French Revolutionary Wargames 1789-1802: Legion du Midi

Wargame Rules, Ratios, etc

RAISING MINIATURE ARMIES FOR THE LATE 18TH CENTURY

I am very keen to keep my wargame rules as simple as possible, yet capture the character of the 1790s. Morale dominates the games as the opposing sides are very different. Most of the French troops are 'levee' battalions, which I have chosen to base in column as their ability to change formation on a battlefield must have been limited, nor do I believe their volley fire had any great value. Of better quality, able to change formation, will be white-coated regular and blue-coated volunteer battalions, aided by a fair number of skirmishers. The British, Austrian, Dutch and German armies are often outnumbered, but they maintain the discipline and order of typical 18th century armed forces. Interestingly, French revolutionary cavalry have little in common with their later Napoleonic counterparts, the former are few in number, often poorly mounted, and no match for those in the service of the Allies. All figures are 28mm in scale, using a 1=25 ratio.

Tuesday, 21 November 2017

Legion du Midi c.1792 takes the field

Having raised a small battalion of chasseurs some time ago, I've finally completed two squadrons of light horse for the Legion du Midi. These are my own castings, and their lighter blue uniforms add a lot of colour to the French Revolutionary Army.
MGB

Friday, 19 December 2014

Legion du Midi 1792

I finally got round to painting up another light battalion. This unit, not to be confused with another raised in the Napoleonic wars which took the same name, was formed in April 1792 from volunteers of Cette, Narbonne, Nimes and Perpignam. It appears to have had only a brief existence, serving in the Vendee war. The general view of historians is that the unit was issued a blue uniform in a lighter shade, and it makes an attractive unit on the wargame table. Its establishment was set at eighteen companies of light infantry and four more of horse but I'm unsure whether it ever achieved that strength so one small battalion will suffice for now.

The flag is taken from a contemporary print of a guillotine execution, carried by bluecoats, without wording, I thought it could serve for this unit. MGB