Carlist Shako: A Carlist War Variant 

Perhaps it should be called "Beret" or "Boina" 

I have few Napoleonic figures - for the Peninsular War of course - so when I use Shako it is for the Carlist Wars, the civil wars in Spain between 1833 and 1872, and in particular the First Carlist War. 

Rules  I use a variation on Shako.  There are some differences to normal Napoleonic wargaming:  The Carlists suffered a shortage of ammunition so relied instead on bayonet charges - similar to Confederates in the American Civil War.  The British Artillery had an advantage over the Spanish artillery in the form of shells that could explode over Carlist positions.  Although Spanish Infantry were trained in forming square when attacked by Cavalry they - particularly the Carlists - were just as inclined to retreat to some some natural or artificial defence and rely on shooting.   Carlist Infantry would have started the war as skirmishers only, but later would have the option of fighting formed.   Cristino Infantry would have started the war fighting formed and only later had the option to fighting as skirmishers.   In general the authorities make a big deal of the differing flexibility of the various infantry.  Carlists and Cristino volunteers were the most flexible, then other Spanish units, then the British Auxiliary Legion and finally the stolid British Regulars.

Armies 

I'm in the process of building the My Cristino and Carlists Armies for the Oriamendi Campaign.  This involves both the British Auxiliary Legion and the French Foreign Legion, plus a good cross section of Spanish troops.   

Roland Davis painted my armies - and fantastic they are too - and Wayne Turner converted the figures (berets and belly boxes). You can have a look at some of the figures here: 

1. Carlist Infantry
2. Carlist Cavalry, Generals, and Artillery 
3. Cristinos - Infantry, Cavalry, Generals and Artillery
4. British - Infantry, Cavalry, Generals, Artillery 
5. New Gallery - anything relatively recent 

I used converted 15 mm ACW and Napoleonic figures for Carlists and primarily Napoleonic figures for Cristinos.  For more details see the Figures page.  Basing is a consistent 30mm frontage. 

My armies are based on the Orders of Battle for the Oriamendi Campaign.  Specifically they cover all the troops mentioned for the Battle of Oriamendi (Hernani), plus some significant extras from supporting forces ... like the Cristino Guard Division and the French Foreign Legion.  

The full list of units is given in the section My Armies.   

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