Showcase: Gendarmes d'Élite

Now for something different for a change. These really well clad chaps are French Gendarmes d'Élite in their 1815 attire.

Gendarmes d'Élite were basically the most fancy military police you can think of. They were part of the Imperial Guard and had a man strength of 2 squadrons. For most of the Napoleonic Wars their job as as per their description: Keep up order, especially so around the government. In the field they mostly kept order in occupied areas, guarded what ever building the emperor was lodging in at the moment and rounded up deserters and draft dodgers. 

In the 1812 campaign in Russia they fought at the Berezina and later at Leipzig and other battles. After Napoleon's return they had gotten reduced to 2 companies (with just one company in the field) and partook in battles including Waterloo. For this campaign, the Gendarmes d'Elite replaced their bearskins for snazzy helmets, as seen in the photos in this blog post. Ths switch to the helmets was never fully realized, so in fact they wore a mix of helmets and bearskins

These minis I painted here are by Perry Miniature (who offer Gendarmes in bearskins or helmets). Just a handful of minis, but as per usual with Perry minis they look amazing and are fun to paint. 

I didn't get to base the guys, as the gentleman I painted these for prefers to do that himself on these. Still, hope you like the figures even without basing. With proper bases I'm sure they'll look even prettier.