"British Peninsular War Artillery Vehicles" Topic

Perrys announced new releases this morning

"After a long gestation we can now release these essential items :-)

28mm figures designed by Alan Perry
Limbers designed by Norman Swales
Wagon designed by NR

BH 147 Royal Foot Artillery 4 horse limber (no gun) standing, drivers in Tarletons and fatigue caps

BH 148 Royal Foot Artillery 6 horse limber (no gun) standing, drivers in Tarletons and fatigue caps

BH 149 4 wheeled , 4 horse Ammunition wagon, standing, drivers in Tarletons and fatigue caps"

Those spare Tarleton heads could prove useful, it strikes me……..We now have everything from a Forge, through every kind of limber, any gun you could ask, whether Egypt, Spain or Waterloo. But do we get RHA riders and horse holders? A rhetorical question and no, you cannot use the Light Dragoons, unless you sacrifice much detail to a file and scalpel. But do I moan?

Suddenly strikes me, the three drivers are now in a short tailless jacket and are not encumbered with too much kit. Now all they need is the added lace and swords………

Very nice. Just ordered BH 148 and BH 149. I could not resist.

Yes, the Perrys have now cleverly covered all the equipment and drivers uniforms (though there is still some debate as to when the uniforms changed and whether the RHA drivers had a separate uniform) As Deadhead has said, the basic drivers do lend themselves to further conversion (though that will leave a lot of spare horses and limbers). Like him I lament the lack of mounted gunners. Converting them for any nation is quite a finagle especially for the British. Foundry do such outriders, I wish the Perrys would.

Totally agree. Nonetheless, approbations to the Perry brothers for a most useful addition to the range.

Now that is a nice word…I always think plaudits sounds like something HRH ER would proffer, but approbations…..another league altogether.

That alone might be enough to inspire the Perrys……mind you. If they do, it then behoves us to actually buy the blooming things.

If it is of any use, I have sourced my ‘marching‘ or ‘riding' on the move Napoleonic gunners from other figures. Behind each limbered gun are either four foot artillerymen on the march or ready to move off or two mounted gunners on standing or moving horses. The 28mm figures I use are as follows (all are Perry figures unless otherwise noted):

1. French line foot artillery 1809 – a. FN 159 Grens/Volts on the march: Use as is with bayonets trimmed off. b. FN 88 Chasseurs standing. Head swop to replace bearskins with shakos.
2. French line horse artillery (hussar dress) 1809 – FN 197 Hussars galloping. Trim away carbine and associated belting.
3. French line horse artillery (chasseur dress) 1809 – FN 230 Plastic Chasseurs a Cheval. Use Habit Kinski bodies and leave off carbines. (Picket figures are ideal as not carrying swords.)
4. British field artillery 1812 – BH 57 Hanoverian Militia. Trim off cords on shakos and bayonets. Reduce tufts on epaulettes.
5. British horse artillery 1812 – Foundry B 127 RHA Command. Nice figures but expensive and you end up with a lot of RHA officers.
6. Portuguese foot artillery 1812 – BH 57 Hanoverian Militia. Trim off cords on shakos and bayonets. Trim off epaulette tufts and all lace detail.
7. NL foot artillery 1815 – NCR 17 4th Rheinbund Regt. Swop heads for appropriate shako and trim extraneous detail and bayonets.
8. NL horse artillery 1815 – DB 41 Volunteer Light Dragoons. Head swop and trim off detail to create single-breasted jackets.
9. Bavarian foot artillery 1809 – BAV 8 Grens Marching. May be a question over whether they carried muskets or not but…
10. Russian foot artillery 1812 – Avanpost 12.027M – 12.030M Russian Foot Artillery. Can be constructed to look like they are standing ready to move off.
11. Russian line horse artillery 1812 – RN 29 Dragoons. The sword suspension is not quite right but close enough.
12. Don Cossack horse artillery 1812 – RN 38 Don Cossacks. Just leave off the lances.

Some figures require quite some work but it is worth it until someone produces bespoke figures like the Calpe Miniatures Prussian gunners.

Magnificent as always. They're going to ruin me.

I just use the standard Front Rank figures – minus portfires and riding whips – as horse holders and mounted gunners. Good enough for Government work? A mounted RHA officer is more of a problem (don't like the Perry midget). That Ammunition Wagon does look very tempting…..

The later drivers are tricky to become gunners. Their coat has simpler lace than the dolman of the gunners and has coat tails…it is essentially a foot artillery coat, worn with a Tarleton.

Artilleryman's suggestions are very good, but even his description shows the challenge and loss of detail inevitable in removing belts and firearms. French HA from plastic Chasseurs certainly struck me on their release.

My next project, after my 2nd Netherlands Carabiniers (nearly done), is Netherlands HA mounted. I have a cunning plan and the figures just await the greenstuff

"The later drivers are tricky to become gunners. Their coat has simpler lace than the dolman of the gunners and has coat tails"
Luckily, with my eyesight, that's not a massive issue!

Tell me about it. I spent the afternoon working under professional magnification and illumination (well the hospital was about to throw it out…one day anyway….) and I was struggling.

But drivers do not look like gunners….alas. The latter are MUCH smarter turned out…

My Ammunition Wagon arrived yesterday. Excellent castings – the choice of Tarleton or Forage Cap is just that as the head gear is separate from the head. Haven't seen that on many 28in figures before. Unfortunately, the standing figure is cast as a Foot Artilleyman but there was a spare set of headgear so I might get the file out?