Ouch!

That's gotta hurt...

Traitorous rebels get their just deserts!

A couple of Doug Mason creations from 30 years ago - classic Mason animation.

More Mason Magic

Armand Louis de Gontaut, Duc de Lauzun by the outrageously talented Doug Mason. Lauzun and his trumpeter are radical conversions (the original figure is cut down to a bare torso, and the uniform and details built back up from wire and soldier) of Gilder figures.

I recommend clicking on the photos to really appreciate the level of detail - the flowing pelisse, flapping sabertache, etc. create a real sense of movement and animation. The painting is pretty sharp too - no one does 'bling' better than DM.

Now all i need to do is create the Legion hussars - don't hold your breath....

Everybody's Got One

Leading the charge or the rout? The foot are all basically Hinchliffe, with a head swapped Suren rider on a Connoisseur horse.

Surely every AWI wargamer has had a version of the 2nd New Hampshire regiment circa 1777 in their collection at one time or another? Personally i blame Charles Lefferts - who can resist the allure of sky blue coats and buff small clothes? Whilst the more recent Troiani depiction of the unit is likely to be more accurate i prefer the more colourful Lefferts/Mollo version - so in this case i'll definitely be 'painting the legend'.

Inspired by the ex-Gaskin piece Mike Siggins showed us some time ago i'm going for an all action unit.

A couple of officer conversions (Foremost French with new heads). 

Now all i need to do is finish the 30 odd rank and file.......

Suren AWI Conversions

More of John's Suren conversions - a couple of toffs, and the Kings American Dragoons. Horses are mostly Ebob with a few Foremost. Again painting is mainly oil washes on an acrylic base, and i particularly like the scarlet - it's so vibrant it almost glows.

My Hero! *

(Or at least a miniature representation thereof)

John recently added some long overdue commanders and personalities to his small but perfectly formed British AWI force, and this is his Banastre Tarleton (complete with 17th LD aide). Suren figures on Foremost horses. All the large areas are oil washes on an acrylic base, detailing is mostly straight acrylics. Tarleton himself isn't the predictable Suren BL officer (N13) but instead a conversion of a Napoleonic figure (J26 Commandant of the Cameronians, Egypt c 1801 - which despite not being listed on the Tradition site is definitely available as Magnus remoulded it last year)...i mean, why go off the shelf when you can go bespoke...

* Not entirely true - young Tarleton was far too rash and tactically one dimensional for my liking, though i'd defend his reputation against rebel propagandists both then and now (yes, i'm looking at you Mel).

Inspiration

In recent years i've become addicted to tinkering - every new unit has to include a few conversions. Inspiration often comes from illustrations, and the Company of Military Historians 'The Era of the American Revolution' title is a source i keep returning to.

You may remember i featured the Culpeper Minutemen some time ago, i'd thought i'd put them to bed as a small 18 figure battalion but hadn't reckoned on the generosity of 'Mr MWAN' himself - Hal Thinglum. Last year Hal sent me a box of Hinchliffe figures that contained a number of riflemen and i recently used those to boost the Culpeper battalion up to it's 1775 paper strength. More rank and file meant more command figures so i took the opportunity to create my own miniature version of the officer illustrated in the COMH book. I took a Hinchliffe militia casting, replaced the head and left arm, converted the voluminous waistcoat into a hunting shirt and added a few other details such as an officers sash and fringing to the legs. A lick of Humbrol Midnight Blue and i'm quite pleased with the result.

The new drummer boy is also a conversion - the Foremost British Napoleonic drummer getting the Miliput hunting shirt treatment.

Recently i was able to pop down to the WHC and Mike Ingham was good enough to let me poke around the shelves for a couple of hours. Having had a good gander at literally hundreds of Doug Mason creations (not to mention those fantastic and ingenious Gilder buildings and terrain features) i am now armed with a stock of great conversion ideas to pillage for my AWI armies.

Foremost ECW

The Foremost range was originally advertised as a separate venture by Peter Gilder, though it was always exclusively available from Hinchliffe Models. When Frank Hinchliffe sold out to Skytrex the Foremost range went too, so whatever the commercial arrangement was with Peter Gilder it must have ended there.

PG did some of his best work for the Foremost range - the British Napoleonics come immediately to mind, as do the horses. That said, i prefer the earlier Hinchliffe ECW to their Foremost peers - the 'Prince Rupert's Charge' cavalry were a late addition to the Foremost range and are a tad chunky for my liking. Nevertheless they retain all the elan of classic Gilder cavalry.

These particular examples were painted as Ireton's Horse by John Tilson, and a splendid job he did too. If you've been paying attention then you'll remember that John took part in the Edgehill episode of Battleground. Something that was not noted in the Battle article i posted earlier was that John used his own Parliamentarian army during the game - sadly this army was stolen a short time later.

Win absolutely nothing if you can identify the classic tome that Ireton's are deployed upon.