American war of Independence any tips?

[ulverston]

Hi Chaps,

Its almost been a quiet year or so for myself hobby wise as work has been eating my time, that is until a few weeks ago when I purchased a 3d resin printer. I have been busy printing out all sorts of bits for my modern collection but then I stumbled upon "the one".

The One in question is a series of STLs made by Felipe Manivel at Madox 3d design. They seem to have character and a pretty comprehensive range

https://www.myminifactory.com/users/Madox%203D%20Design?show=objects&sortBy=date&price=all&page=1&query=

I am not connected to them in any way but wondered what you chaps think?

I have never played a Horse and Musket game though I have owned Black Powder for many years, is this the set you would go with? I was thinking of tinkering and even having 40mm square bases to cut down on the numbers needed and by default increase my gaming table size. 7th Son has lead the way forward with his rules additions to Hail Caesar on Youtube.... has anyone done this?

Lastly I know nothing about this war so I bought the Osprey book to start with, any other essential reading? I appreciate your  thoughts and comments, they will all be useful I am sure. As for the figures I will begin printing in a week or so as even if I never game with them they look amazing.

Thanks in advance

[vtsaogames]

Take a look at the rules "Loose Files & American Scramble" https://www.wfgamers.org.uk/andy-callans-articles/loose-files-and-american-scramble
They give a good overview of the tactical situation. Two other sets of rules are based on them. The more complex; British Grenadier, the simpler: Live Free or Die.

I have yet to try out Live Free or Die but have it in mind down the road.

Plan on fieldiing a good number of Rebel militia. Continentals should be the backbone of the Yanks, but leavened with the lesser breeds. Kings Mountain saw a force of militia vs. an all-Tory force, not a regular in sight save the British CO. Not much cavalry in the northern theaters, a bit more down south.

Battles to look up online: Bunker Hill, Long Island (Brooklyn), White Plains, Trenton, Princeton, Saratoga, Brandywine, Germantown, Monmouth, Camden, Kings Mountain, Cowpens, Guilford Courthouse, Hobkirk's Hill. Encyclopedia Brittanica has a good overview of the war.

I posted this about Washington and his troops last year: http://corlearshookfencibles.blogspot.com/2021/01/george-washingtons-battles-and-rating.html

[ulverston]

Thank you for your help. Your game looks impressive! I will certainly have a look at the rules you mentioned and your blog.

[kingsmt]

Best advice I can give you is for you to decide early on if you want generic AWI troops or Campaign specific Regiments.

Do you want generic British with yellow, green blue or white facings (the most popular facing colors)?
Or do you want specific Regiments like Highlanders? Loyalists? Provincials?

American units can be blue faced red or brown faced red and you would have them covered.

What I am trying to impress upon you,  is for you to have a plan and to then stick to it.

AWI Uniforms change from year to year. The soldier fighting at Saratoga look nothing like the soldiers at Bunker Hill who look nothing like those at Yorktown.

See where I am going with this?

Before you start buying stuff, do some reading and see what Battles or Campaigns interest you.
The buy a copy of Mollo's Uniforms of the AWI.
It's still the reigning champion!!

Best of luck. Questions?
Check my AWI collection posts on this page to see how it has become an obsession.

[Pan Marek]

Go to this discussion on "that other page".   I think it provides the best advice available for those just starting in AWI.
http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=253118

[frank xerox]

Yup, +1 to that

[Ceeteegee]

Still a page I visit when in need of a little guidance. I also enjoyed the AWI coverage on the Tarleton's Quarter blog which led me to start collecting Loyalist troops. 

[Tommy20]

That was a really great post from when “that page” actually had useful content.  These days, you have to sift through way too much garbage to find a useful post.

I wonder whatever happened to John the OFM.  He was a curmudgeon to be sure, but was usually a fun read.

[Pan Marek]

Tommy20-
Oh, the OFM still shows up now and again.  Heck, in the link I gave you, he was posting in 2021!  But he's seen less and less.
I myself am one of the many banned for reasons that still baffle me.

[Codsticker]

I am going to follow this thread as I am toying with AWI (love the Fife and Drum Miniatures American Revolution range).

I myself am one of the many banned for reasons that still baffle me.

Same...

[MaleGriffin]

Great thread! Thank you for sharing!

[vtsaogames]

I myself am one of the many banned for reasons that still baffle me.

Likewise.

[ulverston]

Thanks for the help Chaps.... I had no idea that the uniforms changed a lot. I will be playing solo but if they were way out it would bother me no end!
I have the Osprey Revolution book coming and will decide a year or campaign after reading that one. I have been surprised at some of the history having been watching Youtube.... very enlightening.
Mdf carts and houses will be the next items to source, even with printing the figures this is starting to become a larger project than I intended!

[Ruire]

Really your best bet is to pick a year or campaign that seems interesting and work around that. I went with '77 since I'm interested in the Philadelphia campaign, but this also leaves open the possibility of doing Saratoga. Plus, I often use uniforms from '76 and '78 where they're more interesting or there isn't solid information for what a particular regiment was wearing in '77.

You could even think of it in rough periods of time, like 'early war' (1775-'76: Boston, New York, New Jersey), 'mid-war' (1777-'79: Philadelphia, Saratoga, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Sullivan), 'late war' (1780-'83: mostly the South).

[vtsaogames]

I had painted up both sides before a friend noted that none of my British troops were wearing tricorn cocked hats. All had round hats, one side pinned up, or bearskins. So I ordered and painted up a regiment in tricorn cocked hats and trousers. Still not the 1768 warrant. Being a lazy cuss, I painted them from a couple Osprey books so I have a mix of figiures that may not have served together. They still march and fight.

My sole regret: almost all of my figures are 15mm. I purchased 20mm from Frying Pan & Blanket, nice enough figures but out of synch with my other stuff. It's a minor regret. I am not going to redo them in 15mm, unless I have a seizure.