American War of Independence 15mm British/Loyalists |
British Commander-in-Chief Base British haughty Generals are haranged by a woman who has just found her militia husband dead on the field of battle. His body lies behind her, with a Loyalist dismounted militiaman checking his vital signs, or is he infact looking for coins? Her daughter stares at her fathers corpse feeling the weight of his loss on their family's future. The wife is screaming curses at the General and is being restrained by an NCO with spontoon. An officer has drawn his sword and has grasped his General's bridle just in case.... ...or at least that's how I see it "Forward The Grenadiers!". Led by a Grenadier Brigade commander and ably supported by a converged Light Battalion. "Grenadiers, put on your caps; for damned fighting and drinking I'll match you against the world" (Lt Col William Meadows at Brandywine) British Artillery 16th Regiment of Foot advances whilst a Loyalist General watches close by. Close up of the Loyalist General with mounted scout and Iroquois bodyguard 10th and 55th Regiments of Foot, both sporting cocked hats for 1775-76 "Huzzah! At them with zeal and bayonets my good fellows" ..or something like that More Grenadiers. Notice the white Grenadier caps of the 40th Foot's Grenadiers 24th Regt of Foot. Green facings. 22nd Regt of Foot. Buff facings and breeches. 42nd Regt of Foot, the famous highlanders of the 'Black Watch'. These are mostly wearing breeches with the odd figure here and there in a kilt. Kilted Loyalist Royal Highland Emigrants (later 84th Regt of Foot) In 15mm their uniforms are almost identical to the Black Watch allowing them to be fielded as either with a simple flag change. Skirmishing Loyalist Rangers. I added a couple of native americans as apparently they frequently served together. Butler's Rangers Loyalists Loyalist Rifle Armed Skirmishers Loyalist Skirmishers Queen's Rangers c1780 Queen's Rangers c1778 Everyone seems to own a unit of the Queen's Rangers in their distinctive uniform of the later period. As my interest lies in the battles of 1777 and 1778 I decided to be different and paint up Queen's Rangers as they may have looked in this period. The rank and file wear round hats whilst the Officers and NCO's sport cocked hats. I included two British Light Infantry figures for the Light Company, wearing slouch hats, with a green feather, and cut back tunics. I also painted two kilt wearing figures for the Highland Company, added in 1778. Grenadiers will be added hopefully when I discover a suitable figure. I am still debating whether to paint a silver crescent badge on the figures hats as with the later caps. Iroquois Indian Allies. These are nice sculpts and lovely to paint. You don't need many Indians to add a splash of colour. British Foot Guards I decided to differentiate my two units of Foot Guards by giving one unit red feathers and the other white ones. From what I've read the Guards carried no standards in the colonies as each Company serving in Britain sent a detachment. British Foot Guards Light Coys. The Foot Guard Brigade Advancing 16th Light Dragoons Mounted Dismounted Artillery Limbers These are part of the Seven Years War range from Essex Miniatures. The figures are from Peter Pig's 'Happy Workers' packs. Guns are also by Peter Pig. Four horse limber Two horse tandem limber. 33rd Regt of Foot This unit seems to have fought as light infantry in several actions. I decided to mix firing and advancing figures so that when they operate in extended order on the table they will look more appropriate. Supply Wagons and Baggage Essex Miniatures and Hallmark British Legion Dragoons British Legion Dismounted Dragoons Foot Guards Brigadier This fine dashing fellow has his hounds to accompany him hunting out damned rebels. Out Clubbing With the Boys I leave it to you to decide whether the British Officer is encouraging the Iroquois allies or actually trying to save this, no doubt, rebel sympathiser. Loyalist Brigade Commander 4th (King's Own) Regt of Foot 5th Regt of Foot 17th Regt of Foot 'Bloody Ban' Banastre Tarleton Not a popular chap with the Rebels! Ferguson's Rifles 1777 A couple of weeks ago I saw a posting on TMP from a chap who had made this unit in 28mm. I had a hunt around in my spares box and found some suitable British light infantry. I filed away their shoulder wings and the above is the result. They were armed with the Ferguson breech loading rifle which could fire six to seven rounds per minute and be loaded and fired from prone. Indian 'Commander' More Woodland Indians King's Royal Regiment of New York This was one of the first and most active Loyalist regiments. It served in the Canadian Department along with Butler's Rangers and Native American allies particularly raiding in the Mohawk Valley. Also known as 'Johnson's (Royal) Greens', or the 'Royal Yorkers', they saw action at the siege of Fort Stanwix, Battle of Oriskany, and Carleton's, and the Schoharie Valley raids and were known for their vengefulness towards their former countrymen. The regiment is dressed as per the illustration in Mollo's 'Uniforms of the American Revolution' in round slouch hats. The unit was initially equipped in green tunics with various coloured facings but I chose to depict it with the white facings shown in Mollo which may have been in the majority, though there are references to blue facings too. The regiment wore red coats with blue facings from 1778. Most of the regiment is made from Peter Pig's pack 73. Continental Infantry in hat, though I also did a couple of head swaps exchanging command pack Tricornes for slouch hats. Flag is fictional, but available online at DMWS, so I thought I'd use it. King's American Regiment Another early Loyalist unit formed in New York in 1776 under a Colonel Fanning. It saw action at the battle of Forts Clinton and Montgomery 1777, Newport 1778, and raids in South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia and Florida 1780-82. The regiment always seems to have worn red coats with dark blue facings. Most of this regiment is made from Peter Pig's new pack 18. British Line Infantry (Tricorne) Firing. Flag is a fictional, but suitable NY, one again from DMWS. British Light Infantry in Caps A few months ago Peter Pig released Pack 80. British Light Infantry (Bobs) in Caps. The headgear they wear is just one of the varying styles of light infantry cap worn in the early part of the American War of Independence. Certainly by the time of the Philadelphia campaign most Light Infantry seem to have discarded the cap in favour of the more practical slouch hat. I tried to paint each base with different facing colours and differing decorations to the cap to indicate a variety of regiments. I used the Officer and bugler from Pack 49. Queens Rangers Command with a suitable headswap, and the hat waving chap from the disordered marker pack for one Battalion's command figures. I tried to make the figures look quite 'dirty' and campaign like with off white, rather than white breeches and crossbelts. Marching British Infantry New out for September 2012 are some rather lovely marching figures from Peter Pig. Currently packs for Grenadiers, and infantry in both Round Hats (slouch) and Tricornes are available. I painted three bases with blue facings and three with yellow facings to add my existing command stands to portray 1777 onwards campaigns I also picked up some British wearing Tricornes, painting three bases with buff small clothes and facings, and three with yellow facings for the earlier 1775-76 battles. Finally I added a couple of lovely ammunition carriages to my collection. As regular purveyors of my site know I'm a great lover of pointless vignettes placed on the table to inject a little period flavour. I created a pack of dogs setting about some damned 'Johnnies' using a Peter Pig disordered marker, casualty marker and a drummer from the Continental Charging Command pack. The lovely Mastiffs and the Wolfhound come from Splintered Light's Early Saxon War Dogs and Scots-Irish Wolfhounds packs. I also took receipt of Peter Pig's new Dragoon horse holders pack (5-93) and discovered a gem of figure in a lovely dragoon leaning forward in the saddle which I've based singly as a scout. Here are the contents of the new Peter Pig Dragoon horse holder pack (5-93), two mounted dragoons and four standing horses. I split the pack into two markers, painting one figure for the British Legion and another for 16th Light Dragoons. These are actually for a customer of my painting service but my own will be identical. These sort of packs are really useful for vignettes. B and D Miniatures British Command B & D Miniatures are a relatively new manufacturer of 15mm AWI on my horizon. I ordered a few packs to see how they matched up with my Peter Pig collection. The figures are slightly taller, but not in the large 18mm category. Crisp, clean and virtually flash free with nice incised detail which will take washes well. The dogs by the way are by Splintered Light and Museum Miniatures. I personally wouldn't mix B & D with Peter Pig in the same units but they certainly wouldn't look out of place in the same army as you can see in the pictures below. 4 Ground Snake Fencing Dave, one of my painting service's new customers, gifted me some 4Ground snake fencing that he couldn't get on with. This is sold for only £8 for 1.27m's worth. Fiddly, I agree, but well worth the investment. It took me about an hour to make and a further half an hour to paint and base to fit the rest of my collection. Thanks Dave. I've ordered another couple of packs. Casualty Markers Above are a selection of my British casualty markers. These are useful as my AWI figures are mounted in fours with a base being removed once four casualties have been received by the unit. The triangular base (an idea nicked from British Grenadier) allows you to indicate when 1-3 casualties have been suffered. The triangular side in contact with the unit shows how many figures have been lost thus far. You simply turn the casualty base as further casualties are received. Fortunately, Peter Pig makes all manner of useful figures for this purpose in their figure range. I now routinely make a casualty marker for each new unit which is added to my collection. The numbers are just small pieces of black card marked with white marker pen. Simple, effective and less obtrusive visually than a casualty die. June 2013 saw that nice Mr Goddard at Peter Pig release a pack of Indian casualties (above). I've been after these for ages so it was a welcome surprise when, without much fuss, I discovered them. Three poses in the pack. Very nice sculpts, useful for vignettes along with markers, and a welcome addition to my collection. I added an Indian casualty figure to a newly painted Mohawk command base. More Iroquois Indians I've recently been reading a Allan W. Eckert's excellent narratives on the role of the Indians in the French and Indian War, and American War of Independence. These cannot be recommended highly enough and are both compelling, and yet appalling to read, giving full details of the savage nature of frontier warfare waged on both sides They have really fired up my imagination and desire to paint more Peter Pig Redskins. Well, I say redskins but its more a case of (Vallejo) Brown Sand, as that I've found is an excellent top colour for our Indian allies against those miserable colonial rebels. As it stands that is going to be it for my British forces, well for now at least. The more observant amongst you will notice I did a few head swaps replacing the Indian head on several poses with Tricorne heads from Peter Pig's separate head packs. This makes a rather nice touch and adds even more variety. Galloping Major's excellent site has a fantastic painting guide for Mohawk and Huron Indians which details a lot of distinctive differences between the tribes. Mine have predominantly black war paint and eagle feathers which give more of a nod to them being faithful Mohawk allies of the British rather than the mostly Oneida allies of those treacherous colonial Johnnies. I have also added a new casting dead Indian to three bases to add a bit of storytelling. Painting Indians is a really nice welcome change being both lovely castings and very colourful. I have to say there will be more to follow as I intend to fight FIW actions at 1:5 or 1:10 using Partisan Press's 'British Grenadier' rules. NEW 17th Light Dragoons NEW I've been on at Martin at Peter Pig for a very long time to add some figures suitable for 17th Light Dragoons to his 'Washington's Army' range for AWI. Well, I returned from a few days away to find free samples on the doorstep. Thanks very much mate. As expected these are lovely sculpts. There are three poses carrying swords, and a command pack of a trumpeter and cornet. The hat has a clearly discernible skull and crossbones motif and the tunic forearm is sculpted with buttons and lace even. I used a white troop flag with my depiction of the 17th Light Dragoons. They almost certainly didn't carry flags but what wargamer can't resist a nice flag? Plus the cornet for me is the nicest figure. I hope a head option will be added to his heads and odds range allowing mounted horse holders to be made too. NEW Museum Miniatures Supply Wagons NEW Last year over on my AWI Rebels page, I showcased some wagons, and I recently added some more to my baggage park. The two-horse WG07 Engineer's wagon with wooden planks, and WG28 Flat Wagon with flour sacks, are lovely sculpts by Museum Miniatures, retail at £3.75 each and are proper beauties. The smaller WG23 Hay Cart retails at £2.50 and is as cute as a small cart can be. I can't recommend Museum's carts enough, and more importantly they fit perfectly with Peter Pig. NEW Dismounted 17th Light Dragoons NEW Hot on the heels of the mounted element of 17th Light Dragoons, Peter Pig have now released two packs of dismounted dragoons. As I have hassled Martin for ages I felt duty bound to paint them and show them off. The command pack comes with a pistol wielding Officer, an Officer/NCO with a slung carbine and a trumpeter, with the second pack a set of three advancing dragoons. |
All the figures are very cleanly cast and well sculpted, as we've come to expect. The Emsdorf helmets in particular are fine with discernible skull and crossbones motifs even. I also did a headswap by cutting off a spare figure's head and transplanting it onto a mounted horseholder. I am hoping Martin at Peter Pig is going to add some British Infantry in 'Saratoga' hats to his heads range and will now be pushing for French infantry and artillery. You can read battle our gaming group's AWI game reports here, and view my collection of Hessians and Rebels |