Saturday 5 September 2015

Swiss Mobilisation

Der Kriegspielers Swiss Line Infantry
Waiting for Russians!

Der Kriegspielers Swiss Line Infantry
Marching through the Russian forests
The 3rd Swiss are complete and ready to take the field.

Now, I could say lots of seemingly plausible things about how collecting vintage figures makes it next to impossible to reconstruct historic orders of battle, and that armies consisting of an eclectic mix of styles, nationalities and periods are more or less inevitable in a project such as this. However, nobody forced me to paint my DK Swiss as actual Swiss, and I certainly didn't have my arms twisted to paint French chasseurs and Dutch Grenadiers as Swiss either. So let's be honest: it was the spectacle I was after!

Having said that, Napoleon's Swiss regiments provided much more than just bling battalions. Although they had a somewhat mixed record in Spain, including the surrender of a couple of battalions to the Spanish at Baylen in 1808, in Russia they fought like tigers. On several occasions single Swiss regiments more than held their own against entire Russian divisions.

Der Kriegspielers Swiss Line Infantry
Enemy in sight!
As my French have now reached close-order parity with the Prussians, the logical choice for the next unit would be a French skirmisher battalion. However, I still don't have any cavalry. Completing Ian's cavalry has given me a bit more confidence in this area so perhaps the next post should be devoted to thundering hooves and flashing sabres. I'm very tempted to try some hussars, but this may be a little too ambitious!

WM




Der Kriegspielers Swiss Line Infantry
Form Square!

Der Kriegspielers Swiss Line Infantry
The 3rd Swiss will advance!