Ros French Line Infantry

As an occasional project, when the mood takes me, I dig out a battlion of Ros figures and paint or refurbish them.  These figures were last painted in 1975 and were well due a touch up.  I have added tthem to my slowly growing French Ros Figures army:

Well that's six battalions done. Only another 20 or so to do!

Refurbished Minifigs French Infantry

I bought a huge pile of secondhand, poorly painted Minifigs 25mm napoleonics some years back and every once in a while I dig some out and repaint them.  Over the last couple of weeks I have been repainting three French line units.

This is what the figures looked like when purchased:

They needed stripping back and cleaning up. 

Here is the first unit, French Fusiliers:

The second, Line Voltigeurs:

And another Fuslier unit:

And the lot brigaded together:

Just too late for the action at Klingenhofen!

Warrior Miniatures - French Line Infantry

Another French Line unit joins my Peninsular army:

Day 3 - Siege of Sevastopol - 2nd French Assault

The butchers bill from the previous day's fighting amounted to some 3168 French killed, wounded and missing and 1221 Russians.  The French, although dismayed that they did not capture the Mamelon, were encouraged by the French Grenadier Guards who managed to gain entry to the defences. believing that the Russian defenders must be weakened, a further attack today might carry the Russian position.

During the night more Allied troops move up to the forward trenches, the French forces being augmented by additional battalions and some Turkish troops. At dawn the French prepare to attack once more:

They begin with a barrage from the combined French and Turkish artillery and are encouraged when the Russian battery on the Mamelon is hit, losing many gunners:

With the preliminary bombardment completed the infantry assault begins:

Almost immediately the French guards assaulting the battery are hit by salvo after salvo of cannister fire and are completely destroyed. A second French line regiment is cut down by musketry from the walls and is forced back - the attack falters:

However, one of the Turkish units attacking from the right makes it to the wall and engages the Russian infantry:

Unfortunately the Turks are isolated and are quickly forced back next turn. The Mamelon remains in Russian hands:

The allies reorganise themselves, order up some fresh troops and assault the defences once more:

The same Turkish Regiment reaches the walls and batters its way into the Russian defenders, but the other assaulting troops are forced back. The lone Regiment is now in the Mamelon, but totally unsupported:

The result is inevitable and the Turks are destroyed. Once again the Russians control the Mamelon. But, the brave Turks have bought time for the allies, who are able to bring up more assaulting troops:

On the French left a line regiment storms the Russian heavy battery and sweeps it aside. Once more the tricolour is inside the Mamelon defences:

Having destroyed the battery the French push forward, but are met by two Fresh Russian Regiments who force the French out at the point of the bayonet:

 
The allies make a fatal mistake. Another French line regiment forces its way into the Mamelon, but instead of bringing the supporting Turkish regiment with it, it is decided to assault the right hand defences held by a severely weakened Russian unit, this fails and the Turks are mown down as they approach:

Once again an isolated French regiment is in the Mamelon and the Russians quickly counter attack, once again driving out the French:

The cheering Russians watch as the battered remnants of the allied assault make their way back to the home trenches:

The cost is 2112 allied casualties to 561 Russians.  The allied commanders confer and feel that just one more assault should carry the feature; so during the night the French and Turkish guns are resupplied and two fresh Sardinian regiments take their place in the line. The Russians roll a better resupply score this time around and are able to resupply the guns and bring up a fresh infantry regiment into the Malakoff; however, they no longer have any guns left in the Mamelon.

Day 2 - Siege of Sevastopol - The French Assault

Having conferred during the night Lord Raglan and French commander General Pelissier agreed that the French should have a go at assaulting the Mamelon. Accordingly all supplies and action points would be allocated to this attack. 

At 9am four French regiments rise out of the forward trenches and advanced towards the Russian position.  

Immediately the light infantry on the left come under fire from the 32 pdrs up on the Mamelon. They waver under the hail of shot and pull back to the safety of the trenches. However, the Zouaves, Algerians and a French line regiment continue on, but soon another French unit is forced back.

The Zouaves reach the wall and begin to break in causing some Russian casualties.  Then the Russians counter attack. The Zouaves are all but wiped out and in the next turn all of the French pull back towards the safety of their own lines. 

The French are severely bruised, but they have destroyed one Russian regiment and damaged another.

The French artillery begins to bombard the Mamelon, this time aiming for the Russian infantry, causing more casualties. A second French assault is also unsuccessful and two of the French units are destroyed.

French reserves move, including a Guard Regiment and reorganise themselves for another assault.

  The Russian take advantage of the lull and move up more infantry into the Mamelon, just in time to receive the second French assault.  This time the French have a little more success, although one of the French line regiments is destroyed by a mix of artillery and musket fire.

The French guard and a line regiment reach the defences and storm into the Mamelon, sending a Russian regiment to destruction:

  however the other French units are not so successful and are forced back.  The Guards are now on their own inside the Mamelon.

The Russians immediately counter attack and the French Guard are overwhelmed and destroyed.  The Mamelon is now back in Russian hands.

The two remaining French regiments, which includes the battered Algerians, rally and once more charge up against the defences. 

They are met with a hail of musket balls and canister from the guns up on the Malakoff. The French attack fails and the remnants of six battalions limp back to the French lines:

As night falls the allied commanders confer and decide to try again in the morning. Once again the allies throw a strong 9 for resupply. During darkness they will bring up fresh troops for the morning assault and have sufficient to replenish the guns. The Russians again are not so lucky, throwing just two. They decide to use all their points to resupply the guns on the Mamelon and Malakoff defences.

Peninsular Warriors - French Line Infantry

The first of a production line of French line infantry.  In order to distinguish the various units I have used company colours on the plumes, so, the first Battalion will be green over white, the second light blue, the third orange and the fourth violet. Inaccurate I know, but it seemed a good system. If I decide to reorganise them in the future I can simply mix and match the stands to make up a battalion.

Here we have the second battalion of my first French Division:

Peninsular Warriors 3 - Warrior Miniatures 25mm Napoleonic French Voltigeurs

I bought these figures unpainted on ebay for £2 - they needed a good home. I am pleased with the way they look after a spot of paint has been applied. The ebay lot included four Hinchliffe French and a Warrior Cuirassier. The mounted general in the picture is from my original 1980s collection:

More French Line Infantry - this time from B&B

I bought these figures off Ebay many months back, largely for the artillery crew in the same lot and have been slowly working my way through them. They are really Franco Prussian war troops but looking at contemporary pictures it seems that the kepi was widely worn in the Crimea in preference to the shako, so they do not look out of place. They are manufactured by B&B Miniatures and I have to say that I really like the detail and animation.

Scruby - French Chasseurs a Pied

Another French unit marches out of the paint shop. This time it is a battalion of French light infantry - Chasseurs a Pied. The figures are 25mm Scruby, from Historifigs in the USA. Like their line infantry cousins they are beautiful castings and fun to paint. I am awaiting the next batch, which includes some command figures, grenadier guards and artillery.

The French forces are slowly taking shape:

More French Line Infantry from Minifigs

Slowly building up the number of French battalions, the latest to come out of the paint shop are some French line infantry. They are from Old John and were originally that highly versatile Minifigs S Range American Civil War US Marine figure. The uniform is very close to the early Crimean War French dress and, for a change, they are in light order, with no back pack or blanket roll. I think they look OK.

Scruby French Line Infantry

These figures are the first of a batch of Scruby French infantry that I have been painting for a few weeks. Production was halted for a while as I needed to find some paints to replace the faulty Humbrol gloss that I was have such problems with. I am using a mix of Testors, Revell and Tamiya, which seem to do the trick.

These figures from Historifigs are superb, with very clean castings and sharp detail. My only concern is that the uniforms appear wrong for the Crimean War. I am no expert on French uniforms, but these figures appear to be dressed in the 1860 pattern uniform, and of course the Crimean War ended in 1856. That said they look nice when completed and were fun to paint and will join the ranks of the growing French forces.