French Revolutionary Wargames 1789-1802: June 2016

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.

Tuesday, 28 June 2016

Georgian Miniatures in a Georgian Cabinet

Shamed by others who have found a system to store and display their 28mm collections, I decided to keep an eye out for something that might provide an answer. Here is my new acquisition from a local charity shop. Costing only £30, its a fair piece of reproduction furniture, and came with hardly a scratch. When I add to the number of glass shelves, and some rewiring to restore the internal lighting, it should be able to hold all my 18th century collections. There are some superb buys to be had in secondhand brown furniture, and they will last considerably longer than much of the popular and contemporary rubbish in production.
MGB
ps. Hope followers like the new column for 'labels' which may serve to find previous entries on this blog.

Thursday, 23 June 2016

Farmers prepare for Market Day

Have been working on some 1930s Brittains/John Hill farm animals. Here are some 18th century Tamworth pigs being taken to market. Its been a real pleasure restoring these old toys: working with milliput and wire, and new paintwork. The farmers are available from Crann Tara in the UK.
MGB

Wednesday, 15 June 2016

More X-RANGE painted and ready for the AWI

With several members in my living history group raising 28mm AWI figures to wage war on my Rebels, I have been forced to clear some lead figures, to better protect my Georgian town from potential attacks. Here is my South Carolina Artillery, also known an the 4th SC Regiment. They appear to have operated both field and garrison carriages in different actions so I have not attached them to a particular piece. Several castings have had the heads converted, others have been replaced. Arms and legs manipulated with pliers. Have also raised a number of Delaware Continentals to better support my numerous militia.
Michael

Thursday, 2 June 2016

French Marines, Navy, and Privateers prepare for War!

Have been working on my French Marine battalion. Decided it was time to muster all my Revolutionary naval forces. Still lots of work to do repairing, improving, and augmenting. MGB