This covers all the British and their auxiliary troops serving in the Peninsular including:
Napoleonic Wars
In the French Revolutionary Wars (1792-1803) and closely related Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) France faced successive coalitions of European states. In the Revolutionary Wars France expanded its control to the Low Countries, Italy, and the Rhineland. Napoleon built upon this and conquered much of Europe. However French success unravelled quickly after Napoleon’s disastrous invasion of Russia (1812). The Napoleonic Wars ended with Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo (18 Jun 1815). The wars depended on extremely high numbers of soldiers, recruited by modern mass conscription. My main interest is the grim contest between France and Spain (plus allies) in the Peninsular War (1808-1814).
Spanish Units at the Battle of Albuera
I thought I’d write up everything I could find about the Spanish units that fought at Albuera (16 May 1811). It started out as a “how do I paint them?” exercise for my Albuera Project then moved into a “where else could I use those figures?” exercise. Mainly I was just conscious that I’ve lots of material and this gives me an excuse to publish some of it in a way that adds something (i.e. the Albuera context).
Orders of Battle at the Battle of Albuera
The orders of battle were originally based on Smith (1998) – which I read first – and then the more detailed orders of battle in the specialist Albuera books by Oliver and Partridge (2007) and Dempsey (2008).
Battle of Castalla – A Shako Scenario
Setting: Castalla, Spain; 12-13 Apr 1813
Basing for Arty Conliffe’s Shako
Shako permits any basing system but recommends a few. I’ve gone for something slightly different to be consistent with my Shako Basing for the First Carlist War and Basing for the Liberators Quick Play Rules.(for the Chilean Campaign 1817-18) so I can do some mixing and matching of figures and/or rules.
Steven’s Peninsular Spanish Army
A few snaps of my Spanish army for the Peninsular War. Nominally they are for my Albuera Project and specifically the Spanish Units at Albuera.
Joaquin Blake Wargaming Project for the Peninsular War
I wanted to build some Peninsular War Armies for Shako based on a historical Order of Battle. And to my way of thinking you can’t do the Peninsular justice without a Spanish army.
Jose San Martin Wargaming Project for the Peninsular War
I wanted to build some Peninsular War Armies for Shako based on a historical Order of Battle. For the French army I wanted mostly French troops as the allies could form Bonus Selections. And to my way of thinking you can’t do the Peninsular justice without a Spanish army.
British Shipments to Spain during the Peninsular War
Britain sent a lot of uniforms to Spain during the Peninsular War. Some Spanish divisions were wholly equipped by Britain. In 1809-10 the uniforms were dark blue, sky blue, grey, and white (Chartrand, 1999a). By 1811 the uniforms were exclusively blue; sky blue predominated at the start but dark blue quickly took over. It was on 12 Dec 1811 that the so called “English” uniform became the national uniform.
Peninsular War Painting Guide: British Allies
A rough guide to painting British Allies that served during the Peninsular War – at least those that had unique uniforms. Those allies that served in British uniform are covered by the British Foot painting guide.
Peninsular War Painting Guide: Spanish Infantry
The Spanish Infantry uniforms basically went through four styles, with a constant ragged Campaign option. It is possible that all uniform styles were worn in the same army at the same time.
Peninsular War Painting Guide: Spanish Cavalry
This painting guide covers the Spanish Cavalry of the Peninsular War: