Despite the panic to get something finished for the Jewel Of July challenge, I have been working away steadily on my Paraguayan War project. Last year I’d set myself a target of getting 120 figures finished by July this year, which meant I needed to paint 50-ish figures this year – doesn’t sound much, but they’ve had to be fitted in around quite a few tanks that have also been finished this year.
Just narrowly missing the June-it challenge was my first Paraguayan War cavalry unit, consisting of six Newline Designs 20mm ACW figures in slouch hats. Since the Osprey Men-At-Arms book on the war shows a Paraguayan regular cavalryman in a straw hat, I decided to represent this unit similarly attired and ACW cavalry in slouch hats are just right. I couldn’t really modify the boots and stirrups to make them less obvious, so just tried to paint them as unobtrusively as possible.
The plan had also been to finish an Argentine cavalry unit, but when it looked like I wouldn’t get this done in time I opted to finish an extra five generic Allied infantrymen in white uniforms (and I think these are Imex plastic ACW figures). I also managed to get four generic Allied gunners and a 12 pounder field gun finished, these also being Imex figures.
Since I had a spare Imex field gun I decided to mount it on a base to represent it being drawn behind an ox cart.
The ox cart is by Irregular Miniatures, although I made a plain, flat cargo platform for it so that it can carry crates, bales or barrels. I’ve had a couple of ox carts for years and they’re useful for any 19th century army. Since horses were usually in short supply during the Paraguayan War, oxen were used to draw guns and wagons. I stuck the gun onto a card base and built up a worn track surface from Milliput, fixing the gun at the right angle for its towing eye to rest on the cart. For horse-drawn guns I usually leave room on the base behind the limber to place a gun model to show it being towed, but the ox cart bases are too short for this.
So, after a quick count I’ve now finished 124 models for this project (120 figures and four guns), which I’m really pleased about! Hopefully the next post on this will show them all and list what’s going to get done next, tanks and other challenges permitting!
Just Needs Varnish! 
It’s one thing to achieve the numbers and another to do so with quality work. You’ve done both which is brilliant. Ì reckon you must now have an army bigger than the real Paraguayans had some I’m keen to see what you get up to next!
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Thanks Dave, that’s much appreciated! I need to check up on this, but I have a feeling that Paraguay had the largest army in the region at the start if the war! It’ll probably come as no surprise to you to learn that I’ve added some extra units into the plan since it was first considered!
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Well however many they had I reckon you’ve gone one for one! If you maintain that ratio with your armies you’re going to need a whole lot more storage space!
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Oh no! The dreaded “S” word!
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Looking GOOD man, good job!
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Thank you! Glad you like them!
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The straw hats really suit the models and as always they look good. The ox drawn cart with the cannon is quality. Did you also scratch build the fortifications or buy them?
On a side note (and it’s a bit of a tangent, sorry), I’ve only just noted that red and white scheme matches the strip the Peruvian football team wore at the World Cup. I’ll admit that it probably has no relevance at all!
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Thank you! It was a change to be able to do something different from the usual shakos and the straw hats look a lot brighter! I think the fortifications were from the Mainly Military 25mm scenery range, which I think Caliver Books in the UK stock – I just added them to card bases and built them up a bit!
And tangents are fine! You’ve probably succeeded in adding the only football fact that’s likely to get onto these pages, so well done!
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1-2-4 models?! Are you sure you didn’t leave out a decimal somewheres?! 😉
Nice work on these. The soldiers are cool, and I find all the other terrain and side bits pretty interesting. Out of curiosity is there a game purpose for being able to put crates, barrels, or bales on the cart? I’m assuming that you’re swapping these items out.
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I do realise I need to get a complete shot of all my Paraguayan War figures posted for you! It’s on my “to do” list and it’ll be ready as soon as I can photoshop it 😉
Thank you for the kind comments! I use the crates and barrels for when I need to represent a supply unit, but I can leave them off when I use the ox cart to haul guns or heavy mortars.
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Ah ok, that makes sense. On the crates and barrels. Camera parlor tricks, that’s another story! 😉
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Great work mate they’re great. I dig the straw hats
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Thanks IRO! Can we maybe look forward to seeing someone from your many factions wearing a straw hat?
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Ummm look there’s nothing wrong with a bit of hope I guess.
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Great job again mate ,love the IMEX guys ,used them on my ACW dio and they blended in well with the other makers lads .
I just love the way you have painted the cannon ,I feel I might have to try a little harder the next time I have to paint some.
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Thanks Pat! I must admit, I like the Imex figures! The cannon had awkward flash lines that I couldn’t remove unfortunately, so will have to live with them! I paint the trails mid-grey and line the odd detail in black-grey, whereas I reverse that for the wheels and only pick out the edges of the spokes in the lighter colour – this makes it a bit easier and looks OK I think (it would appear South American gun carriages were usually grey). As a rule I don’t like painting artillery, ’cause you can see every detail on them!
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JNV these are stunning, and I do appreciate the background on the war and the oxen, new to me. I agree with backtothehammer on the gun emplacements, really stunning.
So, what drew you to this obscure conflict? Certainly your work has been superb here.
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Thanks for your kind comments Mark! I originally did the gun emplacement and the gabions back in 2016 for mid-19th century games, but they come in handy for lots of things!
I first read about the Paraguayan War in a series of articles in Wargames Illustrated in the 90s and was just hooked on all the different aspects of it. It’s a bit of a David versus Goliath conflict (although Goliath wins) but it’s got colourful uniforms, mass battles, skirmishes, sieges, varied terrain, rivers and ironclad warships – what’s not to like!
I did have a go then at starting armies for it, but gave up! Then Wargames Foundry brought out an excellent book on the conflict and that’s been followed by a couple of good books on the armies with colour plates on the uniforms. But although I’ve still had to convert my Paraguayan troops, there are now a lot of ACW figures available that are suitable in 20mm/1:72 to represent all of the armies reasonably accurately.
So this is me now 120-ish figures down the line and I’ve enjoyed doing them! More still to come!
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