Preview Ace 1/6 French Foreign Legion 1er Régiment Étranger de Cavalerie 12-inch figure

The French Foreign Legion (French: Légion étrangère, L.E.) is a military service wing of the French Army established in 1831, unique because it was exclusively created for foreign nationals willing to serve in the French Armed Forces. Commanded by French officers, it is also open to French citizens, who amounted to 24% of the recruits as of 2007.

The Foreign Legion is today known as an elite unit whose training focuses not only on traditional military skills but also on its strong esprit de corps. As its men come from different countries with different cultures, this is a way to strengthen them enough to work as a team. Consequently, training is often described as not only physically challenging, but also very stressful psychologically. (source: wiki)

This is the ACE new product: French Foreign Legion 1er Régiment Étranger de Cavalerie. Product Details: 100% hand-made realistic weathering, 1/6 scale Head Sculpt, Man Mk 1 Body, Bare hands, Green Beret with badge / flash, F-2 Spectra helmet, F-2 Jacket (French Desert Camouflage), F-2 Trousers (French Desert Camouflage), Trouser belt, Khaki t-shirt, Patches, M1952 ranger boots, 1601 Jungle battle assault vest, First-aid kit pouch, Carabineer, FR-F2 Sniper rifle with sling and J8 scope. Expected Release Date: July 2013

The French Foreign Legion was created by Louis Philippe, the King of the French, on 10 March 1831. The purpose of the Foreign Legion was to remove disruptive elements from society and put them to use fighting the enemies of France. Recruits included failed revolutionaries from the rest of Europe, soldiers from the disbanded Swiss and German mercenary regiments of the Bourbon monarchy, and troublemakers in general, both foreign and French. The Royal Ordinance for the establishment of the new regiment specified that the foreigners recruited could only serve outside France.

The Foreign Legion was primarily used, as part of the Armée d'Afrique, to protect and expand the French colonial empire during the 19th century, but it also fought in almost all French wars including the Franco-Prussian War and both World Wars. The Foreign Legion has remained an important part of the French Army, surviving three Republics, the Second French Empire, two World Wars, the rise and fall of mass conscript armies, the dismantling of the French colonial empire, and the loss of the Foreign Legion's base, Algeria.

Historically, the American film industry portrayed the Foreign Legion as, in the words of Neil Tweedie of The Daily Telegraph, having "a reputation as a haven for cut-throats, crooks and sundry fugitives from justice" and also having many men escaping failed romances.

Tweedie said that since the legion had asked few questions of its new recruits, it became "an ideal repository for the scum of the earth." As of 2008, according to Tweedie, the "image as a haven for ne’er-do-wells is largely out of date" since the legion now conducts extensive background checks via Interpol.

The Foreign Legion is the only unit of the French Army open to people of any nationality. All members of the Foreign Legion are men; women are not permitted to join. Most legionnaires still come from European countries but a growing percentage comes from Latin America. Most of the Foreign Legion's commissioned officers are French with approximately 10% being former Legionnaires who have risen through the ranks.

The Foreign Legion is basically equipped with the same equipment as similar units elsewhere in the French Army. These include: The FAMAS assault rifle, a French-made automatic bullpup-style rifle, chambered in the 5.56x45mm NATO round. In bullpup-style firearms, the action and magazine insert is behind the trigger section. This layout shortens the length of the weapon, while retaining the barrel length.

The FR F2 (French: Fusil à Répétition modèle F2; English: Bolt-action Rifle, F2 model) is the standard sniper rifle of the French military. It is designed for shooting at point targets at distances up to 800 meters.

This Modern French Foreign Legion set looks to be set in the late 90's / early 00's. The new head sculpt is nice but who is it supposed to represent? I don't have a clue ;p Here, he's wearing the Green beret (Béret vert) of the French Foreign Legion

The SPECTRA is a ballistic helmet, designed by the French military, fitted with real-time positioning and information system, and with light amplifiers for night vision.

The FR-F2 is an upgrade from the earlier FR F1 sniper rifle. The rifle barrel is thermally shielded along a considerable part of the barrel by a polymer shroud. It uses a different bipod-stock configuration from its predecessor, which is built just ahead of the receiver.

It uses 7.62×51mm NATO ammunition, and is equipped with a scope, French army standard issue is either an APX L806 or SCROME J8 (Army) or Nightforce NXS (Air force) or Schmidt & Bender 6x42 mil-dot (Navy).

The FR F2 utilizes the same bolt design as the older, outdated MAS-36 infantry rifle.

Related posts:
June 18, 2010 – Action Man French Resistance Fighter
June 19, 2010 – Polistil Action Man French Officer released 1970s
June 20, 2010 – Action Man French Foreign Legionnaire
June 22, 2010 – G.I. Joe French Foreign Legionnaire
June 23, 2010 – BBi Elite Force French Foreign Legionnaire 'Corporal Léon Javert'