We now have Victrix’s new plastic Napoleonic French guns for sale and there are some special deals to be had. Keep reading…
One of the most potent weapons in Napoleon’s arsenal was his artillery. Throughout the Seven Years’ War, artillery had expanded across Europe – however, the French favoured the tactic of using speed and mobility to outmaneuver the enemy, so developed the Gribeauval guns, developed between 1765 and 1774, including 12-, 8-, 6- and 4-pounders with 6- and 8-inch howitzers.
The Gribeauval guns were named after Lieutenant General Jean Baptiste Vaquette de Gribeauval – the French Artillery Officer who pioneered the new technology. He had invented a new method of manufacturing gun barrels – casting them in one piece before drilling-out the bore – making a considerably lighter gun than those of any other country. As an example, British 12pdrs weighed 3,150lbs – whereas the French equivalent weighed 2,174lbs. The lighter guns provided the French with a much more flexible and maneuverable artillery which – when paired with the huge amount of mortars, furnace bombs, grape and canister shots of the French army – provided Napoleon with a devastating amount of fire support.
This new Victrix set contains three guns – a choice of 8pdr or 12 pdr guns from the Gribeauval system, and 15 crew figures with a choice of Bicornes to represent artillery from 1804 to 1806 or covered and uncovered Shakos for line artillery from 1806 to 1812.
Also included are Guard artillery bearskin heads and arms with fringed epaulettes to represent Imperial Guard foot artillery.
Le Grande Batterie
We’ve also put together a huge bundle to represent the massed guns of the French ‘Grande Batterie’ – a tactic employed by the French in which they’d gather all of their available guns into one huge battery so’s to concentrate their firepower to devastating effect!
This bundle contains 3 packs of the new Victrix French Artillery – giving you nine guns! We couldn’t stop there, so we’re throwing-in a mounted French Officer from our ‘Mounted Napoleonic French Infantry Colonels‘ pack ABSOLUTELY FREE!
French cannons were considered to be ‘standards’ of the artillery companies – losing a cannon was considered as serious as losing an eagle. Gun crews would fight to the last man to defend their cannons. They were equipped with a number of different ammunition types, including both grapeshot and canister for anti-personnel situations. Grapeshot came in the form of over-sized musket balls wrapped around a wooden spigot and covered with cloth and canvas – whereas Canister was a can packed with musket balls. Both came apart upon discharge, effectively turning the cannon into a huge shotgun… and upon occasion, gunners were known to load two charges of Canister for greater effect – giving absolutely devastating effect against men and horses.
Favored targets were enemy troop formations – they’d rarely engage in counter-battery fire (engaging the enemy’s artillery,) unless the enemy artillery was dealing particularly devastating damage to friendly units – in which case, they’d focus their fire upon the enemy guns to eliminate the threat – knocking them out, gun-by-gun.
Of course – the artillery is all well-and-good, but at the core of any Napoleonic force, you’ll need blocks of troops – and our French Line Infantry are ready and waiting by the Regiment-load!
…and if you’re looking to represent Reserve Guard Artillery, they’d make the perfect accompaniment to our recently released Old Guard Grenadiers!
