From AdamC - 28mm Imagi-Nation Napoleonic Guardsmen (118 Points)

Now readers of my blog may remember I swore I would never paint 28mm Napoleonic troops again but JohnM offered me these figures and the uniform looked simple enough that they wouldn't drive me too crazy. To further motivate myself I decided I would tie these troops to my Imagi-Nation the Grand Duchy of D'Argent. This is a mid-size country on taking up parts of northern Italy, Switzerland and South-Eastern France.  I plan on doing a more extensive "history" on my personal blog but I will be inflicting some on you below.

There are 24 figures in all. A battalion of 16 figures, 4 additional individually based skirmishers., 1 casualty marker and a 3 figure vignette. That should be 120 points.

D'Argent with its long standing relationship the Bourbon Family opposed the French Revolution.

 In 1805 the D'Argent contingent of the alliance was trapped at Ulm with Mack's forces.

Unwilling to surrender the Old Duke (who was in his late Eighties at the time) gathered his men..

 and lead a break out in the early morning hours.

 He sent his two sons out with the vanguard and took his guardsmen to lead the rearguard.

 The old Duke fell in the battle surrounded by the bodies of his gray clad guardsmen but...

His sons escaped. The elder son came to terms with Napoleon and eventually married one of Napoleon's Nieces.

His troops would march along side the French Legions and the D'Argent Guard was rebuilt and often served along side the Imperial guard.

The younger son?  he took a contingent of men first to Austrian and then England where he became one of Napoleon's most implacable foes.

The figures are Victrix they are better most of that line I have worked with but before painting was even finished I had already lost on of the brittle bayonets. The flag is the Berg-Klev flag from Warflag.com.  The uniform paint job is one of my own creation. 

These two Guardsmen with handkerchiefs on their bayonets had me puzzled but I decided that if I put them on a base with the drummer it would look like they were requesting a parley.  Not much use on the gaming table but they will be a nice addition to the display pieces on my desk at work.

Finally we have a casualty figure always good to have these handy.  The leaves on the bases are from Secret Weapon they work with 15mm troops but look much more right with 28mm.

From Curt:Very cool back story Adam! I'm a bit of a purist when it comes to Napoleonics but I always love a good story. I applaud you on tackling these Victrix figures. I did a battalion of one of their early sets and almost lost my mind with assembling them (I think it was around 9 parts each). I really like the light grey greatcoats, red facings and  tall bearskins - it makes for a very attractive unit. 

Well done Adam!