British Light Infantry Battalion

British Light Infantry Battalion (36 figures)

I have been working on the first battalion of the British Light Infantry establishment during the AWI, circa 1777. Using Greg Novak's book, "The War of Independence in the North - We Have Always Governed Ourselves," as a guide (page 24), I selected the first battalion for the reason that it had 8 companies and I thought that would be a large enough unit for wargaming purposes.

The first battalion consisted of the following flank companies, drawn from their parent regiments: 4th, 5th, 10th, 17th, 22nd, 23rd, 35th, and 38th.

Their facing colors are as follows:

4th and 23rd  (Blue)

10th and 38th (Yellow)

5th (Green)

17th (White)

22nd (Buff)

35th (Orange)

This gives me a nice variety of facing colors. In my organization, each stand of 8 figures (on a 40mm side by 80mm length stand) will represent one of the companies listed above. Thus, each stand will have its own distinct facing color. That should be kind of cool!

British light infantry with 4 companies deployed to the front and 2 companies providing a reserve or support.

The picture above breaks the unit down into two parts so as to shorten the frontage. Eventually, I will have 8 stands of light infantry and separate them into two "wings" of 24 figures each.

I like to trick out the bases a bit by adding parts of rock walls, boulders, tree stumps and dead tree trunks to create a mini diorama on each base. Click on the picture above to enlarge the view and get a closer look at the terrain effects. I used all 8 of the Fife & Drum British Light Infantry poses mixed in a variety of ways on each stand. I found that the 40mm depth (width) was sufficient to ensure that the bayonet did not extend over the front edge of the stand. This will minimize damage from handling and also allow one to form columns of companies without fear that one stand will be bayonetting the backs of the stand in front of them.

I really like the way the individual figures work together in a dynamic way: lots of action and lots of diorama possibilities with the available poses. I like to stick at least one figure on each stand towards the front of the base. Once you push all of the stands together, the one figure at the front per stand gives the appearance of a loose files two-rank line. Again, this is done with the idea of minimizing damage from handling the figures.

Fife & Drum Continentals - Painted

Fife & Drum Continental Drummer

I have not posted anything in awhile, but that is largely due to the fact that I have been busy painting samples for show as well as some Continental regiments for service in my AWI wargame army. With sales rather brisk and pulling figures out of the inventory bins for my own usage, I had to restock more of the Continental command and firing line figures, which will probably arrive next week. So if you want to order some figures in time for Christmas, then send those orders in ASAP so that I can get them mailed before the last minute Christmas rush.

If you would rather use the old fashioned method: US Postal service, then feel free to send me your order along with your personal check (US customers only) to me at:

Fife & Drum Miniatures

67 W. Mallard Lane

Lake Forest, IL 60045

Phone: (847) 924-1518 (cell phone number)

Fife & Drum Continentals in brown uniform coats. Buildings were made by H.G. Walls.

1st Pennsylvania Regt. circa 1777 - firing line.

I wanted to see how the Fife & Drum firing line poses would look as one regiment. So I chose the 1st PA regiment (brown coats with green facings and red lace) using all of the Continental firing figures. For variety's sake, I also recruited some of the American militia figures so that I could get some brimmed hats and long coats into the regiment. I think that you will agree that the end result is very pleasing to the eye. I particularly like the sense of "action" and dynamic energy that the figures have when they all come together in one unit.

The following figures were used in the firing line shown above (30 figures):

1 x A20 Continental officer
1 x A21 Standard bearer
1 x A22 Drummer
6 x A24 Continental standing firing
5 x A25 Continental at the ready
4 x A26 Continental with ramrod, loading
6 x A27 Continental cocking musket

1 x A1 militia officer holding sword in both hands
2 x A4 militia standing firing - tricorn
2 x A5 militia standing firing - brimmed hat
1 x A7 militia cocking musket - brimmed hat

I hope that you find this "recipe" helpful in constructing your own units.

One more thing about firing lines: I hear wargamers say that they don't like this kind of pose because the muskets extend over the base and can either break off or bend from wear and tear, or they prod the stand in front of them when they are lined up in a march column. My solution is to place most of the actual firing poses in the back row and have their guns pointing forward at an angle of say 30 to 45 degrees. The figures that do not have guns and bayonets sticking out can be placed in the front row. One of my favorite poses is A27 Continental cocking his musket. I tilt him sideways so that his musket extends across the front of the stand rather than sticking out over the edge. The effect is very nice. Give it a try yourself. I can say that none of these muskets are going to break off, nor are they going to stick the guy in front of them since all muskets are at an angle.

Continental Command Pictures

Pennsylvania regiment with skirmishers

I have some new pictures of the Fife & Drum Continentals that I painted over the past couple of weeks that I am posting today. The pictures show what the new command figures (officer marching, NCO, drummer and standard bearer) look like.

Close up view of the command group. The NCO is on the stand to the right of the flag stand, first figure on the left with musket in his right hand.

Some of the skirmishing figures depicted in both brown and the traditional blue uniforms.

I am currently working on a unit of the 3rd Pennsylvania Regiment, decked out in brown coats with white facings and buff trousers. I hope to have them done within a week from today, afterwhich their pix will be posted on this blog.

The next items in the design queue will be British line infantry and British grenadiers in bearskins. These will probably roll off the production line in January 2012.

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Continental Command Figures Arrive!

This is just a quick note to let everyone know that the Continental infantry command figures arrived today along with considerable reinforcements for the rank and file and for the British Guards. So now we have everything that you need in stock to create Continental regiments (marching and firing), British Guards, British light infantry and American Militia.

I will post pictures within the next couple of days and hopefully paint some samples over the weekend.

British Guards & Continentals Pix

British Brigade of Guards figures from Fife & Drum (click pix to enlarge)

I have finally been able to post some pictures of the painted samples of the latest figures that are now available from the Fife & Drum range of AWI miniatures. The picture above depicts the eight figures representing the Brigade of Guards. The two figures on the left are the flank companies soldier and NCO, both are wearing the hat-cap with a front plate and horsehair roach. The grenadier and light companies are only differentiated by the ensignia on the plate of the cap: a grenade for the grenadiers and the letters "LI" for the light infantry.

In a pinch, one could also use the centre company figures for line infantry. The main difference is that the Guards wore a bayonet scabbard on the front right side and they had a "tub & strap" water canteen instead of the metal canteen used by the line regiments.

Please note that when you click the picture to enlarge the viewing, that there is some distortion in the pictures which become larger than the actual figures.

Guards centre company men skirmishing.

Guards centre company command.

(L-R) Guards centre coy. man, centre coy. NCO, flank coy. man, and flank coy. NCO

Same as previous picture

I also have some of the Continentals samples painted for your inspection. Please note that the infantry command figures (officer, drummer, standard bearer and NCO) are at the caster's having the moulds made for production, so I should have Continental command and marching and skirmishing figures shortly.

(L-R) Continental mtd officer, 4 marching variants, Continental general.

Continentals skirmishing or use for a firing line.

Continental skirmishers face off against British Guards.

As always, if you are interested in ordering these figures, then contact me via e-mail (altefritz1740@yahoo.com) to place orders or obtain more information.

Continentals & British Guards Castings Arrive!

This afternoon I came home from work and found a large box sitting on the front hall table in my house, and much to my great surprise, it contained a ton of new Fife & Drum Miniatures hot off the casting machines at Griffin Designs in the UK. Needless to say, I was very excited and opened the box with a great sense of anticipation. The castings are beautiful and they are very crisp and clean, just as one would expect from anything done by Griffins.

The British Brigade of Guards

First of all, we have eight castings to represent the British Brigade of Guards circa 1776-1777, both centre and flank company headgear. To my knowledge, no one else has ever designed the Guards Brigade in the 28/30mm size. So this is quite a first. I will post pictures and stock numbers for the Guards over the coming weekend, so keep on coming back for a visit.

B10 Guards Officer marching with fusil

B11 Guards Drummer - centre company

B12 Guards NCO - centre company

B13 Guards centre company man marching

B14 Guards centre company man standing firing

B15 Guards centre company man cocking musket

B16 Guards flank company NCO/Officer in cap

B17 Guards flank company man in cap marching

The centre company officers, drummer and rank and file are all wearing brimmed hats, turned up on the right side with a feather in the hat. I suppose that in a pinch, you could use these figures as line infantry figures. The primary difference between Guards and Line is that the Guards have a bayonet scabbard and a wooden canteen (think St Bernard Whiskey canteen). The Line would not have the bayonet scabbard and would have a round canteen.

The flank company figures are wearing a sort of jockey style cap with a front plate and a brim, with roach/plume on the top and back of the cap. You can paint the flank company figures as either grenadiers or light company men simply by painting a grenade or a hunting horn on the front plate. The Guards did not carry standards during the AWI so there are no standard bearers with this batch.

Stay tuned for pictures over the weekend. I hope to have some samples painted by then.

The Continentals

Next we have the American Continentals in tricorn hats, with a nice assortment of marching and skirmishing poses. The first four poses are being worked into moulds, but they have not been shipped to me in the first shipment. They should follow shortly. The other 8 foot and the officer sets are now available.

A20 Officer marching                  NOT AVAILABLE YET

A21 Drummer marching                "         "                      "

A22 Standard bearer marching      "         "                      "

A23 NCO marching                      "         "                      "

A24 Continental man standing firing

A25 Continental man standing at the ready

A26 Continental man loading musket with ram rod

A27 Continental man cocking his musket

A28 Continental man marching (breeches, tumpline, half gaitors)

A29 Continental man marching (breeches, tumpline)

A30 Continental man marching (trousers, blanket roll across chest)

A31 Continental man marching (breeches, tumpline)

AC1 Mounted general with horse  ($5.00 including horse and rider)

AC2 Mounted officer or ADC with horse ($5.00 including horse and rider)

All infantry figures are $1.80 per figure, sold as individual figures. All mounted figures come with the horse (2-piece castings of rider and horse) and are $5.00 per set.

Continental Mounted Officer Greens

I received a pleasant surprise today with the arrival of these pictures of the Continental officers and horse greens that were sent to me by Richard Ansell. Good things are well worth waiting for and these certainly fill the bill. As shown in the pictures, we will be adding two American officers to the range: one pointing and one riding with his sword drawn at his side.

Their faces seem to have a lot of character, as you can see by clicking on the pictures to enlarge the view. With the completion of the mounted officers, Richard now has a full set of 16 figures to take to the caster (12 foot, 2 officers, and 1 horse - which takes up 2 slots in the mould). So it shouldn't be too long before we get these gentlemen into production.

I'm excited. Can't you tell?  :)

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