I painted a 15mm Covenanter officer figure last year. It gave me some trouble due to my ignorance of 17th Century clothing and because I couldn't quite figure out what the sculptor was representing with the coat and sleeves. I even made enquiry on the manufacturer's forum but no-one seemed to be able to come up with a definitive answer. One even suggested it was a tartan cloak (probably for no other reason than it was a Scots officer).  Looking at my painted and based figure the other day, it suddenly dawned on me what I should have been painting. The figure was wearing a buff jacket with sleeves that unbuttoned lengthwise (and were unbuttoned). I've now re-painted the jacket and all is now right in my 17th Century universe.

This made me think of errors commonly made by wargamers not only because our knowledge of the era we are modelling in is not as good as we would like but also because our experience is fixed in the 20th & 21st centuries.

So, I thought it might be useful if some common era errors were highlighted somewhere. Feel free to contribute.

Wheel rims of wagons, carts & artillery pieces drawn by draught animals:
These are not bare wood so don't paint them the same colour as your wagon or artillery carriage. Think of the state of most roads in the pre-motorised era - rutted and interspersed with rocks and boulders. Considering the weight born by them, bare wooden wheels would soon be smashed to pieces. Wheels had iron rims. Paint them accordingly.

Pre-motorised vehicle dirt roads & tracks:
Modern country tracks generally consist of two dirt lines with a grass verge in the middle. This is caused by the wheels of tractors and other motor vehicles. In the age of horse & ox drawn transport, most wagons & carts were drawn by only one animal, therefore that middle grass verge would not exist because the animals would trample over that part of the road ....

Muddy Tyres

These should be painted mud colour (for whatever region) and then dry brushed a suitable black grey for the tire, as mud will stick in the tread of the tyre not on the part then contacts the ground.  this is especially true on tyres with a deep tread

Horses (cavalry) have hearts and lungs, not, unsurprisingly, a diesel engine with turbo boost........ So why do rules give cavalry a higher movement rate and allow them to use it on every turn?  (plus, they still get a charge bonus!)

Quote from: Westmarcher on 30 July 2019, 01:06:48 PM
Pre-motorised vehicle dirt roads & tracks:
Modern country tracks generally consist of two dirt lines with a grass verge in the middle. This is caused by the wheels of tractors and other motor vehicles. In the age of horse & ox drawn transport, most wagons & carts were drawn by only one animal, therefore that middle grass verge would not exist because the animals would trample over that part of the road ....

Roman shields

The shields on Trajan's column were for a specific time and place; in the millennium of Roman history, they were used fairly briefly.

Colours for grenadiers

In the SYW, grenadier units were usually "converged" from parent regiments, and thus did not qualify for standards.

Horses' eyes

Rather a lot of eras, admittedly. Horses have quite different eyes from ours.

Quote from: Orcs on 30 July 2019, 01:28:49 PM
Muddy Tyres

These should be painted mud colour (for whatever region) and then dry brushed a suitable black grey for the tire, as mud will stick in the tread of the tyre not on the part then contacts the ground.  this is especially true on tyres with a deep tread

That is a good tip. Not thought of that way round.

Medieval Japanese

These should NOT have modern-style (1500s -) ashigaru. They should have more visibly flamboyant armour colours. No sashimonos yet. Cavalry should emphasise bows.

Pike and Shot Japanese

Guns, if used at all, should be on improvised mounts, not those widely-produced and seldom used solid wheel carriages. Cavalry should emphasise lances and melee arms. Ashigaru should use fewer bows, more pikes and muskets.

ACW uniform colours

In the mid-C19th clothing dyes were not colour fast so Union blue can vary from a dusty looking mid-blue to quite a dark shade. I have seen gamers on other fora fretting about which particular blue to use quite needlessly. Similarly Confederate grey doesn't actually exist. In the west some uniforms appeared to be white as they were undyed fabric; butternut was more commonly found early in the war, not later as is often assumed; many later war Confederate uniforms were in fact blue grey; some troops wore mid-grey whilst others wore a grey that was actually more drab in appearance. I knew none of this when I started gaming the ACW in 1966. All my Airfix Union troops had the same blue jacket and light blue trousers, and all the the Confederates wore the same grey coloured jacket.

The C19th French greatcoat

Beware the dark blue greatcoat. This was standard French infantry wear from 1840s Algeria right through to 1914. Trouble is it was not dark blue. It was an unusual shade of darkish blue grey that was more blue than grey. The only way I have ever been able to reproduce it is by using a dark blue base colour and then damp brushing with blue grey.

Green orcs, winged balrogs

Need I say more?

Hospitaller uniforms

The iconic black looks good, but they were in red by the time of the Mamluk wars, and in that climate who'd blame them?

Russian coats

The green coat certainly existed, but in the SYW at least was normally left behind for coolness; the rank and file infantry fought in scarlet jackets.

Napoleonic Prussian Cuirassiers didn't wear cuirasses!