Infantry Regiment Limousan

This regiment also served in Flanders and Italy and was present at Malplaquet in 1709. As with the previous unit, I chose a firing line motif, with Foundry musketeers and Dixon standard bearers and pikemen. There is, unfortunately a distinct lack of reference material for this period, compared to say the Napoleonic Wars, particularly for uniforms and flags. A great help though are the various cds (available from Baccus), which contain numerous colour plates and background information. The French army is particularly well served, with comprehensive coverage of the infantry, cavalry and dragoons. I print them off on 160gsm paper (more like thin card) and they provide a beautiful reference resource.

Infantry Regiment Royal des Vaisseaux

This regiment fought in Flanders, Italy and Spain and was chosen for my collection, along with several others, because I liked the flags! Most of the figures are from the firing line Foundry pack, which give a pleasing massed volley effect. The pikemen are, as usual from the Dixon range as is the brigadier offering moral support. I am currently working my way through several French infantry units in an effort to get both sides ready for BLB2.

Infantry Regiment Salisch

The final regiment in my first Dutch brigade. The figures are all Dixons, with the exeption of the officer on the left and the prone casualty figure on the right, who are from Wargames Foundry. The flags are, once again, from Maverick Models. The two ranges are very compatable both in size and design and I mix them together fairly freely in my units. I understand that a new and comprehensive range of Grand Alliance figures is being prepared for release in the next few weeks - details are on Barry's League of Augsburg website. From a comparison photo, they look to be a near perfect match for both Foundry and Dixons and I look forward to their release with anticipation. In future posts, I will feature some cavalry and also some French units.

Infantry Regiment Slangenburg

A native Dutch regiment, only recently painted. I have done the uniform coats in white rather than light grey. The actual shade for Dutch infantry uniforms varied considerably by all accounts - anything from white to steel grey would be acceptable. The drummers were clothed in red and make a nice contrast. The two figures on the left front row are grenadiers. Apart from the right hand standard bearer who is a Foundry figure, the rest of the battalion are Dixons. The flags are from Maverick Models. The imposing building to their rear is, I believe, a 20mm chateau from Sentry Models.

Infantry Regiment Hirzel

Although the Dutch provided a considerable proportion of the troops available to the "Grand Alliance", many of them were units of foreign origin, paid for and maintained by the Dutch government. Many of these units were composed of Swiss, Scots or Danes. Infantry Regiment Hirzel was one of the former. The inspiration for this unit was one of the magnificent Hall plates, available from the Pike and Shot Society. The figures are Dixons and the standards hand painted. I normally try and avoid this painstaking process if possible, but no-one produces the flags commercially that I know of, so I had to do them myself!

Dutch Guards

Veterans of the Boyne and Flanders, the Dutch Guards were regarded as excellent troops. At Ramillies in 1706, four battalions of them on the extreme allied left captured the key villages of Franquenay and Taviers and held them against determined French counter-attacks. their actions were to have a major impact on the outcome of the battle. These troops are given the highest (Guard) rating in the rules. The figures are mainly Foundry, with one of the officers and the three pikemen coming from the small but excellent Dixon range. The colonel's dog is, I believe from Irregular Miniatures. Much as I like Barry's hand painted flags (on linen, no less), it is a very time consuming business and like most people, I compromise with printed paper flags. GMB are without doubt the best on the market in my view, but their range for this period is restricted to the French at the moment. However Maverick Models do a very nice range for many of the other armies of the period and whilst not quite as subtle in their colouring or shading are more than acceptable, as can be seen from the photo.

Beneath the Lily Banners

Being an avid collector and reader of wargames rules and a regular visitor to Barry Hilton's League of Augsburg website, I watched the progress of his rules for this period slowly develop. At the time it wasn't a period I had any real interest in, but I bought the rules anyway, hoping that they might be a good read and provide a few ideas. They did a lot more than that and in the couple of years since they were published I have built up a reasonable collection of figures - around 500 or so and counting. What was the attraction? Quite simply the games looked great fun. The mechanisms were interesting but simple so I decided to take the plunge. In the end I went for the Grand Alliance period (1689-97), rather than the slightly later Marburian conflict. This was mainly because the use of pikes, albeit on a smaller scale than the ECW or 30 Years War, added some interest to the infantry v cavalry combats. In fact the units can be used perfectly well for both. For those not familiar with the rules, infantry battalions are based on 3 stands (typically of 6 figures each). For units equipped with pikes an additional stand of pikemen is placed behind the central stand to denote this. I actually use half a stand with 3 figures as it saves on painting and does not "stick out" too much. The pikemen are not, in any case extra figures - almost all battalions in "Lily Banners" have 18 men - they simply serve as a marker. Cavalry regiments are mainly of 2 or 3 squadrons each of 6 figures. For someone accustomed to painting Napoleonic units of 24-48 figures each, this was another attraction of the period, as it is quite easy to build up a couple of armies in a reasonable period of time. This was particularly important as I was doing both sides. I believe that in the next couple of months a second edition is being published, which hopes to clarify and amend some of the rules. I look forward to seeing it.


In the next post, I will get some images up to illustrate what the units look like and how attractive the uniforms and flags are for this period.

A New Venture

Grenadiers of the Guard on the evening of the Battle of Rezonville August 16, 1870

Hello, and welcome to my blog. My name is Steve Shann, a passionate wargamer of many years standing. The purpose of this blog is to both showcase my own work and also my hobby, which has given me many years of stimulating entertainment. To this end, I will hopefully post regular updates of the progress of my own collections as they grow.

My main wargaming interests are, in no particular order: Napoleonic, AWI, WWII, Italian Wars, Grand Alliance/Marlburian, Colonial and the 30 Years War. My main historical interest is in the wars of the mid 19th Century, particularly the Franco-Prussian War, on which I have written a few short works, including a couple of Osprey Men-at-Arms titles on the French Army of 1870-71.

That's all for now, but I will add further posts soon with some illustrations of my work.

All the best

Steve (Nations in Arms)