Urbancohort has started this painting thread and is keeping it wholly clear of apostrophes although it is all about his painting skills developing.

[urbancohort]

Fantastic idea Glorfindel and thanks. I will give it a go.

Sent from my SM-A510F using Tapatalk

[urbancohort]

And all change...

Had a long, hard think and decided to make a small alteration to how I am constructing the army. It seems I have achieved a 1:4 ratio (I like big armies). When I started this I knew very little about what I was modelling and about wargames. It is obvious now that pikes and muskets were brigaded together in one body, not separated out as I had modelled them.

I decided to make my regiments into Company sized units. Research shows each company had 20:40 pikes to muskets, which works out as 5 pike to 10 muskets. I include command figures which reduces the demand on the 'private sentinal' figures. Kirkes Regiment and Dumbartons had 5 companies apiece at Sedgemoor; 4 'hat' companies and 1 grenadier company. The grenadier company should be slightly smaller, having a strength of 50, not 60, but I'll live with that inaccuracy.
So here are two of The Queen Dowager's Regiment 'hat' companies and the grenadier company as a starter for ten. In due course I will decorate the new bases, and it is a pity to have to waste the bases but I like the result I am seeing here.

Sent from my SM-A510F using Tapatalk

[Womble67]

Looks good

Take care

Andy

[FierceKitty]

I have difficulty adjusting to pikemen who aren't in deep block. Not speaking in censure of your models, you understand.

[d_Guy]

Urban,
Rebasing is not an uncommon occurance. I've read posts from many here and elsewhere about the travails of rebasing. I've done it five times (three since switching to 10mm) in the last five years.

Have you selected a rules system? Often they will give a guide to basing. Working at the company level is a woundefully detailed way to go but consider that you may often wish to detach some of the musketeers leaving the pikes behind or collect the pikes in a block (although that was starting to go away in our time period). One of the neat things about having large companies is the capability to take up all sorts off different formations at the battalion level or to send off small detachments to do special things.

I bring this up only because you may find single bases ffor a company will limit what you can do at the level where you may want to game. If you have an opportunity take a look at "Donnybrook" (League of Augsburg) or "Pikeman's Lament" (Osprey) since they work at your level of detail (although figures are generally single based).

That said your basing will generally work for "Baroque"  (some may disagree), you would just be playing in a scale where two or three battalions (say eighteen companies - each a unit) would stretch the limits of the rules. Obviously, there are a few other details to work out as well.

I really like what you are doing, both the look of your results and your clear interest and enthusiasm. I made a large number of mistakes (and still do) but the biggest was not having a clear idea of how the games were going to work before I launched into basing the figures. I mean none of this a criticism of your work, just sharing some of MY mistakes and a bit of what I've learned. 

BTW - I like the Dragoon basing because it does have great flexibility!

[urbancohort]

Hi guys;
The beauty of this fantastic forum is being able to access the collective wisdom of more experienced gamers. As I have said before, for 34 years I havve claimed to be interested in wargames, bought loads of rulesets, quite a range of figures for different eras and locations as well as scale, but other than a very few naval wargames and a couple of rather unsatisfactory solo efforts, I've never ACTUALLY played a wargame. I decided on 10mm and late Stuart a few years ago (not to mention a modern scenario currently in abeyance). The reason is the variety of types of troops - grenadiers, dragoons, etc -and uses of weapons - pikes, matchlocks, flintlocks etc - plus the general appearance of the soldiery wirh uniforms, flags and the rest. I like companies because as a discreet unit they will have their own Captain plus flag, save the grenadiers of course, and to my mind that looks impressive. It also appears to my slightly Aspergic devotion to history, I can 'recreate the very casques that did afright the air' with each individual unit represented.
Which is why feedback and advice such as the above is so welcome. Due to my inexperience I hadn't considered these points. This gets me wondering whether it would be better for each company to be made up of 2 blocks, 5 pike, 10 muskets incl command figs? I did consider basing the grenadiers as groups of 5 figs originally, but took the view I'd be better off having them as a block . Again, I shall rethink this.

Sent from my SM-A510F using Tapatalk

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Looks 😎

[Techno]

Very nice, again.

Cheers - Phil.

[sunjester]

I'd second the suggestion of The Pikeman's Lament. Great fun to play and simple to learn. They are written for use with single-based figures, but I know people who play successfully with stands, you just need to keep track of casualties in some way. You could use a company stand as a unit and remove it after 12 casualties, or use 3 stands and remove one for every 4 hits, or 6 stands and remove one for every 2 hits, or be really megalomaniac about it and use 12 stands to one Pikeman's Lament unit!    

I also like (but haven't used yet) the idea in PL for tracking your officer's progression. You can run a mini-campaign as you trace your hero's career as a company commander until he achieves promotion ...or dies.

[urbancohort]

Well, what with elections and deluded idiots running around Southwark I haven't had a lot of time to be updating, or indeed actually building the army. Day off at last today so decided to act on a suggestion. After long and careful thought we're into basing No4.

I still like the idea of companies, but started by seperating off the pike. I can now deploy in front, behind the parent company or completely seperately. Likewise most depictions seem to show grenadiers seperating into several units, (platoons?) and positioned in odd places in the battle line. Accordingly I reduced strength to 12, a nearer approximation of the right number, 50, at Sedgemoor using the 1:4 ratio. I then made 3 stands of 4 units. Again, this gives me the freedom to deploy all together or seperately.

I have made the musketeer stands of 10 "private sentinels" incl a sergeant/ NCO, and a seperate command section of ensign, drummer and officer. (These officers do not answer to the 1:4 ratio of course, I just like the look of them). I have also mixed in 6 flintlock figures amongst the matchlocks as in the line regiments there were 24 flintlock equipped soldiers mixed in amongst the rest. When I get to do the guards they are all flintlock equipped.

I have noticed my painting skills improving, thanks to the help and advice of you little lot.

Sent from my SM-A510F using Tapatalk

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Looks fantastic old app chap!

[toxicpixie]

Tasty! I like that basing idea, I think you should stop now

[urbancohort]

Tasty! I like that basing idea, I think you should stop now

I hope to! I'm not doing this for fun... Well, I am, but I'm sure you know what I mean!

Sent from my SM-A510F using Tapatalk

[d_Guy]

Excellent looking, really like the basing design. This allows a great deal of flexibility.

[Womble67]

Very nice indeed

Take care

Andy