"What scale for French Indian Wars?" Topic

I am thinking of dipping my toe into the FIW, mostly from another watching of the Last of the Mohicans.

I am tempted by the 10mm Pendraken range and the Sharpe Practice Rules from Too Fat Lardies, particularly as they had done a supplement la Longue Carabine in their Summer Special 2011.

However, how practical would it be to game in 10mm, or should I be aiming for larger figures? This would be very much a side-show and I don't want a lot of expense so it might be a case of a smaller number of larger figures or more 10mm.

I suppose it will depend on what sort of game I want, be it skirmish or larger actions. What size of game would mostly fought out in that theatre?

Suggestions for a good military history and uniform guide would also be appreciated.

Thank you.

I believe most FIW battles were quite small affairs or even skirmishes, so I would reccommend a minimum of 28mm figure size.

I use 54mm.

Also check out Sash and Saber 40mm.

Even large actions were relatively small, so outlay is not really an issue. No cavalry to speak of, great range in 28mm.
Check out
link
Old Glory's woodland Indians are excellent, Front Rank miniatures are also compatible, they have the British light infantry.
The question is scale, skirmish or larger battles, larger battles more uniforms, skirmish, you see long carbine.
I went 28mm.

Somewhere between 25mm and 54mm. I sold my 25s and went with 54s. If I did 15s, it would be to do large actions with 48 or so figure battalions.

I would do it in 28mm. That is what I have. Conquest has LOTM figures to keep with your movie tantalization. (Is that right?)

Have fun!

For small skirmish units I would recommend Sash & Saber 40MM.

we have rediscovered the matchlock minis 15mm range sold by caliver books . wonderful figures

Old Glory has everything you would need to do the F&I war in 25mm.

40mm

link

The size of figure you use should be the one you most enjoy. As others have said even the large battles were fairly small.

However unless you are going for 1 figure = 1 man you will be doing some scaling down the forces in any event.

I prefer 28mm figures, because I do. TMPer Blacksmith prefers 10mm and has used rules I wrote for 28mm figures with his 10mm collection for both skirmishes and mass battles.

For FIW I use Conquest and Old Glory 28mm figs for my Last of the Mohicans scenario which is a very small skirmish game (big board, 6-12 figs to a side). I also have 15mm Freikorps, Minifig and Old Glory for large battles, but have used them for skirmish games. Personally, I like the 28mm or larger for skirmish gaming best.

I am currently using the Blue Moon 15/18mm range.

If you are still looking for rules you might try Two Hour Wargames new rules:

"Muskets and Mohawks" – is a unit based game basically with 10-man units (that can be squads, platoons or whatever you want.

"Long Rifle" – is a skirmish-level game. Ed refers to it as an immersion* game where you take a small group of men and, through a series of games, hopefully lead them to fame and fortune.

*From Ed's website:

An immersion game is one where the players take the role of individual characters trying to gain experience and rewards that will allow them to grow in abilities. Although immersion games share some common elements with Role-Playing Games (RPGs) there is a dramatic difference. The difference between immersion games and Role-Playing Games is that in an immersion game you have a combat system that can be used alone to recreate small skirmishes in a realistic manner. Think the Last of the Mohicans movie or the Sharpe's Rifles television series covering the Napoleonic Wars.

Tim

Books; Renee Chartrand has written a number of Osprey Campaign titles on the subject. Very good place to start.

Is there any particular bit of the war that is of interest?

I've not found an overview that was really enjoyable, but many of the campaigns have had good books written about them.

I would definitely go with the Conquest range supplemented with some Perry Indians.

The other option are the figs from Thunderbolt Mounatin which are fantastic too but the range is pretty limited.

Alan,

15mm is the smallest I have seen skirmish games and these were hundreds of single based minis for The Sword and the Flame.

I like the Blue Moon range, but fell of my chair when I read the international shipping rates. We use primarily 15mm and had a French and Indian war game with Regulars, militia and Indian auxiliaries for both sides. We used the Humberside Extension for the game.

Cheers,

Yep, 15mm for me all the way. Able to get a good sized force together for a relatively small outlay. 10mm should work fine though. Just a matter of taste and eyesight.

Here is a link to Blacksmith's blog: link

He is playing WHAA, the fantasy rules but you can see just how nice the game looks in 10mm eventhough, like Muskets and Mohawks it was written for 25's.

I'm a firm believer that any set of rules can be made to work with any size of figure you choose to use.

Sometimes not changes are required. Sometimes its just a matter of matching unit footprints. Of course changing movement and ranges by a consistent rate also works although I find that the most disruptive as you have to rework an QRS' and etc.

I like 15s. You can get 100-200 on the table without too much fuss. At 1:10 or 1:15 scale you can easily do Braddock's defeat (the Monongahela) entire. You can also use the same figures for smaller scale gaming like Muskets and Mohawks. But whatever scale strikes your fancy, go with.

If you can get a copy of Habitants & Highlanders get it. I don't use the rules but there are a good number of scenarios from skirmish up to the Plains of Abraham, some uniform info, etc. It's a good resource.

I'd either go with 25mm/28mm, or 15mm/18mm.

The latter will be more impressive on the tabletop, but with the smaller ones, you'll be able to put more terrain on the table, and have more room for maneuvering.

The Blue Moon 18's are probably the smallest I'd go. And very lovely they are.
link

RAFM's 25s are also suberb
link

If you can get a copy of Habitants & Highlanders get it.

I'll second that!

Blue Moon 18 mm is easily the closest there is to a complete range for this conflict – the varied forces plus structures. All you need after that is terrain. As to rules, Habitant and Highlanders gives you both skirmish and large battle scales, scenarios, and a fair bit of background, painting, and flag information. I have no interest in Blue Moon except as a customer. I completed my collection prior to the release of their range but might add a few things – civilians and native villagers in particular plus native structures. They are the only range with native villagers and the diversity of figures in the range is, in a word, astonishing. No one – no one – comes close.

The one thing you won't regret is getting deep into FIW. Large battles, small battles, large skirmishes, small skirmishes. Maybe the hardest part is finding good books. The best? The Crucible of War.

Let us know what you decide to do.
(and if you do go with Blue Moon, get the Old Glory Army card and save some money – you'll almost certainly buy more than you think)

I started Fantasy skirmishers in 10mm because there were and still are more variety and even quality in 10 than in 15mm.

Pendraken has a very nice range of FIW in 10 mm

Very many thanks for all the most helpful replies: much appreciated.

A book I was thinking of is Musket and Tomahawk: A Military History of the French and Indian War, 1753-1760 bt Francis Parkman. It seems to have got a good write-ip. Can anyone comment on it?

What about good guides for uniforms?

Sounds like an alternative title, Parkman is a 'thick' read but worth wading through. More current works will be much easier to digest. As to good uniform guides, I use several Osprey titles.

I've seen it done in 15mm amnd 28mm, looks much better in 28mm IMO

Looks better figure by figure in 28 mm (or even 25 mm) but with large units (mine are 41 figures per 'unit') it looks pretty impressive in 15 mm – I have something around 300 warriors (recent addition not accounted for in head at late hour). And how about a river with a cloud of canoes on it? I have 44 in 15 mm. Anyone game for that in 28 mm?

Scale is a matter of choice, choose the size that works best for you.

"A book I was thinking of is Musket and Tomahawk: A Military History of the French and Indian War, 1753-1760 bt Francis Parkman."

That's an odd title. Parkman's masterpiece is the multi-volume England and France in North America. The volume on the French & Indian War is titled Montcalm and Wolfe. I don't know what Musket and Tomahawk might be, maybe a condensation. Francis Parkman was the mid-19th century historian who wrote the standard history. Unlike some writers of his era, his text is readable, dramatic and entertaining, if you like history. Some modern critics think he's a jingo. Others think he's just right.

Parkman is a great start to reading about the F&IW. Fred Anderson The Crucible of War is an excellent modern history.

Musket and Tomahawk: A Military History of the French and Indian War, 1753-1760 is an abridged version of Parkman's larger work on the FIW.

Darkoath

Abridging Parman is missing the point. One reads Parkman for the entertainment value, not for the information content.

Didn't see this post as I haven't been to the SYW boards yet. What a mess.

Don't forget the Galloping Major figures, great FIW figs and lots of them.

Check out my blog for pics
syw6mm.com/tag/fiw

28mm all the way, great stuff is out there

Galloping Major also has painting guides.
Mark

25mm figures for me but that because I started building my armies before 28mm came out . 25mm are also cheaper also having 25mm buildings for ACW I can you most of them for FIW .
link

25/28mm.

Regards,

J. P. Kelly

Nice collection, Gunboat. I have a lot of those figures, but not as many as you.