General de Brigade

[KenR]

Hi, after a bit of help re the above. I have bought some lovely Perry 28mm figs (firing line Brits ), purchased mostly because they are gorgeous rather than through an In depth knowledge of the period.

I have good uniform info and the bg rules for basing sizes etc (double ranked etc), my question is how do I set the figs out to represent the fire tactics of the time. For those who haven't bought there are three basic poses, firing, ready, loading.

Any advice, cheers

Ken

[Ronan the Librarian]

Ken,

Good choice! Can't get better AWI figs, IMO.

Because of the size of typical BG battalions, and the "fire and charge" tactics adopted for most of the war, most people just mix all three poses across however many bases your unit has. Have a look at this excellent blog to see what a typical firing line looks like on the table:-

http://gilesallison.blogspot.com/2007/06/british-light-infantry-1.html

(I know it's a Light Infantry battalion, but the same principles apply; look out the 20th and 21st Foot on the same blog for line units.)

For the record, in theory the British still used the form of "platoon fire" proposed by all the manuals of the time, such as Bland. However, throughout the 18th Century accounts suggest that platoon fire in all armies went to hell in a handcart after the first one or two volleys. Also, after the New York campaign, the British pretty much settled on a single volley at close range followed up with a bayonet charge.
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You can lead a horse to water, but a toy soldier can no longer be lead (due to Health & Safety Regulations).

[KenR]

Many thanks for that, I have set them up In platoon fire order, firing at one end to loading at the other. Looks good even in bare metal, just got to paint them all now, might even post some pics as I go. Cheers

Ken