This is my American War of Independence Project page. The vast majority of my
collection was donated to me in about 1989/1990 by a really good friend of
mine John Corrigan ('Lofty C', and an ex-Royal Marine), sadly John died in
2011 so this page will remain dedicated to him as a little reminder in
cyberspace, and DG and I continue to have a memorial game each year as a
reminder.. Cheers John!Sections:
Go To “Useful links/sources” errr.. wat I have fownd owt over time...😏
Go To “Game Reports” – what it says on the tin…
Go To “Figures” – figures and model ranges I use…
Go To “Rules” – what rules I have tried, and what I’m using…
Go To “Books” – fiction and non-fiction
Go To ”Armies and Regiments” – a unit by unit view of the project as a whole…
Useful links/sources:
- "The American Revolution in South Carolina"
- Map of the Province of South Carolina 1773 - be warned, it's a biggy!
- French Regiments in the War of Independence
Game Reports
- "One Hour Wargames" - Scenario 23 - "Defence in Depth" - Set Up and Game
- "One Hour Wargames" - Scenario 22 - "Ambush" - Set Up and Game - Redux!
- The 2019 John Corrigan memorial game - "One Hour Wargames" - Scenario 18 - "Counter Attack"
- "One Hour Wargames" - Scenario 15 - "Fortified Defence" - Setup and Game (Redux) - I'd tried this in a WW2 setting but it had been disappointing - a shift to the AWI was in order!
- The 2017 John Corrigan memorial game - "One Hour Wargames" - Scenario 12 - "An Unfortunate Oversight"
-
"One Hour Wargames" - Scenario 9 - "Double Delaying Action" - based on the historical Battle of Wavre [clicky] during the 100 Days/Waterloo Campaign..
- John Corrigan Memorial game 2016 - my take on the classic Blasthof - "Windtown Bridge" -
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- Third John Corrigan Memorial game - this time the first ever Table Top Teaser - "Bridge Demolition"
-
Wagon Train re-fight - I fought this one solo straight after DG and I's game
(see next), as I wanted to try some alternative scenario rules... a more fun
game it would have been difficult to imagine - but the dice rolls had to be
seen to be believed..... join me for "A funny thing happened on the way to
the redoubt"....
- Wagon Train - a classic teaser for DG and I's second John Corrigan Memorial game... not a good outcome for the Americans as they try to stop the Hessians from reinforcing their redoubt...
-
Action in the Plattville Valley
from Don Featherstone's "War Games" - transplanted to the American War of
Independence from it's original American Civil War setting - this was DG and
I's first John Corrigan Memorial game and I'm kind of pleased to say was a
win for me!
~ Night of the long knives.. Follow this link [click here]to an account of a particularly bloody battle DG and I played, as part of our current campaign... this was a final throw of the dice kind of game, all forces engaged....
~ "Skirmish at Twogates House": Follow this link [click here] for a double header of a game - the initial set up was prompted by the first clash in the recently started campaign - see next bullet - but when this turned out to be slightly shorter than anticipated (!), we used the same terrain to play a much bigger game. A hard slog, but the American's force home an assault and just win...
~ "Expeditionary Force":
Last year I started the campaign in
Charles Grant's "Programmed Wargames Scenario's" book ( highly recommended b.t.w, whether your a solo gamer or not - click on
the link for details..), but somehow lost my way and never got round to
finishing it. Rather than waste this effort then, I decided to pick it up where
I left it, but when I looked at the campaign diary, and my assorted notes, I was
struck with the idea that, really, I'd prefer to start it again, and rather than
do it solo, I'd challenge DG. Suffice to say DG has taken the challenge and
this link [click here]
will take you to the capaign diary which contains all the campaign
setup/updates/notes etc. ..~ "An Excursion in the Colonies":[Click here] for a report on a recent solo game. On a wet and drizzly bank holiday weekend in the UK I re-fought the final battle from the first visit to Sullivan's Island...
~ "Teaser Re-Fight": A re-fight of one of the Charles Grant Teasers, "Advance Guard" [click here..] for the report...
~ "Sullivan's Island re-visited": An account of a (very!) enjoyable re-fight of the Sullivan's Island campaign with Tony de Lyall (author of the Berthier Campaign assistant program). Here are the links to the campaign background, set up, and campaign diary...
-
Campaign Background [click here]
...historical setting for the campaign, and our first introduction to that
legend amongst (fictional) British generals of the American War of
Independence - General the Honourable Harcourt Wade-Smith..
Comprises:
- ...the basic campaign rules, how I set up Berthier, move rates, winning/losing, etc etc...
-
...the tactical and strategic (Berthier) maps for the campaign..
- ...the OOB's for the the opposing sides..
-
Campaign Diary...what actually happened ..
- "Second Battle of Amboy":...here's a link [click here]to the first major engagement in the campaign, complete with pictures..
Figures..
The vast majority of the huge number of figures that John gave me all those years ago were 25mm Minifigs; as a figure I really like them, and have by and large stuck with them for any new figures I've since bought. I guess I'm a little lucky in that the factory is only a 30 minute drive away so I can go and stock up quite easily!
Minifigs are what's known as "true" 25mm so smaller than the 28mm ranges by the likes of Redoubt/Front Rank/Foundry, but they have a really nice look and feel.. slightly old school, less raised relief, not so exaggerated or "caricatur'ish".
Being a wargamer of course there are a couple of exceptions:
- I have a single regiment of Front Rank - the 23rd Foot (Royal Welsh Fusiliers) brought purely because they looked so good. They are considerably bigger, but they fit OK as a separate regiment....
- I also have a single regiment from Parkfield Miniatures - another manufacturer who makes a true 25mm figure - I bought these on a whim at Warfare in '06 (I think) but they have just joined the ranks as the 35th (Sussex) regiment of Foot.
Picture comparison soon of the three ranges next to each other..
Rules
- Wrexham Wargames Club - American War of Independence Rules (click here) ..these are the rules I use for playing my AWI games. I've made a couple of changes to the rules (very minor, to unit moral tests and a couple of firing modifiers added - see link below..) but other than these I've used the rules unchanged for the last several years... they give a good, fast flowing game, with what I believe is a realistic feel, and end result..
-
I use the following modifiers to the basic Wrexham Wargames Club Rules -
after 10 years of playing them they're the only ones I have, so this is
probably testament to how much I like the basic rules!
I changed the moral rules to take better account of the morale differences between various troops, it seemed strange that veterans would test against the same table as militia.
The firing modifiers are intended to better reflect what I consider the effect of firing on light troops (ie. a dispersed target), and cavalry firing (it must be more difficult, and also there are less of them..)
Testing shaken units
-
Roll 1d6 per unit and compare against units basic morale.
Dice modifiers:
-1 if units brigadier general is with the unit (for Brigadier Generals not commanding the particular unit, throw 1D6, on 1-3 the troops recognise the Brigadier, and the normal bonus applies). -2 if a senior general is with the unit.
Results (Unit morale - dice score):
D6 < Unit Morale the unit will carry on as required D6 = Unit Morale the unit will retire a full move (optional: Militia or Indians in the open rout, other units can remain shaken) D6 > Unit Morale the unit will rout
Testing routing units
-
Roll 1d6 per unit and compare against units basic morale.
Dice modifiers:
-1 if units brigadier general is with the unit (for Brigadier Generals not commanding the particular unit, throw 1D6, on 1-3 the troops recognise the Brigadier, and the normal bonus applies). -2 if a senior general is with the unit.
Results (Unit morale - dice score):
D6 < Unit Morale the unit halts shaken D6 = Unit Morale the unit continues routing D6 > Unit Morale The unit continues routing and also loses 1 strength point
Additional Firing Factors
-
In addition I allow a unit (infantry or cavalry) to refuse a flank in order
to defend an irregular space, each half of the unit fires as a "column"
using the standard modifiers...
-3 Light Cavalry/Dragoons firing -1 Target is Open Order
Books
-
The starting point for the entire project was a single reference source that I first read when I was an embarrasingly young gamer, and painting up Airfix figures for various regiments in the war - some years later I finally managed to get my own copy of "Uniforms of the American Revolution in Color" by John Mollo and Malcolm McGregor. I think that general opionion is that this is not as accurate as more modern research would have us understand, but I swear by it, and of all the books I have this is the one I'd recommend first... :o))
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Ospreys - I have a number, all of them excellent:
-
The French Army in the American War of Independence (Men-at-arms) by
Rene Chartrand and Francis Back
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The British Army in North America, 1775-83 (Men-at-arms) by Robin May
- General Washington's Army: 1775-78 Vol 1 (Men-at-arms) by Marko Zlatich and Peter F. Copeland
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General Washington's Army: 1779-83 v. 2 (Men-at-arms) by Marko Zlatich
and William Younghusband
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Continental Infantryman of the American War of Independence (Warrior) by
John Milsop
-
Yorktown, 1781 (Osprey Military Campaign) by Brendan Morrissey and Adam
Hook
-
Saratoga, 1777: Turning Point of a Revolution (Osprey Military Campaign)
by Brendan Morrissey and Adam Hook
- Boston, 1775: The Shot Heard Around the World (Osprey Military Campaign) by Brendan Morrissey
- Quebec 1775: The American Invasion of Canada (Osprey Campaign) by Brendan Morrissey and Adam Hook
-
The French Army in the American War of Independence (Men-at-arms) by
Rene Chartrand and Francis Back
-
Encyclopedia of the American Revolution by Mark M. Boatner (browsed only,
and bought on the recommendation of "Fire-at-Will" see blog links...) I'll
give a fuller review when I have a chance to read it..
-
..for Christmas I got a pile of books, one of which was "Rabble in Arms" by
Kenneth Roberts.
I'm always on the lookout for good readable fiction to provide colour and background to the wars I re-fight on my wargame table, and I seem to remember that this one was amongst a number of books set in the American War of Independence that had been recommended..
I'm pleased to say that having just finished it, I would definitely agree with those far off recommendations.
The book is set against the Saratoga campaign and Burgoyne's invasion from Canada and is it is chock full of background. The book is told from the first person perspective by Peter Merrill a ship captain and seaman from New England and tells of the events that he experiences while serving as one of Bendict Arnolds scouts, including capture by the British, imprisonment with the Indians, and eventually escaping...
This was the first book that I have read that has gone into a lot of the background into why the fledgling American army was in such bad condition, the bickering and politicking of congress, the policy of paying militia bounties rather than focusing on the Continental/regulars, etc. Although it's a novel, Robertson is scathing on the activities of congress, and their ineptness in those early years of pursuing the war - all very informative, but more importantly quite readable.. He is also very good on the career of Arnold, his undoubted qualities, bravery, and how poorer performing men were consistently promoted above the American generals who actually won the battles (Schuyler, Arnold, Morgan and others)
On the wargaming front, there is the action on Lake Champlain (where Arnold's rapidly built fleet took on, but ultimately failed to stop the more powerful British fleet from moving south), Freeman's Farm, and Bemis Heights...
It's a big book, 600 odd pages, and it's also a very "gentle" read - Tom Clancy this is not. Once you get into the flow of it though, it's very difficult to put down. The book is the second of a trilogy, and on the basis of this book I shall be seeking out the other two!
- ...more to be added over time... :o)
My AWI Library:
Armies and Regiments
The AWI collection...
here is the AWI Project as a whole - British and Allies top row left to right; Americans and Allies middle row left to right, American Indians bottom left; Artillery/transport/ancillaries bottom right...
99% of these are Minifigs (25mm scale); the exceptions are:
- in the ancillaries box the canoes ("damn sightseers") are Parkfield,
- the Welch Fusiliers are Front Rank,
- the Sussex Regiment are also Parkfield
Close up view of the Artillery/Transport/Ancillaries.... the spare guns are used for routed markers and when the guns are in limbered mode, same with the crews - there are enough limbers for all guns - the canoes have removable figures as I can use them to give transport for Ranger units - when they land the figure are swapped for standard bases...
| Side | Unit Name | Base No's | Unit Type | Artillery Type | Comments/Notes | ||||
| American and French | |||||||||
| American | Green Mountain Boys - 1st Battalion | 1 and 2 | Line Infantry CO | N/A |
I had enough figures for two battalions of these guys - plate no. 18 in the Mollo book looked close enough... they came from New Hampshire, and were involved in the taking of Fort Ticonderoga and later the invasion of Quebec, and battles at Hubbardton and Bennington in 1777. There seem to have been two battalions, one commanded by Seth Warner and the other by Ira Allen. Mollo at least believed there were enough of them to comprise one battalion of 500, so two battalions is probably a bit on the high side... the flag is almost certainly not correct (see the Wikipedia article for the correct one), but will do until I get round to re-flagging them. I use them as line infantry, better than militia but not classed as Continentals - totally evocative and they clearly caught my eye when I was first organising the regiments as they are base numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4. |
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| American | Green Mountain Boys - 2nd Battalion | 3 and 4 | Line Infantry CO | N/A | Minifigs - see previous entry | ||||
| American | Massachusetts Militia - 1st Battalion | 5 and 6 | Militia CO | N/A |
Minifigs - first of three separate battalions of plain vanilla
American Militia of the type most would recognise - plates 4, 5 and 6
in the Mollo book...
|
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| American | 1st Rifle Regiment | 7 and 8 | Militia CO | N/A |
Minifigs.
Plate no 40 in Mollo - I treat them as Militia if I use them in my games but in reality they were the 1st regiment formed by Washington in the new Continental Army - apparently created from Hand's Pennsylvania Rifle regiment these guys have rifles as opposed to muskets. Base no's 7 and 8 |
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| American | New York Regiment | 9 and 10 | Line Infantry CO | N/A |
Fictional I think - I have no idea who these guys were painted to represent - I think I chose them based on plate 52 which shows an American infantryman in a uniform with dark blue breeches - if any of my readers has an idea, send them in via a comment!
According to the base numbers he is from the Minifigs Seven Years War
range, and is a
"French Fusilier (Campaign Dress)"
Base no's 9 and 10.NB. Subsequent info from Ray Rousell would indicate that these are Companies Franches de la Marine from the FandIW - they were probably supposed to represent a unit of the Compagnie Franche de La Marine. Now I'll admit that at that point in time I had no idea who the Compagnie Franche de la Marine even were - but I know a whole lot more now... .In summary, they were a body of troops sent to the French overseas territory of 'New France' ("The possessions of France in North America from the 16th century until the Treaty of Paris in 1763...... At its greatest extent it included much of south-east Canada, the Great Lakes region, and the Mississippi Valley. British and French rivalry for control of the territory led to the four conflicts known as the French and Indian Wars (1689-1763)". From the Free Dictionary)
"Marine" comes from the fact that although these troops were infantry first and foremost, because they were based overseas they came under the control of the Navy Department - and that made them Marines.. Franche (according to fellow blogger Mekelnborg), plural franches, means 'free,' he believes we would call it 'independent', so these would be independent companies of marines in English.. A closer look at these figures shows that the coat is not a uniform coat as such - there are no lapels, or turn backs - it represents the fact that the summer campaign dress of these units would have been just the long sleeved waistcoat (normally worn under the coat) along with gaiters or leggings... typically these leggings would have been American Indian style buckskin, but black was known - the picture to the left is a modern day re-enactor, but he's close to what my unit represents - the white gaiters he's wearing would have been unusual... Most of these units would also have worn a soft cap rather than the tricorn - but it's not beyond the realms of reason to assume some units would have done (and the re-enactor is!) History advises us that the Compagnies disappeared after the fall of New France (1760 after Wolfe took Quebec).  So what of my little regiment?? The Wiki article makes mention that
some compagnies were joined together into battalions to serve
alongside regular troops in defence of Montreal and Quebec - what
could be more natural then, than one such regiment fleeing south with
their families after the defeat at Quebec, and seeking to live in
America rather than be subject to their victors in their own land?Going one step further who cannot blame them, if they then take up arms against their old persecutors upon the start of the War of Independence? I suspect a new flag is in order for this little regiment though, to remind them of their illustrious history... never let the real history get in the way of a good story even if it completely unlikely! Further reading: This is very good - http://www.kronoskaf.com/syw/index.php?title=Colonial_Compagnies_Franches_de_la_Marine Wiki article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compagnies_Franches_de_la_Marine Uniform and history: http://www.militaryheritage.com/c_franch.htm |
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| American | 9th Pennsylvania Regiment | 11 and 12 | Line Infantry CO | N/A |
|
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| American | Massachusetts Militia - 2nd Battalion | 13 and 14 | Militia CO | N/A |
Minifigs - Second of three separate battalions of plain vanilla
American Militia of the type most would recognise - plates 4, 5 and 6
in the Mollo book...
|
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| American | Massachusetts Militia - 3rd Battalion | 17 and 18 | Militia CO | N/A |
Minifigs - Third of three separate battalions of plain vanilla
American Militia of the type most would recognise - plates 4, 5 and 6
in the Mollo book...
|
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| American | 1st Battalion Philadelphia Associators | 19 and 20 | Militia CO | N/A |
John had painted loads of these guys, which were a total mystery to me as I'd never seen that style of headgear before. I thought they looked closest to the figures depicted in plates 93 and 94, which were from the 1st Battalion "Philadelphia Associators" at Valley Forge. Mollo indicates there were four battalions, who were eventually amalgamated into the 3rd Philadelphia Brigade under Cadwalader in 1777. They eventually consisted of five battalions, earning honours in the battles of Trenton, Princeton, Brandywine and Germantown. The hats are not right, but the uniform colours are correct as Mollo indicates they were uniformed in brown with different coloured facings for each regiment. Base numbers 16 and 18, 17 and 19 and 20 and 21. Minifigs NB. Ross Mac advises me that these are FandIW British Light Infantry ( Gage's or 80th Reg't. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/80th_Regiment_of_Light-Armed_Foot) - more research required... |
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| American | 2nd Battalion Philadelphia Associators | 21 and 22 | Militia CO | N/A | Minifigs - see previous entry. | ||||
| American | 3rd Battalion Philadelphia Associators | 15 and 16 | Militia CO | N/A |
See previous entry..
Minifigs |
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| American | Maryland State Marines | 23 and 24 | Line Infantry CO | N/A |
Another guess - clearly these look nothing like plate no. 150! I'm guessing that when I divided the units these guys were moved to the American side in order to make up numbers. They are clearly marines, or rather sailors, John's tastes were eclectic! Either way, in my American army they form a battalion, and a weak (one base) battalion of state marines - these guys formed sterling service in the recent action in the Plattville Valley [clicky]. Base no's 23, 24 and 25. Minifigs |
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| American | Maryland State Marines | 25 | Line Infantry CO | N/A | See previous entry - Minifigs - single base | ||||
| American | Rhode Island Artillery | 26 | Artillery | Medium |
I have three artillery pieces for the American’s - these are Rhode Island. an imaginary unit (as are the other two as well), this usally plays as a medium piece... The gun is a Minifigs piece (and it’s lovely) I have enough limbers (again Minifigs) to provide one per gun, along with spare guns (to act as abandoned guns during games) |
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| American | New York Artillery | 27 | Artillery | Light |
First of two light guns this time representing the New York, the lights came from the same (long forgotten) plastic source that the British guns came from (Revell?). |
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| American | Connecticut Artillery | 28 | Artillery | Light |
See previous entry. |
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| American | Massachusetts Militia - 4th Battalion | 29 and 30 | Light Infantry OO | N/A |
 Longer term readers of this blog will recognise this regiment as the
one that won their battle honours at the
Battle of Carnine
and which were subsequently subject to an on-line poll to decide
which colours they were to have. Nice to know that they will forever be associated with that
long-ago battle no matter how badly they subsequently perform!Either way, by the time I got to these guys I was beginning to get to the bottom of the box of figures that John had provided – so I based these as Light troops for skirmishing – and even then we were clearly a little heavy on fife players...! The clothing style was the same as the first three battalions (base numbers 5 and 6, 13 and 14 and 15 and 22) so these guys became the 4th Battalion. Plain vanilla American Militia of the type most would recognise - plates 4, 5 and 6 in the Mollo book... Base no's. 29 and 30.#### Minifigs |
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| American | Militia | 49 to 52 | Light Infantry OO | N/A |
Minifigs ...I've just finished sprucing up some figures that I bought last year from one of my fellow "Old School Wargamers".. ..these guys were already painted to what I considered to be a good standard, so to be honest didn't need much doing to them - I touched up the boots, hats, and the faces, maybe some of the rifles. They have had a fresh coat of varnish, though, and new bases - but that was it .. ..the figures are "old" Minifigs - so before the current range that most of my other units are comprised of. If you look carefully, the officer in the unit on the right is one of the "new" designs (a comparative term - not sure how long the range has been with us, but I'm thinking it must be at least 20 or 30 years old now..) He's clearer in the second picture - he's quite "Bunter'ish" in comparison to the slimmer, older, sculpts... Needless to say I'm chuffed to have them in my armies... these guys are real veterans - history only knows how many battles and skirmishes they've been in up until now, but they are set to continue in my games, fighting as generic militia on the American side.. 
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| American | Rhode Island Regiment | 53 and 54 | Rangers OO | N/A |
These guys have been painted to "represent" the Rhode Island Regiment - I say represent, as I'm a little unsure what these guys would actually have looked like! Sources on the web seem contradictory at best, as do my off-line resources (ie. books!)... in the end I went with the depiction you see in the two paintings below... The figures are Minifigs 25mm's, bought as part of a group of used figures from one of my fellow Old Schooler's (thanks Jim!), and originally painted as, I think, light infantry from one of the New York regiments. Happily I didn't have to strip them, I just re-undercoated in black, and painted as if they were new. 
Caveats - before anyone thinks to let me know: 1/. It is far from certain (in my mind) that the whole regiment would have worn the cap - a couple of sources show the regiment in tricorn.... may be only the light company wore them? I went with the caps based on the other sources... :o)  2/. the caps as depicted are not right for the Rhode Island regiment.
The cap the Rhode Island guys are shown wearing is pretty unique (see
picture to the left), these Minifigs are wearing the standard light
infantry cap painted to a rough approximation...3/. I can't paint anchors that small, so they're absent from the hats...! Some history then for what was a very unique regiment in the American service. The 1st Rhode Island (there were eventually two) was formed as a result of a decree by the revolutionary Rhode Island Assembly on 6 May 1775. The regiments first colonel was Colonel James Mitchell Varnum, and they were known "Varnum's Regiment" - the regiment consisted of eight companies.  Shortly after the Yorktown campaign, a young French
sub-lieutenant named Jean-Baptiste-Antoine DeVerger sketched a
watercolour image of four foot-soldiers in his notebook. The guy
on the right is from the Rhode Island regiment...Timetable: ~ From June 1775: took part in the siege of Boston. ~ 14 June 1775: adopted into the Continental Army ~ 28 June 1775: reorganized into ten companies. ~ 28 July 1775: assigned to General Nathanael Greene's Brigade in General George Washington's Main Army. ~ 1 January 1776: as part of the Continental army re-organisation, Varnum's Regiment was reorganized with eight companies and re-designated as the 9th Continental Regiment. ~ 1776: took part in the disastrous 1776 campaign, retreating from New York with the Main Army. ~ 1 January 1777: as part of another Continental army re-organisation, the 9th Continental Regiment was re-designated as the 1st Rhode Island Regiment (at the same time Varnum was promoted brigadier general; his successor being Colonel Christopher Greene)  From
http://ancientgreece-earlyamerica.com/the_first_rhode_island.htm~ 22 October 1777: regiment successfully defended Fort Mercer at the Battle of Red Bank against an assault by 2,000 Hessians. ~ 14 February 1778: having difficulties in meeting the recruiting requirements of the Continental Congress, and after a suggestion made by Varnum to Washington, the Rhode Island Assembly voted to allow the enlistment of "every able-bodied negro, mulatto, or Indian man slave" that chose to do so, and that "every slave so enlisting shall, upon his passing muster before Colonel Christopher Greene, be immediately discharged from the service of his master or mistress, and be absolutely free....". Owners would be paid for any slaves that joined.. 88 slaves enlisted in the regiment over the next four months, as well as some free blacks. The regiment eventually totalled about 225 men of which approximately just over half were African Americans. The enlistment of slaves had been controversial, and after June 1778, no more non-whites were enlisted. ~ August 1778: the regiment fought in the Battle of Rhode Island. Like most of the Main Army, the regiment saw little action over the next few years, since the focus of the war had shifted to the south.  ~ 1 January 1781: the regiment was consolidated with the 2nd Rhode
Island Regiment and re-designated as the Rhode Island Regiment. It
took part in the siege of Yorktown where the light company served with
Lafayette. Greene and several of his black soldiers were killed in a
skirmish with Loyalists earlier in the year, my records indicate that
the regiment was then commanded by Lt. Col. Jeremiah Olney, and
comprised 298 officers and men.~ 1 March 1783: the regiment was re-designated as the Rhode Island Battalion, and was reorganized into six companies ~ 16 June 1783: reduced to two companies. ~ 25 December 1783: regiment disbanded at Saratoga, New York. I think we probably should leave the final words to Rochambeau (the commander of the French troops under Washington): "I had a chance to see the American army, man for man. It was really painful to see these brave men, almost naked with only some trousers and little linen jackets, most of them without stockings, but would you believe it? Very cheerful and healthy in appearance. A quarter of them were negroes, merry, confident, and sturdy. … Three quarters of the Rhode Island regiment consists of negroes, and that regiment is the most neatly dressed, the best under arms, and the most precise in its maneuvres (sic)." Not a bad regiment to have in my American forces... even if they might perhaps have the wrong hat! |
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| American | Militia | 33 and 34 | Militia CO | N/A |
These guys came to me in a supplementary parcel I think (I kept getting these odd little parcels of figures from John as he discovered various stashes of figures he had “put safely away” – quite exciting...) There is further evidence here that what John had been collecting for (I think) was a Seven Years War North America set up, but by this time I didn’t care – they fitted very nicely into the War of Independence thank you very much.... I suspect these were meant to be couriers de bois – they all had red stocking caps – all I did was colour some of the caps differently, and based them up as militia from the northern states – where clearly it is winter... 
Either way, plate 10 in the Mollo book supports my contention. Base
no. 33, 34, 35 and 36. Minifigs
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| American | Militia | 35 and 36 | Militia CO | N/A | See previous entry.. | ||||
| American | 4th Dragoons | 37 and 38 | Cavalry | N/A |
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| American | 1st New York | 39 and 40 | Line Infantry CO | N/A |
Additional stiffening was to be provided by the arrival of the first Continental foot regiments... these guys represent the 1st New York Regiment (Brigadier General James Clinton's Brigade of Major General Benjamin Lincoln's Division at Yorktown). "The 1st New York Regiment was authorized on 25 May 1775 and organized at New York City from 28 June to 4 August, for service with the Continental Army under the command of Colonel Alexander McDougall. The enlistments of the first establishment ended on 31 December 1775. The second establishment of the regiment (ie. this one) was authorized on 19 January 1776. The regiment was involved in the Invasion of Canada, the Battle of Valcour Island, the Battle of Saratoga, the Battle of Monmouth, the Sullivan Expedition, and the Battle of Yorktown. The regiment was furloughed 2 June 1783 at Newburgh, New York and disbanded 15 November 1783." I think it EXTREMELY unlikely that the regiment presented this smart an appearance by this stage of their service - constant campaigning, the heat of the southern states, shortage of supply etc etc would have resulted in them looking considerably different but I took my reference from the Mollo plate 168, and I love the parade ground look for a Continental regiment as it helps to convey the regularity and discipline of the regiment - please don't tell me they "look wrong" as I will ignore you... . Minifigs
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| American | 2nd New York | 41 and 42 | Line Infantry CO | N/A |
The sister regiment to the 1st New York, same brigade at Yorktown, and same comments apply with regard to appearance.. "The 2nd New York Regiment was authorized on May 25, 1775, and formed at Albany from June 28 to August 4 for service with the Continental Army under the command of Colonel Goose Van Schaick (good name!). The enlistments of the first establishment ended on December 31, 1775.The second establishment of the regiment (ie., the one these figures represent) was authorized on January 19, 1776. The regiment would see action in the Invasion of Canada, Battle of Valcour Island, Battle of Saratoga, Battle of Monmouth, the Sullivan Expedition and the Battle of Yorktown. The regiment would be furloughed, June 2, 1783, at Newburgh, New York and disbanded November 15, 1783.". Minifigs |
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| French | Bourbonnais Regiment (1st. Batt.) | 31 and 32 | Line Infantry CO | N/A |
These are the first figures I painted for the project – by this time I had decided to focus on Yorktown as the OOB to base the project round, and given the preponderance of Militia and non-Continental units the French were an obvious choice as a “stiffening” unit in the American forces. French regiments were absolutely huge so to get round the scaling issue in the McNally rules, I just made them two units strong this allowed me to field one unit with the white colonels colour, and the other with the regimental colour. Plate no 201 in the Mollo book, plus the relevant Osprey gave me the uniform details... Base no's. 31 and 32 and 45 and 46. Minifigs |
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| French | Lauzun's Legion Hussars | 43 and 44 | Cavalry | N/A |
Some more cavalry for the American side - I have a couple of units of British cavalry so this unit was intended to "even things up", as they are classed as European regulars. From the Osprey book "American War of Independence Commanders" (Elite 93): "‘Duc de Lauzun.’ The flamboyant young duke was a scion (wouldn't you just love to be called a scion?) of France's wealthy, high-nobility. He was colonel by the age of 20 and saw his first action in 1768 campaigning with light troops in the hills of Corsica. He was also a handsome, quick-witted and noted courtier, and, in 1778 he was made colonel-in-chief of the Volontaires étrangers de la Marine (Foreign Volunteers of the Navy). This brigade-like new unit was to have up to eight legions of mostly German soldiers, comprising infantry, hussars and artillery, and intended for service overseas. The Volontaires étrangers de la Marine raised only three legions, the 1st going to the West Indies, and the 3rd to Mauritius and later India. Lauzun was more interested in managing a corps at home and, in 1780, the 2nd Legion that had remained as a depot in France was transformed into Lauzun's Legion (see Men-at-Arms 244: The French Army in the American War of Independence 1778-83) Eager for action, Lauzun commanded the troops sent with Adm. de Vaudreuil's fleet to capture Senegal from the British: it fell on January 30, 1779. His new corps, the Volontaires étrangers de Lauzun (known to Americans as Lauzun's Legion) and comprising 300 hussars and 300 infantry, sailed for North America with Rochambeau's army in June 1780. Once on Rhode Island, there was little action and it was not until a night skirmish on July 17/18, 1781 that a detachment saw action against some British light dragoons. The French army was now marching south past New York and Philadelphia and the hussars of Lauzun's Legion proved to be valuable scouts as it neared and then invested Yorktown." This regiment represents another failed attempt on my part to find a decent yellow! Minifigs |
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| French | Bourbonnais Regiment (2nd. Batt.) | 45 and 46 | Line Infantry CO | N/A |
See previous entry for 1st Battalion. Minifigs |
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| French | Saintonge Regiment | 47 and 48 | Line Infantry CO | N/A |
The regiment served in Brigade Soissonois, along with the regiment of the same name, and also the Touraine Regiment. "The Saintonge Regiment, also known as the 85e Regiment of the Line, was raised in the year 1684 in the province of Saintonge, France. From 1763 to 1768 the regiment served in the West Indies and French Guiana. In 1780 the regiment was sent with Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau to help the United States during the American Revolutionary War. The regiment took part in the Siege of Yorktown in 1781. In 1782 the regiment returned to the West Indies and then back to France in 1783. Following the French Revolution the regiment became the 82e Regiment of Infantry." 
Minifigs. |
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| American | Dismounted 4th Continental Light Dragoons | Cavalry | N/A |
More information
here [clicky]
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| British and Hessian | |||||||||
| British | Rogers Rangers - 1st Battalion | 1 and 2 | Rangers OO | N/A |
A bit of an anachronism to start the British roll... At the end of the French and Indian War, my research indicated that most of the Rogers Rangers soldiers had returned to civilian life, but at the outbreak of the American War of Independence, former Rangers were among the Minutemen firing at the British at Lexington and Concord. After these events, Rogers offered his help to Washington, but Washington refused, fearing that Rogers was a spy. Infuriated by the rejection, Rogers joined the British, where he formed the Queen's Rangers (1776) and later the King's Rangers. These guys are those very early forerunners of the Queens Rangers... and yes I know they aren't wearing the correct uniforms for the Queen's Rangers - they hadn't arrived yet... 😏 Minifigs |
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| British | Rogers Rangers - 2nd Battalion | 3 and 4 | Rangers OO | N/A | See previous entry.. | ||||
| Hessian | Brunswick Jaegers | 5 and 6 | Line Infantry CO | N/A |
Based on plate no. 126 in the Mollo "Uniforms of the American Revolution" book. During the American Revolutionary War, Landgrave Frederick II of Hesse-Kassel and other German leaders hired out about 30,000 of their conscripted subjects as auxiliaries to Great Britain to fight against the Americans. The gentlemen depicted here were subjects of Duke Charles I of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel a blood relation of George III; and the first ruler to sign a contract to send troops to North America. The contract was approved by the duchy’s Landstands (parliament). "The money received was invested for the general good and the interest was still helping to relieve the tax burden on the general populace of the region in 1918!" The corps of 4,300 men (176 officers, 389 NCO's, 102 Drummers, 3372 soldiers and 261 servants) received their pay direct from the British government – at the higher rate paid to its own troops – and all equipment was purchased in Brunswick in order to support the local economy. Theoretically there were only a company of these troops, but I had enough to make two and a half battalions, so if needs must they can also fill in as Hesse-Cassell Jaegers when the need arises. Lots of this information from the Perry website - well worth a read.. Minifigs |
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| Hessian | Brunswick Jaegers | 7 and 8 | Line Infantry CO | N/A | See previous entry.. | ||||
| Hessian | Brunswick Jaegers | 9 | Line Infantry CO | N/A | See previous entry.. | ||||
| Hessian | Brunswick Battalion von Barner | 10 and 11 | Line Infantry CO | N/A |
More Brunswickers. Plate no. 127 in the Mollo book - and along with the Rangers these were some of the the easiest units to identify. This regiment comprised picked men, and was classed as light infantry (though I have them based in close order). They were commanded by Major Friedrich Albrecht von Barner. This was a newly raised Battalion of Chasseurs (Jaegers) supplemented by light Infantry from other Brunswick Regiments. They arrived in Quebec in Sep 1776 with the 2nd Division and became part of Burgoyne's army. Fought in the battles of Ticonderoga, Hubbardton, Freeman’s Farm, Bemis Heights, and Saratoga. Minifigs |
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| Hessian | Brunswick Battalion von Barner | 12 | Line Infantry CO | N/A | See previous entry.. | ||||
| Hessian | Infantry regiment Erbprinz | 13 and 14 | Line Infantry CO | N/A |
The elite of the elite, and therefore guaranteed to get trounced on every table top outing! .. Based on plate no. 138 in Mollo. Specifically the plate shows the
grenadier, but early in my research I missed the fact that the rest of
the battalion would have worn the tricorn... ("Composition – one
grenadier and five musketeer companies [24 officers and 522
combatants]; this unit is often wrongly described as being all
grenadiers." from the Perry site)In retrospect I should have chosen them to represent Grenadier Regiment von Rall (or at a pinch one of the Fusilier regiments with their slightly smaller mitres); they may still do if I can summon up enough nerve to have a go at the red stripes of the von Rall trousers! Minifigs |
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| Hessian | Regiment Prinz Ludwig - 1st Battalion | 15 and 16 | Line Infantry CO | N/A |
One of the sadder stories to come out of my reading for the war - identified from plate no 125 in the Mollo. This four squadron regiment of Dragoons arrived in Quebec without their horses, but with all the equipment to make them mounted once horses were sourced... they never were and the regiment served on foot throughout the war.  "The only German auxiliary cavalry regiment to serve in America, the
regiment was 336 men strong and was part of the 1st Division, arriving
in Quebec in June, 1776. They did not bring their horses with them,
hoping to procure them in America. Very few horses were obtained, only
enough for small units to act in patrol work, etc. The remainder of
the regiment fought in infantry. Their heavy cavalry boots were
exchanged for long overalls made from striped ticking material, but
much of the remainder of their cavalry dress was retained. They were
another of the regiments taken into captivity at the surrender of
Saratoga as part of General Burgoyne's Army, although many men were
exchanged, escaped from captivity, etc., to re-form the Regiment
around the detachment left in Canada."
from here.
Minifigs
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| Hessian | Regiment Prinz Ludwig - 2nd Battalion | 17 and 18 | Line Infantry CO | N/A | See previous entry.. | ||||
| Hessian | Regiment Prinz Ludwig - 3rd Battalion | 19 and 20 | Line Infantry CO | N/A | See previous entry.. | ||||
| Hessian | Regiment Prinz Ludwig - 4th Battalion | 21 and 22 | Line Infantry CO | N/A | See previous entry.. | ||||
| British | New York Loyalist Artillery | 23 | Artillery | Medium |
An entirely fictional unit, and one of three artillery pieces on the British side (same for the Americans). I suspect I picked New York because of the brown coats, but I have no idea who these guys were actually painted to represent.. Minifigs |
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| British | New York Loyalist Artillery | 24 | Artillery | Light |
As per the previous entry, a fictional unit. The gun by the way is one of the only plastic pieces to survive the first awakenings of the project - I have no idea what kit it came from though I think it might have been Revell - perhaps an ECW or 30 Years War set, as the gun is slightly old fashioned, but ideal in size for a smaller calibre artillery piece.. |
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| British | 16th Light Dragoons | 25 and 26 | Cavalry | N/A |
John passed me on a significant quantity of British cavalry, I used 12 of them to represent 3 squadrons of the 16th Light Dragoons, far too many, and I've never used them all at the same time... in hindsight and with experience, a little judicious painting could have meant making one of the units the 17th Light Dragoons (the "Death or Glory Boys") I may still do that. The American War of Independence did not feature cavalry heavily, it was an infantry man's war, so usually I have no more than one, occasionally two, squadrons per side. I still have a dozen of these guys un-based - I used some for the American's (repainted as a Continental dragoon regiment) and I used some of them for British officers... Plate no. 90 in Mollo. Minifigs |
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| British | New York Loyalist Artillery | 27 | Artillery | Light |
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| British | 16th Light Dragoons | 28 and 29 | Cavalry | N/A |
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| British | 16th Light Dragoons | 30 and 31 | Cavalry | N/A |
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| British | 24th Light Infantry | 32 and 33 | Light Infantry OO | N/A |
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| British | Royal Irish Regiment | 34and 35 | Line Infantry CO | N/A |
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| British | 33rd Foot | 36 and 37 | Line Infantry CO | N/A |
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| British | 17th Foot | 38 and 39 | Line Infantry CO | N/A |
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| British | 23rd Foot (Royal Welsh Fusileers) | 40and 41 | Line Infantry CO | N/A |
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| British | 71st (Frasers) Foot | 42 and 43 | Line Infantry CO | N/A |
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| Hessian | Grenadier Von Donop | 44 and 45 | Line Infantry CO | N/A |
1st IR von Donop - a Hessian regiment destined for the American
colonies as part of the British contingent in the War of Independence.
I may paint a second unit of this regiment (dependant on their actual
strength), but in tricorn, as my reading indicates that only a part of
the regiment would have worn the brass mitre, most would have worn the
normal headgear...
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| British | 35th Foot (Royal Sussex Regiment) | 46 and 47 | Line Infantry CO | N/A |
 The figures are Parkfield Miniatures, the flag is from the Warflag site (I used one of the generic regimental flags with the colour changes to reflect the regiments unique orange facings)... they were "difficult", or rather not easy, to paint but having finished the basing and the standard I'm quite pleased with how they turned out... |
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| British | Brunswick Jaeger | 48 and 49 | Line Infantry OO | N/A |
)The more I read about the Jaeger's, the more I realise that my
original basing (see below...) which was based on my very poor
knowledge of the war at the time, was incorrect - you can see that
I've based them as close order troops, when in reality they were light
infantry, so this time I'd base them as lights, to be used in that
role for skirmishing against the flanks of formed troops.Brunswick (or
more properly Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel) was the first of the German
state-lets (it was actually a Duchy) to agree to provide George III
with soldiers to send to the colonies. Karl I (the Duke) agreed to
send 4,000 soldiers: four infantry regiments, one grenadier battalion,
one dragoon regiment and one light infantry battalion all to be
commanded by General Friedrich Adolf Riedesel.These soldiers comprised most of the German regulars under Burgoyne in the Saratoga campaign of 1777, the Brunswick troops were known for being especially well-trained. At Hubbardton they made a notable presence, singing a Lutheran hymn while making a bayonet charge against the American right flank, which may have saved the collapsing British line!. 
Among the troops being sent was one company of Jaeger's (under the command of Captain Carl von Geyso) - probably four platoons [total 4 officers and 120 combatants]; the company was part of the Light Battalion, nominally its 2nd Company, but often operated separately. Jaeger's were typically recruited from amongst the huntsmen and foresters, they were often "middle class" in background or even lesser nobility. As professionals or semi-professionals they were skilled in weapons and horses, and were primarily used for reconnaissance, skirmishing or screening bodies of heavier troops. "Jäger were not just skilled riflemen, they were also able to handle and maintain delicate, accurate rifles in an age when very few people had any mechanical skill. Jäger were excellent snipers able to inflict heavy casualties among enemy officers. Their ability to lay exceptionally accurate rifle fire also made them good for providing covering fire for other more vulnerable troop types such as sappers or engineers constructing forward trenches. For fights in close quarters the Jäger carried a straight-bladed hunting dagger (Hirschfänger), a short sabre or a falchion" (from the Perry website which is just a mine of information) These are (of course) Minifigs 25mm and are base no's 48 and 49 (and the start of box no. 3 of AWI British and Allied troops!) |
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| British | Fusilier Regiment Erbprinz | 50 and 51 | Line Infantry CO | N/A |
I've taken a bit of a liberty as this regiment became a musketeer regiment in about 1780 (so just before the Yorktown campaign which is my "timestamp" for the AWI project) but as I had the fusilier figures, and the uniform colours were correct for Erbprinz, I decided to go with it anyway... This regiment was one of four fusilier regiments (the others being von Ditfurth, von Knyphausen and von Lossburg) from the German state of Hesse-Kassel. They were also known as the Prince Hereditaire Regiment. I have not managed to find any difference in function, or equipment, between the fusiliers and more normal musketeer regiments other than the distinctive fusilier cap.. any difference would have been lost in time, traditionally the fusiliers would have been the men who guarded the artillery - I suspect like many regiments they would have guarded the outward signs of their difference jealously, and hence they were still wearing their caps in America.. 
Each Hesse-Kassel musketeer or fusilier regiment had five line infantry companies and a grenadier company of about 135 men each; the grenadier companies however, were detached before leaving Germany and were formed into four composite grenadier battalions. The Regiment arrived in America in August 1776 and saw it's first action in the New York area. The regiment arrived in Virginia in March 1781 where it was under the command of British Major General William Phillips. When Phillips died, the unit was temporarily under the command of Brigadier General Benedict Arnold, who was commanding troops in the British army by then. A week later the unit came under the command of Cornwallis during the Virginia and Yorktown Campaigns. 
As above the field strength of the fusilier and musketeer regiments were supposed to be around 500-600 men, but during the Siege of Yorktown Erbprinz consisted of approximately 400 men - during the siege they lost an estimated 23 killed, 57 wounded and 16 missing. The regiment was commanded throughout by Lieutenant Colonel Mathew Fuchs. My reading/research would indicate that by the time of Yorktown, the fusilier regiments Erbprinz and du Corp, and musketeer regiment Trumbach, were superior in quality to the other musketeer and fusilier regiments from Hesse-Kassel. They were better trained and had higher morale. The figures are Minifigs 25mm...
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| British | 43rd Regiment of Foot | 52 and 53 | Line Infantry CO | N/A |
The 43rd (Monmouthshire) Regiment of Foot was raised as Thomas Fowke's
Regiment of Foot in 1741 though it was actually numbered the 54th Foot
until 1748, when it finally became the 43rd. During the War of Independence (or American Revolution for my colonial readers ) they were one of the first regiments to set foot in America,
arriving in Boston in 1774 before the beginning of the Revolution.
They were joined by the 52nd Foot at Boston and the two regiments
fought side by side at Lexington (albeit the Grenadier and Light
Infantry companies of the 43rd only), and then at Bunker Hill.The 43rd went on to serve throughout the war (one of a few tat did) and on April 30 1781, along with two other regiments, they were sent to Virginia to reinforce Cornwallis They landed at Brandon on the James River on May 26, I'm not sure if they were involved in the skirmish at Spencer's Ordinary [clicky] in late June (Queens Rangers and Hessians only I think), but they fought at Green Spring [clicky] at the beginning of July. On August 6th, the British army (including the 43rd) landed at Yorktown and Cornwallis started fortifying it and Gloucester Point just across the York River. The actual siege formally got started on September 28 and during it the 43rd was part of the British force’s left wing, in the 2nd Brigade (Lt. Col. Thomas Dundas of the 80th Foot), along with the 76th and 80th Foot - the regiment was commanded by Major George Hewitt. They were mainly deployed in Redoubts 9 and 10 so would have been present in the attack on the night of October 14 when the Franco-American forces attacked. At least one of the regiments officers, Captain Duncan Cameron, was commended in orders by Lord Cornwallis for "distinguishing himself at the American redoubt" (that would have been Redoubt 10 which was attacked by an American force, Redoubt 9 being attacked by the French) 
During the siege the regiment sustained casualties of ten killed, 18 wounded and 12 missing. The strength of the regiment at the capitulation on October 19 was 94 rank-and-file, with an additional 168 men sick and wounded. Following the surrender, the Battalion Companies were interned until May, 1783, and were part of the final embarkation for England on November 22. They lost their colours (both Kings and Regimental) at Yorktown. These figures (25mm Minifigs) are some of the last of those that Lofty C [clicky] left me, and were already partially painted, so it was more a matter of finishing the rest of the paint job and matching to existing scheme.. checking through my records these are the first I've added to the AWI project since November 2011... 
John was a "parade ground uniform" painter (something these old school/classic sculpts almost force upon you) so these guys are painted pretty much as the illustration top left.. In reality I suspect the gaiters wouldn't have been full length (but they look good), and during this campaign they would have cut their coats down shorter because of the heat, probably would have had larger, circular, hats, and would have looked a lot more lived in than I have represented them.... but hey, this more than any of my projects is an "old school style" one, a homage, the look is derived from Mollo and Mcgregor [clicky] but more from the style of these old Minifigs sculpts... No flags for this unit... they lost them at Yorktown!
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| British | Queen's Rangers [clicky] | 54 and 55 | Line Infantry CO | N/A |
These were a 'paint conversion' of a unit gifted to me all those years ago by Lofty C [clicky] and which had already been painted... I think these were listed in the Miniature Figurines catalogue as Hungarians (Line Fusilier Advancing I think - product code ASW7 [clicky]) but from my perspective the most important thing was they were already painted largely hunting green and grey, and just needed a few modifications...so, I added knee length black gaiters (which I thought would be likely on campaign), and applied some paint to the trousers of about three quarters of them to give some variation (again I thought this might be likely for a unit on campaign) - I think that typically the regiment would have worn white trousers... touched up the helmets, added the silver crescent, and the flag started off as the one from Warflag but I modified the central shield and wreath with a better one I found elsewhere on the web... a coat of varnish and a quick wipe over with Dullcote, based, and the jobs a good'un - not as nice as Giles's [clicky] but they'll do!
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| British | Dismounted 17th Light Dragoons | 56 and 57 | Cavalry | N/A |
More information
here [clicky]
Eagle Miniatures |
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| British | Mohawks | 1 and 2 | Indian OO | N/A |
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| British | Mohawks | 3 and 4 | Indian OO | N/A | See previous .. Minifigs | ||||
| British | Mohawks | 5 and 6 | Indian OO | N/A | See previous .. Minifigs | ||||
| British | Mohawks | 7 and 8 | Indian OO | N/A | See previous .. Minifigs |
Terrain
I'll add some pictures soon/eventually - but briefly:
Redoubts/Earthworks
Having been endlessly impressed by the terrain building I see elsewhere on the web (and also in the new series in "Battlegames"), when the time came to find some earthworks for the next AWI game, rather than go and buy them I decided to build my own...
In "Battlegames" the author recommends the use of flower arrangers foam (the material that flower arrangers poke the stems into), but as I'd already spotted something else that I thought would do the trick, I went with my first choice. Anyway without further ado - here's how mine came to see the light of day...
Materials:
I'd been wandering round the local DIY superstore and I'd spotted some
quarter round dowel (the stuff they use for beading, picture frames, etc.)
in various sizes - I bought two lengths (they're about a metre long), one of
about 20mm radius, and the other slightly smaller... I used the 20mm radius
for this project as my figures are 25mm. Other materials used were some
Starbucks wooden coffee stirrers (never let it be said that there isn't
something you can use for wargaming in almost any environment!), standard
wood glue, some plastic card, some matches, a scoop of gritty sand off the
local beach, and also PVA glue.
I started by cutting some of the dowel with an angled edge to make the redoubts - dowel is tough stuff, I used an electric saw, but if I was to do this again then the flower arrangers foam would be the better choice...
In order to get the traditional shape the angle of the cut needs to be greater than 45'(otherwise you end up with a right angle on each corner!); being an artist rather than a scientist (who would have sensibly made a template) I did mine by eye as I wanted something that looked like it had been built in a reasonable hurry...
The bases for my figures are 5cm square, so I made sure that the front of the redoubt was slightly bigger than this, the sides were about 3 - 4cm's. I also cut off a number of straights of 10cm or 5cm's to use as trench sections.
Once they were cut, I put a good gloop of wood glue on the bottom and stuck them down to some bases made from plastic card, these were big enough for an overlap all round the model. When doing this, press the dowel down so that the back edge of the dowel goes down first, pushing excess glue towards the outer face of the trench. For the redoubt you can also put a good gloop on the join between the front and sides. Don't worry about drips you're aiming to have a nice overflow on the front edge of the trench/redoubt.... while it's still wet, sprinkle the gritty/sand mix all over them. You can see what I mean here - notice how the sand "gathers" on the glue at the bottom of the trench face...
Put them to one side to dry....
Once they were dry, I then cut the stirrers to make planks for the base of the redoubts, I also cut match lengths to act as reinforcements for the uprights.
For the stirrers/planks I again used plenty of glue, and sprinkled more sand. Once I'd finished I put them aside again to dry - they were looking like this at this stage:
Once they were fully dry, I then gave them a thinner coat of PVA glue on
what would be the outer face of the trench, and the ends, and dipped them
into the sand again - I was looking for texture now:
Once they'd had time to dry I gave them a light brush to get rid of the
looser sand before I then gave them a really good coat of black primer as
preparation for painting. This is them:
...and this is them with some figures for scale....
With the pieces all well and truly dry following the black primer under
coating, I checked out the paint box to see what options I had.... in my
mind I saw the pieces as predominantly brown (ie. soil), but I wanted a
slight differentiation for the planking, and certainly for the redoubts the
bases were big enough that there would also be undisturbed grassy
area's...
For the brown's then I used these:
The little one is "Earth brown" and is by a company called
Miniature Paints
- I think I may have picked it up at the Redoubt show a couple of years ago
- not brilliant coverage/opacity, but it is the right colour for the job!
The three bigger bottles I picked up at Hobbycraft a few months ago on the grounds that "they might be useful"...again, not brilliant opacity as they're quite cheap, but they do the job.
Painting was pretty simple - because the pieces were black undercoated, and the opacity for the "earth brown" is not the best, I started off with a fairly medium dry brush of the "Sandstone" over the entire model to give it a light key to put later layers of colour on.
Once that was done I then used the "Soft Suede" (is 'hard suede' a different colour do you think?!) on all the wood sections of the model. I did the wooden bits first as any over brush from later stages would then just look like the planks were muddy, rather than providing evidence that my painting skills are not the best!
Next step was the heavy dry brush of the "earth brown" over all the earth parts, followed by Games Workshop "Dark Angels Green" for all the grass area's (I painted this rather than dry brushed)..
For all the dry brushing by the way, I use a half inch flat head brush that I picked up at Hobbycraft at the same time I picked the paints up. It's a nice brush for dry brushing - not too soft, or too stiff...
To all intents and purposes, by this stage I was almost done - looking at the models though, I decided to give a very light dry brush of the 'tan' over everything (just to highlight basically), and because the planking still looked a bit too clean I gave all the woodwork a wash of "Windsor and Newton" Peat ink.....
Once that was all done they looked as follows:
The last job was to apply PVA and flock to the grass area's, plus the usual
small stones and Woodland Scenic shrub material. For the flock stage I also
spotted some PVA on to the trench front for a little extra colour... and
this is them done - just in time for the game tonight!
Overall I'm very pleased with them - reasonably quick and easy to make, and
I especially liked the effect you get with the sand on glue. Gives a very
nice rough texture which is ideal for dry brushing...
- I use the two foot TSS (click here for site) terrain boards
- I also use their hills...
- Most of my buildings are by Hovels (click here for site) - specifically I have the farm and barn which are items 23AC and 3AC respectively from their ACW 25mm range..
- I have bridge/walls which are 30+ years old (!) and are by Bellona...
- tree's are KandM..
- then I use assorted bits and pieces of carpet tile to break up the billiard table effect of the boards. These were gleaned from all over - including some I got from a man at the rubbish tip, and some I got from a bin at work!
- I also have some split rail fences which were scratch built by myself..
Redoubts/Earthworks
Having been endlessly impressed by the terrain building I see elsewhere on the web (and also in the new series in "Battlegames"), when the time came to find some earthworks for the next AWI game, rather than go and buy them I decided to build my own...
In "Battlegames" the author recommends the use of flower arrangers foam (the material that flower arrangers poke the stems into), but as I'd already spotted something else that I thought would do the trick, I went with my first choice. Anyway without further ado - here's how mine came to see the light of day...
Materials:
I'd been wandering round the local DIY superstore and I'd spotted some
quarter round dowel (the stuff they use for beading, picture frames, etc.)
in various sizes - I bought two lengths (they're about a metre long), one of
about 20mm radius, and the other slightly smaller... I used the 20mm radius
for this project as my figures are 25mm. Other materials used were some
Starbucks wooden coffee stirrers (never let it be said that there isn't
something you can use for wargaming in almost any environment!), standard
wood glue, some plastic card, some matches, a scoop of gritty sand off the
local beach, and also PVA glue.I started by cutting some of the dowel with an angled edge to make the redoubts - dowel is tough stuff, I used an electric saw, but if I was to do this again then the flower arrangers foam would be the better choice...
In order to get the traditional shape the angle of the cut needs to be greater than 45'(otherwise you end up with a right angle on each corner!); being an artist rather than a scientist (who would have sensibly made a template) I did mine by eye as I wanted something that looked like it had been built in a reasonable hurry...
The bases for my figures are 5cm square, so I made sure that the front of the redoubt was slightly bigger than this, the sides were about 3 - 4cm's. I also cut off a number of straights of 10cm or 5cm's to use as trench sections.
Once they were cut, I put a good gloop of wood glue on the bottom and stuck them down to some bases made from plastic card, these were big enough for an overlap all round the model. When doing this, press the dowel down so that the back edge of the dowel goes down first, pushing excess glue towards the outer face of the trench. For the redoubt you can also put a good gloop on the join between the front and sides. Don't worry about drips you're aiming to have a nice overflow on the front edge of the trench/redoubt.... while it's still wet, sprinkle the gritty/sand mix all over them. You can see what I mean here - notice how the sand "gathers" on the glue at the bottom of the trench face...
Put them to one side to dry....Once they were dry, I then cut the stirrers to make planks for the base of the redoubts, I also cut match lengths to act as reinforcements for the uprights.
For the stirrers/planks I again used plenty of glue, and sprinkled more sand. Once I'd finished I put them aside again to dry - they were looking like this at this stage:
Once they were fully dry, I then gave them a thinner coat of PVA glue on
what would be the outer face of the trench, and the ends, and dipped them
into the sand again - I was looking for texture now:
Once they'd had time to dry I gave them a light brush to get rid of the
looser sand before I then gave them a really good coat of black primer as
preparation for painting. This is them:
...and this is them with some figures for scale....
With the pieces all well and truly dry following the black primer under
coating, I checked out the paint box to see what options I had.... in my
mind I saw the pieces as predominantly brown (ie. soil), but I wanted a
slight differentiation for the planking, and certainly for the redoubts the
bases were big enough that there would also be undisturbed grassy
area's...For the brown's then I used these:
The little one is "Earth brown" and is by a company called
Miniature Paints
- I think I may have picked it up at the Redoubt show a couple of years ago
- not brilliant coverage/opacity, but it is the right colour for the job!The three bigger bottles I picked up at Hobbycraft a few months ago on the grounds that "they might be useful"...again, not brilliant opacity as they're quite cheap, but they do the job.
Painting was pretty simple - because the pieces were black undercoated, and the opacity for the "earth brown" is not the best, I started off with a fairly medium dry brush of the "Sandstone" over the entire model to give it a light key to put later layers of colour on.
Once that was done I then used the "Soft Suede" (is 'hard suede' a different colour do you think?!) on all the wood sections of the model. I did the wooden bits first as any over brush from later stages would then just look like the planks were muddy, rather than providing evidence that my painting skills are not the best!
Next step was the heavy dry brush of the "earth brown" over all the earth parts, followed by Games Workshop "Dark Angels Green" for all the grass area's (I painted this rather than dry brushed)..
For all the dry brushing by the way, I use a half inch flat head brush that I picked up at Hobbycraft at the same time I picked the paints up. It's a nice brush for dry brushing - not too soft, or too stiff...
To all intents and purposes, by this stage I was almost done - looking at the models though, I decided to give a very light dry brush of the 'tan' over everything (just to highlight basically), and because the planking still looked a bit too clean I gave all the woodwork a wash of "Windsor and Newton" Peat ink.....
Once that was all done they looked as follows:
The last job was to apply PVA and flock to the grass area's, plus the usual
small stones and Woodland Scenic shrub material. For the flock stage I also
spotted some PVA on to the trench front for a little extra colour... and
this is them done - just in time for the game tonight!
Overall I'm very pleased with them - reasonably quick and easy to make, and
I especially liked the effect you get with the sand on glue. Gives a very
nice rough texture which is ideal for dry brushing...
Hello Steve the Wargamer! I've checked out your wonderful site a number of times over the years. Perhaps started when you only had your AWI Project going. It served as inspiration for mine. As you, I enjoy the Minifigs AWI figures. I especially enjoy the old Minifigs 'S' Range, as with your Georgia Infantry and have been able to pick up quite a few over the years. Thanks for sharing your love of figures! Kindest regards - Hal
ReplyDeleteThanks for the kind words Hal... I have a special liking for the Minifigs figures, I think it's theirfaces, and ther economy of style.. I used to go and buy them at the (original) factory shop, which was only just up the road from me in Southampton... happy days...
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