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| A grand sight.... The Swedish LifeGuard of Horse 1678 |
The new set of Horse and Musket rules I am working on allow units of between 6 and 60 models to be deployed on the table. This offered the chance to create shapes not normally seen with smaller wargaming units.
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| 4 x 6 model squadrons with characters attached |
I decided to build a 24 model regiment of Horse with all 24 models being troopers without officers or supernumaries. Is a magical number in my wargaming. A unit of 24 cavalry can be deployed as a 24 model block in two ranks of 12, 3 ranks of 8 or 4 ranks of 6. It can split into two units of 12 or 4 squadrons of 6. It is thus useful for Donnybrook, Beneath the Lily Banners and the new rule set.
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| 2 x 12 model regiments ideal for Beneath the Lily Banners |
With this hugely utilitarian unit I planned to add in several Character models which could be used both in Donnybrook and the new rule set. These included Colonels, Cornets, Trumpeters and Sergeants.
Further breaking with tradition I decided to use a different basing method from my normal very deep and 3 abreast style.
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| A break with tradition. 2 model base 50 x 60mm |
I was so excited by all of this change that I managed to finish the entire unit including basing and standards across five sessions each of roughly 4 hours. This averages 33 minutes per cavalry model horse and rider including cleaning the castings, undercoating, painting, gunking, varnishing, basing, painting the bases, flocking, painting the flock, gluing on the plants, edging the bases and cutting and shaping four standards.
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| The full bhuna! 4 x 6 model squadrons with 6 characters |
The various shots on this post illustrate the versatility of the unit. BLB requires squadrons of 6 miniatures which can operate individually or collectively as a parent regiment for the infamous 'All or nothing charge' rule. The new Horse & musket rules offer a variety of deployment options from breaking the unit up into subdivisions of 6 through to deploying the full regiment in 1, 2,3 or 4 ranks as shown.
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| Full regiment in 3 ranks of 8 troopers with characters |
My reason for opting for 2 model bases (which I haven't done for more than 20 years) was simply to produce nice long and narrow columns of march when the regiment was travelling on roads or across the battlefield. The bases are 50mm wide by 60mm deep giving enough depth to protect the models and a slightly looser frontage.
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| another view of the 2 model base |
Although this unit could be almost any Swedish Horse regiment from the Scanian War I chose to give the cornets 4 variations of the Livgarde standards.
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| A very grand looking 24 in two ranks of 12 with characters |
The colours used to paint the troopers were:
Dwarf flesh for the skin tones, Desert Yellow for the buff coats and equipment, black for neckcloths, hats, boots and cartridge boxes, off white for hat ribbons, natural steel for all metal parts, german brown black for carbine and pistol stocks, regal blue trimmed yellow for saddle cloths. Some light blues, yellows and brass appear on the officers
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| Single 6 model squadron/unit with Cornet |
Horses are in various tones but deliberately avoiding for the most part whites and blacks, socks and flashes on legs and faces.
