Sicoran Uniform Plates

I have good news to report.  Troops from two separate armies have been printed and primed.  Each force is comprised of four units of regular infantry, a field artillery battery, and a cavalry detachment. Six tiles of forest coverage and a pair of one tile built-up-areas.  This is the bare minimum to play a reasonable game of The Portable Wargame, One Hour Wargames, and my own rules in development. One of the forces is inspired by the British army of 1870. This force will become Sicora as described in a previous post.  

I'd like to ensure that my units are clearly inspired by British uniforms, but won't be strictly adhering to historical uniforms. I'm steering away from the historically correct home service navy blue pants and helmet. The other army is wearing pickelhaube helmets and I'd like them to have navy blue helmets and pants with a brighter (roughly Bavarian) blue tunic. For the same reason, I'll also be omitting the fact that artillery and cavalry troops wore blue tunics. Possible uniform options are shown below.  Units will be differentiated by cuff color and/or marked on the base, I still haven't decided.  I greatly appreciate any feedback and/or preferences.

Probably closest to Home Service Uniform

White helmets to blend all-black and all-white

This option may be too "Napoleonic" for 1870

Iconic Campaign look with early khaki

Hot off the press

 Progress is being made.  I have printed functional test prints of pickelhaube wearing cavalry and infantry as well as pith helmet wearing artillery.  

Primed artillery, infantry, and unprimed cavalry

The wheels printed quite wobbly

Top view: infantry in forest

Front view: infantry in forest

Primed Infantry 

The terrain shown in previous posts has also been test printed and is awaiting priming.  I have not yet attempted painting, but am realizing there are going to be a lot of hard to reach areas.  The undersides of the artillery pieces and transitions between legs and bases look especially challenging. I should have realized this during my design phase, but it didn't occur to me.  One option is to remove the bases and print the grouped figures as one piece and then attach to a base later.  Unbased figures are appealing if I want to commit to gridded games that don't need a base anyway, but one of my primary goals for this project was to keep flexibility.  

Another option would be to leave an indentation in both the base and figures to fill with small magnets.  With two small kids running around, I don't like this option.  My 2.5 year old daughter loves to pick up the test prints and admire them (at least I have one fan).  Once she's a little older I'll probably be designing a teddy bear army for her.  Ganesha Games sells a very compelling introductory wargame which I think she'd like (https://www.ganeshagames.net/product_info.php?products_id=13).  I'll probably end up sticking with the pre-based figures and just deal with the difficult painting.

Introducing The Combatants

Sicoran Empire

After losing its continental territories to Cieland, Sicora has been relegated to their home islands and overseas territorial possessions. They are still a significant player in the political sphere with colonies spread across the globe.  Their grudge against Cieland burns deep in their chests.  For his entire reign the King has ended all public speeches with, "Ceiland will be destroyed." regardless of the speech's subject.  He is determined to return Sicora to its former glory.  

The Sicoran military leads the world in artillery development.  The Sicoran general staff view artillery as a force multiplier to overcome their comparatively small population.  A small but well-disciplined Sicoran infantry corps is augmented by conscripted auxiliaries drawn from throughout the empire.

Cieland

Cieland's history is defined by its rivers.  Early in its history, raiding parties used the rivers to travel upstream to sack religious sites and other undefended targets. As power centralized and peace spread, the rivers became the lifeblood of Cieland.  Trade barges floated down the rivers towards the delta in the fall with the grain from the fertile uplands. Cieland's nobility are accustomed to being able to import luxury items from across the globe, but the average citizen lives with few luxuries.  Those who can afford transportation to New Cieland stand to earn lucrative wages working for the New Cieland Trading Company.  Some are desperate enough to enter into long-term labor contracts with NCTC in exchange for transportation.

Cieland's nobility has a proud history of fighting from horseback.  Although the role of cavalry has diminished drastically with the advent more accurate rifled muskets, Cieland continues to mount as much of its military as possible.  Local dragoon units served with distinction in the previous wars with Sicora.  In peacetime the dragoons serve as constables and deliver the post, keeping their horsemanship skills sharp.  

    

New Cieland

During the Second Age of Exploration, Cielandic explorers encountered many novel plants and animals, but only one has had as much impact as Cieland Spice. To manage the massive import demands, Cieland authorized the creation of the New Cieland Trading Company.  New Cieland's governor oversees spice plantations, processing houses, and the ports that send Cieland Spice back to the home country.  Since its inception the NCTC has had issues with pirates capturing and ransoming spice transports.  Rumors abound that the pirates may be being encouraged and paid by the Sicorans. The Cielandic crown has been threatening military occupation and charter revocation if the governor cannot put an end to the piracy problem.  

The NCTC Guard exists to defend the spice plantations, processing, and shipping operations of the company.  Because it is intended to be a purely defensive force, the company charter severely limits its size and composition.  The vast majority of allowable artillery pieces are mounted on the transport ships.  The few remaining pieces are scattered throughout the region in small garrison forts.

The background of the three major combatants will continue to expand as necessary to provide interesting encounters.