28mm Dismounted Napoleonic French Dragoons and Mediterranean Cottage

I needed to take a bit of a break from the undisciplined (if entertaining) cacophony of Renaissance fashion to work instead on something a little more staid, a little more 'uniform' in order to kick back and unwind.

Here are a half-dozen dismounted Napoleonic French dragoons, accompanied by their trumpeter and officer. 

Napoleon posted several regiments of dragoons to Spain during the Peninsular War and one could say that the French dragoons were the earliest anti-guerilla units in history. (Being that the Spanish word 'guerilla' was popularly coined during the Napoleonic period, being the diminutive of 'war' or alternately 'little war'). For both sides the guerilla war in Spain was a very brutal affair, with no quarter asked or given.

These figures are from a couple of manufacturers - two are multi-part plastics from Perry Miniatures, while the rest are from Brigade Games, sculpted by Paul Hicks.

Leader based on a hex and Trumpeter (support) on a square to help spot them on the tabletop.

I think the two sculpting styles work quite well together. That being said, I have to admit I'm a bit of a traditionalist and prefer the longer coattails of the earlier dragoon uniform a bit better. Hey, it's all about cutting a dash while sweating to death under the blazing Iberian sun!

The rustic cottage is from Grandmanner's 'Spanish Napoleonic' range. I managed to pick up a few in this series before they were discontinued earlier this summer (thanks for the help on this Sidney!). This is my first stab at painting one of these models and I found it a blast to work on.

After cleaning, I first sprayed the building's parts with Krylon Camo Brown and then over-sprayed with Krylon Camo Khaki to provide the base. I then used 'Americana' craft paints to block in the colours, Army Painter 'Strong Tone' as a wash and then liberally drybrushed using increasingly lighter tones.

While these buildings were specifically designed to reflect 19th century Spanish architecture, I think that, with a bit of squinting, they will work fine in any Mediterranean setting, and I imagine they'll see good service in our upcoming Italian Wars games. I'll post pics of the other buildings as I work through them.

Thanks for stopping by folks - have a great week!