Jim Arnold had a most interesting article in a recent issue of THE COURIER concerning giving your wargames figures a "campaign" look by painting them with various different colored trousers, putting patches on their uniforms, etc., something I like to do with my own units. I'd like to add several more ideas which "spice up" wargames armies. The first consists of utilizing a variety of poses within the same battalion/regiment. I used to think this was the great thing to do in the ACW for me in that it seemed very acceptable to do in this period. One could have a unit of 30 figures and have all 30 be in different poses. With the fine variety of ACW figures 'Dixon, Old Glory, Peter Gilder, Front Rank, etc) this would be very easy to dot However, it seemed to me that one could not do this for all other periods, i.e. the SYW or Napoleonics, because they seemed to be a more formal type of period. However, my opinion was quickly changed with the advent of the wonderful Peter Gilder color photos in MINIATURES WARGAMES and my Napoleonic French infantry battalions are now composed of a number of different poses and manufacturers. I do attempt to ensure that the figures are reasonably close together as regards size - I do not mix MINIFIGS, for example, with the larger 25mm Gilder figures. However, no matter which figures you use, you will be able to find other manufacturers who make compatiable figures. As Jim Arnold suggested, I do paint my French line in different colored trousers. There are many gray trousers (British), a smattering of sky blue (Spanish); and many shades of brown (civilian). In addition, I use a variety of colors for greatcoats and shako covers. Looking through painting guides, one always sees different shades of tans/browns for shako covers and brown/tan/gra/etc., for greatcoats. No big thing certainly, but it does make for a more interesting-looking army. Another thing, which I picked up from Peter Gilder's pictures, is to place a mounted officer on the command stand of all infantry units. I used to mount my officers on a separate stand so that they would be available to dash around the battlefield. For example, for my French line infantry battalions (36 figures), I use a foot officer, drummer, standard bearer, and mounted officer and two enlisted men on a six-man stand. The effect looks desirable, at least to me. I also attach an officer to the Voltigeur and Grenadier stands as well. I also plan on making some stands of staff officers together as Peter again does. He puts perhaps two to four mounted generals/staff officers and sometimes a few dismounted figures on a single stand. I don't know if Peter uses them for morale purposes in any way and I am not sure of how I will handle this myself in my own rules, however, it looks attractive! One can terrain these bases and make them into mini-dioramas! I am thinking of making up such stands for each of my brigades of infantry eventually and certainly will do so for corps/armies. For example, a brigade of ACW foot would have two mounted officers on a stand; a division would have three; a corps would have four; while the army command would have five such figures. Back to MWAN # 41 Table of Contents Back to MWAN List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1989 Hal Thinglum This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com