Epic Revolution, Part 2: Musketeer Regiment von Bose

Musketeer Regiment von Bose (sans Grenadiers) marching through Philadelphia

After Part 2's cliffhanger about when I discovered that the Hessian regiments had all of their grenadier companies detached to form composite battalions, I was left in the lurch as I need two more musketeer strips to complete my planned three stand unit. I really (at the time) was not interested in buying the Hessian and Allies Brigade so I just bit the bullet and bought another issue of Wargames Illustrated that had the Hessian sprue.

One command strip and one musketeer strip.

I decided to paint the Hessians as the Musketeer Regiment von Bose (which was originally the Musketeer Regiment  von Trümbach when they arrived in America) because it was a regiment from the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel that participated in numerous battles of the American Revolution to include campaigns in the North and South. In this scale (and often in other scales!) my philosophy is to paint the figures so they look good at gaming distance. These figures are designed to be "generic" Hessian figures so I am not too worried about the Regimental details. In addition, with smaller figures, I have found it to make darker colors a shade lighter than what you would think they are so they show up better on the table. That is also why with smaller figure I usually prime in white so the uniforms are brighter.

Two musketeer strips. The NCO on the right is a nice touch. 

Due to the number of conflicts Britain was involved with globally at the time the American Revolution broke out, Britain found itself in need of more troops to quell the rebellion. As was the custom of the time, it signed a treaty with several German Principalities to essentially lease their armies for the duration. These troops, from several German states were commonly referred to as Hessians, because the largest block of troops came from the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel. The total number of German troops committed to the conflict eventually reach about 33,000- almost a full third of the total Crown forces. The Hesse Cassel army was based on the Prussian army of the time and was among the most professional in Europe. 

Comparing the size of the 12.5mm figures with a 28mm Highlander from Warlord games.

Von Trümbach/Bose participated in many of the major events of the war, including the actions in New York, Stone Ferry, Eutaw Springs, Savannah, Charleston, Guilford Courthouse and Yorktown. At Guilford Courthouse the regiment received special note for its bravery as they fought back-to-back to battle foes on both sides. The main body of the regiment surrendered with Cornwallis's army at Yorktown. The red neck stocks worn by the regiment signify it is a veteran regiment.

 

For the basing of the stands I used watered down white glue and added fine model railroad ballast to the bases. Once dry I put clumps of watered down white glue in various areas and added green static grass. Once that was dry I sprayed a flat, clear protective coat to protect the figures and bases.

A new "shiny new toy syndrome" monster is forming in my mind . . .