"French Line Chasseur a Cheval Help" Topic

Hello All,
Earlier this week I won an auction on eBay for 30 French line chasseur. I have 26x IFC1a Chasseur at rest with sword (wearing the shako) and 2x IFC03 + 04 Chasseur Officer and Trumpeter (again in shako).

So I have 30 figures, and I'm looking to use them with General de Brigade (1:20 figure ratio). Any suggestions as to what, if any, figures I should buy to give me a "correct" unit?

I'm thinking 8 figure squadrons, so a pack of the elite company figures (IFC05a) for the first squadron plus two more officer packs for the third and fourth squadrons? Or would this be overkill on the officer front?

If I went for the additional officers this would leave me with 6 "spare" chasseur at rest – so another officer pack would mean I'd have the first squadron of the next regiment.

Any thoughts?

My French cavalry regiments for GdB are 25 strong in four squadrons of six, each of two bases of three, plus the CO. This means that I have a company on each base. Therefore you need three 'compagnie d'elite' figures. In the rest of the regiment there are two officers and a command base of a sergeant major, a trumpeter and eagle bearer. The latter may be left out as many French light cavalry regiments did not take their eagles on campaign. I like to keep the CO as a separate figure as with my infantry battalions. In the end it is ‘each to his own', but I find that this makes a pleasing mix and close to the historical proportions.

Depending on the year and theatre, the strengths of French cavalry units varied somewhat massively. Why not pick a unit from a particular year and represent it (strength, number of squadrons present)? The Nafziger OOBs are great for this. I have several chasseur regiments, all with different strengths as they are based on an historical formation.

If you want to go for a generic unit, then either 24 or 32 figures in four squadrons would be ideal.

I always think 4 x 6 figure regts are right for French LC regts, so for 24 you would have a three figure elite company, your two cmd figures and 19 ordinary troopers. I generally have only two sets of cmd figures for a regt of this size. My cuirassier regts at 32 will have an officer and buglers for each squadron.

John

I am with Baxterj.

I do not game GdB,but I am an old CLS gamer from years ago.But most of the above post are really helpful as to 1-20 organization. 4 squadrons of 6 figs each on bases of 3 figs each.When I gamed CLS ,the 2nd company of the 1st squadron had the officer,trumpeter,and a regular trooper.
So…to fill out your first regiment you will need 3 elite trooper figs.
If you are doing a 2nd regiment …you will need 3 elite troopers and 14 regular troopers.

Good luck and happy gameing.

Tim