"Some noob questions about reenactment" Topic

Hi, I have for some time thought about getting into napoleonic reenactment.

from what I've heard it's quite expencive.

I was wondering if any of you could give me a ballpark figure on a complete British highlander impresion, and where to buy.

If you would be able to buy the whole kit in one go it would indeed set you back a fair amount of money. Especially the musket is expensive. I have bought my French Line infantry kit 10 years ago in one year's time and it has cost me well over 2500 euro (about $3,700 USD or £1900).

But, in most reenactment groups you don't need to show up with a complete kit, they give you ample time to get it all together.

Get into contact with the group that you want to join, they will tell you where they get the kit and what you need to get you started.

Cheers,

Fons
85ème Regiment d'Infanterie de Ligne

yeah thats the problem, nobody in my county dos Britsh units.

I have to kinda build an impression, so I can take the boat over to england and join a unit there for show and battles

Find a group that you are comfortable with first. Nothing will run you out of the hobby quicker than spending a weekend at an event with a bunch of folks that you dont like for what ever reason.

Not having reenacted this period I dont know the various levels of authenticity the groups offer but ask yourself that before you start. Is authenticity important to you, or is it the chance to burn some powder? Do you wish to portray the standard soldier of the era or is it an excuse to get out of the house for a weekend? Finding a group that has the same standards as you is more important than which unit you portray.

Google for a web site for a re-enacting unit that you would want to join. Most likely they would have a newbie page and contact information to let you go from there.

The most important thing is that you are comfortable with the unit you join. If you arent comfortable with them you wont stay in re-enacting.

I have never known any reenactment unit worth its salt to not have the ability to kit out a new guy until they could uy it all themselves. As long as the guy shows a real interest and demonstrates he is actually buying things as he can afford them.

So you want to do British but no one else does? Well if you cannot find the type of unit you want, go find ANY unit in the period and join them. You will then find out if the period is correct for you, and ofyten people do multiple impressions just waiting to find others that want to do something different.

<joke>Re-enact a British PoW until you can persuade enough of the locals to become turncoats?</joke>

This is an excellent Highland group, I have fought them many times. ;-) It's a British group but they have quite a few continental members (many Dutch members).

link

Get into contact with them and I'm sure that they will sort you out and probably invite you to an event with them before you have to sign up.

Fons

And on my Regiment's website there are links to just about every Napoleonic reenactment group in Europe:

85eme.org

Look under "info & calendar".

Fons

Just asking because I'm curious, what exactly does a "fight" entail? I've always wondered how reenactors when to go down whent he other side sents out volley fire, but some continue marching forward(presumably they were either unhit by some fired projectile(like a paintball?), or think themselves self important enough to keep going)

chaos,
From an old post of mine here

In my experience casualties in re-enactments are usually chosen by an extremly complex calculations including such modifiers as the quantity of ammo left in your box, the condition of your flint, the state of the mud on the battlefield and the ambient temperature and humidity. There is also the important modifier of your commander stating that while storming the redoubt, casualties must be taken, just not the entire regiment as the result of one volley

That about sums it up generally speaking.

But, when I was doing ACW my unit had the "bag-o-death". In it were chits colored black, red, and green. The black and red chits had a number on it either one, two, or three. Prior to the battle, each member would draw a chit. A black chit meant you were killed, red = wounded and green meant you survived unscathed. The number on the chit represented a general time frame when the "hit" was supposed to happen. One meant that you were to take your hit early in the battle, two in the middle, and three near the end. Sometimes the CO would alter the contents to represent light or heavy casualties depending on the scenario. Most members were fine with this system, and it worked quite well. If you got a chit you really didn't want, you could trade it, but you couldn't draw a new one. This system also reduced the re-enactor phenomenon of nobody taking hits until late in the battle when powder was running low, etc.

As far as getting an impression together, I agree with everyone else. Unless your going to go solo, then by all means check out a variety of units. The people you are with make all the difference in whether or not the hobby is enjoyable or just a pain in the…

In my regiment it's easy; when you're out of ammo or if your musket doesn't fire anymore you die at the enemy's next volley. ;-)

We always have new recruits that aren't allowed to fire in battle because they are not old enough yet or because they haven't passed their firing test yet. Those guys get to die too. ;-)

Fons

I actuly found a reenactor forum for norway/scandinavia.

still unknown if anybody is doing britsh units.

looks like most do Dano-Norwgian units for diffent periods.

Gunfreak
Hi, I have for some time thought about getting into Napoleonic reenactment.

from what I've heard it's quite expensive.

I was wondering if any of you could give me a ballpark figure on a complete British highlander impression, and where to buy.

I was 42nd. Here in Germany. My jacket cost €400.00 EUR WITHOUT trimmings, which my Wife made and put on.

A Black Watch kilt is pretty easy to find HERE.- I do not know about Norway. €1-200, (ORIGIONAL ARMY. They CAN be made by a decent tailor with the right pattern). Musket…na ja, do you want a crap Indian one, or an original? We have a few ORIGIONALS (1815-1820) in the Regiment, Indian ones are about €500.00 EUR in Germany.

Cross straps and cartridge boxes are easy enough to make yourself. Just the price of the leather.

Gaiters are available from most re-enactment units, as are hose.

HOWEVER, that is Germany, where we hav a Black Watch unit, and the Sister Regiment "The Gordens" in Holland.

If you want to go further with this contact me at;

ragnar.vagmornasson@freenet.de

In Betreff, put TMP/Highlanders.

Things CAN be got chaeper if you have the contacts. :-))

Shhhhh….you don't wanna do Napoleonic…

ACW is cheaper and there are units all over Europe!

:-D

yeah, I want to do ACW to, but it would be my secondary impression

Gunfreak,

They are in the UK but a good ACW group is the Lazy Jacks Mess lazyjacks.org.uk/. I have seen their impressions and they have their together. By the way Lord Ashram showed me your 15mm stuff on the Lordz forum and it looks great! Keep up the good work.

Sean

Anything with bang-sticks is expensive, beauractratic and time consuming to get into at a decent level.

If your budget is restricted you want to try Vikings/Saxons. Here in the UK a complete kit including shoes, helmet and weapons shouldn't set you back more than £150.00 GBP It would cost slightly less in the US ($250 ?).

Pete