French Legere - 1813

Tour de France - Stage 16

Oh dear ... running well behind schedule now, and only just made it in before the next stage starts.

Here is a single battlalion of French Lights from Lancashire Games .. photographed without the aid of sunlight.

eeeks !

View of the climb up through the "Circle of Death".

Late war French - 1813

Tour de France - Stage 15

2 more battalions of late war French roll off the production line ...

French Division - 1813

Tour de France - Stage 14

Great stage race last night with huge amounts of drama ... sabotage on the course, killer hill climbs at 18%, death defying descents down wet slopes, chaos, drama, and sportsmanship.  Wiggo is a true British champion !

Good stage to pull out some masses now and look at a Division on the table, all based up on battalion sabot bases.

Here is what an 1813 Division roughly looks like at 1:60 scale.  This is modelled on the French 6th Division / II Corps on the Southern front at Leipzig in 1813.

Lucky for me ... the French units are quite 'understrength' for this campaign.

The leading brigade - 3 battalions of Legere with 3 battalions of ligne in the 2nd wave.  3 Battalions in column of divisions on each flank, and 2 batteries in the centre.

Note the lack of cavalry at the Division level.  Not much more at Corps level for this unit either.

French Brigade in Greatcoats

Tour de France - Stage 13

Here is the 2nd Regiment of French Ligne in Greatcoats ... paint is still wet on the basing !!  Only just made it.

French in Greatcoats - Regiment

Tour de France - Stage 12

3rd Battalion in Greatcoats ready for the storage box

That makes up the 1st Regiment in Greatcoats

French Line Grenadiers

Tour de France - Stage 11

Finished off some French Line Grenadier companies, as I watched the race unfold through the mountains for France last night

French Cuirassiers

Tour de France - Stage 10

Thank goodness for rest days.  Back into it now, with lots of big climbs to get over ..

4 Squadrons of mixed French Cuirassiers - bit of the old style uniform and facings, bit of the new . with a later period flag .

4 Squadron bases fit nicely on a 'Cavalry Regimental Sabot Base' ... which is a standard MDF drink coaster from the dollar store.

Struggling to keep up the pace at this stage of the race, and still a few weeks to go yet.

Lets see how we go tonight then ....

French line in Greatcoats - other Battalions

Tour de France - Stage 9

No time for a detailed post today  . which is quite suitable, as its a time trail stage.

Rush rush rush.

Greatcoats, representing a generic battalion of a generic regiment.

Done !

French Line in Bardin Uniform - Leipzig 1813

Tour de France - Stage 8

Great racing last nice with another long stage of over 100 miles, with lots of nasty hills ... and some more unfortunate accidents.

Was shocking to see Sanchez (defending Olympic gold medalist) crash out with a broken collar bone, so he is out for London 2012.

What we did see though was a memorable win for a young French rider in his first tour. It was one of these rare occasions where the risk of hopping onto the breakaway group actually pays off.

A memorable win for Thibaut Pinot - the youngest rider in the race !

What better way to capture that in miniature, than finish off a unit of French Ligne using some of the youngest (newest) figures available ... Eureka's own amazing late French in Bardin uniform in 18mm.

French Ligne in Greatcoats - 1813+

Tour de France - Stage 7

What a great nights viewing last night ... spectacular scenery into the Vosges mountains.

Took a few shortcuts myself, and finished off a single battalion of French line in Greatcoats.

The first real climbs of the Tour saw the real contenders come to the front and fight it out for the last 6km all uphill.

This last section is at 20% slope ... ouch !

15mm Tanks, superbly done

Recently bumped into this guy who does some of the most excellent WW2 era armour in 15mm.

He has just started up a new blog, and should have some truly excellent stuff to post as time marches on.

Definitely worth following .. so say d'day and welcome him to the blogosphere :)

OwlFinger armour in 15mm

French Dragoons

Tour de France Peter Sagan - Stage 6

Bit of crazy carnage last night in stage 6 on the road to Metz .. it was a bit like watching live coverage of Borodino !

At the end though ... somehow .. Peter Sagan held it all together to jump just at the right moment, and power over the top of Greipel.

Amazing effort. Im stunned.

Grand Duchy of Warsaw - 1st Regiment

Tour de France - Stage 5

Finishing off the next Polish regiment in the line ..  2 more battalions of Polish line infantry.

So as far as Leipzig goes, we have the VIII Polish) Corps, 26th Division, 1st Brigade.

OOB for this brigade is :

- Vistula Legion light infantry - 2 Bns at around 400 men each.
- 1st Polish Line Regiment - 2 Bns at around 400 men each.
- 16th Polish Line Regiment - 2 Bns at around 400 men each.

Vistula Legion - Leipzig 1813

Tour de France - Stage 4

Continuing on with the painting challenge, I was struggling to get a bit finished last night.

Quite appropriate, as the high pace of the race so far so many riders struggling to hold their line and stay out of trouble at the front of the peleton.

Part of 2 battalions of the Vistula Legion - Leipzig 1813.

Head tube airbrush work on That Rider's bike.

French Chasseur a Cheval Regiments

Tour de France - Stage 3

Only stage 3, and Im feeling like I'm struggling to keep up already !

 Lucky for me, I have some Chasseur a Cheval already finished off, which fits in nicely with the results from Stage 3.

Peter Sagan - again - puts the hammer down at the end of 197km of too-fast racing, to grab an easy sprint finish ... on a set of climbs .. against the best in the world.

.. And still has plenty of time to stop before the finish line, smile for the cameras and perform an intricate victory dance on the saddle as he coasts over the line to another stage win.

That's none less than Mark Cavendish and Fabian Cancellara struggling in the background to take 2nd place.

WTH ?  How good is this kid ?

French Allies - Hesse Darmstadt and Baden , Jena Auerstadt, 1806

Tour de France - Stage 2

Well, its only stage 2 of a very long race .. and already  Im wondering how on earth I am going to get out 1 French-related post per day ... for the next 3-4 weeks.

 Ah wel, lets see how we go.

Last night saw the Tour head through the fortress of Namur, and towards the French border as it heads out of Belgium.

Just over the Rhine are a couple of German states - Baden and Hesse-Darmstadt, who formed an alliance with France, and loyally provided some good regiments from Jena in 1806, to Spain, to all the way out to Leipzig in 1813.

Here we have a small battalion sized contingent of Hessians and Badeners to add to the French forces at Jena.

French 7e Legere - Wagram 1809

Tour de France - Day 2

Following on from the prolog with Stage 1 proper, we had an exciting race last night, featuring the yellow jersey making a bold statement up the front of the race .. a few crashes .. and a mad pace all the way to the line.

Right at the end, a young rider from Slovakia .. showing something short of contempt for the rest of the field, almost cruising past Spartacus to take the stage win in the final metres.

So Ill throw in some colourful French Legere to match the feel of that stage.

French 5th Hussars

Tour de France - Stage 1

Following along with the bike race of the same name - a 3000km race all across France, through every single village and up every single mountain pass ..... equates to a lot of late night streaming video watching here in Australia.

Reasonably important down here in Australia, as one of 'our' blokes is defending the yellow jersey for the first time, so its a must watch for all of us.

A perfect excuse then to build up stock levels for the French Forces at Leipzig 2013, whilst staying up late every night to tune in on the race.

Stage 1 of the Tour is typically a short prologue event - a 6km time trial at sprint pace.

What better way to equate that short but fast dash of an event in miniature ... a Squadron of dashing French Hussars !

You can follow the real race HERE each day at cyclingtipsblog for more 2 pedalled mounted warrior action.