Continental Army

Though the American War of Independence began with the brave everyman of the militias picking up arms and defending their towns, the war soon grew beyond the scope of such an army. Though fighting  for ideals, their fervor rarely reached beyond their own towns to strategic concerns of the war as a whole. While Concord and Bunker Hill showed the world what men dedicated to a cause could achieve against even the might of the British Empire, the disaster at Long Island showed the limits of using less trained soldiers with looser command structures. If the war was to be won, America would need to raise an army of Regulars. The majority of the figures are Foundry uniformed militia figures. These had various states of dress and accoutrement.

My regulars are painted in the ubiquitous blue coats and red facings of the Continental Army. To garner a sense of hodgepodge, I painted their uniforms slightly different from each other. Small clothes are done in either a white, off-white, or buff color, in various states of cleanliness. Below is a continental from Front Rank. Though a little larger and rounder than his Foundry cohorts, and wearing long gaiter-trousers instead of breeches and stockings, he fits in the unit quite nicely, and tends to act as the squad's NCO.

The Foundry figures, being technically sculpted as uniformed militia instead of full Continental Regulars, have various dress and equipage. Many have only a cartridge box. Some have no shoes, and the hats also have some character.

The Foundry set presents a firing line, with the soldiers at different stages of reloading and firing. They work well en masse, as well as individually. Below is one of my favorite figures, both for the cartridge ramming pose, and for being barefoot.

And finally, one of the more, er, regular regulars. He sports a military cocked hat trimmed in white lace, and gaiter trousers. I like how the set (+1 frontrank figure...) represents a small cross-section of the regular Continental Army. The variations sculpted in the uniforms give them a more presentable look than my group of militia, while still looking a little less put together than my British Regulars.