1870 Imperial French Guard Corps

[Bernie]

The Guard is reborn!

A decade ago had a Division of the Guard Infantry and a brigade of the cavalry, but the infantry were not very inspiring and did not have guard gunners.

The 1870 range was revamped a couple of years back with excellent infantry, superb cavalry, properly sized guns and nice gunners in their fur busbies.

Last year decided that the Guard should be reborn, but in its full majesety of the 2 divisions of infantry, large cavalry division and 14 batteries. Selling on the old figures at bring and buys even paid for the new corps!

So see attached link for the recently completed Guard corps.

http://s1213.photobucket.com/albums/cc461/BernardGanley/1870%20French%20Imperial%20Guard/

Next task is to go from the sublime to the ridiculous - a large Republican Corps for the winter campaign of 1870-71

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Those are superb Bernie, dammit, realy good job! Love the painting, well done indeed!
See what the chat about Guard limbers is about now...

Erm, 'The Ill-Fated General Bourbaki' i RECOGNISE him, he's the even more ill faited Napoleon III:

Spot the difference - oh yeah, yours is better painted!


I was just thinking of finishing VI Corps too; I really want to get onto the Guard one day. That does convince me that 'TTLGB' units are too small for my (and Dave & Leon's bank balance's) taste!

[mollinary]

Well done Bernie, it is good to see another TTLGB Guard Corps hit the table!   Love the Carabiniers, was a bit surprised by the artillery. Where do the red trousers come from, I'd always worked on the principle they were blue, like the line?

ML, if I recall correctly, your bases represent a regiment (ie 3 battalions), with 30 figures?   While I understand your preference for the visual appeal, if my calculations are correct you are actually diminishing the fortunes to be passed on to Dave and Leon's heirs and successors! A French regiment in TTLGB would have 3 13 man battalions or 39 figures - a Prussian one would have 3x17 men, or 51 figures. So switch to TTLGB for the sake of the poor waifs yet unborn. You know it makes sense!

Mollinary

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Well done Bernie, it is good to see another TTLGB Guard Corps hit the table!   Love the Carabiniers, was a bit surprised by the artillery. Where do the red trousers come from, I'd always worked on the principle they were blue, like the line?

ML, if I recall correctly, your bases represent a regiment (ie 3 battalions), with 30 figures?   While I understand your preference for the visual appeal, if my calculations are correct you are actually diminishing the fortunes to be passed on to Dave and Leon's heirs and successors! A French regiment in TTLGB would have 3 13 man battalions or 39 figures - a Prussian one would have 3x17 men, or 51 figures. So switch to TTLGB for the sake of the poor waifs yet unborn. You know it makes sense!

Mollinary

I agree, unless the guard are different the Artillery Trousers should be blue, maybe with a stripe (depending on your sources)...
Okay, it's a few figures difference Mollinary, 9 for the French and 21 for the Prussians, it will make a difference over time! But I have got 2 French Corps and 2 Prussian, plus my Wurttenbergers, so I think I've put a fair few pennies into 'The Associated Molder's and Lead Pourer's Benevilent Fund'! 

[mollinary]

Ah but ML, I am further progressed towards megalomania than you, and can therefore claim a larger statue in the Schloss Pengilley's games room.  My French army has six corps and shed load of cavalry, my Germans have two Bavarian corps, one Saxon Corps, the Wurttemberg Field division and six Prussian Corps (with another one coming) and five cavalry divisions.  As my empire spreads the Austrian army is now on the Horizon, and seven more corps will soon reach Bohemia via Sri Lanka.  So, as they say, resistance is futile!   

Typing ceases as he is hauled away with sound of metallic maniacal laughter echoing around his padded cell. But perhaps padded cells don't echo?

Mollinary

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

All i can say is:

[Bernie]

Hi Mad Lemmey

Re painting - if any better than your own stuff then down to Army Painter as all my figures these days are simply block colours and then Army painter for the shading

Hi ML/Mollinary

Re Red trousers on the guard artillery - I have used Sapherson "Armies of 1870" as my source for 1870 and this also helps when doing casualty removal from their line cousins as to which corps suffers a possible loss to morale. I do have references to Guard artillery in Blue trousers in 1854/1859 if that helps.

Bernie
 

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Cool, I bow to your sources! 

[mollinary]

But being a curmudgeonly old so and so, I'll go on fighting!  I'll see your Sapherson with my Nigel Smith, and raise you an Edouard Detaille!  Smith's two part work on the uniforms of the FPW, gives all the artillery of the Guard dark blue trousers, with a red stripe for other ranks and a gold one for officers.  The incomparable Detaille produced a very famous painting in 1890 showing the mounted artillery of the Guard being led into battle at Rezonville by Colonel de Vassoigne.  This also shows the blue trousers described by Smith.   Paintings are not of themselves authoritative, but Detaille has a very high reputation for accuracy.  I' ll keep looking for other sources, and report back.

Cheers,

Mollinary

[Le Manchou]

Very nice!
the Guard lancers were dressed almost like the line during the war and they paid a high price for it at Rezonville/Mars-la-Tour, being confused for uhlans . But I did them like you in white and light blue. The dragoons also lost their green uniforms for blue one but I also kept them in green. Good job!

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

I like your red trousers...
But I also like Dark Blue with stripes...


There's only one way to find out:


FIGHT!

[Bernie]

Rather than Harry Hill rather do it as FPW wargame - Corps on Corps!

[nikharwood]

Very nice Bernie - looking forward to seeing your winter campaign [got a pile of figures for that waiting for my attention at some point!]

[mollinary]

Guys, guys, will you stop posting so quick - I've just lost two posts to the draconian review protocol!   I found one more source to justify my contention, and to help me justify to myself not repainting my guard artillery.   It is on the grosser generalstab website, and is Leinhart and Humbert's Les Uniformes de L'Armee Francaise. Plates 55-77 cover the guard of nappy3, and show only blue trousered artillerymen. So, I am happy to let it lie, with no repainting necessary!

Until we meet on the Field of Honour,

Mollinary

[Le Manchou]

Here is one picture of the guard artillery


http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchdetail.cfm?trg=1&strucID=587726&imageID=1629856&total=41&num=20&parent_id=585363&word=&s=&notword=&d=&c=&f=&k=0&sScope=&sLevel=&sLabel=&lword=&lfield=&imgs=20&pos=25&snum=&e=w