Paddling in the North American Wilderness
… and not in canoes!
I finished this last batch of Indian Allies for my British in North America some time ago. Having caught up with the rest of my life I am catching up with blogging!
Indian Allies - marsh basing
Come on in, the water is sticky
Using the water effect was nice and easy. It poured out smoothly with no sudden surges. Well, years of pouring ales and wines may have helped here! Once in place there were some small bubbles.
Getting rid of these with a pin, as I have done with resin casting in the past, was not a good idea. I actually split some bubbles into two! I switched to using an old paint brush and just brushed them out without any problems.
The verdict is I like this product and found it straightforward to use with a little care. I got mine from Maelstrom with some other odds and ends, so I got a discount and post free.
Rear view of marsh basing
That’s enough of those native chaps for now
I have now finished the three units I planned. Hopefully the idea of using a different theme on each unit’s bases will let me recognise them on the table top. The photo below should demonstrate the theory!
Three units of English Indian allies
French-Indian War 10mm 80th Foot
80th What?
The 80th Regiment of foot were one of several regiments used as light infantry in the French-Indian War. They adapted their uniform to the North American woods by cutting down their tricorns to caps, carrying light equipment, and abandoning the standard close order formation for a light infantry one.
80th foot whole battalion
Light infantry here means a looser formation but still fighting very much as a unit. The emphasis seems to have been on faster movement and flexibility, rather than skirmishing as individuals.
The 80th had various uniforms during this campaign and I have gone for the brown uniform that is classicaly associated with them. I have add some standard issue red trousers for variety. For more on this regiment and campaign see the Seven Years War Project page
How were these tiny dudes done?
80th foot side view of an element
These are Pendraken 10mm and I find they are well cast and easy to clean up. After preparation I sprayed them with a white undercoat. I used various acrylic paints and a Citadel brown wash over the warmer and brighter colours. Flesh is a mix of a tanned and pale tone to give an outdoor European base coat. Colours such as green and blue were a base coat followed by a darker wash.
Finished off with a polyurethane satin varnish for protection. I used Flames of War plastic bases with magnetic stickies to keep figures secure and safe when carting them about. They were based in my usual way and then finished with Testor’s dull coat varnish.
A note on rules and basing
These figures are part of my French-Indian War project. The plan is to paint enough figures to have a reasonable sized engagement on my dining table. Using 10mm figures helps here! Another strand of the plan is to use Piquet Field of Battle rules and this is why I have based the figures as four elements.
Always believing in having a plan B, I can use just three elements with Eighteenth Century Principles of War if Field of Battle proves not to my taste. Observant and informed readers will note that the bases are deeper than Principles of War specifies. This is simply becasue I like the ready made bases and the zone of control effect a deeper base gives. Oh, and more figures per base with space for odd terrain bits.
80th foot command element
First French Indian War 10mm Painted!
Colour the hatchets red
I have had an interest in the French-Indian War since the 1980s when buying a book with Gerry Embleton illustrations in piqued my interest. More reading followed and I have small forces of militia, non-combatants, rangers, and Indians in 30mm.
Since then I have wanted to depict larger engagements on the table top. A combination of two Pendraken 10mm armies on eBay and satisfying my curiosity about Piquet by buying Field of Battle resulted in rules and figures to hand.
Ooops!
Being a typical wargamer I decided to use my new Pendraken Indians for the French forces. This meant needing to buy (yes, of course I needed to) some Indians for the British. I decided to use Old Glory figures as their AWI line includes a bag of Indians, and they are cast as single figures not on strips.
What they are like and how I painted them
The figures are nicely proportioned although some muskets are a bit tree trunk like, and very little flash to remove. I primed with Citadel white undercoat, painted with various makes of modeller’s acrylics, followed by a brown wash over flesh and warm colours, and finished with Humbrol satin varnish. Results are below.
Old Glory 10mm Indians
Next task
Paint some British officer types to identify the units on a table and then it’s basing time!
