Spanish 1671

There isn't much information on the forces of Panama and the other Spanish interests in the New World. There were no permanent Spanish tercios at the time and no official regulations of colonial troops. Units appear to have raised and equipped by various local governors. Theoretically, such troops could be painted in any manner desired.

I've chosen to stick with fairly common color choices for my first units. I've distinguished between professional troops and uniformed militia by using proper Spanish coats (with turnbacks that match the cuff colors) for the former. I've used models with "generic" period coats for the latter. There are a couple of Swiss models tucked in the back of the militia units to add a little more variety to the units.

These units will be for Beneath the Lily Banners at something in the range of 1 model per 15 men, so two stands represents a company. I'm planning on adding three more companies of militia with muskets, plus a single company of pike for both the regulars and militia. Pikes were likely not used in the New World during this period, but accounts often refer to foot troops armed with "lances" which I'm interpreting to be pikes... so there!

I have a few artillery pieces for additional firepower. I've decided to use naval guns as these were most common in the coastal forts and occasionally lug around on land as well.

Finally, I needed some cavalry. There are very few mentions of horse during this period, but seem to have been 400 cavalry at the Battle of Panama in 1671. At my chosen man to model ratio, I needed four squadrons of 6 models. I've decided to draft stands from my old ECW armies. The Spanish cavalry of Panama were described has having "buff coats" in one source. Some of the headgear will be a little anachronistic, but Caribbean fashion seems to have lagged a bit behind. Two of my squadrons will carry Spanish flags and should look the part for my needs anyway.

Next time, we'll look at one of my favorite parts of this project... native auxiliaries!