I was recently reading a debate on a wargame forum on some Napoleonic topic. I had this silly idea of painting up some Napoleonic figures incorrectly, posting pics, then stating that I don't give a darn when the pedants invariably correct me. I imagine that the response would be priceless.
Anyway, from that odd germ comes a hankering for a new project. I'm now in the beginning stages of a Napoleonic project.
True to my nature, I plan to keep it simple. Looking for inspiration and guidance, I'm reading Bob Cordery's Portable Napoleonic Wargame and have ordered Neil Thomas's Napoleonic Wargaming. Ultimately, I plan to tweak my MicroBattle rules to accommodate Napoleonic battles.
Again, true to my nature, I'm thinking of a different tack for the troops. Rather than my counters, I'm toying with acquiring some "miniatures." Actually, homemade matchstick miniatures like these by James Fergusson.
The combatants are simple. I'm an Austro-phile after all. So France vs. Austria it is!
Stay tuned to see if this project actually gets off the ground or if it crashes and burns like some other projects.
Sounds like a good plan Kevin.
ReplyDeleteRemember though, there’s a -1 modifier every time your matchstick troops shoot their muskets (heaven knows, these little wooden warriors don’t want to hear anyone shout “fire” 🤣😂).
The Portable Napoleonic Wargame is good and doesn’t require an especially large tabletop/battlefield.
Finally, if your project does indeed “crash and burn” then at least it should burn quite easily.
Cheers,
Geoff
LOL
DeleteI like the idea of provoking the uniform pedants by displaying deliberately incorrectly painted Napoleonic figures! I did once toy with the idea of painting British, French and Portuguese troops as they are portrayed in the hand-coloured aquatints in Jenkins' Martial Achievements of Britain &c. which was first published in 1815, some of which I have in my collection, on the grounds that those were the contemporary images of battles that people in Britain would have seen and that would have created the images of battle in their imaginations. Interestingly, many of the French are shown wearing red trousers long before such became an official part of French uniform. One day, perhaps...
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your project. The Portable Napoleonic Wargame should be ideal for your purposes.