two artillery pieces, this week its their limbers.

The models are a bit of a mix? The limbers are MDF and from Warbases, while the horses are from Redoubt Miniatures.

I wanted the bases to mimic the pill bases that myself and Lee used for our cavalry, so I ordered some in from Warbases once again.

The guns in the pics don't count,  they're just for show, so its 20 pts for the 4 horses at 5pts each 

and whatever Curt or the Minion in charge wants to give me for the 2 limbers. I'd say 5 for each??

Next up, we have two abandoned wagons.

This one is a 3D print that I bought from a model shop in Dartford.

And I've no clue where this one comes from?

Its metal and pretty heavy, it may be an old Minifigs model, but I'm not sure?

I plan to do loads of these type of abandoned wagons for the Retreat, but only managed these two and of course the one dead horse.

I'll claim 10 points each for the wagons and 3 for half a horse??

Talking of horses, here are another 3 dead ones.

They're all from Tiger Miniatures, that me and Lee picked up at Warfare last year.

Again I'll claim 3 pts each for them. So in total

30pts for limbers and teams.

23 for the wagons and horse &

9 for the dead horses

Making a grand total of 62pts

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I feel chilly just looking at these Ray! Since moving to Hawaii I haven't even considered putting on a jumper never mind jacket or scarf :-)

I've really enjoyed watching you and Lee building your project together over this challenge, and hope it delivers you both much fun on the tabletop when you finally get it there

- Paul

From RayR: Retreat from Moscow - French and Allied Infantry (40 points)

How is there only 1 week to go, until the end of the Challenge??? I still got loads to paint up!

Surprise surprise, here we have yet another unit for my and Lee's Retreat from Moscow project, this weeks entry is another mixed French and Allied unit of 8 figures from all over Europe including Portugal and Germany. 

The figures are all from Perry Miniatures and are a mix of packs FN168 & FN171

The two front right figures are Wurttembergers while the chap in the back row left is from the Portuguese Legion.

The chap sitting down has the very distinctive Grenadier hat, with the black comb going from side to side rather than the usual back to front. 

These chaps will add another 40 points to my total taking me up to 1142 points!!

TeemuL: 1142 points, that is a nice total, we'll seee how much more you will gather during the remaining week! Very nice and mixed unit again, Ray. I'm sure more uniformed units would be faster to paint in general, but I like your approach. And they all are nicely freezing (sounds nice?), too.

From RayR: Retreat from Moscow -2 x French 6pdrs (72 points)

And yet again, its more from my Retreat from Moscow project.

But this time its a little different. Here we have 2 6pdr French artillery pieces, with 5 crew each.

Which is a bit of a bugger coz, Perry's sell them as 1 gun plus 4 infantry, but in Sharpe Practice there should be 5 artillery men.....sigh, more expense.

So I bought a pack of  Hired Help from Perry's to add the extra 2 figures I needed. 

I was going to paint both crew in blue, but thought some nice brown coats would look cool, also just looking at the figures I forgot to paint the red trim around the chaps cap on the left.....damn it!!!

French artillerymen in greatcoats, a very rare figure, I couldn't find many companies that sell a range like Perry's ones.

Myself and Lee, thought these bases would look nice for the artillery, we've 2 bases of each size, and the good thing is I've already got a stack of French Napoleonic artillery in various sizes, so can swap these over whenever, also I might buy some other nationality artillerymen as well, perhaps some Pole, it depends on who sell them in great coats, but I could always get the guillotine out again??

Next up.....more of the same, but this time in blue and a bigger base. I suppose these could be used for the larger guns?

Not sure about standing in front of the gun though???

Looks a little dangerous to me?

I think the bases really make the pieces look great, I will probably add a few barrels and stuff to them at a later date. The smaller base can be bought here. for £1.75 and the larger one, here for £2

What a bargain!

Points are pretty easy

10 x 25mm figures 50pts

2 x 6pder artillery 20pts

Making a total of 70 pts!

TeemuL: Let's continue on the well trodden paths of Thursday and some excellent minis from Ray. Yes, it seems to be a dangerous position, standing in the front of the gun, but of course someone needs to load those things... Even though you didn't ask, I'll give you couple of bonus points for the well thought basing solution for these (and other) guns and crews! Keep them coming, Lee is surely waiting more targets. :)

From RayR: Retreat from Moscow - 1st Portuguese regt (42 points)

Yep! More Retreat from Moscow figures, and more French allies too. This time we're heading to south western Europe, to Portugal. In Ney's Third Army were two regiments of Portuguese, the 1st and 2nd regiments. This is my version of the 1st. who were in Brigadier Gengoult's brigade along with the 24th Light Infantry.

The Portuguese Legion were formed from Portuguese nationals in 1808, with a strength of 6 Infantry and 2 Cavalry regts. They were re-organized in 1811 into 3 Infantry and 1 Cavalry regt. The Legion lost so many me in Russia that they were disbanded in 1813. 

Once again no company (that I've found anyway) sell the Portuguese Legion in greatcoats. Perry minis make 1 figure in pack FN171, so that's out. So I came up with the idea of buying some plastic Victrix Waterloo Brits wearing a Belgic shako and cutting and filing those down to kinda match what they wore. Its not a bad match if I say so myself. The next problem I came across was the heads were a little small to match the Foundry figures I was going to decapitate.......so Warlord French is was, but they still didn't fit because the heads had no collar. So once again, my trusty pack of Green Stuff came out, to make some scarves and collars. 

The Warlord figures are a little smaller than the Perry's, so I squirted some No More Nails from a tube onto each base, then gently pressed the figure onto the base, its hardly noticeable.

So onto the points, its a nice and easy one.......8 figures at 5 pts each makes 40 points, maybe a few extra for the conversion work, if Teemu's feeling generous??

TeemuL: Congratulations Ray, you have now reached your Challenge target! Let's celebrate that with two bonus points to make your total a nice round number. You seem to have gone the hard way to get those Portuguese wear the greatcoats, lots of chopping and sculpting. Or are they British with Belgic shakos, French heads and some green stuff? Still very devoted and the brushwork is brilliant as ever.

From RayR: Retreat from Moscow - L'escadron sacré (101 points)

 

The Sacred Squadron (French L'escadron sacré) was an ad hoc cavalry unit which served briefly in the French Grande Armée during the final stage of the Emperor Napoleon's retreat from Moscow in 1812. It was remarkable in that it consisted - out of military necessity - entirely of officers, with those below the rank of colonel serving as troopers.

The Sacred Squadron was formed on 23 November 1812, by the Bobr River (perhaps at Borisoff, in modern Belarus) to serve as Napoleon's bodyguard. It was disbanded on 10 December 1812, in Kowno (modern Kaunas, Lithuania). It therefore served during the crossing of the Berezina (26-29 November), and continued to exist for a few days after Napoleon's departure for Paris on 5 December.

Its existence is recorded in the 29th Bulletin of the Grande Armée, by which Napoleon hinted to the French people for the first time the scale of the disaster which had befallen the Grande Armée:

"Our cavalry was dismounted to such a degree, that it was necessary to collect the officers who had still a horse remaining, in order to form four companies of 150 men each. The Generals there performed the functions of captains, and the colonels of subalterns. This sacred squadron, commanded by General Grouchy, and under the orders of the King of Naples (Murat), did not lose sight of the Emperor in all these movements."

No written order establishing the unit has been found; it is possible that it was set up orally. No official record of those who served in it has survived; considering the circumstances, it is possible that none was ever made, or that the records of Marshal Berthier (Napoleon's Chief of Staff) were lost during the retreat. Other sources give lower numbers than Napoleon's 600: Chandler says 500.

In addition to its commander Général de division Grouchy, the following are said to have served with the Sacred Squadron:

Général de division de La Tour-Maubourg
Général de brigade de La Grange 
Colonel Rambourgt 
Colonel de Fernig 
Lieutenant-colonel de Castellane
Lieutenant-colonel de Lascours 
Chef d'escadron  de Gramont 
Chef d'escadron  de Potier 
Capitaine Aimé Benoît Delamalle
Lieutenant Le Bon Desmottes 
Lieutenant Claude-Xavier-Louis-François Martin
Lieutenant Saint-Geniès 
Sous-lieutenant Korte 

My 2 Commanders, both are from Front Rank miniatures. On my brand new Warbases sabot bases.

These 4 are all Casting Room Miniatures and all have had green stuff cloaks and a scarf to hold his bicorne on.

Four more figures from Front Rank, there was no need to add anything on these, I could have added a cape for the Guard figure, but didn't want to spoil his uniform.

So there we have it, Napoleon's Sacred Squadron, or 10 Mounted Commanders, if you don't want the Sacred Squadron in a game..

Points are easy, 10 figures at 10 points each, 100 pts, maybe Teemu would like to add some extra for the the cloaked commanders.

TeemuL: It would have been wrong to expect nothing less than a weekly Retreat from Moscow entry from Ray in addition to bonus points grab! Good to see some mounted additions to your force, at least some have enough food to feed the horses and make their travel a bit more comfortable. As the bestest of Minions, I'll give you a bonus point for the cloaked commanders.