Today we will take a look at the 28mm French and Indian War range of Forlorn Hope Games more in particular the means of transport such as the useful canoes, river rafts, dog sledges, row boats and pack mules. This range among others was originally created and produced by Cavalcade Games in the United States and was recently purchased by Forlorn Hope Games in the UK.
The transition of these nice 28mm ranges not only saves European wargamers postage and custom costs but has also allowed the expansion of the ranges as much pieces were never released before. Although not very useful as actual wargame pieces these miniatures can add some details to your table or can be used to add special features and objectives to your wargames.
The miniatures
Before we take a closer look at the items individually, we will first of all take a closer look at quality of the castings. After a look, I can conclude that these pieces are well-casted in white metal although due to the nature of the casting epriod you will need to remove some visible casting lines where both mould halves met. These mouldlines can easily be removed using a vile or even with a stanley knife although this will of course blunt the knife.
I can also say the prices are conform with the recieved products as these pieces are large compared with single 28mm miniatures. These pieces are also heavy due to chosen casting material but are there for also very durable for wargame purposes especially the paddles. We will now take a look at the individual items with an 28mm miniature for scale purposes.
The first item, is the common and very useful wooden raft. This piece is probably the heaviest one of the bunch as it's a solid metal casting. This raft was commonly used by the European soldiers and colonists during the French and Indian War but can also be used for a wide variety of other periods even dating back to Prehistoric times.
The second item is my favorite piece as it's full of character. This row boat comes with two paddles and consists out of 4 metal casted pieces which need to be assembled to create the row boat. This piece was also commonly used by the European factions in the French and Indian theater of war for transferring supplies from ocean ships to the harbors on the coast and banks of large rivers or coastal raids on enemy colonies and outposts.
The third item is the canoe which also comes with two paddles and consists out of 4 metal casted parts which need to be assembled to create a finished canoe. This piece was used by the native Indian war parties to travel the many rivers of Northern America for both the purposes of trade and war. These canoes were also extensively used by trappers and colonial forces due to their light weight and speed.
Another niece piece is this two-part metal pack mule which is currently not availble in the webshop but will be added soon. This piece my personal favorite and can be used in a whole array of different periods as both a gaming piece or decorative piece. As said this miniature consists out of two parts: the mule and the loose bagage load.
Another interesting piece is this native American Toboggan or dog sledge commonly used by the Inu and Creek tribes of Nothern Canada. As you can see this piece exists out of 4 large pieces: the actual sledge, the removable furlined bagage and two dogs. I had heard before of this way of transportation and I'm glad to see it represented in such a nice way for wargame purposes.
The assembling and size comparison
As all the received pieces were well-casted and consisted out of few parts, this step went very quick. So quick I even forgot to take individual pictures of the assembled boats but I have found some pictures online of the assembled and painted boats to give you an idea of how the look. in the first picture you can see the assembled Toboggan sledge with an 28mm miniature.
The following picture you can see the boats lined up to see their actual size compared with the other boats. In this picture you can also see the assembled boats with the glued on seatings. As you can see the size varies with the canoe being the longest boat and the raft being the smallest one available for wild river adventures.
To finish I have also added a comparison picture of the pack mule together with an 28mm miniature and as you can see they are an almost perfect match.
The painted examples
To give you an idea of how these boats look painted up I have added these pictures of the Forlorn Hope Games website which show the pieces painted to a very nice wargame standard. Note that this paintjob also adds more character and detail to the pieces.
The conclusion
As you can read, these pieces can form a nice addition to your wargame collection as both wargaming or decorative pieces. If interested in purchasing these pieces you can always visit the Forlorn Hope Games website and make also sure to check the other recently purchased Cavalcade ranges such as the splendid Animal and Ming Chinese range to name a few.
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