Plains, Terrain and ..er Cuirassiers

A beyond cheesy title: the fact that I was amused by it is probably an indication of how badly one's sense of humour deteriorates with age. It vaguely relates to my being in the middle of making the terrain tiles and units necessary for the next battle. Action! was a small affair by the standards of the Grants. To me it represents a major step forwards, both in the amount of terrain needed and the number of troops.

Work in Progress - Terrain Pieces

There are a few details that make reproducing this battle more awkward. The rules in 'The Wargame' were, for their time, unusually precise in their use of distance. Charles Grant specifies a frontage of 12.5 inches for an infantry battalion. My battalions measure 16 inches. I should therefore either increase all other distances (movement, ranges and the size of the table) or else reduce my 48 man battalions to 38. The first of these is not practical: I don't have the room to do this. The second is (for me anyway) undesirable: I want to use as many of the figures I have as possible.

I shall therefore mull all these things over in my mind, and come to whatever grudging conclusion best suits me at a later date.

The Tricorn Affair Concluded

The King having observed, that the hats of the several Regiments are of different sizes, and cocked in different methods, I am to acquaint you, that the patterns which are sent to the Comptrollers Office, for the Cavalry and Infantry, are, in conformity to the King's Orders, to be sealed by the Board, and deposited as patterns; and it is his Majesty's pleasure that the hats of the several Regiments are for the future to be made conformable to them, both as to the size of the brim and method of cocking. [4th February 1769. Miscellany Book: clothing correspondence. Adjutant-General to Mr. Fauquier. W.O. 30/13B.]

As the excerpt above shows, there is nothing new in the problem of trying to get a hat of the correct size. In my case the lack of uniformity all occurs within a single unit: the evidence is shown in the photos that follow.

I may go back at a later date and knock off a few of the worst hats and remodel them. But, for now, they are 'good enough' and I have a lot more urgent things to do if I am to be ready for the Christmas battle. Similarly, the unit's complement of officers and musicians will have to wait while other units are attended to.

The Le Nobles uniform does look aesthetically pleasing. I think I have made the light blue a little too bright (a touch of grey probably needed to be mixed in) but I am happy with the result this small error gives.

Its Too Cold For Some

We just had a spell of unusually early cold weather here in the UK. For a day there was snow on the ground: very confusing for the many trees about that were still in full summer plumage. My computer was so impressed by this that it felt the need to mark the event by blowing up (I really must remember to put the heating on more).

The lack of a computer seemed, at first, to be a major loss. But I soon found that its absence encouraged me to spend more time painting and modelling. The rank and file for the two companies of my first light infantry battalion are now nearing completion and photos will follow shortly.

Sadly old habits seem to be returning all too quickly. I have an awful lot of blogs and other websites to catch up on, so the rabble of Le Noble's Freicorps stand unattended for the while.