Artillery from the British army of the Napoleonic Wars

The British army that fought in the Napoleonic Wars had two main types of artillery - foot and horse.

The Horse Artillery was mainly light-weight guns that were easily and quickly transported around the battlefield to meet needs as they arose. In the accompanying photo, one gun remains to continue firing at a nearby enemy, while a second is towed away to another part of the battlefield.

Foot Artillery guns were slightly bigger and heavier, and more difficult to move, although not as much so as the guns of some armies. Pictured is a lone gun sizing up an enemy target and preparing to fire.

Belgio-Dutch contingent for my Napoleonic (Wars) British army (Post 2 of 2)

The Belgian Light Dragoons are in green, the Dutch in blue.

Belgio-Dutch allies for my Napoleonic Wars British army (Post 1 of 2)

Well, it's been a while since I posted here, but I have been busy painting and organizing. Hopefully over the coming week, given I have some time off from my regular day jobs, I'll be able to post some of my recent months' work.

This post features the Belgio-Dutch contingent that will be part of my Napoleonic British army. So far I have one battalion each of Belgian and Dutch Line Infantry, two squadrons each of Belgian and Dutch Light Dragoons (only one of each pictured) and supporting artillery. William, Duke of Orange, leads the force and is pictured here on a white horse, waving his hat to encourage the troops. (Not all the pics will fit on one post, so I'll post the cavalry separately).

I plan to add forces from the Duchy of Nassau (which was also ruled by William) and some Dutch militia, but that won't happen until later next year some time.

Napoleonic Wars - Brunswickers

Maybe I could have picked a better background, but these are my Black Brunswickers from the latter portion of the Napoleonic Wars, supported by a section of their avante-guarde (the guys in grey on the left of the picture.)

Brunswick fought alongside Prussia during the early stages of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, but after the death of the Duke and the Prussian defeat of 1806, Napoleon "reorganized" all the German kingdoms and principalities - totally disbanding some - to form the Confederation of the Rhine. Not wanting anything to do with the "new Germany" the new duke originally sided with Austria, before leaving for England with a small army of loyal followers, the bulk of whom were dressed in the new "black" uniform.

The Brunswickers fought as part of the British army for the remainder of the Napoleonic Wars, playing a significant role in the 1815 Waterloo campaign that ended Napoleon's reign.

I still have Brunswicker cavalry to do, but that will be a little way off yet.

Republican Roman Army - General Comments

Photos of my (two legion strong) Republican Roman Consular army - well, the "Roman" part of it anyway. The hordes of Celts, Italians, Spanish, and other mercenaries who could have fought for (and also against) this army aren't pictured here.

The figures are mostly produced by Hat, with some Zvezda and also a couple of Esci figures. Buildings (barracks and stables) by Hovels.

As you can see, this part of the army alone takes up a full 4x2-foot table. It's based on a scale of one figure = 20 real men. (The models are 1:72nd scale).

Roman command (with a closer look at my Commanding General (the Consul himself!) below. To see the troops, scroll down to the previous post!

Republican Roman Army - The Units

Pictured, in the order in which they typically came in contact with the enemy:

velites - the skirmishers (light infantry) who spread out in front of the army

equites - the cavalry. They protected the flanks and, if competitive, engaged enemy cavalry.

hastati - the least experienced combat troops, with a shield but little armor

princepes - the second line of combat troops, well armed and wearing plenty of armor

triari - the legion's elite. By this stage, the battle was either won, or going very badly!

Finished my battalion of jager for my 18th century Prussian army - well, except for their Colonel, as I don't have an appropriate figure. (Photo attached).

Next project is to finally finish my Republican Roman army. Up till now I've just been fielding the one legion, even though I'm only about a dozen figures short of the two legions that made up a consular army. Hopefully I can rectify that over the next week or so.

I'm hoping to have some neat battles coming up - if I can just stop "improving" my rules for long enough to actually get stuck into a decent scrap. I've certainly got lots of great matchups that I can test my new rules out with. :-)