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Fusilier Roly Hermans' Napoleonic Spanish & Portuguese Gallery

As a change from painting his Napoleonic British armies, Fusilier Roly Hermans also collects Portuguese and Spanish troops. Don't forget to also visit Fusilier Roly's opposing 28mm French army at his own Valeur et Discipline website.

Portuguese 8th (Evora) Line Regiment | Portuguese 1st Cacadores | Spanish in Post-1812 Uniforms | Spanish in British-Supplied Uniforms 1810 | Spanish La Princessa Regiment | Spanish Guerillas | Spanish General Staff

 

Portuguese 8th (Evora) Line Regiment

The Portuguese were an integral part of Wellington's Peninsular army, fighting so well that they were colloquially known as the 'fighting cocks'. Their infantry battalions were brigaded with British units during the Peninsular War.

The Portuguese wore blue uniforms with distinctive shoulder straps, and the 'barretina' cap. This latter became the model for the new British shako.

These are 28mm Front Rank figures, which are beautiful as ever. The only misgiving I have about them is that there is not the same range of variations as with Front Rank's British and French (eg NCOs, soldiers turning their heads, bare-headed, wounded and so on). I have painted some patches and tears on their trousers to give them a small amount of variation.

The exquisite flag is by GMB Design, the true Rolls-Royce of miniature flag makers.

 

Portuguese 1st Cacadores

The 1st Cacadores ('hunters' in Portuguese) were light infantry, and armed with rifles. They were part of the famous Light Division, brigaded together with British riflemen and light infantry. They wore brown uniforms, unlike Portuguese line infantry who wore blue.

These are Front Rank figures, kindly donated to me by a friend in Japan who said he would never get round to painting them himself.

If you liked these figures, then you might want to also see this webpage of some other Front Rank Portuguese I painted a couple of years ago for the Miniature Service Center in California.

 

Spanish in Post-1812 Uniforms

These Front Rank Spanish are wearing the uniforms that were supplied by the British from about 1812 onwards. This can be seen in details such as the style of the shakos (though the coloured ribbons tied round them are a unique Spanish characterisitc).

There is some conjecture as to whether Sapnish infantry wore dark blue or light blue trousers - I opted for the latter as I thought they looked more colourful.

Spanish soldiers such as these formed the back-bone of Morillo's division, which fought well in the latter parts of the Peninsular War.

 

Spanish in British-Supplied Uniforms 1810

 

 

La Princessa Regiment

These are Front Rank figures painted as the La Princessa Regiment, and are depicted in pre-1808 uniforms, perhaps as they would have appeared in General Romana's expedition to Denmark to support the French.

They can therefore really fight on either side, as they mutinied in Denmark, were rescued by the British, and fought in the Peninsular War.

As they marched through Hamburg on their way to Denmark, they were illustrated by the Suhr brothers, and it is quite clear from their drawings that there were a mixture of the older blue and current white uniforms. Therefore I have painted some of the officers and the sapper in blue uniforms.

One particular feature of Spanish grenadiers were the ornately-decorated bags hanging from the backs of their bearskins. These were devilishly tricky to paint. At some stage in the future I might try making some decals of these bags, using a scan of original drawings.

The brothers Suhr also showed the blue-checked trousers some men sported whilst passing through Hamburg - I've dressed two of my soldiers in these. Plus I've painted a few variations of breech and gaiter colours to give a campaign look to the regiment.

A shame, though, that Front Rank don't model their Spaniards with cigarettes in their mouths, as this seems to have been almost a uniform item for Romana's expedition!

Note the boy fifer. He is also modelled after Suhr. Though I see that Front Rank have increased his height - in the original Suhr drawing he appears no more than about one metre tall!

The flags are by GMB Design, as usual for me. Unfortunately they do not produce the actual flags for La Princessa, but as the designs of all Spanish flags were fairly similar except for the small crests in the corner, I thought this would be close enough.

Overall, this regiment is perhaps a bit too tidy and parade-like to match the contemporary illustrations and reports of the very ragged Spanish. But with the figures available, and not wishing to get into heavy conversion, this will suffice for me.

I have more Spanish regiments yet to come, in a variety of time periods, including 1808-12 in shakos, and the post-1812 British-style uniform. So watch this space!

Oh, and for anyone who wants to know more about the buildings in background of these photos, take a look at this article.

Click on the photos to see them full size.

 

Spanish Guerillas

I've always fancied a unit of Front Rank's Spanish guerillas - they look so enticing in their catalogue. So I finally treated myself, and, boy, am I pleased with them! These would have to be some of the nicest figures Front Rank have produced.

As you can see, there is a range of poses, each wearing different clothing and carrying various weapons. Within each pose you can order four different hat styles, so even more variation is possible.

The detail is very well done - even the hairnets worn in some parts of Spain are faithfully reproduced.

My unit includes the two officers that Front Rank produce. One is wearing a basic Napoleonic-type uniform with bicorne and coat. I had trouble finding any painting information for him, so decided I couldn't go too much wrong with a basic blue coat.

The other officer is a particularly nice rendition of Jose de Espin, one of Don Juan Martin's chiefs. This figure is based on a Dighton painting, right down to the deaths-head badge on his grey top hat.

As you can see from the photos, I had a lot of fun setting up an ambush scenario with my guerillas. A French column has entered a narrow defile, and is about to be ambushed by the guerillas waiting on both sides.

Click on the photos to see them full size.

 

Spanish General Staff

These generals were painted a couple of years ago, so are perhaps not to the standard of my current work (these were done before I began experiments with layering).

(left) A haughty Spanish general rides in front of the La Princessa Regiment. All these figures are by Front Rank.

(below left) This general is wearing the full-dress red breeches.

(below right) And if red breeches weren't colourful enough, that is nothing to the candy-coloured light green and blue uniform of the ADC shown here, which is based on a Dighton print of Lt.Col. Lardizabel, aide to General Ballasteros.

Click on the photos to see them full size.

Don't forget to also visit Fusilier Roly's British gallery, as well as his opposing 28mm French army at his own Valeur et Discipline website.