My AWI (250th anniversary game After Action Report link on page 3)

[FifteensAway]

This thread will document my AWI painting progress (and hopefully appease Akula, too  ).  My goal is a very large collection to be painted to a rather basic game table standard - so no need to be impressed with the paint jobs.  Maybe, if it all gets painted, you might be impressed with the volume - or perhaps decide I'm not quite entirely sane; both work. 

Here is an overall shot of what I have painted, textured, and seal coated and table ready - and veterans already since they made it to a game:


Let's move on with this photo of the command stand for for the Belzunc Dragoons - unfortunately out of focus but showing that the flag is the correct type within what was available:


The whole unit, standard for all of my twenty AWI cavalry regiments, 12 mounted, 12 'matching' dismounted, a horse holder stand (may vary with a man on foot or a horse without a rider), and dead figure:


My other French cavalry unit, St. Simon's Hussars:


On the British side, I have painted the two German mounted units I have.  First up is the mounted Jaegers:


And then the Prinz Ludwig Dragoons - with Burgoyne, of course:


Those four units get my 'foreign' cavalry out of the way.  Just the other sixteen to go.

The generals so far.  Starting with Andrew Pickens.  Note that I am not trying to paint them to match historical imagery or information, game pieces remember.

And Marquis Saint-Simon, over the French cavalry:


And for the British side we have Montfort Browne:


To be in charge of the German mounted figures, Lt. Colonel Friedrich Baum:


The more astute observers among you will have noticed that all of the units, including the 'generals' have a casualty figure.  If all goes according to plan, that will continue throughout painting the collection.

Here is the howitzer assigned to the militia brigade of five regiments already painted - eight more still to paint:


And a second image to show how the basing works:


On the British side, note that in 'real life' it is a much more 'grey' blue than shown here, a 6# gun:


Before I move on to to the infantry after a break, for those wondering what rules I will use it will be Rank and File by Crusader Publishing.  On the cavalry, most - not all - were sourced from Freikorps/QRF, oftentimes from Seven Years War range and dismounted were matched as close as possible but often a compromise.  Infantry come from many sources with by far the largest from the now defunct (though perhaps still available from others) Musket Miniatures range - a perfect match to my plans since the packs came with 18 figures including command.

[Cat]

Ooh, painted minis are good minis, and these are looking off to a good start!

[Hitman]

Okay, I have to ask...FifteensAway, I have been on LAF for a while now, and I see so many posts by you on so many topics, how on Earth do you have so many projects on the go and get so much painted? I need to know your secret!!
Regards,
Hitman
😎

[FifteensAway]

Thanks, Cat, painted minis are the ultimate goal - and I encourage others to not worry so much about the quality of your paint jobs.  Sure, we all want to do the best we can but that varies vastly from true artists to us lesser mortals.  I can paint better but compromise on quality to get quantity done.  Having an excessive number of figures propels me to make that compromise - and knowing I'd feel guilty if I didn't at least make a serous effort to get as much painted as possible before I either lose the ability or kick off into the 'great unknown' one day. 

Hitman, no real secret.  One, wife and I have no kids so don't have that 'distraction' (though we would have loved it if we did, just didn't work out that way).  And now I'm retired so lots of extra time - though really haven't picked up the painting pace all that much.  I think the real secret to productivity is to 'just sit down and do it'.  Yeah, sometimes I don't have the 'mojo' but that doesn't mean forward progress cannot be made.  For instance, the last several months I've focused on getting figures prepped and primed ready to paint and with some success: Three Musketeers fully ready, Banana Wars fully ready, Robin Hood fully ready, Jousting Tournament (and more) almost fully ready, French Foreign Legion (that started with a large chunk already painted before I got to work on them) fully ready, and, of course, a large chunk of AWI figures ready to go - but with A VAST LOT more to prepare.  I also have a reserve of ACW figures in the wings.  And my Slighltly Cracked Colonials has a solid supply of figures ready to paint - and more to prepare.  And before I switch back to painting, I'm hoping to get my Stone Age figures and Vikings prepped.  And the Old West is a bit of a priority to at least get onto the table this year - though in small measure compared to the total available (lots ready, lots more to get ready.). edit: I done did forgetified a couple of collections: French and Indian War, what isn't already painted, is fully ready.  And my recently reorganized pirates - mostly not painted by me - is also fully ready for the unpainted portion.

Having figures waiting in the wings ready to paint helps.  Frankly, however, I'd probably be enjoying the hobby more in many ways if I had less.  I absolutely do not recommend others build collections as large as I have.  It's been fun but it truly has gotten excessive - having to rent a storage space for much of it really underscores that reality.

Now, back to the painted figures.

One of five - out of a total of thirteen - militia regiments:


Another:


And another:


More:


And the fifth one:


Here are a couple of shots duplicating the units above but giving a sense of the basing and how a unit looks in column:




The five militia units so far are for the southern colonies: Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland.  This group gets more of the white and other lighter colors.  The middle colonies will get more in the tan and brown range.  And the northern colonies will get more of the darker grays and blacks.  Though all will be a mix - which makes them a bit more tedious to paint than a uniform unit which goes a lot faster.

A note or two before moving on to the British.  The vast majority of infantry will be on six bases as seen here.  However, a dozen units for each side will have eight bases - and two casualty figures to be able to break down into 'battalions', especially the jaegers but others as well.  And, no joke, I have at least 200 foot units not counting a few specialized units like pioneers for the British to clear obstacles on the Burgoyne expedition and Corps of Invalids for the colonials, also some combined foot/mounted scouting units.  I also have, too many really, a bunch of unarmed civilians on foot and some mounted.  And then a bunch of one horse limbers to add in and some one horse carts.  A pretty good portion of those last listed are ready for paint but not all.  And a large portion of the 200 still need to be worked on, a bit over half I think.

Now the British:

This image shows a base, painted (don't like bare metal showing - and all bases are sheet steel so they will work on magnetic sheets) and labelled, may not show well but it works for me.  By labelling all the bases as I progress, be a lot easier to put away after a game, especially with so many figures if I do get them all painted one day:



And here is the upright Prince of Wales regiment:


The Royal Highland Emigrants:


King's American Regiment:


And, last for now, the Volunteers of Ireland:


All red coated Loyalists.  No flags yet but will be using paper flags, have some but no where near enough.

Next in line and partially painted is a Spanish brigade, yes, Spanish - for Florida, often overlooked on the gaming table, and a German brigade.  One day I will be able to do Long Island regiment for regiment - or as near as anyone is likely to come above the smaller scales.  Why?  Only answer I can provide is: Why not?

[AKULA]

This thread will document my AWI painting progress (and hopefully appease Akula, too  ).

Thanks for posting your impressive collection mate, consider me appeased 

I can paint better but compromise on quality to get quantity done.

Quantity has a quality of its own.

[FifteensAway]

I am jazzed.  Thanks to the generosity of LAF's own kingsmt from a few years ago, I received a couple of hundred images of AWI flags I can use to create flags for my units.  Yeah, sure, there a lot of duplicates in the total but still A LOT MORE flags than I had before.  I'd thought I'd lost them but then I tried searching back emails and found I'd saved them into their own file!  So, I can have a great diversity of flags with many of them quite historically accurate - and some quasi-historical speculative but close enough.  And when I can't get an 'ideal' flag for a unit I can just use an approrpriate generic flag for that nation.

This should help.  Just today put the German and Spanish brigades in progress back within arms reach of the painting table (had been moved aside for a couple of other projects). 

[Hitman]

FifteensAway,
I am doing what you do as well but at 28mm to 32mm scale. So I guess at twice the size, they will take longer...

I am still very impressed at your output. Well done!!
Regards,
Hitman
😎

[FifteensAway]

Images include painted units above in earlier posts - except for the German cavalry.  This first view is of all 13 units of militia and the 4 units of Extra Continentals all ready for paint along with some generals and artillery.  These larger boxes are the final destination for the AWI collection and I'm pleased to discover that, once properly based to my plan, the entire collection should fit into the 21 boxes currently set aside for it - and with some room to spare perhaps.  And it all fits into one portion of a hobby storage closet.



Second image is the 13 units of French - less the cavalry that needs to be moved to this box but too tired to do it tonight.  Also more than enough artillery and enough generals.  The Spanish brigade of 4 regiments is also destined for this box - though might have to make some room by moving artillery (that room to spare!).



This box contains the red coated loyalists but mostly a lot of the 30 (yes, 30) German regiments (from most of the varied states that supplied contingents - but not all).  Note the bottom of this box: I've cut magnetic sheets to pretty much fill the bottom of the container and seems to be working a charm to minimize figures sliding around.

So, currently 68 units ready or nearly so for the grand painting project I plan to start October 1, average 2 hours a day for 100 days but allowing an additional 10 days for conventions and family time during the holidays).  Of that 68, 9 are painted, 8 are well on their way, and the other 51 are ready - except for 11 more German units that need to be moved from primer basing to painting basing.

And while doing this I was reminded of the overall force breakdown: 60 continental line regiments, 8 additional continental regiments, 4 extra continental regiments, 6 continental light infantry regiments, and 2 legion units of foot; 40 British regiments, 30 German regiments, and 20 loyalist regiments.  I hope either by start of project or very early into it to have 16 more loyalist units ready and the 8 additional, 4 extra, 6 light continentals and the 2 legionary corps ready to go as well - and that would add 32 units and bring me to half way point for the infantry other than a few odd bits.  And note, the 16 yet to be painted cavalry units are already primed and ready - but not final based, a bit too hard to do it right, the infantry I can manage.  Oh, and some additional cavalry and 'generals' will get prepared in the process.

While I don't have any expectations of finishing the prepared figures in those 100 days, I do hope to make a very substantial dent.

[AKULA]

 

That is one mammoth production line

[FifteensAway]

Indeed.  And I forgot to include in the tally those 13 millitia and the 13 French and 4 Spanish which means a total of 110 units for the colonial side versus the 90 for the British side.

[vtsaogames]

 

[Stryder]

Holy Moly! That is a great inspiration. I don't have room to build my project for AWI but I have collected some 28mm British and American. Look forward to seeing more progress over the next 100 days!

[FifteensAway]

Delighted to report I crossed a threshold with this collection - as of just moments ago I finalized what units I will paint.  I had most of the British assigned and an idea of the Continentals but now it is all dialed in.  Sorted out the last five British units and winnowed through various Orders of Battle and lists of Continental units, focusing on the 78-79 rework of the 1777 organization.  While not a 'perfect match', I can run virtually any scenario I want and usually with the correct units to put on the table.  Sure, some compromises will need to be made at times but really not too many.  Would have needed 9 more units to match the 78/79 listing but enough is enough.  Do note that the numbers of units may be less than the 'real' lists without those 9 units.

For the Continentals (18 figure units unless noted otherwise):
Connecticut: Regiments 1-5
Delaware: 1 regiment
Georgia: 1 regiment
Maryland: Regiments 1-5
Massachusetts: Regiments 1-9 (all 9 at 24 figure units)
New Hampshire: Regiments 1-3
New Jersey: Regiments 1-3
New York: Regiments 1-3
North Carolina: Regiments 1-5 (3 at 24 figure units)
Pennsylvania: Regiments 1-8 (4 at 24 figure units)
Rhode Island: Regiments 1-2
South Carolina: Regiments 1-6
Virginia: Regiments 1-9 (5 at 24 figure units)

The reason for the larger units is to better match that states total contribution.  Also, many of the 8 additional continental regiments will represent various states:

Gist (Virginia and Maryland)
Grayson (Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware)
Hartley (Pensylvania, Maryland Delaware)
Jackson (Massachusetts)
Lee (Massachusetts)
Malcolm (New York, Pennsylvania)
Patton (Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware)
Spencer (New Jersey, Pennsylvania)

Legions (will be both a foot and mounted component for both):
Lee
Pulaski

Light Infantry (also state assignments): 
1st Brigade - Peter Muhlenberg
Vose’s-1-8 Mass
Gimat’s-9-10 Mass 1 RI, 1-5 Conn
Barber-1-2 NR, Canada, 1-2 NJ + 3 coys NJ line
2nd Brigade - Moses Hazen
Canadian Regiment 24 figures
Scamell-3 coys Conn, 3 coys Mass, 2 coys NH
Hamilton-1-2 NY, 2 coys Conn

Extra Continentals:
Green Mountain Boys, 2nd Canadian, German Battalion, Maryland and Virginia Rifle Regiment   
(Green Mountain Boys is a bit of a fudge but I wanted the unit so it is here)

That all adds up - or should if I didn't miss anything - to 80 units (excluding mounted components of the legions, that falls under the cavalry).

One thing I did realize while typing is I need to decide just how many Continental units I want to paint in the later war scheme, probably use that for any unit I can't get good information on - and knowing that much of the information is based on deserter records which can be of suspect/questionable value but if that is all there is, it is better than nothing.

Total of 110 including the 13 militia units, 13 French units, and 4 Spanish units.

And here are the British units, also 60 40.  Listed by unit number and facing color - plus converged units:

1st Guards with Grenadiers - Blue (24 figures)
2nd Guards with Light infantry - Blue (24 figures)
4th - Blue
5th - Dull green
7th Fusiliers - blue
9th - Bright yellow
10th - Bright yellow
15th - Yellow ochre
17th - Grey-white
20th - Pale yellow
21st - Blue
23rd Fusiliers - Black
24th - Blush green
27th - Pale buff
28th - Bright yellow
33rd - Red
35th - Orange
37th - Bright Yellow
40th - Buff
42nd Highlanders - Blue
43rd - White
44th - Bright yellow
46th - Pale yellow
49th - Dark blue green
52nd - Buff
55th - Dark blue green
62nd - Pale yellow buff
63rd - Dark green
64th - Black
71st Highlanders - 1st Battalion - White
71st Highlanders - 2nd Battalion - White
76th - Highlanders - Deep Green (trews?) (24 figures)
Converged units-
1st Grenadiers
2nd Grenadiers
1st Light Infantry
2nd Light Infantry
Highland Grenadiers
Highland Light Infantry (3rd battalion of the 71st???)
Burgoyne's Grenadiers
Burgoyne's Light Infantry

British get to total of 90 units with the 30 German and 20 Loyalist units waiting to get ready (if not already).  I would have loved to use the unit with purple facings but records I consulted state it wasn't in North America (edit: seems at least the light company served and was at Lexington-Concord so I can paint at least some figures with purple facings.).

Experts of the period are welcome to suggest improvements - as long as you can point to solid evidence to make the change.

Now I need to get back to working on the physical figures after a few days distractions.

[Cat]

Thank you for making me feel a whole lot better about my 28mm FIW collection!
 
I've just been digging through and assessing that for what still needs doing and prioritising order.  If I can finally get a big multi-player Rebels & Patriots game on the table, then Kickstarter purchases will not have been excessive.

: 3

[FifteensAway]

Cat, you are going to have to explain to me this concept of "excessive".  I'm not sure I understand what that means.