French Cavalry in the WSS for BLB

simon boulton · Post by **simon boulton** » Sat Apr 17, 2010 1:25 am

Hi there, I've got a question about representing French cavalry regts in the WSS for the BLB rules.

Having looked at a few OOB's, my understanding is that most French 'line' cavalry regts had either 2 or 3 squadrons. C S Grants book has the organisation as 12 companies of 35 men in three squadrons, that would give a squadron strength of 140 men. Prseumably thats paper strength.

So, would a 2 squadron regt be represented in BLB as one 6 figure unit? Would seem about right given that a squadron would be 4 figures at 1:35 and a 2 squadron regt 8 figures, would then account for loss of men, horses, escorts etc

I guess its all personal choice at the end of the day but would be interested in what other people thought and also if I've got things wrong. My current thinking is to represent 2 squadron regts as 6 figures and for 3 squadron regts, to have 12 figures in 2 6 figure squadrons.
Best wishes, Simon

Captain of Dragoons · Post by **Captain of Dragoons** » Sat Apr 17, 2010 2:46 pm

In the French Army cavalry sqns and rgts could be different sizes. The companys of the Masion du roy were double size. The gendarmie had eight sqns, etc.

Ref the ratios. In BLB sqns have six figures to pleased the eye. It would look strange if a two or three figure sqn charged an 18 men infantry battalion. Same concept as the pike stand. The figures do not add to the total strenght of the rgt but affects their fire modifiers, etc.

cheers
Edward

flick40 · Post by **flick40** » Sat Apr 17, 2010 4:13 pm

I see where you are coming from but its all a question of realism vs playability. Of course players can do what they see fit if all agree.

Captain of Dragoons · Post by **Captain of Dragoons** » Sat Apr 17, 2010 9:35 pm

I agree flick. To each his own. Just explaining the reason why.

simon boulton · Post by **simon boulton** » Sun Apr 18, 2010 8:56 am

Many thanks for your replies gentleman. Sounds like theres no problem with my thinking then.

Following my post I found an OOB for Blenhiem that had the strengths for the individual units. For some of the French cavalry regiments, a 6 figure BLB squadron for the whole regiment would be generous, lol.

Post by **barr7430** » Mon Apr 19, 2010 3:20 pm

Guys,

I have referred to this before in a couple of posts and I also think there is a referecne to it in BLB..

Take the '2 squadron regiments' (200- 250 real blokes)... create a BLB squadron... marry it up with two similar sized units and call it a brigade. I use the term brigade in the context of gaming not the literal military meaning. It therefore operates as a 2 or 3 sqn BLB unit but is composed of a few smaller sized units. Perfectly legit as long as it is discussed beforehand.
Think, you could have 3 different standards in the same unit!!

simon boulton · Post by **simon boulton** » Mon Apr 19, 2010 7:04 pm

Thanks for your reply Barry. Just wanted to check I was on the right track.

Started painting a French Dragoon regt of Front Rank figures over the weekend and it makes a nice change from painting Napoleonic units at 1:20, is pleasing how much more progress you can make with the smaller units and the easier uniforms,

Churchill · Post by **Churchill** » Mon Apr 19, 2010 7:58 pm

simon boulton · Post by **simon boulton** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 2:55 pm

Hi Ray, many thanks for your reply. Would be interesting to compare your numbers to the OOB I saw online. Silly's brigade looks quite interesting and is a good example of the very low numbers in some of the French cavalry regts, Simon

Silly's Brigade

Marquis de Silly
Regiment de Orleans (three squadrons, 165 men)
Regiment de Montreval (two squadrons, 110 men)
Regiment de St. Pouanges (two squadrons, 100 men)
Regiment de Ligonday (two squadrons, 100 men)

hwiccee · Post by **hwiccee** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 7:50 pm

Simon,

Could you put a link to the online OOB you found?

Thanks

Churchill · Post by **Churchill** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 9:13 pm

simon boulton · Post by **simon boulton** » Wed Apr 21, 2010 8:29 am

Will sort out the link to the oob but I'm using mobile at the moment and can't cut and paste.

Ray, many thanks for the info. Is it worth joining the Pike and shot society if my main interest is the WSS? I have seen some of their books at shows, very nice but expensive I seem to recall.

What interested me about the oob I found was that it had the unit numbers. whilst a squadron in BLB is 6 figures that doesn't directly equate to an historical squadron. Six figures at 1:35 is 210 men. Assuming there is some accuracy about the strengths listed then that is double the strength of the entire regiment for some French cavalry units at Blenheim.

It's all a matter of personal choice and best not to worry about too much. I will have a look at doing Silly's brigade as 4 units of 6 figures each as I'm building a generic French army but if I was specifically doing Blenheim then it looks like the whole brigade would be 2 or 3 units of 6 figures, depending on there being 4 or 5 regts in the brigade.
Best wishes, Simon

simon boulton · Post by **simon boulton** » Sat Apr 24, 2010 9:29 am

Heres the link to the OOB that I found with the unit strengths for the French horse. Unfortuantely the source is only given as a copy of strategy and tactics magazine.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blenheim_order_of_battle

Marechal de France · Post by **Marechal de France** » Fri Apr 01, 2011 4:16 pm

Back to the French cavalry.
I now have 15 squadrons and am expanding to aother 7; and can probably still expand on the infantry:cavalry ratio in these rules as per 1:2.
I will have 16 Horse and 6 Dragoons. I am thinking that I will need a few more dragoons to complete the current ones and have enough fire power when one of the regiments dismount.

The 16 Horse (will) have 3 squadrons of Maison du Roi and 3 squadrons of Elite cavalry; perhaps a bit heavy, but simply to compensate for the worse dice rolls scoring only on 4,5 and 6's compared to Dutch and English cavalry.

flick40 · Post by **flick40** » Fri Apr 01, 2011 5:54 pm

simply to compensate for the worse dice rolls scoring only on 4,5 and 6's compared to Dutch and English cavalry.

BLB2 will simplify the combat process, all hit on 4,5 or 6 but the math used to get the # of die has changed.

Sounds like you guys are having an arms race over there. You dont have to field every figure on every game

BLB2 will also have some sample armies you can refer to when challenging your opponent.

Joe

French Cavalry in the WSS for BLB

French Cavalry in the WSS for BLB

French Cavalry Regiments at Blenheim.

French Cavalry Regiments at Blenheim.