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As promised, we are adding more French foot artillery crew figures to our Wars of the French Revolution range in the shape of gunners in ragged campaign uniforms, as well as infantry gunners for your pre-1798 infantry battalion pieces. Sculpted by Alan Marsh and Kosta Hersitanidis, this release completes all the French foot artillery crew figures collectors of this period should need.
Our range already contains French foot artillery crew figures available in a choice of both loading and firing poses, wearing the regulation (smart) uniform for the period. As with the French infantry, we can now offer these same crew figures in the 'ragged' campaign uniforms so typical of French armies during the campaigns of 1792-1802. Tatty clothing - supplemented with acquired civilian trousers and waistcoats, plus improvised (or missing) footwear, and an assortment of varied head gear characterize these miniatures. You can solely crew your French guns with them, or choose to mix these ragged figures with slightly smarter chaps from the regulation uniform codes - for even greater variety. We should remind customers that the range already includes a foot artillery officer figure, as well as the 4pdr and 8pdr guns with equipment.
We also promised when we announced the first of the French foot artillery that we would add further artillery crew variants - but wearing infantry uniforms. These will allow collectors to crew their infantry battalion guns. It was these guns (light guns assigned in pairs to each of the infantry battalions) that provided French armies with most of their close support firepower during the early campaigns (the slow-moving foot artillery proper often being left behind). Generally the battalion guns were exclusively served by infantrymen picked from the ranks, as opposed to the professional gunners of the foot artillery, and so are uniformed accordingly. Most contemporary observers seem to agree that the battalion guns were of little effective use (except perhaps at close quarters) because of the limited training of their crews, and the battalion guns were ultimately abolished in 1798. However, it was also recognized that just their presence - blasting away in close proximity to their parent infantry formations - played an important role in bolstering the French infantry's fragile and volatile morale during the early years of the Revolutionary Wars. We have now added an extra variant to the existing code (100WFR109) so a complete battalion gun crew can be formed in regulation infantry uniform, plus a new code (100WFR110) making them all available in ragged uniform versions as well. Gunners in infantry uniforms can also be mixed with foot artillery uniformed crews where guns are located in siege lines or behind fortifications. In these situations, under-employed infantry were often assigned to the gun emplacements to provide additional muscle to help work the guns.
It is perhaps also worth mentioning that the uniforms and the equipment of the French foot artillery remained basically unchanged right through the Wars of the Revolution and well into the Imperial Napoleonic period. So these crew figures can be used in French armies as late as 1806-7. Further plans for our French artillery include a 12pdr and a 6-inch howitzer, along with horse artillery crews, and eventually limbers.
Here are the catalogue details for the new miniatures - plus details of our New Release Special Offers:
More 28mm French Foot Artillery c.1792-1802
Sculpted by Alan Marsh & Kosta Heristanidis
Number in parenthesis denotes the number of variants. Variants are supplied randomly - but ordering four/five figures for each code will guarantee one of each variant.
100WFR105 - Foot artilleryman, bicorne, ragged uniform, firing (4)
100WFR107 - Foot artilleryman, bicorne, ragged uniform, loading (4)
100WFR109 - Infantry Battalion gun crew / labourer, regulation uniform (4)
100WFR110 - Infantry Battalion gun crew / labourer, ragged uniform (5)
NEW RELEASE SPECIAL OFFERS
DEAL ONE: The "4pdr battery" on Campaign Deal
A two-gun set of 4pdr cannon and equipment: plus four loading crew and four firing crew to man them - all in ragged French foot artillery uniform, plus an officer. Special price of $48.00 AUD* (normally $53.55 AUD).
DEAL TWO: The "8pdr battery" on Campaign Deal
A two-gun set of 8pdr cannon and equipment: plus four loading crew and four firing crew to man them - all in ragged French foot artillery uniform, plus an officer. Special price of $48.00 AUD* (normally $53.55 AUD).
DEAL THREE: The Battalion Gun Deal
A 4pdr cannon and equipment: plus four infantry crew in regulation uniform to man it. Special price of $23.00 AUD* (normally $25.30 AUD).
DEAL FOUR: The Battalion Gun on Campaign Deal
A 4pdr cannon and equipment: plus five infantry crew in ragged uniform to man it. Special price of $25.00 AUD* (normally $28.25 AUD).
* Excluding postage and 'Goods and Services Tax' payable by Australian customers only
You can also order our new French artillery in the U.S.A. from Eureka Miniatures U.S.A., or the U.K. from Fighting 15s.