Wofun Imagi-nations

 The first wargaming book I read was Charge! or How to Play Wargames, by Peter Young and JP Lawford. One of the charming elements of this introduction to 18th-century wargaming is the willingness of its authors to invent their own units and countries, offering the chance to tell unique stories and use whatever figures or paint schemes appeal most.

I've bought several collections of Wofun's unique plexiglass soldiers; presently I'm messing about with some of their conversions of Peter Dennis' delightful Paperboys. Which I have the books for and COULD just cut out, but the Wofun versions are just hefty enough not to go flying when my cats jump on the table. They are very slightly fragile, but so long as they're held from the side there's no trouble; snapping them out of their sheets and into their bases is the tricky part. They will be my home-game figures; paper and "green army man" plastics will remain my go-to at work, as they're disposable and can be taken home by kids.

A lot of people like to dull the edges with Games Workshop's Agrax Earthshade ink. I may do that next time I get to a store, but for now I like the toylike look of these figures.

I'm in the process of organizing them. Most packs come in sets of four or five bases, which for the Paperboys means 32 or 40 infantry, or 24 or 30 cavalry. There are four or six gunners to a gun. This will work for the "beginners' version" of Charge!.

In addition to the entire set of '45 figures (one unit of each available), I bought enough extras for two more regiments of Highlanders, enough extra "Irish Picquets" to make three differently-faced regiments, and a starter pack of Spanish Succession figures. Though I could easily run a 1715 'Rising action with the Highlanders and WoSS Brits, I mostly bought the figures for French-on-British gaming in the vein of Charge! and The War Game. The uniforms are mainly different in their length, and, if you look closely, their wigs. At 18mm they mix together alright, so I'm declaring this a "1730s" pair of Imagi-nation armies. 

On the Franco-Scots side we have:

A brigade of Highlanders... 

and one of two Lowland musketeer regiments and a "light skirmish" unit.

A French brigade, of Navarre ('45), Bourbon and Saillant (WoSS) regiments.

An Irish Brigade, of Roth, Dillon and Bulkeley (blue, black and green facings), backed by Royal Ecossais.

A cavalry brigade, of Cuirassiers, Carabiniers, and itinerant Scots. According to my reading, the WoSS French cavalry wear the same uniforms as those they had in the '40s.

Three artillery batteries, one heavy, two light/medium.

Left over, a Bavarian regiment for WoSS.

For the Brits/Hanoverians:

A brigade of line infantry (blue, white and yellow facings): 

A brigade of WoSS infantry (line, Guard, and Dutch):

(Small enough that it's easy to mistake the direction figures are facing!

A brigade of grenadiers (blue, white and yellow facings):

A Highland Regiment (the future "Forty-Twa"). Also their skirmishers:

A pair of Hessian units, one line, one grenadier. Might break this up to create a "foreign" brigade of Hessians and Dutch, adding the grenadiers to the British grenadier brigade:

A blue-coated English militia regiment:

A cavalry brigade, of WoSS dragoons and Scots Greys, and '45 Dragoons and militia cavalry. The militia might join the militia infantry for a small "invasion scare" scenario:

Four batteries - the same heavy and two medium as the Jacobites, plus a pair of Coehorn mortars off at the end. Not sure what rules I'd use for the latter in Charge!

My cat Lex appears in a few of these pics. She's a gamer kitty, who steals unattended dice. She appears to have claimed the soft, comfy Cigar Box mat...