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French Musketeers on the March. Accuracy score: 7

The 1708 date is stated in Chandler 1995 The Art of Warfare in the Age of Marlborough, pg. 78: "Thereafter the process of re-equipment was practically completed within the next decade except in the case of militia units, the last matchlocks being withdrawn from first-line French toops [sic] in 1708." He seems to disagree with Chartrand's numerous pamphlets, picture books, and publications, which refer to a Louis XIV ordinance in 1699 that removed all matchlocks. For the record Lynn 1999, The Wars of Louis XIV 1667-1714 also references the same 1699 ordinance as a terminus post quem date for frontline matchlock usage.

French Musketeers on the March. Accuracy score: 7

I agree that the PSR review of this set is pretty fair. The observations made by Edwardian are also entirely valid, especially in relation to an excess of NCOs. Having now bought a good number of sets of French infantry, I now have plenty to form a couple of 1:30 scale battalions of spontoon-wielding French infantry...who needs pikemen??:white_frowning_face:

It's a great shame that Strelets did not make this a Fusiliers set, since the matchlocks are noticeable and even if you ignore them (in this scale) you still know they are there! The barrel length is better in this set than the puny weapons in the Musketeers Firing set, but is still not quite long enough. This is most noticeable on the marching musketeers without fixed bayonets.

The pick of the poses in my view are the three advancing (not 'on the march'!!) figures in the top row of the PSR photo of this set. I particularly like the third one along, who is advancing with his weapon in the 'Recover' position, used widely in 18th century drill (at least by the British army, and in this case the French too) but very rarely executed in 1/72 plastic. Strelets have done this very well here.

The 'leaning over' problem afflicts two at least of the poses and definitely requires hot then cold water treatment to get these figures back on the level.

I particularly like the command poses; the marching colour bearer looks as if he has been sculpted from the very similar British colour bearer, but it's a useful pose and one of the few where you can get away with keeping the moulded flag and pole...although I'll probably replace both (with full length poles and paper flags) as I am doing with all the standard bearers in this range. The drummer is excellent and deserves a set of his own!

The marching poses are a bit of a mixed bag. The figure with his musket in the upright position (PSR second row, second from left) is the best of the bunch. One of the poses is not marching at all, as pointed out by PSR.

I've been working one some of these figures today. They will become the three battalions of the Bavarian Leibgarde regiment as this took the field at Ramillies in 1706, one battalion of which is grenadiers (and I am working on the conversion of these with bearskins sourced from another non-Strelets source). So far so good.

Let us hope that Strelets' next infantry release in this range returns to the standard of the three British sets and of the French fusiliers set. No more matchlock musketeers or carbine-armed infantry please.

French Musketeers on the March. Accuracy score: 7

The management of the armies of the time of Louis the Fourteenth does not differ from our time, and proceeds from a logic. At the time of the Spanish War of Succession, France was exhausted militarily and economically. Weapons like guns are expensive. The « Maison du Roy » and the line troops are well equipped. On the other hand, militia levies are poorly equipped. As a result, some receive muskets and/or spikes. And in these cases, they also do not receive uniforms or armour. These units will never or very rarely fight in open battle.
They are used to keep strategic points. I'll almost say they're corps francs. I maintain what I wrote a little earlier there is an imbalance between the production"! English units and French units!" Indeed 2 boxes of musketeers and box of pickers is too much. Then there is the question of military regulations and writings that says that from 1708 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . OK, I agree, but when I read the reports, and/or the memories of the actors of that time none of them speak of pikemen or musketeers or arquebusiers. Did they exist? Yes, I do. Were they really used on the battlefield? No, I don't think so.


I'm going to dare a bold parallel. In 1940, after the Franco-English victory of Dunkirk (It is all too common to forget the sacrifice of the 35,000 French soldiers (including the Zouaves of the 8th Regiment) who protected the beaches and who are an integral part of the success of Operation Dynamo.) , Great Britain raised units of Home Guard. For early training, she used broomsticks, shotguns, and anything that fell on their hands. Were they sent into battle with this motley weaponry? Of course not. It's pretty much the same thing.

French Musketeers on the March. Accuracy score: 7

Zouave72

I agree. It's reasonable to assume that during the WSS there were still thousands of matchlocks and pikes around and that these weapons would most likely have been used by local militias, garrisons, etc., but not by the regular army in the field where they would have had no place anymore as the shot and pike tactics was buried in the French army in 1699 at the latest when it was decided to substitute the fusil with its socket bayonet for the matchlock and pike. The debates between Vauban and d'Artagnan may have lingered on to 1703 or so but they had turned moot already when the war started. As the Strelets sets are meant to represent regular field troops, the matchlock and pike sets are clearly misplaced. Pity!

French Musketeers on the March. Accuracy score: 7

As mentioned, the replacement of matchlocks by fusils was ordered in 1699 already. Apparently, enough fusils were produced to equip the whole French infantry, including additional troops raised at the outbreak of the WSS. As far as I know there is no evidence at all that the French went into battle with matchlocks. They'd rather postpone the beginning of a campaign until every soldier had received his fusil. E.g., when in early March 1703 Villars was ordered to march towards the Danube he postponed starting the campaign till July as part of the fusils had not yet arrived from the manufactures. Delays of this kind appear to have been rare, though. In general there were no supply problems.

"Cependant, la suppression des mousquets en 1699, et l'augmentation des effectifs avec le début de la guerre de Succession d'Espagne en 1700, (entraînant la levée des deuxièmes bataillons formés par les milices en janvier 1701, et celles des recrues à la fin de 1702) ont absorbé tous les fusils existant dans les magasins. Aussi, quand en mars 1703, le roi ordonna au maréchal de Villars de faire mouvement vers le Danube, le départ dut-il être repoussé jusqu'en juillet car il fallu attendre les armes envoyée par les manufactures jusque là. Mais c'est un des rares retards qui soit imputable à l'approvisionnement en armes." ("Les armes à feu de guerre portatives en France sous Louis XIV", Gazette des Armes n°210, avril 1991, 13.)

The "Code Militaire, ou Compilation des Reglemens et Ordonnances de Louis XIV. Roy de France et de Navarre, Faites pour les Gens de Guerre depuis 1651. jusques à present"" by the Chevalier de Sparre, published in 1708, includes the instructions regarding the handling of weapons for the whole French infantry ("Des manimens des Armes reglez pour Toute l'Infanterie de France"), dated 2 March 1703 (144-160). Only the fusil is mentioned which is another indicator that by 1703 fusils were already well established and matchlocks had been removed completely. Actually, "mousquets", or matchlocks, are not mentioned once in the "Code Militaire".

(BTW, pikes aren't mentioned either, pikemen are mentioned once. The extra pay that once was paid to pikemen should now be paid to soldiers ordered to carry implements, or to long-serving soldiers [272f.].)

So, arguably, during the WSS French used the fusil, and the fusil only, in the field.

French Musketeers on the March. Accuracy score: 7

That is one of the reasons I find Chandler's claim interesting, is he specifically states that it was withdrawn from "first-line" (i.e. not militia, but battlefield ready regulars) by 1708. Unfortunately he does not directly source this rather bold statement with a footnote or endnote (particularly considering the aforementioned 1699 ordinance and the lack of matchlock mentions in contemporary French military manuals), so I think it is fair to say his source has some explaining to do on French WoSS matchlock usage.

Not directly related to the French, but thought it was worth noting that on the next page Chandler mentions in 1704 the 4th of Foot (the 'King's Own') were reporting that their firearms were all of '24 years old,' so were presumably matchlocks. He dates completion of the flintlock transition in Denmark to 1690, native Dutch forces by 1692, and in Habsburg as well as Deutsch forces to 1710.

Right now the ordinances and written statements are our best sources, but battlefield archaeologists have started to do a little research on the war. Among the best of these is at the moment is Campillo 2008's 'An Archaeological Study of Talamanca Battlefield,' which focuses on the Bourbon v Catalan action there in 1714. The funniest part about this study is the sometent irregulars were firing some sort of weird large caliber non-standardized ammunition from their guns, which makes it rather difficult for us archaeologists to figure out what they were firing them from!! :joy:

It has been fun to do a little research on this war; us native North Americans are not taught or exposed to this war at all (despite the fact we were, of course, intricately involved), so it is all new to me. Before these sets came out I had no idea Louis XIV was involved with this era. Thanks for the inspiration! :sunglasses:

French Musketeers on the March. Accuracy score: 7

Thank you, Master Kunz and thebabylonian, for these clarifications. By these, I confirm that apart from the various officers, flag bearers, NCOs and drummers I will not use any of these pikemen and/or musketeers.

On the other hand I expect a lot from the French cavalry.

French Musketeers on the March. Accuracy score: 7

Zouave72
Thank you, Master Kunz and thebabylonian, for these clarifications. By these, I confirm that apart from the various officers, flag bearers, NCOs and drummers I will not use any of these pikemen and/or musketeers.

On the other hand I expect a lot from the French cavalry.
Useful remarks, views and insights - thank you.

I am also expecting much from the forthcoming French cavalry sets. The French cavalry was regarded at the start of the 18th century as the finest in Europe, if not the World. These gentlemen deserve some equally fine and historically accurate sets.

PS: And to Zouave72: Yes my friend, some of us Brits still respect and value the sacrifices made by French troops in 1940, at Dunkirk and elsewhere. Never forgotten.

French Musketeers on the March. Accuracy score: 7

Just got the French fusiliers, grenadiers and marching musketeers. First look at them (and looking at them all via PSR) these French sets do not match the quality of the British sets. The fusilier set is a very good effort, backed up somewhat by the grenadier set, but the marching musketeer set is disappointing. Couple of decent poses where the bayonet hides the length of barrel slightly, but most of the set will be ignored. It's a shame that the care and attention to detail demonstrated with the British sets has not been maintained.

It is Strelets choice and right to do whatever they want. It is their business, their money and their livelihoods and therefore up to them what they produce and do not produce. I am grateful they continue to produce anything at all and continue at such a quick pace. However, it seems odd to produce such obscure, and at best limited accuracy, whilst ignoring the opportunity to cover more basic ideas which would surely prove more popular and be backed up with plenty of historical evidence. The pikemen look fantastic, the drummer and ensign in particular, but will this set's sales cover the cost and effort of making it in the first place if there is very little evidence and justification for it? But it is Strelets choice, and for every success they release, they are entitled to release a dud!

just keep on producing Strelets! I look forward to your next big hit!

French Musketeers on the March. Accuracy score: 7

Some insightful comments and useful information. I cannot accept Chandler's comment unsupported by a primary source reference, when the other references point the other way. I am entirely comfortable with the idea of militia and veterans in fortresses etc having access to rooms full of pikes and matchlocks. What I see no credible evidence for is their use in a WoSS battle, which is rather the point. These weapons may well have existed somewhere in 1708, but that's not the point.

Rather than try to justify the production of these sets, which, to be fair, no one here has attempted, look at it the other way; if Strelets had just made fusiliers and grenadiers for their French infantry, everyone would have been fine with that; you wouldn't have a chorus of people insisting that no French WoSS army could be considered accurate without pikemen and musketeers!

I'll do what I can with these musketeer and pikemen sets, but not in great numbers, because the conversions, where possible, will be a bother and a significant proportion of them will need to be discarded, which is a pity because they are well crafted minis.

Let us hope that this aberration has run its course. There are two excellent cavalry sets to look forward to and I do hope much more WoSS to follow them. Again, I second Minuteman and others on the absolute necessity of French Line Cavalry.

More Fusiliers (with drummers!) would be awfully helpful too!

French Musketeers on the March. Accuracy score: 7

I have received today the marching set: 7 boxes!

The figures are again wonderful sculpted, but I am absolutly disapointed that there are only 2 marching poses of regulars in the set - and unfortunatly 2 with such quite different poses that there can´t combine to a marching column. And the combination with former french marching figures doesn´t fit too, because theirs rilfes/musquets and bags are too different.

I appreciate, yes I enjoy very much Strelets productions, but I can´t understand, what was theirs thinking to produce this set where the marching poses are so marginal - and again the NCOs so over-represented.

The poses of the english were still very well choosen, but the french range turned mad in a wild mixture of different uniforms, arms and poses - and a flood of non-useful NCOs poses with a rarity of drummers.

I hope that Strelets will reflect more its production, set-titles and set-illustrations in the future. Otherwise many buyers will been disapointed that the content of a box aren´t similar to front-image and title - a mistake that happened also with the headgears of the prussian ulans.