Compagnie franches de la marine for FIW - Batch 1

 

The next step in my French and Indian War project, unsurprisingly, is some French. These gentlemen reek of garlic cutting… wait, my mistake, that was meant to be Gallic cunning.

Either way, they're the first group of light infantry skirmishers for Sharp Practice, representing a portion of a Compagnie de la Marine.

Now, I don't speak French, and am probably not the best equipped to explain the history of these troops, but they're essentially crown-raised colonial troops under the umbrella of the French navy (hence marine). I don't think referring to them as marines is technically accurate, they aren't typically ship-borne, but I suspect I will in the interests of brevity.

These men would have, to the best of my knowledge, been trained to fight in the traditional European style and issued fine uniforms, but frequently ditched or modified both the clothing and tactics to better fit the North American style of warfare. Until French regulars arrived in 1756, these men, native allies, and the Canadian militias were the entirety of New France's military force.

They would have been better trained than militia, and usually were under Canadian officers with largely French-born enlisted men, from what I read. It can sometimes be hard to tell in original accounts if references to regular troops include these troops or not. But militia isn't an accurate term, I don't think.

These figures are from Warlord's boxed set, metal miniatures made by Conquest Miniatures. They're great figures. Fun to paint, with a good bit of detail while still lending themselves to being very paint-able. They're pretty casually dressed compared to some illustrations of these troops I've seen, but they make good skirmish troops. I left some traces of the standard white-and-blue French uniform in, mostly with the forage caps. From what I've read, a lot of these forage caps and even hooded coats would be made from worn-out uniforms, and could be any number of patterns.

I shot for a slightly off-white, as the French uniforms are supposed to be more undyed wool than pure cloth, but I think in these photos they look a little too white. Oh well, I'm pleased enough with them.

These men, and the company as a whole when they're painted, are led by Capitaine Adrien Grenier, a son of a wealthy Canadian family. He's a diligent student of warfare, and despite the jeers of his peers, has taken lengths to adopt the native way of woodland warfare. He still retains his officer's coat, cocked hat, and gorget, but has swapped his sword for a musket. He cuts a dashing silhouette, though the minxy mademoiselles of Montreal will tell you he's too single-minded about his military duties to return their affections.

Here, Capitaine Grenier's men go a-raiding with Hardheart's Huron. One wonders if the two leaders will end up in a pointing and shouting match.

I've been rather busy with work lately, but expect more FIW content coming soon. However, I have also been buying up some more WWII miniatures from eBay lately, who have mostly gone directly into the pile of shame. But don't worry, they'll see paint sooner than later, I hope.

EDIT - Well, these French lads managed to get on the table this Sunday in a learning game of Sharp Practice, and they did very well under young Capitaine Grenier.

The seven of them caught a tribe of 12  Mohawk warriors off guard as they tried to reposition, pouring well-drilled fire on them as they retreated causing massive shock before they moved in for the kill with tomahawks drawn. They won a close combat against superior numbers and drove the Mohawk from the table for the loss of just one marine, thanks to all the shock and attacking from the rear. Then they joined Hardheart's warband to take the fight to the enemy.