Artiglieria a Piedi della Guardia Imperiale delle Guerre Napoleoniche, 1808–1815

Recensione dei Figurini ESCI in Scala 1:72

Artiglieria pesante e medio a piedi di linea francese. The 12-pdr guns e their cannonieri are conversions of ESCI artiglieria a piedi della Guardia Imperiale. The 6-pdr guns in the foreground are pieces austriaci della Guerra dei Sette Anni (Revell), ed i cannonieri sono soldatini dell’artiglieria francese di Airfix, painted straight from the box. Each gun is mounted on a 1.5" by 3" artiglieria battalion stand compatibile con regolamento di wargame Volley & Bayonet. Large figure stands like these become mini dioramas on the wargame table.

Contenuto

16 cannonieri in 4 pose – 24 mm pari a 173 cm di altezza

No. 1 NCO con Telescope (4)
No. 2 spongeman (4)
No. 3 caricatore (4)
No. 5 firer (4)

12-pdr gun (2)
6-inch howitzer (2)
Ammunition

Valutazione

Excellent choice of subject. These cannonieri potrebbero essere facilmente convertiti to represent artiglieria a piedi of the same period, including artiglieria a piedi e della Guardia of many nations allied to Francia. Only the selection of artiglieria pesante pieces limits the versatility of this set.
Nice Detail. Buttons, trim e facial features are clearly visible, ed easy to paint. Some extra equipaggiamento would have been a nice addition to this set. The gunners must have dropped their knapsacks near the gun, e placed the muskets on them. This kind of detail belongs in a diorama of the battery.
Useful historic poses. The crew may be shown in firing pose, in which case No. 2 would be standing at attention.
Good casting quality. No flash, e minimal mould lines.

The ratio of guns to howitzers is disappointing. Batterie francesi typically had six guns ed only due howitzers, but the box includes due of each. There is so much room on a sprue, why can’t manufacturers add a few spare barrels e give modellers more choice in such matters!? Artiglieria di linea francese was equipped con 8-pdr guns o captured 6-pdrs. To raise medium artiglieria batteries, use guns from other figure sets, particularly the 6-pdr guns from Revell’s Artiglieria Austriaca della Guerra dei Sette Anni.
Gunner No. 4, the ventsman, is not included in the set. This man had the important job of stopping the vent while No. 2 rammed the charge home. If the vent was not closed during ramming, air being forced through the barrel might fan a piece of smouldering residue into an open fire, ed ignite the charge prematurely. Once the charge has home, No. 4 pricked it open e primed the vent, ready to be fired.
Guard artiglieria bearskin caps did not have a metal front plate. These need to be filled con putty, o painted over.
La scatola cover, e the painting instructions show the proper uniform con cuff-flaps, but the soldatini are sculpted con plain round cuffs.
Long gaiters would have been more appropriate for these soldatini, particularly for the earlier period.
The NCO is in a ridiculous pose, holding the long e heavy telescope to his eye con only one hand. Don’t try this at home, you may severely injure your eye!
Incorrect painting instructions: Guard artiglieria had blue waistcoats, e blue lapels con red trim. The left-hand figure on the back of the box is actually wearing the coat of a guard granatiere. Fanti were often attached to artiglieria batteries to serve as ammunition carriers.

Utilizzo Storico

Artiglieria a piedi della Guardia imperiale francese, 1808–1815

Conversioni Possibili

Italian artiglieria a piedi della Guardia, 1806–1815. Replace the bearskin cap con a black fur colpack.
Artiglieria a piedi della Guardia Reale Napoletana, 1808–1815. Shakò con plume, pompom e cords.
Artiglieria a piedi francese ed alleate, 1804–1812. Shakò o Raupenhelm replacing the bearskin cap. Some contingents did not wear epaulettes, but these will be easy to remove con a scalpel. In 1810, the coat tails were shortened, e the false turnbacks now extended to the edge of the tails. Again, a simple conversion. In 1812, the artiglieria gradually adopted the new habit-veste of the line fanteria.

Bibliografia

Haythornthwaite, Philip: Uniforms of Waterloo in Colour, plates 52, 60
Allevi, Piersergio: Soldatini, p. 149

These guns e cannonieri are an important part of the growing range of Napoleonic soldatini in scala 1:72. ESCI/ERTL still listed them in their recent catalogs, e the set should be available at toy stores.

ESCI Soldatini

Domande più frequenti

Per ulteriori informazioni, per favore contatta la redazione di Rivista Military Miniatures nel Miniatures Forum.

Soldatini Francesi Napoleonici

– Pubblicato: 14.05.1999 – Aggiornato: 11.07.2007
© 1999-2011 by IDL Software GmbH, Darmstadt, Germania. Tutti diritti reservati.