"Good & bad regiments" Topic

Is it just me, or do our painted regiments on the table top take on a personality? There are some of my regiments which always do well. They can be counted on to pass morale checks at a critical time or fire a devastating volley. Others run away at the drop of a d6.

One regiment in particular gained a wicked reputation of never hitting anyone when shooting or always routing. BUT only for one commander my friend George. When ever he commanded the 3rd New York they could be counted to epic fail at the worse possible time. Finally, George offered to buy them, so he could melt them into a musket ball and shoot them away!!

Do any of you have a experience like this?

Years ago I had a battalion of absolutely plain vanilla Bavarian Napoleonic infantry. They passed every morale test, always formed square when charged.

I have a unit of goblin infantry that worries the heck out of my nemesis. They are the weakest unit in my army and yet they cause him the most difficulty. After our last encounter, he suggested that I add a set of "battle honors" to their colors.

Had a similar experience years ago with one of the Landwehr units in my Austrian army.

Nah … I lose equally handily whatever force I put on the table.

Of course.

About 30 years ago I bought a large force of Der Kriegspielrs tower Guard of Gondor. They looked wonderful and truly formidable in their long black cloaks with the white tree emblazoned on the chests, the winged helmets etc. made them up into a truly heroic and imposing unit.

On the first time on the table top, a wargame friend looked across the table, and a huge grin split his face and he said "BUNNY EARS"!!!! I looked in surprise and yes, I had not seen it before, but they did look like Bunny ears.

In the game they attacked some motley peasant levies, and were whipped and whipped badly. Every game since then they have not marginally improved on their record. I have rebased them, renamed them, re organized them and no matter how elite a unit I make them, whenever they show their little "Whatzupdoc" helmets they are inevitably trounced.

I thought of melting them down, but if I recast them as Napoleonic Old Guard Grenadiers and used them in battle, the Moscow Militia… no … wait… even the Neopolitan Lazzarone would send them flying! The very lead is cursed.

On the other hand, the Regiment Riseundshine from my 18th Century army is perfectly teflonesque.

Otto, have you tried repainting them? Sometimes all they need is a little shading, just to know you care.

But yes, I know the phenomenon. My 1813-15 Hanoverians have bailed me out of more than one tough spot by stubborn good numbers, and the old Vietmeyer Polish "lead pipe" Cuirassiers were legendary. So too was a well-sculpted and magnificently painted regiment of British Napoleonic light cavalry whose battlefield performance earned them the nickname "the Rotten Routing Tenth." The owner eventually gave them away because he couldn't sell them. We all knew about the Tenth.

I have thought this as well.

Absolutely, but only in Napoleonics. My Austrian Cuirassiers will always fail if there is a mathematical chance. OTOH the Baden Hussars will always succeed. Doesn't seem as pronounced in other eras.

I have a tribe of Gauls who have defeated Roman unit after Roman unit. The Roman player refused to engage them now. I have another tribe of Gauls that no matter where they are if elephants are present they will march across the table unscathed to trample my gauls, I blame it on their cheap aftershave. They are the ultimate elephant magnets. I even placed Scorpions in support to help them and they could not hit until the elephants stomped on them.

Dear Robert

Naahhh… tried that, failed miserably.

Bashytubits: did your Gallic unit have a little guy with blond hair and a 'stache and his huge and strong ginger sidekick, who collected Roman helmets?
(Ils sont fous, ces Gaullois!)

I have a unit of Grenzers in my Napoleonic Austrian army that gets beaten up most games, but never seems to fail morale tests. Maybe it's both good and bad.

14th Brooklyn. Won't stand for anything.

My War of 1812 17th U.S. Infantry has racked up a tabletop record of hard luck to match that of its historical prototype. On the other hand, my single squadron of Napoleonic Brunswick lancers has performed some prodigies of destruction out of all proportion to its size. I also remember a friend's beautifully painted regiment of French carabiniers which got shot to pieces every time it proudly trotted onto the table. So yes, tabletop units definitely seem capable of acquiring a distinct personality.

18th leger, always performs well even when we don't know it's them. An example of that; I was playing the French in a Napoleonic game at Historicon. It looked like one of my teammates brigades was going to be run down by cavalry. One battalion stood fired a crushing volley and stooped a regiment of Austrian hussars. I asked what unit it was and it was the good old 18th leger.