Wednesday 22 May 2019

Jacobite Rebellion Paper Armies

For the past few months now I have been glueing and cutting paper soldier units from the Peter Dennis "Wargame the Jacobite '45" book. As I complete a unit they get popped away in a couple of shoeboxes and I keep a rough mental note of what has been completed. I had a feeling enough had been completed and put them out on the tabletop to check.

British Forces (first two rows)
A review of British forces showed I had completed:

  • 2 x Government Militia
  • 1 x Highland Infantry
  • 5 x Infantry
  • 1 x Artillery
  • 2 x Mortars
  • 1 x Skirmishers (incomplete by 2 stands)
  • 1 x Cavalry
  • 1 x Cavalry Militia

Closer view of British forces
Jacobite forces completed are:

  • 3 x Highlanders
  • 1 x Highlanders Marching
  • 3 x Lowland Infantry
  • 2 x Cavalry
  • 2 x Royal Ecossais Regiments
  • 1 x Irish Piquets
  • 1 x Skirmishers
  • 1 x Artillery
  • 1 x Commander


First 3 rows are Jacobite forces
Both sides need some more skirmishers, another artillery piece, wagons, and some more commanders. The book also has some casualty figures which I may make up and put on stands with a space for dice to mark hits. So all in all about two weeks work, then I can call it a day for the time being.

A closer view of the Jacobites
All the paper soldiers when copied were increased in size by 50% from the 28mm to 42mm figures. They are easier to cut around and are easier to see without glasses.

16 comments:

  1. An impressive and gorgeous collection!

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    1. Thank you. I do like the drawings of the figures, and you do need quite large units to disguise the flatness of the figures themselves.

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  2. This is a fine spectacle, Peter! The way in which they are colored, the figures appear to suggest depth. Neat!

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    1. The figures are very cleverly drawn. With the units you definitely need 3 rows of figures in a unit to help with their look.

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  3. I know there are those who don't like paper soldiers, but they need to see this before they make up their minds completely. Your armies look fantastic.

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    1. Thank you kindly. You definitely need larger units to help with the look and give a block feel to the units themselves.

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  4. Brilliant. My God you've saved yourself a lot of painting!

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    1. Cheers. Although I am looking forward to painting some figures soon.

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  5. Seems like a lot of work to me...but....not as much as painting that much tartan!

    The deeper units do make them look a bit like a host of everyday 3d miniatures but I suspect one could use them quite successfully in a dba-like or portable wargame with a single 1 rank stand as a unit. It could be a good sick bed option.

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    1. They do take a bit of time to produce. Probably a tad quicker than painting figures, especially with tartan. Using them for DBA style games would be very interesting. It is tempting to get the Romans and Ancient Britons book.

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  6. They look awesome. The mass effect of them ranked up on the table goes along way to hiding the fact they are 2d. They would look suitably intimidating from across the table!.

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    1. The depth of ranks certainly helps. I am considering using markers or dice to track casualties rather than removing figures to help keep the look.

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  7. How did the images hold up to the increase in size? I have the War of the Roses book, bought with the idea of adding an impressive background for photos of my 42mm Renaissance army, but I'd love to make them larger.

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    1. I increased the size from A4 to A3 paper, which from memory that is 144% scale, not quite a 50% increase. The images are still good, in someways I think they look is better as you can see more of the drawing detail.

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  8. These forces are most impressive!

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    1. I am very happy with how they have turned out, and look forward to having a game with them once complete.

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