Tuesday 30 April 2013

New British Legion Figures



 Here is the first step in a range of figures which I hope will be as appealing to others as the period and wars of South American Liberation are to me. In summary, perfect small scale and colourful battles from the end of the Napoleonic wars.

Straight off the boat from Britain and Ireland, this was the first of the British Legions to fight in the wars of Spain (pre-dating the British Legion of the Carlist Wars by nearly 20 years). These 5000 veterans of Wellington’s disbanding army were a mixture of mostly English and Irish soldiers, who were to constitute the elite troops of Simon Bolivar’s Patriot army. They fought in all the decisive battles of the wars of Liberation in the North: starting in 1818 in Venezuela, and Colombia, and finally after 6 years of hard fighting to the decisive battles in Peru in 1824.

Simon Bolivar valued these troops highly for their grit and espirit de corps, and their graveyards and memorials are testament to their effort and sacrifice on the battlefields of South America. Needless to say they captured my imagination, and hence I set about getting them sculpted up in 28mm.

This first unit includes a command pack, marching, advancing, and skirmishing/firing line figures, all with covered 1816 issue Prussian style British Shakos. This is more than enough to capture the variety of poses and configurations for representing this unit on the table top. 
 
I have had some good input directly from Terry Hooker on the accuracy of the uniforms, plus reference to many period prints as well as the very useful book on the subject from Grenadier Productions.


These figures will be quickly followed by Spanish and Gran Colombian/ Patriot infantry, then artillery and cavalry. The next two units of Spanish and Gran Colombian Infantry are already at an advanced stage. These will be available for sale in the very near future, and in the following days you can follow the progress of these over at the main site for Orinoco Miniatures (the name for the new range).

Certainly I am very interested to hear your feedback on these, and requests/suggestions for any particular units from the Liberation wars that you would like to see me do next. Please do pass on links to this and news of the range to your friends.

LIBERTAD O MUERTE!

15 comments:

  1. Beautiful figures! I love the officer pose in the first pic.

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  2. Thank you Ray. Many more figures are in the pipeline, so stay tuned.

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  3. Really beautiful figures. I like a lot this period, so I´m awaiting more news!

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  4. Thank you Juan. There will be more detailed photos of these figures in the near future, as well and pictures of them painted. Other units such as Spanish and Gran Colmobian infantry will be released soon as well.

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  5. Thank you for posting this link on my blog. These really are very nice miniatures , definitely caught my interest.

    Best Regards HGA

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    1. Hello HGA, you're very welcome. I'm glad you like them. Hopefully I can spare you from too many Victrix conversions in the future :-) (though your figures are very nicely painted).

      Best regards.

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    2. Many thanks Wilde Goose, converting miniatures is fine up to a point, but it does begin to get to slow down the painting process which is the part I really enjoy.
      On that subject I'd be quite happy to paint a few samples for you if you haven't already got that covered.
      Looking forward to seeing these on sale.
      Regards HGA.

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    3. Hello HGA,

      That sounds like a plan. Just get in touch with me via the gmail address: orinocominiaturesATgmailDOTcom

      Regards,
      The Goose

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  6. Congratulations on what looks like a very interesting range. I will be buying.

    Paul Hammond

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    1. Thank you Paul. The British Legion figures should be ready for sale by next week. We post at cost, plus a small amount for packing.

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  7. Excellent, that's really good news. I'll keep returning then order when available. I have had the Grenadier book for a couple of years now waiting for such figures as these.

    Paul

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  8. Wow! I'll need to get some of these!
    Regards,
    Pat

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    1. Thanks Pat. The figures will be on sale in the next week or so.

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  9. Very original - and wonderfully sculpted! Congratulations and best wishes :)

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