Questions about the FIW

[commissarmoody]

Hello all,
the past few recant postings about the FIW. Have perked my interest in said conflict. Problem being I really don't know much about it aside from the years it happened, and from what I have seen in the few movies about the subject. (war drums along the mohawk, the Last Of The Mohicans and the old technicolor Rogers Rangers)

Any and all info about the conflect is greatly appreciated. Be it names of books, pics of peoples panted mins, links for sites and uniform info.
thanks in advance

[Will Bailie]

French and Indian War is the name given to the North American portion of the Seven Years' War.  In North America, the war primarily took place between the British colonies and the French Colonies (primarily New France aka Canada), and was the culmination of a couple of centuries of competition between those two countries for the control of the continent.

From a wargaming point of view, it is great - both sides have a mix of European-style regulars, militia and Indian allies.  Actions range from small skirmishes through sieges and set-piece battles.  There is also a strong Navy element with amphibious assaults in addition to battles at sea. 

Some of the larger battles to research include the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, and its sequel the Battle of Ste Foy the following spring, the siege of Ft Ticonderoga, the siege of Louisbourg.  The movies you mentioned are great and should provide great inspiration for wargame scenarios as well.

For a reasonably good potted history of the war, check out the Osprey book.

Conquest Miniatures is a great source of miniatures for the FIW, but of course there are other options as well, including Old Glory and others.

W

[Lowtardog]

I cant recommend the Osprey publication Empries Collide got it this week and it is a great starters resource with background to the campaign, actual battles and armies really worth while. I got it from Amazon for around £10


http://www.amazon.co.uk/Empires-Collide-1754-63-General-Military/dp/1846032199

Here is an interesting site for info

http://groups.msn.com/FrenchAndIndianWarHistory/frenchandindianwarhistory.msnw

[commissarmoody]

Thanks guys, i will check all thouse out. I was able to find a few ospreys books about the period and I also found the book Montcalm and wolfe and white devil (rogers rangers) and will be looking into geting that Empire collides along with a few more books focaseing on the major battles and some more ospray books about the solders involved.
Question are there any good books in english showing the war from the french point of view or what it was like to be a french solder in that conflect. Espesaly about what it was like to be a french colonal marian fighting on the fronter.

thanks

[Mad Doc Morris]

If you'ra after primary sources, check out the Documents Relative to the Colonial History of the State of New York Vol. X, ed. by Edmund O'Callaghan. Bougainville, who was a French officer at the time, wrote a journal of the "Wilderness War", which has been published in English by Edward Hamilton. However, I don't know any comprehensive guide to the soldier's everyday life.
The Ospreys are a good starting point, and a good read too, especially the ones from the Campaign series. Of particular interest are the both volumes about Louis XV's army dealing with the French infantry and the Colonial troops, they are a must-have. The both volumes about Montcalm's and Wolfe's army are a bit dated, but useful as an addition.

Since you are situated in the USA, it shouldn't be a problem to get the TV-series about the French & Indian Wars, which was released one or two years ago. It's called "The War that Made America" (LINK to Amazon) and gives some inspiring impressions of the war and its history - as far as it can be judged by me; sadly could only see some extracts as there's no official European or  region 2 release.

[Gluteus Maximus]

"Redcoats Along The Hudson", by Noel St John Williams is a decent intro to the war. Not many maps or pics, but the Ospreys etc will give you those, and it is an entertaining read.

[Aaron]

War That Made America is great. There is a companion book to go with the series, but I have no idea if it is any good or not.

For inspirational reading try anything by Allan Eckert. He writes "historical fiction" in that he invents conversations between historical figures, but the actual history he tells is accurate and compelling reading.

For a great source of F&I and frontier books in general, try Wennawoods publishing. They have a great bargain section! http://www.wennawoods.com/. They specialize in reprints of old and original books, but they also have new stuff like Ospreys. C. Hale Sipe's books are great if you are interested in the F&I in PA.

[commissarmoody]

kool I have a few of thouse books heading my way. 
Dose any one know how the perrys AIW size up to the conquest mins. also how well do the Eurika highlanders compare?

[Mad Doc Morris]

Conquest and Perry mix quite well sizewise. They are almost of the same height and figure. Although, watch out for the significant changes in clothing/uniform style from FIW to AWI. If you're painless enough, ignore it. If you want to portray the period accurately, there are now some choices for European regulars (if you need any for an average skirmish game). Think of Front Rank (bit chunky), Foundry (Baker stuff ) or better of Crusader and the upcoming releases from Conquest.
Haven't seen Eureka in the lead, but Giles Allison has some in his AWI regiments along with Perry. No striking differences, however, details are a bit soft.

[Aaron]

The Eureka figs match near perfectly IMO. The sculpting style is very similar to Perry and Conquest also. I have a 24 of the provincials painted up as the 60th along with 24 more to be the VA regt and batch of highlanders awaiting paint.

[commissarmoody]

Groovy! well I have some of the Eureka highlanders and conquest French Marines also heading my way.
I have to hold of on geting the indians and Rangers/light inf tell after chirstmass. I think I am supposed to buy stuff for other people this time of year. LOL

[Gallowglass]

I have some of the Eureka F&IW Provincials. These are very nice figs - slightly chunkier than the Conquest figures, but certainly "mixable".

The Perry woodland Indians mix very well with the Conquest figures. I've used the Perry American riflemen as well, and might use some of the southern militia as militia (oddly enough).

At the moment, it's Conquest's Rangers, Compagnies Franches de la Marine and some Indians, with a scattering of settlers and the Last of the Mohicans characters.

Rules: "This Very Ground", by the lads at Iron Ivan Games, with "Gloire" + "Among the War Parties" for the smaller scale stuff. I'm trying to work on a series of "linked" AtWP scenarios which reflect scenes from Last of the Mohicans, which go something like this:

The Deer Hunt - Hawkeye & Co. run down their dinner, cos they're hungry and stuff.
The Ambush/ Rescuing the Munro Girls - Hawkeye & Co. open up a can of old-timey whupass on the Hurons
Reaching Fort William Henry - obvious, innit? There may be Scotsmen. I dunno yet.
The Courier to Webb - runner(s) breaking through the French siege lines under cover of Hawkeye and La Longue Carbine (ooo-er, Miss Cora  )
The Masscre I - Our Heroes try to fight their way out of the Huron ambush. Old timey whupass etc.
The Massacre II - Magua and his boys are mean to a whole bunch of people in order to get up close an' personal with a certain Scotsman. Bit bloody.
The Massacre III - Get to the canoes, quick.

etc etc.

You get the idea.

[commissarmoody]

I like what your idea there Mr Gallowglass.
 Makes me wish I was still in NC, so that I could jump into that campaign with you. Dont be affended if I steal the idea my self ^_^

[Aaron]

The Ambush/ Rescuing the Munro Girls - Hawkeye & Co. open up a can of old-timey whupass on the Hurons

Oh dear, the historian in me cannot let this pass without comment. Canned whupass was not invented until the 1820s. You should restrict Hawkeye and pals to bottled whupass only! 

Sorry, every time someone brings up the book or movie on another board I visit one or two people feel the need to point out all of the inaccuracies so I couldn't resist.

[PeteMurray]

Actually on the frontier, it was called Wuppanasse from the Delaware, and was preserved by drying whoopass on racks, grinding it up and mixing it with cornmeal before baking into cakes.