The Poles from the Duchy of Warsaw are members of the pantheon of French vassal states in the Napoleonic collection of von Peter himself.

The figures are sourced from Front Rank Figurines which in the eyes of von Peter himself nicely match the build of the Calpe Miniatures figures that are prominently represented in the collection. They are also well matched to the other Front Rank figures in the collection!!!

Nigel Fun-nell paints the men. von Peter himself paints the horses & cannons; choreographs & undertakes the basing. Flags, pennons etc are sourced from GMB Designs.

2nd Line Infantry Regiment

The Polish 2nd Infantry Regiment was constituted of two battalions - the first and the second! Following the French model each battalion contained two flank companies - a Grenadier company (in bearskins with red cords, plumes and epaulettes below) and a Voltigeur or Light company (with the green and yellow plumes below) - and 4 centre or Fusilier companies.

The first battalion has reported for duty ...

PS. don't you just hate it when you complete a unit, photograph the unit, put the photograph of the unit on the web .... and then notice that you have neglected to paint the bit of the horse tack that goes over the horses "snout"? I know I do! A fairly easy fix but don't hold your breath for an updated photo.  🙂

2nd Uhlan Regiment

The men of the 2nd Uhlans have been sworn in to von Peter's Polish contingent. But not without incident.

All was well until the penultimate stage of their formation - the varnishing stage. von Peter himself cannot recall ever having problems with varnish before but sadly this is no longer the case. A can of Army Painter "Anti-Shine" was procured and tested and all seemed well. A light spray was applied to the figures as the first of several planned layers ... but it soon became evident that not all was well! 💀

On inspection the figures were revealed to be frosted! And what had been smooth surfaces now had a distinctly rough feel to them. Bad words might have been uttered. This was a first Army Painter purchase and though it may not be the cans fault there will not be a big rush to acquire many more of their products! This is life and death "stuff" we're talking here after all!

Apparently one potential solution is to respray the varnish with the theory being that this will dissolve the applied varnish and all will hopefully dry correctly. von Peter himself was not brave enough to attempt this technique as his first remedy. It was discovered that rubbing a damp finger over the affected areas seemed to slowly remove the varnish or at least improve its looks. So rubbing has been undertaken though close look at the picture below will reveal that more is required. As evidence see the dusty looks around the front legs of the leading elite uhlan's horse and though it's not obvious here the white speckle marks on the neck of his fellow elite uhlan's horse. More work required.

It's all a bit of a let down. Sob!

Close inspection of the image below may reveal a horse without a rider! Uhlan Wolkonski has been delayed in his journey from the recruiting school to the front. He is expected imminently.

27th (Polish) Division: General de division Dombrowski

The independent 27th (Polish) Division as present at the Battle of Leipzig 1813 makes for a fine smallish Polish force to replicate. It's almost as if the army administrators of the time had future wargamers in mind when they created it. Four battalions, two uhlan regiments and supporting artillery. Almost perfectly formed.

General de division Dombrowski and the more famous Polish General de division Prince Poniatowski apparently did not get on. This is possibly why Dombrowski held an independent Polish command away from Poniatowski's VIII (Polish) Corps in 1813.

18th Light Cavalry Brigade: General de brigade Krukowi

General de brigade Krukowiecki's 18th Light Cavalry Brigade comprised ...

               ● 2nd Polish Uhlan Regiment

               ● 4th Polish Uhlan Regiment

               ● 1st Polish Horse Battery

General de brigade Krukowi is in conversation with his Aide de Camp whilst the trumpeter requisitioned from the 2nd Uhlans looks on.

The trumpeter of the 2nd Uhlans wears the regimental trumpeters uniform as documented from 1809. Perhaps it would not have survived into 1813 … but perhaps it did! With information a little scant on the ground von Peter himself has ordered that the 1809 uniforms be retrieved from the regimental stores. They’re just too pretty to leave to be eaten by the moths in the stores!

A salutary lesson. Too much sausage!

4th Line Infantry Regiment

Organisationally the Polish 4th Infantry Regiment was a mirror of the 2nd ... so look up above for such details.

The 4th Infantry has been painted fairly much as the 2nd except for a few minor differences - turnbacks and collars - and the drummer of the 4th is in a simplified version of the green Imperial livery.

The first battalion has mustered ...

Having been forewarned that von Peter himself may on occasion be in command the battalion has very sensibly taken the precaution of getting in a stock of casualties ...

The 18th Light Cavalry Brigade as of January 2024 with the addition of a couple of marauding single ADCs. The final regiment - the 4th Uhlans - have now reached the front albeit their lance pennons have not.

General de brigade Zoltowski needs to take a look over there ... and quickly.

As a General de brigade he really should have black feathers adorning his bicorne as the white feathers are the preserve of a General de division. For now he is being allowed to keep the white plumage as it really is quite fetching.

The 27th (Polish) Division awaits the arrival of Dombrowski but his four ADCs have been sent ahead. Two wear the regulation uniform ...

5th Foot Battery

At least von Peter himself thinks it is the 5th Foot battery. It is undoubtedly a Foot Battery but whether it is the 5th is a little contentious. An order of battle actually naming it as the 5th has yet to be seen - to date they've all said "Polish Foot Battery" or something similar. But reviewing orders of battle for and prior to Battle of Leipzig lead von Peter himself to deduce that it may be the 5th. Or maybe not! Whatever it's much better to have an actual name rather than a generic label. Especially as they will no doubt suffer many indignities on the table top!

If one may gripe a little the Front Rank range of Polish foot artillerymen is a little restricted in having a mere 6 figures available. This made choreographing the two gun crews so that they each told a story a little challenging.  Hence of of the gun crews utilises three of the "gunner with trails spike" figures.

The battery have been provisioned with M1808 6pdr. French cannon as supplied by Cale Miniatures.

The images below show the battery deployed on one of The son & heirs home built terrain boards.

And the second battalion. Unfortunately this battalion has come under a little pressure - see the two casualty figures - and the officer corps in particularly has suffered. While the battalion sorts its leadership woes a mounted ADC has been sent to lead the battalion.

Some might cynically suggest that someone has become a little fatigued seeing the same mounted officer leading their Polish battalions - Front Rank Figurines only have one Polish Mounted Infantry Officer and it with no variants. Such perceptive if uncharitable thoughts do them little honour!  😇

Bad sausages in the second battalion?

Brigade: General de brigade Zoltowski

Dombrowski's infantry was supplied by General de brigade Zoltowski's brigade ...

               ●︎ 1/2nd Line Infantry Regiment

               ● 2/2nd Line Infantry Regiment

               ● 1/4th Line Infantry Regiment

               ● 2/4th Line Infantry Regiment

               ● 5th(?) Foot Battery

General de brigade Zoltowski needs to take a look over there ... and quickly.

As a General de brigade he really should have black feathers adorning his bicorne as the white feathers are the preserve of a General de division. For now he is being allowed to keep the white plumage as it really is quite fetching.

... and two wear the uniforms of the regiments from which they were recently pressed - the 10th Hussars and the 4th Mounted Chasseurs ...

1st Horse Battery

The cavalrymen of the 18th Light Cavalry Brigade are blessed with the support of the Polish 1st Horse Battery.

A little uniformology: initially the men of the Polish horse artillery wore the distinctive czapka as their headgear. This was changed in 1810 to be the light cavalry style fur colpack.

The men are from Front Rank Figurines. As per the foot artillery range the Front Rank range of Polish Horse Artillery is a little restricted in having a mere 6 figures available. This makes the choreography of the crew for the two gun crews a bit of a challenge.  The requirement is to have two distinct crews who are both coherent in their posed activity. von Peter himself is thankful that he models the battery with 2 cannon only.

The crew man M1808 6pdr. French cannon as supplied by Cale Miniatures.

The brigade as of January 2023. with a couple of additional ADCs floating around. One battalion to go.

4th Uhlan Regiment

In 1813 the 4th Mounted Chasseur Regiment was reconfigured as the 4th Uhlan Regiment. Lances were issued but their mounted chasseur uniforms remained unchanged until later in the year when uhlan styled uniforms were issued. This change did not extend to the regiment’s shabraques however which remained as the green edged crimson mounted chasseur stye.

French cavalry Line Lancer In Czapska figures from Front Rank Figurines were selected as a match for the 4th's uhlan style uniform.

The eagle eyed will have spotted that the regiments lances are bereft of pennons. Hopefully GMB Designs will be producing the required pennons to be affixed once available.