French Revolutionary Wargames 1789-1802: Paris Volunteers 1792

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, 11 September 2012

Paris Volunteers 1792

Here is my latest French volunteer battalion. The Paris Volunteers wore distinctive brown coats faced with red, some authorities listing buff. Like many light infantry units they carried hangers. I have given the unit a Paris national guard flag and based them in column formation. Most of my French are not expected to exchange vollies with the enemy.

2 comments:

James Fisher20 October 2012 at 23:19
A fine looking unit and wonderful backdrop. Great pics in your previous post about the Low Countries wargame too, thanks!

It's great to see a blog dedicated to the Revolutionary Wars. Do you have any other game reports to post? I'd am particularly interested in any games based on historical battles.

James
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MGB31 October 2012 at 11:38
Thanks James for the kind comments. I hope soon to raise more volunteer, legion, and levee battalions. British amphibious operations are also planned. Will leave Napoleon in Italy for others to wargame. May try my hand at Quiberon 1795 as I have an interest in the Emigres.
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