New Website Info - Help Wanted!

[Leon]

This may be slightly off topic, but if we are going to provide information about the conflicts etc, would it not be useful to have a list somewhere of troop type substitutes ? The Napoleonic wars for instance had many states which are not represented in the catalogue such as Saxony,  Waldeck, or  Reuss. Even the big players only have limited ranges confined to the main types of troop. I think it would help if the catalogue carried information such as  Saxon Musketeers 1807-14 use French Fusiliers. 

It's definitely something handy to have here on the Forum for reference, but I'm wary of putting it onto the website/catalogue as once we've opened that door there's a whole lot of proxies and debate which might ensue!  Here on the Forum it can be discussed and amended easily.

[FierceKitty]

Ancient Spanish

Ancient Spain was one of the toughest places to fight in Europe before the Roman Empire. The tribesmen often defeated Punic, Roman, and Gaulish armies, taking full advantage of their mobility, ferocity, and effective weaponry. An Iberian army was typically an infantry force with about two thirds close-order warriors carrying extra-heavy javelins, swords that were highly respected in the ancient world, and decent shields, and the other third very mobile light infantry with javelins. There might be some slingers too, and sometimes the lighter troops predominated. Cavalry were fewer in number and mainly light, but hard-hitting. The army looks imposing on the table, since most of them wore clean white tunics and white sinew caps with horsehair crests, and the heavy foot fought in large wedges. It took the Romans far longer to conquer Iberia that to overrun Gaul.

[FierceKitty]

The Zulu Wars

This ever-popular war involved the odd couple of the Zulu army, superbly disciplined and aggressive but using short spears or misunderstood firearms, and the British, trained and very well equipped, but badly outnumbered and led with less than ideal professionalism. The British attacked the Zulus against the orders of their own government, had an unexpected severe defeat, and then won the war in a series of battles that showed that the Zulus were still dangerous. For appearance, the war is hard to beat; British scarlet coats towards the end of their career, and Zulu shields with each regiment using a distinctive colour or pattern (and some of the most entertaining regimental names ever, such as Swamp of Crocodiles, The Cockroaches, or Pacifiers of the Land).

[Leon]

Any more contributions on this?  Thanks to everyone who has helped out so far.