Maurice, Rules for Warfare in the 18th Century

The curse of  'Ooh, Shiny!' has struck me again. This time it's 'Maurice', the new rules for 18th century warfare from Sam Mustafa due out in April.
I already have Sam's 'Lasalle' rules for Napoleonic warfare that I'm planning to do in 10mm (for cost reasons). But painting up the figures for two armies so I can get a game is going to take some time. This hasn't stopped me looking at 'Maurice' though.
I've never really been interested in 18th century warfare for some reason even though there are a number of interesting conflicts you could play. But having read up on 'Maurice' I'm hooked on some of the concepts, particularly the use of cards for activation & events (For more details see the review I mention below). It also features

"a limitless campaign system that requires virtually no math or paperwork, and a role-playing game in which the “characters” are officers, units, and armies, whose personalities you create, and whose fates you manage from battle to battle across wars and decades." Sam Mustafa

What really sold it for me though was this excellent review & play thru on Wargaming.info. Incidently one of the best written reviews I've read in a long time.
There is a fly in the ointment though. It's not the cost or finding the time to paint the figures or finding a willing opponent, all of which are problems. It's my lack of ability to paint up the figures. For most periods this wouldn't bother me as most uniforms are doable but 18th century uniforms are all lace edging & fiddly bits. For example the figures shown below are 10mm Pendraken painted by 'clibinarium' as posted on the Pendraken forums.

Just look at the detail he's got on them! And those are 10mm figures, I couldn't even get close to that level of detail in 15mm. Granted he's an expert painter but I don't feel I could do the models justice given my poor eyesight & shaky hands. I'll probably do some research to see if there are any forces with simpler uniforms within the timeframe of the rules. Which is of course one of the other fun aspects of wargaming.
So will I be buying the rules when they come out next month or even downloading the free 'Lite' version already available. The answer sadly is no, but they will be on my list of systems to buy & try. Of course if I can persuade someone at Wessex Wyverns to buy the rules & paint up a ton of figures that will all change :-)
To finish off here's a bit more eye candy from 'clibinarium':