Recent Releases
We are delighted that set VX0010 ‘British Napoleonic Foot Artillery’ is available to purchase direct from us via our online shop.
The set contains:
3 x Guns with options of short 6 pdr, long 6 pdr, 9 pdr and 5.5 inch howitzer barrels.
3 x Limbers.
15 crew, featuring:
- Multiple arm options
- Head variants enabling you to field your crew wearing Stovepipe shako for the Peninsular War or Belgic shako for Waterloo
- Officer head and coat tail variants suitable for either the Peninsular or Waterloo
Also included are the Artillery rules for ‘The March of Eagles’. Written by Barry Hilton.
The cannons and limber in this set have been sculpted digitally, an exciting new development for Victrix. Below are some renders of the cannon and limber. Photographs of the plastic models will appear shortly.
To achieve the high level of detail you have come to expect from Victrix models, the cannons and limbers are multi-part constructions. The detail even extends to the elevation screw which can be cut to preferred length and drag chains which can be attached to the model.
British artillery companies were generally made up of 5 x cannons and 1 x 5.5 inch howitzer. Wellington often suffered a shortage of artillery during the Peninsular War, often having to split his companies into subdivisions of 2 to 3 x 6 pdr’s and 1 howitzer per infantry division.
Foot companies were armed during the early stages of the Peninsular War with the short 6 pdr which was gradually replaced by the long 6 pdr from 1810. The Foot Artillery from 1813 was issued with the 9 pdr which they continued to use during the Waterloo campaign.
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VX0009 Napoleon’s Old Guard Grenadiers...
The Grenadiers of the Imperial Guard were formed on May 18th 1804. They were soldiers of exceptional loyalty and experience, and operated as Napoleon’s bodyguard and tactical reserve under the Emperor’s direct control.
Initially there was only one regiment of Grenadiers, made up of two Battalions. They saw action in such famous battles as Austerlitz in 1805 where they punched a hole through the allies’ centre on the Pratzen Heights and fought valiantly at Jena were they helped crush the Prussian army in 1807. By 1808 they had marched into the frozen winter of Eastern Europe fighting the Russians to a standstill at Eylau followed a few months later by defeating the Russians at Freidland. By 1809 the Guard were facing the Austrians again at the battle of Wagram where they acquitted themselves valiantly in this great French victory.
Napoleon expanded the Imperial Guard in 1810, adding a second regiment of Grenadiers. In 1811 a third regiment was added with the incorporation of his brother Louis Bonaparte’s Dutch Grenadiers. All three regiments went on the campaign against Russia in 1812. The 3rd Grenadiers were all but killed or captured during the ill-fated venture but the rest of the Old Guard was able to act as a rock of stability to the remnants of the shattered Grand Armee during its retreat through the freezing wastes of Russia.
The Grenadiers fought hard during the 1813 campaign against the allied armies of Europe and the subsequent 1814 campaign in the defence of France. They were victorious in every action but they were too few. Not even ‘les Grognards’ as they were known could prevent the collapse of France and Napoleon’s abdication.
On Napoleon’s return to France in 1815 he raised four regiments of Guard Grenadiers. Although a shadow of their former glory they were still formidable soldiers. The first and second Grenadiers being composed of many veterans of over twenty campaigns and bearing the legion of honour and were the Elite of the French army at Waterloo.
At Waterloo the Guard Chasseurs were driven back in retreat for the first time in their history. The Grenadiers helped cover the withdrawal of the army and many died where they stood rather than lay down their arms.
The Grenadiers were the epitome of bravery, loyalty. Summed up by the immortal words of General Pierre Cambronne of the Guard when asked to surrender at Waterloo, ‘La Garde meurt mais ne se rend pas!’ ‘The Guard dies but never surrenders’.
This set contains 60 figures and fast play rules, also included are 8 regimental flags, representing flags of the 1811 and 1812 issue.
Positions included in the box are,
4 officers
4 standard bearers
4 drummers
16 firing line, firing, priming and loading
16 march attack with arms fully attached
16 either march attack or advancing at porte/charge
Of course any arm can be used on any figure, giving you the option to make many more positions than listed.
Also included are 4 porte Fannion arms to make sergeants for your regiments. The 14 individual heads in the set are full of character, reflecting the grizzled nature of Napoleon’s ‘Grognards’
Another aspect of this sets versatility is that you can use heads from set VX0005 French Napoleonic infantry 1807-1812 on the bodies of the Grendiers and create line grenadiers and voltigeurs in greatcoats or regiments of legere in greatcoats. Also by using the Old Guard heads on the Grenadier bodies in set VX0005 you can make Old Guard Grenadiers in campaign dress.
Anyone pre-ordering this set direct from Victrix from now until February 28th,
will receive a free flag sheet of the 1815 Imperial Guard flag, issued to the 1st regiment of Grenadiers and 1st Regiment of Chasseurs for the Waterloo campaign.
Here at Victrix we are delighted to announce the release of our first set of 54mm or 1/32 scale figures.
VX5401 54mm British Napoleonic Peninsular Infantry Flank Companies £19.95
We are looking at releasing this set by 5th October. It will be a 16 figure multi-pose set with many different head and arm options. Below is an image of the instruction guide that appears on the back of the box. This is guide is to illustrate how the figures can be constructed. However, like our 28mm figure sets there are dozens of pose options available by interchanging the bodies, arms and heads. This set is ideal for the modeler or gamer who prefers to fight with larger scale figures.
This is our first venture into 54mm and is a very exciting period for us. If this first set is well received we plan to follow up with the Highlanders, French Fusiliers, Grenadiers and Voltigeurs pre 1812 in fairly quick succession. We also plan to make our next 28mm releases, the Imperial Guard in greatcoats, French Dragoons and British foot artillery in 54mm as well.
At the beginning of November we plan to release an accessories set to compliment our first 54mm release. This will comprise:
Additional officer and bare head
Two pairs of standard bearer arms
Regimental and Kings colours
Finials for the colours
Additional arms including a straight sword arm
Sergeants spontoon
You can see from the images below that these are wonderfully detailed figures with plenty of flexibility to create an almost endless variety of poses.
This first set will be available to pre-order on 5th October. Please e mail any questions to Julian using our Contact Us page.
Victrix are also pleased to announce the release of their latest French set:
In 1804 Napoleon declared himself Emperor of the French. This ignited a new wave of conflict throughout Europe, which only ended with Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo in 1815.
The French infantry from 1804 to 1807 fought a series of arduous but victorious campaigns. They trounced the Russians and Austrians at the battle of Austerlitz in 1805, and humbled the mighty Prussians at the joint battles of Jena and Auerstadt in 1806. Advancing into Poland they fought the Russians to a bloody draw on the snowy fields of Eylau, before forcing them to sue for peace after the great French victory at Friedland.
French battalions consisted of Fusiliers, Grenadiers and Voltigeurs.
Fusiliers were the main bulk of the battalion. They could march hard and fast and live off the land giving Napoleon a decided advantage over his more plodding enemies. They would advance in column and expand into line to fire when within musket range, or just force their way through in a dense block.
Voltigeurs were the light company of the Battalion and were created in 1804 to add flexibility . They served as skirmishers for the battalion and swarmed forward of the attacking column to thin the ranks of the opposing firing line and pick off officers and sergeants with well-aimed musketry.
Grenadiers were the elite of the Regiment. They were big men and chosen for their bravery. They were used as a reserve to tip the balance when needed or storm enemy positions ahead of the main body. They were also sometimes brigaded together with other Grenadier companies to form Grenadier Battalions.
Infantrymen of this time wore a long-tailed blue coat with red cuffs and collar. They wore a Bicorne hat until 1807 when it was due to have been replaced by the shako. This, however, as with most army regulations took time to implement, some regiments only finally receiving their shakos in 1809.
In 1806 the white uniform of the Bourbons was reintroduced, but hastily the order was reversed by Napoleon in 1807 after his alleged disgust at blood-stained uniforms at the battle of Eylau. However it was only in 1809 that the last of the white uniforms were withdrawn from service.
This set contains 60 figures including Fusiliers, Voltigeurs, Grenadiers and Command. It is based on our earlier French set but has some significant differences. As well as the new bicorne heads it also contains new grenadier bearskins without cords or plumes to give an authentic “on campaign” look to the figures. We have also included new arms carrying Porte fanons and waving bicornes.
There are dozens of separate arm options, separate heads and other pieces that will allow for hundreds of figure variations. There are various other components such as pistol hands, pistol buckets, officer coats that will allow for endless conversions and adaptations of the figures. With 60 figures per set at a cost of £21.95 this is less than £0.37 per figure.
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Stephen Hales & Julian Blakeney-Edwards
Victrix Limited
