Ordenes Militares Regiment, 1808

[Edwardian]

I have completed my first 1/72nd Peninsular War unit, three battalions of the Spanish Ordenes Militares regiment, circa 1808. This regiment fought at the battle of Bailen.

As I am sure many here will know, Bailen was fought when a French column under General Dupont was sent to Cadiz to secure the Spanish fleet. Dupont had to that point earned a very distinguished career and it was said that, if he secured this plum, he would find his Marshal's baton in Cadiz.

En route, at Bailen, Dupont met a Spanish force under a Swiss officer, Reding, was defeated and surrendered his command. This was a massive blow to French prestige, and Bonaparte reacted rather like Hitler on the latter learning that von Paulus had surrendered Stalingrad.

Bailen was a locally decisive military encounter that lead to the capture of a significant French force, however, its military effect was soon reversed, as Bonaparte responded by pouring troops into the Peninsular, with himself at their head. The battle was probably immensely more significance as a rallying point for the Spanish nation and as encouragement for its new British and Portuguese allies. The French, could, it seemed, be beaten after all.

The figure ratio is 1:20, mounted on company bases and seen below deployed variously in Line, Column of Division and Column of Companies/Column of Route.

As this is my first attempt at Napoleonics (as a Grown Up), I am relieved that they have turned out as well as they have.

[Bramble15]

Love them! Really like the white tone you achieved for the uniforms. Very difficult but you nailed it.

[Edwardian]

Love them! Really like the white tone you achieved for the uniforms. Very difficult but you nailed it.

Thanks. Having picked Spanish, I realised I had no idea how to paint white, but found some tips on the internet.

[MABO]

I like the result of your painting. Maybe you can add some close-ups. And thank you for your informations on the historical background. I am interested in the Napoleonic era, but the peninsular war is not my favourite topic.

Now you have to choose a new topic for a small Group Build Unit!!

[Beano Boy]

I especially like this type of formation,because it can be in a seemingly endless line of four, or arranged in huge wide columns or perhaps square advancing or retreating on a battlefield. ( Like Napoleon was protected on the Battlefield.) It does seem the advancing lines of big battalions is here and now, and made possible by large box sets of marching poses rather than the fighting ones. A few years back one only had four or perhaps six marching poses per box, that is if you were indeed lucky enough to like them. So that meant spending lots of cash if this type of formation was dreamed of putting together. Very expensive dreams in those days but relative modest ones today.

Yes, very fine painting style Edwardian. Along with the historic interest I like it considerably! BB

[Edwardian]

Thank you all for the kind words.

MABO - Yes, I take your point about close ups. I will have to take more shots, weather permitting. I must admit, it was not very Spanish weather when I took the first set of shots, and it is a lot gloomier now!

I have chosen a unit for the Group Build/FIGZ parade, though have not started work as yet. This will have to be a smaller unit (aforesaid lack of marching poses being a limiting factor). Would a dozen suffice?

BB - Yes, the advent of sets with a higher proportion of marching figures was one of the factors that encouraged me to make a start. My planned Spanish army will use all the figures from a number of the HaT Spanish sets, but a number of the battalions, including the largest, can be made up with marching figures, which I always feel looks best.

BTW, I was set to task my wife with Photoshopping flags from the Cronin/Summerfield book when I found someone had already done similar with a number of Spanish flags including the Coronela (1st Battalion) and Sencilla (2nd and 3rd Battalions) for the Ordenes Militares Regiment. I had found them in a image search and filed them away.

Now I have worked out where I found them and am able to acknowledge them gratefully as the work of one Max Foy, who kindly makes these flags available via blogs.

[davbenbak1]

Fantastic work! Thanks for posting. A second for close ups. I am in the midst of a Peninsular project myself and will eventually get to the Spanish as a Bailen "What If" scenario is on my list. I don't know much about unit organization for the Spanish but your pics would lead me to believe that there were two grenadier companies per regiment and they were brigaded together in one battalion. Who were the other two companies with them?

[FredG]

This site is also very useful for military flags.

http://www.warflag.com/flags/select.shtml

And this one

http://www.warflag.com/napflags/html/flags.htm

[Edwardian]

Fantastic work! Thanks for posting. A second for close ups. I am in the midst of a Peninsular project myself and will eventually get to the Spanish as a Bailen "What If" scenario is on my list. I don't know much about unit organization for the Spanish but your pics would lead me to believe that there were two grenadier companies per regiment and they were brigaded together in one battalion. Who were the other two companies with them?

I love the Spanish uniforms. Despite the relatively modern closed lapels, features such as the long tails, bicornes, the predominant 'Bourbon' white, and touches like drummers in royal livery, lend the Napoleonic Spanish a wonderfully Eighteenth Century appearance.

davbenbak1 - Re organisation, both the Osprey volume and Cronin & Summerfield state that Spanish regular infantry was organised in 3 battalions, each of 4 companies.

The first two battalions are described by Cronin & Summerfield as 'field battalions' and the third as the depot battalion. I have heard it said that the Spanish rarely deployed all three battalions together, however, at Bailén Ordenes Militares, and Irlanda regiments each fielded all three battalions, although in each case one battalion was stationed in another part of the field to the other two.

Of the remaining Line Infantry regiments at Bailén, I believe that, Fijo de Ceuta and 3rd Swiss (Reding) each fielded a single battalion, whilst the others (Reina, Jaén and Corona) fielded two apiece.

I suspect that your typical Spanish Line regiment in the early phases of the conflict was a two-battalion affair.

The first battalion of each regiment had 2 Grenadier companies and 2 Fusilier companies.

The second and third battalions each had 4 Fusilier companies.

Sometimes the Grenadiers were detached (those of Jaén seem to have been at Bailen) or used to form combined Grenadier battalions, as was the case at Medina de Rioseco.

[Edwardian]

This site is also very useful for military flags.

http://www.warflag.com/flags/select.shtml

And this one

http://www.warflag.com/napflags/html/flags.htm

Many thanks for these

[Edwardian]

Very dull outside and needed the flash. Some close-ups as requested.

[C M Dodson]

Most impressive work. In the grand manner. Excellent.

Chris

[Peter]

Impressive indeed! Keep them coming!

And I'm also looking forward to what figures you will paint for the group build parade!

[MABO]

I have chosen a unit for the Group Build/FIGZ parade, though have not started work as yet. This will have to be a smaller unit (aforesaid lack of marching poses being a limiting factor). Would a dozen suffice?

Absolutely. 12 figures is a great unit! I am really curious what you will choose.

[Marvin]

How did I miss this post?

I can only add to the praise about the white uniform treatment. The temptation (for me at least) is not to 'ruin' the white with too much shading. One has to be brave and the result is something more detailed and more realistic, which you've managed excellently here. I tend to black line my white cross belts against a white coat to make them pop out a little more but your shading seems to have done the job and with more subtlety too. Details like buttons show a man with a steady hand!

I painted four Prussian 7YW regiments a couple of years ago with a similar number of figures per regt. It took some patience and persistence - something you seem to have in spades having produced this so well and with such consistency!

Looking forward to the rest of the Spanish army coming in to being. Likewise, the Group Build figures!

[Rosbif]

Lovely work, Edwardian. I like your style of painting white uniforms. Very well done!

Are you a wargamer? if so, what rules do you use? I'm about to expand my Spanish forces using these same figures, and rebase the ones already in my collection (aargh! ) because I misread the basing size.

[Cryns]

My compliments to this work of yours. I like the painting. But my greatest admiration goes to the number of figures you painted as battalions in a regiment, all fit excellent together.

[despertaferro]

Beautiful and impressive arrangement!

[Graeme]

A most impressive sight, the "all white' uniforms look really good.

The close up shots are great too, very nicely detailed figures.

[Edwardian]

Lovely work, Edwardian. I like your style of painting white uniforms. Very well done!

Are you a wargamer? if so, what rules do you use? I'm about to expand my Spanish forces using these same figures, and rebase the ones already in my collection (aargh! ) because I misread the basing size.

Thank you all for the kind comments; they are greatly encouraging. I hope to start work on another unit shortly.

Rosbif - I have never gamed, but hope to one day! I base based upon what seems to be a sensible compromise. The look of the thing is important, so I prefer to mount each company 2-deep.

One of the challenges, I have found, in starting on Napoleonics is deciding how best to represent a unit; numbers, layout, basing, etc.

I have tried to stick to the correct number of companies per battalion and take the actual strength of the unit at a ratio of 1:20 as the starting point. I then round up or down as necessary. Spanish 4-company battalions are either 32 figures or 24 figures as a consequence.

The French will doubtless need to be 24 or 36 for 6-company battalions, though I think the légions de réserve de l'intérieur battalions at Bailen will be most conveniently portrayed as 4-company battalions.

Prussians (1808-15) are also 4-company based, and probably 32 or 40, given their strengths.

British battalions, often closer to 500 men than 1,000 in the field, might be best dealt with as 2 flank companies plus the centre companies based as four 2-company divisions, but we shall see.

Looking for a relatively quick play set of rules suitable for this scale of forces and not prescriptive about basing I have been recommended General de Brigade, but, frankly, I am prepared to adapt Charles Grant's "old school" approach to suit.

Any insights on the subject of rules would be welcome and appreciated, though I am unlikely to change the way I base, because I like what I've done in that regard!