The Waterloo Campaign in Miniature: Basing: French Line Infantry Regiments

Introduction
Based on my article, Organisation: French Line Infantry Regiments I was able to base my French infantry regiment far more accurately and according to any wargames rules on the market.

In this instance, and after having read most Napoleonic rules sets on the market - Grande Armée, Napoleonic Principles of War, Age of Eagles, Shako, Huzzah etc., I opted for David Brown’s General de Brigade (available in the UK from Caliver Books), which oofers the Napoleonic wargamer both aesthetic appeal & realism designed for battalion-level gaming (1 figure = 20 men) whilst utilising the most important aspects of command and control from army level games.

My next step was to select a Napoleonic battle or a scenario within a battle and after much thought opted for The Battle of Quatre-Bras, for three key reasons:

For many years, I have taken a keen interest in the Hundred Days Campaign consuming avariciously many books on the subject. As my expertise lies in this brief Napoleonic period, I felt it prudent to select either one of the four battles – Quatre-Bras, Ligny, Wavre or Waterloo or a specific scenario within one of these battles (i.e the battle for Hougoumont – tempting or the Imperial Guard’s attack on Wellington’s Right Wing – flamboyant etc.).

Unlike the grand battle of Waterloo, which featured around 200,000 troops (i.e. 10,000 miniatures), Quatre-Bras was a comparatively small battle bordering on an “action”, featuring approximately 50,000 troops (depending on the reinforcements you decide to use) or 2,500 miniature figures – yes, still a daunting task to replicate.

Finally, the battle will allow me to paint a wide variety of different nationalities – Brunswick, French (inc. some fine Guard Light Cavalry), British (inc. the Rifles & kilted Cameron Highlanders), Hanoverian, KGL, Nassau & Netherlands (& even a detachment of Prussian Hussars who got lost and ended up fighting at Quatre-Bras).

Basing – General de Brigade
GdeB provides the following instructions for French Line Infantry (page number in brackets):

Unit Frontages (P.5)
Base sizes for 15mm figures: Infantry - 8mm to 10mm per figure in two ranks, with either one company on a base or two companies to a base.

Basing Close Order Infantry Figures in Two Ranks (P.6)
A six-figure base or an eight-figure base can be used for most infantry battalions.
Six figure bases represent either:
a. Two companies of around 60 men – one company in front of another
b. A single company of 100 to 160 men

Use Six-Figure bases for: (P.6)
French Line & Light battalions of either 30 or 36 figures
i.e. 6 x 6 figure bases or 6 x 5 figure bases.

PLATE 1 – Basing a French Line Infantry Regiment (1815)
(Click on plate then maximise screen to view large image)