ESCI – 234 – Napoleonic French Artillery

Description:

Together with ESCI – 233 – Napoleonic British Artillery these figures were originally released as part of ESCI – 219 – Napoleonic British and French Artillery but later issued separately and doubling the numbers, up to 4 guns (with two barrels) and 16 figures in 4 poses, including one officer pose per team, configuring the future standard of the “short” artillery sets, quite liked by gamers.

The quality of the sculpture and cast is very good, with poses not very dynamic in particular but fitting their role. Carriages are simplified but nice and the two barrels, 8 pounder gun and a 6 inch short howitzer.

The generic Napoleonic French Artillery title hides here Old Guard Foot Artillery, with some small inaccuracies on the uniforms that maybe will bother to the more exigent modelers or gamers but which are good enough for most of us, and valid for a 1810 to 1815 period.

At the time of release, there was no other “Old Guard” artillery set in the market, and in the later years, no other has been produced, though French Artillery for Napoleonic Wars got quite a lot new releases, no one wished to re-do this same topic. The set was later reissued under Italeri brand as Italeri – 6135 – Napoleonic French Imperial Guard Artillery and MARS copied the work on Mars – 72016 – French Artillery (Napoleonic Wars) as well as released under A-Toys in different formats, single sprue or full box.