It has been over five years (!) since I completed my initial goal for the
American army in this project - Three Continental battalions, five militia battalions, three squadrons of cavalry, two units of skirmishers, and two guns. This small force was designed to give me everything I need for the Battle of Cowpens. The plan was always to continue along the same lines when I turned to the British collection.
I'm starting of the project with a battalion of the 71st Regiment of Foot. I dearly wanted to paint them in kilts, but that appears to have been out for the southern theater. However, I'm going to paint my officers in the traditional kit. Ultimately I want ten stands of Highlanders that I can combine in various combinations (unit strengths varied tremendously in the southern campaign) for two battalions, but my initial goal will be four stands plus a command stand.
7th Regiment of Foot (three infantry stands)*
71st Regiment of Foot (four infantry stands)
British Legion Infantry (four infantry stands)
Light Infantry (twelve single models from the 71st, 16th, and Prince of Wales)
17th Light Dragoons (two cavalry stands)
British Legion Dragoons (four cavalry stands)**
Tory Scouts/Guides (two cavalry stands)
Light Guns (1 artillery stand)
* I'm going to aim for a full unit of four stands while I'm at it, even though I only need three for the Battle of Cowpens.
**The entire British Legion Dragoon regiment was present at the Battle of Cowpens which would be comprised of eight cavalry stands at my chosen scale. However, only a fraction of them were actually engaged in the fighting. Unless you're playing skirmish games, there will be very little call for so many cavalry in any engagement in the southern theater. Though eight stands of horse would look magnificent, the cost in time and money can't be justified when I have so many more models to paint.
My default is five infantry models per stand, though I may have the occasional base with only four and some interesting bit of terrain or I might crowd in six models with the addition of an officer. The command stands will be separate, with an officer and two standard bearers mounted on a half hex in the same manner as my Americans.
Of course, the ultimate goal is a much larger collection, and I plan to add more infantry (two Guard battalions, a battalion of grenadiers, the 33rd, and von Bose) and cavalry (second squadrons for the 17th). The 23rd Foot is on my list as well, however they have the same facings as the 7th so I can field them with a quick flag swap!
Really excited to be wading back into this period! I'll have more as I get on and have a bit of a ramble on the rules I'm considering when I actually get around to throwing some dice in anger!
