Enfants Perdus: French Flanders and Laarden, 1688

A letter, from Don Fernando de Torrescusa, Marquess de Girona, Envoy of His Most Catholic Majesty, Carlos the Second, King of Spain, to the Count of Tilly, Lord General of the Flemish Free City of Laarden, February 12th, 1689

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My Lord,

I am five leagues to the south of Sint Vaalben, accompanied by the battalia of militia from that town.  I send this letter with Field Deputy van Gloow, who has informed me of the dispositions of the King of France against your forces in the Field.  He will, I trust, on his return to you, my Lord, communicate the severity of the threat to your position.

Beware of those ragged companies advancing forward against you, my Lord.  They are very dangerous.  They appear to be the shattered remains of a brigade of foot – ripped and torn musketeer children, orphaned from their parent pikes.  But, watch how they advance my Lord?  They will move quickly when you do not imagine them to be capable of it, stealing the difficult ground under the eyes of their captains.

Do not be deceived, my Lord, for those are no defeated enemy.  The King of France sends his lost children forward before his main advance, to seize the valuable parts of the Field.  You must not cede the woodlands or the bad ground to them.  It is a test, my Lord, and the Duc de Luxembourg will be watching to see how you respond.

Girona

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I was a little unsure of which of the French battalions of foot for the 1688 Laarden campaign to blog here first. I thought it might be a good idea to bring them to the blog as they might arrive in the field – we’ll see how long that logic lasts!

So here are four small formations of the Sun King’s “lost children”, or Enfants Perdus as the sources of the time described them.  They are the French equivalent of the English 'forlorn hopes' and German 'verloren haufe', which crop up in Renaissance history books and wargames rules from time to time.  I’ve based them in companies of six, so that they can operate alone, or together – most likely in advance of the French main battle line.  Formations such as these were present at Les Dunes in 1658, seizing important points on the sand dunes and bluffs in the face of the Spanish and Royalist English battalions.

I drew the figures from a range of manufacturers – mainly Dixon Miniatures and Wargames Foundry - and tried to create a non-uniform ‘look’ to the soldiers.  I mixed up the uniforms as well, with the coat and cuff colours being drawn from a variety of regiments.  The standards (from GMB Designs – thank you Grahame) are from parent battalions – I chose Dauphin and Royal, mainly because I had them to hand.  I'm of the view that having any standards carried by the Enfants Perdus is a bit far-fetched – if the soldierly children in advance of the main battle line are expected to be hazarded and lost, the last place you want the precious regimental standards to be carried is by these troops!  

But, they look good – and visual appeal won over good military sense (not for the first time, dear readers).

The rounded corner bases are deliberate.  I’ve been using these for units which are formed and drilled, but which might be able to gain a movement or formation bonus in action – perhaps signifying a faster, or looser, formation.  Over the years, we’ve found that having something visual on the tabletop to be easily recognisable in a game, and also forming part of the rules, can be very helpful in practice.

There’s some green-stuffing going on with the feathers and lace on the hats of the French soldiers.  I’d like to have added more, but - after doing a few – I did wonder if less was more, at least for the rank and file.  The process is very simple.  Just roll up a small ball of green-stuff, add it to the figure’s hat and shape it with a sculpting tool into whatever French-ified lace knot you feel is appropriate.  It gets addictive – well, at least for the first thirty or so.   

It’s a relatively easy way of giving your battalions a more personalised look, and was something which the early armies of the Sun King were well known for.

The bases are from Warbases, and the tufts are from WSS and Mini-Natur.

I had a photo session with this summer’s painted figures this weekend, so hopefully I can add a few more of the French in the next few days.  All the best until then!