Thursday, 13 September 2012

RP No 87 - FIW 60th (Royal American) Foot



After General Braddock's defeat by the French and Indians in 1755, the British Government recognised tactical errors were made, it was decided to raise a regiment of four battalions who understood Indian style forest warfare. They were mainly recruited in Europe from English, Scots, Irish, Dutch, Swiss and Germans and from German colonists in North America. The regiment was named the 62nd, or Royal American, Regiment of Foot; but it was re-number in February 1757 becoming the 60th (Royal American) Regiment of Foot, when the 50th (Shirley's) and 51st (Pepperel's) foot regiments were removed from the British Army roll after their surrender at Fort Oswego. From this unlikely collection of foreigners and cast-offs was fashioned one of the most renowned corps of the British Army.
Among the officers recruited in Europe were two able Swiss soldiers, Henri Bouquet and Frederick Haldimand, who commanded respectively the 1st and 2nd battalions of the new regiment. Bouquet trained his battalion as light infantry, emphasizing the skills required for forest warfare. Haldimand also adapted his European experience to war in the American wilderness.
The 1st and 4th battalions of the 60th accompanied General Abercromby's advance up Lake Champlain in 1758, and participated in the disastrous assault on the Ticonderoga position the following July. In November, Bouquet's 1st Battalion played a major role in the successful advance to Fort Duquesne, which secured the western border of New England against the incursions of France's savage Indian allies.
In 1758, the 2nd and 3rd battalions were assigned to the forces of General Amherst for operations in eastern Canada. Both battalions were present at the capture of Louisbourg, and moved on to Quebec with Wolfe the following year. The performance of the 60th at Montmorency Falls on 31 July 1753 won the regimental motto Celer et Audax (Swift and Bold) from General Wolfe.
The 2nd and 3rd battalions fought at the battle of the Plains of Abraham on 13 September 1759. The following year elements of all four battalions participated in the final advance to Montreal.

Once again the figures come from Essex’s 15mm SYW range and are based on Peter Pigs circular metal bases.

Cheers!










60 comments:

  1. Really cool unit, it looks great with the picture in background. What do you use to base them?

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    1. The bases are small metal discs measuring 15mm in diameter, sold by Peter Pig. I've used these because they're magnetic, and this will make the units easier to store and easier to move as a mass during a game. I do aim to make some magnetic bases for them to sit on as well.

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  2. Nice unit, and great oicture in the background

    Regards

    Hobbyworker.

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    1. Just a pic I found online, I was getting bored with plain white.

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  3. Nice unit, I especially love the flags and basing.

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  4. Nice work indeed! Great background also to go with it. Which ruleset will you use with these mini's?

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    1. I have written my own skirmish set but they still need a little work! I also plan to use Habitants & Highlanders, a great set of FIW rules.

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  5. Great painting and a interesting narrative Ray. Well done.

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  6. Very nice Ray! You did a great job on those Essex...I'm afread to repeat, but "very nice painting style, great flags, love the bases"...and a special mention for the background...

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  7. Great paintjob, had to double check they were 15mm not 28mm. Interesting regimental history.

    Regards,
    Matt

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  8. Nice one ray. Really good paint job.

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  9. Nice paint job Ray, I really like the history bit (hencemy nicking the idea for my ECW)

    Background also adds to the effect

    Ian

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  10. Nice!
    A really good paint-job, especially the hand-painted flags!
    (And a little bit of history is never wrong.)

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  11. Very very nice Ray. Really like the background too.

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  12. Another great unit and interesting historical info. I too like the new bacdrop.

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  13. nice figures and very good painting work ! (15mm is so small!)
    The historical documentations are very interesting: thanks because it's not a period that I know very well, but I have some interest with it.

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  14. Good work, Ray. I'll take an Indian in the shadows of the forest with a bow, than a foot soldier on foot in a field. Beware the "swish swoosh" sound of a tomahawk in flight!

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  15. Really nicely done Ray! As others mentioned I like the background as well!

    Christopher

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  16. Sir Rousell, My hat off to you. You are a serious war machine.

    Ben

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  17. I love the detail work on the flags.

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  18. Great figs, Ray! I use metal bases for many of my figures but I use washers from my local DIY/hardware store. Great flags, too. The moulded flags on Essex models aren't the easiest to paint at times.
    Speaking of the recruiting of the 60th, it's not well known that there were many thousands of Gemans settlers in the colony of Pennsylvania at the time of the French and Indian Wars. There were quite a few Poles, too.

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    1. I hate the moulded on flags, in this period the English have quite an easy flag to paint, try painting an Austrian one!

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    2. Oh, I have! I hope to post photos later!

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  19. I concur with the rest, these are exceptionally well done, Ray. I especially love the attention to detail on the flags. I am not a lover of 15mm stuff, but work like this does occasionally tempt me.

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  20. Well done. I really like the unit. I am getting ready for a Sharp Practice game this weekend and such a unit would look fantastic on the table. Nice job.

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  21. These are superb Ray, the backdrop really sets them off to.

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  22. Excellent. I like the ones with the lobster helmets..they look well hard.
    Cheers
    paul

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  23. You really have learned how to make use of that photo-box Ray. You're photography is excellent here. Very noticeable improvement and the backdrop is great.

    Is it okay with you if I download some of the close-up pics you have here to use when I paint my men. It will give me a good way to study shading, highlighting and faces when I go to paint my troops.

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    1. No probs Anne! And the pics were taken without a photo-box too!

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    2. Thanks Ray!

      How did you do it then.

      Bloody hell I'm being nice to you. Don't worry, it won't last as I still owe you payback on that crack about me being 60!

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    3. Not quite sure to be honest???? he he! I've been waiting for some comeback!!

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    4. Anne to me you're like an early 30 year old cailin, nice work Ray!

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  24. Lovely work Ray! What rules do you use for these?

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    1. My own set that I'm still working on and another set Habitants and Highlanders.

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    2. Ah, brilliant! I'll have to get a copy from you when you have them ready. I LOVE collecting rulesets.

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  25. Very nicely done Ra. I'm still amazed at the amount of detail you manage to paint onto these figures.

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  26. Well done, Ray. Especially for 15's. It's a very cool period. Any chance we'll get a look at your skirmish rules?

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    1. Hopefully soon, send me an email Mike. rousell68@yahoo.com

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  27. Great paintjobs. It's a good looking unit that you've photographed very well.

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  28. These guys (and all of your FIW) troops look great. I'm impressed to see FIW in 15mm. I just started painting 1/72 figures for this conflict. Hopefully I'll have as large and well painted army as you do.

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    1. Cheers Andrew, I'll look forward to seeing some of your figures!!

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  29. Huh - I'm glad I read through the comments. I was going to ask what you did differently with the flags, and then saw Grenzer's comment ;)

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  30. the backdrop makes this one pop. :)

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  31. Great looking unit Ray, and an interesting change of style in basing. Are these to be used as skirmishers to go with the troops you have already done, or for a differing set of rules ?
    I like the backdrop shot, a nice touch.

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    1. They're to go with my other FIW figures and can be used as either line or skirmish troops, using my set of rules and another Habitants and Highlanders.

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  32. I really like the "duck hunters".. lol, but the effort put into all of them is impressive.

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  33. Another nice job Ray. I am not a fan of 15mm figures but you show they can look really good.

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  34. Now these boys really stand out. Some of your best work yet IMO.

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  35. I really love this kind of figures. I'm also very interested in this period, so thank you for the background information!

    They are excellent painted!

    Greetings
    Peter
    http://peterscave.blogspot.be/

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  36. My favourite British Infantry Regiment, and these are the first models from Essex I painted "some" years ago... A very nice unit, and an interesting piece of History.

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