@JTam - glad you enjoyed that! :) The Victorian era tends to get all the attention for that sort of innovation, but the 18th Century seems to have spawned quite a few weird and inventive weapons in its own right, and that Puckle gun absolutely looks the part of some sort of strange sci-fi invention!
The roughly contemporary Girardoni "wind rifle" - an early air-rifle of the 1780s - is also an interesting relic... at least one of these compressed-air guns apparently accompanied Lewis and Clark on their expedition, and a small number were supplied to the Austrian army: you apparently had to use about 1,500 manual strokes to pump air into the air reservoir, and you'd have to reload a time or two, but once all the reservoirs were filled with air, you could apparently get as many as 40 shots out of the thing in about 30 seconds, without the smoke or loud report of the black-powder guns of the era, and at about 50 feet it could apparently put ten shots through a 1" pine board in a group the size of a typical coin!
@Yronimos Whateley
I was actually fortunate enough to see a real Giradoni rifle at the National Military Museum, Bucharest, Romania.
Pictures here:
https://wargamesatlantic.com/community/xenforum/topic/79848/genuine-gap-hungarian-austrian-infantry
Theme Sapper, Classic Fantasy:
Ogre Sapper conversion bits.
Ogres armed with shovels and picks could move massive amounts of earth rapidly. Who better to undermine walls? And woe betide anyone trying to countersap them.
Cradle and Grave: Very young and old combatants.
Possible models
First Empires: Young shepards with slings
Decline and Fall: Triarii veterans
Blood Oaths: This one is tricky due to this age being relatively unknown. Old Jarl I guess.
Renaissance: Powder Monkeys and Ships Boys
Napoleon's Wars: Dummer boys (or above if they aren't used)
Imperial Conquests: Armed settler children,
Great War: Any draft of old men. Plenty to pick from.
World Ablaze: Either Volksturm or Kokumin Giyuutai
Classic fantasy: Child adventurers or really old wizards.
Death Fields: Raumjäger Volksturm. 40k has long stated the Imperial Guard had child soldiers, but never gave a visual depiction of them. Death Fields lore says combatants can have families, and with the games being hyperviolent but not nessicarily lethal some of the next generation could plausibly start young.
What?
Anyways, another possibility: "Rabble", "Dregs" or "Poorly equipped". We've got plenty of model options for the well armored/equipped icons, but what about the more common infantryman who was nowhere near as well equipped and may not have even had a uniform?
First Empires: Slingers in tunics.
Decline and Fall: Velites
Blood Oaths: Unarmored shield+axe/spear from any culture desired
Renisance: Hussite band
Napoleon's Wars: War of 1812 US Militia, or virtually any un-uniformed conscript force.
The Great War: WW1 Russians, with arms that have some of their substitute standard rifles like the 1895 Winchester equipped. Ottomons could also work.
World Ablaze: Volksturm
Death Fields: Cannon Fodder support
General Acutrements: Generic sleeved arms with various real world guns that seem to pop up everywhere among non-state actors. PPSH, original M16 (or M16A1), AKM, RPG-7, Dragunov, FGC-9.
Classic Fantasy: Human Militia. Bodies are gambesons or plainclothes, heads are bare, coif, or kettle hat, arms hold "simple" weapons (spears, maces, axe) and shields. Maybe a crossbow.
Relaxed stand
Most of the time soldiers on the battlefield are not in combat but waiting for something to happen. In this time they await the coming, relaxing as good as they can. They would be in formation but standing around, shields down, talking to their fellows, perhaps taking a snack, smoke or drinking. Where this is not reasonable, a resting pose may be appropriate.
While this may not be useful as starter sets, it may complement existing sets. Calm faces, standing bodies, weapons ready but lowered.
Moving
An alternative could be the "on the move", moving around a battlefield in a walking pose, so not running or parade marching. When not waiting for something to happen, units often move around, hopefully advancing, more often slow so not to exhausting the soldiers. Parts as above, just with walking bodies.
