"N. American troops in fictitious Lace Wars Europe?" Topic

NORTH AMERICAN TROOPS IN FICTITIOUS LACE WARS EUROPE?
I- Regular infantry recruited from european settlers
Historically impossible –colonies were unable to defend themselves, troops had to be sent from Europe. One can nevertheless endvisage (toy with) ‘what if' drastic events that would make such a ‘reversed' transfer of troops (on a very limited basis) possible. Actually the cooccurence of both would probably had been required to free spare troops.
I-1: Jacobites in exile. France ceded some of her canadian territories (Acadia) to England by the Treaty of Utrecht. If the french settlers have not yet been expelled (from 1749 on, historically), there you have a british territory with a catholic population. After Culloden the Pretender could have flown here to establish with french support a «Legitimate British Kingdom in Exile».
Likely uniforms? Probably trying to keep to the full english tradition (all red, typical lapels and regimental lace), within the limits of local resources (same very red?) and perhaps some french influences (large cuffs, gaiters –is that me or did the ‘english' gaiters actually raised higher on the thighs than ‘continental ones?); english mitre displaying the red lion of the Stuarts instead of the hanovrian horse.

I-2: Irish independantists. OK, no potatoes and no blight yet in Ireland, but Irish already had reasons enough to cross the Atlantic in search for a better life. Possibly they could have progressively infiltrated a sparsely populated protestant territory, and taken the power and claimed their independance once numerous enough, as the WASP did later in Texas. Again with french support.
Likely uniforms and flag? Perhaps similar to the fantastic vision of the ‘Wild Geese' at Fontenoy on link
(image picture )
though the gaiters should be white (exchange with the waistcoat).
Grenadiers certainly NOT with mitre; perhaps austrian bearskin with ‘bag' (also worn by french light troops grenadiers, e.g. in Fischer's chasseurs foot battalion).

I-3: Common features and actions. Given the terrain, resources and historical precedent, cavalry would be too rare and precious to be parted with; ‘line' infantry battalions have a ‘left flank' light company in addition to the traditional ‘right flank' grenadiers (use some suitable FIW minis?).
With the British pinned by the french and these two new threats, both independant catholic statelets can loan (at a high price) a contingent to any anti-Hanovrian european coalition. A contingent small in strenght but potentially with some political weight.

II: The Oumpah-Pah case
In 'Oumpah-Pah vs. Sick Liver' (by Goscinny & Uderzo, better known for their Asterix character), a ‘German' state' (stereotypical Germans -WWI light felgrau coat, white small clothes, grenadier mitre of the prussian guard 1st regt. up to 1894 -but, 'accurately', officers in tricorn) tries to recruit Mohawks-like allies. Perhaps, rather than a single individual coming to Europe as in Oumpah-Pah vol.4 (and in the 'Pact of the Wolves/ Brotherhood of the Wolves movie), a whole battalion could have been raised from the Flat Foot tribe to be used as skillful (and exotic) equivalents of Grenzers/ Jagers in the european theatre? It would make sense that, at time when recruiting 'exotic' troops -imitation janissaries, Bosniaks with turban- was so fashionable, a german Person In Power would have push the search for exotism as far as the West Indies: Mohawks being more conforable in the central Germany weather than sepoys from the East Indies!
Their dress would be interesting: after some time in Europe it would be a mixture of Native American and european clothes, so the body could be that of FIW/ AWI coureurs des bois, rangers/ insurgents in hunting shirt and even Davy Crockett-type trappers; a mere headswap with a true Mohawk and here you have your Flat Foot Auxiliaries. Tomahawks, sheathed knives, scalps can be cutted from the beheaded Indians and glued to the belt of the final mini. Very small real feathers (from any edible poultry) can be glued where required before undercoating. It would be appropriate for a warband integrated in a regular european army to be at least partly uniformed, so paint all shirts, ‘capots', jackets, coats of any design and hunting shirts in an uniform color. Avoid green, already used by european jägers: were not some hunting shirts dyed violet? A *transparent* paint (as to paint imitation stained-glass) somewhere in the iris/ mauve/ puce/ red beet range, over a buckskin/ buff undercoat would give an adequatly subdued, yet original and interesting, final result. Pick up the ‘fringes' with bukskin/ buff, perhaps red for subchiefs. Subchiefs can wear some kind of fur bonnet (Davy Crockett-fashion without the racoon tail) with feathers added, mostly hanging down.

As for a ‘command group'… usually light troops did not carry a flag on the field, and wargame light infantry units are generally deprived of any musician and standard. Yet the Grassins *had* a full set of flags, and a command group is always interesting to convert and paint, so…
For the musician/ signaller, Indian drummers minis are generally seated, or stand upright playing a *huge* tomtom. If you cannot find or convert an ‘Indian dancer playing his belly drum', an europen drum would be too cumbersome and out of character: then what about some kind of hornist?
As for the flag it would be far smaller than contemporary european infantry types, having to be carried across dense woods: rather of the dimensions of a french late napoleonic infantry flag. Its main colors are unavoidable: as for the US Army indian scouts, red and white. Their badge (two crossed arrows) is far too simple for Lace Wars times; what about Primo de Rivera design for his Phalange Espaınola, with a bow instead of a yoke above the five arrows? In blood red on a white field. If you are talented and patient enough (or if you print the flag), you can add a small figuration of the typical Native American ‘thunderbird' diagonally in each corner.

The Chief : a very interesting conversion. Chiefs liked to copy the dress of european officers, so some archetypal ‘caraibe pirate captain' could provide the body. If you can substitute a large typical indian mace or a musket to the boarding sabre, so much the better. If your chief wishes to wear a tricorn (asthey often did) an headswap is unavoidable (pirate captains are always bearded): exchange with some Insurgent or better give him the head of some Household cavalry officer or brigadier-general. Add feathers, not as much on the hat than hanging on the temples. Rim the hat with a *large* golden lace, and generously enlarge the lace/ braiding initially scupted on the mini: the coats specially tailored to be presented to chiefs add more lace than a french Gardes du Corps captain's. On Xmas/ new year time one can buy colorless nail varnishes with minute glittering metallic flakes (gold, silver or even ‘fire copper'): very convenient to easily highlight the rim of the tricorn and the (raised) lace/ braiding moulded on the coat. If you use a matt or satiny protective varnish, a final local coat of glossy varnish will fully restore the sparkling effect.

Annex: fictitious Lace Wars countries: Web Resources
Interested, or merely intrigued, by the concept of fictitious Lace Wars countries, armies and campaigns?
– On battlegames.co.uk under Old School Games you'll discover awesome photo reports of battles between fictitious Lace Wars armies, in the full tradition of C. Grant's «The Wargame» and P. Young's «Charge!».

- The ‘Emperor vs Elector' blog emperor-elector.blogspot.com is devoted to a diplomatic and wargaming campaign between fictitious Lace Wars countries. Here you'll find links to the 22+ (currently) blogs each devoted to one or several ImagiNations. Some are just emerging, other already offer the map, history and descriptions of the armed forces of the blogger's country. On some of them you'll also find links to similar blogs not (yet) integrated in the campaign. To these I add two relevant web sites: ° link for the Pils-Holstein Campaign, 1755. Phil's troops are marvelously painted; all units are fictional (even the Auvergne infantrie regt., since depicted in the uniform colors of Royal-Auvergne after Yorktown; in pure ‘Old School' tradition, the name and flag of both cavalry units conceal a discreet pun.
° miniaturewars.com for the ‘Fictional Countries' pages.

To quote Jeff Hudelson, owner of the ‘EvE' blog: Here is the URL of "Emperor vs Elector". Read through back posts and see if you'd like to join us: emperor-elector.blogspot.com
-If you'd like to join the group blog, "Emperor vs Elector", please email me at . . . bluebear@uniserve.com . . . (ISP is . . . uniserve.com . . . since Yahoo cuts them off ofaddresses) and I'll see that you get an invitation.

- An important proportion of the initial membership of both the Old_School_Wargaming and SOCDAISY Yahoo groups was ‘hooked' to the hobby by C. Grant's «The Wargame» and P. Young's «Charge!» and thus was familiar with the Vereinigte Freie Städte and the Electorate of Teutoberg-Althaufen. As such, while being just one among other topics (rules, minis, painting…) dealed with there, fictitious countries and armies are part and parcel of the original ethos of both groups. Beside the archived messages, you'll find mythistorical and fictitiuniformal studies in the ‘Files' and some really eye-candy (some really impressive) fictitious armies in the ‘Photos' section.

Unfortunately I cannot remember the author but about twenty years ago I read two "what if" novels. The first supposed that Bonnie Prince Charlie had raised a rebellion in North Americs. The second started with the premise that Corsica had been ceded to Britain rather than France & that Napoleon had a succesful career in India as a British general culminating in his rebellion & march across Asia to Europe supported by hordes of Maratha light cavalry. He was finally defeated by a British general called Wellington just outside Brussels at the field of Waterloo.
Does anyone else recall the author and titles?

Maintaining a solid frontier would allow for 'Colonial' troops to be recruited for Europe. Though plenty of expeditions could be conducted to secure valauble islands.

The employement of Colonial troops as naval assets is one aspect that is often overlooked. Colonial troops from along the secured area of the coast could easily be envisioned as naval crews and quick strike landing party troops in the Med. or Carb.

Actually, there were a number of expeditions that used thousands of NA colonial troops overseas. Suggest you look at the Havana campaign (British led) and the Louisburg campaign (New England on its own), as well as others.

Dan

Yea Dan andthe trend continued into the AmRev with the SC POW rgts deployed by the British to invade Nicaragua.

Since he is working on a fictitious European campaign, I thought that using Colonial troops in the Med might be unique.

COG – those sound interesting! Please post if you remember.

Hi

How about after the F&I, the brits offer to let the Akadians stay if their men become franco/british regulars in service in Europe?

R

The Cartagena fiasco of Adm. Vernon during the War of Jenkins' Ear/Austrian Succession is best known to history as the reason George Washington's estate was named Mt. Vernon.

Rather than etnically cleansing Acadia after taking over, Britain wants all of New France cleared from the start (With enough potential, mostly protestant settlers of its own and a strong distrust of Catholics, this doesn't seem too far-fetched an idea less than 20 years after the '45) So thousands of French settlers and missionaries along with some of their Indian converts need somewhere to go.

If they return to the motherland, you get Chasseurs de Lévis with even more fur on their clothes than Grassin's.

If for some reason His Catholic Majesty can't take in so many people, some German prince of the True Religion whose estates were depopulated in the late war might see them as a boon and settle them in the hills and forests of central Germany – the Croats have just met their match.

Fifteen years later, said prince might even strike a deal to supply contingents of light infantry to the beleaguered British in North America…

Slightly off-topic but fast-forward a hundred years: I remember reading a short story in which the AWI had taken a different turn, bringing a certain General Stuart and his cavalry from the American Viceroyal army to the field of Balaclava, where he proceeds to roll up the Russian positions "colonial style" – Tennyson would have been disappointed…

Another book on a similar subject is by a German author, who has a detachment of mounted riflemen from the recently vanquished CSA join the Bavarian Army in early 1866 (don't ask!), bringing not just their rifles but republican ideas. The result is a united Germany rather different from what Prince Bismarck envisaged…

The Prince-President of Monte-Cristo, unsettled to discover, with the existence of Ny Tradgarland, how ignorant he was of the realities of the New Continent, commissioned the Academy of Sciences for an updated analysis of the political situation there. A summary of the report was recently published in the Official Board of the Presipality:
link
under the title: "Oversea colonies: one step further".
A short description of the situation in South Africa is annexed.

His Majesty's Royal Regiment of Tax Evaders, recruited forcibly from disaffected merchants and assorted rabble. Coat of arms crossed teaspoons on a ground of orange pekoe.

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