Epic Revolution Part 23: Royal Artillery with Leather Helmets

Another quick post as I am trying to catch up! The AWI Epic generic artillery comes with additional heads of the leather helmet worn by some units of the Royal Artillery. I've decided to add the optional heads to make the RA stand out from the Continentals for quick identification as the rest of the uniforms are virtually identical.

Some units had black horse tail crests and some had red. They are easy to put together and the head swaps (one of the advantages of hard plastic) was easy to do. After looking at the photos I realize I forgot to had a thin wash on the faces to give them depth which since has been rectified.

 

2nd Quarter Update for 2026

Summer! Grandchildren! Travel! Oh . . . and doing some gaming and painting as well! With celebrating 250 years of Independence and freedom I've been focusing on the American War for Independence. 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.

Figures from Wargames Foundry.

Kansu Braves from Crusader Miniatures.

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:

LTC James Webster.

Colonel late Brigadier General Daniel Morgan.

c. Units:

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

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

Continental Artillery.

Webster and the 33rd Foot. Webster wears the uniform of a senior officer with the red facings of the 33rd Regiment.

South Carolina troops muster. This unit can represent either SC Continentals, State Troops or Militia. The mounted figure is the Daniel Morgan resin figure from Warlord Games.

Musketeer Regiment von Bose.

The 2nd Spartan Regiment of Militia.

Hessian Jägers.

In addition I have painted a Royal Artillery gun and crew plus a unit of American Rifles. Once I get some pictures, I will post them. Upcoming for the British will be the 71st (Fraser's Highlanders and the 23rd Regiment of Foot (Royal Welsh Fusiliers). Next up for the Americans will be a generic Continental Regiment in brown coats and some American Dragoons and Militia Cavalry.

3. Games. Listen up! Yep; played quite a few games! The next game will be on the Northwest Frontier circa 1898 with the Army of the Raj facing a (ahem) Metallic menace:

"When will they ever learn that they are no match for Doctor Fu Manchu!"

4. Terrain. When I started my AWI project I suddenly realized that I did not have any 15mm terrain. Hmmm . . . I have started some buildings and trees that I will post.

One of the pre-painted MDF buildings from Micro Art Studio and the first batch of trees.

On with the Third Quarter!

Epic Revolution Part 19: Lieutenant Colonel James Webster

LTC Webster (local rank Brigadier General) scouting the terrain at Beatty's Ford in North Carolina in the pursuit of Brigadier General Daniel Morgan.

Born in 1743 to an Edinburgh minister, James Webster entered the 33rd Regiment of Foot as a Lieutenant on May 10, 1760, steadily rising through the ranks to become lieutenant colonel under Cornwallis. He took command of the regiment when Cornwallis received a promotion to lieutenant general in January 1776 and, the following month, Webster and his regiment left England, bound for service in North America.

LTC Webster consults with Lord Cornwallis during the Southern Campaign.

Webster led the 33rd Regiment in the New York and Philadelphia Campaigns, as well as at the Battle of Monmouth. The 33rd Regiment had the reputation as the best drilled and finest regiment in the army. With the stalemate in the North, Webster and the 33rd headed south for the capture of Charleston, SC and the Southern Campaign under Cornwallis.

Webster and the 33rd Foot. Webster wears the uniform of a senior officer with the red facings of the 33rd Regiment.

As the British entered the interior of South Carolina, the 23rd Regiment of Foot (Royal Fusiliers) joined Webster to form a demi-brigade. Webster's regiments formed Cornwallis's right at the Battle of Camden on August 16. Facing inexperienced Virginia militia, Webster smashed through the Patriot line, wheeling his men into position to further engage Continentals under Maj. Gen. Johan de Kalb. This maneuver contributed to the disintegration of the Patriot force still on the field and led to a British victory. From then on, Webster commanded Webster's Brigade consisting of the 23rd Foot and the 33rd Foot.

At the battle of Guilford Courthouse on March 15, 1781, Webster's regiments advanced on the British left, while Greene formed his army in three successive lines, the first two made up of militia, the last of Continental Regulars. As the British approached the first line, Webster "rode forward in front of the 23rd" wrote Roger Lamb, a sergeant in the regiment, "and said, with more than even his usual commanding voice, which was well known to the brigade, "Come on my brave Fusiliers [sic]".

Webster leads his brigade toward Guilford Courthouse, North Carolina.

At some time during the battle, Webster sustained an injury to his leg, to which he succumbed weeks later. Devastated by the loss, Cornwallis penned a letter to Webster's father. "It gives me great concern to undertake a task which is not only a bitter renewal of my own grief but a violent shock to an affectionate parent," the general wrote. "Your son fell nobly in the cause of his country, honored and lamented by all his fellow soldiers; that he led a life of honor and virtue, which must secure him everlasting happiness."

The figure I painted as Webster will be one of my brigade commanders and it is no coincidence that it will lead the 23rd Regiment and 33rd Regiment as a representation of Webster's Brigade in the Southern Campaign. The figure is from the British Brigade box and I wanted to have a commander that was not in the usual blue facing colors of a British general officer thus the facings of the 33rd Regiment.

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

A light company of the 71st (Frasier's Highlanders) Regiment of Foot lead the way and harass the Continental Infantry.

During the American War for Independence, the 71st (Frasier's Highlanders) was unique in that two battalions served in North America. It is a great unit to have on the tabletop as they fought in many major battles both in the Northern and Southern theaters.

Since the 71st had two battalions, they also had a two light infantry companies. It is rare to see light troops of the Highland units on the AWI tabletops and I, for one will remedy this! In fact, half of the converged light infantry unit at Cowpens were from the light companies of the 1/71st and the 2/71st.

The Highlander unit pack from Warlord Games Epic Revolution comes with 10 light infantry figures that are molder individually instead of the normal strips. My unit has 9 figures as one of the figures fell from a great height and was stepped on by a giant during recovery operations. Sad to say, repair was impossible. The figures are "Warlord Resin" which is superior to Warlord Games' first attempt with resin figures. They needed just a little bit of clean up with a hobby knife. I primed them (of course!) and attached them to old bottle caps for the painting process.

For figures this small, I anticipated that the diced band on the bonnet and their wings would be a challenge. Fortunately both are molded on the figures making this stage of the process doable. The unit pack also comes with six wood bases that are 60mm x 20 mm.

I will be also using the figures for One Hour Wargames and this is how they will deploy with stands back to back.

Now it's time for me to decide what unit to do next. Currently the American's have one Continental Line unit and one artillery gun while the forces of the Crown have one Hessian Musketeer unit and the now competed light company from Frasier's Highlander. I'm either going to do the 33rd Regiment of Foot or a unit of militia.