Grand Parade

Everyone likes a parade and I thought this was a good moment to take a breath and see how my FIW French army is looking. So, and without further ado, the infantry:

Here we have the "Bearn" and "La Sarre" Regiments. I have had various figures of these in my collection for years and they have represented all sorts. They are now settling down into their proper identities, although you mau still note the occasional inconsistency in their uniforms!

Here we can see progress on my version of the "La Reine" Regiment. It's currently at about the 60% mark, however I expect a delivery of figurs in the near future which will allow me to get to the end of the unit in pretty short order. I am choosing the same castings as I used in the "La Sarre" - kneeling at the ready in the front rank and giving fire in the second. Not really according to the drill book, but they do give the impression of a firing line. I will be using Davids' flags.

What's an army without it's brains? Successful? Perhaps? Who can tell! Nonetheless, this is my small collection of staff and hangers on that no 18th Century army should be without.

Le Corps Royale de la Artillerie. Heavy metal indeed.  I probably should supplement their numbers with more gunners in infantry uniforms to do the grunt work. 

I have another 20 or so resin Gabions that I need to paint up.

And finally, the Noble Savages who live in man's natural state, uncorrupted by civilisations' influence and ready to set the frontier ablaze... if it suits their own purposes. Ah, Rousseau.

Les Sauvages aux Bois

 

Willie Iroquois

Masters of the petite guerre, mostly allies of the French in the first half of the war and the terror of new British recruits and settler militia alike the warriors of the First Nations were the masters of light infantry warfare. The French learned a great deal from them of bush warfare over their long and close acquaintance and at times their militia and even their Compagnies Franches de la Marine troops would have been hard to distinguish from them to the inexperienced eye.

The warriors in the image above are the first of my Willie "Indians". While the castings are no longer top notch, the research that underlies them certainly is. This is one of the things I have always admired about Suren's figures and one of the reasons I continue to paint them.

The next four are painted and merely require varnish and basing.

Un feu de joie for the new year

 

The 46th Foot salute the New Year

The latest addition to the French and Indian war collection is the first Grand Division of the 46th Foot. This was a hard-working regiment which saw action in many of the more important actions of the War including the assault on the French lines at the Battle of Carillion, the Siege of Fort Niagara and the repulse of the attempted French relief at the Battle of La Belle Famille as well as the campaign against Montreal in 1760.