The Century
Composed of six Musketeers, six Pikemen, one Officer, one Ensign, two NCOs and one Gunner with an Amusette.
The Regiment
Summary
The breakdown given above has the basic combat formations shown, in approximately the correct ratios. I have slightly increased the numbers of Legere and Mounted Troops (by one figure each) to give a more balanced split to the force and to get closer to the 'half' company sizeA full Legion would have four of the above Regiments plus one General, one ADC, one Legion Standard Bearer, the Artillery and a few engineers etc.
How does this look as a scale version of the force listed yesterday?
4 comments:
I feel the scaled down approach is indeed a way forward and has sound design /visual appeal in its favour. I like the coloured diagram you have made it pleases the eye and gives a good sense of the unit upon the table. The pavaises weere a good thing to drop I feel too. Keep up the good work !
Alan
Certainly this looks good and promising!
What rules do you intend to use? Maybe the very Old School rules of 'The War Game' where each model soldier is (at least in hand-to-hand) treated as an 'individual' (as in 'skirmish' rules) would be handy for dealing with the diversity of such an unit?
This would also present a formidable cluster on the table top against a more traditional foe too, would it not?
:)
A
At 64 close-order infantrymen in the ranks (attached Legere and Cavalry are to be counted separately), your regiment is still within the usual limits of ‘Old School’ Big Battalions. With another representational scale such as 1 = 15 or 1 = 20 you probably could not reflect the interactions between the various types as described by de Saxe –having, I guess, to converge the Legere and Cavalry in units in their own at Legion level.
Then many sets use different representational scales for figures and models, e.g. 1 model soldier = 20 ‘real’ men and 1 model gun = 5 ‘real’ pieces. Thus it would not be surprising, wargame-wise, to have only 4 amusettes models in the Legion.
Regarding uniform colors: the only 2 constant indications in the plates is 1°- that the turban of the helmet is of the distinguishing color (taking black as the distinguishing color of the Heavy Horse, without facings but covered in blackened armour) and 2°- the (off-?) white of the legionary ‘coat’. As for facings colors (de Saxe introduced with his ‘Volontaires’ a system of color-coding of subunits still used –though the correspondances are different- in the French Army) the numbering of the legion appears on the subunit flags, meaning that these are of the subunit’s, not legion’s, distinguishing color. The basic unit being the regiment, with Legere and Cavalry part of it, each regiment would have its own facing color, worn identically by the ‘heavily armed’ legionaries, Legere, cavalry, amusette crew, staff… May be the legion staff, artillery, engineers, train… would have each a facing color of its own?
Maybe purely ornemental, but what about a mounted kettledrummer as part of the Legion staff?
Legere could probably be covered by the ‘skirmishers ansd support’ rules of Napoleonic sets? Given that according to de Saxe they are to remain close to their ‘heavy’ infantry brethen, legionary cavalrymen could be covered by similar rules, with perhaps a chance to go in ‘uncontrolled advance’ when pursuing?
In the H&M sets I know skirmishers and support remain a single unit for reaction / morale purposes. A regiment of 80+ would be very tough and hard-wearing – consistent with de Saxe’s prediction that the enemy would find it extremely hard to break. An advantage fairly balanced by the decreased flexibility – an overall lower total of units = ‘CiC’s playing pieces’. So much the more as, with half of the close order infantrymen ‘double armed’, your line infantry will be, all other factors equal, ‘more expensive’ (points wise) than that of the opponent (shades of WRG ancient-Medieval 4th -> 6th Ed.!). ‘Accurate’, de Saxe expected his Legions to be outnumbered.
Regarding the legionary cavalry, how do you ‘see’ them? I cannot claim to have scutinized every line of the Reveries, but I did not see any description. A personal suggestion could be: clothes as the infantry (they are part of the legion, and even the regiment), maybe with front turnbacks as riders; boots as Dragoons, leathers, equipment, weapons as Dragoons; (same half-pike as the infantry? to have them more different from Dragoons [a sentence states that Dragoons would use their lances as pikes when dismounting, but –just as with the infantry pavaise- these lances are not illustrated and are mentioned in no other sentence: the Reveries lacked a final checking / editing?] – it would also fit with the two roles of the legionary cavalry, to be deployed just behind the lines to counter any breakthrough, and later to follow fleeing enemies to keep them routing); and of course the peculiar simplified saddle and bit-less briddle described by de Saxe.
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