Stuart I. asked yesterday if I had a plan or Orbat for my French army.
The answer is no, I am just working towards creating a balanced army which could be used for most actions. As for choice of regiments, I tend to use the following criteria.
1. Variety of uniform detail to ensure a colourful mixed collection.
2. Attractiveness of colours/standards.
3. In the French case, a balanced mix of foreign regiments.
4. I like to chose regiments that saw action in the major engagements.
(I check ORBATs on major actions such as Hastenbeck, Minden, Rossbach, Warburg etc to see if the selected regiment saw action. I do not go for units who were mainly on coastal or garrison duties, preferring Militia units for such roles.)
My ultimate goal is to be able to fight campaigns with each army. I started this process last year with a Prussian invasion of Saxony, but soon realised I would need more Saxons and Reicharmee troops.
Eventually I should have enough units to cover most campaigns.
My plan then, will be to keep a detailed record of each regiment, casualties, actions, colonels and morale etc to give a more realistic campaign.
When choosing a new regiment to paint, my first port of call is Kronoscaf. I also regularly look at blogs such as AMG and the various Seven Years forums to get ideas.
I am pondering on who will be my next French cavalry regiment. Possibly the Irish Fitz James regiment as they have an attractive uniform and featured in a number of actions, or possibly Penthievre who wore a white jacket and had a very colourful red standard. .... One of the best parts of the hobby, finishing a unit, placing on the shelf ready for action, clearing the work bench and planning the next regiment.
Your selection criteria matches mine exactly!
ReplyDeleteThanks Peter. It is all about enjoying the hobby really
DeleteI like your approach more than exact copies of OOB's. I can see why people do follow the historical line exactly but I tend to be more of "regiment butterfly".
ReplyDeleteI think it is important for enjoyment of the hobby to have a varied Orbat which covers most uniform options rather than stick strictly to historical accuracy. Unless you have every regiment in the army !
Delete