Gorham's Rangers

Hi all,

Some combination of sunshine and time seems to have gotten me painting a bit again.  I finished up my first unit of Gorham's rangers for the Muskets and Tomahawks Acadian project.  

I'll ask you to excuse the focal issues - I talked the Beloved into taking pics with her new, and much better, camera, but she's still working out the depth on macro setting.  Looks like we/she can get really crisp pics, but only at a shallow focal depth.

These guys are stock Blue Moon colonial rangers.  The extent to which the sculpts match the actual uniform is a bit iffy, but the blunt fact is that there doesn't seem to be much info out there on the uniform in the period under question, other than it changed fairly often.  While there were two distinct uniforms used in the SYW proper (one in '59, one in '61), the '45-55 period is much less clear.

In part, this seems to stem from the fact that the unit itself was changing.  Initially formed as a native unit led by officers from Massachusetts, in the decade under question the original compliment was being replaced with settler troops - mostly itinerant Scots and Irish immigrants. Kronoskaf indicates that at some point prior to the issue of the '59 uniform, they wore grey coats, and that while the peaked cap was commonly used, it wasn't always.

I've gone with a grey coat and the stock scotch bonnet for this group.  One thing I might try is some swaps with a few of the native figures I've got - heads, mostly, but maybe some other bits as well.  I'll break up the homogeneity, and give the transitional feel that seems appropriate for the time frame.

Gorham's rangers were heavily involved in the raiding and guerilla fighting that led up to, and followed, the Acadian expulsion, so at least a few units of these are appropriate.  I can see the core of the Brit force being composed of Rangers and Provincials.  Plus, they are rather nice figures, so I've no concern about painting more.

Doing these has also fired me up a bit, and I've managed to get a unit of Russian 18mm napoleonics about half done.  The next couple of weeks promise to be hectic enough that I'm unlikely to make much more progress, but should have them done by the end of July.  I'm also a bit fired up about adding some more to my French 6mm SYW army (it looks like Peter B. at Baccus is releasing Canadians!), so fingers crossed whatever painting slump / doldrums I've been struggling with has passed.

FMB

Provincial Pleasures

Hi all,

In what seems to be becoming something of a litany, wow, have the last couple of weeks been busy.  I suspect it's about time I recognize that the new level of activity is less an anomaly, and more status quo, and just roll with it.

That said, I've managed to do a little painting, I've made some progress on both my ork Warboss and a Lord for my Bretonnians, but mainly managed to knock out some test figures for the Acadian project.



These are Blue Moon 18mm American Provincials, done up as Massachusetts provincials.  They're in the pre-1750s uniform, with red trousers, which makes them appropriate for Le Loutre's war and the Expulsion.  Apparently, once the 7YW got going in earnest, they switched to blue trousers instead.  No idea why.



I tried something a little different with these guys, using a wash for shading rather than just working up highlight layers.  Not 100% sold on the effect, but one thing I'm going to try and do with this project is experiment a little with techniques.

Next couple of weeks are liable to be equally short on time and progress, but I'll try to get in at least one post over the period, even if it's just a WiP.

FMB

Lords of the Backcountry

Hi,

Finished up another unit of Compagnie Franche de la Marine today, along with some officers.



I'm not as happy with these guys as the first batch.  Not sure if it's just a darker blue, or if I rushed them a little.  They're serviceable, but they don't tickle me the way the first batch did.



With these finished, I'm within spitting distance of 400 points.  Another unit of natives, and some talents for the officers, and I'm good to go.





With that in mind, I've been poking around looking for ideas to build around.  I came across some discussion of the fighting in Acadie (modern-day Nova Scotia and New Brunswick).  This includes both the conflicts preceding the SYW (like Father Le Loutre's War), the guerrilla fighting surrounding the Acadian Expulsion, and formal campaigns like that of the Bay of Fundy.

There's plenty of unit types on both sides, lots of gaming potential, but it's a little different than the traditional "Hudson corridor" story of the conflict.  I'm going to pick up some 4ground buildings, and some more BM figs, and see what I can work up.

FMB

Back-ish

Hi,

A combination of unexpected car trouble, weekend travel, and a rotten cold combined to radically constrain both my hobby time and opportunities for blogging, so it's only in the last couple of days I've scraped together content for a post.  I did, however, manage to put the final touches on my first unit of Compagnie Franche de la Marine for Muskets and Tomahawks.



I'm really liking Blue Moon's 15mm stuff, at least what I've painted so far.  They're cleanly sculpted, with good detail, but not excessively fiddly.



They also come in a decent selection of poses, and they're generally pretty animated, while avoiding anything un-natural or goofy (with the possible exception of the guitar hero).



There's some nice detail on them too.





This now gives me 200 points painted, enough for a small game.  As I noted, with Cub's arrival in a week, blogification (and general hobbiage) will likely drop off, but I should get a game in with these at some point in the next couple months.



Barring unforseen eventualities, I should have a Bloodbowl game on Wednesday against ChrisB.  Fingers crossed that the fates don't conspire.

FMB

Bury this.

Hi,

Since I've been back from visiting the Cub, I managed to finish up a first unit of natives for Muskets and Tomahawks.  The units for these guys run small - no more than a half-dozen figures, so I did them in a batch, along with an officer.



These are the Blue Moon 15mm figures and, as with the test figs for their Compagnie Franche de la Marine, they are terrific.  Well-proportioned, dynamic and varied poses, good detail.  At stock price, they're affordable; with the OG discount card, they're cheap as chips.



I'm running the unit as part of a French force.  The natives come with a number of costed options that let them be used in a variety of ways.  The plan is for this squad to represent my Hurons, who have characteristics assigned that make them better shooters, and also allow them to respond to orders from French officers.



I played around a little bit with war-paint, but not on every figure.  I didn't find too many reliable references, but there's some good resources out there, and I'm sure with a bit of digging I'll turn something up.



The next unit of natives I do will be more oriented toward hand-to hand.  I'm thinking in historical terms they'd be some of the types from the great lakes back-country, the tribes for whom the Huron and Iroquois acted as middlemen to the French.



In the meantime, I've made a start on the rest of the first squad of French Marines, and I've got a Maurice campaign game scheduled for Wednesday, which should mean regular blog updates.

FMB

You want to talk tough?

Hi,

I've been fascinated by the Seven Years War, especially the North American component, pretty much from the time I first heard about it.  As a kid, I still remember my grandparents singing "The Maple Leaf Forever", and years later, finding out it actually referred to something real.  Not surprisingly, once I discovered historical games, I've been on the look-out for one that does the 7YW / FIW justice, and is fun to play.  , Consequently the recent release of Muskets and Tomahawks, and the enthusiasm for the project at the local club, has me more than a little excited.

Like Bolt Action, we've decided to do this in 15mm, and most of us have gone with the excellent range by Blue Moon.  I'm planning to begin with a mixed force of Natives and Compagnie de la Marine Franche, and got a few test figures painted up over the last week.



You may talk about your Lancers or your Irish Fusileers, but for my money, the soldiers of the CdlMF were some of the toughest dudes to walk the earth in the 18th century.  These guys operated thousands of miles from home, in a frankly alien and hostile environment, in tiny units, with minimal support.  And they were the local problem solvers, the ones that other extremely tough people relied on when they encountered problems they couldn't handle.  They had to be adaptable, resilient, and durable, or they'd die.  Hat's off to them.



The figures themselves are terrific.  Some flash, but easily removed, excellent detail, and they take paint well. They've got me looking at Blue Moon's other ranges with a speculative eye.



I also managed to get a flag for my recently completed Ayyubid unit, courtesy of a tip from yorkie.  I've no idea what the historical provenance of the flag is, but I think it looks pretty good.





In other news, my illustrious ally von Wattsenburg won his battle on Wednesday, which means a) the latest round of our Maurice campaign continues, and b) I actually get some use out depot battalions.  I've got a game scheduled for Wednesday, so keep your eyes peeled for a batrep.

FMB