The original plan was to have just one unit for The Silver Bayonet. But as often happens with miniature based games, the ‘I’ll just buy the minis for one warband/gang/army’ promise to oneself rarely lasts.
You’ll be reading through a rulebook or supplement, or innocently looking at some miniatures online to see how people are painting them and a hitherto unseen seed of inspiration doesn’t just begin to germinate, but explodes in to a humongous great forest complete with a thriving ecosystem of tiny furry creatures! So it was with this unit. I was just looking online and the North Star Military figures – The French Unit popped up and two of the minis jumped out at me shouting ‘paint me, paint me! I’d be really good as…’ – insert character idea. So I ordered the box and got painting.
Major Armand d’Hubert – Officer

The mini is a French Heavy Cavalryman from the North Star set but I wanted it as my officer and went off script, as it were, and added some hussar’s braids, or cadenettes as they were called at the time, to what is more of a Dragoon mini. Greenstuff to the rescue for some very basic kit bashing. This was to represent the protagonist from the film The Duellists which is Ridley Scott’s first film, and an absolute masterpiece to my mind. Beautifully shot and oozing with atmosphere. Based on a short story by Joseph Conrad titled ‘The Duel’ or in some cases ‘A Point of honor’ , that follows two officers of the French Hussars through Napoleon’s campaigns. One of whom repeatedly calls the protagonist out to duel.
I gave the officer the cavalryman trait as it seemed appropriate and so needed a mounted version.

This one required both the beard and braids added. The miniature is a Perry Miniatures Napoleonic Line Dragoon.

Captaine Didier de Malherbe (Veteran Hunter) and Jaque ‘oncle’ Tati (guard)

Both mini’s are from the North Star box where they are the Veteran Hunter and the Grenadier. I have a suspicion that the veteran hunter has a bit of inspiration from the film ‘Le Pact Des Loups’/’Brotherhood of the Wolf‘, which was one of the things that made me want the box set. I’m quite pleased with the distressed/aged leather look of this one. The names are from the French jazz musician of the same name and the French actor and film maker, Jacque Tati.
Sgt Sylvain Faison – Sapper and Cardinal Jean de Plesis – Champion of Faith

Both of these minis are from Warlord Games. Warlord Games Napoleonic French Peninsular Veteran: Philippe Berthet and WarlordGames Cardinal Richelieu, The Red Eminence. Back story for Faison is that he always goes into battle with his lucky pheasant, to the chagrin of his fellows. The runic apron was inspired by artwork in the rule book. There is a sapper in the Northstar box but I really liked the addition of the pheasant and tatty uniform of this Warlord Games mini.
For a French Champion of Faith it had to be the cardinal and he doesn’t look too out of place despite being from a couple of hundred years before The Silver Bayonet’s setting.
Pvt Jean-Jaques La Cible and Pvt Aimant de Balle – Infantrymen

The privates are a Warlord games Late French Line Infantry (1812-1815) and a Victrix French Napoleonic Infantry 1807 – 1812 with names picked from a french dictionary, except Jean-Jaques, which is from Mr Brunel of the band The Stranglers.
I really enjoyed painting these minis and now have the bug for The Silver Bayonet Units. I have another already painted which I will blog about in the near future (he says while thinking about the number of posts that are in the ‘preparation’ stage).
Do you play The Silver Bayonet? And if you do how many Units do you have? Have you just stuck to one or are you building a collection? Let me know in the comments. Au revoir for now!