"French Musketeers on the March Review" Topic

"Throughout history, the sight of an army on the march was likely to install dread in any population, even if the troops were their own. Armies always need considerable logistical support, primarily just to feed the men and horses, and this often meant obtaining what was required on the line of march, whether paid for at fair prices or ‘requisitioned' from the unfortunate locals. The first decade of the 18th century saw a great increase in the size of armies, when armies of 100,000 or more were not unknown, more than twice the size of most armies in the previous century. The French used pre-prepared dumps of supplies to help service these enormous forces, but the poor condition of Europe's roads meant progress was often very slow, particularly in bad weather, and the experience of marching must have been fairly miserable for most troops. Nevertheless it was usually unavoidable, and so we have this set depicting that experience for the poor infantry of the Sun King as he struggled, at least nominally, for the future of the Spanish throne.

In the early 18th century the term ‘musket' in French specifically meant a matchlock, which as musketeers is of course what all these men are carrying. The advantages of the flintlock had long been recognised everywhere, and matchlocks were being phased out in France when war broke out, but the time and cost required meant they remained in use until around 1708, so while not the most common weapon for the period, they were in use for the early years and so are appropriate here. The match-lock mechanism is clearly sculpted, but the length of the weapons is around the 17mm or 18mm mark, which gives them a scale overall length of 130cm. In fact French muskets were about 145cm in length, so those here are too short – not quite as obviously too short as in the Strelets set of French Musketeers Firing, but still an inaccuracy which would be very hard to resolve. The overall impression is, however, helped by the fact that many of the poses here have a socket bayonet attached, making the discrepancy in length less apparent…"

Full Review here
link

Amicalement
Armand

Very nice figures. I like the Strelets style.

Can anyone comment on the length of the spontoons, pikes, "kurz gewehre," and such? They seem too short.

GdeP

The review itself states that these are too short, in the case of the sergeants' halberds by about a metre. Similar adverse criticism is made of the colours and – less immediately obvious – the muskets.
These reviews are, to my mind, consistently thorough and informative, so always good to find a new one posted. Good Luck.

Happy you like them my friend! (smile)

Amicalement
Armand

"Forget the length. Look at the quality already" :P

(smile)

Amicalement
Armand

Never mind the quality… feel the width!