Coureurs de Bois

Hello again.

My last post (at the end of April, covering my Compagnies Franches de la Marine contingent for the FIW) showed how some of the figures for that contingent were not quite so uniformed and, therefore, suitable for other uses, such as Coureurs de Bois.

Well, here are my actual Coureurs de Bois, who may or may not benefit from the possibility of reinforcements.

Compare and contrast the two posts if you wish to see what I mean.

I am not generally a fan of the "this counts as" school of thought, having had bad experiences in the past when, for example, Thracian light cavalry morphed into Companions during a Hoplites vs Macedonians game I recall, to my decided disadvantage...

I would generally much rather buy and paint the real thing, whatever that thing might be. I do not even like units masquerading as each other - the Stipsicz Hussars are the Stipsicz Hussars, not the Ott Hussars, etc, though I can of course understand in games the size of a Waterloo refight where such things are necessary and agree with that necessity. But how often do any of us play a game of that magnitude and do that?
I would far prefer to build a unit and use it as that unit in whatever games, but that is a personal preference I freely admit others might not share. However, Cressingham's retinue for my Medieval English is always Cressingham's, the Loebl regiment for my 30 Years' War Imperialists is always Loebl, etc. When I finally get around to building my 10mm ACW armies however, they will be based on the respective 1st Corps of both sides at Gettysburg so, again, the 1st Texans will always be the 1st Texans in reality, but I can conceive of using them as something else given that they are only 10mm and the scale of the ACW is such that I will not always fight something from Gettysburg. They might very well become Georgians of Alabamans for a day...

Perhaps it is a scale thing (either battle size or figure size). Perhaps it is a period thing. Some units tend to be more generic than others, especially as camouflage and khaki take over from the colour of yesteryear, perhaps.

But this is one occasion when dual purpose is indeed on offer and this is a colourful period too.

Again, the figures are from the North Star "French Wilderness Force" box.

G

In "Muskets & Tomahawks", Coureurs de Bois come in units of 6 to 8 figures. Compagnies Franches de la Marine come in units of 8 to 12. I have 6 CdB and 10 CFDLM. Easy maths!!!

I like the character of these figures - well sculpted, well detailed and looking the part IMO.