Chaps,

no two people are keener than Hilton and Harrison to get this baby 'birthed'

We tinkered with the idea of adding an Army Builder and I have created it BUT... Having taken the very wise council of no less a person than Mr Charles S. Grant I have decided NOT to include an Army Builder section and Army List in the rules. They would provoke an un necessary amount of sniping from the Armchair Research Society Evaluation Section or (A.R.S.E.S. for short)
I will pdf the Army builder and it will be a free download from the site. I am not going to take the edge off of a huge piece of work by Clarence and I to make no one happy and incur the wrath of the Competition Gaming Witch hunters.

So, that said, we are 12 single mini photographs and a proof read short of publication! I am also been harassed by the Printer to get a bloody move on!

This is beginning to sound like the birth of the baby Jesus with yourself and Clarance playing the roles of Joseph & Mary.

Totally agree with Charles S.Grant on this one Barry, as you know how I feel on so called Army Lists.
Believe me you don't need the unnecessary flak that would be aimed at you.
My suggestion would be...research the period, research the army your interested in, possibly build the exact army that fought in a historical battle or use Barry's suggested ratio of one cavalryman to each two infantrymen with only two or three guns for support.
Grenadiers if not included in the line battalions then combine a all Grenadier battalion, but this should be limited to only one.
Guards battalion again this should be limited to a single battalion.
Everything else should be either "Drilled", "Raw" or "Tribal".
Some countries may have Guard cavalry or some with elite status, but in the main the line cavalry and their dragoons would be either "Drilled" or "Raw".
All artillery would be classed as "Drilled", no RHA in this period I'm affraid

Ray.

Which one is Joseph and which is Mary?! First earthquakes in Christchurch, then earthquakes in Japan and now this shocking revelation. I'm not sure how much more I can take!!



Salute
von Peter himself

Nor me.... giving birth!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm trying to put that mental image out of my mind......

This isn't my period and know very little about the rule set, but have you thought about some example OBs, and their conversion to BtlB? Say matched pairs (French vs non-French) for some battles of the period?

Sometimes, I think it helps to see what a project or a game would look like in one's desired system. It helps with planning and painting a project. Yeah, most of us research like crazy, but it's always helpful to know what you're getting into.

Plus, of course, it's an excuse for army photos to suck in the unwary!

There is a sample game with ORBATs so that should provide some help. I am in agreement with you, Rob... this period could use more sources for people trying to get into it, but it may be beyond the scope of THIS book. We have talked about doing a book, or even a series of books, covering the various armies and theaters of this period, but there are LOTS of projects we WANT to do... deciding what might be up next is part of the fun!

And speaking of Charles Grant, I'm happy to say I have both vols of 'Wargaming in History'. Gents, I don't know if any of you have these books but I think the style would be very good for something similar in the League of Augsburg / Spanish Succession period.

If you are going to have a Garde Francais battalion in your army you got to have a Garde Sussie standing next to them.

I thought the privilege of the Garde Francais was to be in the center of the first line, and that of the Garde Suisse to be in the center of the second?

Details man, details

OK.. SOME NEWS..

just received the near final draft of the now 111 page BLB2 from Clarence. It is looking very very nice. I will be sending out this version to our proof readers today or tomorrow.

Still one or two little changes from Clarence and my own perpective but a MAJOR step towards completion. I would call it 98% now

Book is done. 120 pages. Just finishing last edits now and Clarence is tidying up his Cover Opus!
Talking to the printers next week. Won't be out by SALUTE but we will probaly be taking preorders by then.

You had better tell them that this isn't an April Fool.
Cheers
Dave

APRIL 2nd


THE BOOK IS FINISHED