Post by snowcat on Mar 16, 2021 1:38:09 GMT
Being a supplementary army list for DBA-RRR for any who might be interested...
I/45 French Huguenot (d) Henri IV's "Flying Armies", 1585-1598 AD
1x Pi(g) Cuirassiers
1x Pi Cuirassiers
4x Dr Arquebusiers-a-cheval
then 6 from:
2x Pi Cuirassiers or reiters
2x Pi or Cv Reiters
2x (Pi or Cv) or Dr Reiters or arquebusiers-a-cheval
1x (1xCv or LH + 1x Dr) Chevaux-legers and arquebusiers-a-cheval
2 x Dr Arquebusiers-a-cheval
Notes:
Between 1585 and 1598 the size and composition of Henri IV's "flying armies" varied considerably, from arquebusier-a-cheval dominant early on to a more even spread of cuirassiers, reiters and arquebusiers-a-cheval after he became King of France in 1589. Between 1585 and 1587, Henri rode with 2,000 arquebusiers-a-cheval, 300 chevaux-legers and 500 gens d'armes (cuirassiers). In 1590, Henri rode eighteen leagues in a single day to relieve the siege of Meulun with a force of 1,200 cuirassiers, 300 reiters and 1,200 arquebusiers-a-cheval. In November-December the same year, when he pursued the Duke of Parma out of France, Henri's "flying army" consisted of 2,000 (alt.1,000-2,000) cuirassiers, 2,000 (alt.1,800-2,000) arquebusiers-a-cheval and 3,000 reiters. At other times, his flying forces were much smaller, as at Fontaine-Francaise in 1595 when he confronted the more numerous vanguard of a combined League and Spanish army with only 1,000 cuirassiers and 500 arquebusiers-a-cheval, successfully forcing their army to retreat which he then vigorously pursued with substantial reinforcements; or later at Amiens in 1597, when he defeated a relief force of 1,000 cavalry with only 200 cuirassiers and 150 arquebusiers-a-cheval. Whatever the occasion, Henri took what was immediately available to him, and rode hard to strike at the enemy. The army list presented here can be used to represent any of the numerous "flying army" combinations for standard games or scenarios.
Henri's Cuirassiers always deployed in squadrons 5-7 ranks deep, so cuirassiers (Pi) must always have a rear supporting element of their own type. At Ivry in 1590, Henri instructed his reiters to dispense with the caracole and charge home with the sword like his cuirassiers; for this reason and his awareness of caracoling reiters' battlefield drawbacks (such as left-wheeling collisions with their own friendly forces), the option for reiters to be classed as Pi is included. Reiters thus classed as Pi must also deploy with rear support of their own type. To reflect the many occasions throughout this period where squadrons of cuirassiers smashed through thinner lines of enemy knights, it is recommended that cuirassiers and reiters (Pi) with rear support of their own type QK Knights. (Alternatively, the QK may be limited to cuirassiers only.) The chevaux-legers were never in large numbers and as these were essentially those lesser nobles who didn't make the grade as cuirassiers, being more lightly equipped and used in a supporting role, they have been classed as Cv. They could alternatively be classed as LH, although their dismounting to fight on foot at Arques in 1589 with halberds seems to better support a lighter version of 'fighters' than skirmishing LH. Furthermore, their lack of mention in various force compositions possibly indicates they have already been grouped together with those nobles classed as cuirassiers. Nevertheless, the option to class them as LH has also been included. Arquebusiers-a-cheval are all those soldiers equipped with the arquebus who were mounted on country nags to keep pace with the cavalry, dismounting to provide firepower wherever it was needed, usually to support the cavalry.
Final note: Henri IV always led from the front, and when leading his "flying armies" he would be in the front rank of his finest squadron of cuirassiers. So he should always be an Attached General; in which case he may as well be modelled in the front element of a 2-element deep squadron of cuirassiers.
1x Pi(g) Cuirassiers
1x Pi Cuirassiers
4x Dr Arquebusiers-a-cheval
then 6 from:
2x Pi Cuirassiers or reiters
2x Pi or Cv Reiters
2x (Pi or Cv) or Dr Reiters or arquebusiers-a-cheval
1x (1xCv or LH + 1x Dr) Chevaux-legers and arquebusiers-a-cheval
2 x Dr Arquebusiers-a-cheval
Notes:
Between 1585 and 1598 the size and composition of Henri IV's "flying armies" varied considerably, from arquebusier-a-cheval dominant early on to a more even spread of cuirassiers, reiters and arquebusiers-a-cheval after he became King of France in 1589. Between 1585 and 1587, Henri rode with 2,000 arquebusiers-a-cheval, 300 chevaux-legers and 500 gens d'armes (cuirassiers). In 1590, Henri rode eighteen leagues in a single day to relieve the siege of Meulun with a force of 1,200 cuirassiers, 300 reiters and 1,200 arquebusiers-a-cheval. In November-December the same year, when he pursued the Duke of Parma out of France, Henri's "flying army" consisted of 2,000 (alt.1,000-2,000) cuirassiers, 2,000 (alt.1,800-2,000) arquebusiers-a-cheval and 3,000 reiters. At other times, his flying forces were much smaller, as at Fontaine-Francaise in 1595 when he confronted the more numerous vanguard of a combined League and Spanish army with only 1,000 cuirassiers and 500 arquebusiers-a-cheval, successfully forcing their army to retreat which he then vigorously pursued with substantial reinforcements; or later at Amiens in 1597, when he defeated a relief force of 1,000 cavalry with only 200 cuirassiers and 150 arquebusiers-a-cheval. Whatever the occasion, Henri took what was immediately available to him, and rode hard to strike at the enemy. The army list presented here can be used to represent any of the numerous "flying army" combinations for standard games or scenarios.
Henri's Cuirassiers always deployed in squadrons 5-7 ranks deep, so cuirassiers (Pi) must always have a rear supporting element of their own type. At Ivry in 1590, Henri instructed his reiters to dispense with the caracole and charge home with the sword like his cuirassiers; for this reason and his awareness of caracoling reiters' battlefield drawbacks (such as left-wheeling collisions with their own friendly forces), the option for reiters to be classed as Pi is included. Reiters thus classed as Pi must also deploy with rear support of their own type. To reflect the many occasions throughout this period where squadrons of cuirassiers smashed through thinner lines of enemy knights, it is recommended that cuirassiers and reiters (Pi) with rear support of their own type QK Knights. (Alternatively, the QK may be limited to cuirassiers only.) The chevaux-legers were never in large numbers and as these were essentially those lesser nobles who didn't make the grade as cuirassiers, being more lightly equipped and used in a supporting role, they have been classed as Cv. They could alternatively be classed as LH, although their dismounting to fight on foot at Arques in 1589 with halberds seems to better support a lighter version of 'fighters' than skirmishing LH. Furthermore, their lack of mention in various force compositions possibly indicates they have already been grouped together with those nobles classed as cuirassiers. Nevertheless, the option to class them as LH has also been included. Arquebusiers-a-cheval are all those soldiers equipped with the arquebus who were mounted on country nags to keep pace with the cavalry, dismounting to provide firepower wherever it was needed, usually to support the cavalry.
Final note: Henri IV always led from the front, and when leading his "flying armies" he would be in the front rank of his finest squadron of cuirassiers. So he should always be an Attached General; in which case he may as well be modelled in the front element of a 2-element deep squadron of cuirassiers.
With thanks to the source that, more than any other, made this army list possible:
Ronald S. Love, "All the King's Horsemen" - The Equestrian Army of Henri IV, 1585-1598 [The Sixteenth Century Journal XXII/3 1991]