Fusiliers de Morliere part 2

  Corrected my error in not ordering enough figures.  Now I have finished the entire regiment and a splendid unit of light troops they are.  Very dashing and ready to cause trouble for the foes of France.

More French Artillery

Another gun and crew added.  Great looking figures and an amazing amount of detail on the cannon barrel.  With this gun and crew i now have a two gun battery for my small force.

Figures are of course from the outstanding line of miniatures from Crann Tara.

French gun and crew

  For my mid eighteenth century armies I will need a few batteries of artillery.  I am thinking of using two guns and eight crew members to represent a battery.  Looks about right.

  In reviewing the research materials out there I noticed that most gamers paint the gun carriages blue. But some paint them red.  I went with blue after a little research suggested this was the color for field artillery.  Besides, it looked very nice. As does the round base for the gun and crew.

Fusiliers de Morliere

  Sometimes I wonder where my mind went....

 I wanted to add a light infantry type regiment to my growing French army.  Crann Tara miniatures made a figure representing the Fusiliers de Morliere which I had never heard of.  But they were rather dashing in their brown uniforms and hussar type mirliton hats. So included them in my order. Unfortunately I only ordered one pack instead of the three i needed.  Like I said I wonder where the heck my mind is at times.

  While waiting on the reinforcements, I painted these to get a jump start on the regiment.  They look very unique.  The brown uniform coat, with red small clothes and black gaiters look dashing. I was also very taken by the hussar type hat.  Black and white edging.  All in all a unique looking unit.  The skirmishing type poses mark the unit as a light infantry type and give movement to the regiment.  I am looking forward to finishing and adding the regiment to my collection.

  Thank you again to Crann Tara miniatures for a great looking regiment!

Fritz James Cavalry Regiment

  As I have stayed before, I'm really do not like to paint cavalry.  Not sure why I have this mental block. Possible because of stories my grandparent told me about Cossacks when they came to their village.  But for what ever the reason it is very hard for me to paint cavalry.  Note most of my armies in miniatures have very small cavalry regiments and not a lot off them.

  So it is with great happiness that I have finally completed my first regiment 2018;  the French cavalry regiment Fitz James.  The regiment, primed and based has been sitting for months gathering dust while I worked on the courage to take brush to figure.  Now that it is done, I am ready to rush ahead to more traditional figures I like to paint like British Grenadiers, French artillery and French light troops.

  Miniatures are from Crann Tara and very nice figures they are. Regimental flag is from GMB.

  My small collection of French troops is coming along nicely. I now have six infantry battalions and one cavalry regiment finished. I will be adding a Artillery  crew  with gun and some light troops very soon.  I would like to have eight line battalions, two batteries (four guns) and two Light battalions to round out my army.  Possibly two guards battalions, just because.  Then it's time to start my British, Hanoverian and Brunswick army!

I was a painting fool!

  Looking back on 2017 I found this to be the year of massive painting.    I should not be surprised about this as I had replenish my supplies of paint and brushes with some very large purchases.  I was also very motivated by the time periods and the figures themselves to pick up brushes and paint.  I found I like to paint certain figures but not others.  Perry miniatures are a chore for me to paint. Very time consuming.   Fife and Drum, Crann Tara, RSM and Knuckleduster miniatures are a joy.  Not judging the miniatures, but what fits my painting style.

  But still the amounts done are surprising to me.  Best of all I now have good sized armies for American Rev War and War of 1812 ready to go for next year.  I might add a few new regiments.  Ok, who am I kidding here;  with all my favorite miniature companies adding new must have figures I will be adding a few new regiments.   I do have a number of scenarios and small campaigns written for games for next year.  Perhaps this will be the phase of my gaming life I play more then I paint.   I have also starting reviewing my terrain to see what I need and what I want to improve.  Redoing my basing for woods, adding more fence, a Crimean War and eighteenth century camps and other terrain pieces would be nice.  I have also started playing with paper buildings.  There are a interesting variety out there and very cost effective.  After all we play table top miniature games because of the visual appeal!

War of 1812 armies.
Command figures. 4
Royal artillery gunners.   12 figures
American gunners. 6 figures
1st regiment. 24 figures
8th regiment. 24 figured
100th regiment. 24 figures
Incorporated militia regiment. 24 figures
Glengary light infantry regiment. 24 figures
Lincoln militia. 24 figured
1st American rifle regiment. 24 figures
Indians. 24 figures
Niagara Dragoon.   6 figures
19th light Dragoon.  6 figures
1st American Dragoon. 6 figures
Royal marine rocket battery. 4 figures
89th regiment. 24 figures
Upper Canadian militia regiment. 24 figures
49th regiment. 24 figures

286 Infantry
   22 cavalry

American Rev War. 
Mounted command figures. 4 figures
New York volunteers. 30 figures
Volunteers of Ireland. 30 figures
British legion cavalry. 30 figures
British legion infantry. 30 figures
Royal artillery grasshopper. 4 crew
Regiment von Bose. 30 figures
3 Regiments Of militia. 90 figures
Hunting shirt regiment. 30 figures
3rd light Dragoon. 10 figures
Lee's legion cavalry. 10 figures
Mounted militia. 6 figures
17th Light Dragoons. 6 figures
State regiment. 30 figures

300 Infantry
 36  cavalry or command figures

WAS/SYW   

Dillon. 24 figures
Clare. 24 figures
Royal Ecossais. 24 figures
Orleans. 24 figures
Tournaisis. 24 figures
Saintonge. 24 figures

144 infantry

Total number of painted figures for 2017
730 Infantry
  58 Cavalry

Guns and Horses; a WIP

  Got more figures from Crann Tara the other day.  Soon will be adding a cavalry regiment (FitzJanes), artillery and light infantry.  Right now the gun and cavalry are primed and just need a dry brushing of white.  As an experiment I have mounted the cavalry on their stands rather then popsicle sticks and will try and paint them this way.  Perhaps speed things up a bit?  We will see.

  Next up will be the lights and some mounted commanded figures.  The Frenchman is taking shape!  Next year will start the British.

Regiment Saintonge 1745

Why do you add certain regiments to your collection?  Most times I add regiments if they are a favorite of mine (have to the Royal Welch Fusiliers), or are in a historical order of battle (like my Niagara 1814 project).  Sometimes I add them because they look incredible or have brilliant uniforms.  But sometimes I add them because they are special on a personal level.

One such regiment is the French regiment Saintonge.  Way back during the Bicentennial of the American Revolution a local recreated militia group decided for Yorktown they would  do something special.  They would recreate a French regiment. For over a year they researched and created the uniforms and equipment  while they drilled and trained.  At Yorktown they fielded about one hundred soldiers and were an incredible impressive sight.  In later years during my time with the National Park Service I had the pleasure to work with members of the Saintonge. It was always a great experience and they were a very nice group of people.

So when adding regiments to my 1745 French army i just had to add these fine fellows.

Regiment Tournaisis 1745

  Another French regiment for my 1745 army.  The Regiment Tournaisis.

   I am getting the painting of white uniforms down to where I am comfortable.  I use a light grey, set brush a off white then dry brush white.  Gaiters are dark grey then dry brush white.  I like how it looks.  Next order with Crann Tara will be to add artillery, cavalry and mounted staff officers.  I am off and running!

Regiment Clare 1745

  A beautiful regiment from the Irish Brigade in the service of the French.  I picked the Clare regiment as it was recruited from the area of Ireland where my mother's side of the family came from.  Possibly there were a few McNamara's who fought in its ranks.  At least some of the family thinks so.  Elements of the Regiment were sent to Scotland and fought at Falkirk and Culloden.

Figures are from Crann Tara miniatures.  Flags again from the beautiful works offset from GMB Design.

Royal Ecossais 1745

  In the pages of the Fife and Drum forum was where I first saw pictures of the figures for this regiment.  They were very different and had a air about them. The short coats and bonnets are Scottish, but there is also something French about them. So with my first order I made sure I got a regiment.

My reading about their history suggests the uniform was what might  have been worn when they landed in Scotland to assist in the 1745 Rebellion.  Along with the picqets from the Irish Brigade they were the token effort sent by France to help out.  At Culloden they covered the retreat of the Jacobite right wing from the battle.

Figures are from Crann Tara miniatures.  Flag from GMB design.

Regiment Orleans 1745

I have made great progress on my project of painting a mid eighteenth century army to refight the table top teasers and other actions from the books of Charles Grant both father and son.  Since starting the project  I now have four infantry regiments finished and two more primed and readying go.  I am looking at a small army of eight regiments line, there cavalry and two guns for each side to start.  Where it goes from there who knows!

 I picked the era of 1745, The War of Austrian Succession for the slightly different uniforms, the interesting history and for the outstanding figures offered by Graham at Crann Tara miniatures.

 The first of my regiments for my mid eighteenth century project is the Regiment Orleans.   I know very little about The actual regiment but liked the red cuffs contrasted in the white coats.  Not sure I got the correct white painting method for the uniforms yet.  But out looks nice and it's a start.  Figures are from Crann Tara.  Flags from GMB

French Infantry marching onward

  Work has not been fun as of late due to the very bad weather.  Delays and temporary duty to hard hit stations to help out is the rule.  So to relax in my abbreviated free time I have been enjoying painting the new Cran Tara miniature French infantry.

  They paint up quickly and have a very pleasant old school feel to them.  I like them a lot and cannot wait for the flags I have ordered to finnish the regiments off.  And of course to get ready to add more to the collection.  I already have another order for more French infantry.  I hope to add artillery, cavalry and some command figures later on.  Then into the British!

Regiment Orleans is painted and based.  Like the red cuffs and vest and yellow hat trim against the white coats.

The Royal Ecosssais regiment has become one of my favorites.  A very special look to them unlike any other regiment.

  Started on my Irish brigade with the regiment Clare. Again I really like the pose of the figure.  Captures the spirit of the Irish soldiers.

More Crann Tara French work in progress

Couple more "work in progress" pictures. i have taken a slight break from French white uniforms to paint more blue coats.  Here are the first of my Royal Ecossais regiment from Crann Tara miniatures.  I really like the figures. A neat looking regiment;  colorful and fun to paint.

Here is how I paint my figures.  I mount 8 figures on painting stick.  These are paint stirrers I get there from Home Depot.  They  used to be free but now they are charging for them so shame on them!

I prime my figures with  black with gesso;   then when dry I  dry brush the figure white.  This gives me darker colors in the folds  but lighter colors in the raised surface.

Examples of primed figures and painted figures.

More to come soon.  Have finaly gotten the knack of French white uniforms and will be finishing two battalions soon.  And a big shout out of thanks to Aly' s Toy Soldiers blog.  His examples of how to paint white is brilliant and works very well.

Work in progress: French Infantry 1745

  Projects are funny.  Sometimes you start a new project because it's a period you love.  Other times it's a long time you just wanted to do it.  There are lots of reasons why. Some good, some well justified.  A few it's just because.   And so in a moment of not right mindedness i have decided to paint French, and later British for the mid eighteenth century.

A new project you say?  Well, projects (in our wargaming world) are funny things.  At times they blossom into wonderful table top armies.  Other times they sputter out as massive piles of lead.  Some are favorite time periods, or long held desire to just create it.  Too many are flights of fancy that do not last the month and leave unpainted mounds of lead.  My Crimean armies are almost done;  someday I will add Turks but not now.  My War of 1812 has taken up all my time for a year but now I need a break before returning.  My Rev War armies are still growing but again i need a time away from the painting table and something different.

   So here I am looking down the tunnel of a small project.  I have always enjoyed the writing of Charles Grant, both father and son.  Many hours have I spent in their company via their books and articles.  This past vacation a I had a most excellent time reading their imagination campaign series.  The Table top teasers series are always a source of inspiration. And, I would enjoy refighting them on my table.  I could do so with any of my other armies.  But that would not seem right.  Instead I would like to do so in the eighteenth century.  A pair of traditional foes seems right. Nothing against Prussia and Austria but I lean towards the the French And British Armies.   My plan is for a handful of regiments, from the Crann Tara and Minden Miniatures range of figures.  More War of Austrian Succession then seven years war.

  Painting is interesting as having started with French they are so different from what I have been painting that I have to seek advice on how to paint white uniforms. They are a mystery to me.  Fortunately many out there have come to my assistance.  I post a half done picture of my first attempt with the French having used off white grey then highlighted with white.  Still experimenting.  So stay tuned for more.