Happy Tanksgiving!

 

 Happy Thanksgiving to everyone - and belated Thanksgiving to our neighbors to the North. If were you live does not celebrate, just give Thanksgiving to the Lord where all good things come!

Warlord Games Native Warband

  

Except for the figure on the rock (Magua from Warlord Games), all figures came from the boxed metal set (19 in total) from Warlord Games.

As readers of the blog know, I've been painting 6 figures at a time of my Native Warband to: 

a. Individually painted figures (non-production line) take longer.

b. To give me a "creative" break between groups.

Stole this from A J's Wargames Table.

I had a great time painting these figures for the French and Indian War as I have never painted Native Americans (except for one US deputy marshal in the Wild West) and I had a great time looking at primary source illustrations, reading eyewitness accounts, and looking at what contemporary artists have done.

The last six, primarily based on descriptions of the Battle of Bushy Run.

For the entire War Band of 18 figures (categorized as Large for Rebels and Patriots if I use all 18) I went with the 3, 2, 1 alternative basing for the game which really gives an "irregular" look to the unit. In addition, I was able to add some extra details to the larger bases to make mini vignettes.

"3"

"2"

"1"

Okay it is self-indulgent time as I post various pictures of the completed War Band:

Canadian Militia (Coureur de Bois) from Northstar Miniatures

 

Canadian Militia from Northstar Miniatures.

My latest unit for the French and Indian War using the rules Rebels and Patriots. For my French Force they will be Skirmishers that are Sharpshooter for a total of 6 points.

Keeping track of the British advance into Canada.

Military service has been part of Canadian life since the 17th century in New France, where colonists were required to serve in local militia to support regular units of the French army and navy. In 1651, Pierre Boucher received a commission of captain from the Governor of New France and asked to raise a militia corps in Trois-Rivières. Until the arrival of the Carignan-Salières regiment in 1665, militia corps were the only defense of New France. In the long struggle between the French and British colonies, British and colonial American troops found the Indian-style tactics (i.e., Guerrilla warfare/ frontier warfare) of the Canadian militia to be a formidable adversary. Perhaps the two most famous Canadian attacks against New England were the Siege of Pemaquid (1696) and the Raid on Deerfield (1704).

Working with Native American allies in conducting a raid on a British foraging party.

The success of the Canadians was underscored during the French and Indian War by George Washington's defeat at Great Meadows and Edward Braddock's embarrassment at the Monongahela River. The British response was to create new "Ranger" and "Light infantry" units adept at woodland warfare. 

"Je vais couvrir et vous passez à l'arbre suivant. Alors je te suivrai quand tu seras en place"

Approximate numbers of militiamen in New France in 1759 during the French and Indian War:

• Acadian Militia – 150 militiamen
• Canadian Cavalry: 200 cavalrymen
• District of Québec: 5,640 militiamen
• District of Montréal: 5,455 militiamen; 4,200 sent to Quebec City
• District of Trois-Rivière: 1,300 militiamen; 1,100 to Quebec City
• First Nations: 1,800

Not all of the Canadian Militia were natural woodsmen but the unit I painted will be and based on the coureur de bois lifestyle. The Coureur de Bois (literally woods runners) were independent traders who knew the woods well and dealt directly with the Indians. During the French Colonial period, the coureurs de bois operated in the upper Mississippi valley, extending their reach into the American bottom, an area stretching almost one hundred miles south from the point where the Missouri River flows into the Mississippi. 

The ancestor of "Yukon Cornelius."

The French government tried to control the activities of the coureurs de bois, and put many restrictions on them, trying to compel the Indians to bring their pelts directly to government-sanctioned trading posts.

Brigade Games Natty Bumppo (Hawkeye), Chingachgook and Uncas

 

Left to Right: Chingachgook, Uncas and Hawkeye (Natty Bumpoo) from The Last of the Mohicans, by James Fenimore Cooper. Figures by Brigade Games.

How could I do the French and Indian War with Rebels and Patriots and not include three of the most famous characters from American Literature? So I had to buy (my arm was really twisted) from Brigade Games French and Indian War line the pack Frontier Characters I which are the spitting image of Hawkeye, Chigachgook and Uncas from the 1992 film The Last of the Mohicans.

 Left to Right: Russell Means (Chingachgook), Eric Schweig (Uncas) and Daniel Day-Lewis (Hawkeye) in Michael Mann’s The Last of the Mohicans (1992). (Morgan Creek Productions/Photofest)

The Leatherstocking Tales is a series of five novels by American writer James Fenimore Cooper, set in the eighteenth-century era of development in the primarily former Iroquois areas in central New York. Each novel features Natty Bumppo, a frontiersman known to European-American settlers as "Leatherstocking", "The Pathfinder" and "the trapper". Native Americans call him "Deerslayer", "La Longue Carabine" ("Long Rifle" in French), and "Hawkeye".

Natty Bumpoo

The Last of the Mohicans: A Narrative of 1757, is the second novel in Cooper's pentalogy and the best known to contemporary audiences. The novel has been one of the most popular English-language novels since its publication and is frequently assigned reading in American literature courses. It has been adapted numerous times and in many languages for films, TV movies, and cartoons.

Chingachgook is the last chief of the Mohican tribe and the father of Uncas. 

In the The Leatherstocking Tales Chingachgook is the best friend and companion of the main character Natty Bumppo, aka Hawkeye. He appears in The Deerslayer, The Last of the Mohicans, The Pathfinder, and The Pioneers. He is characterized by his skills as a warrior and forester, his bravery, his wisdom, and his pride for his tribe. Interestingly, Bela Lugosi played Chingachgook in two German silent films, Lederstrumpf, 1. Teil: Der Wildtöter und Chingachgook (Leatherstocking 1: The Deerslayer and Chingachgook) and Lederstrumpf, 2. Teil: Der Letzte der Mohikaner (Leatherstocking 2: The Last of the Mohicans), both filmed in 1920.

Uncas,  the son of Chingachgook and called by him "Last of the Mohicans", as there were no pure-blooded Mohican women for him to marry. He is also known as Le Cerf Agile, the Bounding Elk.

In the novel The Last of the Mohicans, Uncas is truly the last of the Mohican warriors, as he is the only son of Chingachgook. Uncas is devoted to his father and to Hawkeye, and fights with great valor against the Mingos and the French. Uncas dies in pursuit of Magua, at the end of the novel; but Uncas is celebrated by the Delawares (of whom the Mohicans are a sub-tribe) as a great and powerful warrior, who will be treated as such in the “hunting grounds” of the afterlife.

For Rebels and Patriots, I am going to playtest the following rules for using Hawkeye, Chingachgook and Uncas in the game. To quote Michael Leck and Daniel Mersey in their introduction to Rebels and Patriots: . . . the rules play up the feeling of adventure, where heroic officers lead their men to glory . . did someone say "Hollywood"?

1. May only be with British or British Colonial forces.

2. Two options:

    a. Skirmishers (2 points).

        Unit Upgrades:

• Very Small Unit. Unit size is 3 models. Cost -1 point. 
• Veteran. Discipline becomes +1. Cost +2 points.
• Sharpshooters. Firing/Range becomes 4+/24". Cost +4 points.
• Hollywood Aggressive. Fighting becomes 5+ and all figures can fight. Cost +2 points.
• Total Points: 9 points

    b. Joining a Skirmisher Unit (2 points).

• Replace 3 of the models with Hawkeye, Chingachgook and Uncas. Cost 0 points.
• Veteran. Discipline becomes +1. Cost +2 points.
• Sharpshooters. Firing/Range becomes 4+/24". Cost +4 points.
• Aggressive. Fighting becomes 5+. Cost +1 point.
• Total Points: 9 points.

As a reminder, the above has not been play tested yet - but they will! As with any special/optional rules, make sure your opponent agrees to use them; after all, were are gentlemen and ladies.

Frontier Family from Brigade Games

 

Life on the frontier can be strenuous and dangerous; but don't fear. They live in the good ole Warhammer cardstock cottage!

Another great product from Brigade Games is their Frontier Family defending the Homestead sculpted by the talented Paul Hicks. Though it is in their French and Indian War Range, it can easily be used for the American Revolution. The pack comes with 6 figures with clean lines, no flash (wow!) and only a few minor mold lines which were easily filed.

I'm planning on my Frontier Family to be a 6 figure (small) unit for Rebels and Patriots (paid link). As a result, I'm using the 3, 2, 1 alternative basing method for the game to give them a more irregular look.

 

"Okay, we have to carry this half built fence with us wherever we go.

Basing three figures to a, well, base lends itself easily to a mini-vignette. Here we have a colonial with musket by a half completed fence backed up with a young woman with powder horns and ammunition and a young lad carrying extra muskets.

Hmmm, this man of the frontier looks awfully familiar.

The next two figures can easily be husband and wife, and I have based them together to make it so (thank you Jean Luc for permission to use your catch-phrase). I really like the animation and sense of action that come with all 6 figures.

Last but not least is a teenager, younger man or son with musket. Yep, you guessed it. Since he is mounted by himself, he will probably be the first casualty!

Here is my initial visions (not play tested!) for the "Frontier Family" unit for use in Rebels and Patriots (paid link):

Skirmishers (2 points) that are green (-1 point) for a total of 1 point.

Another option for a more "Hollywood" feel:

Skirmishers (2 points) that are green (-1 point) and good shooters (+2 points) for a total of 3 points.