2nd (Dutch) Line Infantry

This is the 2nd Line Infantry regiment of the United Provinces of the Netherlands. The 2nd was a Dutch regiment, as opposed to a Belgian one. It was in the 1st Brigade (Ditmers) of Chasse's 3rd Netherlands Division. This division, which contained newly-raised and untested troops, was posted on the extreme right of Wellington's line at Braine l'Alleud. Chasse himself had been a general in the French army prior to the country's creation. At around 3pm the division was ordered west to occupy a position in the centre of Wellington's line. The regiment joined in the attack on the Imperial Guard late in the day, bayonet-charging the 3rd Grenadiers. The General de Brigade rules orbat requires 24 figures, organised into 4 centre companies and 2 flank ones.


Something I hadn't realised until researching this unit was how few Netherlands line infantry regiment were present in the battle. If you look at the orbat for the 2nd and 3rd Netherlands Divisions (the 1st remained north of the battlefield, at Hal) you see that many of the non-Nassau units are either jaeger or militia battalions. The General de Brigade orbat (which I think leaves out some units from the 3rd Division) has the 7th (Belgian) Line in Bylandt's brigade, the 2nd (Dutch) line in Ditmer's brigade and then the 3rd (Belgian) and 13 (Dutch) in Aubremme's brigade, the second brigade in Chasse's 3rd Division. That's only 4 line regiments, which surprised me at any rate.


As I mentioned before, I had intended to add to some existing figures that I painted a few years ago when the Perries first released their Dutch-Belgian range. However, I decided that I had painted those figures's tunics in a blue that was not right. Adkin reports of "friendly fire" incidents when Chasse's division appeared on the field late in the afternoon and the troops on the ridge thought they were being outflanked by French infantry. I suppose in the heat of battle one shade of blue looks quite similar to another, but I decided I wanted my Dutch-Belgian infantry to wear the same blue coats as my French infantry to reflect how easily they could be confused for one another. So whilst I previously used Foundry's "Night Sky 62", this time around I used "French Blue 65" highlighted with "Deep Blue 20B". I used "Stone 57" for the trousers. I painted an extra 4 light company figures on skirmish bases and then decided I might as well paint the other 2 in the pack. They can migrate to the 13 (Dutch) Line in due course. Why did I paint this regiment? Simply because I had the figures in the leadpile and, to be honest, I like painting these slightly out-of-the-ordinary regiments for the Waterloo campaign. Next up is the 2nd Light Battalion of the King's German Legion!


30 figures. Painted September 2011. Flag by GMB.

Major-General Trip

I'd forgotten that I took a couple of photos of this command base during my last session with the camera. London has been very dark the last couple of weeks, and I've been unable to take photos of any of my new AWI things (2 commissioned buildings from Tablescape, the 55th and 57th Foot, Saratoga artillery). I'm hoping to have some more posts shortly, but in the meantime here is

Albert Dominicus Trip van Zoudtlandt (1776-1835) joined the army of the Dutch Republic in 1791. He was originally posted to the infantry but at some stage he transferred to the cavalry. Upon his country's annexation by France in 1810, his regiment was incorporated into the French army as the 14th Cuirassiers. He saw action in Napoleon's invasion of Russia and then at Leipzig. He transferred back into Dutch service after Napoleon's abdication and in April 1815 was promoted to Major-General. He was then given command of a heavy cavalry brigade that consisted of the 1st and 3rd Dutch and 2nd Belgian carabinier regiments. His brigade was heavily engaged at both Quatre Bras and Waterloo. In the latter battle it successfully charged French cuirassiers with the Household Brigade.


I painted this figure when working on Merlen's light cavalry brigade for Loughton Strike Force's Waterloo demo game of a few years back. This Trip figure wasn't needed for the game and so lay painted but unbased until the other week, when I decided to touch it up and base him with a French casualty (from the Perry plastic heavy cavalry box). Also posted are photos of the Perry Young Guard 1st Voltiguers that I painted last year, but this time with their flag attached.


As I said earlier, I will hopefully have some more posts soon. I am having a bit of an artillery thing at the moment - I have finished 3 guns and crews of British in their Saratoga uniforms and am about to start on some more American artillery. After than I might do some more Hessians or another American regiment. Incidentally, a reliable source has stated that Perry Miniatures will increase their prices in the New Year, to take account of not just the increase in the UK's VAT rate but also the rising cost of raw materials.

2 figures. Painted January 2007 and October 2010. Barns by Touching History.

Last Napoleonics...

at least for now. There are a few packs I bought for Salute which I didn't manage to finish which I want to complete at some stage this year, but I have now returned to the AWI where I intend to remain for the forseeable future. I thought I'd put up a couple of photos of bits and bobs that I brought along to the Waterloo game. Above are figures from the "Cavalry casualties" pack from the Perry Dutch-Belgian range. Below are photos of one of the Imperial Orderlies from the 1815 French range. There are two other Imperial Orderlies in the set which I will add to some corps or divisional command stands at some stage. I noticed that this chap seemed to move about the game - I'm not sure whether he had any specific gaming function, but I suppose you could use a figure like this when rolling to see whether changes of orders are successfully relayed. The rider and horse are one casting and I noticed that the horse is a fair bit bigger than other horses in the 1815 ranges (it makes Napoleon's horse look quite small, for example). Incidentally, this is the only cavalry figure I have ever painted (I think) with black reins and harness; for some reason I just prefer dark brown. These figures were all painted in March and April 2007.

AWI painting has already resumed, although it will take a few more days for the first figures to complete the process from blister pack to photography parade ground. I enjoyed painting Napoleonics, but it is a bit of a relief to return to painting what I feel like without any deadlines. First up will be a pack of civilians from Foundry (which hasn't been officially released yet), the latest Perry British artillery (when I finish the guns) and Sherburne's Additional Regiment. After that will be more civilians, the 4th Foot and perhaps another Continental unit - I haven't thought that far ahead yet! I'm hoping to have the civilians posted to the blog by the end of the week, as they're rather fun...

Dutch 6th Hussars

This is the second regiment of Dutch-Belgian cavalry I painted for the Salute game. It incorporates 6 figures representing the Volunteer Light Dragoons (in the second rank wearing green and orange uniforms), men who were attached to Dutch cavalry regiments in small numbers. These troops, and their trumpeter on his grey horse, can be seen in the picture above right. Unlike the Belgian 5th Dragoons, I gave each squadron of the hussars a separate horse colour - chestnuts, bays and blacks. The light dragoons, being self-equipped volunteers, have their own horses. In the Waterloo game at Salute this unit waited patiently until the very last turn of the game, when it engaged and defeated an elite regiment of French Carabiniers due to a very lucky dice roll! These were quite fiddly figures to paint, particularly the horse furniture with the royal "W" cyphers.

24 figures. Painted January and April 2007.

Belgian 5th Dragoons

This is the first of the two Napoleonic Dutch-Belgian cavalry regiments I have to paint for the Waterloo demo game at Salute. This regiment was brigaded with the Dutch 6th Hussars in van Merlen's 2nd Light Brigade. The brigade was engaged at Quatre Bras, where it charged at a vital moment to cover the withdrawal of Dutch-Belgian infantry and buy the Allies some time, suffering considerable losses in the process. The brigade fought again at Waterloo, where van Merlen himself was killed. According to the Osprey "Wellington's Dutch Allies 1815", the 5th Dragoons lost 36 per cent of their strength during the Hundred Days' campaign.

I painted the tunics with the Foundry "Bottle Green" palette, sticking to just the "A" and "B" colours and then using as a third layer the "B" colour mixed with "Bright Green A". This is the same combination I have been using for the Guard Chasseurs of Napoleon's escort, and given the Belgians' yellow facings and shako shape I can see how they could easily have been mistaken for French chasseurs on a smokey battlefield. I decided to mix the horse colours up a bit. For the 6th Hussars I am giving each squadron its own horse colour.

18 figures. Painted January-February 2007.

Major-General Baron de Ghigny

The Netherlands Cavalry Division in the 1815 campaign consisted of three brigades, one heavy and two light. The major generals in command of each brigade were Trip, de Ghigny and van Merlen respectively. I am working on the 2nd Light Cavalry Brigade, consisting of the 5th Light Dragoon and the 6th Hussars under van Merlen's command. Perry Miniatures make a pack of cavalry commanders that includes figures of Trip and de Ghigny but not of van Merlen. Here is the de Ghigny figure together with an orderly trumpeter from the 6th Hussars, and this stand will command my brigade at the Salute game. I have also painted the Trip figure which I may use for the divisional commander, Lt General Baron de Collaert, if there is a need for him to be represented at the game. The trumpeter's saddle-cloth should, I now understand, be light blue rather than red; the light blue trumpet cord is also my own invention. I do research uniforms properly. Honest.