Friday, 13 February 2026

From Richard M - Peninsular War 6mm Confederation of the Rhine dump (162 points)

I've only got Confederation of the Rhine troops to show this week - all fought for the French in the Peninsular, albeit at different times in some cases.

All together 

Firstly there are four battalions of Nassau troops with their green uniforms and rich yellow colours.  These are the 1st and 2nd Battalions of both the 1st and 2nd Nassau Regiments.  In the main the units are uniformed identically, except for the Grenadiers.  In the 1st Regiment, they were meant to wear leather helmets with a caterpillar crest - but were only able to acquire enough for the 1st Battalion.  Consequently, the 2nd Battalion has been painted with shako and red plume and epaulettes.   Then in the 2nd Regiment the Grenadiers used brown colpacks with red bags.  The other neat thing with their uniforms is that they had buff straps - I've used a buff / yellow colour but given their size it is hard to see.


Leather helmets for the Grenadiers on the left of the photo

Colpacks for the Grenadiers on the left of the photo

Then we have the two battalions of the 4th Baden Infantry Regiment.  Nothing much to say about their uniforms but I do like their yellow focused colours.



These are followed by one half of the 5th Confederation Regiment.  These are the Anhalt Battalion with their colour that looks like a pineapple on a white field (from a distance).  These again have a pretty simple uniform but I think the pink facing and shako pompon set them apart.  The other half of the 5th Regiment is the Lippe Battalion but I have found conflicting information on their uniform and am questioning whether I have the correct figures.  I'll hopefully resolve that in the next week or two. 

Don't look at the colour bearer's superglue face

I have kept the white uniformed troops until last.  These are two battalions from Cleve-Berg.  My reading suggests that they did not take colours to the Peninsular - but mine did not get that instruction.


Keen readers of my entries will recall my comment last week after posting a number of white uniformed battalions, that I needed to find a way to add some depth to the white.  

I had some good suggestions from Iain and Tom regarding possible use of speed paints as a way to deal with this.  I did a test with some Citadel Contrast Colours and Washes as well as Army Painter Speed Paints and Washes.  I have decided to use Army Painter Blinding Light Speed Paint for when I want a colder white colour and I will use Army Painter Soft Tone Wash for warmer Austrians white uniform.  In all cases these are over an Off-white basecoat and then I use pure white for the straps.  I'm not sure this all comes out too well in the photos but it is sufficiently noticeable on the desk / table for me to persevere with the extra steps. 

The other liberty I have taken with my Confederation troops is with regard to state of uniform - it is all over the place.  All written accounts and also the wonderful plates from Bob Marrion show them as disheveled with whatever they could find to wear.  I have tried to replicate this in some instances with different coloured trousers and no shako cords on some units.  In other cases I have done them with shako cords and plumes.  Sometimes all mixed up.  Based on nothing more then the figures I am using (eg: I couldn't bring myself to cut off the plumes on the Nassauers) as well as whim.

Points

Pretty simple this week, 9 battalions each of 36 figures at 0.5 points per figure = 162 points

From Millsy:

More 6mm goodness Richard! Will it ever end? If our regular chats are anything to go buy not for a long time yet.

I think you've really nailed the look of troops who were treated with some disregard in terms of both their quality and equipment. Despite the fact so many fought for Napoleon he only ever really treated them like he was doing them a favour by letting them fight. Colpacks on infantry are something I love to see, they're just so different from more typical elite headgear for foot troops.

Really looking forward to seeing the massed ranks of all your 6mm stuff in late March. Great work mate as always.

Cheers,
Millsy

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