An Old School 18th Century Wargame

Greetings one and all,

By way of a brief introduction I am a 35 plus year wargaming veteran who cut his teeth on Charge! using unpainted Airfix Napoleonics. Over the years I have tried an enormous amount of rules for differing periods up and down the historical spectrum and if I have learned anything as a result it is that prefer the simpler rules, leavened with some knowledge of the period gained through research. It was with this in mind that I found myself looking wistfully at the Spencer Smith website and and the possibility of some enjoyable games using old fashioned rules. I always liked Charge!, not only for the rules but also for the vein of humour running through the book. Large regiments may no longer be fashionable (for which read cost and time to paint) but this is the essence of why I came into the hobby. Massed ranks of figures blazing away or trying to force a conclusion against their opposite numbers; great handfuls of dice and all the flam and paradiddle of a bygone age. I seem to recall from Charge! that the authors recommended the use of fictional armies to remove the element of bias and I guess in a nutshell that is why we are all here. My two fictional armies, which will be organised as per Charge!, will be the Grand Duchy of Artois and the Electorate of Kronenburg. These are French and German respectively and the units comprising these will be named after wines for the French and beers for the Germans. Initially, I am looking at a modest set up - each force will consist of 6 line companies, a grenadier and a light company for the infantry and 4 squadrons for the cavalry. I will add 3 guns and howitzer to each side as well.

I intend using Charge! for this project, perhaps with a smattering of The Wargame thrown in for good measure.

At the time of writing I have yet to order the figures but I have already designed the uniforms which will not look out of place on a historical SYW battlefield.

The beauty of using SSM figures is not onlythe cost but the simplicity of the figures themselves - they only need a simple paint job to be effective which means SPEED of finish. This is a major attraction for me as I am a notoriousy slow painter.

I will update the blog as the project progresses and as I flesh out the two adversaries.

All the best,

David