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.

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Monday, 5 January 2015

Lowenstein Chasseurs c.1793

Another rifle-armed unit has joined my Allied army with the completion of the Lowenstein Chasseurs. This unit had originally served with the Dutch before transferring to the British Army. The recruits were Germans. Several descriptions to their dress show minor changes in the hat ornaments and the colour of their pantaloons. The jackets are variously described as grey-blue or light blue, which I have tried to represent here, slightly more greyish in shade than the Beon and Damas chasseurs I completed a few weeks ago. I may choose to increase their number with a detachment in horsehair-crested helmets, there is some evidence of their use while in Dutch service. This unit later served in the West Indies and ended up being drafted into the 5th Battalion, 60th Foot.

My photos show the Lowenstein Chasseurs providing a skirmish screen for the Salm Infantry, another German unit in the British Army. In any decent wargame rules these riflemen should have a fair chance of delaying the Paris Volunteers and National Guard chasseur companies long enough to allow the Salm Infantry to form up. MGB
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