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.

Followers

Saturday 3 February 2018

French Mounted Corps of Guides c.1792

No army can safely march without some guides to assist the commanding officer. I decided to cast some of my own, and paint them up in the early war uniform of grey coats with green facings. Here are a few of them assessing the terrain. There is some controversy as to whether the Corps of Guides actually ever wore the grey regulation coat, or whether they always embraced the later green uniform, so I decided to have a few of these too. They aren't really battlefield units, so I will have to devise a kind of tactical value, or just plant them on the table as vignettes.
MGB







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10 comments:

  1. Colin Ashton3 February 2018 at 12:15

    Wonderful.

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    1. MGB3 February 2018 at 12:51

      Thanks Colin, I hate waste and several castings were in my spares box, then I saw French 1790s cavalry in grey, and was hooked.
      Michael

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  2. Jonathan Freitag3 February 2018 at 13:26

    Those are sharp!

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    1. MGB3 February 2018 at 14:10

      Thanks Jonathan, it was time to have a few mounted vignettes, and as I mentioned to Colin, I do like some grey coated cavalry. A few more are planned.
      Michael

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  3. Dave Huntley (sheepman)3 February 2018 at 15:20

    Great stuff Michael

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    1. MGB4 February 2018 at 02:04

      Thank you Dave, it cleared a few spare horses too, and was fun to put together.
      Michael

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  4. tidders4 February 2018 at 05:43

    Nicely done

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    1. MGB4 February 2018 at 09:08

      Thanks Allan, good luck with your paving lol.
      Michael

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  5. Captain Brummel6 February 2018 at 09:24

    Smart as whips! Look lovely.
    I think using them as "decoration" is the best bet. To think up some rules for Guides Cavalry means getting down to the niggly details and before you know whats happening your simple set of playable fun rules has developed into an encyclopedia with a 36 page quick reference sheet.

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    1. MGB6 February 2018 at 14:37

      Yes CB, you are right. I see some potential value for Guides in a skirmish game with other small sized units, exposing hidden units in a larger game, or brigade orders being changed only with the arrival of a messenger. But I like my three pages of A4 rules, see nothing to be really gained with more accountancy. So they will be decorative for now. I've seen too many games that never get anywhere near a conclusion because of the paperwork involved in their rules.
      Michael

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