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Author Topic: Napoleonic French - Gendarmerie à Pied ?  (Read 3169 times)

Offline Engel

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Napoleonic French - Gendarmerie à Pied ?
« on: July 13, 2012, 10:55:00 PM »
I found some nice Napoleonic miniatures that have taken a grip on me. French Napoleonic Gendarmerie à Pied from Capitan Miniatures.
https://shop.capitanminiatures.com/categories/28mm-napoleonic/french-gendarmerie-a-pied

But to my question: How should I play with them? Should I use them in line formation or skirmish formation? What type of “special rules” would be fitting to separate them from regular infantry? Where they especially good or bad at something that could translate to a fun characteristic in a table top game?
I use Black Powder for my Napoleonic games but any type of help would be appreciated.

I also noticed that they have a mounted variant. Gendarmerie à Cheval but I think the footslogging variant is the nicest.
https://shop.capitanminiatures.com/categories/28mm-napoleonic/french-gendarmerie-a-cheval
« Last Edit: July 14, 2012, 12:56:35 PM by Engel »

Offline Johan

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Re: Napoleonic French - Gendarmerie à Pied ?
« Reply #1 on: July 14, 2012, 12:10:03 AM »
As I have never heard of them being used as regular infantry they are best used in skirmishes. They would typically be used to round up deserters and as road protection/blokhouse crew.
The gendarmerie a cheval is something else. The ones that were attached to the guard charged with the rest of the heavy guard brigade at least at Waterloo (and maybe somewhere else as well) Again their normal task was rounding up deserters and guarding things.

Offline Arthur

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Re: Napoleonic French - Gendarmerie à Pied ?
« Reply #2 on: July 14, 2012, 03:07:32 AM »
It's actually a little more complicated than that, Johan. The gendarmerie nationale had been set up in 1791 to enforce the law and maintain order within the boundaries of the French republic. Although part of the military, it was essentially a police force whose duties included rounding up vagrants and arresting brigands and highwaymen, enforcing the conscription laws and the new forest codes (which made the force remarkably unpopular in rural areas), maintaining order on market days, etc. These gendarmes (both foot and mounted) were always used as internal security troops and were not involved in military operations proper.

The Gendarmerie d'Espagne was a different animal altogether, although it shared many characteristics with the gendarmerie nationale. It was set up in January 1810 for service in Spain and originally intended to fulfill much the same role as in France. However, it quickly evolved into an anti-guerilla force, a role for which the gendarmes were much better suited than line infantrymen or cavalry troopers. So besides protecting convoys, rounding up deserters and generally maintaining order, they also chased guerrilla bands around and frequently gave them a hard time. 20 squadrons of gendarmerie d'Espagne were organised in 1810, each consisting of 80 mounted and 120 foot gendarmes. These squadrons were later re-organised in six regional legions, with the balance between the foot and mounted contingents being altered to better suit local conditions. The number of horsemen was reduced in the legions operating in hilly or mountainous areas, where infantrymen would move faster and more discreetly than cavalrymen, and increased in the units serving in the plains - the Burgos legion was almost entirely mounted for instance. However, foot and mounted gendarmes would still serve together within the same legions and were not organised in separate entities - merely separate mounted squadrons troops and foot companies.

As far as rating them is concerned, the men of the gendarmerie d'Espagne were a tough bunch. Recruits were army regulars who  had to be veterans of at least four campaigns and they were well inured to the hardships of campaigning in rough terrain. They could fight as hard and as dirty as the guerrillas they were chasing, for which they were greatly respected, even by their enemies. You should therefore consider them elites, or at least seasoned veterans, and they would be distinguished from line troops by their ability to skirmish efficiently. Perhaps rating them as elite voltigeurs is the best way to accurately depict these troops.

Given the nature of their duties, foot gendarmes would operate in relatively small units and are therefore best suited for skirmish games as Johan says. They were never formed into infantry battalions as they were not intended for use in pitched battles, although small detachments could be found in French vanguards or forlorn hopes. The number of men within a tactical unit of foot gendarmes would be dictated by the mission they had to fulfill, so could be anything between 20 and one hundred men depending on the job to be done. On the tabletop, they're best used fighting Spanish guerrilas, which is what they were doing most of the time in real life.

The mounted contingent of the Gendarmerie d'Espagne could be used in larger numbers though, and they sometimes fought very effectively as regular cavalry : along with the 15th chasseurs à cheval et Berg lancers, four squadrons of mounted gendarmes charged at the battle of Villodrigo in 1812, where they routed ten squadrons of British cavalry and inflicted heavy casualties on them .      
« Last Edit: July 14, 2012, 03:10:40 AM by Arthur »

Offline Johan

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Re: Napoleonic French - Gendarmerie à Pied ?
« Reply #3 on: July 14, 2012, 07:14:22 AM »
Thanks Arthur, gives me new ideas for troops for SDS again.
BTW, For SDS (Song of Drums and Shakos) I even have douaniers (customs personel) to fight against smugglers together with some coastal artillery. Nice to paint and use in a skirmish.

Offline Engel

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Re: Napoleonic French - Gendarmerie à Pied ?
« Reply #4 on: July 14, 2012, 12:43:52 PM »
Wow thanks guys. :-*
There’s one of the reasons I love this forum...
I guess I just have to get me some of those miniatures now…



Edit: "..thank you for order..."  :)
« Last Edit: July 14, 2012, 01:35:20 PM by Engel »

Offline bishop2k7

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Re: Napoleonic French - Gendarmerie à Pied ?
« Reply #5 on: April 11, 2023, 02:50:55 PM »
Hello,

Sorry for resurrecting an old thread, but I was wondering if anyone knows of some 28mm model ranges that include some Gendarmerie d'Espagne? I'm looking for some to support my French Sharp Practice forces.

My current figures are mostly Perry, and I see they make some Gendarme d'Elite, but I'm assuming that is not the same thing (but might do in absence of anything else?).

I've also found some figures labeled Gendarmes in bicorne hats at Eagle Figures, but they apparently only have one pose for mounted and one pose for foot (which would be annoying in a skirmish game I think).

Are there any others out there?

Thanks for your help!

Offline Romark

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Re: Napoleonic French - Gendarmerie à Pied ?
« Reply #6 on: April 11, 2023, 03:36:53 PM »
Brigade Games has several packs of foot Gendarmerie,would they be suitable? :)


Offline bishop2k7

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Re: Napoleonic French - Gendarmerie à Pied ?
« Reply #7 on: April 11, 2023, 03:51:37 PM »
Brigade Games has several packs of foot Gendarmerie,would they be suitable? :)

Oh yeah, thank you. I have seen those, but I would really like some mounted ones as well.

Offline bluewillow

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Re: Napoleonic French - Gendarmerie à Pied ?
« Reply #8 on: April 12, 2023, 04:45:23 AM »
Lots of Gendarmes à pied actions in the Vendee and Chouan actions from the revolution until the 1815. The unpopular salt tax also seen lots of action between Brittany and Maine/Anjou border.

Cheers
Matt

Offline Aethelflaeda was framed

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Re: Napoleonic French - Gendarmerie à Pied ?
« Reply #9 on: April 13, 2023, 07:22:23 PM »
Oh yeah, thank you. I have seen those, but I would really like some mounted ones as well.

These are Brigade figs. I wonder if the mounted would be uniformed differently?
Mick

aka Mick the Metalsmith
www.michaelhaymanjewelry.com

Margate and New Orleans

 

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