"Use of 17th C. Soldiers for 17th C. Colonials?" Topic

I am planning to start a 17th C. Colonial project and am finding that the number of "civilian" figures for this period is horribly limited. To this end I have considered looking at ECW and other 17th C. military figures as sources for armed villagers, village militia, etc.

Is this a viable option and if so are there any things I should avoid?

Thanks,

-Eli

You might want to look for Thirty Years War figures as well as they have extra styles that are very suitable for colonials.

Any suggestions on Manufacturers?

Depends what you want the civilian to look like. With or without weapons. A civilian looks pretty much the same from 1600 to 1800. If you want them armed then then pirates with a mix of weapons might do or american west towns folk if you're willing to swap some weapons.

You say it's for colonial but which theater? Carabean or Africa? Foundry do quite a lot of African civilians, both native and colonials.

You will have to do your own searches but i've seen 17th and 18thC officers that would do as gentlemen civilians and so many women in big dresses i lose count.

So many people make suitable figures i'd be here all day trying to name them all. First stop should be foundry.

I can't remember the name of the company but they do a sleepy hollow range, loads of civies with weapons.

Dixon has some – in their animal range, can't find them on the website link
Foundry has some link I used the engineers as farmers link
Old Glory link and link

I should clarify that I am loking for figures that would look right in 17th. C. American Colonies. I would disagree that a villager model from an 1800s range is going to look right along side a villager from the 1600s.

Another question I had was about using armed soldiers as armed civilians. I imagine that a lot of it comes down to paint job and making sure there aren't any blatently military pieces of equipment.

-Eli

Get Lon to expand the Brigade Games range:

link

Allen

Are you talking Martin's Hundred style 'colonial' Eli?

15mm? Which end of the C17th?

You may want to consider Sedgemoor 'rebel' types. Yes, you can use ECW types if you are careful.

I'd personally look for a mix of later C16th – Buccaneers, Privateers, Boder Reivers etc and mix them with Thirty Year War and ECW types mostly and some Sedgemoor Rebels.

I'd look for troops with light or no armour. Cabasset Morions, stocking caps, but not Monteros. You may find light/no armoured pikemen and sergeants/officers with open hands to be the best bet for quick and easy civilian conversion.

I disagree that civilians in miniature look the same between 1600 and 1800. Tricornes and clubbed hair scream C18th. Pantaloons were more voluminous in the C17th and opposed to C18th – another distinctive feature.

There are some exceptions though such as Vendeans. Picking these carefully – in 15mm – you can use the likes of these Touller minis: picture

Cheers
Mark

This will likely be a 28mm project as it's going to be more of a small skirmishy type game.

Any particular kit – satchels, bandoliers, etc, that I should avoid when trying to convert soldiers into civvies.

-Eli

You were giving up 28's Eli!!!!

OK, Foundry do a nice range of ECW civilians. link whihc can be supplemented by their officers/Surgeon and Blacksmith sets etc.

Also these C18th will work as they are true country folk without clubbed hair/wigs etc. especially for later in the period.

link

Course you could go all SLEEPY HOLLOW sing these Foundty C18th types – link

Earlier in the C17th (up to C1620+) you could use these from the Swashbuckler range: link

Monolith Designs have these excellent civilians: picture

As do Outpost Wargames Services in their Border Reiver range:
picture

Cheers
Mark

Try these from Warlord:

link

I'm starting up a new LotHS campaign shortly and had the same problem. I have tons of pirates and soldier types, but not enough civilians. Searching around, I ran into these and quite like them. They also have a larger pack:

link

I'll second the Brigade games line as well, I have their King Philip's War range and quite like it.

Do a TMP serch for "Philip", and go the King Philip's War topics. It is a rather primitive search engine, so searching for "King Philip" does not compute.
There are a lot of figure suggestions for King Philip's War.

An odd figure that I like is the Essex ECW Montrose Irish musketeer. NOT the guys wearing kilts.

An even odder suggestion is some of the Trent Irish miniatures for the '98. They are a tad anachronostic, but they do NOT look like they are in uniform. Do something with the leprechaun hats to make them look more pilgrim-y.

The odd anachronistic figure or two (or ten) in a KPW type skirmish game will escape notice. You can find odd choices in things like Essex Russian and Polish ranges. Don't go overboard.
Not everyone wore Pilgrim hats, after all. I suspect that the odd fur cap waould not be out of place.
I have used Renaissance Polish Peasants as French FIW militia.

Didn't Essex use to have a Sedgemoor range? With civilians, scythe and sickle men and militia? Or am I thinking of Dixon?

…Didn't Essex use to have a Sedgemoor range? With civilians, scythe and sickle men and militia?

They most certainly do in 15mm thank you. Great civilian figures for my SYW.

However, I think you mean:

ECW46 Recruit/Peasant, improvised weapon (ass heads)
ECW47 Recruit/Peasant, improvised weapon (ass heads)
ECW48 Recruit/Peasant, improvised weapon (ass heads) ECW49 Firelock musketeer (assorted)

Cheers,

I don't think I want them with ass heads, unless I am doing an A Midsummer Night's Dream game.

What a really great thread.

I knew of about half the ranges listed, used in my DBR French, English, and Spanish colonial armies. I had no idea there were so many. A wonderful reference. Does anybody archive all such listing into a data base of figure types?

If I can do this in 15mm I will. I'd much rather do it in a scale where any new terrain can be used with my other stuff. That being said, I do have plenty of 28mm terrain already so a few more pieces won't kill me.

-Eli