'ere, Those Grenadiers Should Be In Chain Helmets...

 A few years ago, I was taking an interest in railway modelling, to give me a break from wargames miniature painting at weekend, and I noticed that you'd find 'serious' (are there any other type?) railway buffs, running trains which were totally inappropriate for the layout they were on.

Now without boring you as to reasons why this was sometimes OK, the general statement was 'RULE 1 applies":

RULE 1

My Layout

My Money

My Toys

Now this was a surprising yet excellent sentiment to have. Alas, it seems to be a standard we 'serious' wargamers often fail to grasp firmly by the staff and wave enthusiastically.

Alas, we are generally more likely to become so focussed on button counting, that we lose sight of those things which drew so many of us. Our collective functional autism kicks in and we often build a collection which in most cases will never be used for a display game, depicting a specific battle, during which time period, some of the more aestheticaly satisfying aspects of our chosen forces are not on display.

I have run into this with my latest foray into the AWI, where the 1768 Warrant uniforms were discarded early on in favour of 'Roundabouts' for admittedly sound reasons. But let's face it those full uniforms are the dog's bollocks...

Now, let me state at this point that if your 'bag' is a 'snapshot' approach to a period, or simplified uniforms are what moisten your gusset, then all power to you, no matter how misguided you are, no matter that you stick two fingers up to the founders of this hobby, the talented sculptors who count those buttons and render that lace in epoxy putty and possibly, even the gods themselves. That is your choice.

But, what looks grander than a fully turned out British infantryman, or even one of those  on the other side, in their smart coats?

I present Napoleons Irish Regiment as 'exhibit A', to illustrate how one unit seen at many shows in the 80s, led to increased sales of male daipers and boosted the popularity of Napoleonic wargaming.

I was reading a thread the other day, wherein several people were stating, hand on heart, that 'You can't play games for this part of the war, using those uniforms'. What absolute rot, or as we in ythe guild say, 'What a load of of absolute bollocks!'

Of course you can play whatever you like, as long as the units are correct for the time period. Those kind of artificial cut offs, applied by people as if they are holy writ are everything that is bad about this hobby. OK, if you are saying "I am putting on a display game depicting the battle of...' that's a different kettle of arguments, but for club nights or in your own home-based group, it's a completely pointless way to be.

I have to make a decision in the next couple of weeks, with regards to historical accuracy or historical licence as I dip my toe into the AWI to the tune of 800 or so models.

Personally, I want high gloss, full uniform models, because frankly, if I wanted to look at boring red coats, I'd still be the owner of the New Model Army.

It may be that I take the collection out in public, and I shall proudly state that my uniform choices are aesthetically based, to make the game appealing to the eye, in the hope that I can inspire young gamers in the same way I and others were inspired. 

I shall invoke RULE 1

My Toys

My Money

Mine, ALL MINE

Fuck off!

If you start being a Stitch Nazi, I shall likely strike you with a silk handkerchief (after all, you probably spend more time finding detail to moan about, than washing so my fair skin shall not touch you) and challenge you to D6's at dawn.

In closing (as I have to create stunningly beautiful and accurate models for the next 8 hours) I would urge you to embrace the parts of the hobby which make it visually appealing and exciting.

TTFN