Greenryth's Miniatures

Grenadier Battalion von Minnegerode Completed

2010-07-05T12:16:00.001-07:00

The first battalion is complete the Grenadier Battalion von Minnegerode. The rest of the details are in the post below. I hope you like them.

Hessian Grenadiers

2010-07-03T17:24:00.001-07:00

Right. I have been hard at work with my new 10mm Hessians and I have the first stand completed. The whole regiment will be posted soon and I am hoping to get my new camera to function better than this so please see this as a taster only. Obviously I cannot get as much detail on these as the 28mm but I think the models are excellent, without doubt the finest 10mm models I have ever seen. The variation in poses and detail is unbelievable. hat I particularly like is the effect of seeing 40 figures to a battalion as this unit will be. The unit represents the Grenadier Battalion von Minnigerode. The unit is made up of four companies from the Fusilier regiments Erbprinz, von Dittfurth, von Lossberg, and von Knyphausen. Each company has been painted to represent the parent unit. This particular company is from the von Dittfurth Fusiliers. I have gone away from using British Grenadier (which is a shame because I think they are excellent) as I don't see casualty removal working with bases like this and recording casualties will be a mess. I have instead written my own rules utilising several sets of rules I like (including BG as I have kept the disruption points system) and also a fantastic and amazingly original Throne of Bayonets (available here: http://guildford-wargames.org.uk/info/?page_id=27). ToB is a Napoleonic set of rules but elements of it will work for any horse and musket period game with a few tweaks.

The Army is no more... Well at least not in the UK

2010-06-30T15:20:00.000-07:00

Hi peeps....sorry its been a while between blog entries but there has been a reason for this. I have sold my huge 28mm to a chap in California! However, I have replaced the army with a Pendraken 10mm army which I shall be reporting on unit by unit. I am concentrating on the Germans first so I will be posting the first completed Hessian Grenadier regiment soon. I have 5 units of Grenadiers to post, 2 Fusilier Battalions and six Battalions of Hessian Musketeers as well as Guns and Jagers. So please keep your eyes peeled.

Greatest apologies for this

2010-02-05T16:49:00.000-08:00

Sorry guys....but I cant resist putting one or two of my fantsay and sci-fi based projects on here for people to see just so I can give examples of other styles of painting I sometimes indulge in. I do play the odd fantasy game, although historical gaming is my real passion. Below is a picture of one of my Space Marines I sold on ebay a few months back. I will be posting other off topic bits and bobs intermingled with the AWI stuff so don't be put off :) I am currently working on some ACW stuff too so now doubt that will be on here soon as well. I am afraid that I have given up on my Napoleonics at the moment, I just don't have the time to invest in another huge scale collection particularly one where I will need five times the troops I currently have for the AWI. I am now waffling.... so a space marine...what do you think?

Battle of Englishtown

2010-02-05T04:37:00.000-08:00

This was a smallish battle played out as part of the Germantown game we played a few weeks previous. With the British narrowly defeated at Germantown the Americans were on offensive trying to pin the remains of Howes army as it evacuated Philadelphia. The next engagement occured at Englishtown with the Americans in hot pursuit. As at Monmouth Howe turned retreat into a re-offensive luring the advance guard of the Americans to commit against his apparently numerically inferior rearguard. The Americans discovered the ruse too late. The militia Brigade sent to pin the British rearguard whilst the continentals manoevered into position for the killing blow, was utterly defeated by a strong force of British regulars. The elite companies of the lights and Grenadiers then bursts from the trees to the north to assail the two brigades of continentals who luckily managed to hold a strong position on the edge of English town behind some snake rail fencing. However this time the British proved nigh on invincible, fired by the need for revenge after Germantown. The Grenadiers and light infantry followed by other British regulars charged the strong American position. Despite some disruption to their lines the British surged forward and smashed into their counterparts routing the Maryland battalions causing crippling losses. What actually happened here was some amazing rolling by the British players rolling two lots of double six for the close combats! This effective broke all resistance and the Brigades disintegrated leading to an exceptionally heavy American defeat. In campaign terms the Americans withdrew back to Philadelphia as the British Cavalry caused havoc during the pursuit. The ascendancy after Germantown for the Americans had been lost.

Some British Generals too

2010-02-04T09:09:00.001-08:00

Not too much to say here apart form the fact that these are a selection of my British command. once again a mix of Foundry and Perry with some Foundry models on Perry horse and vice versa! I do promise to get the Continentals on asap..... sorry for the delay!

52nd Foot

2010-02-04T06:15:00.000-08:00

Right, I know I said more Continentals next but these have been sitting on my painting table for a while. I am not going to attach the Grenadier battalions that I paint to go with each unit and instead I will display these separately as several huge battalions of converged grenadiers, hence this regt is only currently 16 figures strong. I have painted each regt as a 20 man unit so I can attach or un-attach the grenadiers at will. If a scenario dictates I need a 20 strong unit I simply place the grenadiers on the table with them. Some may argue this is not historically accurate but I frankly don't give a monkey's!

I also do the same with my light infantry regts, which are generally 20 strong and quite frankly very vanilla ( they are sometimes loyalists as well). These are simple roundabout and slouch hat infantry. I sometimes portion these out amongst my other units to to bulk them out in times of need. This unit portrays the 52nd Line in their buff small cloths and facings. I have to say most of my British regts, say 60% were bought before the Perry brothers extended their range with their own company. these are Foundry figures and as expected are excellent. I intermix freely foundry and Perry miniatures and also the odd Eureka miniature for some flavour here and there. I like the standard regulation uniform and as I don't collect for on particular theatre I like a mix in uniform variations. The only theatre I have no dedicated British for at the moment is Saratoga, but that is currently being remedied. I am not completely convinced about the uniform changes in the Americas as none are particularly well documented (apart from Burgoynes amendments). I have seen sketches of troops at Yorktown quite clearly showing British foot in Tricornes so I think it was very variable. Most units garrisoned in New York and not actively campaigning would have worn the regulation uniform I think. As many of the units at Yorktown were also fairly new to the Theatre it would seem fitting for them to be in regulation dress. Overall, I don't think it matters too much, the mix of uniforms is something I prefer, although in the future I am going to add some more roundabout and shortend coat units to represent some more loyalist battalions and the odd British on campaign unit. Enough ranting now!

New Year...New Blog Priorities

2010-02-02T18:42:00.000-08:00

Again a massive apology to those who want me to post more stuff. I have had a hell of a year but this one will hopefully bring a bit more in the way of stability. So...I will post all of my units on my Blog, starting with my representation of a Virginia Continental Regiment (probably the 10th). I am very much in Gile's camp when it comes to painting units to represent what they were as opposed to the generic method and because of this I have spent a great deal of my time researching uniforms and generally copying Gile's regiments I like the look of! (SORRY GILES).

I like the individual appearance of the different uniforms which often gives a rag tag appearance to the American forces which I like. I also mix many civilian and un-uniformed chaps in each unit to enhance this look further. So there we go...the first unit to show you with many more on the way I hope.

I hope you like them.

So Irregular....

2009-05-07T09:01:00.000-07:00

I know and I am sorry ok.... my blogging is poor as ever. I am currently painting up a load of French Napoleonics from Perry and these should be on soon but first of all I thought I had update you on the next big project...Brandywine. Brandywine as you may or not know was the largest single engagement of the AWI and I have big plans to run the game over two tables sometime in July. I promise to add my Hessian contingent (once they are finished) along with other updates along the way. This will be my biggest project to date and the photo's will be much, much better....

Battle of Germantown - 4th October 1777

2009-03-02T03:30:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the delay regarding new posts but I have recently moved house and have been preparing for the Germantown battle. I have scrath built nearly all of the terrain and trees for the fight and painted all the miniatures myself. Due to the size of the engagement there are one or two units masquerading as something else in the photos but my collection wasnt quite big enough to compensate for everything.

As you may or may not know, I have been playing AWI games for quite a few years now and my preferred set of rules is Eclaireu's fantastic British Grenadier! We have played some smaller and mid sized battles with the rules and found little irregularity and we thought a larger game would allow us to see how the rules played for bigger engagements. We had some reservations with the scenario as depicted in the American War of Independence Scenario's 2 book (also by Eclaireur) but we decided to play it as written.

Below is a brief battle report that suprised us greatly in outcome but was immensely enjoyble.

The battle began, as the scenario dictates with Musgrave and the 40th and Light Infantry battalions reeling backwards after a brief slap with american forces. The fog meant order changes and firefights were at the bare minimum but as the Americans advanced the British formed a semblance of a line and began to pour on the fire. In the confusion a flurry of friendly fire saw one Continental battalion break to the rear and despite some casualties from the elite infantry to their front the remainder stood firm and traded volleys with the light infantry as the 40th dallied on their left flank trying to form a firing line of their own. In the thick fog the continentals poured down the road towards Chew House. A company of detahced skimishers raced ahead of the enemy desperately trying to reach the safety of the stone structure but the fog and enemy harrassment meant that by the time they got there they were heavily disrupted (three DP's). Some have even mentioned that looting might have been in eveidence.

As the Continentals continued to advance through the fog the 1st Light infantry seemed stoic in their defence of the fence line until out of the mist to their right a continental regiment unleashed a furious volley into their flank. This coupled with the firing to their front was too much for them to take and Light Infantry followed closely by the 40th began their retreat. The guns also limbered up and moved on. At Chew house a single battalion peeled off to deal with the threat of the 6 figures firing at them from the windows. This is one area I find the rules a little confusing. Fighting in BUA's (Built Up Areas) is an after thought both in the rules and in scenario. I think the rules for figting in fortifications stand up to scrutiny but it was difficult to see how 6 figures could hold out in Chew house when the rules dictate that normally BUA's can hold one battalion or two battalions dependent on size. We played the rules to the letter and Musgraves men were sent packing out the back (with candleabra's in hand no doubt). Greene's forces now started to emerge on the battlefield and the British line assembled near the camp began to move. agnew moved his forces towards Musgraves retreating men and Howe lead Mathews Guards, Grants men and Greys Brigade towards Greenes attempt to turn their flank. The British formed two lines and advanced straight at McDougals forces but the fog limited actual combat.

On the American right Washingtons men continued in road column to flood on to the battlefield and Greenes forces massed for their first attack with McDougal and Muhlenberg attacking in two waves. As the battlions advanced the British musket line fired and Greenes first casualties ocurred but the Americans weathered the storm and Mcdougal took the 1st Connecticut directly to the 49th. With shrill scream the Continentals charged, the British stood, fired and met the charge, but the sheer ferocity of the Americans bowled the british back and Grant was wounded in the fighting.

Seeing the victory in the centre morale surged through McDougals men and the Continentals vaulted the fences to bear down on the enemy. Casulaties were now mounting up on both sides as the fog began to clear. On the right flank the light infantry fleeing from the tide of Americans broke under the strain and dispersed the gun was abandoned and the 40th and Musgrave with the remnants of his command holed up in one of the small town houses on the main street. The huge battery on the hill now had some targets and began to disrupt the American line as they broke through the trees. On the right the American breakthrough floundered as the British found some backbone and began to fight back. The 1st Connecticut began to take heavy casulaties and was soon reeling. The Britsh recaptured the fence line and a fierce firefight ensued with both sides taking casualties. Charges from both sides had limited success but on the whole while the British stood firm, they took extremely heavy casualties whilst the Americans fled consistently but their preponderence of Brigadiers meant that many rejoined the fight non the worse for wear.

The right flank saw the Guards charge and cause several units to flee. The American guns were taken, but once again the returning units first isolated and then destroyed each British successful counter attack. The Guards, although effectively stopping the American breakthrough, bled to death and eventually retired to the rear with on of two units dispersing and the second well below half strength. The fighting was so fierce on the British right that several British battalions were nearing half strength and Agnew had been shot from the saddle. Muhlenberg men sttod firm and acted as a pivot point fpor Washington as he advanced and eventually the Americans formeda line of troops across the table. Agnew went to aid Musgrave with Grey and again the British formed line. And again the American numbers proved too much and line began to retire. Mclanes cavalry led by Washington himself charged the fleeing british and cut 44th infantry down, dispersing them in the process. He returned to his lines with huge cheers filling his ears. If the left was broken the right was still contested. Weedon's Brigade broke and fled the field and the British began to advance. The Queens Rangers and the Light Infantry With other regiments in support began to slowly push the Americans back as they reverted to a defensive stance. But the casulaties were still mounting. The British were now beginning to think twice when it came to charging the enemy and two or three charges failed to hit home. The previously retreating Americans on the British right had now rallied and returned to the fray almost completely fresh and in good order and Washington had also sent reinforcements across to quell the lack lustre British counter attack. When the battery unlimbered and began to fire Howe ordered the retreat.

Overall the battle was absolute fun. The problem with the scenario is the fact that the fog is not as demoralising for the Yanks as perhaps it should be and the huge amount of brigadiers means that rallying was fairly easy. After discussion we felt a better alternative would be to make the sub divisions of Sullivan etc that was ommitted from the scenario into the command level for the game and to ommit the brigadiers entirely from the game. This makes DP's harder for the Americans to lose adn also limits the amount of leaders around to rally. Having Chew House fall early probably made the game more entertaining in a way but I think that rules for fights in buildings need to be clarified. Finally we found a problem in Brigade morale as their is little distinction in quality in brigade morale when it comes to dispersing. We have now ammended this rule to include a Retire order implementation and also for retreating units to rout instead of disperse. We have said that all militia or levy will disperse if the brigade roll is failed whilst Elite Brigagdes will only retreat or retire. We have also added that Line units and above can self rally and do not need a leader present to do so.

I hope you enjoy the photo's (sorry about the quality).

Skirmishers and Generals

2008-12-18T04:20:00.000-08:00

It thought today I would post some of the skirmish models and leaders I have painted. The models featured are Lee's Legion Foot, British Light Infantry, riflemen and an assortment of continental and British Officers. I have also included photo's of one of my generic continental battalions in a mixture of coat colours. At the end is also a picture of an almost finished curassier for my Quatre Bras French...just as a sample.

British Light Infantry

These figures are from Foundry's British Light Infantry pack. They are dressed in the midified field unform worn by the British from 1776 onwards. Although some regiments only cut down their coats, others, like the light infantry tended to modify their coats into roundabouts. These jackets lack the lace, lapels and tails of the earlier uniforms. This is a very simple uniform but it still looks fairly smart and practical to me. These figures are based in pairs to assist in calculating musketry in British Grenadier!

Lee's Legion Foot

These figures originally started life as left overs from my 23rd Fusilier regiment. I had to do some quite extensive conversions, as I did with the horse. Again I had to trim off the lapels, cuffs and headwear. I built up the headwear with green modelling putty and added the turban and crest. The purple uniform is somewhat strange but seems to fit in with deserter descriptions.

The Legion fought extensively but earned its reputation during the southern campaigns, fighting well at Guilford Courthouse especially.

Riflemen

These rifle figures are again from the Perry range of figures and are extremely good figures. I have quite a few of these. I have formed a whole battalion (which I will show later) and have the same amount in skirmish order. They were orginally painted to represent the Virginian riflemen in the GCH campaign but I have used them as Morgans and Fergusons rifles as well.

Painting these figures is a challenge. I usually start with a tope base and give it several light washes of brown ink. This is then highlighted up to a bone colouration.

Generic Continental Battalion

This battalion has been formed round a core of brown coats with a few blue coats throw in for good measure. I think regiments of continentals should always contain a mixture of different coat colours and forms, including hunting shirts, shirt sleeves and civilean dress. Nearly all my battalions are formed this way. Very often new recruits to a regiment were dressed in the offical regimental uniform whilst veteran soldiers had to make do with the original coats they were issued with. I would never form a battalion of perfectly uniformed brown or blue coated soldiers as I dont believe there was ever a period where this level uniformity was achieved.

The flag is the Continental Standard first seen at Brandywine in 1777.

Brigade and Army Generals

These figures are a mixture of Perry Miniatures and Foundry. Painting up leaders and horses especially is one of my pet hates and for many moons we had to endure stand in figures or even markers to act as brigadiers!! I really am that lazy. I have recently gone through a painting frenzy with the officers (and still have about 20 more to paint). These are just a few examples of the generals I have completed. I particularly like the officer in the hunting shirt who has masqueraded as Morgan on more than one occasion. I hope you like them.

I love this model. Bit of a sad attempt at a dappled grey..more like a grey with white slodges.

I normally use this base as Greene or Washington.

Grasshopper Gun

Strangely this is one of my favourite models. It is really well scuplted and the movement of the horse being a bit of a pain as the handler reaches for his bridle is superb. The little gun was painted to represent one of the smaller 3pdr guns used by Cornwallis in the Carolina's. I dont normally go for painting my guns cornflower blue and usually paint my carriages a neutral wooden colour so that I can use them for both sides. Not historically accurate but much, much cheaper!!!

...sorry this picture is a bit dark!!

Not AWI but....

This is a quick picture of my "on the workbench" napoleonics which will be posted as they are completed. As you cas see this is a French Curassier Officer. I will be posting some line infantry, generals, chevaux-legers Lanciers and more curassiers soon!!!

Lee's Legion Standard

2008-12-18T01:18:00.000-08:00

I thought I would just show you the flag for Lee's Dragoons. It was first carried at Guilford Courthouse and was carried until 1782. It has been mentioned that the term US was not in common usage at the time and it may be possible that the motto should read "Lee's Dragoons". However, by this stage of the war US was a fairly common term.

I have been asked to remove this image from my website but it can be viewed at the Sons of the revolution website. http://www.vssr.org/flags_4.htm

I was asked to remove it as they needed special permission to have it on their website. I have had many remarks made that this flag was unlikely to have been carried by Lee's Legion and more likely to be an 1812 flag.

7th and 23rd Fusiliers

2008-12-17T02:12:00.000-08:00

The next two regiments, both present during the cmapaigns in the southern theatre are the fusilier regiments. Both of these regiments are made up from Perry Miniatures and work convincingly as light infantry or loyalist regiments as well when needed. Although the 7th have both the Kings Colour and their regimental standard I made the conscious decision to limited the standards carried to one and not two. First of all colour were generally not carried in the field because of contempt for the enemy (having it nicked would have had serious implications) and also because in the terrain of north America they were simply not practical. However, I do love the look of standards and I feel the Kings Colour has more impact.

7th Royal Fusliers

This unit took me a weekend to paint from beginning to end. The 7th Royal Fusiliers originally came to America in the shortened version of the grenadiers bearskin hat. However, it is almost certain that none of the fusilier or even the grenadiers used these in the field. I couldnt resist sticking with the bearskin for my Grenadiers however, but with the fusiliers I decided to stick with realism (besides, Perry only had fusiliers in the slouch hat).

Therefore, strictly speaking the basic uniform of the fusilier, compared to normal line regiments was no different. I have used Perrys line infantry in roundabouts marching stoicly towards the enemy.

The regiment had had a varied history up until its involvement in the Carolinas. It had not had much active field experience and I believe when it first encountered the enemy in the Guilford Courthouse campaign, especially at Cowpens, it was lacking in the necessary combat awareness to be fully effective. It was destroyed almost totally at Cowpens.

23rd Royal Welch Fusiliers

The 23rd had a bigger and more successful part to play in the war than the 7th and fought valiantly at Guilford Courthouse. The 23rd fought in almost every major engagement of the war (except Saratoga). They distinguished themselves in almost every engagement and even had the honour of serving as marines during '77 abd '78.

As you can see I used figures in the firing position for this regiment. I normally dont ike this pose as it looks rigid and unrealistic. However, the Perry's have managed to get some movement into the figures and you can imagine the men reaching for cartridges in a well disciplined and drilled way. I think they are great figures. I have added a Grenadier regiment to most of my units which givesw me the option to field a 20 strong regiment or to combine the grenadier companies into converged grenadier battalions.

1/71st Highland Regiment and Lee's Legion Horse

2008-12-16T11:44:00.000-08:00

As I have already spent the last few years putting together and painting my still unfinished AWI collection I thought I would slowly share it with you all. I will be photographing and adding notes on the various regiments I have already painted. I will also give you some notes on the uniform details and standards I have painted as well as giving tips on painting and modelling.

1/71st Highland Regiment

I have always had a thing for the celtic element of the British armed forces and feel that the celtic impetous and ferocity combined with the Germanic efficiency of the army is what has lead us from victory to victory in the field. I was looking forward to painting the highland regiments with kilts and tartan everywhere. My intial collection was to be put together to represent the armies partaking in the Carolina campaign during 1780-81. The problem was that after careful research I found that the kilt was ditched in favour of good old fashioned trews. This regiment took me a couple of days to put together and I was pleased with its outcome (even though tartan was scarce). I undercoat all my models in black and mainly use the layering method when painting. However I do use inks, washes and glazes where I need to. The flag was made from A4 paper painted and glued to the pole. I then bent it to shape and covered the lot in watered down PV in three coats. This makes the flag go rigid. I also spray varnished the models once they were mounted on the bases. The bases were covered in pva and sand and then painted black and dry brushed.

Lee's Legion Horse

I had problems when putting together this unit as there were no models (of sufficient quality) on the market. After researching the uniform I found it was similar to the British Legion. Although I like the Front Rank models I dont feel they fit in with Perry's very well as they do tend to be slightly more chunky in appearance. I decided that instead I would take the US Dragoon models from Foundry and use green stuff and a modelling knife to try and get the appearance I was looking for. I first trimmed the facings and cuffs from the model and used green stuff smooth out the jeackets. I then removed most of the helmet, just leaving a skull cap on the figure. I then added a turban and crest. I think they came out quite well. Unfortunately the Perry brothers then released the BL cavalry!!! Nevermind. Still, at least they are fairly unique...

My American War of Independence Collection

2008-12-16T08:05:00.000-08:00

My First Post - What is this all about???The purpose of this blog is for me to show all those who are interated a glimpse of my painting techniques, the miniatures I paint, the history I study and the wargames I play. I have been gaming for nearly twenty years and I play all kinds of games from fantasy to historical. My main love is the horse and musket era born out of the love of the bravery such men showed, the birth of national pride and the uniforms the soldiers wore.The first army I am going to show is my American War of Independence force, my real love and the conflict I study above all others. As this collection is almost complete I think most of the painting updates and new photo's will be of my Napoleonic Quatre Bras collection. This will be made up of units from both sides and will grow slowly using Perry Minitures. Perry Miniatures are my figures of choice although my AWI collection uses figures from Foundry as well. There are also cameo appearances from the odd Conquest and Front Rank miniatures and several packs of Eueka's excellent ragged continentals.My Napoleonic collection will be made up exclusively from Perry miniatures. I am also painting this army to a higher standard than my AWI collection. Having painted for many years both as a collector and semi professionally I have gradual built up my painting reportoire. My AWI figures were painted to a decent wargames standard but I have decided to take my time and try and get a collectors standard throughout my new Napoleonic army. My French Line are being painted in stages and I will show the gradual painting process of these as I go.A final note, I am happy to have anyone email for advice painting or even if they wish to participate in one of my organised games which will appear on this blog from time to time.