Spanish Cazadores - The Hunters

Cazadores, or Hunters, were the light infantry companies of both the line and light infantry in the Spanish army, with the Center companies being Fusiliers and the right wing being Grenadiers.  By 1812 the regiments consisted typically of just one battalion of six companies; one Cazadore, one Grenadier and four Fusilier companies.  This was true of both line and light infantry Regiments.  Uniforms in 1812 were primarily of a British design, and often supplied by great Britain, along with shakos, muskets, backpacks and other sundries.  Coat and trousers could be light or dark blue, with some units adopting the same color trousers and jackets (light or dark blue for both), with other adopting light trousers and dark jackets.  The two light companies below are meant to represent detached Cazadores of the Del Rey Light Infantry Regiment and the 2nd Battalion of the Iberia Light Infantry Regiment.

The Spanish were apparently not well trained in skirmish techniques, though by 1812 it appears some divisions may have been more versed in sending out skirmishers to protect the main body of troops from French Voltigeurs.

I recently acquired these figures that were either recast from Hinton Hunt originals, or had their bases trimmed down.  My money is on recasts, as some of the detail was very shallow.  I did not strip these of their old paint, but rather tried to clean up what was there.  In the end I essentially repainted the whole figure, so really should have stripped them and prepped them for painting properly.

A nice detail of these is the "wings" on the shoulders, which were worn by the Cazadores and Grenadiers.

These figures were actually lovely to paint despite their provenance as Der Kriegspieler figures.  The detail was clean and the castings sharp.

I think Duke Siegfried (owner of Der Kriegspieler) simply took a British rifle figure and slapped a Spanish cask on it instead of a British Canteen, and called them Cazadores.  There is, however, no record of the British supplying the Spanish army with rifles, so I am pretending they are long enough to be muskets.  Note my attempt at painting the typical Spanish soft shoe.

All together they make a rather impressive column in their green plumes.

On the gaming table they will be deployed in loose order as skirmishers.

I was very glad to find these on eBay, as all of my existing Spanish regiments are in march order, with shouldered muskets, and I just didn't want to use a marching pose for a skirmishing company.

Up next - Guerillas or Spanish lancers - Which one will inspire me first, or will a unit of Burgundian Pikemen worm their way into the painting queue for a War of the Roses game...

Of course the real distraction has been this little guy!

Sammy is about six months old now (younger in this picture), and despite the work of raising a puppy, has been a truly delightful addition to our family.  I still miss my soulmate, our Great Pyrenees, Nyra, but she will always be with me in my heart.  Sammy has big paws to fill - literally!

Rest in Peace sweet little girl.

Not to worry, Sammy is definitely weaseling his way into our hearts!

Now in Full Glory - the Completed Spanish Artillery Battery - 1812-1813

Life got in the way again, but the last few elements of the Spanish artillery battery are finally done.

The new elements include gunners servicing the canon as well as in march order, and a supply cart being drawn by oxen.

As with the theme of this project, the gunners wear a variety of uniforms, all painted to a semblance of what may have been worn in 1812-1813.  The uniforms were largely patterned on the French style, so in this case the pre-1812 French uniform included the lace and flounders on the shako which the Spanish may have worn.

These have the more simplified 1812 French style uniform with some painted on modifications, but the key difference is the lack of shako lace.

I am unsure of the make of the oxen, adding yet another manufacturer to this mish mash of makers.

Dick Tennant started the madness of including the artillerymen in march order in all of his batteries, so here I go carrying on the tradition.

The officer illustration I had for reference had only a carrot shaped pompom, but I opted to leave this officer's glorious plume.  I figure there was likely some variation, especially among the officers.

For the soldier's sake I hope these are some well trained oxen!

I added a little bit of custom impedimenta to the standard Hinton Hunt cart load.

There always seem to be more detail on the rear of Napoleonic uniforms than the front!

Lastly, a little tweak to the French 1st Hussar's command stand.  I had originally mounted the Franznap officer in the middle of the command stand, but the style is just too different from the Hinton Hunt sculpting to look quite right.  I hated to hide the jaguar skin saddle cover of the officer in the middle of the command stand, but he just looks too good with his Hinton Hunt compatriots to not put him back amongst them.

Till next time - be good out there and kind to others.

The Spanish Army Receives Artillery Support - Well, Kinda

The Spanish artillery train is done.  If only there were some gunners to fire the cannons!

I decided to break up the Spanish artillery set into the train, and the gunners, as the whole unit just looked a little daunting.  So finally, step 1 is complete, and on to the gunners.

As noted in a previous post, the train is a mish mash of manufacturers with some conversions and custom builds.

The traces fit beautifully into the eyelets on the singletrees attached to the limber making for one of the most securely constructed teams I have built.

When the gunners are painted, they will work the spare cannon.  I'm painting the base for the cannon at present, which is a challenge given my painting desk is in an unheated garage! 

Der Kriegspieler horses with converted riders.

The riders are in French style uniforms with British helmets, so some lopping off of heads was required.

Here is a close up of the singletrees.  In this case they were cast Franzknap traces with the singletree attached which were leftover from another project.  The crossbar on the limber yoke and the eyelets into which the singletrees are attached were custom made. 

A side view showing how well the two pieces fit together.

The back traces were made from twisted wire which was bent and inserted into tiny holes drilled into the singletrees of the SHQ manufactured limber.

Recently I've actually been getting in a few wargames for a change thanks to a good bud in Nashville as well as an overseas game via ZOOM.

In no particular order, here are some shots of a game I hosted using a Napoleonic variant of DBA called DBN.

The French hopes were pinned on the success of their massive column.

A blimp's view of the column about to crash home.

The first assault was repulsed by the British line but the French are far from done.

The final assault, but it was not to be, the French were repulsed again and losses on other parts of the field compelled them to retreat.

Some oldies but goodies; Minifig highlanders.

This column of British infantry actually decided the day.  They broke off from the main defensive line and were able to decisively defeat a brigade of light infantry approaching on the French Right.

In addition to DBN, I have also been very fortunate enough to learn and get in a few games of Never Mind the Billhooks.  This is a fantastic easy to learn game and when your friend provides all of the beautiful troops and terrain, it's hard not to have a great time!  These photos are blatantly stolen from one of his facebook posts.

My Lancastrian line approaches his Yorkists (Booo) menacingly.

My favorite shot of the game - My cavalry smash into the rear of a routing Yorkist unit of billmen.

The ultimate decision of the game was down to young Prince Edward who defeated the King, who was already sporting a wound from his combat with the retainers of Lord Percy.

The fun continued across the pond with a hex-based Command and Colours type game, but with a little more interest and complexity along with beautifully painted soldiers and terrain.  I shamelessly stole this image from Tony's blog, so for a full write up, head on over to: https://prometheusinaspic.blogspot.com/2026/01/wss-action-at-la-jongleuse-wallonia-1703.html

We are due for a good snowfall and there is a threat of ice which can knock out the power lines.  I have a goodly stash of firewood just in case, but am hoping either the weather won't be too bad, or that the power lines survive the storm.  In the meantime, this morning at a balmy 19 degrees Fahrenheit, will likely be the warmest we will have for a full week or more, so got out while we could in a light snow with Nyra or sweet old pooch.

Loving the snow!

The long walk back up the hill to home.  At least we weren't having to dodge traffic!

Next up, French light infantry Grenadiers in colpacks.  The first twelve are on the cusp of being complete!

The Poles Get some New Leadership and a little DBN

 Just a quick post this morning to round out 2025.  The Spanish artillery is coming along, and just in time for the new year, the Polish lancers have some new fancified leadership; Jan Konopka of the Vistula lancers in his newly received regalia from his promotion to General de Brigade after the heroic action at Albuera, and Pierre d'Autencourt, acting Colonel of the Imperial Guard Polish first Lancers.

With the exception of Colonel Stokowski, these are all Art Miniaturen sculpts.

Jan Konopka, Hero of Albuera

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Konopka

Pierre d'Autencourt, Colonel-Major of the Imperial Guard

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_d%27Autancourt

With the Polish leadership now complete, I actually got a chance to get in a couple of games.  I enjoyed another excellent game of Never Mind the Billhooks, which I won, and a game of DBN in which I lead the French to an ignominious defeat at the hands of the Austrians.

Here the French assault has drawn the Austrians off the hill to what will certainly be there doom...

Unfortunately, the French were soundly beaten by the stubborn Austrian infantry and cavalry, in what was a thorough defeat on all sides!

At least I got to take comfort in a good warm fire after the rigors of an afternoon of strategy gaming!