First attempt at some new pictures...

Just thought I'd try the new camera out with some figures I had to hand.

First some Militia:


And a sample I tried for Delancey's. The final ones will have the floppy hats with feather. Wanted to try a different appraoch to the red jacket and to be honest I think this has come out too dark so may go with my old technique.


Must get on with some work now!

Where does the time go?...

Can't believe where the last 4 weeks have gone. Been very busy getting daughters bedroom ready in time for her 3rd Birthday today so rather than the copious amounts of blue and red planned for my redcoats and continentals I've been using a lot of pink! :-)

Have managed to finish the basing I wanted done, though. My militia are now on correct size bases for BG, I have Sherburn's Additional Regiment based up after a good eBay acquisition and similarly a rather nice 'regular' continental regiment. I have my converted Polly Olivers for DeLanceys ready to go and the few figures I need for more militia command stands. Hopefully will get these done over Christmas.

Main point though is that I finally have a new camera so will soon be doing the full military review of all troops! Picked up a Fujifilm Finepix S8100fd from Amazon. Paid for Express delivery for Tuesday as I was working from home. They messed it up, refunded the postage and said they were aiming for Wednesday delivery. Not good for me as supposed to be back at work. Called to ask them to change delivery to work address and after assurances they would try and then get back to me I heard nothing until I got an email saying it had been despatched - to my home!

Fortunately I was able to wangle time off work but I sent them a stroppy email about the mess up and having to take time out and how just refunding the postage didn't really let them off the hook. And lo! Today I get an email apologising for the mess up and refunding £70 to my card! :-). So I know have an £180 camera for £110 and no shipping.

Took a couple of quick snaps of figures and things look much better so after a bit of playing I should be able to get some much nicer shots up soon.

Oh, well. Enough for now. Pictures to follow!

Andy

Figures for the Guards

Looking for some figures for the Guards in the Southern Campaigns. I've seen various figures (15mm) people have used/suggested included Freikorps in turned up slouch and full kit and also some Minifig marine figures. I could just do them in tricorn but fancy a more casual look. I have some Polly Oliver figures:



These are meant to be Continentals in slouch with full coats and turnbacks. I quite fancy using them for the Guards but references I've seen suggest a turned up slouch hat and/or a largish feather/decoration on one side. Not sure how fixed that is or if the British could have just worn them 'plain'? Planned to use maybe tricorns figs for command maybe?

Anyway, comments appreciated.

Update and ramble...

Well, based on recommendations and having seen the OOB I've finally ordered a copy of Cowpens Battlefield: A Walking Guide by Babit. The postage is costing more than 10 times the cost of the booklet! (£2.75 for a 20p book). There are a couple of other books out there on Cowpens that I don't have but need to do some research on whether they will really add any useful info to what I already have.

Steve, in a comment to the last post asked about figure ratios for Cowpens given the small numbers. As mentioned earlier I think, I'm doing it at 1:10. I'm also planning on doing Guilford at the same but that will need a few more figures :-)

Next up will be the 7th Fusiliers. I'd intended to do them in bearskins as I don't have any suitable figures in slouch hats (haven't ordered any Freikorps yet) and the Polly Oliver figures are rather nice. However, seaching the posts on TMP someone pointed to Troiani's painting of Cowpens showing the 7th in tricorn given their recent refit and arrival so I may just do them like that as I have a batch of suitable Polly Oliver figures prepped and ready.

The re-basing for BG is going well. Just 12 stands of militia and some skirmishers and I'm done. I still short 2-3 American command stands. Just to make the militia units more flexible. I'm also undecided about basing some of them in 6's to give more choice? May post on the BG forum for advice.

Oh, and I've the Militia/State cavalry to do as well! Only 8 figures but a mix so may take longer.

My intention is to post my final OOB along with photos of each unit.

Then I may actually get round to playing a game!

Cowpens Order of Battle

I've picked up various references for Cowpens over the years but never got round to picking up Babit's Cowpens Battlefield: A Walking Guide. I'll be remedying that soon but someone very helpfully supplied me with the Order of Battle from the booklet which I'll reproduce here and then compare with some of my other sources vefore finally committing to actual unit sizes. I've got the British Grenadier scenario for Hannah's Cowpens as well so it'll be interesting to see what comes out...

Table of Organization - American Forces
The Flying Army - Brigadier General Daniel Morgan
Headquarters Flying Army
Brigade Major - Captain Benjamin Brookes
Aide de Camp - Major Edward Giles
Baron de Glaubeck
Commissary - Captain Edward Chitty
Morgan's Life Guard (ca. 10 men)

''Regular'' Infantry - Lieutenant Colonel John Eager Howard
Continental Infantry
Delaware Company Captain Robin Kirkwood (60 men)
1/7 Maryland Company Captain Richard Anderson (60 men)
3/5 Maryland Company Lieutenant Nicolas Mangers (60 men)
2/4/6 Maryland Company Captain Henry Dobson (60 men)
Virginia Company - Captain Andrew Wallace (60 men)
North Carolina Company Captain Henry Connelly (307 men)
Virginia State Company - Captain John Lawson (50 men)
South Carolina S(ate Troops Major Samuel Hammond (ta 6O men)
Virginia Militia Major Francis Triplett
Fauquier Company Captain John Combs (40+ men)
Augusta Company - Captain James Tate (40+ men)
Rockbridge Company Captain James Gilmore (45 men)
Burke County, NC, Company ' (ca 25 men)

Militia - General Andrew Pickens
Brigade Major James Jackson
1st Spartan Regiment
1st Bn Col John Thomas (ca 150 men)
2nd Bn LtC Benjamin Ruebuck {ca 150 men)
2nd Spartan Regiment
1st Bn - Col Thomas Brandon (ca l00 men)
2nd Bn - Lt Col William Farr (ca 100 men)
Little River Regiment – Lt Col Joseph Hayes (ca 180 men)
North Carolina Battalion Lt Col Joseph McDowell (ca I80 men)
Georgia Refugees Major John Cunningham (ca 75 men)
Virginia Militia Major Thomas Posey(?) (ca 100 men)

Cavalry
Continental Light Dragoons – Lt Col William Washington (82 men)
South Carolina State Troops - Major James McCall (45 men)
Virginia State Dragoons - ? (ca 15 men)
North Carolina State Dragoons - ? (ca 15 men)
South Carolina ''Guides” - ? (ca 15 men)
Militia Volunteers - Benjamin Jolly
North Carolina Captain Mordecai Clark (ca 20 men)
South Carolina - Thomas Young (ca 25 men)

Table of Organisation - British Forces
Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton

Infantry

7th Regiment of Foot - Major Timothy Newmarsh (ca 170 men)
71st Regiment of Fool - Major Arthur MacArthur (ca 249 men)
British Legion Infantry - ? (ca 250 men)
Light Infantry
16th Foot Regiment (41 men)
1st Battalion 71st Regiment (35 men)
2nd Battalion 71st Regiment (34 men)
Prince of Wales American Regiment (ca 40 men)
Strength 150 men

Cavalry
17th Light( Dragoons - 1 Troop Lieutenant Nettles (50 men)
British Legion Dragoons - Major Ogilivy (250 men)

Tory Scouts/Guides - Alexander Chesnee (?) (ca 50 men)

Artillery
2 - 3 pounder field pieces (ca 36 men)

The detail on the makeup of the American Cavalry may make for a small but colourful and interesting unit if I can pin down the uniforms for the Militia and State troops.

New Troops added to the lists...

Have spent the last couple of weeks basing, re-basing and tweaking figures. I bought a batch of painted figures off Doug over at the WD3 Forums (http://wdlovesme.19.forumer.com/). They are a mix of Polly Oliver, Essex, Freikorps and some Old Glory which I may or may not use. I wanted to boost my British forces just to get some games going and will still be painting the main protagonists for Cowpens myself.

Anyway, the main British force consists of two battalions of regulars and some British Legion cavalry:


The Legion are AB Napoleonics in Tarletons with a paint job. The centre are a blue faced mix of Freikorps and Polly Oliver while on the right are a green faced Polly Oliver unit. I've not settled on what actual units these will be as the flags they came with are nice hand painted jobs but I'm not sure on the accuracy of them. Some details:

There was also a unit of Minifigs representing the 42nd but again I think the flags are wrong.

Despite still messing with my old camera I tried another of the 71st:

And I'm still quite pleased with how the flags came out :-)

And finally, for the King, I've redone the von Bose in correct colours and with standard. This came out well too!


On the American side there was a unit of ragged Continentals for which I still need to do a command stand:


And another of nice Polly Olivers in hunting shirts for which the photo was too blurred! There are also a few Minifigs militia which I'll mix in with mine when I re-base them, and 18 Old Glory militia types. These are nicely done but the style is different from all the others and mine so I may sell these on along with some artillery crews in similar style. For the Brits, there are 6 more of the AB "Legion" for which the horses are painted but the riders only undercoated. May finish them first.

I'm still aiming to get a better camera and some better pictures and hoepfully soon I'll set up a table and get some 'parade' shots!

That's all for now...

71st again...

Played around with one of the other images in Gimp and it looks a bit better. At least there's not the distraction of the unbased masses in the background!

71st Higlanders - 1st Battalion

Seeing as I've been busy basing for days I though I'd post something just to get things moving. Just decided to take a quick shot of them with the old camera and it seemed to come out OK colour-wise. So I though I'd try with a white background but that just turned the whole image a red-brown so I obviously have to idea on lighting! So here's the original anyway...

Figures are Polly Oliver and are:

Highlanders
AR 28 Marching
ARC 4 Command - officer, drummer, standard bearer.

I don't have enough of the marching figures to do the second battalion. And I don't have enough of the charging figures either. And I don't have enough to quite do a charging front rank and marching second! So if anyone has any of the marching figures going I'd be interested!

At 1:10 the unit is slightly over strength (for Cowpens) but been looking at the OOBs for Charlestown etc. and the unit strength was much larger, although maybe the totals there included the flank companies?

Will paint up some Grenadiers for them anyway and some Lights as well. Have a reference that the 71st Light Infantry waistcoats were white rather then red?

Flags were Cotton Jims Flags which came with the batch of painted figures I bought recently. They are pretty average printed flags but I touched them up a bit and mounted them with a sheet of foil in between to give a bit of 'shape'. Not too bad as usually my flags are crap!

More to follow, maybe at weekend.

Polly Oliver 15mm Figures

I've got quite a soft spot for this range and I quite fancy promoting it here. So, I've pulled a list out from an old website and I intend publishing images of each figure, painted (preferebly) or unpainted and try to get a complete set. I've got a fair few myself (mostly unpainted as yet!) but I hope to liaise with everyone with an interest to pull together a full set of images. it may take a while :-)

I'll start with the main list and slowly tabulate it to look nice and then link to a post with the images for that section.

Polly Oliver

American Revolution in 15mm

British Infantry (Hats)
AR 1 Marching
AR 2 Shoulder Arms
AR 3 Advancing
AR 4 Bayonet Charging
ARC 1 Command

Welsh Fusiliers
AR 10 Marching
AR 11 Shoulder Arms
AR 12 Advancing
AR 13 Bayonet Charging
ARC 2 Command

Grenadiers
AR 19 Marching
AR 20 Shoulder Arms
AR 21 Advancing
AR 22 Charging
ARC 3 Command

Highlanders
AR 28 Marching
AR 29 Charging
ARC 4 Command

British Light Infantry
AR 33 Firing
AR 34 Loading
AR 35 Advancing
ARC 5 Command

British Provincial Cavalry
RC 1 Light Dragoon at Rest
RC 2 Light Dragoon Charging
RC 3 British Legion Trooper at Rest
RC 4 British Legion Trooper Charging
RCC 1 Light Dragoon Command
RCC 2 British Legion Command
RCH 4 British Cavalry Horses, Standing
RCH 5 British Cavalry Horses, Walking

German Troops
AR 135 Musketeers Marching
AR 136 Fusiliers Marching
AR 137 Grenadiers Marching
AR 138 Jagers Firing
AR 139 Jagers Loading
AR 140 Jagers Advancing
ARC 6 Musketeer Command
ARC 7 Fusilier Command
ARC 8 Grenadier Command
ARC 9 Jager Command

Continental Troops in Hunting Shirts
AR 110 Marching w. Tricorn Hat
AR 111 Marching w. Slouch Hat
AR 112 Marching w. Light Infantry Cap
AR 113 Advancing w. Tricorn Hat
AR 114 Advancing w. Slouch Hat
AR 115 Advancing w. Light Infantry Cap
ARC 101 Command Tricorn Hat
ARC 102 Command Slouch Hat
ARC 103 Command light Infantry Cap

Americans, 1779 Regulation Uniforms
AR 123 Marching, Tricorn Hat
AR 124 Marching, Slouch Hat
AR 125 Standing, Tricorn Hat
AR 126 Standing, Slouch Hat
ARC 104 Command Tricorn Hat
ARC 105 Command Slouch Hat

American Riflemen, Slouch Hats
AR 127 Marching
AR 128 Advancing
AR 129 Firing
AR 130 Loading

American Riflemen, Light Caps
AR 131 Marching
AR 132 Advancing
AR 133 Firing
AR 134 Loading

Militia / Minutemen
AR 152 Privates Advancing, Slouch Hat
AR 153 Privates Advancing, Musket High, Stocking Cap
AR 154 Privates Advancing, Tricorn Hat
AR 155 Privates Marching, Slouch Hat
ARC 106 Command, Slouch Hat

Continental Cavalry
RC 5 Light Dragoon at Rest
RC 6 Light Dragoon Charging
RCC 101 Light Dragoon Command
RCH 1 Continental Cavalry Horses, Standing
RCH 2 Continental Cavalry Horses, Walking

French Grenadiers
AR 170 Privates Marching
AR 171 Privates Shoulder Arms
ARC 172 French Grenadier Command

French Fusiliers
AR 175 Privates Marching
AR 176 Privates Shoulder Arms
ARC 177 French Fusilier Command

Artillery
RR1 British Artillery (5 figs)
RR2 American Artillery, Slouch Hats (5 figs)
RR3 American Artillery, Light Caps (5 figs)
RR7 Light 6 Pounder $1.40
RR8 Galloper (3 Pounder) and Horse

Command Groups
ARG 1 British - Lt. General, Brigadier, 2 ADC's
ARG 2 Continental - Washington, Brigadier, 2 ADC's
ARG 3 French - Lafayette, 2 ADC's
ARG 4 German - 2 Brigadiers

Quite a lot there. I have a lot of them but I know I'm missing the French and the Minutemen.

We'll see how it all goes...

Little ongoing book review...

Started reading McGuire's books on the Philadelphia campaign and I have to admit I'm enjoying them. It's not a campaign I know in enough detail to comment on the accuracy of the books but the range of material quoted is very good with some stuff I haven't come across before and lots from my fave Ewald!

His (McGuire's) description of the Grenadiers going in to action at Brandywine has inspired me to paint a few for my Brits.

He does use a LOT of quotes throughout the text and it seems that often you think the story is moving on only to find it's just another viewpoint of the same event. There are also a couple of times where the same event/quote is duplicated later in the text. Although Im enjoying them I think a good editor would have got it down to one slightly larger volume. Currently at Germantown so a bit to go 'til completion but overall I'd recommend them.

Next up will be The Southern Strategy. The advantage of getting a bus to work is I finally get some reading done each way. Trying to read in bed now (with 2 kids) lasts about 5 minutes before the eyes shut and the head slumps!

Making progress on painting the 71st and looking forward to a game soon...

Finally some painting...

Well, after a four year lull I finally started painting again last night and tonight. I've had to buy some reading glasses from ASDA to make it possible (and will be getting a proper eye test soon via work!) as my eyesight has gone right down hill in the last few years...

I've said earlier that the von Bose unit I got from Terry was missing the last command element, the four figures of which needed finishing off. That was to be my first task. However, on starting I spotted the big flaw. And no one spotted this in the picture I posted before...the uniforms were wrong! For some reason they had red cuffs. I was sure we'd given Terry the info for von Bose but maybe he decided to do his own thing?

So, spent last night and tonight repainting the various bits and finishing off the command. They're done now but all need rebasing as I had to bend the bases out to get to the cuffs on some figures. That is tomorrows task. I'll then post a picture...if I can find the correct standard for the unit.

Next up will be the 71st. I've done two stands already and they came out really nice. Hopefully the rest will match.

Derby 2008

Well, made it to Derby at the weekend after missing it for a few years. Traveled down on Friday PM to Birmingham and had a few beers and a curry and traveled over with Billy who was going to be playing in the WRG 6th Edition (very) Ancients tournament.

I like Derby Uni as a venue. Very open, light and spacious and one of the better venues I've been to. I'd hoped to pick up some 15mm AWI on the Bring and Buy and maybe some Freikorps from anyone stocking them. Failed on both counts. I was dissappointed with the bring and buy, although I've had some bargains in the past, but maybe if I'd have found some AWI I'd be raving about how good it was!

I saw two lots of painted 15mm AWI on stalls there and for the estimated £1 per figure I didn't think the painting was worth it. Of boxed sets I think it was down to the painter. Some of the boxes were rather nice but the ones I wanted were a different painter and I just didn't rate them.

The other figures I looked at have a bit of a story. Maybe not an interesting one but one none the less!. The last time I went to Derby 3-4 years ago I saw a collection of 15mm AWI on the B&B. Probably a couple of hundred figures and at the time I thought worth the £70 but as I knew gaming time was fading at that time I didn't think I could justify the expense. Roll forward to Saturday and after talking to a stall holder he said he had a collection to sell and could get them to the show before I had to leave at 4pm. They duly arrived, and I was much excited at the prospect of getting the Brits I need even at £1 per figure. Turned out it was the same batch I'd seen 4 years ago and to be honest they weren't worth the £1 each. I could have spent time working on them and maybe applied a wash to bring out the detail but the style wouldn't have fitted what I have and for the cost/effort it wasn't really worth it. I was gutted to be honest as the guy had put himself (well ,his wife) out getting them to me.

Suppose this brings me to the cost of painted figures. I had a couple of units painted 6-7 years ago at c.90p a figure, which I supplied. They fitted in with my style and I was happy to pay it. I've seen online ads for painting with nice figures around the £1 mark and others up to £2 for very nice stuff. I'm tempted, if I can find a suitable painter to get a couple of units of redcoats done just to bolster the forces while I get more painting done and allow me to play. Just don't know who to go with for something that will match mine? Suggestions?

Noone carried Freikorps but found one of my local suppliers (Under the Bed) can get them for me. Also looked for Old Glory 15's who are now apparently available from Timecast in Shrewsbury. This is where I grew up and started gaming and turned out one the guys from the old club lives just round the corner from my Aunt in Shrewsbury and bumped in to him and a few of the other regulars at the show, some of which I haven't seen for decades! As I still go visit in Shrewsbury a few times a years I'll be calling at Timecast and maybe the club next time I'm down.

Also picked up the British Grenadier rules which I've been reading a lot about and quite fancy. Chatted with Paul from the BG forums who did a good job of selling them to me further!

Good show overall. Spent not a lot so wife is happy. Looking forward to making the reborn but soon to die again Stockton Show next month as well!

More troops for the King...

Well, finally saw Terry last night and picked up some figures and more Purbeck Terrain - some I think is Gary's so if you're reading this, I have it on loan now :-).

Figures consist of...

Hessians - von Bose. Old Glory figures.

British Legion Cavalry. Polly Oliver figures.
Still lots more to paint for Cowpens!

And finally, straying way south, some native support!

Terry's painting is really nice and the photos don't do them justice. There's a command stand for the Hessian 90% complete which may be my first task. The remaining British Legion cavalry will probably be Old Glory as I have few if any of the Polly Oliver figures left.

There was also a nice selection of the 9" Purbeck blocks with roads and rivers and some more hills and trees. I can put together a fair size battlefield now - if only I had a table to put it on!

Also gotback my copy of Ewald's Hessian Journal which has cropped up many times in the account if the Philadelphia campaign I'm currently reading.

Took delivery of the Encyclopedia of Uniforms of the American Revolution. Only had a quick glance but the images seem to be of variable quality. Some very nice, some less so. Text seems very pro -American to me too :-). Some useful info there though so will investigate more later.

Back again soon...probably after Derby.

More on the rules. The quick reference sheet is available for download but I'll gradually reproduce and comment on them in posts here.

Training

1stClass	Grenadiers, Light Infantry, Guards
2ndClass	Regulars, Hessians, Continentals, Rangers, Jagers, British Legion foot, Queen’s Rangers
3rdClass	Raw Regulars, Veteran Militia, Loyalists, Mountain Men
4thClass	Militia, Inexperienced Loyalists, European-led Indians
5thClass	Other Indians

We used the above classifications for troops. We felt that the best of the loyalist troops were as good as regulars. I have some references to support this somewhere.

More books added to collection...

Just took delivery of:

McGuire, Thomas J. (2007). The Philadelphia Campaign: Vol. 1. Brandywine and the Fall of Philadelphia. Stackpole Books.

McGuire, Thomas J. (2007). The Philadelphia Campaign: Vol. 2. Germantown and the Roads to Valley Forge. Stackpole Books.

Wilson, David K. (2008).The Southern Strategy: Britain's Conquest of South Carolina and Georgia, 1775-1780. University of South Carolina Press

and will be getting my copy of:

Ewald, Johann von. (1971).Diary of the American War: A Hessian Journal. New Haven Yale University Press.

back soon.

Also looking at picking up the Encyclopedia of Uniforms of the American Revolution as well soon. I've heard different opinions of it but it looks worth a look. And also the Troiani book on the American Revolution as well.

Volume 1 of McGuire will be my reading matter on our little holiday coming up later this week. If I get chance to read!

Basing

There are many basing conventions based on rules used and personal preference. Do the rules work with elements or with individual figures as well? Standard frontages? Is the size of the frontages important and dependent on figure ratio and ground scale used? I remember reading Bruce Quarrie's guide to Napoleonic wargaming and the calculations used there. Long time ago... :)

We chose

1 fig. = 7.5 men	1 inch = 25 yards	1 turn = approx. 5 mins	1 gun = 2 pieces
Close/Loose Order	4 figs in 2 ranks	20 x 25mm	30 men
Lights	2 figs in 1 rank	20 x 12.5mm	15 men
Cavalry/Command	2 figs in 1 rank	25 x 30mm	15 men
Militia	4 figs in 2 ranks	25 x 30mm	30 men
Irregular skirmish	2 figs in 1 rank	25 x 15mm	15 men
Infantry in units of 3 -12 stands or as historical units		1 stand must be identified as the command group
Cavalry in units of 2-6 stands or as historical units
Skirmishers in units of min 4 stands		= 2 FULL STANDS
Artillery	3lb/4lb	30 x 40mm	3 figs + limber (30 x 40mm)
	6pdr	30 x 40mm	4 figs + limber (30 x 70mm)
	6pdr +	40 x 40mm	5 figs + limber (40 x 70mm)

We arrived at the figure ratio by looking at the size of units at Cowpens, deciding what gave a good 'look' for that unit, allowing also the representation of smaller units, deciding we wanted a double rank look and then working it out from there. This gave us a reasonable look and feel for Cowpens and a good number of figures to paint. We decided that regular infantry (British Line, Continentals and Hessians) would be in close order, deciding that if we really wanted to represent a 'loose' order we would just move bases slightly apart. Light infantry were done in twos on half depth bases to allow them to re-join the line if need be. In retrospect, having seen other peoples figures, I think I'd dp the Lights with 2 figures on a full size base now. Seeing as I only have a few I may well re--base them.

Militia were done in a slightly looser formation. I'm not now sure if this really works for the regulars but I really cannot face re-basing! Besides, if we moved on to Yorktown we'd probably want some Hessians and the French in Close Order anyway. Maybe the tightness of the ranks also represents cohesion and training as well?

My slight concern is over the frontages for cavalry at this scale as at Cowpens I'm looking at 20 stands to represent the British Legion cavalry (300).

Going our/my own route also makes it harder to play with other people/rules as basing may be different as well as figure ratio. The local group, Tyneside Wargames, are also venturing into 15mm AWI but focusing on the larger, earlier Northern battles. They are using the 4 figure 'standard' 40mm frontage but with a 'unit' still in two ranks. This would at least make my troops usable baring a slightly wider Militia front.

I'd thought of doing the British Legion Infantry in the looser basing but remember reading somewhere that the Infantry were pretty well drilled. I've also decided I may do a few Light Infantry stands for them as well. Good news tonight is that Terry (who did some of the other painting) is happy to part with his figures as he is not pursuing the period. So hopefully I'll soon have some Hessians, British Legion cavalry and a few Native Americans. Oh, and some more Purbeck terrain!

Well, that'll do for tonight. Tired...

More soon...

The British are coming!

Seems I have far fewer British troops than I thought. The other two guys had done the Royal Welch, some Hessians, Indians and Tarleton's Dragoons which made up a respectable force for the few games we had.

My contribution was:

British Legion Infantry
British Light Infantry
Jaegers
contingent of 71st Highlanders
Tarleton himself and a British Major for him to upstage!

When I can afford some lights I'll try for some better detail shots but to introduce them here comes the British flank attack!

The Maryland Continentals are forced to face their flank as Light Infantry descend from the woods and the British Legion supported by the 71st Highlanders launch their attack, Hessian Jaegers pushing back the riflemen and harassing the Continentals. Tarleton himself urges them on.

The Light Infantry emerge from the woods in support of the main attack.

The British Legion infantry, shielded by Jaegers, begin their assault.

I'd like to get some detail shots and closeups of the troops but may need to borrow a better camera for that. I now need to decide what to paint next...

A First Attempt at Photos

I'm not a photographer and this is just to get something going but here is my current American Order of Battle:


This is what I've got painted so far:

First Line, left to right: Lee's Legion Foot, Regular Light Infantry, Riflemen

Second Line, behind the fence: Militia

Third Line, Continentals: New York, Virginia, Maryland

Cavalry: front to back: Lee's Legion with a contingent of 4th Continental Dragoons, with 3rd Continental Dragoons behind.

Hill: a contingent of French Royal Deux-Ponts guard the artillery on the hill.

Some details:

1st New York Continentals prepare to deliver a volley!

The militia wait to deliver their first volley as the Maryland Continentals stand in support.

And steel themselves for the approaching bayonets!

On the flank, Lee's Legion move aggressively forward while the 3rd Dragoons and French observe.

So there we are. First photos I've taken of wargames figures since I went on a Wargames Holiday at Peter Gilder's more years ago than I care to remember! I probably should have waited for natural light as some are taken with and some without the flash. Mayb I'll redo then at the weekend if my wife hasn't made me pack them away or the cat attacked them!

A few British to follow but it is a few as the other guys I started this with were doing the Soldiers of the KIng.

Reference Books

This is the start of my list of reference books I own for the period. I'll update and add to it as necessary:

Babits, Lawrence E. (1998). A Devil of a Whipping: The Battle of Cowpens. University of North Carolina.

Bichenko, Hugh. (2003). Rebels and Redcoats. Harper Collins, London.

Buchanen, John. (1999). The Road to Guilford Courthouse: The American Revolution in the Carolinas. John Wiley and Sons.

Chartrand, Rene and Back, Francis. (1991). The French Army in the American War of Independence. Men-at Arms 244. Osprey, Oxford.

Dohla, Joseph Conrad. (1990). A Hessian Diary of the American Revolution. Tr. Bruce E. Burgoyne. University of Oklahoma Press.

Ewald, Johann. (1991). Treatise on Partisan Warfare. Tr. Robert A. Selig and David Curtis Skaggs. Greenwood Press. New York.

Fleming, Thomas. (1997). Liberty! The American Revolution. Viking, New York.

Flexner, James Thomas. (1976). Washington. The Indispensable Man. Collins, London.

Gallagher, John J. (1995). The Battle of Brooklyn 1776. Sarpedon, New York.

Hartman, John W. (2000). The American Partisan. Henry Lee and the Struggle for Independence 1776-1780. Burd Street Press, Shippensburg, PA.

Hairr, John. (2001). Guilford Courthouse: Nathanael Greene's Victory in Defeat, March 15, 1781 (Battleground America). Leo Cooper, Barnsley.

Harvey, Robert. (2001). A Few Bloody Noses. John Murray, London.

Katcher, Philip. (1973). The American Provincial Corps 1775-1784: Men at Arms series. Osprey, Oxford.

Kemp, Alan. (1972). American Soldiers of the Revolution. Almark, London.

Kemp, Alan. (1973). The British Army in the American Revolution. Almark, London.

Ketchum, Richard M. (1997). Saratogo. Turning Point in America's Revolutionary War. Pimlico, London

Ketchum, Richard M. (1973). The Winter Soldiers. George Wahington and the Way to Independence. History Book Club, London

Konstam, Angus. (2002). Guilford Courthouse 1781. Lord Cornwallis's Ruinous Victory. Campaign Series 109. Osprey, Oxford.

Lamb, Roger. (1809). An Original and Authentic Journal of Occurrences During the Late American War. Arno Press, 1968.

Lee, Henry. (1812). Memoirs of the War in the Southern Department of the United States. Ed. Robert E. Lee. Da Capo Press 1998, New York.

Mackesy, Peirs. (1964). The War for America 1775-1783. Longmans, London.

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Morrissey, Brendan. (1995). Boston 1775. The Shot Heard Around the World. Campaign Series 37. Osprey, Oxford.

Morrissey, Brendan. (2000). Saratoga 1777. Turning Point of a Revolution. Campaign Series 67. Osprey, Oxford.

Morrissey, Brendan. (1997). Yorktown 1781.The World Turned Upside Down. Campaign Series 47. Osprey, Oxford.

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Rules

Don't have much time to write about the rules now but here is a link to the download. They are based on Andy Callan's Loose Files and American Scramble which appeared in Wargames Illustrated many moons ago. I got rid of all my wargame mags a few years back as part of a pre-family cull, only keeping my old Battle for Wargamers copies for sentimental value!

The rules were aimed at small scale actions to give largish unit sizes but allow the small contingents to have a presence as well. We only ever put together a Quick Reference Sheet as when playing we were still arguing about how it all worked.

I'll expand later and maybe add the links to the original rules but here's our version to be going on with:

Download

Feel free to comment

Where to start...

Well, seeing as it's getting late I thought I'd just pull out what unpainted figures I have and see what was there and how much I needed to/could paint.

Here's the table:



The three plastic boxes contain a load of Polly Oliver 15mm figures. They're a mixed bunch as I bought up the stock from a local supplier but there is a lot of useful stuff there. The mass of bags in the front are Freikorps, Essex, more Polly Oliver, Old Glory and a few of the rather oversized Lancashire Games figures which I'll not be using for that reason. There are odds and ends of camp followers, ordnance, casualties, fences, defences. God, will I live long enough to paint these!

I tried taking pictures with my phone but they didn't come out too well. Hopefully this one is better.

Here's a sample:



Command Element. 1st New York Continentals. (yes, I know they weren't at Cowpens but I wanted to paint some!)

More to follow...

In the beginning

Well, many years ago three guys in Newcastle started painting figures for the American Revolution in 15mm. G, being a 23rd Royal Welch reenactor was going to do the British, I chose the Americans and T did a bit of everything, including some 1812 British!

We decided to concentrate on the Southern Campaign and specifically the Battle of Cowpens. Changes of job, arrivals of families, moving away etc. all impinged on the success of this project. Recently I've decided to resurrect it myself despite having a new family and less and less time. But painting I always found relaxing and boy do I need that now!

So having been inspired by several other AWI relayed blogs (links to follow) I've decided to chronicle the attempt here.

What will follow will be info/links on Cowpens, pictures of figures, my references, the rules we used and anything else related to it.

Hopefully you'll find it interesting.

Back soon.

Andy