Organisation of French Imperial Garde

1^st Old Guard Corps

This is the orbat of the Old Guard, which is one of four corps in the French First Army

1^st Old Guard corps - General Friant (Average)

1 infantry brigade     4000   CA      FB      SB

2 infantry brigade     4000   CB      FB      SB

3 infantry brigade     4000   CB      FC      SB

4 infantry brigade     4000   CB      FC      SB

1 cavalry brigade     1000   CA      light

1 corps artillery        1000   CB      12 pounders

There are four infantry brigades, two grenadier and two chasseur.  

I do not use the division level of command in my campaign

However this is in fact a grenadier division and a chasseur division

2^nd Young Guard Corps

This is the orbat of the Young Guard, which is one of four corps in the French Second Army

2^nd Young Guard corps - General Compans (Average)

5 infantry brigade     4000   CB      FB      SB

6 infantry brigade     4000   CB      FB      SB

7 infantry brigade     4000   CB      FC      SB

8 infantry brigade     4000   CB      FC      SC

2 cavalry brigade     1000   CA      heavy

2 corps artillery        1000   CB      12 pounders

Again there are four infantry brigades, two voltiguer and two fusilier

These are in fact a voltiguer division and a fusilier division

Combat and Morale

The last three columns indicate their morale and combat effectiveness

A is best, B is average and C is poor

C stands for class in the left hand column

A gets plus one on all morale dice throws

B neither adds nor deducts from morale throws

C deducts one on all morale dice throws

F stands for volley fire power in the centre column

A adds one to each fire dice throw

B neither adds nor deducts for firing throws

C deducts one for each fire dice throw

S stands for skirmish in the right hand column

A adds 3 to each skirmish dice throw

B adds 2 to each skirmish dice throw

C adds 1 to each skirmish dice throw

Strength of Guard Corps

The cavalry are particularly good, with both brigades classed A

The artillery is also good, with both corps equipped with 12 pounder guns

Only the senior infantry brigade is classed A (elite), the remainder are B (average)

Half of the infantry have B (average) volley fire, the remainder are C (poor)

Only one infantry brigade are C (poor) skirmish, the remainder are B (average)

Both guard corps have more average skirmish brigades than other French corps

Only one out of eight brigades are classed as C skirmishers

In most French corps two out of eight brigades would be C class skirmishers

This is because in our rules dice play a large part

If one side is unable to hold the skirmish line they suffer heavy casualties

In historical battles the guard would have been in reserve and not open to skirmish

In general these two corps are slightly better quality than the rest of the French corps

However the other three corps in each Army are slightly poorer than other corps

This is to balance the overall effect of the First and Second French Armies