A Wargame of Napoleonic Horror

December 20, 2024 2 Comments

Hi, this is the other Dave from Wargames Emporium - I recently bought a copy of The Silver Bayonet from Osprey games. It's authored by Joseph A. McCullough, and described as “A Wargame of Napoleonic Horror”.

It’s a skirmish game in which you build a specialised warband to fight other warbands and monsters. But that really doesn’t do justice to the game itself - it contains a lot more. However, this article will follow my journey as I build the core of my warband; in this instance a British warband. Big disclaimer - I have never built or painted anything remotely Napoleonic, and I’m not going to worry about historic accuracy; if this offends then please don’t read on!

North Star produce a whole series of miniatures for this game, and they're great - they're full of character and each box describes exactly what each miniature represents. It is likely I will purchase some of these later, but for now I want to build my own warbands.

At Wargames Emporium we sell a lot of sprues from various periods and manufacturers, and one afternoon I started to examine the British Napoleonic sprues for use with Silver Bayonet. My remit at this stage is to build a warband of up to eight figures. Practically I’m considering maybe twelve figures to give other future options. With little bit of head scratching, I concluded on the following:

1. Perry Miniatures British Line Infantry sprue contains ten figures. I think in this instance I could probably use four of the figures in the warband. I also want to covert two or three of the figures into zombies, and others as bandits (deserters, maybe?).

2. Wargames Atlantic British Riflemen sprue contains four figures - it's likely I'll use all four figures in one form or another in the warband.

3. Perry Miniatures Light Dragoons sprue contains three figures. This is a risky option; the rules detail mounted figures but I haven’t seen them used, and I’m going to have to use some kit-bashing ‘skill’ for the unmounted version. That said, I think I can mitigate the risk as I can use the unmounted figure as a junior officer, and the sprue does give additional options for swords.

Let's start, using the rulebook for reference. From the Perry infantry sprue I’ve built two infantry and a third maybe as a grenadier, and a fourth maybe a sapper.

From the Riflemen sprue, I next build two riflemen and my Officer with a sword. However, I changed my mind and used a sword arm from the cavalry sprue.

From the cavalry sprue I built a mounted figure, along with an unmounted figure with a bit of a kitbash using all three sprues.

Finally, I went back and added some short swords to add a little character.

The initial build is now complete, and I'm actually pleasantly surprised. I've built ten figures; it gives me good options within the game, and it allows me to swap in some more specialised figures later on.

I did mangle one figure, and also broke a few pieces... and I do have a sprue with two horses. I also have four infantry figures (should be five) left for zombies and bandits later on, but yeah, I’m pleased. 

Originally when I was looking through the sprues I was talking to John (the owner) and we were talking about paints. I was moaning as it had been too cold recently to get any models spray primed (I tend to do rather large batches in one go). However, for this project, as it was a small one, John suggested I brush prime using MP paints. I used the white primer, but it didn’t adhere well after the first coat, and the second wasn’t brilliant. I then tried a variety of paints on top, and this had mixed results. It's left me rather confused as John and I know a number of experienced painters who use this as a first-choice primer. I have no idea where I went wrong, and any suggestions or tips would be welcome. 

I’ve now built and painted a core for a warband, more than enough to play with. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my first foray into the Napoleonic range and I’m looking forward to my next Silver Bayonet challenge, which will either be a French Warband or maybe some of the monsters - again, what do you think, and are you progressing in your Silver Bayonet journey?

---

2 Responses

Leave a comment

Comments will be approved before showing up.

Name *

Email *

Comment *