Generic Working Party

[lentulus]

Near the bottom of this page

http://almg.free.fr/forbach/Bataille%20de%20Spicheren%204.htm

you will find an image entitled "Préparatif de défense du Rotherberg", which sows some French chausseurs digging a ditch.  What struck me about this image is that, if they were not wearing Kepis, they could be any time and place in the 19th and 20th centuries at least.  Your 18th Century working parties are winderfully generic, but the combination of short trousers and pigtails confines them to the 18th century.

How about some bare-headed, short-haired shirt-and-trousers lads with pick and shovel?  The ambitious can do head swaps, but for a good, basic, "trench being dug here" marker they would be great; period artillery officers for most periods are fine for keeping the work in order.

[fred.]

bare-headed, short-haired shirt-and-trousers lads with pick and shovel

Sounds useful - there is generally a lack of 20th Century Pioneer type figures.

[Le Manchou]

This is an excellent idea, I would use them as engineers.

[Leon]

Votes added!

[Le Manchou]

Hello, I would like to know if the 'general working party' is among your planned new miniatures for 2011. I would need 100s of them for my big project.

[Kassad]

I agree. Another vote by me.

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

I'm in

[goat major]

thats an awful lot of generic workers Le Manchou - what's your project ?

[Leon]

Hello, I would like to know if the 'general working party' is among your planned new miniatures for 2011. I would need 100s of them for my big project.

There's a reasonable amount of votes, but it's not something that's made it onto the design radar yet.  However, as we have a couple of dollies already in suitable poses, it would be a very easy figure to do.  I'll have a chat with the designer at Salute about it.

thats an awful lot of generic workers Le Manchou - what's your project ?

I'm curious as well...!   

[Le Manchou]

The project, on which I already work for three years, is to make the whole first 15 days of the Franco-Prussian war with the help of around 17 000 miniatures and a table of about a 1000 square meters. So I need all the companies of engineers, sapeurs, pontoneers, etc... for both armies: there is one company per division, I want to represent it by 4 miniatures and there is about 50 divisions of infantry. There also is corps engineers and general reserves of engineers, so I think I will need around 300 miniatures. I already have painted around 15 000  miniatures, I just have left to paint the VIth french corps of Canrobert.  The goal is to create a company, a little bit like the Wargames Holiday center, but to give the possibility to play a war, not just a battle, and for two weeks (one day of campaign per real day) at the corps, army or GHQ level. The place is not definite yet but I want to create the company in Saumur, in France (I am French), where there is good food, good wine, the armour museum (one of the five biggest in the world) and the Cadre Noir, who keeps the tradition of the French cavalry. This summer, I will go to meet officials of the city to try to convince them to help me. Besides, I just got my PhD in history and work on the campaign rules only with military manuals of the XIXth century and history books to respect as much as possible the real art of war of that period at the strategic and operational level. The project will be finished in around two years. I will need 30 players at least so if you are interested send me a private message.

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

I'll send a public message! WOW! That sounds amazing! 
I know serveral players who I regularly go to the Franco-Prussian war sites with, I'm sure they would be fascinated.
What rules do you use?

[Squirrel]

I'm in for the working party also.

Cheers,

Kev

[Le Manchou]

I use 1870 from Bruce Weigle, it's simple but as the players will also have to manage supply, scouting, engineering, write reports, etc..., and as the goal is to play a day in a day, I believe it's not possible to use a more sophisticated set of rules.

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Logistics for the Prussians, all timetabled, for the French, impossible!
The scouting bit should be easier for the French though... 
Non-existant!

[Leon]

We'll have a look at whether we can do these as a conversion ourselves, without having to take up the designers time.