Crossing the Atlantic with War of 1812

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Tcpt1989
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Joined: Sun Jun 30, 2019 5:47 pm

Crossing the Atlantic with War of 1812

Post by Tcpt1989 »

Hi everyone

ACW is my preferred period for Sharp Practice, and a mate of mine who plays isn’t very interested in the Union or Confederacy, so he’s built a British Intervention Force for some “what if” gaming.

He’s very into Napoleonics (British). They’re also really the only faction I’d be interested to play and we don’t think red on red games would be that much fun, so I was wondering if anyone thinks it could work if I returned the favour in the “what if” theme by building a US War of 1812 force to meet his napoleonic British? Would Napoleonic era British in Europe wear the same uniforms as those fighting in the 1812 war? Is there a conceivable “what if” scenario that could see the US fight for Napoleon?

Cheers!
Levi the Ox
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Re: Crossing the Atlantic with War of 1812

Post by Levi the Ox »

Awesome that you're making an effort to meet him in the middle on gaming periods!

There's a War of 1812 Campaign Guide available in the Sharp Practice section. Short on uniform images, but there are likely other sources, and many Peninsular regiments embarked directly for the American continent from France during the Peace of 1814 so his British should be plenty suitable as opponents.

The United States and Napoleonic France as true "allies" might be a bit of a stretch, but they were both at war with Great Britain at the time so if you're of a more dramatic bent there's plenty of opportunity for derring-do involving characters from all three nations (the novel Sharpe's Siege features an American privateer, for example). If you end up branching out beyond the War of 1812 itself, Great Britain and the United States both fought Spain briefly on the American continents during the same period (Argentina for the former, Florida for the latter), many British soldiers fought in the Spanish-American wars of independence, and there are also the conspiracies of Aaron Burr in Mexico and Napoleon in South America if you enjoy fanciful games with at least one foot in history!

If you do want to go farther afield than the American continents, Red-coated British in shakos are pretty flexible opponents, especially if you don't sweat the exact style of shako (a brief search showed a more bell-topped version in use in the 1920s and 1930s), and his troops could serve in Ireland, India, West Africa, Burma, China, or even the Crimea.
Archdukek
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Re: Crossing the Atlantic with War of 1812

Post by Archdukek »

As well as easily transporting his Peninsular British to the New World to fight in the War of 1812, if he has any Portuguese Regulars in barretina hats you should find that they make very passable US Regulars if you want to try out some scenarios to see if games that theatre appeals to you both.

John
Tcpt1989
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Re: Crossing the Atlantic with War of 1812

Post by Tcpt1989 »

Thanks for the feedback guys. Next question please - any decent manufacturers of US war of 1812 figures in this side of the pond (ideally in plastic)? I’ve seen Brigade Games models and they look amazing, but looks like they can only be ordered from the States.
Archdukek
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Re: Crossing the Atlantic with War of 1812

Post by Archdukek »

Sorry don’t know of any specific US figures but Warlord’s Napoleonic Portuguese look to be your best bet in plastic.

John
Levi the Ox
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Re: Crossing the Atlantic with War of 1812

Post by Levi the Ox »

North Star Military Figures have a small 1812 range (I'm eyeing their US Militia to add variety to my Spanish volunteers). The Perrys surprisingly don't, but do have Portugese (I don't know enough about the uniforms to comment on their suitability).
siggian
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Re: Crossing the Atlantic with War of 1812

Post by siggian »

If you have any Zulus, you could do a What If of Shaka vs the British in 1812ish. It's not that implausible either.
Jfuller39
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Re: Crossing the Atlantic with War of 1812

Post by Jfuller39 »

Knuckleduster Miniatures do an 1812 line. I have no idea how accurate they are or sizing compared to other manufacturers, but their western line (Gunfighters Ball) are great sculpts so might be worth a peak.
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sjwalker51
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Re: Crossing the Atlantic with War of 1812

Post by sjwalker51 »

I’ve never had any problems ordering direct from Brigade, though it may be more challenging in these Covid, post-Brexit times.

Northstar have just launched a new 1812 range to support the M&T rules.

Definitely worth getting the 1812 SP supplement - great value from Mike.
Tcpt1989
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Re: Crossing the Atlantic with War of 1812

Post by Tcpt1989 »

Thanks for all the feedback guys. I picked up the 1812 supplement and quite fancy getting some of Knuckledusters Midwar range, as they seem like the set with the widest range of models with interesting uniforms!
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