Uploaded November 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago

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Bavaria was an absolutely vital ally to French interests during the Napoleonic period. Instrumental in victories at Wagram and Austerlitz, and a useful buffer for Napoleon against Austrian aggression on his eastern borders, Bavaria's army would be absolutely savaged during the disastrous invasion of Russia, losing almost 30,000 men as part of that ill-fated campaign. As a result, Bavarian commitment to the French cause faltered... and they'd break entirely with France, switching sides just eight days before the Battle of Leipzig.

Piano Wargames' incredible range of French, Austrian, and a whole host of German nations can be found on their main site: pianowargames.de

Find the book mentioned at the start of the video here: amazon.de/-/en/Bavarian-Army-1806-1813-Peter-Bunde/dp/3938447990

00:00 - Intro
00:59 - Book Suggestion
02:20 - Basecoats
11:58 - Shading
13:37 - Highlights & Finishing Touches
17:05 - The Finished Bavarians


Thanks to Producer Patrons Alan, Kyrie, Andrew, Rod, Phil, Ben, Robison, David Kinney, Fred, Fool in a Hat, and Chris - as well as all the other Patrons that made this video possible, and Exit23 Games for recording equipment that helps keep the channel ticking over! Find out more at the following links:
patreon.com/sonicsledgehammer
https://bsky.app/profile/sonicsledgehammer.bsky.social
instagram.com/sonicsledgehammer
ko-fi.com/sonicsledge
http://exit23.games

PAINTS USED

PRIMER: Matt White (Army Painter Spray)

CITADEL:
Cadian Fleshtone (Layer)
Imperial Fist (Contrast)
Blood Angels Red (Contrast)
Gore-Grunta Fur (Contrast)
Basilicanum Grey (Contrast)
Skeleton Horde (Contrast)
Cygor Brown (Contrast)
Liberator Gold (Layer)
Retributor Armour (Base)
Iron Hands Steel (Base)
Kislev Flesh (Layer)
Flayed One Flesh (Layer)

ARMY PAINTER:
Imperial Navy (Fanatic)
Matt White (Fanatic)
Regal Blue (Fanatic)
Ice Yellow (Fanatic)
Pure Red (Fanatic)

VARNISH:
Colour Forge Matt Varnish Spray

THE BASE: Layer of PVA followed by sand, painted first with thinned down Vallejo Brown Sand, then lightly drybrushed with Stone Grey before a very, very light final drybrush of Green Grey (971 - the light one). Add a few tiny dots of PVA and some static grass for a scrubby, mountainous finish.

Marine Juice MkIII/Sonic Tonic:
3 parts Reikland Fleshshade, 3 parts Army Painter Dark Tone, 4 parts Lahmian Medium - for simplicity, this is just a bottle of each. Mix well and apply liberally!

Army Painter Marine Juice/Sonic Tonic:
Equal parts of Speedpaint Medium, Dark Tone, and Warm Skin Shade. Mix well and apply liberally!