Though dormant. A recent comment posted by a reader of this blog awoke me to the fact that I have been neglecting M. le Marquis for far too long!
The reason for this is that I live in pretty much a gaming wasteland. Without having had the imposition of the "project discipline" that gaming with a regular group can provide, I have for years now been tinkering around in far too many different gaming periods- without making any real progress in any one of them.
This had to change. So this past spring I made the decision to devote my painting time over the course of the year to my Napoleonics; these make up the bulk of my collection by far, and I have a lot- and I mean a lot- of them to do!
But I remain very fond of the Marquis, so I have decided that I will be adding a few updates from time to time- and may even get around to finishing that unit of Minden Miniatures' French that glowers at me from my painting shelf! More on that, and on my opinion on the trend toward a "new generation" of more authentically-proportioned miniatures later. Let's just say for now that the jury remains out on this one.
In the meantime, I continue to await the Eureka Miniatures War of the Austrian Succession Dutch. Should they ever indeed see the light of day, they will no doubt help to jump-start an 18th C. "revival" for me.
As may this; a week ago I placed a pre-order with Amazon.com for the following title;
Very little out there in English on this battle (surprise, surprise...) Once this tempting tome gets here, I'm sure the juices will be flowing again, and that situations featuring M. le Marquis' presence on "le champ d'honneur" will be detected within its pages. Rumour also has it that our hero may indeed have served the interests of His Majesty as far east as the Ottoman Empire, but that is a story for another day...
5 comments:
Great to read again from the Marquis - and to learn that he did not send the tricornes inro oblivion!
Jean-Louis
P.S.: dispersion, the fate / bane of so many wargamers! Ach! Gross Malheur!
Yes, the perils of being a wargaming dilettante!
But the Lord works in Mysterious Ways!
I just received a mail today form Nic at Eureka Miniatures telling me that the long-awaited WAS Dutch are about ready and will be sent at the end of the month- so it looks as if tricornes will be in vogue again this autumn!
What has really excited me recently has been the "Sharpe Practice" rules released by Two Fat Lardies- the rules are just perfect for those memorable "petite guerre" scenarios.
I'm already thinking of the Marquis leading his dragoons on an attempt to seize a bridgehead held by the Dutch.
I seem to recall an early "Courier" magazine which featured Fontenoy . . . but I might be mistaken.
-- Jeff
Thanks for posting, Jeff.
While I have a number of old "Courier" magazines, I've never seen anything about the Battle of Fontenoy- but there were a lot of issues I missed.
However, it was reading this AAR on Fontenoy that really got me interested in the battle, even if I do not use the "Volley and Bayonet" rules.
http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/mcnelly/vb/battlereports/fontenoy_refought.htm
BTW, Jeff, I read with interest about your new acting gig in Comox. I did some time with a theatre group here in Japan- it is a great pastime. Hope you're enjoying it!
Found on TMP 18th C. battle reports a link to the AAR of an hypothetical British foray onto Martinique, circa 1774, using Sharp Practice Rules.
Too bad it's not set by the time of the 1st FIW (King Georges'?) /WAS, the uniforms were so much ùore elegant then - when at least to my eyes.
Charles Grant book on Fontenoy, with the (unillustrated, alas) report of the tabletop refight, is a pleasure to read.
Post a Comment