ECW mix between caps and hats

[Last Hussar]

I've sorted the armour/unarmour mix.  Next question re hats and caps on Musketeers.  Any particular rules?  Were they supposed to wear one, but sometimes wore the other?  Mix with in units - basically what sort of ratio should I be ordering, and what sort of basing/mix am I using?

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Again, don't ever think any unit had a standardised headgear (maybe Wupert's Foot early on). Most illustrations and models of the period show huge varieties of titfer. Each individual provided his own, unless the Colonel was kind enough to shell out on lobster pots!

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Lobster pots would tend to be front ranks too.

[Hwiccee]

Sorry I missed the armour pike thread. On that armour for infantry was rare. A unit all having some or indeed having enough for say a front rank would be uncommon at the start of the war and disappeared during the war. Personally I would go for unarmoured for most and a front rank of armoured for special units - 'guard' units, trained bands.

On helmets it would be as above for pikemen but probably worse/less and very, very rare for musketeers. No infantry would wear the lobster pot helmets as this was just used by the cavalry.

Both hats and caps and bonnets (of many types) would be worn but caps would be the most common. Hats were expensive and not very practical to fight in. Units and whole armies were issued with caps at various times and of various types. But individuals would still wear there own.

I recommend you take a look at the Forlorn Hope rules if you can. This has a really useful section on what ECW troops actually looked like.

[Druzhina]

There are at least 2 named types of cap:
Monmouth caps
Montero caps

Druzhina
Illustrations of Costume & Soldiers

[Hertsblue]

I'd go along with the others - a healthy mix of headgear of all available types. After any fight it was standard practice to go through the dead of both sides and take whatever was useful on the grounds that "he don't need it any more". Uniformity doesn't survive that for long.

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

I suspect that helmets were rapidly chucked, as heavy and uncomfortable with little practical use.

IanS

[Last Hussar]

Cheers- Trouble causing birthday list being finalised