Which war?

[Cerdic]

I’m thinking of a horse’n’musket project in 10/12mm.

Since I already have Napoleonics in both 6mm and 28mm I’m looking for something different.

Tricorn hat era uniforms have the appeal that they seem simpler and faster to paint - but which war should I go for?

Obviously one that is well served for figures, but also one that provides potential variety in uniforms, battles, participating countries and so on.

Your thoughts, please…?

[Calimero]

I'll go with SYW, sometimes refer to as the first world war... 

[Moriarty]

While the 7YW was, indeed the First World War, the Austria Turkish War of 1737 lets you field Austrian regulars, irregulars, hussars -and- Ottoman Janissaries, Sipahis and irregulars.

[SJWi]

Noting the comment about armies and available figures I would consider American War of Independance or French Indian Wars. Set piece battles, skirmishes, a wide variety of uniforms and plenty of figure manufacturers.

[has.been]

Jacobite rebellion.
Two different armies & styles of fighting.

[vtsaogames]

War of the Spanish Succession. Simple yet colorful uniforms, lots of cavalry, not so many guns.
Great Northern War. Similar, with small, ferocious Swedish army against larger Russians army.

[FifteensAway]

Seven Years War - but in India.  Now that is pretty different from Nappies.

[ChrisBBB]

Re "potential variety in battles" - if the actual gameplay is a major factor for you as opposed to the aesthetic or the social or whatever, I'd say you'd do much better to go post-Napoleonic than SYW. Relatively speaking, the battlefield geometry in the earlier period is much more linear and limited and therefore makes for less interesting tabletop games. Note I said "relatively" - not dissing anyone else's fun or saying there is no fun to be had from SYW, WSS etc - just that I think the later period generates more interesting in-game decisions in terms of both quantity and variety.

Go for the trinity of 1859-1871 French, Austrians and Germans. (And Danes, and Italians, etc.) Tons of variety: Bavarians, Wuerttembergers, garde mobile, Grenzers, Papal Zouaves, Foreign Legion, spahis, French naval infantry ... So long as you're not too fussy about French kepis vs shakos or Austrian greatcoats vs white tunics, the same armies can serve for several different wars with lots of different situations to refight.

[Inkpaduta]

War of the Spanish Succession. Tons of variety and many different uniforms.

[SJWi]

Cerdic, what sized armies/battles do you plan to buy/fight?

[Cerdic]

By variety if battles I’m thinking more about size. Starting with smaller engagements and, hopefully, working up to bigger battles.

Tactically I quite like the idea of the simpler linear nature of the pre-Napoleonic period. Makes a change from other stuff I’ve done!

What figures does everyone recommend? Pendraken obviously…and…?

[fusilierdan]

I’m with ChrisBBB. The Franco Prussian War has a range of combat and various uniforms. You could look into the Mexican Expedition which meets your criteria.

Just read your post so with that in mind. Great Northern war gets my vote. Plenty of different armies and it’s not all blue and green.

[Will Bailie]

Another vote for GNW - uniforms tend to be simple, not as much lace as in later periods so mostly easier to paint.  In addition, many nations had not yet settled on a standard colour for uniforms, so in the Russian army (for example) there was a great variety in the combination of coat, facing and trouser colours, with each regiment having its own pattern.  There is a variety of troop types, especially with Cossacks, and the possibility of including Ottoman armies as well.  There is also a disparity in the quality of each army, so you can have some fun with the small but elite Swedish armies fighting against much larger but lower quality Russian armies.  And it was far-reaching, with many nations participating, including a variety of German states, Polish-Lithuanians, even the British and Dutch.  While Russia and Sweden were consistently adversaries through the war, many of the other nations changed their alliances during the conflict, so you can justify having Cossacks or Poles as allies to one side or the other depending on your needs of the moment.

[SJWi]

Building on my earlier suggestion Old Glory/Blue Moon produce SYW and AWI in 15mm, but I would also look at the old Freikorps range now sold by QRF. Still nice figures if a little dated but quite cheap. Another advantage of AWI is that there is lots of source material available in English. 

[carlos marighela]

Simplest to paint? WSS. Basic uniform then mostly cuffs and the very occasional lapel to mark out regimental distinction.

Easiest to obtain? WSS. Most nations wear very similar uniforms, so figures in that scale could be used for multiple armies. IIRC H&R produce pretty much all you need in 6mm.

Variety in opponents? SYW. Global War with variety of settings as far afield as Cuba and India. That said you can fight parts of the WSS in Spain and Italy. For exotic, The War of Jenkins' Ear/ WAS allows you to fight beneath the walls of Cartagena in modern day Colombia and you can even use a contingent of colonial Americans.

I'd suggest picking up a copy Todd Kershner's Warfare in the Age of Reason rules. Not only are they an excellent set of rules but they have an excellent campaign set of rules that allow you to fight across much of the world should you so desire.