G is for Gribeauval System - Guns - Historex No's 643, 677, 8209 & 30301

Well, I definitely started this project in a hurry, and it will make me pay! No matter, the doing of it in numerical order will pop-out of the window for this section as I'm doing all the wheeled stuff, some with uniformed soldiers (medics/vets) some without like this one, and then we'll get get back to the numbering. Also I said there were no colour plates in this section, but there will be a few.

Overall, developments vis-à-vis the paperwork means the linking page will take a while longer, but will be almost complete, and with what I've got in the last 24-hours, and what Tony and I had originally, I don't think there are many plates missing, nor many instruction-sheets or painting guides lost either. Also there being no real order to the numbering - Brit's in three placeings, more cavalry to come - it will make better sense once the linking page is up.

Numbering starts with part 1 (Hussar style dolman body/torso) and goes (as you can see above) through several basic single-figure kit and larger multiple-figure sets or 'diorama kit'  types to over 30300, but with large gaps, as each type starts again at a higher point. Some things seem to have never got a number, while a few non-Napoleonic items were in the range, Lady Godiva for instance, both medieval and unnumbered!

This post is for the gun, which came as a kit with two barrels, 12lbr or Howitzer, and two diorama sets, one with the cannon-barrels only.

12 Pounder

Battle of Friedland Diorama

This was a larger boxed set which seems to have contained one-each of the gun with 12lbr barrel and a limber, three horses, two sets of horse furniture for towing, two mounted figures, seven foot and whatever accessories were needed to finish them as illustrated, to which might have been added the runners of letters, numbers and ciphers to add unit-designators to their water bottles, saddlecloths etc?

Mont St. Barnard Diorama Set

Again, a set, with two 12lbr barrels, two log-sleds and up to seven figures, presumably with parts for depicting artillery personnel and engineers/pioneers?

Howitzer

It's only the barrel which is different (the beauty of the Gribeauval designed artillery train, was its inter-operability), but whether this meant you could (or had to) order, say, the trunion bands (covering plates/brackets) as 643-26 or 677-26 I don't know, but ordering plain '26' would have got you a human, male, left arm, posed for supporting a musket!