Tag: bersaglieri

The Painting Pedestal: 22c – 1848 Danish Infantry

Post author By lorenzoseventh
Post date 30th May 2022
2 Comments on The Painting Pedestal: 22c – 1848 Danish Infantry

So far this year the Painting Pedestal has been a bit wonky with some units not even reaching the pedestal

Milan National Guard 1848 – here
Battaglione Bersaglieri di Vignola 1860 – here

So belatedly my third offering this year finally makes it to the pedestal.

The First Schleswig Holstein War was fought between the Danes and the Prussian driven German Federation – aka the Holy Roman Empire. The Danes won but the Prussian steamroller was just getting going – in 1864 the 2nd war with Danish defeat, heralded the misery of 80 odd years of German led mayhem across Europe. However it is reported, you can argue it was weakness on the part of France and the United Kingdom to stand up for territorial integrity, that condemned Europe to decades of Prussian agression.

In 1848 the Danish Infantryman was clad in red tunic and blue trousers with a bell style shako plus white belts and straps. The bell style shako had evolved from the Napoleonic era shako, both of which were also to be seen in civilian fashion changes on the journey from tricorne to bowler hat.

Almost as soon as the war started the soldiers ditched their shakoes and donned their fatigue hats – bright blue kepi’s. Add in the new all dark blue uniform with black belts and straps gets you a soldier looking not out of place in the American Civil War that was raging 15 years later.

This Piedmont unit from 1859 gives you a rough idea of the transformation in 1848 danish military uniform. The Danes led the way, not just the Prussians.

The metal figures are from Irregular Miniatures. Being 20mm they are at the small end of 1/72 so they get some extra basing to reduce the height disparity with the many 1/72 and 25mm figures I have.

Irregular Miniatures sell them under their Colonial range.

Here are some more views of the unit.

The units are set up for Piquet rules – 4 bases equals a unit.

The 3 figure basing was an idea I picked up from an article in Lone Warrior – magazine of the Solo Wargames Assocation. The article was a cost cutting exercise for DBA armies where the advent of element basing undermined the need to consider figure scale and to have full ranks. Peter Pigs Conquerors and Kings also advocated 3 figure basing as did their Bloody Barons medieval ruleset.

I am quite taken with this unit so will probably add to this force.

I will probably use Neil Thomas’s book – European C19th Wargames which gives you rough army lists to play his rules and scenarios from the book.

For the basing I used my standard three colour paintwork (burnt sienna + yellow ochre + very pale yellow/white dry brush all over budgie grit/pva. This time I have gone for paler washed out grasses. And I am quite pleased with the result.

The flag was an afterthought. I suddenly realised I had the flagstaff from Irregular with no flag! Now I could probably have bought a Danish flag online. But I had started to make crude flags from dried out screen wipes (basically I bought some wipes and found that they had lost their alcohol content). The end result is a rough paper that takes colour easily. I simply used some permanent ink colouring pens. Marking out was the longest task. So very quick – but I suspect I will change them if I get a chance.

So that is the 1848 Danish Infantry unit ready to march!

Tags bersaglieri, bloody barons wargame rules, Brigata Milano, danish infantry, Irregular miniatures, kepi's, Lone Warrior Magazine, peter pig wargames, piedmont, Piquet Wargame Rules, Solo Wargames Association, the painting pedestal, VTW1848

20/25/28mm figures miniatures painting Vienna Treaty Wars wargaming

Battaglione Bersaglieri di Vignola 1860

Post author By lorenzoseventh
Post date 15th Mar 2022
4 Comments on Battaglione Bersaglieri di Vignola 1860

Piedmont, after the French defeat of Austria in the Second War of Italian Independence, organised popular plebiscites in the central duchies with the forces of Modena opting to follow the Austrians into exile while the army of Parma collapsed and that of Tuscany was reformed and reorganised.

Many new volunteer units were raised including one battalion of Bersaglieri in Modena drawn from the Emilia and Trentino lands.

Even serious publishers can’t resist the lure of the Bersaglieri………..

The Battalion was incorporated into the Piedmontese Army as the 23rd Battalion of Bersaglieri in 1860. It retained is unique facing colours.

The cover art shows Piedmontese Bersaglieri in summer campaign dress

Back in 2021 an early unit for this project (the wars of italian unification) came from the Strelets Sardinian box plus some spare Lucky Toys figures.

My review is here Strelets and Lucky Toys

The Di Vignola Bersaglieri make it onto the front cover of Osprey MAA 512

Tags 1/72 plastics, 20-25mm, bersaglieri, central italian league 1860, italian unification 1820-1871, Vienna Treaty Wars, wars of the italian unification, waterloo 1815 bersaglieri

garibaldi wargaming Mid 19th Century Wargaming miniatures painting wargaming

The Painting Pedestal: The Kingdom of Sardinia

Post author By lorenzoseventh
Post date 30th Mar 2021
No Comments on The Painting Pedestal: The Kingdom of Sardinia

Italy in the mid 19th century continues to fascinate me with my project to build armies of the Risorgimento, Wars of the Italian Unification (WotIU), or even the decline and fall of the Austro Hungarian Empire. The fact is that “The Empire”, once Holy Roman and western successor to the original Roman Empire, had its hands all over Italy having displaced French and Spanish interests after the fall of Napoleon in 1815.

The Kingdom of Sardinia is confusingly also known as the Kingdom of Piedmont which was just part of its claim.

So you often get written descriptions of Piedmontese fighting or occasionally Sardinians but usually Bersaglieri (who did all the fighting!). My recent Bersagleri efforts can be seen in this post.

https://thewargamingerratic.home.blog/tag/piquet-wargame-rules/

Actually it is not true about the Bersagleri being the only soldiers in Italian armies – its a bit like British Grenadiers being the only useful infantry in a british army. Bersaglieri (sharpshooters) were elite troops armed with rifled muskets and latterly breech loading rifles, who were often in the thick of the fighting, used as shock troops, and using a freedom of action which in turn required much greater discipline.

So in the wargaming world it is not surprising the mainstream manufacturers have gone for Bersaglieri.

Sadly this range by Waterloo 1815 remains incomplete

Waterloo 1815 make their Italian Bersaglieri in 1/72. Strelets actually name their offering Sardinians – technically correct – again their are characteristically Bersaglieri.

Strelets’ only adventure into this war era – although they did a lot of Crimean figures – key ones are now out of production – and yes the Bersagleri really fought there alongside the French, Turks and British.

The poor old line infantry of Sardinia/Piedmont get short shrift. The saving grace is the Amercian Civil War where manufacturers offer an abundance of figures which can be borrowed………..

Shakoes can be a problem, yet even here clothing fashion in military terms meant armies in the mid 19th century tended to be either “french” (kepis/short shakoes) or “germanic” (helmets/caps) or “british” (short shakoes/caps) in styling. And then of course you get emulation. The British love of “bearskin” clad soldiers dates from the demise of Napoleons’ Imperial Guard. Within a few years the French had resurrected their own Bearskin Guardsmen as well. And it seems everyone had a post Napoleonic frenzy in glitzy uniforms for almost 40 years until barrel rifling and breech loaders changed warfare.

Finally you find tucked away a manufacturer who has provided apparently everything you need for the Sardinian kingdom.

Lucky Toys made two sets – garibaldi’s redshirts (very 1859 I think) and Piedmont Infantry and Bersaglieri (again circa 1859 I think). Thats easy to explain – 1859 was the war year which saw the Austrian grip on Italy collapse.

All this adds up to lots of possibilities for mid 19th century armies fighting across Italy.

Here is Victor Emmanuel II, King of Sardinia courtesy of Lucky Toys.

So there will be some posts on my latest additions to the army of the Kingdom of Sardinia. Question is – which decade?

Tags bersaglieri, King Victor Emmanuel, Kingdom of Sardinia, lucky toys, Lucky Toys Garibaldeans, piedmont, piedmontese, risorgimento, strelets 1/72, wars of the italian unification, waterloo 1815 bersaglieri

1/72 scale figures 20/25/28mm figures basing Mid 19th Century Wargaming miniatures painting

The Painting Pedestal: Bersaglieri

Post author By lorenzoseventh
Post date 5th Mar 2021
3 Comments on The Painting Pedestal: Bersaglieri

In my last post I mentioned some pesky Bersaglieri – so here they are. 1848/1859 and all that………..

My own preference these days is to have command bases even where the rules don’t require them. Impetus rules tempted me away from the rigidity of DBA and with its larger bases plus the variable figure poses offered by 1/72 I really like the combination.

Yes these chaps are the slightly maligned Lucky Toys which stand at almost 26mm high.

In build along with some Piedmont Line Infantry and Red Shirts, so you know what is coming down the line sometime……..

Read the Plastic Soldier Review, be horrified and then pay about £4 for 30 odd figures which you have to build yourself just like Perry plastics!

These Bersaglieri are meant to represent Piedmontese/Sardinians in summer dress (white trousers) and will work from the 1840’s to 1870ish.

I paint the bases in burnt umber followed by a yellow ochre heavy dry brush and finish with a pale yellow highlight. I prefer the clumps of grass which to my mind looks right even though Lombardy can look just like the bright green fields of England on its day.

Artists license as they say.

Tags bersaglieri, lucky toys, piedmontese, Piquet Wargame Rules, plastic soldier review, sardinians, strelets 1/72, the painting pedestal

1/72 scale figures 20/25/28mm figures Mid 19th Century Wargaming miniatures painting wargaming

Piedmontese Unit 1 Complete

Post author By lorenzoseventh
Post date 12th Jan 2021
No Comments on Piedmontese Unit 1 Complete

The first milestone is complete. I have a unit of Piedmontese for the period around 1850. Probably the first figures in this era I have painted (well since the year DOT Airfix ACW figures that started me off wargaming).