Finished the first regiment of Swiss to join my French. They do look cool in the red.
Was wondering: What other regiments you have in with your French to give them some flair either visually or otherwise?
Swiss for the French
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Blathergut
- Field Marshal - Elefant
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deadtorius
- Field Marshal - Me 410A
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Re: Swiss for the French
I keep telling you to check out Perry Miniatures Confederation of the Rhine troops. you get some very distinctive looking uniforms with them.
of course they don't speak French so anytime you try to move them or give them an order it should be a CMT....
of course they don't speak French so anytime you try to move them or give them an order it should be a CMT....
Re: Swiss for the French
Neapolitans: the Velites a Cheval (green) , Garde d Honneur (pink and white) and Ligne Infantry (white with yellow, green and orange facings)
Wurzbergen Artillery: brown uniforms make a good contrast with the blue French
Hussars (of course) !
Wurzbergen Artillery: brown uniforms make a good contrast with the blue French
Hussars (of course) !
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deadtorius
- Field Marshal - Me 410A
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Re: Swiss for the French
I believe Neapolitans had the most elaborate uniforms in all the French army, and had a reputation for being some of the worst troops as well. Good suggestion, I need more poor conscripts out there
Re: Swiss for the French
Yes indeed. History mirrored in FoGN for sure with the 33eme Divisione de Napoli !!
My own Neapolitans have featured in a series of army-mix experiments throughout the past year. Initially I bought the 33eme Division as just the 3 small poor conscript Line Infantry units along with the average drilled Wurzbergen artillery as a cheap allied division that got me out of having to buy any French conscripts (and therefore allowed me more focus on how the rest of the divisions operated togther). It had the major benefit of also providing for a better colour mix than the French bleu. Then I got briefly (and successfully) led astray by the Andrew-Hunter-inspired 2 large French conscript units each with an artillery attachment (supported by a small 'vanilla' French conscript unit) as front-line combat troops and dropped the Neapolitan Division altogther.
After some badgering by other players about how truly great "guard" were, I started including the Neapolitan Garde d'Honneur LC into the 33eme Divisione as a trial followed by then also including the Neapolitan Velites a'Cheval LC. The main benefit is that you can provide for all the compulsories in the 1812 French list in the one allied mixed division (apart from a unit of light infantry and a unit of veteran/drilled line); thus, the 33eme Neapolitan allied division makes for a cost effective additon into an army mix. (The two army mixes I have posted on other threads - the grand battery and the panzer division - both feature the Neapolitan division.)
Then I started on experimenting with including 1 or both units of Swiss just for their red coats - initially as superior drilled, but latterly as average veteran, and always with an artillery attachment (mostly for defensive concerns). These I try and split between two French Divisions if using both so as to maximise the potential for generals to join them for combat re-rolls.
Have the Neapolitans worked ? Not really, IMHO. Quite apart from any other qualities, the Garde d'Honneur uniforms also nicely match my luggage. But in gaming terms the poor conscript line infantry are really not much more than a speed bump for any opposing units - there is no point in tooling them up with attachments, and why use them in the front-line when the French conscripts are better at it and actually moderately effective. 60 points is a lot to spend on luggage (LoC) guards. The poor drilled Velites LC are hard to use effectively cos they really aren't front-line troops either, though potentially make a useful 'skirmish' screen on one flank. And, while the Garde have cool-as uniforms, they really have failed to be truly useful on the attack. To be fair to all those "guards are far too effective" advocates out there (you know who you are
), the Garde really are great as a 'blocker' on the edge of any main attack - as guard they are hard for an opponent to bust quickly, and they do keep bouncing back. But, as poor drilled, they also don't rally that well, nor dish out much harm.
So, on balance, I would say that the 33eme Divisione de Napoli allows for a better mix in the rest of your army selection, but not a whole lot in terms of game effectiveness (which is exactly what you'd expect given their cheap points costs). But, as has been poined out, the Neapolitans do have pretty uniforms and standards, and they aint in bleu !! Sadly, this is possibly the bestest recommendation for including them .
The Swiss are a whole other story - generally they end up at the pointed-end of my attacks, and while they have had some very bad bloodied noses, they have more often dished out the same and contributed to good results. And they aint in bleu either !
My own Neapolitans have featured in a series of army-mix experiments throughout the past year. Initially I bought the 33eme Division as just the 3 small poor conscript Line Infantry units along with the average drilled Wurzbergen artillery as a cheap allied division that got me out of having to buy any French conscripts (and therefore allowed me more focus on how the rest of the divisions operated togther). It had the major benefit of also providing for a better colour mix than the French bleu. Then I got briefly (and successfully) led astray by the Andrew-Hunter-inspired 2 large French conscript units each with an artillery attachment (supported by a small 'vanilla' French conscript unit) as front-line combat troops and dropped the Neapolitan Division altogther.
After some badgering by other players about how truly great "guard" were, I started including the Neapolitan Garde d'Honneur LC into the 33eme Divisione as a trial followed by then also including the Neapolitan Velites a'Cheval LC. The main benefit is that you can provide for all the compulsories in the 1812 French list in the one allied mixed division (apart from a unit of light infantry and a unit of veteran/drilled line); thus, the 33eme Neapolitan allied division makes for a cost effective additon into an army mix. (The two army mixes I have posted on other threads - the grand battery and the panzer division - both feature the Neapolitan division.)
Then I started on experimenting with including 1 or both units of Swiss just for their red coats - initially as superior drilled, but latterly as average veteran, and always with an artillery attachment (mostly for defensive concerns). These I try and split between two French Divisions if using both so as to maximise the potential for generals to join them for combat re-rolls.
Have the Neapolitans worked ? Not really, IMHO. Quite apart from any other qualities, the Garde d'Honneur uniforms also nicely match my luggage. But in gaming terms the poor conscript line infantry are really not much more than a speed bump for any opposing units - there is no point in tooling them up with attachments, and why use them in the front-line when the French conscripts are better at it and actually moderately effective. 60 points is a lot to spend on luggage (LoC) guards. The poor drilled Velites LC are hard to use effectively cos they really aren't front-line troops either, though potentially make a useful 'skirmish' screen on one flank. And, while the Garde have cool-as uniforms, they really have failed to be truly useful on the attack. To be fair to all those "guards are far too effective" advocates out there (you know who you are
), the Garde really are great as a 'blocker' on the edge of any main attack - as guard they are hard for an opponent to bust quickly, and they do keep bouncing back. But, as poor drilled, they also don't rally that well, nor dish out much harm. So, on balance, I would say that the 33eme Divisione de Napoli allows for a better mix in the rest of your army selection, but not a whole lot in terms of game effectiveness (which is exactly what you'd expect given their cheap points costs). But, as has been poined out, the Neapolitans do have pretty uniforms and standards, and they aint in bleu !! Sadly, this is possibly the bestest recommendation for including them
. The Swiss are a whole other story - generally they end up at the pointed-end of my attacks, and while they have had some very bad bloodied noses, they have more often dished out the same and contributed to good results. And they aint in bleu either !