Distractions

Well my project is taking a bit of a knock already. Three things have occured in the last few days and anyone could undermine the entire adventure!

Firstly, my fourth baby was born on Monday, a lovely little girl that we have called Lucy Morgan. Obviously my time will be taken up in looking after the other three and helping my wife with the wee one. But don't get me wrong, we are absolutely delighted of her arrival.

Secondly, I was recently given "Cossacks 2" a computer game which didn't worry me much until I tried it out! Gosh, what a game. It is a Napoleonic game and it is fan-bloody-tastic! Very very addictive and very much computerized figure wargame.

Thirdly, today in the post I received a large box of 15mm Swiss and Burgundian figures that will also need painting.... and they have arrived before the 7YW figures. Bad luck for them, good luck for the Swiss. I am, of course, going to be doing OSW and big battalions with the Swiss.

Bits and bobs

I don't know if I am alone in doing this but when I start a new period in wargaming I have a root through my "spares" box to see what I have and what could "fit" in my new period. Tonight I have had a little success. I have found:

- Minifigs - samples that I ordered back in February
- Dixons - heavy guns x3
- Dixons - medium guns x 6
- Dixons - bombard x 2
- Dixons - engineers x 16
- Dixons - pontoon bridge x 1
- Essexs - monks praying x 8 (OK I am clutching at straws now)

I also found a bridge that needs painting so I hope to do that tonight. That makes me think what buildings I have that would suit this period. Humm where is that Hovels catalogue that was knocking around the other day....

Painting problems

Jeff just left a comment on my blog that is really got me thinking about what colours to paint my troops. Thanks for the heads-up Jeff, most helpful.

I think that I am going to have to develop a colour palette for my troops so that they don't clash and don't look too similar.

A couple other OSW have left comments, thanks for your encouragement lads.

As this is my first blog I think that I am going to have a look at other OSW blogs, perhaps even review them! (I can already hear the sound of OSWs typing away on their machines to up-date their blogs before I get there).

Figures ordered

I was up to the wee hours working out how many packets of which type of figure I would need to build my first two battalions of foot and first squadron of cavalry. I have settled for the following - that should give me enough to get started:

15mm Minifigs
23V Prussian Grenadiers Advancing (Mitre Cap) x2 £4.00
24V Prussian Musketeers Advancing (Tricorn) x12 £24.00
29V Prussian Musketeer Command x5 £10.00
21VC Prussian Cuirassiers (Tricorn) x8 £16.00
26VC Prussian Cuirassiers Command x1 £2.00

Payment went off on the post this morning, I better get on with my uniform research before they arrive. It is a good job I already own both volumes of Funcken and one Osprey on the SYW and I have ordered a further three Ospreys:

Russian Army of the Seven Years War
The Austrian Army 1740-80 - Cavalry
The Austrian Army 1740-80 - Infantry

From the above books I think you can guess which armies will follow my Prussians.

When my figures arrive I will add my first photos and figure review.

Genesis

I am new to the Seven Years War (7YW) but I do have a good knowledge of the "Pike and Shot" era - how different can it be? Well quite a lot as it turns out, so I quickly decided that I needed some help to get me going. Three simple steps in the space of 40 days have enabled me to begin my adventure.

Step I: Community
Being part of the Old School Wargames discussion group has enabled me to get up to speed much more quickly than I would have on my own. If you are interested in BIG battalions and OSW then I sincerely encourage you to join. Apart from being very informative it is also a lot of fun.

Step II: Rules & Battalion Structure
The purchase Bill Protz's excellent "Batailles de l'Ancien Régime 1740 - 1763" rule book. It is very OSW and contains the types and numbers of figures per battalion. "BAR" arrived last week and from it I have been able structure the number and types of figures that I need to order to create my first few battalions.

Step III: History and Uniforms
I have also found several volumes of Osprey's excellent series of uniforms of the Seven Years War. Basic background I already have from "The Collins Encyclopedia of Military History" (Dupuy and Dupuy) and from a quick search on the Internet. I also dusted off my two volumes of "Uniformes de la guerre de dentelle" by Funcken and Funcken.

Old School Wargames

Like a sheep following my shepherd I have created a blog to track the development of my first Seven Years War army.

I have decided to use 15mm figures and to do large battalions (60+ figures). I have selected Minifigs as the figures for my army for nostalgic reasons but also because I find them very elegant and fairly easy to paint.