"SYW - European or North American?" Topic

I want to get into the SYW conflict in 25/28mm. The question I have is should I do the European conflict which involves more countries or the smaller North american arena which involved basically the English and French. Also any recommendation for figures or manufacturers would be helpful. Thank You J.

I have North America in 28mm and use Conquest (Indians and Rangers), Front Rank (Indians and Rangers) and several other manufacturers for Colonists, French and British.

I have the European side in 15mm and use mostly Essex and Old Glory.

The 28mm is a great scale, in my humble opinion, for having skirmish and small scale actions.

The 15mm let you do the set piece battles.

I prefer the less ragged European uniforms and cavalry. Lots of cavalry. Cuirassiers, hussars, dragoons. Even throw in some Freikorps uhlans and jaeger zu pferde if you can for added colour.

What's the point of doing horse and musket era without pretty uniforms and cavalry?

What level of battle do you prefer playing or think that you'd be more interested in playing?

+Skirmish and small actions?
+Brigade level where you make decisions that are like those a regimental commander would make (like when to form square)?
+Or playing a senior general ordering around larger forces like brigades or groups of brigades without micro-mangaging what your 25 btns of infantry are doing internally?

Did you have any specific number of figures that you were looking at buying?

And TMP posters can point out figure makers when we know a bit more about what you're interested in that you'll be able to check out using TMP's manufacturers' listing:
TMP link

And welcome to the Era.

In America, I think you can match the English with the Spaniards in the caribbean ( and in Florida/Louisiana?).

I agree with Fredjg in that North America lends itself quite well to skirmish style games and Europe to the set piece battles. Like him I (grudgingly) have big figures for NA and hordes of 15mm for the SYW in Europe. Why do I say grudgingly? The group likes that scale though I am very put off by scale creep and the mutants often being sold.

A matter of taste and preference for your theatre of operations. They both have a lot to offer and a wide range of rules available.

I, likewise, have both 15mm for larger battles and 28 for North America and adding some units to be able to run a seige game in the future. A good friend has armies in 20mm for Europe and 25's for AWI. We must be a bit crazy to have 3 scales in the gaming area but that's what is enjoyed. Another friend is into big battalions for the 7 years war in 28/30's. I enjoy looking at them but wouldn't want to transport them over 5 feet to take them to a game – just too heavy. To start up you need to define what style of game you wish to do, size of the castings, what you can afford to pay out, and storage, playing area, and transportation issues. When you get those decisions down we can help a lot more with advice on castings and scenery.

The advantage of Europe is that you can game both big battles or, if you are more skirmish minded, Der Kleine Krieg. And, as pointed, there are more choices.

Europe!

leuthenjournal.com

Europe in 6mm

Depends on the type of battles you want to fight….(A great generality follows.) The fighting in Europe was more conventional on open terrain with units maneuvering against one another.

The fighting in N. American was on more restricted terrain (lots of woods and hills) between smaller forces with an irregular feel due to the Indian element and militias from both sides.

I have chosen to do both.

For Europe you should take a look at Minden.
mindenminis.blogspot.com

For North America Conquest and Perry Indians. Front Rank for the "irregular" uniformed look.

If you are living in North America and like the idea of 25-30mm figures, then look no farther than RSM figures:

link

The combination of Elegant figures at a great price can't be matched.

If you are living in the UK or Europe (where shipping and duty costs make the RSMs less of a deal), then the Minden's are lovely . . . but they don't yet have cavalry (although I gather that it will be available relatively soon:

mindenminis.blogspot.com

That being said, there are other fine figures available.

As for which Theatre you should game in, that's up to you . . . but if you like cavalry at all, then go for Europe . . . or consider India.

-- Jeff

That being said,

While I have done both, I must say that, although I am a loyal North American, I much prefer the Seven Years War in the European theatre – I use 25/28mm, and there is nothing quite like the look of massed battalions (24 figs per) and cavalry riding boot to boot

I like to use cavalry, and in North America with the exception of the 200-strong Corps du Cavalarie in New France there were essentially no cavalry involved

As well, I like Grand Tactical – in North America, the only real grand tactical battle would be the Plains of Abraham, which I have played about 100 times – in contrast, in Europe there were probably more than 100 battles you could game

My troops are Foundry, Front Rank, RSM, Dixon, Old Glory and a few Minifigs – I have some Crusader on order. I like the Foundry Prussians and the Front Rank for almost everything else – I am looking forward to the Crusaders. The Dixons are nice but they have a very small range

Over the years this period has become my personal favorite. I play both but favor the European theatre as I like the troop variety. (Lots of cavalry and artillery options). For large battles I now use 6mm Baccus – I love the figures and having 5,000 of them massed on a 4x8 table makes for an impressive game. I recently started collecting additional armies for the period in 28mm and have chosen to use Minden Minis. The sculpting is brilliant. In the end it is really what look you want to acheive. Welcome to the period!

Who carries Minden Minis? I can't seem to find any suppliers. J.

Its not actually a miniature company. Check the following site for info. :-)

mindenminis.blogspot.com

Jeremy

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One Idea If You Want To Use 28mms
~~
Raise these French battalions for N. America each with two colored flags.
2/Guyenne
2/Royal Royal Roussillon
2/La Sarre
2/Bearn
2/La Reine
2/Berry
3/Berry
2/Languedoc
~~
The first battalions of these units served in Europe, 1/Guyenne, 1/Royal Roussillon, etc. Take out one of the colored flags and replace with the white flag. This gives you the first battalions of each regiment.
~~
Though not as convenient, British facing colors in N. America were closely duplicated in Europe too. A yellow faced 44th or 46th foot in N. America could be a different yellow faced unit in Europe. Ditto for other colors, green, blue, etc.
~~
Though the French mostly fought the British and Brunswick, Hesse-Kassel and Hanoverian units in Europe, early in the war in Western Germany there were some Prussian units out of Wesel and later on there were some Dragoons and the Black Hussars shifted there by Frederick II. The French also had units from Pfalz (The Palatinate) and the Austrian Netherlands in 1757 – early though. One could add Saxons and Wurttembergers for the French too.
~~
Lots of possibilities here AND you can game in two worlds, the New and the Old using the French units above.
~~
28mms allow greater visual enjoyment of uniform details.
Big battalions of 24, 36, 48 or even 60 miniatures further enhances this. In so doing one will likely fall into the realm of multi-brigade SYW wargaming where each side has perhaps 2-5 brigades of infantry a side plus horse.
~~
For more reasons to consider multi-brigade wargaming of the SYW see,
oldregimerules.com
~~
Another idea is look at the blog of Der Altre Fritz – just look at the photos to see the visual advantage of the above remarks. It's not for everyone, but it works for some of us.
Units look substantial and you can move them around without too many contortions and tactical compromises.
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Or have we already talked electronically someplace?
Bon Chance,
Bill
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Great suggestions Bill…Now I know which units to pick for my own French!

Cheers…

My crew has done both. We have French & Indian and Seven Years War (Europe) in 15mm, and we have 28mm French & Indian skirmish level.

But we fight battles like the Monongahela at 1:10 or lower with the 15s.

Well Im a F&I War fan. But there is alot to recomend both.
Its all about what and how ya wanna game. Scale size table and what connections you may or may not have to either.
I loved the link to minden minis Hope thier avail soon. Conquest,Redoubt,Blue Moon,RSM,Rafm,Perries,Foundry, Front rank and even some Dixon. are in my collection. I prefer to go with a skirmish game but have had as many as 100 minis to a side on the table (Just once)
First thing to do In My opinion is find resorce books on the period. Read as much as you can. Then as with any period Plan your buy, and try to think about what minis look right together. I have too many types and much of them are regulated to boxes half painted and may never see the field of Battle. There next set of orders will be TAD to EBAY and hopefuly then to a good home.
Thanx for your time