Painting for Shakos & Bayonets has continued with the completion of sixteen French Dragoons on foot. The forces I'm building are based around the battle of Albuera in 1811, a battle famous for the charge of the Vistula Legion lancers, who of course I've not bought models for. The main reason I choose this battle was because it features the 28th North Gloucestershire Foot and a good mix of Portuguese, Spanish and French units, leaving scope for future expansion of the forces.
I started out with eight foot Dragoons gifted from Cirencester and decided to add another eight in order to field a decent amount of them. This allows for the extra activation cards for Cavalry to be included in the activation deck without needing to actually paint any cavalry, which is a bonus.
For the uniforms I've gone with the 14th Dragoons who had a rather nice looking Green and Pink combination which adds an extra unusual colour into the mix for the army.
As far as the unit statistics are concerned the Dragoons are the same as normal Fusiliers once dismounted and come in a few points cheaper when comparing eight model units.
So these chaps will be able to hold the line and form up to deliver volley fire if required. They won't be as fast as the light skirmishers or their mounted counter-parts but they will presumably be more of a shooting threat.
Next up the Grenadiers and then officers for the them and the Voltigeurs.
I've bought so many boxes of the mounted version I could field a whole battalion on foot. I think some fought this way in Russia once the horses ran out in 1812
ReplyDeleteSounds like you have some painting to do. I presume some would have dismounted for anti-guerrilla operations / skirmishes in the Peninsular as well.
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