Monthly Archives: February 2017

The finished set of cazadores.

After completing my first ‘test shot’ with the cazadores, I have now finished the pack of 8 metal Cazadores figures from Warlord games. I decided to keep to my original plan of block paint and quick shade rather than painting in the 3 colour shade, midtone and highlight that is often used. In the main, I am painting for the wargames table and I am attempting to build units rather than finish individual figures to a high standard.  So the quick shade method for my rank and file troops works very well both in terms of time spent and results.

These kneeling Cazadores are my favourites from the pack!

I am very impressed with the sculpts of the figures in the warlord set. The troops in the kneeling poses are particularly good and I could see them forming a nice little vignette if painted and based nicely. It also became apparent to me that a lot of thought had gone into making these figures. It hadn’t been immediately clear that in fact warlord had supplied four figures with muskets and four with baker rifles in the pack. It was only when I came to paint them that I realised the differences in the figures.  The models with Baker rifles have the powder flask and the additional cartridge pouch on their belts. They also are carrying the sword bayonet and the strap work is slightly different.  Of course the real give away was the Baker rifle itself. Very nicely modelled with the brass plate in the stock and slightly shorter than the muskets.

Skirmishing in cover.

And so after praising just how good these models are, a bit of a moan. Why don’t Warlord explain exactly what is in the blister? Now I know that it is impractical to include painting instructions and detail regarding the equipment within the blister itself but why not have the information on the web site. Somebody in Warlord has gone to a great deal of trouble to research these models before they were sculpted. Furthermore, the figures have been superbly painted for the web site – the painter has obviously done his research. Could that not be added either to the pack description on the website or in the form of a short article linked to the web page? To be fair, Warlord are no worse in this respect and better than most other manufacturers when it comes to packaging and selling their metal figures but I hope it is something that perhaps they could look at.

Cazadore skirmish line

I followed up on some of the improvements that I noted in my last article and I am a bit happier with the results. Of course, the figures always look better when based properly. I have filed off the number on the shako and replaced the sculpted five with a painted seven as my ‘men’ are from the 7th battalion. As I thought, the shoulder straps should be brown with black piping. I have also painted the black piping around the cuffs to make this stand out. The yellow cuffs have been a problem. Yellow is a very difficult colour as the paint tends to be under pigmented. I used a sand undercoat and then painted the yellow over. To be fair, although it isn’t as bright as I would like for the wargames table, it is probably accurate on a soldiers uniform that has seen a bit of service!

Cazadores advance!

I have also painted the plumes of the figures with muskets in green and the ones carrying the Baker rifles, the elite Tiradores, in black. There is some confusion on my part as to what colour the epaulette’s should be. Certainly before 1810 they would match the plumes and so in the main be green. However, the Osprey book has put doubt in my mind as to whether that was true after 1810 for the new battalions. So after painting some green I just reverted to all black and repainted them. I’m not sure that it shows…

They’ve all got black epaulettes!

I also painted the cord for the powder horn in white. I dont think that this is accurate but it helps to define the riflemen from the musketeers and adds a bit of detail to the figures. I know, after all the research to get things right why deliberately be inaccurate. I like to think of it as artistic licence but I know that it will annoy the purists!

With the first 8 figures complete, there is an Officer and Bugler still on the work bench to add to the unit. That will give me in wargaming terms a ‘small unit’, ideal for skirmishing and harrying the enemy. I think that I will build the full battalion of 24 figures in time. I will need another baker rifle armed Tiradore and the rest will need to be musketeers or command to get the ratios approximately right. That said, I’m in no rush and if something catches my eye, I can always expand the unit in the future. For all of my initial misgivings about the drab uniform, I actually quite enjoyed painting them.

To see my previous article with details of the paints used, click here:

Cazadores Test Shot

If you would like to buy some of your own Cazadores, they are only available direct from the warlord site here:

Portuguese Cacadores

Having now finished my Portuguese Line Infantry Brigade, I thought that I would add some Cazadores to act as skirmishers. Warlord games make quite a nice pack with a separate officer and bugler also available. My Line infantry regiments were the 11th and 23rd, so a quick check showed that it was the 7th Regiment of Cazadores that were often brigaded with them in battle and they certainly fought together at Salamanca. So painting a few Cazadores shouldn’t take too long.

Before, I go any further, I apologise for the incorrect spelling of Cazadores. I can’t get my computer keyboard to produce the Spanish soft ‘C’ symbol!

Osprey Portuguese Army part 2

Some quick research using my Osprey ‘Portuguese Army of the Napoleonic Wars part 2’ confirmed that the 7th regiment was formed after July 1811, when the number of Cazadore regiments was doubled. The uniforms were dark brown jacket and trousers with black cords and black buttons. Equipment was as the usual infantry kit except that the belts were black rather than white. Facings varied by regiment. The 7th is shown as having black collars with yellow cuffs. The Picture on the cover of the book is close enough – the 6th regiment shown, having a yellow collar rather than black.

Wargames_Illustrated_277

There is also a very good article in WI issue 277 from November 2010. If you haven’t got this back copy, it is now OOP. However, if you do subscribe to WI, the content is available in the ‘vault’. This article was helpful with the history and structure of the Cazadores Battalions. Of interest to me was that 4 companies in a battalion were armed with Brown Bess Muskets, only one with the deadlier Baker rifle. Furthermore, it was this elite company that had black epaulets and plume as opposed to the other 4 companies that were green.

In truth, I really need to do some more research, and think about how I would depict the troops on the wargames table. The problem was I was itching to get on and paint the figures that I had on the workbench. I decided to clean them up and undercoat them and then paint just one as a test figure. I was also undecided whether to go for a quick paint and dip job or to put some extra work in.

first cazadore painted as a test.

As it was, the quick paint and dip job won for now! I sprayed the unit in Army Painter Leather Brown. I decided to use Vallejo dark flesh for the skin – it’s hot in Portugal!  Then it was simply black for the straps etc, Iraqi sand for the food bag, pastel blue for the water bottle and Flat Yellow for the cuffs. I didn’t even bother to repaint the brown undercoat, just retouched it with Flat Earth where I had been careless. The final touches included, brass for the belt plates & other detail, steel for the musket and I used Leather Brown for the water bottle strap and Chocolate Brown for the Musket woodwork.

The model was then painted with Army painter Dark tone quick shade and when dry, sprayed with the Army Painter anti shine. To be honest, I’m not sure whether I’m happy with the finish or not. It all looks… well… a bit drab and brown! The picture of the figure in a more scenic setting helps.

Cazadore advances through cover.

There’s a couple of things that I think that I need to look at though. First of all, as the uniform is so drab that the face needs to be painted properly with a bit more attention to bringing out the detail. I also think that the black needs a gentle highlight on the edges of the equipment. The figure also needs another coat of matt spray – I tend to be careful and under use the matt spray as it can be so temperamental. Oh! and another thing – the plate on the front of the helmet should show the Regiment number. It’s been sculpted as a bit of a squiggle. I might just file this off and repaint a 7 in the correct place. The cuffs could do with a clearer black line to represent the piping and the yellow could be brighter. Finally, I think that I have painted the shoulder straps incorrectly in black when they should have been left as brown with black piping…

Perhaps, this wont be a quick job after all.