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.

AWI British Legion and Command Stands

After fiddling around with all that lace on AWI British figures for the past six months the British Legion cavalry seemed almost too simple. Nine figures also made for a nice small unit that I could complete relatively quickly:

Green, a bit of beige and the job was practically complete:

The horse furniture and equipment was likewise very simple to do:

While the command stand had a slight variation with brass buttons and helmet linings for the officer, and a couple of brass instruments for the trumpeter:

That is the third unit of cavalry completed for the British, with six mounted Queen's Rangers still to come:

I also completed ten command figures across eight stands. These are a mix of Perry colonels and Front Rank personality figures and ADCs. I was a little surprised the Perrys don't have any personality figures in their range, while Front Rank's are limited to Thomas Gage and 'Gentleman' John Burgoyne. A Cornwallis or a Howe wouldn't have gone astray:

The Perry British colonels are beautifully sculpted and have quite a bit of character and movement to them:

I probably should have taken a leaf out of Giles Allison's (of Tarleton's Quarter) book and modelled them after actual personalities, but I figure they can play a role in most battles:

The Front Rank colonels by contrast are much better fed and far less dynamic, but are nice figures in their own right:

I put General Gage on a larger base and gave him and ADC:

Whose twin brother can also be seen here advising General Burgoyne:

Next off the line will be the British artillery then some wagons and limbers and a few small units such as Butler's Rangers, and hopefully I'll have the British completed before Christmas.

AWI British Light Dragoons

Just when I thought British AWI uniforms couldn't get any fiddlier, the 16th and 17th light dragoons reached the front of the queue and made me yearn for the relative simplicity of Napoleonic French Guard cavalry uniforms. Chevrons all over the place, plus I had to do the 16th twice both mounted and on foot:

Six elements of dismounted 16th will hopefully be enough for most OOBs and will also serve nicely for skirmish games:

This entailed the purchase of two of the Perry sets, comprising twelve figures in six different skirmishing poses:

Along with an NCO:

I also painted twelve figures for the mounted version of the 16th. The 16th were heavily engaged in the War including the battles of Germantown, Brandywine and Monmouth, before returning to England in 1779:

I included three skirmishing figures for a bit of variety:

As a Royal regiment, the 16th being the Queen's Regiment of Light Dragoons, I did not put the trumpeter in reverse colours:

The 17th have been sculpted in the Emsdorf helmet which provided a nice change to the Tarleton of the 16th:

Some of the figures are depicted with pistols and are ostensibly on picket duty, but they do not look out of place alongside the other rank and file which are all depicted in attacking poses:

In this case the trumpeter is in reversed colours, the 17th regiment having white facings:

That is another 36 figures completed toward the project:

Next up will be some British Legion cavalry, which I suspect will much easier to complete.

AWI Queen's Rangers and Woodland Indian Allies

 The latest two units to join the AWI British are the loyalist Queen's Ranger regiment and some allied woodland Indians. First up, the Queen's Rangers:

These were quite simple to paint being mainly green and white with very little lace, so I flew through them:

The flags are from GMB and add the usual splash of colour:

I based the light company figures skirmish bases as a few of the OOBs call for the Queen's Rangers to be in skirmish rather than close order:

These were quickly completed and I thought I was on a roll:

The Indian allies however proved a far trickier lot, mainly because of the variety of dress and poses:

Here are just a few of the poses included across the four different packs:

I used the Foundry Native American Flesh triad for these figures and was pleased with the results:

I also included a few bow-armed figures. By the time of the AWI most native Americans were musket-armed, but I wanted a bit more variety. Thankfully some of the bow-armed figures are also equipped with a musket and so they do not look out of place:

I also attempted a few tattoos and body art on some of the figures, without going too over the top:

The command set also includes a 'Mad Dog' figure on a horse. I'm not sure who he was meant to be and suspect that he may have been a British officer attached to the Indians to ensure their support, although their was a 'Mad Dog' chieftain who died before the outbreak of the War of Independence:

The other main personalities are 'Red Jacket':

And the rather charismatic Joseph Brant who even travelled to England after the war and met King George III, receiving a British pension and successfully negotiating with both the British and Americans to ensure the continued independence of his people:

Fiddly, but ultimately quite fun to paint:

Next up will be the 16th and 17th Light Dragoons.