I managed to get in some painting today because I took the day off from work. The kids are off from school so it's "daddy day care" around here!
The British Regulars that I primed this weekend are certainly not quick to paint. I did get most of the base coats on and started a few highlights though. I'm trying something a bit different with them after the Marines came out well; going to avoid using washes on them at all and see how it goes. I started the flesh with a darker shade than normal because of this. We'll see....
I have chosen to paint them as Otway's 35th Rgt, but I had to try out a bunch of different shades of Orange because I was getting annoyed that none of them would cover well! Even Macharius Solar Orange let me down (and I don't know any paints that cover better in one coat than the old GW Foundation paints). I went with Reaper Master Series HD Fire Orange in the end. The 35th anchored the right flank of the line at the Plains of Abraham along with the Louisburg Grenadiers so I'm sure these guys will serve me well on the battlefield!
Also, I was very excited to see that my Highlanders from North Star arrived. I have been waiting for these guys for a while. I hesitated about whether to buy them because North Star figures are generally a bit larger than true 28mm. Since I am going with Conquest for the majority of my FIW troops, I didn't want these Highlanders to look like giants. They just looked so cool though that eventually I caved in and ordered them.
Here is comparison shot to see the size difference. From left to right it's a Conquest Regular, the Conquest Highlander Officer (promo model that came with "Last Argument of Kings"), a Eureka Highlander, and a North Star Highlander. As you can see, the Eureka is small even next to the Conquest model. He looks tiny next to the North Star one. My fears are confirmed! Oh well, they are awesome looking models though, so hopefully it won't be too noticeable once they are painted up on a table full of terrain. Maybe the Eureka guys will be the light company :)
There are not too many troop types I need to fill out my FIW collection at this point. I have French and British Regulars, Marines, Provincials, Militia, Civilians, Highlanders, Grenadiers, Indians.... The one glaring omission is Light Infantry. On the British side, the Regular Light Infantry had a distinct look and a particular role to play. I gotta get some! I'm thinking Old Glory for these.
Also, since my armies have grown to a decent size, probably going to get some artillery. Not much, but I had originally thought I'd avoid it entirely. I will probably get at least one gun for each side. Not sure which manufacturer.
I could use a few more characters / officers, and finally, I'd like to get some boats. The French & Indian War was fought along the waterways of North America, so I think it would be fitting to have a few Canoes / Bateaux / Whale Boats for certain scenarios. I have a couple of Indian Canoes but not sure how I'm going to address the others... Redoubt makes some. I'm not crazy about them but might be the only option!
Oh well, for now I should just finish these Brits! After they are done I will have more than enough troops to host some fun games of Song of Drums and Tomahawks. It will be a little longer until Muskets & Tomahawks is ready though.... hopefully by the end of this year.
Cool... I wasn't sure which manufacturer to go with for the cannons... and I also was thinking about not buying any at all! I have 32 cannons from one of my ship models which scale perfectly, but the carriages are different. I have to research how common it was to use the naval guns on shore... I think it was a pretty frequent occurrence.
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