French :)

[Patrius]

Hi all 😀

Am new to this so maybe i have a strange question but here it comes.

Just wonder how to distinguish unit of Voltaire or grenadier by the rules, from french line infantry( they have all the models(Voltaire(yellow)-fusilier 1-4(Green,blue,pink,purple) and right flank grenadier(red)) as shown on the box). For example. In my army i want to har 2 units om line inf. and one light inf. voltaire. How to assamble them?? Do i paint the two units of line in the same colour (green and blue) with no pompoms and the light inf yellow with pompoms???
Hpoe you guys understand??? 🙂

Yours Pat.

[Mike]

Confusing question…In Black Powder you really only have “light” infantry and “line” infantry or in some cases converged light infantry or Grenadiers. Converged units would be comprised of companies wearing the uniform of the unit they were derived from.

Uniforms vary somewhat over time, but generally light infantry have solid blue uniforms and line infantry have blue jackets with white trousers (paste reference below into your browser to see distinctions).

In addition, each company within the battalion had different color “pom poms”, so if you are painting your individual companies and aggregating them into battalions, then you should differentiate the line companies with dark green, sky blue, golden yellow, and violet. The grenadiers would have red and the light company yellow over green or just green.

http://www.napoleon-series.org/images/military/organization/frenchspan5b.jpg

[invisible officer]

Blue trousers are for the Regiments legers, not the Voltigeurs of regiments de Ligne. They wore the same style of the Fusiliers. So in theory White, on campaign often local replacement stuff.

A good gaming trick is to give the elite Grenadiers and Voltigeur White (Best Dress) and the Fusiliers a mix of Browns and Greys.

Ligne Grenadiers and voltigurs had the big fringed epaulettes, fusiliers just the small ones. Red for Grenadiers and green / yellow for Voltigeurs.

In 1812 the plumes and shako Cords had been abolished. For all but Senior officers. Typical for French army they got still used by other ranks if the Colonel liked it and could get them.

The ball pompom was White for lower officers and Senior NCO. Red for Grenadiers, yellow for Voltigeurs.

1st + 4th Company in each fusiliers battalion was dark green, sky blue, aurore (=orange pink) and violet.

Officially there was no battlion mark but many used padded cloth discs on the ball with a White centre , showing the battalion number.

Ligne Grenadiers normally served away from the parent Regiment, formed into an ad hoc Grenadier battalion.

[Patrius]

Hi again 🙂

Let me refine my question.
because the unit in BP is about 6 squers( 4 om each)
At this pic. the fist unit is hisorical.
The second is line
the third is light inf
the 4 is granaders??
Can i paint them like this??? or would it be totaly wrong historical???

• This reply was modified 4 years, 8 months ago by Patrius.

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[Patrius]

huge thank but i still dont under stand…..
pic 1. line inf
pic 2. granadiers?

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[Charge The Guns]

Hi Patrius

Let me have a crack at this. It may appear confusing at first, but you’ll soon get to grips with it.

In Black Powder the unit we play with on the wargames table is called a battalion. A French line battalion is made up of six companies. Four of these companies are made up ordinary line infantry (and these were called fusiliers in the French army). Each of these ordinary companies would have a different pom-pom colour. One of the remaining companies would be a light infantry company, called a Voltigeur company. The other would be the Grenadier company. The Voltigeur and Grenadier companies had slightly fancier uniforms than the other companies. Epaulets and shako plumes mainly.

Now, the French also had battalions that we’re all Light Infantry. These also had six companies. Four of these were ordinary ‘light’ infantry. Then a company of light-light infantry, and a company of light-grenadier infantry. (All of these types had different names, but let’s not confuse things too much to start with!)

There were not battalions of just grenadiers in the French army. Instead, sometimes when there were a whole bunch of line battalions in a force the commander might take the grenadier companies from each battalion and group them together. This meant you had a bunch of five company battalions, and a temporary group (temporary battalion) made up of grenadier companies.

I’ll pause there to check you’re ok with that so far? (Note that each nationality did things slightly differently, so each has their own way of forming battalions etc. )

[invisible officer]

For a historical unit you can use the miniatures on your pic as model.

You see the epaulettes with fringes that I mentioned above on the shoulders of the coats of the Voltigeurs ( Light ) and the Grenadiers.

Miniatures with these can not be painted as Fusiliers

• This reply was modified 4 years, 8 months ago by invisible officer.

[Patrius]

Hi again 🙂

At the End of the tunnel I could start to see the light 😀
I know how to assemble line inf. and how to paint it 🙂
The q is how do i paint the light inf. and what models do i use?
And how to paint the Grenadiers 🙂
I image the the veterans could have just more fancy coats, like all bright grey with maybe with all black shakos(hat covers).

Yours
Pat.

• This reply was modified 4 years, 8 months ago by Patrius.

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[Patrius]

Hi Dear siR Charge the Gunz 🙂

yes Rodger 🙂 Got it.
But how to see the difference between the light and the very light in a battalion 🙂

Yours Pat.

[invisible officer]

Hi Pat, I guess you use a translation program? So part of the text get strange. From what language?

“But how to see the difference between the light and the very light in a battalion ”

. In a ligne battalion you had a single Company of Voltigeurs.

In a legere battalion the word light light was used by Charge the guns as simplification. The legere Regiment Grenadier was named Crabinier and the Voltigeur a Voltigeur-
The light Regiment fusilier was a Chasseur.

In fact the tactical difference between ligne and legere regiments had faded away post 1806. So the Napoleonic legere “light light” Voltigeur Company was no super light infantry.

For choosing the miniature for Grenadier and ligne rgt Voltigeurs I can only repeat, look at the epaulettes, they had fringes. So the coat was really more fancy. But the Basic coat was as bad as the fusilier one. The men wore Grey, Brown, White or other local obtained Colors.

In theory the ordinary fusilier or chasseur was no longer to wear the small sabre briquet but many regiments ignored the order.
But Voltigeur and Grenadier / Carabinier EVER wore it.

[Patrius]

Hi all again.

what rose the question was that the spures to light and line was exactly the same…. I mean light should have more lite the brit 95th form, bit crouched and spred formation… right???
No how do i paint them??? the ligt i mean…
Should all have the same colours?? green and yellow??

Yours
Patryk

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[invisible officer]

Hi P.
the French light infantry was not like the 95 th rifles. It was more like the Light infantry.
No rifles and the skirmishing was not done from cover or prone.

Most of the battalion men stayed in line.

Difference was that the British and French Light used a musket that was slightly shorter than line one. But if they had not been available they used line ones. The French in 1814 even Cavalry carbines until the losses could be replaced.
————–

Are the sprues exactly the same? The line one has men with and without fringed epulettes. Red and green on my pic.
The packs with sabre are for the Grenadiers and Voltigeurs.

The light box sprue should include other metal staff, a cornet, no Drummer. But I don’t have it so I can only guess.

(My own French full metal are from another company, bought before Warlord even started napoleonics)

• This reply was modified 4 years, 8 months ago by invisible officer.

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[invisible officer]

If you want to paint Infanterie legere from the light box they all had blue trousers, But with coats invisible.

All the ones from Line box had White trousers, including the Grenadiers and fusiliers. Or replacements in other Colors, like Grey or Brown.

Give the the elite Grenadiers and Voltigeurs the shako with visible Cords and plumes in red or yellow/green and use for line fusiliers the covered ones.
With the Chasseurs of the legere you might use the gaudy ones too.

[Charge The Guns]

Great advice IO 👍🏻

[Author]

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