AWI Hessians Are Available For Sale

Hessian Grenadier and Musketeer firing line figures.

The AWI Hessians are now in stock and they are ready for on-line sales today (Friday July 8, 2016) at the Fife & Drum web site and on-line store:


Fife & Drum On-line Store

Hessian Grenadiers and Musketeers Marching

New Product Codes:
Here are the new product codes for the Hessian range. Command packs will include 4 figures for musketeer units comprised of an officer, standard bearer, NCO and Drummer. Grenadier command packs will consist of only three figures because Hessian grenadier battalions did not carry standards. The marching packs will include 8 figures. The firing line packs will have 8 figures including 4 of the second rank pose and 4 of the standing firing pose.

HP-001 Musketeer Command, Marching ( 4 figures - officer, std bearer, NCO, drummer) - $8.00

HP-002 musketeer Command, Firing Line (4 figures same as above, but standing) - $8.00

HP-003 Musketeers Marchig (8 figures per pack) - $16.00

HP-004 Musketeer Firing Line (8 figures: 4 each of firing and 2nd rank) - $16.00

HP-005 Grenadier Command, Marching (3 figures: officer in tricorn, NCO & Drum in mitres) - $6.00

HP-006 Grenadier Command, Firing Line ( 3 figures: officer, NCO & Drummer) - $6.00

HP-007 Grenadiers Marching (8 figures) - $16.00

HP-008 Grenadier Firing Line (8 figures, 4 each firing and 2nd rank) - $16.00

HP-009 Extra Standard Bearers (pack of 2 figures) - $4.00

Fife & Drum July Fourth Sale Announcement

Spirit of '76 vignette, by Richard Ansell

To kick off the Fourth of July 2015 weekend, Fife & Drum Miniatures is offering a new 1776 Deal for our North American customers. Any orders for American Revolution (AWI) figures received before July 15th, 2015 will receive FREE SHIPPING and a 10% DISCOUNT for the entire order.

There are two ways to order:

1) place an order via e-mail to: fife_drum_minis@yahoo.com and type the words "1776 Deal" on your email to receive the discount and free shipping.

2) place an order on the Fife & Drum website Fife & Drum Miniatures Web Site which creates an automatic Paypal order (however, I will have to refund your 10% discount via Paypal since our web shopping cart doesn't provide for discounts).

This offer is only good for customers in North America and applies only to the AWI figure and equipment range.

European customers can now order Fife & Drum figures directly from our UK-based distributor, Crann Tara Miniatures. This will save our Eurozone customers on customs duties and reduce the overall shipping charges. (NOTE: the 1776 Deal does not apply to orders placed with Crann Tara Miniatures).

Crann Tara Miniatures

Battle of Kolin Game at SYWA Convention in 2005

Kolin game initial setup, March 2005

While I continue to convalesce from surgery on my right wrist, I thought that I would post a few favorite pictures from the past with minimal commentary. This first sentence alone took me 5 minutes to
type. These pix were taken at the SYW Association convention in March 2005. This was my first try at terrain boards. 6ft by 24ft table as I recall with one back table for the Kaiserstrasse and all RSM figures.

KOLIN game in progress, March 2005

New Figures: 3rd Continental Dragoons

3rd Continental Dragoons - New Fife & Drum Figures

3rd Continental Dragoons (L-R) Trooper, Officer, Std Bearer, and Trumpeter (click to enlarge)

Fife & Drum Miniatures recently added the 3rd Continental Dragoons to its range, along with the previously released 1st Continental Dragoon, the British Legion (Tarleton's) dragoons, and the British 16th and 17th Light Dragoons. 

The group of four figures are done in "charging" poses and are shown on some of the new horses that Richard Ansell made exclusively for our AWI range of figures. They can match up against our British Legion and British 17th Light Dragoons in either the Pennsylvania - New Jersey theatre of operations or with General Greene's command in the South.

Regimental History (paraphrased from Troiani)

The 3rd Continental Dragoons were raised on January 9, 1777 (so they will fit right in with the 1777 Philadelphia Campaign) by Colonel George Baylor. While recruits and horses were readily available in his native state of Virginia, the shortage of horse equipment and weapons limited his recruiting to only one troop. The troop was attached to General Washington's headquarters guard and became known as Washington's Bodyguard or Lady Washington's Horse. The troop served in this capacity until 1778.

The regiment was virtually wiped out when it was surprised in an attack on its billets in Tappan, New Jersey on September 19, 1778 by British light troops. Half of the 104 men on hand escaped and attempts to re-raise the regiment were unsuccessful as it never exceeded a squadron in strength after Tappan.

A squadron of the regiment served in the Southern Theatre of Operations, under the command of Lt. Colonel William Washington. They were amalgamated with elements of the 1st Continental Dragoons (also available from Fife & Drum Miniatures). The combined regiment fought at the battles of Cowpens, Guilford Courthouse and Eutaw Springs.

Officer (left) and trooper charging (right)

Standard bearer (left) and trumpeter (right)

The new product codes for the 3rd Continental Dragoons are as follows (sold as single figures including the horse):

AC-018    3rd Continental Dragoon Officer

AC-019    3rd Continental Dragoon Trumpeter

AC-020    3rd Continental Dragoon Standard Bearer

AC-021    3rd Continental Dragoon Trooper, Charging

Figures, including horse, are $6.00 

To order, just send me an e-mail at: 

fife_drum_minis(at)yahoo(dot)com

Paypal Accepted

Tarleton's Legion & 17th Light Dragoons - painted pictues

British Legion Cavalry - 7 poses (click to enlarge).

Here are some pictures of all of the British Legion and the 17th Light Dragoons that are now painted. When you put all seven of the British Legion poses together you really begin to appreciate how animated the figures are, en masse.

(L-R) Officer, Trumpeter, Firing Pistol

British Legion (L-R) Officer, Charging #1, Charging #2, Shouldered Sword.

British Legion (L-R) Charging #2, Charging #1, Hacking.

British Legion (L-R) Shouldered Sword, Firing Pistol.

And the I was able to paint all four of the British 17th Light Dragoons that were just added to the range. I had them done in charging poses so that they would fit in with the British Legion in the Carolinas Campaign.

17th Light Dragoons (L-R) Officer, Trumpeter, Firing Pistol, and Charging.

17th Light Dragoons - Reverse side of the picture above this one.

Tarleton's Legion Dragoons Have Arrived!

Group picture of Tarleton's British Legion at the charge, showing all 7 poses. click all pictures to enlarge the view

I just received two large boxes full of castings from Griffin Moulds today, and the shipment included the new Fife & Drum AWI Dragoons: British Legion Cavalry (7 poses), the British 17th Light Dragoons (4 charging poses) and the 3rd Continental Dragoons (4 charging poses). I only had time to glue, blackwash and photograph the British Legion figures this evening, so I will do the rest of the figures in a day or two and post the pictures here.

Let's let the pictures tell the story:

Command figures: officer (left) and trumpeter (right)

Two charging variants on two different charging horses.

Shouldered sword trooper on walking horse.

Firing pistol and hacking downward.

Tarleton personality figure (left) and two 16th Light Dragoons skirmishing.

I will be sending figures out to the Kickstarter backers first, starting next week, but after that the figures are available to everyone. If you did not participate in the Kickstarter campaign you are probably kicking yourself wondering why you did not back the campaign. Not to worry, feel free to pre-order any of our Continental or British AWI dragoons and I can start shipping in two weeks. There is no payment necessary until I am ready to ship you your figures, but the pre-order ensures that I am able to set aside the figures that you want.

For the time being, we are selling the cavalry as single figures, but eventually the plan is to package them in packs of two or three figures.

British Legion Product Codes ($6.00 each including horse)

BC-003   Banastre Tarleton Personality Figure

BC-025   British Legion Officer, Charging

BC-026   British Legion Trumpeter, Charging

BC-027   British Legion Trooper, Hacking Downwards

BC-028   British Legion Trooper, Charging Variant #1

BC-029   British Legion Trooper, Charging Variant #2

BC-030   British Legion Trooper, Shouldered Sword

BC-031   British Legion Trooper, Firing Pistol

British 16th Light Dragoons ($6.00 each including horse)

British 16th Light Dragoons

BC-010   16th Light Dragoons Officer, Pointing

BC-011   16th Light Dragoons Trumpeter

BC-012   16th Light Dragoons Trooper, Shouldered Sword, Uniform Coat

BC-013   16th Light Dragoons Trooper, Shouldered Sword, Hunting Shirt

BC-014   16th Light Dragoons Trooper, Rested Carbine on Right Thigh

BC-015   16th Light Dragoons Trooper, Firing Pistol

BC-016   16th Light Dragoons Trooper, Firing Carbine

BC-017   16th Light Dragoons Trooper, Loading Carbine

British 17th Light Dragoons($6.00 each including horse)

BC-018   17th Light Dragoons Officer, Charging

BC-019   17th Light Dragoons Trumpeter, Charging

BC-020   17th Light Dragoons Trooper, Charging Variant #1

BC-021   17th Light Dragoons Trooper, Charging Variant #2

New 1st Continental Dragoons

All 8 poses of the 1st Continental Dragoons, circa 1777. (Click to enlarge)

I was able to paint all 8 of the new Fife & Drum 1st Continental Dragoons as samples yesterday - that's a pretty good painting pace, finishing 8 cavalry, from start to finish, in one day. I always paint at least one of the figures complete - start to finish - because this gives me a better feel for how to paint the rest of the figures: i.e what order should I paint the various bits and pieces of equipment and cloth. Once that first figure is painted, then the others follow more quickly.

Here are the new product code numbers for each of the eight new figures:

AC-010  1st Continental Dragoon Officer, pointing

AC-011  1st Continental Dragoon Standard Bearer

AC-012  1st Continental Dragoon Trumpeter

AC-013  1st Continental Dragoon Trooper with Shouldered Sword

AC-014  1st Continental Dragoon Trooper, rested Carbine

AC-015  1st Continental Dragoon Trooper, Firing Pistol

AC-016  1st Continental Dragoon Trooper, Firing Carbine

AC-017  1st Continenal Dragoon Trooper, Reloading Carbine

1st Continental Dragoon Command (L-R): AC-013 Trooper, Shouldered Sword; AC-011 Trumpeter; AC-012 Standard Bearer; and AC-010 Officer (click pix to enlarge)

Another view of the command figures, same order left to right. Obviously the Trooper with shouldered sword is not part of the command group - it was just convenient to photograph the figures in groups of 4 figures.

The figures are sculpted such that one could create a regiment with a more formal appearance, an open order skirmish appearance, or a mix of the two. For a more formal looking regiment, use the four figures shown in the two pictures above. For example, you might select one each of the officer, standard bearer and the trumpeter plus nine of the trooper with shouldered sword to create a squadron or regiment  of 12 dragoons.

The you could add one each of the four skirmishing poses (firing pistol, firing carbine, reloading carbine or rested carbine) to bring your wargame unit up to 16 figures, which is probably a good number to have in most AWI games. The skirmishers could either augment the strength of the unit, or if you base your cavalry on the standard 2-inch square base, you could remove one stand of "formal" dragoons and replace it on the table with two individually-mounted skirmishers.

1st Continental Dragoons skirmishing (L-R) AC-0016 Firing Pistol; AC-014 Rested Carbine; AC-017 Reloading; and AC-016 Firing Carbine (click pix to enlarge)

If you want a more open, skirmish order look to your regiment, then I would recommend selecting the officer (pointing to where a target is) and perhaps the firing pistol and firing carbine and reloading figures. Then, you could have a reserve in your skirmish line consisting of the trooper with the carbine resting on his right thigh and perhaps even the standard bearer and trumpeter posted in the rear with the reserve line. I would use the standing horses for the skirmish poses.

I elected to paint the 1st Continental Dragoons in their earlier brown coat with green facings uniform, which is kind of drab when compared to the more spectacular red coats of the British 16th Light Dragoons that I painted last week. The regiment later converted to a blue coat with red facings. I used the brown  coat since that is likely what the regiment wore during the Philadelphia Campaign of 1777-78, which my AWI Continental army is modelled after.

Ordering Information: you can place a "pre-order" with Fife & Drum now, but you will not be charged anything until I am ready to ship the figures. I just need about a week to process orders from some of our Kickstarter backers (they get their figures first) and then after that, I can start offering the figures to everyone else.

To order, just send me an e-mail at the address posted on the upper right hand corner of this page:

fife_drum_minis@yahoo.com