"Foreign units in Spanish service - Black Powder stats." Topic

I was looking through, as one does, my copy of Albion Triumphant and could not see any specific note of unit stats for foreign regiments in Spanish service.

I was thinking of the Swiss in particular, but also the "Irish" regiments. To be honest I would have thought that the Irish regiments probably can get away with standard Spanish stats.

For the Swiss would you rate them the same as say Spanish Guards?

For the Irish brigade I use the Spanish Grenadier stats. They've still got the unreliable effect, but lose the wavering one.

Since the "Irish" were mostly Spanish descendants of Irish mercenaries (usually by that time third or greater generation descendants), they should probably be treated just like other Spaniards.

The three Irish regiments had mainly Irish officers and all Spanish men. Could just be classified as Spanish, as suggested. BUT Irlanda (2 batts fighting as one) was one of the 3 battalions (the others two batts of Spanish Guards) that with a total of c 1,800 men in line held up the 5th Corps (some 8,500) at Albuera for at least one hour if not two. They only withdrew in an orderly passage of the lines with their British replacement – Hoghton's brigade? Surely that deserves some recognition that they were not an "average" Spanish unit.

The Swiss were really Swiss, very professional, veterans, and should be rated as good as professional French or German soldiers. Actual battle performance is difficult to judge because they weren't involved in more than a couple. At Baylen they were of course on both sides, with their heart not really in it, particularly as they actually had to fight each other directly. Should have good musketry but maybe not so keen on getting stuck in with the bayonet (opposite of the Spanish line regiments in fact).