Erik Springelkamp wrote:
I think plunder was considered uncivilized, and a kind of war that the Age of Enlightenment pretended to have risen above. (unless it would be a matter of life and death for the army).
You seem to have a very idyllic idea of warfare in the age of "enlightenment". Plundering and worse was by no means exceptional, though it is true that it was primarily the task of light troops. Grenzers and some free corps (e.g. freecorps Mayr) alike, especially in the erz-mountains, were often compared with the devil, acting in neutral, enemy or even friendly territory more like bandits than regular troops, resorting to robbery and even worse, sometimes pressing the local population into military service. The actions of the freecorps Fischer during the invasion of Frisia in 1761 even led to the outbreak of a peasant rebellion. And light troops were also looked down upon by generals and officers. Fredericks personal order to pillage Schloss Hubertusburg (not a very enlightened act itself) in 1761 had to be carried out by light troops (free battalion Guichard) because other regular officers refused to do it as such an action was not consistent with their honour. Frederick especially had no scrupels at all when it came to squeezing Saxony.
That being said, I'd love to see some better representation of the petit guerre in this game, as I think that the role of smallwar is often underestimated.
And I need to work on some nicer unit graphics for the austrian border infantry for the new scenarios. In contrast to the seven years war, those were a spectacle of colour and extravaganza, more looking like some wild osmans than regular infantry. For one of the most feared and spectacular representative, see
Franz von der Trenck.
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grenadier and pandour (probably war of the austrian succession....)
More interesting images:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/14/OHM_-_Bayrischer_Krieg_5.jpg (search google for OHM_-_Bayrischer_Krieg_1 to OHM_-_Bayrischer_Krieg_7 for more extracts of this giant painting)
Pandour painted by David Morier:
http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/collection/403392/bannalist-and-pandour-freikorps-trenck
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