My AWI Troops

Rhode Island Regiment

2011-01-03T18:00:00.000+01:00

Front view of officer's group

Well, the figures I bought for this unit are not flats, not really. But the figures are somewhat two-dimensional, as you can see in the front view. This reminded me of the lead-soldiers we cast as boys with metal from lead pipes procured from bombed out houses (no shortage of material in post-war Germany as you can imagine).

Unfortunately only Old Glory offer figures for this valorous regiment, a soldier of whom was depicted by Verger in his famous watercolour. So I had my first experience with this brand. The figures arrived in a plastic bag, somewhat twirled and with U-shaped bayonets and guns. But fortunately only the officer's sword was broken. So he got a new, much sturdier one, of copper sheet.

The miniatures are a bit smaller than my Perry or Front Rank ones, but in a unit of their own, this does not matter so much. They are not too exaggerated in their poses, and the faces of the White officers are less caricature-like than those of the coloured soldiers.

Integrated company

Another company with Indians

Sergeant and Indians (with long hair)

Officer, standard-bearer and drummer

As the regiment did not only consist of Afro-Americans but also Whites and of "Mulattoes and Indians", I had some sculpting at hand to alter some of the figures to have a more multi-ethnic unit. I scratched off some soldiers' Negroid lips, changed their noses and hair with the help of painter's putty, and gave them a European and Indian skin colour. Not too difficult, it turned out. My two Narrangansett Indians got long hair and have put on war paint (although this was rather improbable in reality).

Attacking column

The uniform was no big problem, thanks to Verger's sketch and David R. Wagner's research. For the flag I had to do some researching of my own, though. In the beginning there were two Rhode Island regiments, each with a slightly different flag. In 1781 the First Rhode Island Regiment (The Black Regiment) was amalgamated with the Second, and the new regiment that fought at Yorktown together with the French Allies, had a flag that was nearly identical with that of the Second Rhode Island Regiment.

1st Rhode Island Regiment

2nd Rhode Island Regiment

Pennsylvania Militia

2010-12-02T17:56:00.001+01:00

For my American militia unit I chose John Proctor's Independent Battalion, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania - simply for the reason that their flag has been preserved (and can be found at The State Museum of Pennsylvania). Some think that the flag was carried at the battles of Trenton (26 Dec, 1776) and Princeton (3 Jan, 1777), but some doubt that it was ever present in a battle.
Never mind, I though, it is a beautiful flag!
It was converted from an old British standard at Hanna's Town in 1775 by adding the rattlesnake hissing at the Union Jack, with golden decorations and the warning motto "DON'T TREAD UPON ME". It clearly shows that many Pennsylvanian settlers still considered themselves loyal subjects to King George, but were ready to resist tyrannical acts.

For figures I chose a mixture of Dixon, Foundry, and Redoubt miniatures, some of them in uniform coats, others in civilian clothes, and the young lieutenant even in grandfather's British red coat!
My intention was to give the impression of a scratched together unit, and the various brands of figures just helped to create this picture.
Furthermore I based them individually so I could use them in loose order, signifying that their military value was probably low.
At Princeton the militia were sent to support Brigadier General Hugh Mercer's fleeing troops, but started to give way on seeing the flight of Mercer's men. When Washington rode up with reinforcements he succeeded in rallying the fleeing militia. He then led the attack on the British troops, driving them into retreat.
I imagine my little men doing this job. Just look at the farmer with the rifle and the broad-brimmed straw-hat taking aim at an epaulette, or the advancing man with the old-fashioned blunderbuss! What a devastating effect a shot from this old weapon will have at short range, being charged with hacked lead!

"LIBERTY OR DEATH"

British 17th Light Dragoons

2010-11-26T17:53:00.003+01:00

My regiment of 17th Light Dragoons

There were only two British cavalry regiments present in the American Revolutionary War, the 16th or Queen's Light Dragoons and the 17th Light Dragoons. So there should not have been any big problem in creating one of these regular units - I thought.
But when I started to buy my figures and work on this unit, I didn't know what difficulties I was facing.

Officer by Front Rank

Guidon of 1st squadron

Guidon of 2nd squadron

Trumpeter by Perry (head changed)

French horn by Front Rank

Officer by Perry (housing changed)

Firstly there are big differences in the equipment of the various figures available. The horse furnitures are different, the cut of the coats and the the helmets differ, some men do not even have pouches on their belts. I had not expected this, having read the Royal Cloathing Warrant of 1768 and the appropriate chapter in Lawson's History of the Uniforms of the British Army, and having scanned the net for artefacts.

Farrier (Front Rank)

I was used to this negligence among the producers of 54mm showcase figures (who cares about historical authenticity as long as the figure looks fine and the attitude is smashing). But I had expected a bit more of scrupulousness with wargaming figures. It was a disappointment, I must say.
Finally I comforted myself saying that the troops had been on campaign for several years in the colonies, partly riding in rough country, far from supplies from the motherland. How could they look as prescribed in a Royal warrant! Soldiers of all times have had a sense for "system D" - improvisation.
So I accepted the less than uniform look of my horsemen, even added to it by doing a bit of tinkering, scratching off the baggage of an officer (which gentleman would care to carry it himself, even in the backwoods, if he had his batman at hand), furnishing a trumpeter with a hat, trimming some of the horse's tails, choosing different colours for their breeches etc., and mixing different brands of figures in one unit. So you will recognize figures by Dixon, Front Rank, and Perry, and a farrier of the 7YW range. With 20 figures the unit is almost full strength, but it is always easy to split it up if necessity requires, e.g. strengthen the British Legion with four figures. The rest will stay in New York (i.e. the box).

(The figures are not quite finished yet, especially the bases lack sand and grass.)

Trooper in campaign dress as worn with the British Legion (Dixon)

(The 16th Light Dragoons will be dealt with in an extra post, because there were more problems to be faced.)

The whole regiment

Grenadiers de Bourbonnois

2010-07-26T17:50:00.000+02:00

I have now finished my French grenadiers that I bought from Spencer Smith Miniatures, Tradition of London. They are 30mm figures, and as such a bit too tall for my 28mm miniatures. So I can't mix them with other figures - except as a unit. But I like their style. They look darn French, don't they.

I painted them as the grenadier company of the Régiment de Bourbonnois in their 1779 regulation uniforms with black facing colour on the cuffs and the piping of lapels, shoulder straps and collars.
Unfortunately Spencer Smith have not made fusiliers, chasseurs, a porte-drapeau and a colonel. So they will stay a single company of grenadiers, consisting of 1 officer, 1 drummer, and 4 grenadiers.

They are advancing without knapsacks and water bottles, with fixed bayonets. Ready to attack redoubt 9 at Yorktown, as it seems.

French Dragoons in North-America

2010-07-24T18:26:00.003+02:00

Part of the French troops that came with d'Estaing to Savannah, and with Saint-Simon to Yorktown were small units of dragoons of the regiments de Bezunce-dragons and Condé-dragons. They were just one company each of 40 horsemen and a small staff, 50 soldiers altogether. When I planned to have these units in my French army I decided to size them up a bit - two dragoons, a drummer and an officer per unit just weren't enough, in my view. So I wanted to paint two squadrons with a standard-bearer for each regiment. Which meant 11 figures: 8 dragoons, 1 drummer, 1 standard-bearer, and 1 officer per unit.

The right figures were not available. No producer would care to make moulds for such small units that were present in the American theatre only for a very short period, and not as fighting units after all.
Front Rank have some Schomberg Light Dragoons in their SYW range. They have the right type of helmet for the French dragoons of the 1770ies, but the uniform coat is of the wrong cut of course, and above all the figures have a number of flaws: They wear the wrong form of dragoon gaiters (instead of boots), carry two pistols instead of one pistol and a tool at the saddle, they do not have a picket-pole, and their sabres are rather straight etc.

In spite of all, I decided to use these figures - which meant a bit of tinkering. For example I cut off the pistol grip and barrel on the right side, drilled a hole into the remaining part, and inserted a bit of wire to indicate a shovel grip. About the missing picket-pole I could do nothing as the position of the right arm with the carbine didn't allow to add the pole. Also I wasn't able to change the position of the drum to the left side of the drummer (which would have been right), or to equip the officer with a fusil.

The staffs of the standards were not just simple sticks but had the form of tournament lances with a ring to fasten the baldric to. A bit of modelling resin did the job to transform the simple wire into a proper standard lance, and a ring of thin wire was easily glued to it. The rest was painting.
The main problem, however, was finding out the details of the uniforms, and the look of the standards my units were to have. Both units were stationed in the West Indies, so their uniforms were probably the same for Savannah and Yorktown, i.e. uniforms according to the regulations of 1776. Different French websites provided me with the necessary information about the uniforms and horse trappings. I only had to activate my little knowledge of French, and from time to time ask my wife for help who speaks French fluently (sometimes it's not too bad to be married to the right kind of person).
Belzunce-Dragons
This regiment had the usual green coat with white cuffs and lapels, and a red turn-down collar. The green saddle-cloth had a white and black chequered border (silver for officers). Drummers wore the King's livery, i.e. a dark blue coat with Royal lace.

To find out something about the standard I had to borrow a book through the university library: Pierre Charrié, "Drapeaux et Étendards du Roi", Paris 1989. It is a very thorough piece of research work, and will give you any information that is to be had. The standard of 1764 to 1782 is described as follows: averse dark green with golden Royal sun and silver devise, reverse red with a golden allegorical figure of a winged dragon and motto "QUERIT QUEM DEVORIT", golden and silver fringes.

Condé-Dragons
They too had a green coat, but their distinguishing colour was that of the noble Condé family: "ventre de biche". It is a reddish light ochre, which I got by mixing gold ochre and titanium white, with just a little bit of Carmine. This colour appeared on collars, cuffs and lapels of the uniform coats, on the saddle cloth and portemanteau, and on the drummer's livery, which was that of the House of Condé (which was next to the Royal Family).

The standard of 1776 to 1791 was of crimson silk on the averse side, strewn with golden lilies, and with the coats of arms of the Condé family, surrounded by the chains of the royal orders; the reverse side was of ventre-de-biche colour, strewn with golden lilies; the fringes were golden.

The tasks of the dragoons were manifold. Principally they were still mounted infantry with trenching tools. They were to clear the paths and roads for the army, to build obstacles on roads and bridges, they were to serve as vanguard of the infantry. Often they were employed as reserves because of their mobility, or they were positioned on the flanks of the army in order to outflank the enemy. At sieges they were to do duties in the trenches, and in case of an attack they were to fight in front, like grenadiers. In a few words: they were crack troops.
At Yorktown, however, they were not used as fighting units, if we may believe the sources. They probably served as a head-quarter's guard, together with the 50 hussars of the Volontaires étrangers de la Marine, who had come with them from the West Indies.

How I paint my figures

2010-07-05T21:53:00.003+02:00

I must admit that my method of painting is not suited for mass production. Being originally a collector of flats I am used to spending hours on end on a single figure. When I paint my miniatures I apply similar techniques, because doing researches and painting are my hobbies, and not so much gaming.
I always start with priming the figure with an off-white acrylic paint ("ivory"). In this case it is a French officer (by Foundry) that is to become the flag-bearer of my French artillery.

The next step is to paint various parts of the figure with acrylic colours - a second priming so to say. In this case I painted the face a flesh colour - mixed of white, ochre, and red - , the uniform of my future artillery colour bearer with a dark blue tone, and boots and hat with black

Then I switch to oil colours. I start with the skin parts. I washed the face with a mixture of English red light and titanium white with lots of turpentine. The pigment gathers in the deeper part of the sculpture, giving the face a smooth shading. Adding a bit more of white, I then added the lights, on nose, brow, chin, and cheek-bones.

Coat, waistcoat, and breeches are treated in the same way, using Indigo blue as the basic colour. The turn-downs of the boots I painted a leather colour without shading, later adding the white straps. The epaulettes, the gorget, and the metal parts of the sword were painted with golden ochre. And the officer was given white eyeballs (later furnished with black pupils).

Then scarlet red was applied to cuffs, turnbacks, and piping of the lapels. And the sword-belt was coloured white, and the cockade (which the figure lacks) was added with white oil colour.

Finally metallic gold was put on gorget, epaulettes, sword, and buttons. And the figure was glued to its base.

The flag of the regiment proved quite a bit of work. It is described as "croix blanche fleurdelysée. Quartiers 1 et 4 gorge-de-pigeon changeant. Quartiers 2 et 3 aurore" (Pierre Charrié, Drapeaux et étendards du Roi). Which means: white cross strewn with (golden) lilies, 1st and 4th quarter iridescent gorge of pigeon (green-red iridescent taffeta), 2nd and 3rd quarter red orange (silk). Quite a job painting the metal sheet glued to a bit of steel wire as a staff, topped by a peak with cravat and tassels (Front Rank).

Voila, there he is, holding the flag of the Régiment de Auxonne of the Corps Royal de Artillerie.

Hab Acht!

2010-06-12T18:26:00.001+02:00

A British sergeant would have shouted "Atten-shun!" But in the French infantry regiment of Royal Deux-Pont the commanding language was German - because all officers and the rank and file came from the duchy of Zweibrücken (which means "Two-bridges"). This duchy was scattered over what is now the Palatinate and the Saar Region in Germany and Lorraine in France. The ruler, Duke Christian von Zweibrücken, obviously thought it more opportune to provide a regiment for the French crown than for the weak Holy Roman Empire. In a time before the French revolution, before nationalism had been invented, nobody would have objected. Hessians, Brunswickers, Ansbach-Bayreuthers and the like waged war for King George, and our subjects of the Duke von Zweibrücken served King Louis of France. And at Yorktown they met and fought each other.
They were hardy boys, those farm laborers and poor farmer's sons from the Palatinate mountains, who had gone to a recruiting officer's party, taken the bounty and went off to see the New World (and by the way risk their limbs and lives in action and through disease). As hardy as their Auvergne cousins of the Gâtinois Regiment, together with whom they stormed Redoubt 9 at Yorktown with bayonets, without firing a shot, and in spite of heavy losses.

One of them, Daniel Flohr, (who wrote an interesting diary) later returned to the Land of the Free, became a preacher there, and ended his life peacefully in the United States.

Like all French foreign regiments of German tongue they had a dark sky-blue uniform coat. Their distinctive colour at this time was lemon-yellow, worn on lapels and cuffs. Their colonel was Graf (count) Christan von Forbach, a morganate son of the ruler. The regiment came directly from France with the forces of the Comte de Rochambeau. So their uniform probably was up-to-date to the latest ordinance of 1779.

The figures of my Régiment Royal Deux-Ponts are Front Rank. The hat waving colonel Comte de Forbach originally was a Prussian SYW general. And the regimental colours are a work of my printer as I was deterred by the intricate pattern of the Deux-Ponts flags.

I am happy with my countrymen (my wife coming from the Saar region), and I like their colourful uniforms. Vive le Roi!

Régiment de Gâtinois (second edition)

2010-05-02T11:55:00.002+02:00

Merde! Sometimes it is rather annoying to learn something new. My French being rather rudimentary - more or less restricted to what I picked up playing "boules" at French camping sites (cf. the first word of my post) - I had abstained from reading the French collector's magazine Figurines. But I should have done so, especially No 30, October 1999. For it contains an article by Rigo, titled "J'etait à Yorktown". The author has made use of almost all available French sources. To neglect it before turning to the topic "The French in the American Revolutionary War", deserves punishment. And punished I was!
I scraped together my few French words and phrases, profited of my knowledge of English (as one third of the English vocabulary is of French origin, thanks to the Normans), and consulted my wife who speaks French fluently, and learned from this article that the regiment de Gâtinois were wearing the old 1776 regulation uniforms, with yellow turn-down collars, and violet cuffs, lapels and turn-backs. So I had to re-do my regiment, which was a rather tricky affair as I had based it in groups of four, and had to get at the interior cuffs and lapels which I had painted white with violet piping before. With the collars I couldn't do much, as the Front Rank figures have got stand-up collars. I was lucky enough that I had incorrectly painted them yellow before.
Furthermore, the Gâtinois regiment were still wearing their old-fashioned laced hats at Yorktown as they hadn't had the chance to change their uniforms, serving in the Caribbean. So I had to add the silver and "false-silver" laces to their headgear. The "false-silver" of the rank-and-file hats I tried to imitate by painting them white, adding a brush of silver at the upper corner ("false-silver" was a lace, woven of white and silver tread).
I also learned that the cords on the flags were not golden, but were twined of black and violet silk strings, the colours of the regimental flag. And I was told that French flags of this period didn't have fringes - whatever TV and films try to tell you. So I had to cut off the fringes I had so meticulously produced before!

So in the end I was confronted with a completely new regiment - with the exception of the traditional white of French line regiment uniforms. Well, having tried to get my Gâtinoises as close as possible to historical truth, I thought I ought to publish my attempts. Here they are.

L'État Major

2010-04-15T22:03:00.000+02:00

Thanks to the figures of Perry's "French High Command" I was now able to establish part of my Allied Headquarters. Maréchal de Rochambeau is there, discussing plans with Maréchal de Camp Saint Simon. The Duc de Lauzun has joined them now. Also there is the Marquis de Chastellux, liaison officer to General Washington. The latter however is missing, together with his American staff officers. I know that there are some figures at Old Glory - but they wouldn't match the excellent Perry figures! So I abstained from buying them. A good idea was, I think, to have a Commissaire ordonnateur handing out a message to an Aide de Camp. What would be an army without logistics! An ingenieur with his big telescope, planning the siege of Yorktown, and an ingenieur géographe rummaging in his pouch for the right map, show that the French expeditionary corps in America was part of a very professional army, indeed, where nothing was left to Marshall Chance.

Comte de Rochambeau (with map of Yorktown siege)

Marquis de Saint Simon

Marquis de Chastellux

Commissaire Ordonnateur with Aide de Camp

ingénieurs (the second one originally a porte-drapeau who got a cane instead of his flag staff)

ingénieurs géographs

The figures will populate my Allied Headquarters, though their military value is not to be weighed in wargaming.

Duc de Lauzun

2010-04-01T20:42:00.000+02:00

His full name was Armand-Louis de Gontaut, Duc de Lauzun. He was an extraordinary personality, a popular courtier, a romantic lover, and a fearless warrior. He was a wealthy man, proprietor of the Volontaires-étrangers de Lauzun, or Lauzun's Legion with which he served King Louis in North-America. We know of at least three different uniforms that he wore there, all more or less flamboyant. But most probably he had about ten of them with him on campaign overseas.
Trumbull's painting of Cornwallis' surrender shows him in the row of French generals to the right, with high hussar's busby with golden cap strings, red bag, and the typical high white and black plume. This was the gift of a lady at Versailles!
I was glad when I discovered him among Perry's "French High Command" figures. He is wearing one of the most splendid uniforms. With lots of golden lace. As they would have said in the German navy about their admirals: a plain golden uniform with blue stripes. In this case with blue, red, and white stripes.
The problem with the figure is, however, that the plume is not positioned at the right side of the busby, and that the cords were omitted. I left the plume where it was. Otherwise I would have had to saw it off, drill holes into fur cap and plume, insert a wire and glue it into the right place. Or even make a completely new higher plume. The cords I made, though, with the help of a bit of thin wire and some painter's surfacer. The result does not accurately correspond to the picture. But the general impression is alright, I think.

The uniform actually is that of an officer of his Legion on parade, as depicted by Eugene Leliepvre in his publication about the Legion (Edition Hussard du Marais, Paris). Only that the Duke's plume is different. I have altered the drawing accordingly.

Log Cabin

2010-03-10T18:05:00.004+01:00

This time it's a model I did not make myself. I just procured the sketch of it, and my collector friend Bernd who is a gifted modeller, built a model and made a mould, and cast the thing in resin. So here is my settler's cabin.

I added a bit of colouring (Bernd had coloured the resin already as he usually does). That was all.

The men who are obviously ambushing some Redcoats (outside the photo) are Militia by Dixon Miniatures.
If you would like to have this log cabin as well, or any other of Bernd's marvellous models, please send an email to my address (fr.giesler@t-online.de) or to his wife's (Franka.Kufahl@Tele2.de).

6-pdr Gribeauval Field Cannon

2010-03-05T17:00:00.007+01:00

When I was at the fair in Kulmbach ("Zinnfigurenbörse") last year, I bought a model of a 6pdr Gribeauval cannon from a German producer, with the idea of incorporating it into my French Corps Expéditionnaire for Yorktown.

I knew quite well that the model was too "modern", representing the type of gun used in 1803. But the model was too tempting, and why shouldn't the French have brought their newest type of cannon?

The model by Martin Leesch from Radebeul in Saxony is exceptional, indeed. It is meticulously sculptured and well to size, extremely detailed (with smear bucket underneath!), and has rotating wheels and removable ammunition box! Martin really is a model fetishist.

The gun hidden behind its gabioned fieldwork.
Unfortunately you can't see his models on-line. But it is worthwhile to write to him and have his catalogue page sent.

(Martin Leesch, Karlstraße 9, D-01445 Radebeuel, Tel: 0351 8 30 19 52)

I manned my new gun with artillerymen of Foundry Miniature's "Early Napoleonic" range, which are quite suitable. And I positioned the piece behind a gabioned earthwork which I made with the same material as the parapet of the mortar battery (cf. post of 24 February 2010).

A war-god's view

Marines at Gloucester, 1781

2010-03-03T17:38:00.003+01:00

The 800 "marines" serving in the siege force at Gloucester Point opposite Yorktown in 1781 were not really infanterie de marine. Although the Minister de la Marine had tried to establish 100 companies of a "Corps Royal d'Infanterie de Marine" since 1774, he had not been too successful by 1779. So the French Royal Navy was forced to continue stationing detachments of soldiers of the army on the ships of the fleet, as had been the custom since Louis the XVI's time.
So the 800 marines were actually soldiers of 10 army regiments being despatched from 14 ships of De Grasse's fleet.
They were 75 soldiers and 3 officers of the règiment de Picardie, 30 soldiers and two officers from the Provence regiment, 75 men and two officers from régiment de Brie, 40 and a capitaine from de Bresse, 150 and 4 officers from Du Maine, 30 and 1 capitaine from La Sarre, 30 and 1 officer from Bourbon, 75 and 2 officers from Monsieur, 190 and 6 officers from Angoumois, and another 30 and 1 lieutenant from Rohan-Soubise. They wore their normal white uniforms with differentiating facings.

(I adopted some Wikipedia uniform schemes here to illustrate the differentiating facings.)
In the beginning of the siege there had been only 1200 Virginia militiamen under the command of General George Weedon on the left bank of York River to block a possible escape of general Cornwallis from Yorktown. This was not a really reliable force, and its numbers varied daily! After the cavalry and infantry of the Duc de Lauzun had arrived, it was thought necessary by the Allied command to have further troops there to strengthen the position. So Admiral De Grasse was "persuaded" to delegate 800 men and 23 officers of infantry from his fleet - which he reluctantly did. The command of the entire force at Gloucester was given to the French General De Choisy.
I have made up my "800 marines" of 40 infantry figures by Front Rank and Foundry, adding a few officers, one of which is by Dixon.

As postures I decided on halting, firing and at the ready types, because their main objective was to block any attempts by the commanding British general at Gloucester, Banister Tarleton, to go out foraging.

I was glad having added 10 French regiments to my forces in this way!

Régiment de Walsh 1779

2010-02-26T19:50:00.004+01:00

Unfortunately no regiment of the Irish Brigade was present at Yorktown - at least on land (there were some soldiers serving as "Marines" on ships of De Grasse's fleet, though). They were only involved in the ill-fated Savannah expedition of Vice-Admiral Charles Hector, Comte D'Estaing in 1779. Among them one battalion of the Régiment de Walsh.
But fortunately my fellow wargamers are not so much inclined to re-write history by sticking to historical battles and find out what the world would be like if...
So I was free to re-create one of my favourite Irish regiments in service of the French Crown, the Régiment de Walsh. As it was present on North-American soil with only one battalion, I saved myself having to paint the whole regiment. But one battalion with 532 soldiers is still quite a number of figures at a ratio of 1 : 20. .

I chose the "French Revolutionary Army" range of Foundry figures, and gave them the Drapeau d'Ordonnance with its St. George's Cross. What might the British have felt being confronted with this symbol carried by Redcoats?

The figures are well sculptured and paint easily . They are a bit smaller than the AWI figures, though. But as a unit that doesn't matter so much.
I didn't bother to pinch off their plumes - the hats are a bit too "modern" anyhow.

So here they are, giving some colour to my French troops.

Mortar Battery

2010-02-24T18:10:00.007+01:00

Ever since I had modelled my French 12lb mortar, I had wanted to construct a "véritable" mortar battery. I knew from Jean-Louis Vial's website NEC PLURIBUS IMPAR (http://vial.jean.free.fr/new_npi/revues_npi/1_1998/npi_198/1_bart_mort3.htm) what the dimensions of the parapet were.

It was so high as to hide the pieces and their gunners from enemy view - and of course protect them from enemy fire. For the construction I did some research on the internet and soon found two useful sites: http://www.nwta.com/couriers/8-97/fieldfort.html and http://151ril.com/content/history/french-army/14. The first one deals with "Making Field Fortifications - A Fascine Battery", the second one - though admittedly dedicated to Great War trenches -, with "French Trench Construction Methods". There I found the information I needed to build my mortar battery.
I altered Vial's construction scheme in rounding the top and slope of the wall as I knew that sand and soil tend to flow down. Then I started my building process. The basic structure consists of plywood and styrene which were cut into their appropriate forms with a jigsaw and a very sharp knife.
The rear part of the parapet was built up using fascines that were "nailed" to the ground with stakes.

So I sculptured the surface of the fascine wall and the "claies" (wattles or hurdles) on the flanks with some modelling compound.
Then I applied the soil (with filler).

After drying, I drilled small holes into the structure, and glued in some toothpicks to represent the stakes keeping the fascines in place. The same was done with the tops of the flanking claies. And I didn't forget the aiming sticks on top of the parapet. Finally I painted the whole thing with acrylic colours, spread glue were needed and strewed these parts with my sand mixture. As I personally had the idea I would have liked to look over the parapet from time to time, I leaned a ladder against it (made of split barbecue sticks and wire).
My mortars were individually based with a crew consisting of SYW Prussian Artillerymen by Minden Miniatures. I like these figures very much. I am aware, though, that they don't really fit my period. The canteens on the baldrics are wrong, and the threecornered hats are a lot too old-fashioned. Only the Prussian cut of the uniforms is OK, I think. But I really had not other choice. And they give an idea of the busyness in the mortar battery, especially as Frank Hammond gave me two officers to supervise the work.
So here we are: Fire!

My 2nd Pennsylvania Regiment.

2010-01-05T18:07:00.017+01:00

History

The regiment came into existence on October 12, 1775 as the “1st Pennsylvania Battalion” for service with the Continental Army. Its first commander was Colonel John Bull. When he got into trouble because of illegal financial transactions and “other degrading conduct", he was replaced by Colonel John Phillip De Haas in January 1776. Other commanders followed in the course of the years. In October 1776 the battalion was transformed into the 2nd Pennsylvania Regiment of the Pennsylvania Line –very much to the confusion of later collectors!

During the mutiny of the Pennsylvania troops in 1781 the regiment at first refused to take part until being forced to join at bayonet points. After the end of the mutiny the Pennsylvania Line was completely reconstructed. There were now six regiments, among them again a 2nd Regiment. The men of the former 2nd were redistributed among the other units.

The regiment saw action during the ill-fated invasion of Canada and took part in the battles of Brooklyn, Valcour Island, Trenton, Brandywine, Germantown, Monmouth, Springfield and Stony Point. The post-mutiny renewed 2nd Pennsylvania Regiment took part in the siege of Yorktown. Members of the original regiment were among the casualties at Yorktown, serving in other Pennsylvania regiments.

Uniform

1775-1776 the dress uniform of the 1st Pennsylvania Battalion consisted of a brown coat faced buff, a white flannel waistcoat, buff breeches, white yarn stockings with black garters, and black half-gaiters. The buttons were of pewter. Some of the companies had dress uniforms of brown faced with green, or blue faced with white or red, or whatever uniform coats they could procure. Later they wore hunting shirts and long overalls of linen or deerskin for service. So the regiment may have looked rather the opposite of “uniform”.

In 1777 the recognized uniform consisted of "a regimental brown coat faced with green...button-holes bound with red" (Maryland Journal 18 February 1777). In 1779 they were all dressed in blue faced with red, as Washington had ordered for the regiments of the Pennsylvania Line.

I furnished my 2^nd Pennsylvania Regiment with the exceptional 1777 uniform, as this differentiated it nicely from my other regiments.

Colours /Flag

The colours of the regiment proved a puzzle. When scanning the internet I came across a note saying that a replica of the flag was at the Fraunces Tavern Museum in new York City. At their website I only found a rather poor photograph that only permitted a glimpse of it. But I could make out that it was white and had an indefinable emblem on it. Continuing with my web research I finally came across a Danish wargamers’ website (www.krigsspil.dk) where I found a nice picture of my regimental flag. Long live the Internet! And our Danish colleagues.

So my regiment carries a white flag with a rattlesnake symbol and a blue banner with the wide-spread motto "Don't tread on me" in yellow beneath. I “borrowed” it from the internet, but don’t ask me where. My printer did the rest, after I had sized and altered the thing to my needs. Looks very Pennsylvanian, indeed.

Strength

In the beginning the regiment consisted of eight companies, in 1778 there were 9 of them. So I composed my unit of altogether 25 figures, colonel inclusive.

The rank and file are a mixture of Foundry “Continental Infantry”, various Dixon types, and some whose origin I don’t remember. The command figures are again from Foundry, and Colonel De Haas is represented by Front Rank “AWC57 Mounted Colonel” (with appropriate standing horse). It has become a stately unit, I think, with its colonel on horseback, three officers, a standard bearer, drummer and fifer, and a corporal and a sergeant. The pride of war-god Fridericus.

Isn’t it a good thing that battle casualties need not be buried or sent back to their homes with missing arms or legs, but will resurrect from their boxes, un- or just slightly harmed next time to execute the will of the war-gods?

A new French mortar

2009-12-27T13:22:00.011+01:00

I have made a new model of a French mortar. This time it is not a Coehorn mortar but a really huge thing: a 24pdr mortar of the French artillery which was used in fortresses.
The model is about 5cm long and 2cm wide as you can see from the centimetre grid. The model consists of the "affût" (bed), the "coussinet" (cushion) and the barrel. Elevation is achieved with the help of wooden wedges hammered in between the barrel and the "coussinet"
As I have no gunners to man it yet, I have used my Redoubt FIW French artillerymen again, although their uniforms show the blue smallclothes of the AWI period. They will, however, give you a better impression of the size of the monstrous piece, I think.
Redoubt have shown interest in making a mould of it. Let's see what will become of it.
This picture by Moltzheim shows a mortar battery at about 1720. The men are occupied directing the mortar with the help of a quadrant and handspikes.
In the second picture (by Eugene Leliepvre from LE CIMIER Ancien Regime, serie 14) we can see a general of 1735 supervising the directing done by an officer. In the background two men are carrying a bomb hung on a pole by its "ears".
In both cases the mortars are obviously of smaller calibre than my model.

British Legion Artillery

2009-12-20T18:29:00.004+01:00

One arm of my British Legion was still missing - the artillery.
Of course the Legion did not really contain artillery. But the infantry had regimental guns, as far as I know. The question was: What did they look like? Which uniform did the gunners wear? No information to be got. Perhaps they did not exist after all.
But I wanted my Legion to have a regimental gun!
I purchased a set of Royal Artillery in cap hats with a 3-pounder from Perry Miniatures, gave them the green uniforms of the infantry, only with green breeches for practical reasons - their greasy job wouldn't allow white ones, I thought. I didn't bother to remove the feathers on their caps, just painted them green, and provided the peaks of their caps with the "BL" cipher of my infantry.
Somehow they seem to look authentic, don't they?

If somebody can tell me that I am completely on the wrong track, please comment.

Hazen's Regiment (1776-1783)

2009-12-16T16:33:00.005+01:00

The regiment was named after its commander, Brigadier General Moses Hazen (1733 –1803). It was also known as Congress’s Own or 2nd Canadian Regiment, because it was authorized by Congress, and not by one of the colonies, in January 1776, and raised in the province of Quebec. So originally it consisted mostly of Franco-Canadians. Later the cultural differences between the original Quebec enlistees and new recruits from the Thirteen Colonies, mainly Pennsylvanians, became a source of trouble within the regiment, and Hazen kept the French speaking soldiers in separate companies.

The regiment was to have an authorized maximum strength of 1,000 men, and was to consist of four battalions of five companies each. It was to be the only such over-sized regiment in the Continental Army. But it never reached that strength, starting with 250 men (1^st April 1776), and varying between 200 (August - October 1781) and 720 (Spring 1778).

The regiment or parts of it saw action in the Battle of Staten Island (22nd August 1777), the Battle of Brandywine (11th September 1777), the Battle of Germantown (4th October 1777), and the Siege of Yorktown (September – October 1781). There the regiment took part in the decisive storming of redoubts 9 and 10. According to Lafayette's own account the Americans storming Redoubt 10 did not fire a gun, but used the bayonet. The brigades of light infantry under Generals Peter Muhlenberg and Hazen "advanced with perfect discipline and wonderful steadiness. The battalion of Colonel Vose deployed on the left. The remainder of the division and the rear-guard successively took their positions, under the fire of the enemy, without replying, in perfect order and silence." Obviously Hazen’s soldiers were a crack unit.

The uniform coat was brown faced with white until 1779, and after that the facings were changed to red. The buttons were silver (pewter). Drummers wore reversed colours, i.e. white uniform coats with brown facings, as was the custom for drums and fifes of that period. The small clothes were white. However worn-out breeches or coats were necessarily replaced by other garments, although this regiment was usually more fully and well equipped than other Continental units.

The battalion companies wore black cocked-up felt hats trimmed with white braid. The light infantry company of the regiment was given black leather skull caps with peaked front shields decorated with the painted white cipher "COR" and the golden motto "Pro Aris et Focis" (for the house altars and hearths) over them. The Regimental Cipher "COR" and the motto also appeared on the drum shell (in a red field) and on the canteens.

The regimental colours were white, with the outlined black cipher “COR” in the centre, the word “Liberty” in outlined black letters above, and a red banner with the words “2nd Canadian” in white letters below. My flag is hand-painted.

The figures for my regiment are a mixture of Redoubt and Dixon miniatures with a slightly converted light infantry company; and my Colonel Hazen (in case you don’t recognize it) is a converted SYW Prussian dragoon officer by Front Rank. Though most of the figures are a bit dwarfy in appearance they match my idea of this regiment of disciplined and courageous soldiers well. I chose the uniform of 1776-79 because red facings would have been too similar to my 2nd Pennsylvania Regiment.

The lead regiment consists of 24 figures which are separately based. As the bases have got some magnetic tape underneath the troop may be arranged on a piece of iron sheet-metal as needed. Only for Yorktown the necessary 10 figures (ratio 1:20) ought to have red facings. Perhaps I will paint an extra 10 figures for that, one day.

French mortar

2009-08-23T21:30:00.004+02:00

I have created my first own wargaming figure! It's a French 12lb mortar, which was used by the French contingent at the siege of Yorktown, brought on shore from the warships and probably manned by Navy bombardiers. This weapon was in use throughout the 18th century.
My figure was produced by carving a model in two parts, base and barrel. And a collector friend of mine made a simple rubber mould of it. The result is not outstanding, but sufficient, I think.
In my photo it is manned by SYW figures by Redoubt, and positioned in one of my fieldworks. Up to now I have not discovered figures for bombardiers of the French Navy. So some tinkering will be necessary in the future.

British Legion Infantry

2009-03-05T17:12:00.003+01:00

Having finished my British Legion dragoons, I wanted to complete my unit with its infantry arm (artillery is to follow later). But I didn’t know what they looked like and how many figures I would need.

Uniform

There has been much disagreement and discussion among experts and collectors about the uniform of Tarleton’s Legion infantry.

I found some sources that solved the problem for me:

Great Britain, Public Record Office, Chancery, Class 106, Volume 90: A Return o f the Legion Arms, Accoutrements and Clothing (Charlestown, 14 June 1780) says "Green Cloth is wanting for 600 Men" and "400 Helmets are preparing for the Cavalry & 400 Leather Caps for the Infantry."
The British Headquarters (Sir Guy Carleton) papers (1747 –1783) refer to the Legion as follows: green jackets, white waistcoat and breeches; drummer green waistcoats and breeches.
A manuscript of 1783 notes: short round, tight green jackets with black collars, cuffs and lapels.
The issue of March 1782 for clothing was described as 'Green Light Infantry Coats & Jackets, Black Collar & Cuffs & white Breeches'.
Rivington's Army List for 1783: "British Legion Infantry -- Short Coat, Green with Same Lappel [sic!], Variety Button hole & Black Cuff and Collar."*⁾

*⁾ W.Y. Carman, "Banastre Tarleton and the British Legion," Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research 62 (1984), p. 130.

So with green jackets with black facings and white turnbacks and white waistcoats and breeches I would be on the safe side - even for the later years of the war. And black light infantry caps would be the right choice.

Numbers

According to the Legion Muster Rolls the British Legion Infantry began with 5 companies in 1778. One company was disbanded in late 1778 or early 1779, and another one was disbanded after its commander’s death and severe casualties. In the 1780s three new companies were established during the Legion's southern campaign. The Legion Muster Rolls from 23^rd February 1781 to 1782 list the names of a large number of soldiers taken prisoner. They appear on the muster rolls of 6 companies of infantry.

The above mentioned paper at the Public Record Office testifies coats respectively jackets, waistcoats, and breeches for 30 sergeants and 600 men. This does of course not mean that the numbers correspond to the actual strength of the unit. At its best it might have numbered 340 men. At Cowpens the strength of the British Legion Infantry was probably between 200 and 250 men, there might even have been only 175 ! (cf. Babits, Lawrence E., A Devil of a Whipping: The Battle of Cowpens. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1998).

Figures

So I thought nine to seventeen figures would do to represent my British Legion infantry (ratio 1:20). I chose British light infantry figures by Foundry because their leather caps and uniform jackets suited the sources well. And the 16 figures corresponded with the actual (possible) numbers of soldiers.

The men got white small clothes, only drummer and trumpeter got green ones; the officers could afford buckskin breeches (I thought). The jackets were painted a dark green, with black facings and white lining. The caps are simply black, the white decoration on these (border and “BL”) is purely fictional of course.

Whatever you will say – I rather like them.

Allied Headquarters

2009-02-06T17:02:00.000+01:00

La Siège de Yorktown le 17 Aout 1781
by Louis-Charles-Auguste Couderc (sometimes spelled Couder)

Since I had come across a picture of the painting “La Siège de Yorktown le 17 Aout 1781” by Louis-Charles-Auguste Couderc (which is at Versailles today) I had been pondering about constructing Washington’s and Rochambeau’s headquarters tent which is to be seen behind them.
I sat down at my desk with ruler, angle and pencil and conceived a paper model. After testing it I drew the final plan.

(You may copy and use the plan if you like.)

Then I copied the drawing to thin cardboard and cut out the parts, glued them together and painted the whole thing. As a base I took a bit of thin plywood.
The flags to the left and right of the tent can be identified as the French and the American colours. I doubt whether this is historically correct. I would expect the personal colours of the commanding officers instead. As the colours of both, General Washington and Maréchal Rochambeau, are known, I decided to use these. So you can see the French commander’s colours at the left, and those of Washington at the right. I wonder if the obverse wouldn’t have been correct, as the American was Commander-in-Chief.

My first Americans

2009-02-02T21:42:00.000+01:00

The artillery figures of my miniatures for the Continental Army were the first to be completed. The set is from Dixon Miniatures, and I am quite content with their appearance and modelling. I only decided to give my officer a gorget and epaulettes.

The figures painted quite well. I clothed them in 1779 regulation uniforms, and enjoyed their campaign worn apparel. I could have put some dirt on their uniforms, though. But I only decided to darken their white clothes.

The two-horse-limber will follow later. The reigns and traces for the leading horse are a bit of a problem for my old hands.

Field-works

2009-01-16T17:48:00.000+01:00

I got the idea from a fellow blogger (http://steve-the-wargamer-awi.blogspot.com/). As I’ve made use of his idea - with some variations - I will here describe how I did my field-works.

First I made the bases from pieces of 3mm thin plywood that had once been parts of a crate for mandarin oranges. They were 7 cm wide, which set the measure for the length of the earthwork modules. I cut them into 5 cm broad stripes. The sloping edges I produced by tilting the table of my mechanical saw.

Then I bought two ledges, one with rectangular cross-section (1 by 2 cm), and one with triangular cross-section (2 by 2 cm), and cut them into 7 cm long pieces. The rectangular bits were provided with slits with the help of a carving knife, to produce the effect of boards later. The triangular cross-section of the ledge on the “outer” side of my earthwork produced the basis for a rather natural looking slope (at least that’s what I think).

The pieces were glued to the bases as indicated in the sketch.

Then I smeared the outer side of my earthworks with my special filler which consists of proper filler enriched with white glue and a greenish brown Umbra hue. The parts of the base which were still raw wood, were then painted in the same greenish brown colour.

At the rear side, match sticks were then glued against the “boards” to provide the upright poles of the parapet. Finally the “woodwork” was washed with a light brown tone to create a more “used wood” impression.

When the thing was dry I put glue on the earth parts and spread sand on it (the same mixture of sand from a sandpit and gravel from a path, which I use for my bases). Finished! No more embellishments necessary.

The “redoubts” were done similarly, but as bases I used styrene pieces that had been the base for pre-packed cut cheese (larger pieces of thin plywood would have been even better, I think). And on the outer edges I added some static grass.

Redoubt with added earthworks

Wagon Train

2009-01-08T18:41:00.001+01:00

I remembered that among my heaps of unpainted flats I had some nice models of vehicles I had intended to use one day. Now the day had come! I bought the necessary draft horses and drivers, experimented a bit with the traces, and finally scraped a slate mould to provide myself with this essential equipment.

Here is an example of my wagon train of altogether 15 different vehicles.

A French charette or équipage des vivres was not among my hidden treasures. So I had to settle down tinkering at one. Fortunately I found some wheels of about the right size in my spare part box. The rest was Japanese rice sticks, some wire, thin cord and a bit of an old shirt. This is the result The construction sceme I found at "Nec pluribus impar".

équipage des vivres

Ingénieurs

2009-01-08T18:09:00.000+01:00

For my general staff I wanted some ingénieurs-géographes. I discovered three figures by Foundry (SYW) that suited my purpose. The general on horseback became a general, and the two figures on foot were painted as ingénieurs-géographes.

These soldiers played an important part in the Yorktown campaign, because they were able cartographers and provided the general staff with precise maps.

general and ingénieurs-géographes

For my field-defences I needed a member of the Corps Royal du Génie to supervise and command the building of defences. I took the AWI French senior officer by Front Rank, equipped him with a map, and converted an empty horse into his mare. La voilá!

member of the Corps Royal du Génie supervising field-works

Strengthening the artillery arm

2009-01-05T17:27:00.001+01:00

In the beginning I had only a regimental 3pdr gun with 3 artillerymen by Front Rank. I added some tools, and was quite content.

Now I have added a 24pdr to my arsenal, which you can here see positioned in one of my new earthe works. I is manned by three French SYW artillerymen by Foundry. The equipment to the right I made myself.

On the march these heavy pieces were transported in parts, carriage and barrel separately. In the picture you can see the piece being transported, with the artillerymen marching behind the carriage (originally they were Front Rank grenadiers with hats).

Lauzun's Legion infantry and artillery

2009-01-05T16:24:00.000+01:00

I have meanwhile finished my infantry and artillery of the Volontaires Etrangers de Lauzun. I needed longer, as there were no figures available and more research necessary.

There is no report about the colours of the regiment. I painted them in the sky blue of the unit uniforms and put the arms of Lauzun in the centre.

The grenadiers had to be equipped with bearskin caps without plate (which was done with a bit of Milliput, not too difficult).

And the chasseurs, who wore "modern" light infantry caps, had to be converted from SYW light French infantry with Schomberg helmets. The original helmets had to be transformed into a peaked horsetail helmet of the type worn by French light infantry after 1786.

I am not quite content with the result, especially as the cut of the uniform coat is too old-fashioned. But the figures must do for the moment. Perhaps one day I will model and cast new heads to be put on 1779 grenadier bodies.

With the artillery it was mainly a question of sources. Experts seem to disagree on every detail as there are no records. I finally decided that my cannoniers should wear normal French artillerists' uniform with yellow facings and grey turnbacks.

As figures I chose some Prussian SYW artillerymen. Anyhow: Most of Lauzun's men were German speaking mercenaries, and the command language in the Legion units was German!

Blueberry Farm

2009-01-03T18:14:00.000+01:00

I have just finished my first buildings, a two-room log cabin farm house and well and a thatch-roofed barn.
The farm building I found quite interesting as it does not correspond with the stereotype idea of a log cabin. I found photos of this historic type of building on the internet, and knew I had to build it.
The ground structure is plywood, the "logs" are imitated with thin boards of balsa wood (which is easy cutting into shape with a sharp knife). The intervals are filled with filler.
The shingle roof is imitated by rows of thin cardboard, into which I cut slits, and the wood structure is produced with the help of glue stiffened paint and a coarse brush.
The door has got hinges and can be opened. And inside on the ground floor there is an open fireplace with a copper kettle. It doesn't make any sense in wargaming, but I enjoyed making it.

A look through the window at the fireplace.

With the barn walls and roof I experimented. The ground structure is again plywood. For the walls it was covered with filler, which was then modelled into boards, and with stripes of thin cardboard which were structured and painted as weather-beaten wood. Both methods I find practicable, the second one producing a less weather-beaten look.
The roof plates were covered with thin sheets of styrene which were then structured and painted in my well-tried method. The ridge was built up of thin cardboard with a layer of single sisal fibres glued on, kept in place by beams laid across. The colouring does the rest.
The gates are made from cheese-box wood, the hinges from sheet metal of an old cigarette box. (Never throw anything away, you might find it useful one day, as my grandfather said.)

The Battle of Hard Rain Creek

2009-01-02T17:58:00.001+01:00

On October 11^th 2008 the four of us had a test of our new version of rules. We had introduced the dicing out of the season and new “weather cards” telling what the weather was like for the next rounds.

The idea turned out to be practicable and had surprising results. The season was to be spring or summer (I don’t quite remember) and turned out to be as wet as last summer (I think it was on a Thursday) or even worse. After the first moves it started pouring, and continued to pour and to pour. The rule said that in case of heavy rain the gunpowder would get wet. So it turned out to be a “sabre and bayonet” affair.

The Comte de Brioche and staff officers

For the Allied Forces of Colonists and French it became a routing defeat. But not so much because of the weather but because of military blunders of the High Command. (Which sounds rather realistic, doesn’t it?) The fault must be searched with the French general, the Comte de Brioche. He gave the order for Lauzun’s cavalry to attack some light troops and Tarleton’s dragoons on the other bank of the river.

They got well over the old stone bridge, but got then under devastating flank fire of Hessians Jaegers on a hill to the left, without being able to attack them because of a steep cliff. They had to retreat under heavy losses. And then it started to rain. So the British were able to overrun the bridgehead on the right flank, because the artillery couldn’t fire a shot and the infantry forces were too weak, and consisted partly of militia who withdrew when the bayonet charge began.

We were very pleased with our new version of rules. So pleased we were that we forgot to take into account that the rules said that in case of such weather the river would swell and the two fords couldn’t be used. So the British might not have won after all.

By the way: We don’t fight against each other, but act as some kind of War Gods instead, deciding what a commander would have done in the given situation. But the weather god was in the cards!

Bloody Ban

2008-12-30T19:44:00.000+01:00

As Banastre Tarleton had his intended "shaking of hands" with Lauzun and his legion in the Battle of the Hook, I decided that I had to encorporate his British Legion cavalry into my troops next. So I bought the required quantity of figures from Perry miniatures. At first I was a bit disappointed that the excellent figures lacked some details. The feather in Ban's cap I created with Milliput, and the carbines I got from Front Rank. Later I was informed by Alan Perry that the British Legion dragoons were not equipped with carbines. Too late! Mine were already furnished with carbines. As I knew some other British Legion cavalry figures with these weapons I decided not t alter them. So they ride as fully equipped dragoons.

Régiment de Gâtinois

2008-12-28T11:53:00.002+01:00

My next project was a unit of French infantry.

I chose the régiment de Gâtinois (or Gâtinais) that had so distinguished themselves in storming redoubt 9 at Yorktown that they were given the name "Royal Auvergne" in 1783. A proper elite regiment they must have been.

As the regiment had about 1000 men, it was quite some job painting them (1:20).

The chef du régiment on horseback originally was a Hessian general (by Perry), the other figures are Front Rank.

The colours were painted on thin lead sheet from old bottle caps (it is good never to throw anything away you might find useful some day (but please don't have a look at my cellar).

The French are coming

2008-12-27T20:21:00.000+01:00

Then I started with my French troops.

I began with one of the most colourful units in the American theatre - the hussars and lancers of the Volontaires Etrangers de Lauzun, also known as "Lauzun's Legion". Unfortunately I did not know any producer who had them in his programme; only the Old Glory figures, and those didn't suit my taste of figures.

So I turned to using SYW hussars by Front Rank. The "chef de la troupe" was converted from a Prussian hussar officer in fur cap. It wasn't too difficult: I just had to minimise his moustaches and add his typical black and white crest, which was achieved by drilling a hole in his hat, and inserting a wire I had formed into the right form by soldering. The rest was paintig.

Voila, may I introduce you to his Highness, Armand Louis de Gontaut, Duc de Lauzun.

He is wearing one of his six uniforms he took with him to America, the one in which he attended the surrender ceremony at Yorltown.

I chose this one because it is the most splendid which well fits this extravagant man.

His cavalry was more of a problem. I took the SYW French hussars by Front Rank and equipped half of them with lances. I was not too much bothered by the fact that they are wearing pelisses. I decided that in my regiment of hussars and lancers they had simply not yet been lost (or sold).

"Attaquè!" (Bloody Ban and his British Legion dragoons have just been sighted.)

How it all began

2008-12-25T17:40:00.000+01:00

At the beginning of 2008 I watched three fellow collectors trying their newly developed wargaming rules. I was fascinated. Especially the idea of transforming historical facts into simple rules that will allow a quick game, struck me. So I decided to join them, and they agreed!

As they featured the British respectively the American side of the American Revolutionary War I thought I should adopt the French troops.

But at first I began with some landscape modules: a stone bridge, a wooden bridge and a river. My idea was to complicate military operations by landscape obstacles. No longer pitched battles in a scarcely wooded plain.

I must say, I really enjoyed developing and building the landscape modules (I have always liked creative hobbies).

As material I used plywood, cardboard, filler and wall colours. This is the result of my stone bridge:
When the photo was taken I did not have any wargaming figures. So this surprise egg grenadier had to do.

Just to give an idea of the size of the bridge.

My next item was the wooden bridge:

It has a removable central part, so that it can be destroyed.

At that time the stream/river consisted only of the basic structure. I later added foam and marks of current.