Eagle of Empire French Artillery
Yikes, almost another month gone without a post! Its been a crazy few weeks between work and the toddler entering another phase of “multiple screaming fits per day.”
I have managed to do quite a bit of painting, this post is to highlight some of EoE’s French artillery pieces.
The range has sets for both the System la Hitte cannon and the Reyfe mitrailleuse . The la Hitte was a breechloading rifled cannon - a fine example of the type (very accurate for its day, good range) but cannot compare to the Prussian breechloading Krupp guns. French artillery was let down by organization and use more than anything- cooperation between infantry and artillery was poor in the 2nd Empire and damningly the artillery was not concentrated - most guns spent the major battles running from spot to spot getting blasted by Prussian fire while still limbered!
The Mitrailleuse is a really fascinating weapon - the word in French came to mean “machine gun” but that’s not really what this thing is - its 20+ rifle barrels stuck together and triggered by a rotating crank, reloaded by a plate of cartridges. Its a terrifying weapon with devastating accuracy (almost TOO accurate - in the battles where they were employed multiple Prussians suffered dozens of wounds from this - terrifying). Again the French were let down by employment not technology, they treated these as artillery which meant they were in a strange spot. They were also super confidential - to the point where crews had no idea what the weapon was when units received them mere days before battle!
Without further ado, here are the finished kits! In both cases the models are up to the high standards I’ve come to expect from this range - lots of little extra bits to make a diorama like appearance for each gun.
I have two of each - I’ll update this post with more pictures tomorrow to show the complete batteries :)
The batteries