Making greatcoats great again!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 ส.ค. 2024
- Do you like your minis in greatcoats? Or are you one for seeing the uniforms in all their colourful glory! Today I ask the question, are minis in greatcoats the future? If so how should we integrate them into our armies. Most importantly, how do YOU be use them?
Figures in great coats are a quick way to add btns , so I like them
I would love to have austrians on great coats
They would bring more variety in a sea of white
My troops go straight from parade to battle so they can die pretty. Those Bavarians painted by Stephan Huber are top notch.
How can one be promoted, if one can't be SEEN doing things glorious🤔🤣
I’m American, and I learne so much From your podcast about European warfare at that time you do an excellent job, bro I’ve only been playing since the pandemic
Glad you are back and I hope your holiday was a good one. I'm afraid I don't agree about the persistent greatcoat theory for Waterloo. Yes, it rained the night before but the battle was not kicked off until 1100 or there abouts until the next day - which was dry and warm and probably humid given the previous evening's rain. The army du Nord was fully equipped and uniformed but manufacturers keep representing French in greatcoats and the allies in full uniform (not dress uniform). I think there's also a big difference between 'campaign' days and a day of pitched battle like at Waterloo.
Agreed. Famously warm and humid day and yet French in great coats? No wonder they lost. 🙂
In the Waterloo campaign, some Prussian troops wearing white uniforms were told to keep on their grey Prussian greatcoats, even in warm and sunny weather. The reason was that the white uniforms were cut like French uniforms and there was a fear of what we would now call friendly fire incidents. I think the troops affected were Westphalians and were still wearing their French-style uniforms even after incorporation in Prussia.
I read someone said it was misty and shrouded in low cloud and low hanging powder smoke or words like it
Some interesting insights. Greatcoats are definitely good if you need to paint quickly because gaming is your priority. But for me, I care more about the painting than the gaming, so I prefer full uniform. I've got British, Russians and Austrians, and none of them are in coats.
That's a position I can fully respect! 🤣
I'm in your camp. What started as building armies to game has become just creating the armies for their own sake. Might take 10 years but to have representatives of every French unit is my dream.
Totally get the historical and logistical reasons for collecting figures in greatcoats, but it's just not for me. Gotta have the full dress uniforms on all personnel!
I can absolutely respect that!
there are good historical and practical reasons for mud-encrusted colorless units but
- personally I need the full color versions even though they're a nightmare to paint
- your 1st battalion idea is probably a decent compromise for someone in a hurry though
Greatcoats were adopted late in the wars. The French adopted them from 1806. Wearing the greatcoat year round was a habit that caught on with publication and the vogue of Dr Saxe's reveries. It post dates the Napoleonic wars. Otherwise, the order of dress was dictated by the commander; Marbot noted that red coated auxiliaries of the French would or should wear their greatcoats to avoid friendly fire. Whether March order were worn, it would probably depend in whether there were time to put on battle dress beforehand. What wouldn't happen, except for times of scarcity, there wouldn't be greatcoats worn by some and not others within the unit.
I love that idea with one battalion in dress, ive always struggled to decide between dress and great coat ill definitely be using that idea
I am making a French 1813/14 greatcoated force to represent those armies under combat and supply stress. But also to paint it quickly. It will add a nice contrast to my other collections.
Knuckleduster miniatures in the US makes great coat British infantry for their war of 1812 line. The models look better in person than the pictures show
How ironic! I just logged on specifically with the purpose of starting to look for plastic greatcoat options to speed up painting French for our gaming club, and this video popped up! Timely! BTW I am currently printing Piano Wargames Bavarians in great coats and they are brilliant, just like the rest of that line.
I can't wait to get them going on!
Great coat models are awesome. If you want to paint a unit fast include more great coats. If you have an air brush or use speed paints then great coats are really fast and fun to do. I am not to concerned to stay true to actual units or time frames so I love to get a mix of regular uniforms and great coats in my battalions.
Prussian 28th & 29th regiments at Ligny wore greatcoats. They were previously the Regiments of Berg who wore white coats. By the time of Ligny they hadn't received their new uniforms, so to avoid any mishaps they were orderd to wear greatcoats to avoid friendly fire.
Obviously more sensible than their Hanoverian cousins! (Well, tbf they did try!)
I recently saw artwork of the 1807 campaign with bicorn French with greatcoats and simply love the piece. I’ll be converting Victrix Old guard with leftover bicorns I have. (In my younger years I was obsessed with old guard and realize I don’t actually wanna use super duper rare elite troops lol)
When you get to my age, and your eyes are starting to go stupid, the greatcoats are kinda cool as they're a lot easier to paint.
Haha, you and me both brother!
I hear you (well sort of, let me check the hearing aid), & I feel your pain (oh my aching back)
1815 the Berg infantry wore greatcoats as their officers were taking too many casualties as they wore Prussian blue and the troops had their white uniforms on
Great episode! Love doing great coats for the speed of getting units on the table. However, I generally have an equal number of units in full or camping dress. I keep all units in a division of one style and try to alternate as I set up for a battle. This helps easily identify which battalion belongs to which division on the table.
I use greatcoat minis to identify french light infantry. My line is in „normal“ battledress
I like them for adding variety when you are doing large amounts of similar line regiments
Do like the idea of second and subsequent battalions being in greatcoats. In systems like General D’Armée you can chose to have them as lower grade troops and greatcoats would be an excellent aide-memoire.
You raise some very valid points. I like the concepts of Guard/Elite units in full dress, with the bulk in greatcoats - certainly makes those units stand out from the 'great unwashed'. As you say, if you are building units for say, the Russian campaign, then greatcoats are what you might expect your troops to be wearing in the field.
As with anything, it is very much a matter of taste. Personally I like my units to be in 'dress' uniform, but many are pained with muted or variations of the correct colour to imply worn & faded uniforms; this is primarily because greatcoated figs were rare when I built up my armies.
As for the likes of Demo games at shows etc., I think that full dress uniforms are what drag the spectators in to see & drool at the magnificence of a Napoleonic Game in progress.
Overcoats are campaign COOL!!
Definitely want to see more troops in greatcoats; seems to be more realistic. Would also like to see more cavalry in greatcoats or at least wearing coveralls.
Am doing a fresh division of French line in greatcoats now and intend to do the Imperial Guard also in greatcoats when finished with the first lot.
If doing a French army for the Peninsula, greatcoats would be my default choice. There are several great eyewitness sources for the ragtag appearance of the French in Spain, and many regiments have greatcoats and baggy trousers.
easy to paint for beginners like me
Video idea: Best 3D print napoleonic files and where to get them
A great video...thanks!
I use the almost unknown Valmy system, this requires a bit more figs n the uniquely different stats.
So, great coats make a excellent way of designating lower quality. My French 1814 troops Marie's also get oddly colored trousers as well.
Regulars are generally standard but with a few more used trousers.
Elites n 1 battalions get the full dress uniform.
I've not heard of that, I'll take a look!
@NapoleonicWargaming hi, not wishing to pester you on the game but, it's title is Valmy to waterloo, a battalion level game. It's hyper detailed BUT it is very simple.
There's a " cheat sheet" 12 page companion that moves you through the turn with each phase as a page.
The pages have every chart needed that phase n it sites the rule number and page.
Truly a game unlike anything out there that bases too much on French columns and British line.
Good luck finding a copy but you'll be mesmerized by how different your battles will change!
Formation, formation n a little bit more formation.
Thanks for your time n do tell me your views.
figures in overcoats with uncovered shaks (and plumes!) seems ODD
Some like the uniforms, some like the historic accuracy. Both are right.
Personally I like the uniforms, though maybe regretting that with my 6mm hahahaha.
Just make sure that all the buttons are shiny; painting the eyeballs will also be a challenge🤣
I like the second battalion idea. The french old guard had blue great coats if im not mistaken. Please correct me if I'm wrong. I have a battalion of middle guard i painted with blue great coats. Thay look good even if they may not be accurate
No! They're perfectly accurate! The Guard greatcoat was a bit longer than the line one too.
I have Russians and Prussians, great coats were my reason to increase troops fast
Well, I do like me some troops in campaign uniform (then again, I'm also the mad bugger that paints patches on my redcoats pants...). It'll probably be some time before I get to a second army, but I might just decide on something where greatcoats fit. Ease of painting would be a nice bonus, too
Haha, hey! There's something to be said for it! It's the brown trousers I have difficulty with hahaha
@@NapoleonicWargaming But what about brown trousers, *with* extra patches :p (because gods above and below, white trousers are a pain)
@@andreaspersson5639 that's why I did grey ones 🤣
Uniforms were often patched. But they always tried to patch using the same colour material. So you wouldn’t see, say, brown patches on white trousers. Also people in that day were far more skilled at sewing 🪡 and would be able to make repairs almost seamless.
I personally love using Great Coats, they're so much easier to paint up quickly. I do like how the main Perry Boxed set has a mix of dress uniform and Great Coats. I'd like to imagine that these regiments were quite mixed up during the Hundred Days, but I'm guessing most of them would've been in Great Coats for Waterloo. Would it be historically reasonable to mix dress uniform and great coats for the Hundred Days?
What colours would you use for the late war French Great Coats? I've opted for a large mix of colours, going from the examples of the Warlord Box. My go to colours for French Great Coats are Vallejo Basalt Grey, Mohagony Brown, German Camo Beige, and some others as well.
I like mixing Warlord Late French and the Perry Box; I use the flank soldiers from the Perry Box as Voltigeurs and the Warlord Flank soldiers as grenaiders.
That's I think I'm kicking myself for not mentioning! Yes, I tend to use paint on the sprue, and I'll usually get 6 sprues, paint 4 of them with grey greatcoats, 1 brown and one dark blue. It really allows the unit a bit of variation. I tend to use Citadel contrast paints for me, but I love that you mix Perry and WL, I think they mix beautifully together
If I were to paint an army in greatcoats I'd be tempted to use a lot of artistic licence and maybe use a stylised national colour e.g. my Russians in dark green greatcoats and British in red greatcoats, I know that's wildly inaccurate but to me I think it might quite good.
Absolutely! The dark green greatcoats would look amazing! I think my Front Rank Russian officer in g/c is green because he looked cool!
If a soldier is wearing a Great coat, wouldn't their packs lack rolls and they wouldn't have rolls wrapped around them? It looks like some of the models wearing GC also have them rolled up on their backpacks or wrapped around them like Russians.
It might be that the sculptor got a little carried away!
not a fan of great coats
Why don’t you use French gray coat and swap heads That’s British
I like them for adding variety when you are doing large amounts of similar line regiments