Line Companies, 42nd Highland Regiment for the French and Indian War

"Thanks to our generous Chief, we were allowed the garb of our fathers, and in the course of six winters, showed the doctors that they did not understand our constitution for, in the coldest winters, our men were more healthy than those regiments who wore breeches and warm clothing".

 

(NOTE: When I wrote this post I mistakenly read that 16 figures were a large unit; it's actually 18! Yep, I'm painting a few extra highlanders now.)

 

For the rule set  Rebels and Patriots (Paid Link), I am building a British Force around the 42nd Highland Regiment. I have already completed the Light Unit from the 42nd Highlanders and also a Unit of Rangers. The unit, to give me flexibility, will be a "large" unit as defined by the rules: 16 figures. For it to "look" right I want line, grenadiers and command to be in the same unit. Fortunately Warlord Games has some really good figures to represent this.

Warlord Games has a box that comes with 12 Line Highlanders for the French and Indian War. By my count, and I did it quickly, there are at least 4, maybe 5 variants that come with the box. Unfortunately two of the figures had broken/poorly molded bayonets.

The Customer Service Department at Warlord Games is fantastic; every time I have had an issue or concern, they have jumped right on it. They replaced the two miniatures free of charge and postage. So a special shout out to Max Ayson at Warlord Games for making every thing right. 

 

 

Now having said that, I only planned on using 8 of the Highlanders as the rest of the unit would be composed of 4 grenadiers and 4 command. I'm planning on painting an additional figure for the unit in case my "Officer" is with another unit (In Rebels and Patriots (Paid Link) the officer has to stay with the unit it starts the game) and I'll convert the others into casualties to represent disorder markers.

 

 

The colorful dress of the Highland regiments of the British Army borrows nothing from European military fashion. It is based solely on the traditional dress of the Highlands of Scotland. A veteran of the 78th (Fraser's Highlanders) which also served in North American during the French and Indian War stated, "The uniform was full Highland dress with musquet (sic) and broad sword, to which many of the soldiers added the dirk, at their own expense, and a purse (sporran) of badgers or otter skin. The Bonnet was raised or cocked on one side with a slight bend inclining down to the right ear, over which was suspend tow or more black feathers."

The outstanding feature of Highland dress was, of course, the kilt. Highland Regiments in North America wore the belted plaid, which consisted of twelve yards of double-width tartan. Interestingly, the fabric was spread on the ground and neatly pleated over the waist belt; the soldier then lay down on the plaid, fastened his belt, and stood up. The lower part of the plaid formed the kilt proper. The upper portion, which fell over the belt, was gatherer behind and fastened at the left shoulder. In inclement weather, the plaid could be unfastened and drawn about the shoulder like a cloak.

 

 

The regulation red coat of the British infantry was much too long to accommodate the belted plaid, so Highland regiments wore a short red jacket cut square across the back a few inches below the waist. The jacket has a single right shoulder strap to hold in place the wide sword belt. The red waist coat, edged with white tape, is almost as long as the jacket. On campaign, most of the lace and tapes were removed and saved for dress occasions.

 

 

The Warlord Games Highlanders are armed to the teeth. All have broad swords, one or two dirks and many also have pistols tucked into their plaids. The bonnet is that worn by most Highlanders, with a red touri and black ribbon cockade. The sculpting is done well, and even with the individual variants, it still gives the impression of 18th century linear warfare when they are lined up. Well worth the money spent. Later I will post a painting guide on how I did the whole unit to include grenadiers and command.