Slowly I’m getting ready to put my 6mm Naptoleonics figures on the table for the first time. I’ve got enough figures - Austrians and French - rebased and ready to go. I’ve got some scenery ready, with more ready soon. I’ve got several sets of rules, including Sam Mustafa’s Blucher, which I’m going to try first.
But how to move the troops around the table, given that Blucher, like other Sam Mustafa games, uses Base Widths rather than conventional measurements. Well, Napoleon said that every soldier carries a Marshal’s baton in his knapsack, and I found four.
I decided to reuse an idea I had for Longstreet, and prepare several measuring sticks in different national colours, so two for the Austrians and two for the French. My standard Napoleonics Base Widths are 30mm, so these dowels are measured and painted in 30mm increments. They are currently two feet long, which seems like a good length, though I may cut them in half.
I think atmospheric touches like silly hats make a game, and these splashes of colour will hopefully make the game more entertaining, especially if I host a Blucher game at a convention.
Hopefully I’ll show these measuring sticks in use this weekend.
Blessings to your die rolls and brushes!
MP+
Hoch Hapsburg!
ReplyDeleteHoch indeed!
DeleteSplendid measuring sticks and I look forward to seeing pictures of the game.
ReplyDeleteThank you my good Duke!
DeleteThey are very nice! How did you paint them? I really like measuring sticks and have done several for different games but always found them a real pain to paint, how to fix them while painting, getting straight stripes etc. Maybe I'm just clumsy.
ReplyDeleteYou're probably no clumsier than I am. However, a roll of painting tape and a reasonably study hand are all you need. I measured the stick in 30mm increments, wrapped tape around each section to be painted, and repeated the process, touching up where necessary. It's slow, but the tape is really your friend.
DeleteI have done the same for my sticks but blue and wood for the French, green and wood for my Prussians, yours look far more stunning
ReplyDeleteIan
Thank you Ian. I have the temporary luxury of time to put into this little project, so I'm going for visual effect, but blue and wood or green and wood would also work.
DeleteGreat idea. I'm using bamboo skewers, but annoyingly that are all just short of 12" which is 4 base widths for my guys.
ReplyDeleteThanks Mark. I suppose it depends on the scale of minis. Your guys are 15mm, I think? So you'd likely need something bigger than a skewer.
DeleteVery nice padre - hopefully they serve equally well for pointing at important things and being carried like a swagger stick.
ReplyDeleteThank you CK. You have the gist of it, sir. Also useful for beating recalcitrant subordinates or for fighting impromptu duels, I am sure.I dimly remember my father having a swagger stick but they got rid of all that nonsense in the late 1960s when they also got rid of my father - both dad and the swagger stick were no longer needed in a modern military.
DeleteLooking forward to reading your reports on this game. I thoroughly enjoyed the Longstreet ones, even to the point that I told my ACW gaming cohort all about it and we may well try the rules out later this year.
ReplyDeleteBoth colorful and practical! Nice work.
ReplyDelete