King Philip's War 28mm figures - what's the look?

[Happy Wanderer]

Gentlemen,

King Phillips War is something of an enigma. If one looks around the Internet looking for suitable 28mm figures for the King Phillip's War you get responses from using 30 Years War Germans with match locks and apostles, ECW Irish, through to Grand Alliance War miniatures and then there is Brigade Games KPW range itself.

This in fact reflects a huge variety in the looks for KPW forces. Given the relatively small size of the colonies and their resources doesn't seem necessarily appropriate to have a such a kaleidoscope of varying types of troops and look.

One would think that there would be a general theme and look to each particular militia company. Whilst individual officers might have a splash of colour or fancy uniform the vast bulk of troops using their civilian clothing would present something of an 'ordered' look, albeit with a certain degree of individuality.

So to be specific, what would the colonist militia forces look like in 1675? Are they best represent by Brigade Games American type militia look or a slightly more regular and up-to-date uniform in the manner of European forces even though they are in fact in civilian attire? I guess it is possible to have some variation but what would your typical Massachusetts, Connecticut, or Rhode Island 'company' look like in 1675?

I've got the osprey colonial American books and they're not overly specific on the topic...they only briefly touch on aspects of King Phillip's War.

I'm really trying to nail down what the appropriate looking for a typical force of 50-60 figures from a single militia company that heads out into the bush taking it to the Indian forces.

Are there specific woodsmen types as the move to Indian tactics evolved?  Is this what the Brigade games figures are supposed to represent ie Benjamin Church 'ranger' types? Or would they still have the Puritan civilian clothed look at the start of the war and the end of the war.

Any and all comments would be much appreciated to help get a proper handle on what these trips really look like and what 28mm figures are appropriate.

HW

PS @ Lon at Brigade Games - will there be any further additions to the KPW range and if so what would they likely be?

[Inkpaduta]

Not exactly to your question but I wanted you to know that parkfield also do a line of KPW.

[Happy Wanderer]

Yes,

I saw them. To small for my use but the list shows 'militia' in the style of the Brigade Games figures.

That 'puritan high-top' hat is quite distinctive. I've seen pics of KPW civilians with a later floppy wide brim hat look...I guess both were in vogue...yes?

HW

[zippyfusenet]

It's possible to find good depictions of New England troops in King Phillip's War. I thought Dr. Chartrand's Ospreys were fascinating and helpful. Here's a painting of Massachusetts militia at drill reproduced on the cover of the recent A Rabble In Arms:

https://www.amazon.com/Rabble-Arms-Massachusetts-Militiamen-Philips/dp/0814797342/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1490032762&sr=1-2&keywords=a+rabble+in+arms

To respond to your specific questions:

The Brigade Games KPW figures are exactly right. ECW or TYW figures might do in a pinch, but are really 30 years too early, and perhaps look too much like professional soldiers. Regulars from the Glorious Revolution are entirely out of place.

There were no uniforms and no cavaliers in 1670s New England (maybe in Maryland or Virginia). All troops mobilized for KPW were militia, they wore their own civilian clothing. Buff coats would have given some appearance of uniformity. Officers might have sashes, and possibly half-pikes as badges of office, but these would likely have been discarded in the field.

In the later part of the war, volunteer ranging companies did the most effective service, hunting down Indians for the bounties on prisoners and scalps. These men were still militia, perhaps with more of a 'frontier' look to them, and with many 'praying Indians' in their ranks.

While not everyone in 17th century New England was a Reformed Church member, and even some members broke the rules (especially second and third generations), the Reformed Church was very much in control of Massachusetts, and set the tone for the whole region.

The Puritans were Plain Folk. (The Pilgrims were *not* Plain Folk, but Puritan Massachusetts greatly overshadowed Plymouth Plantation in numbers, wealth and influence by the 1670s.) The Puritans believed that ostentation in dress was a sin. Sumptuary laws made dress above one's station also a crime. Wearing clothing made from homespun cloth in drab colors was not only economical and practical, but a display of virtue. A farmers' son who sported a calico shirt, a scarlet coat or brass buttons on his coat would be censured and chastened in church. Records of such exist.

Some brimmed hats would have lower crowns than the classic 'pilgrim hat', and knit caps were in common wear. Helmets were probably used when available, since they protected the wearer from arrows.

[michaelsbagley]

Just to add to the above... mixing in some longer coats (civilian, not military, but the differences would mostly be how one paints the figure) would be appropriate.

Having done a bunch of reading on the era, in one of Rev Mathers sermons regarding the war, he explicitly calls out the casualties of war being god's punishment for the New Englander's adoptation of modern fashion (i.e. longer coats as opposed to the traditional "Puritan" shorter coats). How wide spread the wearing of these "modern" fashions were, and any ideas of ratios of older styles to new is (as far as I know) completely an item for subjective interpretation.

[Happy Wanderer]

Hi zippy,

Thanks for your excellent reply.

That picture on the front of the book is a picture of the first muster, Salem 1637 by Don Troiani...so certainly out of period for KPW.

It seems to me that what you're saying is that using earlier period troops from the 30 years war you are and later troops from the grand alliance period would in fact be incorrect.  That's certainly good information to know.

The next question which I simply cannot seem to get an answer to is just how big and weighty these figures are? I want to try and see if they match the Redoubt Miniatures Indians that I have already in my force.thise figures in fact vary in size a little bit are not all of one 'big' size.

I'm looking for a side-by-side comparison shot and would really appreciate if anyone has these figures to be able to put up a pic with a selection of anything else that's appropriate size wise be they Perry, Brigade Games, Redoubt, Renegade, TAG, etc.

Hope someone can help in this regard as ordering samples from the US to AUS is not viable.

Cheers

Happy W

EDIT: Michael, that's a useful anecdote. Thanks. Maybe some variation is quite OK up to a point.

[zippyfusenet]

Good catch on the Troiani painting, thanks. I don't have a single Redoubt figure in my collection. I can tell you that the Brigade Games KPW are very consistent in size, I have 6 packs of them. If you have any Front Rank 18th century Indians, the Brigade KPW are a close match to them in size and heft.

[Happy Wanderer]

Hey Zippy,

Thanks for that.

I have a FR WSS soldier next to two Indians in this pic below. They match pretty nicely with the added 'heft' of his uniform and equipment. Would that mean (I'm guessing yes) that the BG KPW mins are a close fit to the FR figure in this shot...yes?

[zippyfusenet]

Here's a scan of the figures we've been discussing. A column of Front Rank Indians is on the left, Brigade KPW Indians are in the middle, and Brigade KPW Militia on the right. I agree with you that the WSS uniform adds heft to the soldier in your pic. The FR Indians in my scan seem less bulky. In your pic, the Redoubt Indians look just a bit taller than the FR soldier. In my scan, the Brigade figures look just a bit taller than the FR Indians. Based on these pix, I think Brigade KPW and Redoubt Indians will match very well.

KPW

[Happy Wanderer]

Hi Zippy,

Sounds like these figures will work together. I'll order some BG Pilgrims and when I get them I'll put up some direct comparison shots.

...gotta get those minis now 👌

Cheers

Happy W

[Tym]

Pictures of my lot.  Brigade Games miniature.  The Standard bearer and drummer figures are by TAG

http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=86188.msg1060611#msg1060611

[M.P.]

KPW is one of my favourite colonial conflicts, but as you I've got a problem with determining the looks of colonial combatants of this particular war.

First I've tried to find some books on early american fashion, some period paintings, and I've found this:













The last one is, I think of particular interest. You can  see (or guess) that those depicted soldiers wear justacorps with cuffs just below the elbow and that their hats are not of pilgrim style (high flat top with a buckle, those were called capotains and do not have such buckles, and they were popular in the 1st half of the XVIIth century). As for the other clothes - I've read (I don't remember where) that american fashion of that period was influenced very much by the fashion of the Netherlands (apart ofc English fashion).

More here:

http://www.americanrevolution.org/clothing/colonial5.php

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/10115/10115-h/10115-h.htm#I


So from what I've found:

Headgear: monmouth caps, hats with low round tops broad-brimmed, low hats with flat top and narrow-brimmed, long knitted caps:
Torso: wide shirts with baggy cuffs, waistcoats, necktie, justacorps (not the tight ones,  collarless ones, not belted one)
Legs: tight breeches just bellow the knee
Footwear: buckled shoes and the so called "jack-boots"

Infantry

Musket: 
Plymouth Colony - mostly some flint igniting kind of lock (be that snaphaunce, doglock or the proper flintlock) pretty much no matchlock

The rest: 1675 some matchlock, 1676 mostly  some flint igniting kind of lock

Cavalry
Massachusetts Cavalry: "all well mounted and completely armed with breast, headpiece, buff
coats, sword, carbine and pistols. Each of the twelve troop
then in the colony was distinguished by their coats." (excerpt from a primary source in Chartrand, 2002)

As for the other colonies, I've read that their cavalry was not as well furnished as their Mass. counterparts - so maybe buff and lobster pot or only a breastplate (or any combination of aformentioned)? Wether they used carabine I have no idea.


So I think that in 28mm scale these minis are of particular interest:

Cavalry: any combination of NorthStar's 1672 range cavalry (except for Mass. cav. - Armoured Cavalry in Helmets but with added carabine) and Brigade Games KPW Dragoons and Front Rank's CAVALRY WEARING BACK & BREAST PLATE & TRI BAR HELMET

Dragoons:
GS18 - Dismounted Dragoons in Hat Firing

Infantry:
Front Rank's Late 17th Century Monmouth Rebels (but patrons should be converted to ammo pouch as per B. Church suggestions)

Regards,
     Tom








 

[zippyfusenet]

Good post, MP, fascinating paintings.  I wish I knew exactly who is portrayed, from which colony at what date. The fourth portrait, the whiskery guy in the buff coat, looks earlier than the rest.

My own opinion is that the New York and New Jersey colonies would have been most strongly influenced by Dutch fashion, that the gentlemen of the Maryland and Virginia colonies would have indulged in fashion, while clothing styles in Puritan New England would have been more restrained. However, I don't have much graphic evidence to support my opinion.

[Happy Wanderer]

Excellent post Tom,

Lots of good ideas and suggestions.

In a follow up to my original post I have uploaded part II of my look at King Philip's War. Hope you guys can pop over and maybe gleam something useful.

Regards

Happy W

http://wp.me/p1YrZG-1pl

[M.P.]

Very interesting post Happy Wanderer .

Skulking way of war is a great book. Check this one : https://books.google.pl/books?id=YvEZld-L0PMC&pg=PA318&lpg=PA318&dq=Captain+George+Curwen.&source=bl&ots=wM10GYcAap&sig=41RbdFbNFqITJt9M0RWFYxkgDao&hl=pl&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjCtIHQo__SAhWBNJoKHd_JCGs4ChDoAQgsMAM#v=onepage&q=Captain%20George%20Curwen.&f=false

Good post, MP, fascinating paintings.  I wish I knew exactly who is portrayed, from which colony at what date. The fourth portrait, the whiskery guy in the buff coat, looks earlier than the rest.

Ok so here's what I've got:

pic. 1 Cptn. George Curwen (1610-1685), painted ~1670s
pic. 2 John Freake, painted in the first half of 1670s
pic. 3 Cptn. Elisha Hutchinson, painted after 1675
pic. 4 JOhn Leverett, painted in 1670s
pic. 5 Mjr. Thomas Savage, painted circa 1679
pic. 6 Close-up from Seller's Mappe of New England, 1675

Regards
    Tom