Sunday 26 May 2013

Welch Regiment of Fusiliers (15mm WSS unit)

Finally I have managed to finish my first unit for the War of Spanish Succession (WSS). Based for "Beneath the Lily Banners rules. with 6 figures to a base 3 bases to a unit. Each base is 40mm frontage and 30mm depth. I have deliberately set the troops towards the back of the base and put no tufts or foliage on the base. This was because I want the figures and not the base to be the main focus. Due to a painting mishap they have been repainted so they are not quite as sharp as I would hope. But they have reached a standard with which I can accept so nothing to worry about and I'll not be re doing them. I have taken the colours from The War Room. I have also taken reference from the Lily Banner rule book and Front Rank. (checking both the individual figures and their gallery). I am in no way an expert so if I have anything wrong kindly let me know and I'll try to get it right next time (but no promises!)

The Welch* Regiment of Fusiliers was part of Rowe's Brigade at the Battle of Blenhiem. The Battle of Blenheim (referred to in some countries as the Second Battle of Höchstädt), fought on 13 August 1704, was a major battle of the War of the Spanish Succession. Louis XIV of France sought to knock Emperor Leopold out of the war by seizing Vienna, the Habsburg capital, and gain a favourable peace settlement.

The Royal Welch Fusiliers was an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Prince of Wales' Division. It was founded in 1689 to oppose James II and the imminent war with France. The regiment was numbered as the 23rd Regiment of Foot, though it was one of the first regiments to be granted the honour of a fusilier title and so was known as The Welsh Regiment of Fusiliers from 1702. The "Royal" accolade was earned fighting in the War of the Spanish Succession in 1713. SO at the Battle of Blenheim and for most of the WSS they did not have the "Royal" prefix.

It was commanded at Blenheim by Lieutenant General Richard Ingoldsby and numbering approximately 520 men. And as mentioned above was part of Rowe's Brigade, " the war room," (linked above,) has no colour details for it so I have simply left them out. As I am not sure they carried them or what they would look like, although I could of course hazard a guess.

*Welch is the old spelling of "Welsh" . In the Boer war and the First World War the regiment was called "The Royal Welsh Fusiliers" but in 1920 the name was changed back to the Royal Welch Fusiliers in 1920 under the Army Order no:56 although during this time the soldiers in the Regiment did tend to use the more archaic "Welch".

 Anyone interested in flags on model soldiers could do worse that to follow Ray's blog (LINK) as the regiment also was part of the Williamite force in the battle of the Boyne which Ray has been painting for recently (and I feel confident he will have done much more research than me!)

Every time I try to paint something I have never painted before it always seems to take much longer. Not that I have done one however I am confident I can get the next unit done in about 1/2 the time, and probably to a better standard.  Thanks for bearing with me as I have struggled to get them finished I feel confident I can crack on with the next unit now so I would expect to see more of the same every few weeks (you have been warned).

Have a good Bank Holiday week end folks and next blog post from me will most likely be Wednesday.... and as I have nothing started I had better get a wriggle on.

All the best Clint




14 comments:

  1. Very nice Clint and I know exactly what you mean about painting something different for the first time and how much longer it takes - my problem is that I'm so easily distracted that it often feels that everything I paint is for the first time!

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    1. Me too! When it comes to painting I have ADHD!

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    1. It's been a while down the club sine we had a game of this period (between ECW and Napoleonic!) So it's about time I got something together...... or at least started!

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  3. Great looking unit Clint.

    It definitely takes longer to do the first unit of a project. Thankfully, we're mostly doing more than one unit and the painting process speeds up for the rest! :)

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    1. Cheers Tams, I hope it speeds up for the rest or I'll be retired before I get a game of anything!

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  4. Nice unit Clint, Look forward to seeing more of these painted up. I love the look of whole armies ranked up and in battlelines.

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    1. You are right massed ranks of figures on the table always look good.

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  5. They do look the part and the grenadier company is a nice touch.

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  6. very nice Clinty, one down and how many to go? I hve such grand plans for my WSS I doubt I will live long enough to ever see them completed!

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    1. How many to go? I have not counted.... but there Horse and Guns as well. Maybe we'll get a game in our respective nursing homes!

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  7. Nice little unit! I haven't begun WSS, but who knows...it's only a brief moment before the French and Indian war. Most of the FIW units were founded in the WSS, at least most of my research shows! ;)

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    1. Cheers David. This project was inspired by the fact that I was mostly doing skirmish games and wanted something with mass ranks of figures.

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  8. very nice Clint, they look fine for wargames, and I know what you mean about the bases, I feel the same way, the bases should be basic and match the terrain they will fight on, thats it.....not really into elaborate bases, good start mate.

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