Let me explain the deliberately ambiguous post title (I know, I'm a tease aren't I?!)
For this new 18th century project, before painting the figures (in fact before having even got the master figures finished) I decided to invest in all the infantry flags.
Now, this might sound mad, but...
...it was for 2 reasons:
1. to make me commit fully to the project. I was committed anyway, but there's nothing like commissioning Mark Allen to paint all the flags, and investing that cash up front, to prove the commitment.
2. to commit to the specific orbat. Many projects suffer from the "ooh, must have that unit" syndrome, which leads to diversions and distractions. It's no good starting a project only to drift off into just having the exotic units. How many times do we see Napoleonic collections where the wargamer has got only two or three line battalions, but a plethora of highlanders, 95th riles, and so on, facing the French Imperial Guard.
I know, I've done that sort of thing too, but this time I was determined to create a balanced order of battle, and stick to it. So having the flags done in advance was a "stake in the ground" on that score.
Having all the flags done up front was also a big psychological boost. At a time when there's the danger that a project may just be a pipedream, with all that planning that I had done, to actually cross the commitment threshold like this was important.
So, with all the infantry flags done...
(Apart from the Pils Holstein infantry battalions - which I'm working on at the moment)... I have simply stuck them into handy blocks of polystyrene (in fact, upturned chunks of TSS tile), and placed them into a box so they can be added to the figures when required.
Anyway, here they are, all ready to simply have figures placed under them!!
Above: all the French infantry flags.
Below: all the Prussian infantry flags.
All these were hand-painted by Mark Allen on metal foil. They are stunning, and way better than my photography can show. Mark's sheer artistic flare really comes through on these, with wonderful detailing and highlighting and the very believable folds and flowing of the flags.
So, all you 18th century "buffs and experts". Here's a little challenge for you: See which units you can spot just from the flags shown...
Is your favourite unit in there?
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