War of Spanish Succession armies

[Minuteman]

The War of Spanish Succession has taken off in popularity on the back of the Strelets WoSS range, which continues to go from strength to strength (with the occasional hiccup). However, this is a great range of figures.

At the risk of over-populating the Forum with yet more Strelets figures, here are some photos of my Franco-Bavarian army to date. It is around 30% complete (ie: 30% painted), mainly infantry units at present and is awaiting cavalry sets from Strelets (this summer), more French infantry units, some allied Spanish Walloon infantry, and another Bavarian infantry unit plus cavalry. Oh, and more artillery. Enough to keep me busy for a while.

First up: Gardes Francais (blue coats) and Gardes Suisses (red coats)















The old Regiment of Picardie











Irish Regiment of Clare




Bavarian Regiment Leib/Gardes de Baviere











A Line cavalry unit: I am not sure whether Strelets will oblige with a set or two of French Line cavalry, but this is not a major concern as I believe that the Zvezda GNW cavalry sets will serve my purpose: the figures with pistols are not much good as Swedes, but seem to work well enough as French cavalry of the WoSS:







Some artillery: Again, the excellent Zvezda GNW Swedish set will provide most of my needs. The figures with the forthcoming Strelets artillery sets look good, but the guns are less promising.





And finally.....

Here is Lt General d'Artagnan (yes, really), who was in command of the Ramillies sector at the battle of the same name, looking wistful as he wonders how long it will be before Strelets provide him with a decent standing horse and horse holder. The figures in this case are Mars Saxon infantry, and very good they are too...a little on the large side, but lots of character.



The French Regiment du Roi is 80% complete but didn't quite manage to make it to 'parade'. After that, more French line cavalry and artillery, perhaps the Regiment of Greder Swiss and the French Regiment of Bourbonnais.

But I really should be painting some of Marlborough's army as well!

[Bluefalchion]

Wonderful stuff! Keep 'em coming if you please.

[MABO]

Wonferful armies. And thanks for the description. I think this range will be a major success for Strelets.

[Fire at Will]

Great work, just the thing to keep on inspiring me. Just finished my first two regiments yesterday so I'll be adding to the number of posts shortly

[C M Dodson]

This is a fantastic collection of well painted troops.

The faces are great and that general looks splendid.

I like your sense of humour!

Best wishes,

Chris

[Peter]

Wonderfull painted army!

[Minuteman]

Dear All,

Many thanks for these kind and encouraging comments. The Strelets WoSS figures are great fun to paint.

Needless to say, the painting table remains crowded and busy!

Kind regards,

Minuteman

[Michael Robert]

Hello Minuteman,

your figures are gorgeous. I appreciate that you painted the French first
Many greetings
Michael

[Chariobaude]

Wonderfull army ! the only problem with that kind of pictures, is... that we want to see more of it !!!!

[Bessiere]

I didn't think it possible that i would find myself wanting to paint a WSS army but looking at yours makes me envious. Great looking army.

[Captain Sibourne]

Wow, they are terrific, like others I'm almost tempted!

[Rich W]

Excellent work Mark, thanks for posting these! That is a great stash you've already managed, I'm envious of the quantities you've managed to paint up. They all look great, but I particularly like the Bavarians. Are you painting units based on those involved at Ramillies?

Did you have to do much converting with the Zvezda Swedish cavalry and artillery? I'm thinking that my painting is going so slowly by the time I get around to the artillery Strelets will have released theirs.

[Minuteman]

Thank you for the kind comments.

In reply to your questions Rich: Yes, I am tending to focus on Ramilies in 1706 for the Orders of Battle, although there is a degree of flexibility. Generally, I am trying to organise my armies at a brigade level using the units that actually fought together; so, for instance, the three battalion Regiment of Picardie and the single battalion of Clare, both units being pivotal to the defence of Ramillies village.

I am likely to use Zvezda GNW figures for most of the artillery, and really this is simply a case of a paint job. The finer details of the guns in the Artillery of Charles XII set may not satisfy purists, but they are good enough for me as representative artillery pieces. I am intending to use several of the light 'galloper' guns from the Artillery of Peter the Great set as British battalion pieces.

The French cavalry in the pictures above are simply a mix of (mainly) pistol-armed figures from the two Zvezda GNW sets, with some repositioning of heads and arms, and also (if you wish) cutting the muskets from the Swedish troopers, trimming them a little to form carbines, and sticking them back on with muzzles facing downwards! Again, it is really a case of painting them as French (or indeed Spanish) cavalry.

Strelets will of course provide the whole Maison du Roi cavalry (once all the sets are released) and French dragoons.

[vellek]

Top-notch brushwork

[Minuteman]

My Franco-Bavarian army is short of cavalry, so I've been pressing on with some more mounted fellows to place alongside the various Infantry units already posted here. So the painting table has witnessed a veritable flurry of horsehair and lace in the last couple of weeks.

The two Strelets sets that form the basis of these pictures are numbers 239 and 241. The Royal Horse Grenadiers is the most-recently-released of these, and a very nice set of figures it is too...although as it represents one unit of barely 150 individuals, it has limited scope and I need only one box (forming a unit of 10 figures) for my army. The senior officer waving his hat is a fine figure however, and I've given him a suitably leading role in the following pictures; he is, in this case Monsieur Lt. General de Guiscard at the head of the Maison du Roi cavalry at Ramillies.....








But as M de Guiscard charges at the head of his squadrons, he ponders....Where, Oh where are Strelets sets 240 Gardes du Corps, and 242 Musketeers of the Guard...



And for that matter, where is Marlborough and his Army?? Back to the painting table....

[C M Dodson]

Wonderful stuff.

This period is getting the interest it deserves.

Stretlets have done a wonderful job with more to come.

Best wishes,

Chris

[sansovino]

Wow, what an impressive well done army! I have already recognised your first images but hadn´t the time to write it. You have painted and presented your WSS-figures on a very high level. I love your vivid regiments ...

[Minuteman]

Thank you Chris and Sansovino,

These French Maison du Roi cavalry are probably amongst the most ornate I have ever painted. OK, so the Grenadiers are relatively 'sombre' in their blue coats faced crimson, but the Gendarmes and Chevauxlegers in their scarlett coats (also faced scarlett at this time), and then trimmed almost everywhere with gold lace, are almost too bright. I'm pretty sure that I have not used such a lot of Vallejo gold paint on a unit before !

But then, I suppose these were the elite troops of the 'Sun King'. What an impressive sight they would have made on the battlefield.

The forthcoming Strelets sets of Gardes du Corps and Musketeers of the Guard will complete the Maison du Roi cavalry. These are blue-coated and slightly less ornate. The blue and bright red massed side by side will, I hope, look quite impressive once I have completed the circa 80 figures that will make up the (fairly large) Maison du Roi contingent of my army.

[Bill Slavin]

Those are looking great! I love seeing these Lace Wars figures come on stream.

[Rich W]

Top stuff Mark! I haven't bought the horse grenadiers yet, but seeing yours painted up reminds me to hurry up with my order! Which blues have you used for the jackets, as they look spot on? Also, enjoying the groundwork/scenics for the photos, very appropriate looking! With the grenadiers, did you have any issues with the plastic on the horses legs and riders legs like the other cavalry sets have had?

Looking forward to the next instalments!!!