Wednesday, May 15, 2019

Generic Army Project

I know I'm crazy. In the midst of a miniatures purge I just ordered a big batch of 3mm miniatures from Magister Mililtum! Why would I do something that crazy?

It all stems from a concept that has been brewing in my mind. At the smaller miniature scales, general unit information (foot vs. horse, formation, and general uniform colors) is visible but uniform details are very difficult to discern. It dawned on me that I could use that same figures to represent units from ancients through the horse & musket eras. How is that so? With judicious selections I can build generic units of heavy infantry, light infantry, heavy cavalry, and light cavalry (although I'm also adding some artillery specifically for gunpowder eras).

Here is my plan for the generic armies:
  • I ordered the minis from Magister Militum's 3mm line (I found that 2mm is a bit too small for decent photos)
  • I plan to build 3 armies - red, blue, and white or brown (for natives)
  • Each army will consist of 4 units each of heavy infantry, light infantry, heavy cavalry, and light cavalry plus 2 units of artillery
  • Composition of the different categories of units:
    • Heavy Infantry - Renaissance (i.e. ECW) pikemen in helmets. I plan to cut the pikes down to spear size. I chose to do this because they have helmets without shields. They can represent either spear-armed ancient/medieval infantry or helmeted musketeers.
    • Light Infantry - Ancient skirmishing archers. At a distance the bow could be taken for a musket. Either way, they should be distinguishable as skirmishers.
    • Heavy Cavalry - Age of Reason cuirassiers (because of their body armor without shields)
    • Light Cavalry - Age of Reason hussars
What about my existing 3mm units? While I think they look good, they are obviously restricted in temporal scope. My fantasy armies are equipped with shields and my horse & musket armies wear tricorns. Thus, they are expendable. I'm holding onto the horse & musket figures for now but ultimately plan on replacing them when the new armies are ready.

No comments:

Post a Comment