The question of
Lace Wars female soldiers figurines is really a *vicious circle*. Given the quasi-absence of miniatures very few players field a female regiment; then, since they don't appear on the web, in conventions... manufacturers doubt they represent a growth market and decline to invest.
And yet there *is* a market -not of the scale of the historical types offered e.g. by recent initiatives such as Minden Miniatures, but certainly larger than that of the Eureka SYW Teddy Bears. So much the more as, not only are most Imagi-Native players willing to add a 'Maiden Guard' to their force, but 'female marines' can appear in '
pirates' games: and pirates players are an open-minded bunch, their pirates often meeting dinosaurs, King Kong, Deep Ones and zombies.
Nothing really in
15mm and 'Soldadets' had to convert WSS male types: with their baggy coats and given the scale he obtained very satisfying results.
http://soldadets.blogspot.fr/2011/03/regiment-femeni.html
In
28mm there
IS a very good, if limited (no mounted versions, chiefly) range, the Eureka '
Sandras'
http://www.chronofus.net/wargames/eureka/sandra/index.htm 
But it is kept obscure, absent from the manufacturer site and thus practically ignored; its diffusion remains confidential and local, of the handful of Imagi-Nation builders I know to use a Sandra regiment at least 3 are Australians.
(To be complete Shadowforge has the 'Lady Jane's Rifles', but they are in Late French Revolution / Early Napoleonic bicornes; and, chiefly, they are *hideous*: the sculpting is far below the usual Shadowforge standard, and with their baggy gaiters they look like suffering elephantiasis.)Now the femininity of the Sandras is very subdued: specially for the infantry (with the coat on) nobody seeing them from more than a foot could imagine they are not men (even the variant tempting to lure us to navel wargaming, if painted with a shirt, would pass unnoticed). To the point that an Imagi-Nation ruler having received a few posted on his blog the first painted one without having noticed she was a girl.
But wargamers -adults playing with toy soldiers- are generally young at least in heart and mind
; specially the 'imagi-native' ones, of course. Thus I'm sure most of them would appreciate more... obviously feminine female soldiers.
Uniform suggestion:
-
lace-edged tricorne (feathered, at least for the officer?): they have to look glamorous;
-
short coat (re. Black Scorpion Marines
or even slightly shorter) tight-fitting, narrow waisted;
- instead of a waistcoat a topless
corsage worn over a shirt with a generous cleavage: as featured in the traditional Bavarian Dirndl worn e.g. for the Oktoberfest, Google for images or search Youtube for videos
combined with:
Perhaps not the easiest detail to sculpt and paint, the blouse should be edged with a lot of
doily lace: it was the time of the
Lace Wars http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=262215- very high
thigh boots: less 'historically accurate' and practical than gaiters or dragoon
bottines, but is it really a problem here? An objective advantage of boots would be that walking and riding variants would wear exactly the same uniform, making them dragoons: then, all foot types could be duplicated mounted, drummer included (I know, historically dragoons had oboeists rather than fifers: but then, what about a bagpiper instead? With the goat head still attached to the bag to be more spectacular -yes, there are historical 18th C. precedents).
When Soldadets raised his female regiment
http://what-if-catalonia.blogspot.fr/2010/09/oddest-commission.html he initially planned to convert Blue Moon Shivan Sisterhood (with high boots) but they are 18mm.
(&, btw, to have all minis duplicated on foot and mounted would be precious, not only for 'battle' games but for 'individual adventures': for a time miniature 'adventurers' for D&D were systematically offered in the two variants.)
Specially in such a case it must not be forgotten that wargaming minis are intended, not to be scrutinized individually, but to be seen
en masse from a distance: thus, the most distinguishing features are to be... emphasized
Now, no miniature in such uniform exists as yet: maybe posting corresponding template
on NBA
http://nba-sywtemplates.blogspot.fr/ would arouse so many positive reactions that an enterprising manufacturer would decide to take the plunge?
03 March 2009, 11:20:59 AM