"18th Century? Ehh...Maurice? I'm in!" Topic

I've been looking over these rules, and they've got me interested in the 18th Century, which I've otherwise never really been interested in.

So, I'm debating what war to play, since these rules cover so many, and over such a large time frame. I mean, late 17th century to the French Revolution.

I've been painting 15mm figs for other people for years, and I've learned all sorts of tricks in the scale, and I want to finally do a personal project in the period that I can really go all out on. I've been doing a 3mm ACW project with thousands and thousands of figs recently, to satisfy my urge to have huge, complicated armies and battles. Maurice looks like it'll be more fun and visually appealing. Anyways…

So, I was wondering what are the best, most interesting wars and, really more importantly, what are the best lines out there for the 18th century right now? I've been thinking Blue Moon or Age of Reason, but I know there's some other good 15/18mm stuff out there that I probably have never noticed before. So any ideas would be appreciated!

And preferably figs availbe in the US!

Damn I had prepared a large list of all the wars and crises of the 18th cnetury but TMP gave me a gnome picture. Go figure

You might find this post of some use
link

As far as wars go you should first decide what kind of opponents you would like to play.
Let us say western stands for traditional linear, eastern for ottoman like and colonial for the wars in the americas and india.

If you like Western vs. Western then you have a whole lot of wars pitting almost every state of europe against each other and some crises that create credible what if scenarios (for example Denmark vs. Russia in 1762 if Peter III had survived)

If you like Western vs. Eastern you have the Ottoman wars starting with Venice vs. the Ottomans and going to the great RussoAustro vs. Ottoman wars of the later 18th century. You can also do a mix with the Russian engangments and invasions of Poland.

if you like Colonial you have Britain vs. France vs. Spain vs in North America, Britian vs., France and the Dutch in India as well as Mughals, Marathas, Mysoreans, Carnatics etc, Spain vs. Portugal in Latin America.

It really is an era that can give you any possible pairs.

Another desicion you want to make is if you want to fight in the early (1715-1730s), middle (1740s-1760s) or later (1770s-1790s) era.

Eureka's SYW range is fantastic and available from Eureka USA. They are most definitely more towards the 18mm end of size, buy the sculpts are lovely and I find them a joy to paint.

As far as gaming goes i think a 7YW French and British force is the most flexible as:

- they fight each other all over the world (Americas, India, Caribbean, Africa, Europe) with various allies
- 7YW has a range of light troops which increases a game's tactical range

Yeah, the period I want to do is whats giving me problems. The SYW is appealing because of how big it was and how many armies there are to do, but so is the GNW, which is one I've always wanted to do.

One thing I've read on here is that you can do most of the wars of the Marlburian period with the same basic fig in a frock coat and tricorne in different colors. That sort of appeals to me… is this an accurate statement though?

Eureka, although sort of pricey, are definitely in the running. HOw are Blue Moon compared to them size wise? I like Blue Moons price at any rate.

Russians v. Ottomans is also rather appealing- can you use the Age of Reason figs from OG15s for that war?

Prussians, from 1740 till 1763 you can, and almost do, fight everybody

It just occured to me- Poles in the GNW get winged hussars still, right? Can you use normal rennaissance hussars to represent these? Hussars + cossacks and Turks might put the GNW over the top here.

From 1680 to 1730, the Ottomans were stepping on a lot of toes; Imperial Reich, Poles, Russian, the principalities of the buffer zone, Cossacks, Tartars, and add the Persians to the list.

My Ottomans are from the OG15 Seven Year war list, Cossacks from the Renaissance list and Polish are Essex 15s. As for the Russians, you may wish to ask for an appropriate manufacturer. Post Peter the Great, I would use OG SYW figures, not the Russian foot, but the French figure with no turnbacks.

We have a campaign "Storm over the Nile" which involves the Ottomans and a number of Sudanese Kingdoms and tribal confederation.

You can follow this at my blog: 18thcenturysojourn.blogspot.com

Cheers and keep us posted,
Robert

Foward March

if you are looking for maximum amount of armies in combat then the Great Northern War (Swedes, Hanoverians,Prussians, Danes, Poles, Saxons, Russians and easily bring in Ottomans, Venetians and Austrians for the 1714-1718 war and Peter the Greats terrible Ottoman war) is a good one.

Another good one is the War of Austrian Succession with Austrians, Prussians, Saxons, Bavarians,British, Hanoverians, Spanish, Neapolitans, Peidmontese, Genoese, French, Dutch,Ameridians, Indian Subcontinent, Swedes and Russians (the Hat's War) . Great thing is that because of the changes in alliances you can use some of the armies against each other and alternatively as allies.

The Seven Year Wars was smaller participant wise but more intense.

You can always link Gustav IIIs war (1788) with the Catherine's the Great Second Turkish war (1787), since they were contemporaneous,and the Swedes had a subsidy treaty with the Ottomans. You could do a counter-factual were the Danes refuse to back down to the Prussian-English threats of war if they did not exit the Russian-Swedish war and thus have a pair of linked wars with Russians, Ottomans, Austrians, British, Prussians, Danes, and Swedes

Miniature wise for the GNW there is a wealth of 1/72 plastics Zvezda and Strelets

link (look at Ottomans, Great Northern War)

For SYW and WAS Freikorp's 15 is also a nice range at 15mm. See a comparison shot with Eureka here link

Whats the figure ratio for Maurice?

Figure ratio? Do you mean: "one figure equals X historical men" ?

If so, then there is no set ratio. The units all have four bases (except for special one-base "detachments" in the advanced rules, for things like jäger companies, Indian war parties, etc. Scale is elastic.

The information you need is here:

link

Thanks ASLC. Thats a pretty comprehensive site!

Must admit, I am probably going to have to get the Maurice rules… it's really starting to be more fun to fight my own army just as much as I fight the opponent!

And the intro is just too entertaining for words:

Your father enlisted you in a regiment at the age of twelve, and since that day you have dreamed of standing before the king to receive command of one of the armies on the frontier.
It has been a long journey, managing your military and social career, getting yourself mentioned in dispatches, distinguishing yourself in each post, arranging marriages between your family and several of the well-connected clans at court. Even now, with the baton finally in your hand, the army is not totally "yours." You have rivals at court and in the War Ministry. You are burdened by several subordinates whom you would not have chosen, if you'd had the choice. They include a prince whose family have been sword-bearing nobility since the Crusades, and whose pedigree entitles him to an important command and
to despise the fact that you now outrank him.
And then there's the enemy.
Did you think this was going to be easy?

Almost makes me regret that I don't go to school where Sam teaches.

Has anyone tried Maurice Lite yet?

There are a number of people on the Forum who have played it, and the Maurice play testers hang out there, too:

link

Are there any battle reports of a Maurice game in existance yet? Preferably with tons of eye-candy???

Well, there are a zillion from the play testing, but they're not on the forum.

I think this might be what you're looking for:

link

Well I've tried playing it using only the QRS downloads from the Honour site and it's rubbish

Seriously, it looks very nice, and there are some great ideas in there. I'm going to try to overcome my prejudices against wargames with cards.

Now, now, Connard, don't go resurrecting *that* thread. Let it slumber eternally more.

It's funny, I have found myself liking 'event card' games (like Ambush Alley) more and more, when I used to despise them.

I think the newer event card games seem to work better, we have had a lot of fun with 2 Fat Lardies "Mud & Blood" for WW1/RCW and "Sharpe Practice" for musket petit guerre.

I'm not sure I agree with cards for bigger games though, and for things like first fire etc, as IMO those are not things Generals can dispose. Will have to read a few reports first I think.

"I'm not sure I agree with cards for bigger games though, and for things like first fire etc, as IMO those are not things Generals can dispose. "

I'm a big fan of games that have a nice balance between the "luck" you make by your own decisions, and the cruel fates of random chance and the enemy's actions. I don't like card games where you draw a card and that's what you have to do next. That feels scripted, as if I don't really have any control.

In the case you mention, you're referring to an "Interrupt Card." The idea here is that the active player thought he was about to do something in exactly the way he expected, and then the passive player suddenly threw a spanner into the works. From the point of view of the passive player, it may be a conscious choice, but from the point of view of the active player, it's cruel fate. (After all, he probably had no idea that the passive player held that card, and that such a complication was even possible.)

The concept of "Interrupt" cards is just one of many ways we could use to challenge a player; I happen to like it because it's fun and interactive. It gets both players involved in every turn, rather than having a strict IGO-UGO sequence. (And you should see the look on your opponent's face when you play the "That's Not on the Map!" card, or the "Heat of Battle" card, in which one of his units that has gotten too near the enemy suddenly attacks without orders.) It adds some levity, fun, and keeps everybody guessing, and because it involves choices, it's more interesting than just having to roll dice to see what happens to X or Y action.

At bottom, it's just a way to use one artificial conceit ('choosing' a chance event), to alter another artificial conceit (the predictable sequence of a wargame and the predictable reliability of wargame units.)

I quite like the interrupt card idea actually, I was more thinking of the ability of a general to collect cards that allow him choose what units gets an attribute when – say a good first shot etc – and then dispose it to that unit of choice, rather than not quite knowing what the unit will do until it does it.

But as I said I'll reserve judgement until I play the game, cards work very well in big skirmish games like teh 2 fat Lardies one and do keep the levity up*, as you say.

*Except when the Armoured Car breaks down (again) card is pulled :)

Ok.
Tomorrow is pay day so I'm going to order up a pack or two of Old Glory 10mm stuff, just to see how they paint up. Not sure what army I'll go with yet, although I've always had this urge to do the Danes…
Basing wise, I'm not sure what the heck to go with. Two ranks (strips) on a 1" x 1" base seems rather small and depressing. Plus I want to be able to do some real base work on these guys. I'm debating going four bases of 21 figs each in 3 ranks of 7. That'll give it some real visual appeal and weight. 84 figs per regiment, in other words. Although it might look a little lesslinear than it otherwise might… still, it'll be different from other armies out there. I've been doing this ACW thing recently and I'm sort of tired of the look of 2 lines… plus this is going to be a small-ish 12 unit a side project anyways… hmm…

"Not sure what army I'll go with yet, although I've always had this urge to do the Danes… "

Awesome uniforms. Bright yellow, powder grey, nice facing colors. I have several Great Danes.