Warlord Games CEO John Stallard

Warlord Games bossman John Stallard is a lifelong hobbyist, and works on a very simple principle – plug away for an hour or two every single evening. In this manner, he’s amassed a frankly staggering collection of miniatures, with dozens of enormous armies populating his spectacular gaming room. Let’s take a little look at what he’s been up to lately.

This month, John’s ploughing on with his Epic Battles: Revolution! project, adding some fearsome Highlanders to his British collection! He also shares some handy tips when it comes to painting Epic Battles figures.

John Stallard's Epic Battles Highlanders by Warlord Games
The Highlanders advance to the skirl of bagpipes!

John’s been working away on this Highland regiment, painting them as the 71st ‘Fraser’s Highlanders’ – but where are their kilts?! Interestingly, during the American War of Independence, the Highland regiments sent to America wore ‘trews’ (that’s ‘trousers’ for those of us south of the Wall!) rather than their famous plaid – a far cry from the kilted, broadsword-wielding men of the French & Indian Wars twenty years previously. However, they still maintained their uniquely Scottish style, with their blue bonnets topped with white feathers.

John Stallard's Epic Battles Highlanders by Warlord Games
The ‘Light Bobs’ leave the safety of the fort, and head into the wilderness.

John’s detached his Light Company from the main body of the regiment to fight in loose order, as was very often done. These ‘Light Bobs’ would be grouped together into Light Battalions, who considered themselves very much elite troops. Much had been learned institutionally from fighting against Native American forces, and British Light Infantry showed little fear of American riflemen – a far cry from the stolid shoulder-to-shoulder formations often shown in films! This was also true of Grenadier Companies, meaning that if you want to paint up a Light or Grenadier Battalion, you can have a lot of fun varying all of the facing colours to represent men from many regiments.

John Stallard's Epic Battles Highlanders by Warlord Games
Hide! The Highlanders are coming!

John’s got a simple solution for painting ranked-up Epic Battles troops. He says the first thing to remember is that you’re painting something very small, so don’t sweat the details too much! Glue the front ranks down to the bases, and take your time painting the front face of them as neatly and well as you can. Then, paint the backs of them as quickly as you like, not worrying about detail – you won’t see anything below the hat once they’re ranked up! For the rear rank, repeat the same process, but the other way ’round! It might feel a bit ‘dirty’, but you’ll see the results once you rank the unit up. Base them nicely with flock and some small bushes, and you’ll have a lovely unit of troops – without spending forever painting them.

This set gives you a full regiment of Highlanders for Epic Battles: Revolution!, including command strips which can be modelled with or without standard bearers and bagpipers, as well as ten Highlander light infantry models – perfect for skirmishing ahead of your line. All wear Highland bonnets, and trews rather than kilts.

Black Powder Epic Battles: Revolution! - Highlanders

Join us next month as we check back in with the boss, to see what new hobby he’s gotten up to!

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