Greetings. I am looking for information on the various guns used by the French at Waterloo and ways to represent them at 28mm.
Barrels:
My understanding is that the French used four primary barrel types at Waterloo: 6pdr and 12pdr cannon, as well as 5.5" and 6" howitzer.
The 6pdr cannon and the 5.5" howitzer are the standard pairing for all line foot and horse artillery. The 6" howitzer is trickier. From various online source I get the impression that the 6" howitzer was materially larger than the 5.5" howitzer and more akin to the heavy howitzers of other forces (e.g. the 10" howitzer of the Prussians). Is this correct? This is further confused by references to a – I think – *different* 6" howitzer used in earlier times by the French army. Did the Waterloo force only use the "big" 6" howitzer or also the "smaller" 6" howitzer? In online OOBs I typically see the 6" howitzer paired with 12pdr cannon which suggests the "big" version (e.g. Guard reserve artillery). But I also see 6" howitzers mentioned with the Guard horse artillery – paired with 6pdr cannon – which instinctively feels odd for a "heavy" barrel.
Carriage:
My understanding is that by 1815, all of the gun carriages would have converted to the modern XI system. Certainly the 6pdr but is this true for the 12pdr as well? Or would those have still been on the Gribeauval carriage?
Representation:
I am working on a 28mm representation of all units at Waterloo. Anglo-Dutch done, Prussians 2/3 done, and now planning for the French. That means 36 French batteries. I am using one gun figure per section so 3-4 gun figures per battery. I'd appreciate suggestions for 28mm manufacturers who can provide accurate representations for the various barrel/carriage combinations above. Ideally, I would like to incorporate the Victrix plastic kits, but I don't mind buying 100+ metal guns either. My plan would be to use a single manufacturer per gun type and then mix/match crew from different manufacturers. For example, for my Prussians I used Perry guns for the 6pdr guns/7pdr howitzer and Calpe guns for the heavier 12pdr/10" cannon/howitzer systems (then mixing Perry, Calpe, and other manufacturers for crew to get variety).
Any insights would be appreciated. If you want to check out already painted Anglo-Dutch and Prussian guns – and other units – you can find them here:
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