Navarre Infantry - 1st battalion

This is the third unit of Carlist infantry I painted towards the end of 2020 (I was determined to erase my Carlist War lead-pile).  I assigned it to Navarre, for no particular reason.  The troops are wearing the same greatcoat and trousers uniforms as my first Guipuzcoa battalion, although I used a deeper red for the trousers.  It's quite a smart look, I think.  Navarre, a northern province in Spain that bordered on the Basque region, was a natural recruiting ground for the Carlist cause.  The province's rugged, mountainous terrain made it difficult to subdue, and consequently it managed to maintain a semblance of autonomy from  the middle ages into the 19th century.  In fact, it was only with the Carlist defeat in 1841 that the province was brought fully into the territory of the Spanish crown.  Conrad Cairns tells us that twelve battalions were raised in Navarre for the Army of the North, together with the elite guides.

I remember that at this stage in 2020 I was having real problems painting the faces.  I hadn't yet bought my glasses, which I now have to use for any type of painting, and so I found the eyes particularly difficult.  Some of them are pretty crappy, to be honest; but others are ok.  The great thing about these figures is that there's not much detail on them outside of the faces - just overcoats with minimal kit.  So they were good figures to do whilst I was beginning to feel a bit visually impaired.  I'm going to need a few more units like this.    

20 figures.  Painted December 2020.  Flag by Adolfo Ramos.