A little while back I learned about a new set of Napoleonic rules in the pipeline from Sam Mustafa, which are a reworking of his original 'Lasalle' ruleset. He is calling them Lasalle 2nd edition, but judging by his introduction to the rules, they are not just a tweaking of the original rules but are a complete rewrite.
Sam has done a short podcast to talk about Lasalle 2nd ed, and there are various free downloads available, including a full sample chapter. The new game sounds like it might be just the sort I'd like to play, even as a solo gamer, and the size of my 20mm Napoleonic collection would be a good fit for an average sized scenario.
Anyway, it got me thinking about basing. The new Lasalle rules don't have any restrictive base size requirements (you'll find basing info over on Sam Mustafa's website), but the arrival of the new game has coincided with my wanting to standardise my method of basing anyway. At the moment, I have a lot of infantry based on 25x25mm bases (4 per base), but also some on 35x25mm (6 per base) and even some on 50x25mm (8 per base). Cavalry are mostly 30x30mm (2 per base) or 45x25mm (3 per base). The variations are down to nothing more than my own caprice, but I've decided to try and get everything more consistent.
So, this reworked unit of French light infantry is the first of what I think will be a larger rebasing project. There is some new painting here, too. I added around 12 more figures, taking the unit up to 32, which is the standard size of infantry unit I'm aiming for, using 8 figures per base on 30x50mm bases. When I first painted some of these lights a few years ago, my knowledge of Napoleonic uniforms was pretty sketchy, so I took the chance to correct some of the more obvious mistakes I'd made. I should say, my knowledge is still far from complete, so I'm sure there will still be errors here. In particular, I sometimes find researching uniforms for command figures a bit tricky when it comes to details such as plumes, shako cords, epaulettes etc. Am I way off the mark to have this command group using green for these items? Quite possibly! I also mistakingly printed off a line infantry flag from Napflags, but away from the painting magnifier my eyesight is too bad to make me worry about that.
So, the plan is to use the same 30x50mm bases for cavalry (3 figures per base), with artillery also on 50mm wide bases. Cavalry units will also be four bases, so 12 figures in total. Artillery will, I think, be two bases.
It might seem a bit silly to go about rebasing an entire collection in readiness for a ruleset that hasn't even been released, and which doesn't even demand any rebasing, but I've been wanting to use larger bases for a while now anyway, and I like the idea of larger infantry units, even though it will mean more painting. I'm also planning to use these base sizes for games of Commands & Colours using larger hexes than what I use at the moment, trying out 140mm wide hexes instead of 100mm. That's another project for later though.
The new base sizes will allow for representing the main formations quite easily - line, attack column, march column and square, so should be useful for other rulesets besides Lasalle.
Anyway, I'm eagerly awaiting the release of the new Lasalle. I certainly hope it will give a fun game for the likes of me. If you're a Napoleonic gamer who is always interested in a new set of rules (which must be nearly all of us!), then check out Sam Mustafa's website for some more details on the forthcoming new edition of Lasalle.
Next for me will be to reorganise and rebase some of my French line units, but I'll also be taking a painting detour to the Peninsular War - more on that in the next post!
Sam Mustafa's Honour website: https://sammustafa.com/
And his podcasts page: https://sammustafa.com/podcasts/
Beautiful light unit, well done!
ReplyDeleteCheers Phil. They were fun to paint.
DeleteThese are beautifully painted figures and your re-basing has produced a nice mass effect, while still allowing essential formations. It's good to find a basing system that suits the look that you are after, I reckon. Most modern rules include the statement that 'any basing system can be used as long as both sides are the same'. This is accepting the truism that they'd sell far fewer sets if they insisted on special basing(!) but also the reality that a specific and 'accurate' basing system is a misconception due to the distortion of scales on the tabletop; particularly depth of ranks and height of trees, buildings, hills and troops!
ReplyDeleteI'll follow with interest as you play through Lasalle 2nd ed.
Regards, James
Thanks James. Yes, any time I start reading a new set of wargaming rules these days I'm pretty much expecting them to say 'no rebasing required', even if they do have suggested sizes. Having to rebase all your miniatures, even for a modest sized collection, is no small task. I'm looking forward to trying out the new Lasalle rules. I'll be sure to post some updates on how I'm finding them, and will try to put together a few game reports. Cheers, Kevin.
DeleteI have started delving into "Pinterest" for the napoleonic period regarding uniforms. A mass of information albeit some of it in French, Russian etc but a picture speaks a thousand words. Otherwise Osprey series books were my main source of information but even now they can be somewhat limited in detail.
ReplyDeleteps: Love your french light infantry.
Hi again Kevin, researching officers headgear I have noted that in most regiments officers eppaullets (excuse spelling), shako cords, bands and chevrons etc, were silver and plumes white. However plumes often mirrored the company the officer commanded. Lots of latitude. Hope that is of help to you
ReplyDeleteHi Michael, that is useful to know - thank you! I think I might go back and repaint those parts silver, and leave the plumes as green. Silver seems like the safe bet. I have another unit of light infantry still to paint, so I'll go with white plumes for the commands figures for those. Like you, I tend to use image searches on the web for most of my research. I have a small collection of Osprey books, which are very useful for additional info besides uniforms, but the plates don't always show the illustrations I'm mainly interested in. My favourite books are probably the Blandford Colour Series, and there is also a book by Martin Windrow on Peninsular War uniforms that has loads of excellent illustrations by Gerry Embleton.
Delete