French 1870-1871 Zouave Regiment Completed

This past weekend I completed the 3rd and last battalion for my French 1870-1871 Zouave Regiment de Marche for the 15th Corps of the Army of the Loire.  After the fall of Sedan and Metz with the loss of the last original field armies, the French were forced to raise troops as quickly as they could.  Part of this reestablishment of the French field armies was combining depot units into 'ad hoc' regiments known as "regiments de marche" or march regiments.  These 'ad hoc' regiments did much of the heavy fighting against the various German forces covering the siege of Paris.

With the loss of the four regular Zouave regiments, their depots were combed and new recruits added to form one regiment de marche which was assigned to the Army of the Loire.  In my French force, it is part of the 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, 15th Corps.  It, as are all my Franco-German War forces, organized in accordance with Larry Brom's "Chassepot and Needlegun" rules.

Please click on the photographs for larger images.

 And here is the 3rd Battalion, Zouave Regiment de March deployed in battle formation.

The figures are all Askari Miniatures French Zouaves from the French Army of Africa range.

 Here is the battalion "command" stand that shows the battalion sergeant carrying a tri-color field guidon.  The three blue dots on the rear of the stand designate that this is the third battalion of the Zouave regiment.  All of my French and German are distinctively marked so the players will know which unit is in which command.

And the entire regiment with the 1st Battalion in the center, the 2nd Battalion to camera right, and the 3rd Battalion to camera left.  The mounted colonel is between the 1st and 3rd Battalions.  All figures are Askari Miniatures except the colonel, which is a Falcon mounted officer.

And here is the entire 1st Division in their storage boxes.

 The 1st Brigade with the Regiment Legion Entrangere to camera right, the Tirailleur Algerien Regiment de Marche to camera left, and the combined chasseur battalion and one of the light artillery batteries at camera top.  The two regimental colonels are in the center.

The 2nd Brigade with the Toulon Regiment des Marins to camera right, the Zouave Regiment de Marche to camera left, and the other light artillery battery, the two brigade command groups, and the Mitrailleuse battery at camera top.  The two regimental colonels are in the center.

Because of the size of the base, the division command group is in a different box with the corps command group, the 2nd Division command group, and other corps level troops.

Now that the 1st Division is complete I can move on to my next project -- more WW2 German  and British infantry to battle in northwest Europe.

Turcos Are Completed!!

Finally this past weekend I completed my Regiment Tirailleurs Algerien (or Turcos) for my 1870-1871 Republican French army.  The Turcos were North African native troops (primarily Algerian) recruited into the French Army of Africa during the middle part of the 19th century.  They were very tough fighters.

There were three regiments in the Imperial French Army during the early part of the war but most of them were killed or captured at either Sedan or Metz.  During the Republican phase a 'regiment de marche' of Turcos was established from the various depot companies and survivors of the earlier fighting.  This regiment is what I'm representing.  The figures are Askari Miniatures from Al's 'French Army of Africa' line.  They are very well sculpted figures and were fairly easy to paint.  They are based for Larry Brom's "Chassepot and Needlegun" Franco-German War rules.

The 3rd Battalion, Tirailleurs Algerien (minus a battalion guidon)

They joined their previously painted 1st and 2nd Battalions to form the complete regiment.

From left - 2nd Battalion, regimental commander, 1st Battalion, and 3rd Battalion

The regiment forms the 1st Brigade, 1st Division, 15th Corps, Army of the Loire (my Republican French corps) along with the Regiment Legion Entrangere (French Foreign legion) and a composite chasseur battalion.

As a note, the French African forces also included Tirailleurs Senegalais but they weren't involved in the Franco-German War, staying in west Africa.

The French Attack!

In a Franco-Prussian War battle last year between remnants of the mighty French army and the Prussian invaders, my composite French regiment saw action. Based for Larry Brom's Chassepot and Needlegun rules, this regiment has battlions of Tirailleurs Algerien, Zouaves, and Naval Infantry. The Tirailleurs and Zouaves are from Askari Miniatures and the Naval Infantry are Old Glory Boxer Rebellion French sailors. I converted one of the sailors and one of the Zouaves into flag bearers. The mounted officer is a Colonial French commander from Askari Miniatures.

Unfortunately they didn't fare very well in the battle, a report of which can be accessed here: www.angelfire.com/games3/jacksongamer/fpwar04.htm