Jack Scruby Mexican American War Figure Line

This project started on a whim and was fueled by my interest in nostalgia and wargame figures (with the old Toy Soldier look) from a bygone age (1950s-80s).

While searching for something else, I came across many MAW Scruby figures at low prices. Since I lack a sense for accumulating figures, I purchased them with the intent to paint a few, put them on a shelf, and forget about them.

Well, one thing led to another, and I organized their purchasing from Historifigs, which I lacked from the eBay bunch.

This unit represents the light company of the Fusilier Regiment de Mexico (1843-1847). The unit fought at Molina del Ray and Chapultepec. Note the standard bearer. That figure came with the eBay purchase. The shako is Mexican, and it is possible that the figure is actually Napoleonic French since a sapper figure in the MAW line does not exist. I'm not sure if the original figure carried an axe, but if it did, the first owner did away with it and seemed to intend a standard bearer (Flag by Maverick Models UK).

This unit is the National Guard Unit Bravos (1845-47). They are also fusiliers and were raised with other National Guard units to garrison Mexico City. The French influence is obvious. They put up a good fight at Churubusco.

This figure is actually from the Scruby Franco-Prussian War line. They are French Grenadier Guards painted up as the Grenadier Guards of the Supreme Power. According to Osprey, the unit was a militia battalion that left its ceremonial duties to participate in the Battles of Cerro Gordo, Chapultepec, and Mexico City.

While the Mexicans are a colorful lot and fun to paint, the American Regulars are ordinary. I painted up one battery using the solitary artilleryman and one officer to man the guns.

I got most of these American Regulars with the eBay purchase. The light blue uniforms proved challenging. I used a craft paint medium blue and went over it with a craft paint lighter blue. I did not want to baby blue often used in prints. At the start of the war, the US fielded 16 regiments (each a single battalion) of Regulars. They did the bulk of the fighting but were supplemented by volunteer regiments from various states. They were better trained than most of their Mexican opponents.

The US fielded only two regiments of dragoons during the war. This contrasts with many regiments of cavalry fielded by the Mexicans. The American dragoon regiments did not serve as regiments but rather as detachments from the regiments. They acquitted themselves well, but the infantry were the Queens of the Battlefield for both sides.

The Mexicans fielded quite a few cavalry units of all sorts, but mostly of the light types. This unit is typical, though the uniforms have changed significantly. To my knowledge, the Mexican cavalry, as numerous as they were, never charged home against American infantry or cavalry. I think it represents a preview of the American Civil War when a mounted charge was rare.

I used the two Osprey books for the prints, with this one being the far more colorful. It covers the period 1821-48. The uniforms evolved a great deal in that time span. I simply chose the most colorful units I wanted to paint.

This is the original Osprey book published way back in the 60s. It covers both sides and features units not covered in the other publication.

Scruby figures are still available through Historifigs. A fellow by the name of Mike Taber owns the molds. He seeks to restore what he can, although some molds are fine, which is something given they are 60 years old or so. Mike operates his shop out of Baraboo, WI, not far from me. Mike has a passion for the old figures and operates an FB page titled Table Talk Top. You can find me there from time to time.

Somewhere in the Sudan

 We did a fictional game featuring my Sudan collection. The basic idea was for a British force to take a succession of hills that protected a town. The scenario was drawn from the "Urabi Revolt" that the British put down. Their enemies were the Egyptian Army. Here is a blurb from Wiki to explain the bigger picture:

The ʻUrabi Revolt (1879–1882) was a nationalist uprising in Egypt led by Colonel Ahmed ʻUrabi. It  sought to depose Khedive Tewfik Pasha and end heavy British and French interference in Egyptian financial and political affairs. The movement advocated for constitutional rule and the slogan "Egypt for the Egyptians".

It's been a while since I took the pics, so they are not in any particular order. I'll explain the action best I can.

This picture features the British center, or the "Thin Red Line," as it advanced on the terrain features. To the right is the Black Watch, and to the right, a line battalion. Two batteries of the Royal Artillery are giving support. The far one refused to move for several consecutive turns. The rules were The Men Who Would Be Kings.

The Egyptian battalion is on the reverse slope. The Highlanders have overrun the Egyptian Artillery that was posted in front of the battalion.

The British Dragoons moved against the Egyptian right but were badly cut up. It was the only Egyptian success of the day.

Egyptian right. The infantry battalion facing to the right helped destroy the British cavalry, but as you can see, the artillery has already been destroyed by the Highlanders.

I'm usually particular about my unit names, but I forgot which line battalion this was. I pulled them from my Zulu War collection, and I think they were the 3rd Foot. I used "red coats" because, in 1882, the British had not yet adopted khaki, except in India.

This is one of my favorite Egyptian units-a unit of lancers. If memory serves me, they are Irregular minis from the UK. They did zero in the game, getting pasted by the British Dragoons.

Bashi-Bazouks in reserve on the Egyptian left.  They occupied space.

The Egyptian center. The infantry were a mixed bag in terms of morale. Historically, they had poor morale and ill-trained peasants. It was reflected in the game, as I treated most of them as "green". The Sudanese units were a bit better, but I managed to shake poorly for them!

Arab cavalry in reserve, and they liked it that way.

The Egyptian center battery.  This particular gun was an old smoothbore, pressed into service.

Close-up of the Bashi-Bazouks. It didn't turn out great.

An impressive Egyptian battle line, supported by Urabi's guards. They all folded up quickly in the face of the British firepower, and I do not think the British infantry ever got pinned!

The "thin red line" was more than adequate.

dr

British Dragoons by HAT.

HAT Highland Infantry

The ill-fated Egyptian lancers.

The Egyptians had the numerical advantage and terrain advantage, all to no avail.

Old Glory Cowboy Wars: Crazy Horse and Gall

Old Glory makes a line of miniatures titled Cowboy Wars that are intended for skirmish games in the Old West. The scale appears to be one-to-one, although I have never read the rules.

What interests me is how Old Glory markets the product.

The buyer typically gets six figures for around $20.00. The pack includes two mounted figures and two dismounted figures of the same name, plus two horses. The figures each have an assigned name. 

I have an ongoing variant project based on Osprey's The Men Who Would Be Kings for the Great Sioux War of 1876, although the fighting really began in earnest in 1864 after the Sand Creek Massacre.

I've painted several vintage figures from Minifigs and RAFM in 25mm to get me started.

In searching for more vintage figures, I came across the Cowboy Wars line on eBay. I bought one pack to see how close to scale the Cowboy Wars 28mm figures were to my vintage 25mm figures.

Well, they are bigger, closer to 30mm, but interesting figures nonetheless.

I picked out the pack that named the figures as Crazy Horse and Gall. Crazy Horse and Gall were prominent war leaders in 1876 and played a dominant role in the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876. The Sioux and their allies, the Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho, destroyed most of George Armstrong Custer's 7th Cavalry in the battle the Plains Indians called the Battle of the Greasy Grass.

The figures are heroic, characterized by exaggerated features and poses that are fitting for a fun one-to-one skirmish game. They do not fit all that well with my vintage 25mm RAFM, Minifigs, or my 28mm Wargames Foundry 28mm Cheyenne Dog Soldiers.

They might fit as unique leader figures when I get around to having enough figures painted for a game (if ever). For now, they are lovely vignettes and were a lot of fun to paint.

Pictures Below

I assumed this is the Crazy Horse figure, although I am not certain. Note that the figures are wearing very little. That did happen. You can clearly see the heroic features in the hard body muscles that stand out. What I really liked about this figure is the Winchester repeater and the revolver. Archaeology at the Little Bighorn has recovered approximately 10% shell cases from various repeating rifles. The 7th Cavalry was armed with Springfield Model 73 breech-loading carbines, a weapon with a slower rate of fire but also susceptible to jamming. I painted Crazy Horse's Winchester with brass tacks, a common practice of the Plains Indians.

I assumed this is the Hunkpapa Lakota war leader Gall. Gall was very prominent in the battle and made several decisions that sealed the fate of Custer and the men under his immediate command. Again with the Gall figure, we see the exaggerated muscle features as well as the oversized war axe that would seem to have more in common with Vikings than North American Plains Indians, who were fond of war clubs. It is a cool figure, however, and was a blast to paint up.

Plains Wars, American Civil War, French and Indian War picture sampler.

 

For various reasons, I am now working with 25-28mm metal figures even though I started the blog with an emphasis on 1\72 plastics. I am especially interested in old school 25mm historicals like Minifigs, Hinchcliffe, Garrison, RAFM, Ral Partha, and Scruby.

We also recently moved, and I was experimenting with my iPhone, taking some shots with a white background. Here are the results of the experiment.

These are 2nd Generation Minifigs Confederates. Minifigs are still around in the UK.  They are pricey, going for about $2.40 apiece for a foot figure. Postage from the UK is also expensive. Minifigs are of the "chunky" sort with a style all their own. I'm glad to have some in my collection.

These two figures are from the RAFM 25mm Indian Wars line. I have quite a few of them, including their Plains Indians. RAFM was headquartered in Canada. The officer is supposed to be Custer, but the figure has sergeant stripes on his buckskin jacket. Some of the troopers are not wearing their blue jackets, which is a nice touch. I am currently adding to this collection via eBay whenever possible, as RAFM historicals are no longer in business.

This figure is also from  AFM. I think he and some others were marketed as scouts—at least that is what I'm portraying them as. It's a very cool figure. I need 8 mounted and 8 dismounted for my Plains' War project, and they need to be in different poses if possible.

This Minifig Confederate made it into my scout unit for my Plains' War project.

1st Generation Minifig Union Officer. Like quite a few of my vintage figures, he was an eBay buy. There are a lot of vintage 25mm for sale on eBay UK, but as noted earlier, the postage will kill you.

I also game in the French and Indian War, and for that, I have quite a few of the newer  8mm. They are never mixed in the same units with the older  5mm. This is a Warlord chief figure (I think it's from Warlord). The redcoat is a nice touch.

A Warlord 28mm warband for Rebels and Patriots.

These are Irregular Miniatures, also from the UK. They have a more old-school look to them compared to Warlord. They are unique in my FIW collection in that way.

I live in SE Wisconsin, land of the Sauk and Fox. The Sauk and the Fox were allies of the French, and some traveled a long distance to take part in Braddock's defeat. These were a lot of fun to paint, and while the Fox and Sauk are no longer present in Wisconsin, their place names remain. We live along the Fox River, for example. They are very colorful figures from Warlord.

Loyalist (Tories) Units in the American War of Independence

 

My collection of Loyalist Units.

The Queen's Rangers or 1st American Regiment had a unique organization consisting of 8 line companies, a light company, a grenadier company and a Highland company. It also had a light dragoon troop and a hussar troop.  Jack Scruby (now Historifigs) made a line figure and a hussar figure.

Another view of the Queens Rangers. The figures are 25mm Jack Scruby figures now produced by Historifigs.  Modeling the unit in old school 25mm is a bit of a challenge given that there is only one pose available from Historifigs. The Queens Rangers retained their green coats throughout the war and as a whole functioned as a light infantry unit.

The Historifigs Queens Rangers Hussars. 

The King's American Regiment was raised in New York but saw considerable service in the Southern Campaign. Loyalist units, in general, started the war in green coats, switching to red coats in 1777 and 1778. I modeled most of my Loyalist units in green to distinguish them from British Foot.

Another view of the King's American Regiment

This photo and the subsequent photo feature Emmerich's Chasseurs. The unit functioned like mounted infantry, serving mainly between the lines by raiding and scouting. The figures are Airfix from the Washington's Army set.

The mounted portion of Emmerich's Chasseurs. The figures are Jack Scruby's (Historifigs) mounted infantry. 

Emmerich's Chasseurs as a unit for Rebels and Patriots

The Royal Regiment of New York or Johnson's Royal Greens. The regiment served in Upper New York and Canada, usually serving with the Iroquois who were loyal to Great Britain. 

Johnson's Royal Greens from the Airfix Washington's Army set. 

Butler's Rangers known by the patriots as Butler's baby killers for atrocities both real and imagined for propaganda purposes. Butler's unit always served with the Iroquois and that meant atrocities on both sides..

The figures are 20 Band B Miniatures from the UK. Although 20mm they fit in with my other units. The height difference being imperceptible. They are excellent sculpts with a "chunky" look to them.