It is a cold foggy morning in January of 1815, the last battle of the War of 1812 is about to be fought in the bayous, fields and swamps outside of the city of New Orleans. Will the British seize control of the Mississippi River and strangle the young nation or will the Patriots stand up to the army that broke Napoleon. Will the Pirates and their leader Captain Jean Lafitte arrive in time with the extra powder and flints the defenders so desperately need? Will the ladders for storming the ramparts arrive for the brave Brits? You decide the outcome with your skillful play of strategy and tactics. Place your soldiers behind the different fortification pieces, a cotton bale barricade, a barrel barricade and a cannon emplacement. Move your troops forward in formations or en masse and brave the musket and cannon fire in search of victory. Bring up reinforcements to strengthen the defenses and repulse the enemy with heavy losses. Celebrate and play again with your very own piece of history.

I based this playset off of my childhood love of Toy Soldiers. One of my favorite films as a kid was The Buccaneer with You Brynner and Charleton Heston. I loved Pirates and the Napoleanic era and decided to put together my own set of the Battle of New Orleans. I collected soldiers and fort pieces until I had a respectable approximation of the two armies. Many giant battles were fought, sometimes according to history and sometimes I changed to course of history to suit myself (take that, Jackson, you hater of Native Americans.)

When I decided to trim down my collection, I went through every playset and group of soldiers and accessories, and set aside duplicate pieces which I then assembled into smaller sets for modest budgets. The reduced size also adding to a portable and easily stored item. This Playset is custom designed and assembled from the best collections of Toy Soldiers available. The Fortification pieces are hand painted with Acrylic paints. The soldiers are a mix of Barszo, Airfix, etc, in two Armies:

• The Americans (under General Andrew Jackson and Jean Lafitte)
• The British (including Highlanders and Black Watch.)

There are also Pirates and Native Americans fighting alongside the American regulars and militia. Cannons, Camp Gear, and Foliage pieces round out the ambience.

This item is available for purchase on my Etsy store.