Mounted Indian Commanders

A pair of mounted commanders - figures by Newline Designs. 

These "officers"  from the Indian Mounted Command set were conveniently but intentionally extra after using 10 Old Glory and two out of the three Newline Designs figures for the Medium and Heavy cavalry. units 

They cab sever to command the Mounted troops of bothh wings of the army. 

"To the Strongest!"

Spanish Light Cavalry Officers

A bit of a teaser, as I am going to post the officer figures before their respective units for a change!

To the left of the picture is an officer of the Cazadores a Caballo. and top the Right belonging to the Brabaderos a Caballo de Fernando VII.  

There uniforms are similar to that of their men aside from the substitution of silver for white in the braiding, piping, and horse furniture.

These are Perry figures.  Their parent units will be coming soon! 

Growing up, my mother always had Morning Glories planted in the flowerboxes on our porch.

She passed on last November, a few months short of age 98. This year, I started a bunch from seed, and then planted them outside in various locations around the fencing that surrounds our pool. 

Their heart shaped leaves and the simple but evanescent beauty of their blooms reminds us that life can be sweet and beautiful, but even with a span of almost 98 years, yet still short in the scheme of things. 

Celtiberian General, Horse and Foot

The two-pack of Spanish (Celtiberian) generals from Crusader was the other big attraction of the Crusader purchase. 

If finding a variety of Roman Generals can be challenging, finding Carthaginian officers other than Hannibal is even more so. 

These fine fellows could command Spanish foot and horse contingents within a Punic army, or an all Spanish Army. 

I gave them black cloaks like the Scutari are said to have worn.

They are very welcome additions to the command strata!

Roman General, Horse and Foot

This "two-pack" of a Roman General on foot and his equestrian counterpart was the biggest motivator for the Crusader purchase at Historicon 2018. 

To the Strongest! games can require quite a few Generals, and there are only so many such figures on the market!

I love the hairstyle, or lack thereof on the mounted general; it pretty much screams "ROMAN"!

I as going for a sort of faded purple/magenta on the cloak. I'm not sure it quite succeeded!

"Well, our cavalry may be crap, but our infantry Legions are second to none!"

Thracian Cavalry

The armies of Alexander and his successors contained a number of contingents of  allied cavalry to supplement the famed "Companions". 

Among them were the Thracians. It wasn't clear to me whether they fought as Light Cavalry, Medium/Heavy cavalry, or both. 

The Greeks considered them "Barbarians"... and those trophies are pretty Barbaric!

These nicely sculpted figures are by Crusader miniatures, and are still more from the original lot of Macedonian lead I purchased from Edgar back in 2015. 

By Пакко - File:Thrace modern state boundaries.png, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7567013

Here's the second unit of six. I have chosen to represent them as Medium cavalry equipped with Javelins/Spears. I have still more Thracian looking cavalry figures in the stockpile I got from Edgar, probably from Old Glory, and those will probably be painted as Light Cavalry.

The Osprey on Macedonian Armies after Alexander indicates that the Thracians wore purple cloaks. 

This seems improbable to me, but it certainly is distinctive, so I went with it! Besides, how often do we get to use purple! :-)

The same book suggests that the stripe at the bottom of the cloak seen on some depictions probably indicates an officer, so I added one to this sword armed figure. 

Alexander himself, or some other Macedonian general. 

This one looks like a Foundry figure. 

Hmm, missed that bit of errant yellow; I'll go back and touch that up!  

Not as convincing as I'd like with the tiger skin, but it will have to do!

Vive l'Empereur!

Finally, we have l'Empereur himself, astride his favorite mount, Marengo, accompanied by his Chief of Staff, Marechal Berthier, and one of his twelve officers d' ordonnance. 

Like Marecdhal Davout, I have had a Minifigs Napoleon in my collection for many decades, but a serious upgrade was called for, hence these Front Rank figures. 

Some have minimized the importance of Berthier, but not Napoleon, who missed him sorely during the 100 Days campaign. 

The deep sky blue uniform of the  Imperial officer d'ordonnance is quietly striking. 

Vive l'Empereur!

Marechal Davout, General Grouchy, and freind

I am not even going to attempt a biography of my favorite Marshal, Louis-Nicolas Davout!

Duc d'Auerstadt, Prince d'Eckmuhl, and his nickname as the Iron Marshal is a good a one line summary as any!

Davout was not fond of flashy dress, and is depicted in this (relatively) subdued version of the uniform of a Marshal of France. His companion similarly wears regulation dress of a Colonel of a line infantry regiment. 

I have had a figure for Davout for decades, and old Minifig casting. Monsieur le Marechal needed an upgrade, however, ably provided by this figure from Front Rank; the colonel is by Foundry. 

A pair of Cavalry commanders is next; to the left is Emmanuel, Marquis  de Grouchy, "before I was a Marshal"wearing his elaborate, self designed uniform as Colonel-General of Chasseurs. I have seen the ornamentation on the uniform depicted in in both gold and silver; silver seems more appropriate for the Chasseurs! One plate showing a cloak like this has it in dark green, but I used a contrasting light yellow/tan hue instead. 

The other figure is a superior officer of one of the Amaranth faced chasseur regiments, eveidently the 30th. He has adopted the popular  fashion (for officers) of having his trousers in the regiment's facing color as well. 

The pair of beau-sabres are quite a contrast to the dour Davout! Grouchy is once again by Front Rank, and the Chasseur is another re-purposed Foundy colonel; I don't think the chasseur's horse is from either, however

Mes généraux républicains

With seven units in the "Early Empire" dress already painted up (5 Ligne in Bicorne and 2 Legere in side plumed shakos), and 5 more planned (4 more Ligne plus a unit of combined  Grenadiers in bearskins), I have been looking for some more "Republican" looking generals to lead these troops.  

These lovely figures by Brigade Games fit the bill admirably (they have many more "republican era figures, too). 

By  1807 at the latest, I'd imagine dressing like this would have been injurious to one's military career, but it definitely has panache!

I should add a touch of verylight blue to the end of the telescope to represent the lens!