British Legion Cavalry

Just a reminder that Fife & Drum Miniatures added Tarleton's British Legion figures to the range in 2014. You have a choice of seven different poses plus Bloody Ban himself, all guaranteed to make any Continenal feel a little bit uncomfortable.

BC-003 Banastre Tarleton 

BC-025 British Legion Officer

BC-026 British Legion Trumpeter 

BC-027 British Legion Trooper Hacking

BC-028 British Legion Trooper Charging #1

BC-029 British Legion Trooper Charging #2

BC-030 British Legion Trooper Shouldered Sword

BC-031 British Legion Trooper Firing Pistol

The figures are sold individually and include the horse and are $6.00 per figure. 

To order, send me an email at: altefritz1740@yahoo.com. PayPal accepted.

I will be moving a few of these guys onto the painting table soon as I get to work on my Cowpens Project. I want to get my forces painted and ready to go in time to game the battle on its anniversary on January 17 (1781) 2015.

Painted Pix: Tarleton's Legion & 17th Light Dragoons

British Legion (7 poses) from Fife & Drum Miniatures. (Click to enlarge)

Well, here they are. I have finished painting "onesies" of each of the new British Legion cavalry (7 different poses) and the British 17th Light Dragoons (4 different poses). I also have four new 3rd Continental Dragoons that I have yet to paint, but I hope to get them done and posted this week.

I have started mailing out all of the Kickstarter orders to backers. I have to take the packages to the post office in small batches of up to 6 boxes, because Mrs. Fritz broke her left wing and can't carry anything of substantial weight (and she was my mid-week courier). So most of the orders will be mailed on Saturdays, but I should have most of them in the mail by the end of June.

British Legion Command

British Legion charging with swords drawn.

Two charging poses and one hacking.

Shouldered sword and firing pistol.

And here are the British 17th Light Dragoons. They spent the latter part of the war fighting in the Carolinas, attached to Tarleton's British Legion. The men of the 17th refused to don the green coats, but instead, kept their red regimentals (and/or wore smocks in the summer months).

British 17th Light Dragoons - all four poses.

Reverse side of the previous picture.

Bloody Ban Tarleton Is Painted

The Banastre Tarleton Personality Figure from Fife & Drum Miniatures (click all pix to enlarge)

I was able to paint and base the new Banastre Tarleton figure that we have added to the Fife & Drum range of AWI miniatures. The figure shown in these pictures is seated on one of the six new medium sized horses that we added specifically for the AWI range, with the assumption that the heavy cavalry horses of the Minden range would be more suitable for the heavy cuirassiers and dragoons of the SYW era. Over here in America, the horses tended to be a lot smaller because the armies did not use their dragoons for heavy shock action tactics.

Front view of Tarleton

I think that Tarleton cuts a dashing figure and Richard Ansell did a wonderful job of conveying the spirit and elan of the cavalryman. He was really a lot of fun to paint and rather an easy job at that too, because the figure is not loaded down with a lot of equipment. The new (one of six new horses) is another walking pose - very life-like and natural in appearance.

When I look at this figure, my mind wanders into the future when we add the British Legion cavalry and I can just imagine Bloody Ban leading a frenzied charge against a line of shaky American militia. I imagine that the full regiment will look rather spectacular.

Left rear view of Tarleton

Banastre Tarleton - Fife & Drum Personality Figure. (click to enlarge)

And finally, here is a Work In Progress picture of the Knyhausen personality figure that I am working on. He has a ways to go before I can finish him off and base him, but I thought that you might enjoy the preview nevertheless.

Baron von Knyphausen, commander of the Hessian corps in North America. Work in Progress photo.

Tarleton Is Coming!

Banastre Tarleton, after portrait by Joshua Reynolds.

The Fife & Drum Kickstarter Project is progressing very well, having reached and passed the initial funding goal of $5,000. We are now within $615 of hitting our first Stretch Goal of $8,000 and this will unlock the Tarleton personality figure as well as his British Legion cavalry figures.

Like him or hate him, the man certainly had a lot of dash and style as exemplified by Joshua Reynolds' famous portrait of Tarleton. This is one of the iconic pictures of the AWI and the British Legion uniform is a real piece of eye candy, as we would say today. I am excited by the probability that we will be able to add these figures to Fife & Drum Miniatures. We are so close, but we need just a little more help from you to get across the Stretch Goal finish line. 

So please click on the link to our Kickstarter Project and take a look at our story

Fife & Drum Kickstarter Project Page

You can make contributions as little as $1.00 or if you back the project at the $50.00 level then you also get a free Spirit of '76 vignette. In any event, many small contributions often add up to a big number. 

best regards,

Fritz