French Revolutionary Wargames 1789-1802: October 2017

Wargame Rules, Ratios, etc

RAISING MINIATURE ARMIES FOR THE LATE 18TH CENTURY

I am very keen to keep my wargame rules as simple as possible, yet capture the character of the 1790s. Morale dominates the games as the opposing sides are very different. Most of the French troops are 'levee' battalions, which I have chosen to base in column as their ability to change formation on a battlefield must have been limited, nor do I believe their volley fire had any great value. Of better quality, able to change formation, will be white-coated regular and blue-coated volunteer battalions, aided by a fair number of skirmishers. The British, Austrian, Dutch and German armies are often outnumbered, but they maintain the discipline and order of typical 18th century armed forces. Interestingly, French revolutionary cavalry have little in common with their later Napoleonic counterparts, the former are few in number, often poorly mounted, and no match for those in the service of the Allies. All figures are 28mm in scale, using a 1=25 ratio.

Sunday 15 October 2017

Scratch Built Mediterranean Houses

Not much painting of figures lately, but I was interested to try my hand at using some corrugated cardboard which had arrived as packaging, and I had kept aside for about six months. The idea was to put together some smaller farm buildings which could serve in the French Revolution, or for many other conflicts in southern Europe over several centuries. Working on and off over two days, completed three buildings, and improved the roof on another older model.
MGB

Friday 13 October 2017

British Corps of Marines at Greenwich

In addition to wargaming the French Revolutionary Wars, I also founded and run a living history group portraying Captain Pellew's Landing Party, being a detachment of Royal Navy and British marines c.1793. Earlier this year we were commissioned to support, over four days, a tall ships event in London. Those visiting the event must have numbered tens of thousands, and some fine photos were taken of our living history display. Imagine the surprise when having a chat with a wargaming friend, Chris Gregg, it turns out that he had spent some time photographing our portrayal with neither of us being aware of each others attendance. Here are a few photos taken of this event, including some by Chris. May I also invite followers to visit his own blog as he has a reputation for painting military subjects, and special commissions can be negotiated. (See Links)
MGB