Tuesday, 15 October 2024

AWI British Artillery

The last week and a half saw a flurry of activity while I tried to complete my AWI British gun line before the arrival of the next tranche of grandchildren. This involved the completion of eight pieces with four 6 pdr guns, two howitzers and two 3 pdr butterfly cannon:











Here is a close up of the first battery of two 6pdrs and a howitzer:











and an identical second battery:











The figures themselves are a nice mix of firing poses:





















With others who are more dynamically posed in running back or aiming the guns:





















The butterfly cannon came with some protection in the form of two wooden mantlets which makes a nice addition to the models:





















I also completed the set of Perry dragrope men. The main reason for this is that the Sharp Practice skirmish rules require five figures per artillery piece so I thought they would make an interesting addition. The Perry sculpting on these is great and I found the poses very interesting to paint. They really look like they have been undertaking some strenuous labour:











I found a couple of pictures of re-enactors wearing forage caps so went with the designs depicted there rather than the one shown on the Perry website, with these men having been seconded from the 24th regiment:











I still have the limbers and various ammunition wagons to complete, which I am hoping to now complete alongside a small contingent of Butler's Rangers.

22 comments:

  1. Excellent looking British artillery and you're right the drag rope chaps look knackered!
    Best Iain caveadsum1471

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    1. Thanks Iain. The drag rope men are up there among some of the most interesting figures I have ever painted.

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  2. Wow! Outstanding work on these artillery stands. And the figure poses are so varied and detailed. I have never seen so much realistic variety. Well done!

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    1. Cheers Vol. I have the Perrys to thank for that. Some dynamic poses among that lot.

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  3. so did you make it before the dreaded children arrived?
    great job on it all. looks great!

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    1. Two due tomorrow Stew, with a third due in three weeks' time (to different mothers of course), so I just snuck these in there before we have to start babysitting and dog-minding.

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  4. Great guns! The poses are good, for sure. The gunner pushing the gun back into position looks like he is really straining from the effort. Nice! Never heard of a Butterfly gun before now. Is this the same as a Galloper?

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    1. Thanks Jonathan. I only heard of it for the first time on the Perry website. As I understand it, while it is the same calibre as the galloper the latter was designed to work with cavalry and hitched directly to the horse without a limber while the butterfly required a limber. There is another called a grasshopper which could be carried on the shoulders of the crew, but confusingly it appears that the term grasshopper and butterfly could also be used interchangeably.

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    1. Thanks Richard, some lovely poses among these figures.

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  6. More excellent additions to your AWI British collection Lawrence....cracking looking figures and I do like that style of headgear!

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    1. Cheers Keith, it is certainly something a bit different. I think I preferred the re-enactors' interpretation over the depiction on the Perrys' site though.

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  7. Lovely work Lawrence and I like the extra gunners, we haven’t needed them in Rebels and Patriots but I think I have a few spare figures which I might paint up ?

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    1. Thanks Matt. The requirement for five figures per piece in Sharp Practice struck me as a little odd when I have always used four as the standard, and when the bulk of manufacturers supply four figures with each model. This seemed like a good way around it and an excuse to paint some interesting figures.

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  8. Really nice work Lawrence. The Perry gun sets are fabulous vignettes...and the drag rope boys really look the part.

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    1. Thanks Mark. They do put a lot of thought and effort into these sets and they really come to life when based together.

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  9. 'Just like that', you produce a battery of guns, beautifully based and a set of no. 24s to go with them! The clarity of the unit numbering on the latter is just amazing.
    Regards, James

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    1. Thanks James. If I'm being totally honest I chose the 24th because I wanted a green-faced regiment that served in the War and whose number would be easy to do with some measure of consistency.

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  10. You don't need a ton of artillery for the AWI, but these look superb, Lawrence!

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    1. Thanks Peter. The British have the lion's share, and I think I only have six pieces for the Continentals and two for the Hessians ahead of me.

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  11. Great looking troops and artillery Lawrence! They are going to look splendid supporting the infantry!

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    1. Thanks Jason. Probably more than I realistically need, but it is nice to have a few options.

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