"17th century Quebec under consideration" Topic

While I had been pondering getting into King Philip's War for a while, my eyes have been directed further north after finding this little nugget on one of my ancestors:

The SAINT ANDRE fmally arrived at Quebec on September 7, 1659, where those aboard were encouaged to settle rather than go to the danger of the wilderness beyond. But the new settlers could not be dissuaded, They arrived at, what is now, Montreal on September 29. After his arrival in New France, Etienne was placed in the service of the Sulpicians at Ste. Marie to strengthen their quarters about a mile and one half from Ville Marie, the original name for Montreal. He was registered in the sixth squadron of the militia of Sainte-Famille, under the command of Corporal Gilbert Barbier, one of the twelve colonists who arrived in Ville-Marie in August 1642.
On the 6th of May, 1662, he with two other workers were caught in the open by fifty Iroquois who lay in ambush. Fleeing to the redoubt, Etienne led the small party in defence until reenforcements arrived. Loosing their advantage, the Iroquois retreated taking their wounded with them. Although the Indians had fired over 300 shots, the only damage was a gun broken when struck by a bullet.

And after reading about the upcoming Donnybrook rules in WI, I'm starting to get that bug to get into yet another new period.

So for starters, it sounds like Donnybrook might fit the bill perfectly? (I'm also intrigued by Jacobite actions in Scotland, but that's another story…) And what about figures? Would the King Philip's type figs be suitable for French settlers as well, and the Iroquois?

I recommend the movie Black Robe for visual inspiration.

I suppose you're looking for 25mm-28mm figures.

The old Foundry 16th-17th Century Indians are back in production. They may be hard to find in the online catalog. You can ask for them. Instead of selling packs of single poses like in the old days, they're now sold in three different multi-pose packs: Northern Tribes, Central Tribes and Southern Tribes. The Northern Tribes pack includes three figures with roached hair carrying matchlock muskets, and the other poses should be passable, except maybe for the Wampanoag chief (a portrait figure of Metacomet, with long hair).

New France militia I think looked some different from New Englanders: the tuque was worn in New France from an early date, and there weren't many of those Pilgrim hats. I'd suggest civilians from Three Musketeers lines, but don't know of any to recommend. Perhaps some of the wilder coureur du bois types from F&IW lines could pass for fur traders.

Conquest makes a real nice Jesuit priest. Looks like Father Laforgue from Black Robe to me. I'd love for someone to make figures for the other characters from that movie, especially Daniel, Annuka and Chiomino.

Thanks, zippy. Yes, I should have mentioned 25/28! I'd forgotten about that Conquest fig, I have several others from Conquest and they are great. And thanks for the other tips, I'll be looking.

I used this figure from Eureka for my Black Robe – thought he a had a suitable "Live by the Cross or Die by the sword" look to him

Some of these might have potential. Northstar 1672. link

Ah, Black Robe, what a flick! Good luck on the project.

The Carignan-Salieres regiment arrived in Quebec City in the summer of 1665, the first contingent arriving on June 18. This was the first expedition of royal troops to Canada. The regiment counted twenty companies and each company was made up of three officers – a captain, a lieutenant and an ensign – two sergeants, three corporals, five anspessades and forty soldiers, including at least one drummer.

Considering that the colony had about 3200 inhabitants, the arrival of some 1200 soldiers and 80 officers had an extraordinary impact on its development. A body of troops of this magnitude in Canada completely transformed what had until then been a precarious military situation for the colony. Finally, towns could be fitted out with suitable garrisons and new forts could be built to block the Richelieu River, the Iroquois' traditional route. In just a few weeks, the French went from the defensive stance that had been necessary for almost a quarter of a century to a new tactic: attacking the Iroquois on their own territory.

Ref link

The figures shown in Mac's link above from Northstar could be used to represent these troops

Very cool, thanks for that Mapleleaf. That fellow on the right would make a great miniature…