British headgear at waterloo (or where did you get that hat?

[Rook]

Help for a newbie please. I am toying with starting a small 28mm British Napoleonic army to use against my mainly Perry French and have been advised to go for the Waterloo campaign as the Perry plastics are too late for the peninsula. What i need to know (as i have a box of peninsula centre company figs by vitrix I got second hand for £10) is how widespread was the Belgian shako. I have illustrations of Waterloo campaign center companies (e.g. in The Waterloo Companion of centre company of the 28th foot) wearing a peninsular style shako. Can I get away with a unit or two with this headgear? And on a similas note, is it white trousers for Peninsular and grey for Belgium or again were different units wearing different colours ? (seen pics of British Guards with white at Waterloo and others with them in grey).

[John at Warlord Games]

hi rook!

its as you suggest mate. By Waterloo almost all the Brits used the false fronted Belgic shako...BUT at least one unit was famously still in the cylindrical old shako at waterloo so at least one unit is entirely fine .


there may have been others in fact (I knew all this when I was 15!)I think mayb3e some light inf units retained the old one too.

Finally, dont worry too much about it as from a distance no one notices,


Its broadly right grey for waterloo though i do think the Guards may have been in white...


some one alse with a younger/better brain will tell ya..


Nice to hear from you anyway..best wishes john s owner WG

[Cubster]

Perry's plastix have the choice of early or late uniforms (shakoes and officer coats) on the sprue so you can go for either Waterloo or Peninsular with them.

[mikeland]

@ Rook. If you want to paint your Victrix for Waterloo, then I have about 20-30. Belgic shako Perry miniatures heads from the plastic box. (I painted mine up as Peninsular). So you could use these instead of the Victrix heads with half of your Victrix box, and then use the supplied heads for the other half, as John has said atleast one unit still used these at waterloo. So If you want me to pop the Belgic shako heads in the post then just PM me your address and I will let you have them. The perry and Victrix heads are pretty good fr mix and match.

[NTM]

The Hanoverians wore British uniforms and a number of them wore the stovepipe particularly Landwehr battalions.

http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n198 ... iborne.jpg

The ones in pointed shako are the stovepipe wearers

There are one or two errors on the chart can't recall them of the top of my head though.

[DOGGED]

British Light Infantry did wear stovepipe (peninsular) shako. So it can be as easy as to buy a Victrix Waterloo Flank box (it's not that expensive) and swap arms with the ones you already have and buy a . Voilà! You have enough to make light infantry battalion in stovepipe shako and line battalions in belgic shako. The odd centre companies in stovepipe could be made into Hannoverians. victrix sells Hannoverian heads sprues which also come with backpacks and arms, great for variety.
What I'm not that sure on is that Perry French are late for the Peninsula. Perry British can play for all the Peninsula and Waterloo. French are uniformed after Bardin regulations that were made by 1810 IIRC. Although these regulations were not enforced until much later and not that hrashly as to not have troops in the old uniforms very late in the war. But the Peninsula war lasted until 1813, 1814 in the south of France (and French were leaving Catalunya by then).
But I'm sure others could enlighten us with more precise information.

[NTM]

British Light Infantry did wear stovepipe (peninsular) shako. So it can be as easy as to buy a Victrix Waterloo Flank box (it's not that expensive) and swap arms with the ones you already have and buy a . Voilà! You have enough to make light infantry battalion in stovepipe shako and line battalions in belgic shako.

Doesn't quite work as the shako plate was entirely different (LI used hunting horn badge) but Victrix produce a set of metal LI heads to substitute (although I have heard theyare a bit on the smallside)

[Invisible officer]

The simple reason for the Stovepipe worn by the 28th was the back badge worn by this unit. But you get another problem, the grenadiers and possibly some other companies still wore captured French backpacks.

All three British Light Infantry regiments at Waterloo wore the LI stovepipe but all men wore wings.

In the Landwehr of Hannover the OR wore the stovepipe but the officers the Belgic one.

[Rook]

Thanks for all the feedback guys. Time to plot and plan (while i finish painting the French cavalry.

[NTM]

The simple reason for the Stovepipe worn by the 28th was the back badge worn by this unit. But you get another problem, the grenadiers and possibly some other companies still wore captured French backpacks.

All three British Light Infantry regiments at Waterloo wore the LI stovepipe but all men wore wings.

In the Landwehr of Hannover the OR wore the stovepipe but the officers the Belgic one.

Don't really see any of these as insurmountable issues. With plastics it's easy to add bits from other sets making French backpacks on British Grenadiers a doddle.