Favourite poses

[paulr]

I'd like to see hussars looking rather wilder, though I agree about cuirassiers and dragoons in uniform poses (very glad our worthy hosts were willing to arrange cuirassiers charging with sword pointing forward for me, however; they really look the cat's pajamas that way).

I didn't think you wore pajamas

[fsn]

Apologies, Westmarcher. Was looking at the wrong picture or just typing the wrong thing.

[Ace of Spades]

Infantry packs that say "marching" and you get a mix of right and left shoulder shift AND figures marching out of step! 

Got a point there; variations within a pose are very welcome for the overall look but they should at least be in step and handle weapons in the same manner.
I'm just working on some ACW figures right now and I fear I'll need to sort them accordingly losing the 'campaign look'...

Cheers,
Rob

[FierceKitty]

I didn't think you wore pajamas

...and therefore they are in crisp, pristine, hospital-starched condition! I admit I'm not sure why your cuirassiers go into action wearing pajamas, but it's your choice, no doubt.

[Westmarcher]

Apologies, Westmarcher. Was looking at the wrong picture or just typing the wrong thing.

No worries (might be a case of early onset old codger-itis, though  )

and I prefer cavalry with sabres/lances shouldered and not a variety of poses like a bunch of red Indians! 

Know what you mean (although I don't mind sabres drawn in other poses too much provided they are not flaying about too much) Take, for example, the commonly found mounted cavalry figure aiming his carbine to the side, ready to shoot the trooper to his left.    How can you base these in a line? Sometimes it seems manufacturers are not quite sure what their market is - boys who play with toy soldiers OR grown-ups who play war-games with .... er ... toy soldiers. 

[Ace of Spades]

...and therefore they are in crisp, pristine, hospital-starched condition! I admit I'm not sure why your cuirassiers go into action wearing pajamas, but it's your choice, no doubt.

Hmmm...cuirassiers going into action in pajamas should have theirs very, very well starched I suppose for them to count as cuirassiers...

Cheers,
Rob

[Westmarcher]

Plus, helmets should be well polished ... after all, they'll want to look their best if there is a breakthrough.  

[Dr Dave]

Got a point there; variations within a pose are very welcome for the overall look but they should at least be in step and handle weapons in the same manner.
I'm just working on some ACW figures right now and I fear I'll need to sort them accordingly losing the 'campaign look'...

There is a well known manufacturer and pretty much all of their marching figures are "out of step". For some nations I'd like that look. But the idea of having the Grenadier Guards advancing by the left - or right - shuffle is really daft. A bit like the the bayonets on and off. It's either one or the other. There never has been an order "fix your bayonet if you'd like to - no pressure". What some people consider as a campaign look is actually just plain unrealistic.

[Leman]

I have to be honest, I hate figures with bayonets because the buggers have a nasty habit of snapping off. Furthermore I've only ever come across one set of rules which has a modifier for bayonets being fixed or not (Johnny Reb) and I don't play them any more as they are too slow to give an enjoyable game.

[Dr Dave]

I have to be honest, I hate figures with bayonets because the buggers have a nasty habit of snapping off. Furthermore I've only ever come across one set of rules which has a modifier for bayonets being fixed or not (Johnny Reb) and I don't play them any more as they are too slow to give an enjoyable game.

Good point - how many Napoleonic line infantry figures come without the bayonet fixed?

[Westmarcher]

I have to be honest, I hate figures with bayonets because the buggers have a nasty habit of snapping off.

I must admit I do like to see a line of gleaming bayonets. I imagine the larger the scale the more that problem will occur and have heard that, in at least one of the plastic ranges, bayonets can be delicate.  With most of my current collection being Peter Pig (quite robust wee guys) and Pendraken, I've been quite lucky in that respect. Mind you, I once had a broken musket with a Pendraken figure but to be fair, the base it was on fell from table height and hit a hard floor! In fact, the more I think about it, if Pendraken had omitted bayonets in their Prussian SYW range (and some codes do), I may not have purchased them (Frederick ordered bayonets to be fixed at all times) and so, may not have encountered and enjoyed the fun of this forum  (Hey! Who groaned there at the back?).   

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

Leon - cut off all Bayonets immediately, we may then get rid of one of the most disruptive members

[Nick the Lemming]

I like to have marching-type poses and skirmishing type poses, but the more of each type the better, rather than just one or two. The AWI and LOA ranges are great for that, while some others I've not bothered with because they're just too samey.

[Leman]

Oh well, that's uniforms for you, not to mention drill.

[paulr]

 

[Nick the Lemming]

Oh well, that's uniforms for you, not to mention drill.

I'm thinking more about the running poses etc, there's no drill synchronised running, and there's always some slight variance you can put in even with marching or firing poses, such as adding moustaches, heads cocked slightly differently, legs posed a little differently, etc. When they're all exactly the same figure, it looks like an army of clones.

[Orcs]

Like a complete dick I took a guess at what the options meant, completed the questionnaire, submitted it and then discovered the diagram lower down the page. think this is going to make the exercise pretty pointless.

The Diagram did not show when I did it either, so I did exactly the same. 

[Ace of Spades]

On bayonets... most troops in the old days would always have their bayonets fixed when in the field; both to impress and to be prepared for whatever could come their way. In a Confederate unit marching figures may well be a mix of troops with and without bayonets. They were supposed to have them but if you read original reports you see that many men were without. Partly due to the amount of different rifles  available and above all the fact that large amounts were picked up from the battlefields (often without the hard to find matching bayonets). But still, better to have them fixed on figures with the possibility to cut them off then without I'd say.

Cheers,
Rob

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

Russians / Soviets didn't have scabbards until after WW2, so always had them fixed. Note that reloading a muzzle-loader with a bayonet was both difficult and uncomfortable.

[Ace of Spades]

Note that reloading a muzzle-loader with a bayonet was both difficult and uncomfortable.

It's not that bad really and doesn't cost any more time than reloading without a bayonet. Believe me I've done it plenty of times with an average of three to four shots a minute with and without bayonet and while using ramrod. The gun is in exactly the same position when reloading with or without the bayonet. Even reloading in two or three ranks with bayonets fixed is not a problem at all as long as people are trained at what they are doing.
Like all things military; it's repetition that makes it go smooth. Train hard, fight easy...

Cheers,
Rob