Black Powder Epic Battles: Französische Kavallerie

Napoleon lässt in Black Powder Epic Battles aufsatteln.

Black Powder Epic Battles: Waterloo – French Chasseurs à Cheval of the Imperial Guard – 21,00€

Remaining loyal to him even in his exile these men followed Napoleon Bonaparte from Arcola to Waterloo. The Guard Chasseurs à Cheval are fine light cavalrymen, skilled in melee combat and harassing the enemy. Napoleon’s respect for the regiment was clear as he often wore the green undress uniform of the chasseurs.

Amongst the most colourful regiments in Europe, the Guard Chasseurs were more flamboyant and resourceful than their Grenadiers-a-Cheval counterparts but were also less disciplined and on occasion had to be ordered to salute generals or to cease smoking their pipes on escort duty. This earned them the unwanted sobriquet ‚The Spoiled Brats‘.

Meeting the British and King’s German Legion cavalry at Waterloo several of the Chasseurs squadrons rode up close to the Allied lines and challenged their officers to single combat. The British and Germans preferred discretion rather than valour on this occasion…

Contains four bases of cavalry in Warlord Resin including plastic base sprue and flag sheet.

Black Powder Epic Battles: Waterloo – French Empress Dragoons of the Imperial Guard – 21,00€

Named after Napoleon’s first wife, Josàphine de Beauharnais, the Empress Dragoons were alert, vigilant and mounted atop fine horses.

All officers were personally appointed by Napoleon Bonaparte, and the troopers were required to be literate and have at least 10 years in the saddle along with citations for bravery before being accepted into the regiment. The Empress Dragoons habitually plundered the chasseur and dragoon regiments, taking their best NCOs into their ranks. Truly they were an elite force within the already elite French Imperial Guard.

Contains four bases of cavalry in Warlord Resin including plastic base sprue and flag sheet.

Black Powder Epic Battles: Waterloo – French Gendarmes d’elite of the Imperial Guard – 12,00€

Formed in 1801 the elite Gendarmes of the Imperial Guard was formed from a combination of men from heavy cavalry regiments and existing gendarmes. Recruits would have to be at least 5′ 9″ tall, between 25-40 years old, literate and veterans of at least four campaigns.

Riding large black horses, these highly disciplined, somewhat ruthless men were greatly feared by draft-dodgers or other ne-er-do-wells. More often than not the Gendarmes d’elite served as small units compared to other regiments of Imperial Guard cavalry.

Contains two bases of cavalry in Warlord Resin including plastic base sprue and flag sheet.

Black Powder Epic Battles: Waterloo – French Grenadiers à cheval of the Imperial Guard – 21,00€

Utterly devoted to their emperor the Guard Horse Grenadiers were, along with the Polish Lancers of the Imperial Guard the only two regiments of Bonaparte’s Guard undefeated by enemy cavalry in combat.

Entry requirements were strict – a successful candidate must be at least 5′ 8″ tall, have more than 10 years service on a minimum of four campaigns and have citations for bravery. Tall, well built and handsome they were the very epitome of elite heavy cavalry. Known for their haughty demeanour they were known as ‚The Giants‘ or ‚The Gods‘.

As the battle of Waterloo drew to a close and the French army was falling apart in the face of the combined Prussia and British-Allied armies the Horse Grenadiers stood out as exempt from panic. An officer of the British 12th Light Dragoons explains how his regiment advanced upon these giants on big black horses – they „appeared to take but little notice of our advance, when opposite their flank they fired a few pistol or carbine shots. We were … being too weak to make an impression [on them], they literally walked from the field in a most majestic manner.“

Contains four bases of cavalry in Warlord Resin including plastic base sprue and flag sheet.

Black Powder Epic Battles: Waterloo – French Imperial Guard Horse artillery 6-pdr battery – 12,00€

The horse artillery was not just the elite of Napoleon’s Guard Artillery but the creme de la Creme of European artillery in the period. Guard horse artillery can quickly counter enemy threats, able as they are to reposition at the gallop as needed.

France’s foremost historian on the Napoleonic Wars, Commandant Henry Lachouque, writes in his book ‚Anatomy of Glory – Napoleon and his Guard‘, „There was, perhaps, no class of men on the face of Earth, who led a life of more continued exertion, excitement and danger, and who were more enamored of their occupation, than the gunners of Napoleon’s Old Guard. Stalwart and resolute, bodies toughened by years of war, they had every reason to cheer Napoleon. He knew many of them, called them by name. In 1813 before Napoleon’s birthday „the Guard Artillery prepared fireworks which they set off on the Elbe River just under the Emperor’s windows.“

Contains three bases of artillery (3 guns and 4 crew) in Warlord Resin including plastic base sprue and flag sheet.

Black Powder Epic Battles: Waterloo – French Lancers of the Imperial Guard – 21,00€

Proud horsemen primarily recruited from the Dutch and Polish territories the Lancers of the Imperial Guard are both swift and powerful in the charge, equipped as they are with their wicked lances. Superb shock troops with excellent morale they either break their foe with a devastating charge or withdraw to regroup and charge once again.

Devoutly loyal to their emperor, many officers petitioned to serve as humble privates as Bonaparte’s guard when he was exiled to the island of Elba.

Contains four bases of cavalry in Warlord Resin including plastic base sprue and flag sheet.

Black Powder Epic Battles: Waterloo – Napoleon’s Guard Cavalry Bundle – 123,00€

Get all of the new Epic Battles Imperial Guard French cavalry in one convenient bundle. As an added bonus, the Empress Dragoons are free.

Napoleon created the Imperial Guard in 1804, the same year he was crowned Emperor of the French. They grew from humble beginnings to become a mighty instrument of war, a complete army of elite soldiers that acted as the Emperor’s strategic and battlefield reserve. They were, in the main, better paid than the rest of the army and wore a uniform befitting their status as elite units. The Guard contained all the three arms of the army and some of the greatest military units to take to the field of battle.

The Imperial Guard Heavy Cavalry Division consisted of the Grenadiers-à- Cheval, the Empress Dragoons and one company of Gendarmerie d’Elite. The Grenadiers-à-Cheval must have been an impressive sight, tall men on large black horses, nicknamed ‘The Gods’. Both the Dragoons’ and the Grenadiers’ regiments had four squadrons of around 200 men each. These two fine regiments could certainly make a claim to being large, whilst the Gendarmerie d‘Elite, the ‘Immortals’ as they were known. Napoleon’s Guard cavalry, like his Old Guard infantry, were probably the best around.

The Imperial Guard Light Cavalry Division, meanwhile, consisted of the chasseurs-à-cheval and the 2nd Chevaux-Légers Lancers. Each regiment had five squadrons, although the 1st squadron of the 2nd Lancers was in fact the 1st Elba Squadron of Polish Lancers. Again, the strength of each of these regiments was quite formidable, the chasseurs having nearly 1,200 men whilst the Lancers were just shy of 900 troopers all ranks.

There were thirteen batteries of Guard artillery split between the Old Guard Foot Artillery, Old Guard Horse Artillery and the Marine Foot Artillery. The Old Guard Artillery consisted of three batteries of six 12-pounders and two 6 inch howitzers each, the guns known as Napoleon’s ‘Beautiful Daughters’. The Old Guard Horse Artillery had four batteries, each battery having four 6-pounders and two 5.5 inch howitzers. A battery was attached to each of the Guard cavalry regiments. The Marine Foot Artillery had four batteries, with the same mix of cannon as the horse batteries. The Middle and Young Guard received two batteries each.

Full Bundle Contents:

• Four Bases of French Chasseurs à Cheval of the Imperial Guard
• Four Bases of French Grenadiers à cheval of the Imperial Guard
• Four Bases of French Lancers of the Imperial Guard
• Two Bases of French Gendarmes d’elite of the Imperial Guard
• Twelve Bases of French Imperial Guard Horse artillery 6-pdr batteries

And the following for free:

• Four Bases of French Empress Dragoons of the Imperial Guard

Quelle: Warlord Games