The fusilier was the ordinary man of Napoleon's army — and there were never enough of him. The center companies of every line battalion were filled with fusiliers, the rank and file who did the bulk of the marching and the dying, and France kept them coming through conscription on a scale Europe had never seen. Each year called up its "class" of young men by law, feeding the endless campaigns; by the desperate final years the Emperor was conscripting boys barely grown, the "Marie-Louises" of 1814. It was this machine of manpower, as much as any tactic, that let Napoleon raise new armies again and again after each catastrophe — and the advancing fusilier here is the figure at the heart of it.

The eight-figure set advances in line — an officer, a drummer, and six fusiliers with muskets levelled and bayonets fixed, in the dark blue coats, white trousers and blue-pommed shakos of the center companies. It drives the attack in a French line diorama. Push it forward with the French Line Infantry Fusiliers Running on the flank, post the elite French Line Infantry Grenadiers on the right of the line, and carry the French Line Infantry colour party behind to mark the regiment.

Tradition of London model 718. 54mm, white metal, hand-painted in gloss enamel. Eight-figure set — an officer, a drummer, and six fusiliers advancing. Supplied in the Tradition Classic Red Box. Allow 2–3 weeks delivery.