New Sharp Practice Army Lists

So with the kind help of Richard Clarke of Too Fat Lardies fame, we've managed to put together army lists for the South American Wars of Liberation to go with the realease of the wonderful new set of rules "Sharp Practice 2."  The list give you many variations for both Patriot and Royalist forces fighting in the Northern Campaigns of Simon Bolivar in Colombia and Venezuela (1817 - 1824).

You can find them here:

http://toofatlardies.co.uk/blog/?p=5829

Coming up next will be photos of the two armies from these lists and some first games.

Gran Colombian uniforms

 A number of people have requested more information about uniform colours for the Gran Colombian Army of Simon Bolivar. I have managed to get several original period prints plus later artists impressions from Terry Hooker and others at the South American Wars forum on Facebook, as well as directly from sources in Venezuela. Above you can see an image of the Antioquia Regiment, which is close in many respects to the uniform regulations set down for the Patriot army in 1813 by Simon Bolivar. Later prints of the army uniform from 1826 seem to confirm that this was the desired uniform.

The second most common set of uniform images indicate that many units also wore just the gorillo fatigue cap (basically the same as the French 'Bonnet de Police'). It is likely that many, if not the majority of the troops would have worn only sandals or been barefoot. Above you can see an original print of this uniform and below a more modern interpretation.

The reality of campaigning though means that before 1819-20 there was little uniformity either achieved, or if achieved, maintained. Reading "Conquer or Die" by Robert Hall, gives a good indication of how quickly the British Legion battalions became ragged and unrecognisable after only a few months on campaign. Additionally, because of the loss of troops due to disease, desertion and battle casualties, many differing units were brigaded to form new battalions, with a mix of many different uniforms, and new recruits without any.

I will be putting up more images of uniforms as I receive them, with the focus very much being on primary sources. After the first unit of Gran Colombian figures in shakos are released we will be working on the sculpts for the troops in fatigue cap and sandals as represented in the images here. Of course all suggestions and requests are very welcome.

New film about Simon Bolivar and the Wars of Independence - 'Libertador'

I just thought I would pass on the news about the new film about Simon Bolivar. This was premiered at the Toronto Film festival recently, and presumably will go out for general release in the near future.

The main actor is Edgar Ramirez as Simon Bolivar. His last big role was the main lead in the TV film about Carlos the Jackal: "Carlos", and he was really excellent in that.

Follow the clip below for a sneak preview, and a great shot of the Llanero cavalry of General Paez:

 First clip of Simon Bolivar film "Libertador"


Hopefully this should provide some inspiration for anyone building their Liberators armies, and promote greater interest in the period.

Orinoco Miniatures produces a range of 28mm figures for the South American Wars of Independence.

The figures can be purchased directly from our webstore here:  

http://www.orinoco-miniatures.com/

New pictures of Spanish centre company greens

 I just though I would share with you the first pictures of the completed Spanish centre company sculpts. This figures match the Spanish flank company figures, all figures with the short jackets common to many of the Spanish units campaigning in South America.
 

These can be painted as tropical brin uniforms (all in white/cream), or as more standard uniforms, and can be used for the Spanish in all campaigns. The Spanish troops often had covered shakos, though the advantage of this is that they can also be used for units in the various Patriot armies, either in the Northern campaigns of Bolivar or the Southern campaigns of San Martin in Chile and Peru.

 A command pack is now being sculpted, and all the packs for this unit will then be cast and released. We are hoping that these will be available by the start of September.

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!