Epic Revolution Part 17: The 33rd Regiment of Foot

Lord Cornwallis reviewing the 33rd Regiment of Foot.

The 33rd Regiment of Foot was widely considered to be the best-trained infantry unit in the British Army. This reputation would be tested beyond breaking point over the course of the American Revolutionary War. From Saratoga to South Carolina, the 33rd was one of the most heavily-engaged units – on either side – throughout the war.

Figures are from Warlord Games' Epic Revolution line.

The 33rd’s rise to prominence stemmed from its colonel, Charles, Earl Cornwallis, who took over command of the outfit in 1766. In an era when senior officers wielded huge influence over their own regiments, Cornwallis proved to be the best kind of commander. Diligent and meticulous, he focused on improving the 33rd in every regard, from drills and field exercises to the quality of the unit’s weapons and clothing. The 33rd subsequently became known as the "pattern" for the army, the unit on which other successful regiments were based. Prior to the outbreak of fighting in the American colonies in 1775, the 33rd’s abilities, particularly in new light infantry drills, were frequently praised. At one point they even assisted in training the elite regiments of the Foot Guards.

British command strip form the British Infantry sprue. Unlike the "generic" infantry sprue, both standard bearers are part of the sprue. A sheet of colors come with the Brigade army boxes or bigger.

The front strip has an NCO watching the line. I like seeing some "banged up" head gear.

The 33rd has red facings which cut out a step in the painting process. I actually did a little more detail on this unit as a result which is more than I do in this scale for gaming distance.

View of the unit from the rear.

The 33rd Foot passes their Regimental Colonel, Lord Cornwallis, with the Musketeer Regiment von Bose follows.

Now that I have done several infantry units, I know have my technique figured out how to efficiently and quickly while they still look good on the gaming table. My painting time per unit is approximately 5 - 6 hours per unit. Know we will have to see how it works with a unit that is not as uniformed as the British Army - time to do some more Americans.

 

Epic Revolution Part 16: I need some Buildings!

As I had mentioned earlier this year, I haven't done any gaming in scales smaller than 15 mm in a long time. Now that I have the "Epic" Revolution kick, I suddenly realized as I was taking pictures of the new figures that I needed some terrain. Since I am focusing on the Southern Campaign, I decided that I needed a few buildings, fences and trees.

The buildings I purchased are from Micro Art Studios designed specifically for the Epic Revolution range. In the USA I recommend that you buy them from Kiss-Ass Mail Order as the retail price is cheaper than the Warlord Games site and the shipping is inexpensive. I went with the Frontier Houses which are pre-painted MDF and should fit my needs for now.

The instructions are straight forward (don't throw the package sheet away - on the back are the instructions. I easily put the first house together in about 30 minutes using white glue.

Two sheets of MDF give you all of the houses.

For the window panes I found that a pair of tweezers to put them in place is helpful. For the next houses, I'm going to try putting the window panes in first before putting the roof on.

Daniel Morgan approves!

Epic Revolution Part 15: Okay; The Flag was driving me Nuts!

Sometimes a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do. My “attempt” of a new painting style for my flags failed. The first painting of Gostelowe Standard #2 was driving me nuts. Here is the repainted flag and now I can sleep at night:

Here is the original flag. I was trying a new technique using Contrast paints and ink. It did not work and did not add the pizzaz I wanted for the command base.

I went back to my tried and true method of just using enamels. Unfortunately (but who cares?), I did not add all of the stars. Oh well. I think it looks great at gaming distance.

1st Quarter Update for 2026: A Great Start

 

Ah yes Spring. Nothing like great weather and a healthy dose of Vitamin D to get you away from mustering the troops. What a great start to 2026. So, how are we doing?

1. Phase 3 of the Boxer Rebellion Project for The Men Who Would be Kings. To complete my Chinese Field Force for the Boxer Rebellion I'm going to add two Boxer units of 16 figures each. The Boxers will be from Crusader Miniatures Boxer Rebellion Range. I anticipate doing this in the 3rd Quarter.

2. The American War for Independence in the South. Wow. This was the big progress so far this this year as I jumped into the AWI again using the Epic Revolution figures from Warlord Games. I spent an inordinate amount of time pulling out my old papers and research as I purchased and designed the armies I wanted:

a. Army Commanders:

Continental Army Commander based on MG Greene.

British Army Commander based on Lord Cornwallis.

b. Other Commanders:

c. 1st Maryland Continental Line. How can you do the Southern Campaign without the 1st Maryland?

d. Light Company, 71st (Frasier's Highlanders) Regiment of Foot:

e. Continental Artillery:

Coming very soon will be (Okay they are done I just haven't posted yet!) are some British Line. the Royal Artillery and American Militia/State Troops/Continental troops.

3. The Search for Charlie. Listen up! The Quest is on for 2026. Yep . . . finally. And the bad guys are wetting their pants.

First up is a bug eyed monster:

I also have some additional goodies to post for the campaign that are complete.

4. Terrain. I just realized I have no 15mm terrain for the AWI. Hmmm . . . In addition a key piece of terrain will be built for "The Search for Charlie" that will be needed later in the adventure. I have started some buildings and trees that I will post on how I did them.

One of the prepainted MDF buildings from Micro Art Studio and the first batch of trees.

5. Games, Games, Games.

It's been a Warhammer 40K Fireteam campaign so far! The Ultra Marines are pushing back against the deadly menace of the Necrons.

 

In addition to our Pulp Campaign "The Search for Charlie" there will be action in the Peninsular during the Napoleonic Wars, China in the 1900's, back to the NW Frontier in 1897, the English Civil War, some Unmatched and why not - some WH40K action.  Depending on progress maybe even the AWI.

On with the Second Quarter!

Epic Revolution, Part 14: British Army Command Base

The British Army commander inspects the position of his light infantry.

I initially planned to have all of my commanders mounted the same and decided - nah. I now will have an army commander for the British and the Americans mounted on a circular base with some extra figures. I am really surprised at myself for not doing this earlier as I have done this will all of my other massed battle collections.

One of the nice things about the Epic Revolution range is that most of the packs and boxes come with a few extra figures which give some options of the presentation of the units. For the above I've added an extra figure from the 71st Regiment (Frasier's Highlanders) and (see below) and extra infantryman from one of the sprues. The mounted general is the Warlord resin figure of Cornwallis and was painted based on Cornwallis.

The Army commander discusses the situation with the Hessian general.

Epic Revolution, Part 13: Continental Army Command Base

 I don't know what I was thinking when I was going to originally mount all of my commanders on the same type base. In games and collections where there is an army commander, 99.9% of the time I make the stands different sizes and different amount of figures for two reasons; too make them easily recognizable on the gaming table and because it looks cool.

The original basing.

The army commander is my interpretation of MG Nathaniel Greene. I've added a rifleman based on a display at the National Museum of the United States Army and a flag bearer based on specifically the reconstituted 2nd Maryland of the Continental Line.

General officers at this time did not have a personal flag; but heck, I needed to add one. The flag is Gostelowe standard #2. The Gostelowe Standard refers to a series of flags created by Major Jonathan Gostelowe for the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, specifically a set of thirteen standards that included various designs and symbols representing the colonies. Whether all of the standards were issued the Continental Army is unknown but a fact is that Standard #7 belonged to the 3rd Virginia Regiment which was captured by Tarleton's forces after the Battle of Waxhaw, South Carolina, on May 29, 1780.

I sketched out the flag, scanned it and reduced it using PowerPoint. I had painted it by thinning out acrylic hobby paint to give it a weathered look but you can see that there are some black lines that I may have to repaint. I believe in the 3 foot rule or what does it look like at gaming distance and I do think it looks great at that distance.

I've been painting the commanders while I do the units. For the American War of Independence Division commanders (no such organization yet!) so all of the other commanders will be Brigade commanders.