Back in 2017 I set about painting up a rather disorganised bunch of miniatures I'd amassed for a War of 1812 American force, and with these few miniatures I've now completed everything that I have for this project.
Those of a historical bent might notice a couple of things of interest.
Firstly, the War of 1812 lasted until 1815, and so completing this small project has actually taken two years longer than the war itself.
Secondly, the War of 1812 concluded with the Treaty of Ghent agreeing that everything should go back to how it was, "status quo ante bellum". At the beginning of this project these miniatures were sitting unused in the cupboard...and unless I can get really persuasive, it looks like that might be their fate.
At least they're painted.
I finished off the command for my Dragoons in the same was as the rest, except for the fact that as I was using parade uniforms (white breeches and not blue) the bugler is dressed in all white.
I dud realise that the silver helmets should have been black, so I took the time to fix that for the whole unit.
Finally I added a flag. I couldn't find out if the US Dragoons carried flags or guidons at this time (they would by the 1830s), and I'm pretty certain that this one is wrong. However, I did find a images on a blog of someone who'd done something similar, and so I figure that at least I'm not alone.
Additionally, given the amount of historical inaccuracies in this unit, I figured it didn't matter. They might as well have pointy ears and be riding unicorns.
The cannon and crew are the final part of the mismatched ebay bundle I picked up years ago and I left them until last as they are not part of the base army list I'm.planning to use for Sharp Practice.
The miniatures are from Wargames Foundry and are the least dynamic miniatures from that pack. I can see why they ended up on eBay as the crew look totally disinterested in firing the cannon.
The uniform is the 1812 pattern of the US Artillery and models with shakos would be more versatile for the war.
My small force already has somewhat mismatched uniforms which I'm handwaving away has supply problems in the outpost they are stationed at.
The uniforms are full of kit, braiding, turnbacks and other details that plague napoleonic uniforms and the Foundry sculpts are quite small and fiddly.
Added to this, the two with muskets have backpacks that took me pack to the frustration of having to paint an embroidered 'US' on each, as I had to with the line infantry.
The cannon (I'm not sure what size it is; I think it's a 9 pounder) was a fairly simple affair. I discovered from another blog that the Americans painted their artillery in a mid-blue (this might be a little dark) and they were usually made from cast iron rather than bronze, hence the fact it is black.
And so that's it. My Scouting Force for Sharp Practice is done. Technically I am short two models (one officer and one artillery crew) but my French & Indian War civilians can fill those gaps easily.
The base force is four officers, 16 line infantry, 8 cavalry, 6 riflemen and 6 woodsmen skirmishers. Depending on the scenario I can add in the artillery or use my Woodland Indians in a variety of roles (Warband, Skirmishers, Local Scouts).
So I'm finally ready for an actual game.
The Christmas bulwark continues to build and I have a healthy lead heading into the tail end of the year. Perhaps of more concern are the remaining boxes I need to tick off on the bingo card.
I might need to do something about that...
Acquired: 116
Painted: 192
* Is a project ever really over. I've noticed that North Star have a small War of 1812 range for Muskets & Tomahawks. They look nice...
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