Below: Musketeer Regt. Von Donop. Four "Divisions" of 6-7 figures, with halberd-toting NCOs keeping things in order. Command by Sash and Saber, Figs by Old Glory.
Same, more of a forward angle and "gamer's eye view" at my table.
Below: Fusilier Regt. Von Lossberg. All figs Old Glory. The S&S command figs are just a bit more animated and have just a bit more character. They do have some odd proportions, including an officer who's a bit of a pinhead and large, chunky legs. As they wear black gaiters, it isn't a big deal, but something to keep in mind. Judge for yourself if you like them!
Same, more of a gamer's eye view of the unit.
It may be hard to tell from the above pics due to the lens distortion of the camera, but all the figures are afixed to the base so that every part of them - including arms, swords, anything that sticks out - is entirely WITHIN the edge of the base. This way they won't bang into figures when they are fighting my units, anyway. This is one of my new rules of basing, about which I have said so much in "Spear to the Strife".
Now, the battalions form for action! Lossberg up front flanked by the 3lb battalion guns, with Donop entering the field of battle, conveniently passing in review of their British general.
"Salutations Herr Ingles Nook! the Von Lossberg battalion is here to turn the tide in favor of King George III - where shall we deploy to rout the rebels?"
"My Compliments, Col. Witezell. Do put your command onto the line of battle over there."
Von Donop marching into the table, erhm, field of battle.
The Fusiliers advancing...one is eyeballing the supporting guns, "pew-pew!"
But the advance is not without casualties. Mein Gott! The Ober gefreitenstagfrankenfuhrer ist Kaput!!"
"I said get in step, dumpfkopf!!! Or I will put this pike where sun not shine!" Sergeants...same all over.
*Look, Johann still can't keep the step* Think the drummer and NCO to left
I like to have little vignettes on these big bases when possible, even if it is just a simple story. The command figs from Sash & Sabre cost more, but I think they're worth it due to their characterful poses and animation. However, it can get repetitive...I can't have every regiment with this same vignette, right? So a mix of command figs is preferable.
Gaming Frontage. The large battalions take up almost two feet with their little guns. My office table has about 4x3' of space, so I think I will actually be able to get away with some "imagi-nation" playing of OHW scenarios. The extra width of the Units [NT recomments up to 6" for a Unit, these are 8"] will be accomodated by the extra table width. I will almost certainly shorten the ranges, also, for a 4" short and 8" long range.
This has me pretty motivated now! They look good and are clearly "a Blue team", so I'm thinking of going White with AWI French as well. Getting them will enable me to do actions in the Americas and the Islands. Some of the local guys already have plenty of Brits and Americans, so I'll save those brigades for later.
So I'm thinking the Hessians need:
- Grenadiers,
- Lt. Cavalry
The French would need:
- 4 Battalions
- Guns
- Lt. Infantry [Go Green with Queens Rangers...I've a book about them that will without doubt have me wanting to paint the regiment!]
- Lt. Cavalry [continue Green with Queen Ranger cav]
This would give me a full OHW force for both sides, so I can do some imagi-nation fighting in Europe as well as the Americas. Heck, may as well throw in some Indians in the future. And I'll be able to contribute forces with the guys that I don't think any of them have.
"Vorwarts!"
Splendid looking troops. If memory serves me correctly, Oberst Witezell was killed gloriously leading his iron-shod, dismounted Hessian dragoons across a ford at Brandywine? They never did cross the river, either.
ReplyDeleteHis loss was deeply mourned by the regiment: at every dining-in, new officers must drink grog from his boot as the first verse of the regimental song is sung.
ReplyDeleteA fitting tribute to a real military legend - A Soldier who will go down in history as possibly one of the worst dice rollers ever.
DeleteI hear ya, and thanks for the feedback.
ReplyDeletewhen I look at the diagrams of formations in various books, there's always a series of gaps between platoons and command groups, etc. In other words, the look of a "solid" line of figs on stands is a wargaming convention, not reality. Or, it can be considered reality in the sense that 20-30 wargame figs representing a regiment on the table is actually deployed in a way that physically imitates platoon or so on the table.
When the flags are attached, they will take up a lot of space, and I'll probably need to reposition the figures, anyway, but I'll keep this in mind as I seek the right "look".