I mentioned in a previous post that I’d share some pics on my Napoleonic Swedish army project and, as good as my word, here they are! As stated before, I found the box when retrieving some Christmas decorations. They were purchased for me (at my cheeky suggestion) by Mrs Lentonist as a 2013 Christmas present from a brilliant local model shop that was (tragically after 20 years) closing down and selling stock cheaply. The sculpting certainly isn’t HaT’s best, but they are easy to paint and look good – I like to think – with paint on them.
What I like about this issued from HaT are the range of types of infantry available; from guards, to infantry of the line, to jager. Furthermore the Swedes were an eccentric lot when it came to Napoleonic military fashion, a consequence of necessity (they were not a wealthy at the time and held on to old stock) and eccentricity (on the part of their then ruling monarch). For a man that does painting for display and not for wargaming, the wide range in the box is a boon. Often unfairly overlooked for their military involvement during the Napoleonic period, the Swedes were nonethelesss still active participants. They faught the Russians, the Danes, the Norwegians and the French themselves during this era, most notably at Leipzig in 1813 under their new king Charles XIV, formerly known as one of Napoleon’s ex-marshalls; Bernadotte! Bernadotte began a dynasty that remains on the Swedish throne even today and his military adventures with the Swedish army were to herald the end of warfare for his country; a nobly proud record that continues up to the present day.
Anyway…first off – the line infantry:
The Guard Grenadiers feature next. Note the perculiar crest coming over the tall helmet, a feature that moves about at various angles to the helmet in the Swedish army.
Next up, the Life Guard. There are only about 12 of these in total in the box. I’ve painted them with the ceremonial white gaitors rather than campaign black. Note the curious crest that seems to feature at a 45 degree angle to the front rather than the straight-over versions of the Guard Grenadiers.
Now for the first of the two sharpshooter units; the Varmland Sharpshooters. These were the only Swedish Jager unit apparently and feature their crest at right angles to the front of the helmet:
And next up, the Finnish variety of sharpshooters. Finland was a part of Sweden during the Napoleonic period and I understand their troops tended to feature grey uniforms. They have a dark green busby with upturned peak (and yes I painted the required ‘dark green appearing as almost black’ headgear, actually using dark green mixed with black paint…)
And finally, one of the two artillery units that I’ve made. I’ll add a pic of the other howitzer unit as soon as I’ve added a finishing touch (i.e. a bucket!).
And that’s it for now. I’m about half way through the 100 strong infantry box and the artillery box too. There are four cavalrymen primed and awaiting the first lick of paint. Oh, but I got a little distracted the other week by painting up a few more of my Crimean war Sardinian Infantrymen – which I might show off on this blog soon too as the next ‘Featured Figures’! And then there’s my contribution to the group build project to start work on…
It’s a productive start to 2015 here at Suburban Militarism. My very best to everyone.
Suburban Militarism 
I need to study the Napoleonic Wars! But I did not you mentioned Bernadotte – whose name registered with me because I read a book about his wife, Désirée Clary,. Her sister was married to Joseph Bonaparte, Napoleon’s elder brother. Bernadotte was Napoleon’s Marshal of France and was selected by the Swedish parliament to secede the senile king Charles XIII in 1810 – but he then broke with Napoleon in 1813 and led Sweden into the anti-Napoleon alliance.
Now I have to find that book and read it again.
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That sounds interesting! Now, Napoleon-wise, I have read a book on Napoleon IIIs son, the so called Prince Imperial. He died surrounded by Zulu warriors whilst fighting for the British. Naturally!
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