Citizens of New France

Hello again.

My on-going aim this year in the absence of a big project is to concentrate on one or two little ones instead. To that end, I have "done" my 10mm fantasy figures for the "Warband" rules by Pendraken Miniatures (see previous posts in the library), I have "done" my very long awaited Mordor Orcs (ditto on the posts bit) and, now, I am nearing the completion of my mini-French and Indian Wars set up.

Despite my interest in the Austrian Empire and general desire to collect something Austrian if they are present within a conflict, I have generally shied away from the eighteenth century, when Austrian armies are surely at their most common. Then, lo and behold, when I do venture into the Lace Wars period, I head off to the New World (will I ever fulfil my desire to "do" India???), where never an Austrian set foot - well, not in anger at any rate, at least not till the 1860's as far as I know.

It was "Muskets & Tomahawks" that first caught my eye, hot on the heels of my first forays into SAGA. The project sat on the back burner whilst I busied myself with other things for various show games, but then "Sharp Practice 2" arrived, a copy of which I bought at the Stafford show back in July. This was the catalyst to hold forth on my 10mm ACW, 54mm WW2, 15mm 1859/ 1866 and all the other projects I have in the wings and take my first, tentative steps into the wilderness of North America's eastern states.

I have long owned the various Ospreys on Louis XV's forces, so started with the French, well, after a brief (six months-ish for six figures!!!) affair with some Woodland Indians. My French are now all done, except basing, but I still need some more command for SP2 games. And then there's the Compagnies Franches de la Marine. And some more Milice Canadienne. And some more line infantry...

Here are the first of my French, then, in the form of Coureurs de Bois and Milice Canadienne. The figures are all AW Miniatures - large-ish 28mm, chunky and characterful, and easy enough to paint. I am indebted to a website I found when I typed "Milice Canadienne" into my search engine, the name of which escapes me now, but it was from a group of ere-enactors and had a detailed list of kit worn by these troops, as well as photos of the people in action to add to the words.

SP2 only allows for one unit of Coureurs de Bois, just six figures, so I was initially at a loss to what I should do with the other twelve figures I had bought from AW marketed as CdeB. The website was invaluable for this alone, as the figures looked identical to the Milice Canadienne re-enactors. So, the CdeB are painted in a rather less regular fashion than the MC to distinguish them on the tabletop.

To add to the goodies, a recent article by Diane Sutherland in "Miniature Wargames Battlegames" magazine covered building log cabins and one of the recent "Wargamers' Annuals" had a wonderful campaign set up fought out by the Grants, father and son.

What is not to like about inspiration of this nature??? Manna from Heaven I call it!

G

Coureurs de Bois. A unit of six is all "Sharp Practice 2" allows, but "Muskets & Tomahawks" allows for at least three. Were they really that good?

My Milice Canadienne, dressed mostly in regulation white shirts and red caps.

And a closer view. Not a tree in sight...