French Revolutionary Wargames 1789-1802: June 2018

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, 17 June 2018

Claude Louis Raoul de La Chatre, commander of the Regiment Loyal Emigrant c.1793

I wanted to represent this prominent Royalist in my British-Emigre army of the 1790s. Here he is in a somewhat dated style of coat, and the popular wide-brimmed hat adopted by the Allied army while in the Low Countries. His regiment, the Loyal Emigrant, was well regarded and had a superb fighting record. Still clearing away items in my spares box, I thought something suitably Roman Catholic would not look out of place next to this officer (Well that is one less Christmas decoration lol.)
MGB

Tuesday, 12 June 2018

Garden Ornaments for the Georgian Age

As a follow on to the previous post, I thought some garden ornaments could be produced out of odd Christmas decorations. Decided to cut up several wooden snowmen for tubs and pots. While some small conifer trees, costing 10 pence each, could be trimmed into other shrubs. As I have often admitted, I get a real pleasure in utilising the unwanted. Also picked up a second-hand lorry in a local toy shop for two quid, but it was the eleven medium sized barrels that caught my eye, and they have painted up quite nicely.
MGB

Monday, 4 June 2018

Floral Decorations on a Budget

I've been busy restoring my late mother's cast iron garden bench so wargaming projects have been somewhat on the hold. However, as I like my wargaming to develop on a strict budget, and find particular pleasure in new uses for the discarded, or even household rubbish, it occurred to me that even a pile of sawdust from the newly cut bench slats might be painted, dried, and then applied to my homemade shrubbery. Having seen the price of commercial alternatives, mainly sold to the miniature railway enthusiasts, I'm quite pleased with the results. (And here is a photo of the restored bench, now that must be a first on a wargaming blog!)

MGB