Pistoliere von Doppelbock

After more than year and a half of gaming WWII exclusively, I'm ready for some colour on the table (besides khaki and feldgrau). I've been hankering for some ImagiNation gaming and three things have conveniently coincided to spark the fire again. First, I recently played a game using Black Powder rules at our annual cottage gaming weekend (which I just noticed I have forgotten to blog). This game used Matt and Bob's lovely 15mm GNW collection. I thoroughly enjoyed the rules and thought they would be perfect for my ImagiNation gaming. Second, after that weekend Bob painted up some cannons for my Blue Army (more of this anon). I had asked for two or three BIG guns and he obliged by bringing along the painted versions to Historicon a few weeks ago (some pictures once they're supplied with crews). Thirdly, at our recent gaming weekend in the Independent and Glorious Republic of Quebec, I received from the talented hands of Captain Dan the Pistoliere von Doppelbock, as seen below.

Pistoliere von Doppelbock (Ebor Miniatures)

This is a militia cavalry unit of the KaiserReich, raised and funded by Freiherr Georg von Wolkewitz. This two-squadron regiment hails from the southernmost city in the Kaiserreich, Rheine, famous for its social conservatism and strict protestantism. As with all militia units in the KaiserReich, the only mandate is blue uniforms. The remainder of the distinctions are wholly in the purview of the Inhaber. In this case, von Wolkewitz chose the unusual (and perhaps anachronistic) expedient of arming and training his regiment with the aim of employing the caracole as the primary battlefield tactic. This involves the squadrons calmly riding forward in line, one behind the other, until a mere 50 paces from the enemy (cavalry, infantry or artillery). The lead squadron looses a pistol volley then wheels and falls back around the second squadron which then proceeds to repeat the exercise. The squadrons continue to cycle through this process, hoping to weaken the enemy force, before attempting to charge home. On a more aesthetic note, von Wolkewitz encourages his officers and troopers to carry the favour of their ladies in the form of silk scarves about the neck, each of a personal colour.