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Wednesday, August 15, 2012

British Dragoons for Maurice

I've been thinking of painting up a 2nd Maurice army to serve as a loaner for my friends who game only Ancients.  I'm thinking this might tempt them to game in the Era of Gentlemen and Philosophers, even though these fellows can hardly be mistaken for gentlemen.They're hard-pressed to put on a pair of pants before venturing into public, such is their love for the Gauls. Coarse as they are, my ancients-loving friends might one day be persuaded to serve as bayonet holders for my Ottoman army.

As I was looking at the options for Seven Years War armies, it dawned on me that I'd never painted a tricorn hat.  And wasn't that #22 on my bucket list?  Good lord, time to stop procrastinating and get my lace on! My friend Mark was working on his British-inspired ImagiNation army so I asked if he had any units I could train on, er, paint up.  As luck would have it, he had a dandy SYW British Dragoon unit in the wings.

The beauty of painting outside your comfort zone is that, well, it's outside your comfort zone. The downside is that there are probably ten good reasons why it's outside your comfort zone.  For me, I haven't read much on the Seven Years War and I had no reference material for the armies or era.  I sent Mark a text asking if he had any inspirational material for his British Hussars.  Oooops. Wrong word.  I learned that Hussars and Dragoons don't mix, unless it's on a battlefield.  After a bit of bumbling out of the gate, here are the results:


These Old Glory figs are crisp and loaded of detail. To my surprise, I discovered that each Dragoon carried more gear into battle than paratroopers took into Normandy.  A brace of pistols, a musket, a sword, three separate ammo packs and a bed roll.  They were Death on Hooves. If I do paint up a SYW  army, I'll be ordering it from OG.

Next week, I'll try to turn this mdf board into terrain for Maurice.


23 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Thanks Tamsin! I've been enjoying your 30YW project and look forward to seeing it in an AAR. I wish our group dabbled in FoG R but until that happens, I'll live vicariously through you and your gaming group!

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  2. They look great Monty, almost time to move on to 28mm... :-)

    Seriously though, an Austrian (Hapsburg) army would be a perfect sparing partner for your Ottomans. It would include a much higher proportion of cavalry than a force fighting in Western Europe though, and there would be no shortage of light infantry and skirmishing cavalry, like hussars and dragoons. The Hapsbergs can always call on allies such as the Venetians or the Poles, giving you the excuse to paint up some winged hussars for your force as well.

    Cheers,
    Jason

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    1. lol on the 28mm! I think I'd have to sell of my entire 15mm collection to fund a single 28mm army. Well, with plastics, that's not quite true.

      I like your suggestion. The only thing is 250+ figures in mostly white, right? In 15mm, the gray/white highlight is doable but it never looks quite as nice as white in 28mm. It'll be a long cold winter. And it may include Austrians.

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    2. Austrians can be surprisingly colorful, especially the cavalry and light infantry. The Russians would be another historical match up, but with ImagiNations that probably doesn't matter too much. I always thought the Swedes would be very interesting to paint up, but OG doesn't make them. I really don't know who does.

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    3. OOh, the Russians. That is a good 2nd option. I need to buy some reference books!

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  3. Great looking figures Monty, it sounds as though your pal mark is pleased with them. If you do get to paint the Austrian, don't try to paint their flags!!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks so much Ray and no, I won't paint flags as long as guys like you keep posting so much good stuff for us to print and use!

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  4. Very nice units, colours are really enjoyable...

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    1. Thanks Phil! It has been a nice diversion from painting ancients. I really do like the fact that there are no shields. I can't emphasize that enough, really. No. Shields.

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  5. Very dandy looking unit!

    15mm is funny... for you the MDF board is terrain... for me it is just a large base! :-P

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    Replies
    1. lol...that's right. My mini men could all fit on one 28mm base and have room to spare!

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  6. I like 'em, rather dashing. Nice to get a review of the OG SYW stuff too.

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    1. Thanks Firey! I know that OG has some bland lines but they do good work in the SYW line. And not to be a cheap SOB but when you're building an army of 240 figures, cost is unfortunately a factor for me.

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  7. very inspirinig as usual
    a tuto ?

    vive le 15 mm !
    i like the idea to paint two armies to play with a friend.
    encore bravo

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    1. Thanks so much, marco! I didn't do anything interesting in the way of mixing oils and acrylics. But I did use Gilles inking method to start the horses in browns and black. Baby steps!

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  8. You sweet talker! What I failed to tell you is that while I was painting them, I was whispering "come over to the dark side." These guys will be The Manchurian Dragoons on the tabletop, maybe.

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  9. Nice post, Monty! I like the figures, the basing is great, and your writing is very engaging.

    And to all you other guys, I ALWAYS have my pants on when I go outside. It's only when you come to my house that it's a bit iffy . . .

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Brent! As the Romans established long ago, a robe is acceptable if you belt it. Or Caesar style, loosely belted. :-)

      Now on to another game of Maurice!

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  10. Hi Monty
    I also have eine Osterreiche Herren. But I use Black Powder with my group in Burnsville. Also I have Prussians and I am working on a SYW French amry. I also have Ottoeman mounted for DBM, er MMMM

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    Replies
    1. That's a good list, Lee! Hey, some day, we have to get a game on at BrentCon in Richfield or ReCon in Coon Rapids.

      And you have me stumped on Osterreiche Herren! :-)

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  11. Hey! great painting Monty! I have my Maurice rule set copy plus the deck of cards with me while staying at, you guess it, Fargo ND ;) with my wife for 10 days and yes we have been to your twin cities Minneapolis–Saint Paul. any way great figure painting and info by you sir!

    cheers,
    Phil

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  12. Thanks Phil! I hope you had a good stay in the Midwest and also Minneapolis–Saint Paul. Is there any chance someone finds a way to work the card driven aspect of Maurice into Ancients? I think that could be quite fun.

    Have a safe trip back!

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