Without doubt, Napoleon Bonaparte is one of the most recognisable figures in the historical wargaming world. He is often studied by military historians, but also well known to the general public. His achievements were remarkable, inspiring over a hundred biographies of his life and military career. He has also been portrayed in dozens of films and TV series.
The big question for me was how to successfully portray such an important figure on the front cover of the magazine. A scene with just French Revolutionary infantry or cavalry by themselves simply wouldn’t do. The front cover needed to be iconic, and include the great man himself. Napoleon needed to appear in miniature, and he needed to be front and centre.
Looking around, I first considered a command scene with Napoleon and his aides de camp. But I rejected this idea as it was a little too static. Ideally, we wanted motion. There were several times in his early career when Napoleon put his reputation and his life on the line. At Toulon in 1793, he led his troops forward and scaled Fort Mulgrave, capturing it. On the 13 Vendémiaire, 1795, he successfully turned a Royalist mob from attacking the Tuileries Palace with cannon and grapeshot. At Arcola in 1796, he (supposedly) grabbed the standard of his reluctant troops and led them across a bridge to attack the town. There are two famous paintings depicting this scene, La Bataille du Pont d'Arcole by Horace Vernet and Bonaparte at the Pont d’Arcole by Antoine-Jean Gros.
In their Revolutionary Wars range, Eureka Miniatures has two suitable Napoleon models, one with him aiming a cannon and one showing him leading the charge at Arcola. While a row of cannon model would have been good, it would not have been so clear that it was Napoleon himself aiming the cannon. So, I settled on Arcola, with Vernet and Gros’ paintings as my guide. The next issue was what flag I would use, as a different flag seems to be shown in each depiction. I opted for the flag of the 4th Demi-Brigade, one of the major units that took part in the fighting.
Eureka Miniatures kindly provided Napoleon, the French infantry, and the casualties. Flags of War sent me the flags I needed. While Eureka do make a suitable bridge model as well, I decided to fashion my own. This allowed me to make the bridge larger, and made it easier for me to add my own touches, such as damage from the bitter fighting.
There was a bit of delay in receiving the models from Australia and the flags from the UK; I live in Spain and the customs can often be slow. However, the miniatures arrived in good time. The flags were a bit slower than I would have liked, but they did show up in the nick of time.
I always enjoy making dioramas for the cover of Wargames, Soldiers and Strategy. I hope you enjoy the results of this one - I certainly had fun creating it. WS&S
This article was featured in Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy Magazine 128. Discover this issue, and others, in our webshop:
