Rehabilitaing the Past - War of 1812 project



It actually being 2012, I thought it appropriate to re-base and complete my War of 1812 collection as well.  Back in 1998-2000 I determined that I was going to paint up units from the US army representing all of its various incarnations.  The War of 1812 seemed like a great jumping off point as :


  1. I was already painting up British Peninsular War Units
  2. The period seemed exotic as no one else was covering it.
  3. All I have to do is paint them blue, right?  Right?

Thus began a long, fun ordeal of trying to find resources in the Proto-internet period.  I actually used these for a custom scenario of Queenston Heights at the former Game's Faire convention in Spokane, and then followed up the following year with Lundy's lane.


These figures were originally based for a modified version of Johnny Reb on 3/4" by 1" stands, and then again on 1.5" squares for a friends rules called "Anatomy of Glory"  I am no longer enamored with the idea of base removal in games, I decided to do these in Battalion stands of 12-16 figs each.

Currently I have completed my Baltimore militia:



Some ACW figs I used for PA militia

Two Battalions from Scott's Brigade


And some generic later war Regiments


Many of these figs are from other Napoleonic ranges, as I could only find limited sources for US forces of the Napoleonic era back then.

Of all my units, these are probably my favorites.  The US 1st Dragoons


And a collection of US Riflemen in hunting Jackets.



I still have several units to finish rebasing, and I am still considering reorganizing them into 2-stand units just for the visual appeal, especially for the Indian Warbands.


Comments

  1. Jonathan FreitagOctober 14, 2012 at 6:32 AM

    I like the idea of no figure removal and 12-16 figures per base for a variety of reasons. Your 12 figure stands look good. What size are your bases? One addition I have been making to my 15mm Napoleonics and SYW is to add one mounted officer with the12 foot figures. On my 2.5 inch frontage, adding the mounted figure increased the unit density. More interesting presentation for my eye. Looking good!

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  2. GonsalvoOctober 15, 2012 at 7:58 PM

    I'm presuming these are 15's?

    One advantage of TWO bases per unit is that allows you to represent essentially all formations - Line, Column, Column of March, square, and Skirmish.

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  3. DartfrogOctober 16, 2012 at 1:49 PM

    Actually Jon, your collection was the inspiration to finally make the move away from my old 4 stand units. I really prefer the look of the regimental bases. I have now decided to paint most battalions as 2 stands of 12 figs each, just because I like the look of modelling column vs line movement on the board.

    For bases, I have the Infantry on 2.5" x 1.5" stands, and the cavalry on 2"x 1.5" stands. I like your idea of including mounted officers, and may do that with the 2nd battalions as I like to do two standards on the primary stand.

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