Old School ECW

The References

Books

I have been mulling this over for a little while now. I think it was being able recently to view the "Battleground" episode on Edgehill that have kicked me off, and I do think I would like to do something around the English Civil War.
I received the old Osprey "Wargames" title on Naseby from my favourite ebay seller and have been poring over the pictures of Peter Gilder's collection both there and at various locations on the web*. I am inspired and have a few initial ideas.
So, what have I read? The Airfix Magazine Guide, the aforementioned Osprey (I have others in my collection, of course) and Haythornethwaite's book on the Wars. A few magazine articles by Ian Weekly.
What do I want to read? Young's "The Cavalier Army". I recall seeing it at university all those years ago and recall some lovely little drawings in the chapter headings.
What should I read? That I leave that to you, dear reader.
Shopping
Some people think that wargaming is all about being a steely-eyed warrior. These people are wrong.
It's really all about shopping. Checking the wargaming budget. Looking nervously at the lead pile. The squinting at low-resolution pictures of miniatures online. Yakking on about figure compatibility. Detail. Anatomy. Asking yourself if you really need to spend the money when you have so many unfinished projects littering the place.
Planning
Do this before you go shopping. Ho, ho, ho.
Nonetheless, try. I've not yet done the planning, but I think this will be quite a strictly limited project. Won't it? I hope so.
Probably Hinchcliffes, probably with a few Scrubies in the mix. Probably with a stab at approximating the Gilder style.
Two small, balanced forces with approximately a 1:1 ratio between the numbers of infantry and cavalry fielded by each side.
I think that's about the shape of it.
*C'mon Doug, help me out here!

Just for the purpose of Illustration.

Not a war-gamer

 Gratuitous shot of Sammy aside, the Teenage Mutant Ninja turtle is purely for - ahem - illustrative purposes.

Traffic Jam!

Those Grant-esque units have quite a foot-print when deployed in line!

Comardo Dragoons

 Particular favourites of mine.


Alzheimer Light Infantry

 Perhaps a little overpoweringly strong for any period? They should be a jolly nuisance, but not a battle-winner!

A Tight Fit

From the blockhouse.

I played out the "Action!" scenario from the Grant book solo the weekend before last.

I had already made the bounce stick but decided I couldn't be bothered with it as anythin other than as a measuring device when push came to shove.

The rules I use are a bit of a hybrid beast that abstract the artillery fire somewhat (think "Charge!") and greatly simplify the over-complex (to say the least! Three pages in the quick reference version!) melee rules in the manner of TSaTF.

I really do like my rules on two pages of A4 at most.

You're all doubtless aware that each side gets two regiments of infantry, one of lights, a gun and a regiment of horse. My table is 7'x5' and there is not a lot of room for maneuver once you start plonking down those 50-figure units of Spencer Smiths.

On that note, I've nearly finished the infantry contingent for one of my Spencer Smith armies (the Empire) and wonder how on earth I'll ever fit the ten regiments of foot on the jolly table!

Sweet Melancholy

Et je m'en vais

Au vent mauvais

Qui m'emporte

Deçà, delà,

Pareil à la

Feuille morte.*

The long sobs of the viols of autumn have now passed us by here in Melbourne, however, I continue to flutter about, much like any falling leaf.

In a recent post, I emphasised that one needs to be a manly man to apply paint to one’s otherwise recalcitrant Spencer Smiths. Now, if the mood takes me as it has for the past fortnight I can out-manly Bear Grylls or even Teddy Rooseveldt, but now, and with the days drawing in, I find myself in a more reflective mood.

So, let me turn up the lamp (but not too far!) and hold forth. I may, on occasion cough into a handkerchief. Do not dwell upon that!

I am, as many of you may have guessed somewhat of a two-sided character. One part of my nature is deeply practical and pragmatic, however I feel that this is something of a camouflage which conceals something of the decadent and the romantic. There is always the backward glance to the fin-de-siecle, the work of Beardsley and Wilde. The bold Cavalier, the dark and liquid eye that gazes calmly back from a Van Dyck.

This mood can be evoked for me by many things. A misty morning. Day-long rain. The way a thin wash of a beautiful yellow buff moulds the supple limbs of a Gilder Cavalier. Oh! The way in which it flows over the cleanly white of the undercoat. The perfect way in which a thin line of darkest brown finishes the shape. One yearns to apply the gloss varnish.

But! Patience! Patience! Consummation will be the sweeter for waiting.

*And I'm going

On an ill wind

That carries me

Here and there,

As if a

Dead leaf.

Action!

 La Rosee Regiment in the foreground, flanked by von Brownes'. In the distance may just be discerned the Comardo Dragoons.

 La Rosee again, from the rear. Below, The Imperials march on. Weissenfels has already formed a firing line whilst the Buddenbrock Kurassier come up behind. Marching on in the distance are Salm-Salm-Salm.

We await the advent of the light infantry.

The scene is set. The lights are dimming. The theatre is hushed apart from a rusle of programmes and chip packets.

Getting up to my old Tricks

Phew, I haven't done this in a while.

IR von Pinckel. Near Federstein am Donau, 1740

A small reduction in the Spencer Smith plastic mountain.

I had forgotten how so much of the painting these is in the black-lining. Once that's done the miniature is as good as finished!

They are interesting figures to paint. Very primitive, with detail that is indistinct at best and which comes and goes as you follow it around the figure but the basic shapes are there. What I like about them especially  is that if you paint with a fairly strong line and good, solid colours you are able to impose your will upon them to a very great degree. Does your regiment have lapelled coats? Yes? Well, paint them on! Marvellous.

You won't get away with more delicate wash-based styles with these, but provided you show the figure who's in charge, you'll get a good, strong result.

If you're man enough for them.

Action!

One of the less-played Charles Grant scenarios is "Action!".

This is the introductory scenario outlined in The Wargame.

It's a strightforward meeting engagement between two pretty evenly matched forces, each of two line infantry units, one light infantry unit, a unit of heavy cavalry. One side has a gun, the other a howitzer.

Terrain is simplicity itself. in the north, a line of ponds and marshy ground forms the tables' edge. There are substantial woods to the north and south boundaries of the table, each abut a third to a half the table length which give the light infantry avenues to play in. Walled enclosures are potential redoubts and tow roads quarter the table diagonally, turning it into something of a St Andrews' cross for the vexillographically inclined.

I'm not too sure why it's not more regularly played. The forces are not too different to "Sawmill Village", and the terrain is pretty easy to reproduce.

Why is it not as well-known as Blasthof? Who can tell?

Palestinian House with Willies

 There you go Ross. Just for you.

Happy Easter.

Palestinian House

Based on descriptions in Prawer and Runciman is this Palestinian house. Equally to be seen in the town as an bourgeois or even noble house or as a small manor in the countryside, each presented a fairly bland exterior with the main buildings being arranged around a central court-yard. The tiled floor is an image I found on the internet, printed off and glued to the MDF base with PVA.

The walls are of foam-core board, the cut edges sealed with filler to stop them from melting when being painted! The tree is from one of those ebay shops punching out great quantities of good quality product in China.

 Mr Donkey is a 1:48th farm figure from Pegasus.

The whole package. The little butresses were added from odd offcuts of foam-core to add a little interest to the rather bland exterior walls. The exterior was painted with cans of variously coloured spay-paint with a little selective dry-brushing toward the end of the job.

Campaigning Season in the Holy Land

I don't know if I'm being a bore with this one, however:

I was a bit bored this week, so I took it in my head to plot the dates of a selection of Crusader battles in palestine in the 11th-12th Century.

I wanted to know if the dates would yield something like a "campaign season", just for laughs.

So, after putting in all the dates, I went fora simple chart showing frequency of battle event by month. Interesting. Then, just to show off, I dropped the frequency information into a bar graph and the results pretty well speak for themselves.

The campaign season for Palestine in the period of "The Kingdom of Jerusalem" is pretty much May to September. There is an interesting spike in January, but that sample is probably too small to draw any conclusions.

A Full Crew Aboard

 Last week I got my gunners back from Gerry. He very kindly sculpted left arms onto my infantry figures to allow me to call then gunners. I think you will agree he's done a fine job of matching Mr Stadden's sculpting style.

 So, I have raced ahead and painted a few up, just enough to crew the first of my pair of 4.7" guns.

Another crew is in preparation as I write this, so expect more pictures next week of the full battery.

I am happy to say this project feels as though it's got just the right amount of momentum. I think that the next job will be either to finish off the 11th Hussars or to paint a Fife and Drum Pontoon Wagon. Lets' see which the postman brings first.

Happy painting!

The Varied Lives of Some Bengal Lancers

 Now something like complete for my "Littler Britons" project are my Bengal Lancers. These have had a somewhat chequered painting history in the two and a half years' since I originally bought them from Spencer Smiths'

 I spent ages looking at various uniforms. If you poke around in the archives here, you'll see what I mean.

 What wound up happening was I found myself with three meticulously painted types following the model of the lovely old Airfix 54mm kit. Then, one day I found I needed a dozen British Empire cavalry tout suite for a convention game.

Boom. I slapped a hasty coat of khaki on a dozen castings. Eurgh. But it got me through. I have slowlty been paying for that ever since and finally they have more or less arrived. The horses still need work. They were an early try of the wipe-it-off painting horses with oils technique and would benefir from a little detail painting - a few socks and stars as well as a bit of brass on the tack.

I do have a few more castings - enough to bring the regiment up to 18 figures, so that ought to be more than adequate.

Spencer Smith "Classic" Normans

 In my last post I was carrying on a bit about how much I liked the Spencer Smith Normans, so I thought I ought to put a few pictures up. That immediately above shows a little bit of their potential - the fellow on the left has an infantryman's arm thrusting with a spear overarm. There is evidence suggesting that "couched" was not the only way of employing the weapon, and I thought this was a nice little nod in that direction. The other fellow has a spare right arm from a figure meant to be in a fairly sedate pose with his weapon held upright. I think he looks nice as he lowers his lance into a fighting position even as he gazes off-screen at a threat we must perforce imagine.

 Going forward to this image, I feel that the altered figure goes well with that with the lowered lance. The two look like they've just spotted trouble and are swinging into action. Note I am using the North Star wire spears (the 40mm ones) which in my opinion go better with the figures than the brass rod Spencer Smiths' supply.

Painting. Ulp. I'm trying to be a little restrained, but it seems as though Saxtorph and the Funckens are edging in a bit. You'll notice I've painted in some brown leather edging around the hems and the mail hood. It seems logical to me that it's be there if only to protect the clothing below and so as not to chafe at their faces.

It will be time to start on the Saracens when I've ordered some up. They'll probably have to be Willies as I can't see anything else more suiable or compatible. It will be fun picking over the catalogue and seeing what can be found. There are at least a couple of useful horse archers in the Medieval range.

Happy hobby times.

Prototyping for the Crusades

 I have finally, after many years, made the conversion from polystyrene as my main source of building material to high density extruded foam. It comes in various colours, pink, blue or yellow but all have the similar virtues of strength, allowing score-and-snap cutting and also enabling the paitient modeller to emboss detail with a scribing tool.

The material is relatively expensive, so I've decided that I ought to prototype my building projects in white polystyrene to settle questions of technique before applying hot wire cutter to my more expensive building material.

 What you are seeing here is my first experiment; a Crusader donjon from Northern Palestine (the plain of Sharon, no less) around about 1120-30CE.

The knights and infantry are all Spencer Smith "Classic" Normans. Excellent figures which I am enjoying painting very much at the moment. There is a deal of pose-ability and even some conversion potential that is quite appealing to me.

Skinner's Horse

A Funny Little Conceit

Littler Britons - a project update

 Oh, it's been a while since I last posted. I've just been steadily pottering about with my various projects. As you can see, I've added a second unit of infantry here.

 Lord Cardigan personally leads a vedette of the 11th Hussars. No black bottles here!

 The band continues to practise. The brass section needs a little more bass.

The guns continue. I have a boduy of gunners on the go at the moment - a dear friend it busily sculpting spare arms for me. Thats as far as the lead mountain takes me for now. I did trade some plastic Spencer Smith ACW for some Paypal pounds which I've used to buy more. Expect to see the rest of the 11th before long and possibly a pontoon train from Fife and Drum as well as some 4Ground wagons. More infantry? Yes, of course, another two units. A ballon corps and a couple of engineer wagons would be nice, too.

Thinking aloud

You know, there's a fair bit of simiarity between say, Rogers' Rangers and the Royal Eccosais' Culloden uniform.

 Exhibit A. My RSM Rogers' rangers do their stealthy thing.

Note the firing figures.

 Exhibit B. Now, I wonder why a small conversion with paint might not be attempted.

As a wise man once said, click the images to embiggen.

2014's Mystery Project 2

 Ahh, that's better. Much more in "scale" with the figures. I might cut the other walls down a bit to give me some more options for another project I have in mind.

It's funny how much better the posts that I hand-sharpened with my scalpel look compared to the "points" of the original sticks. However, that being said, I'm not going to re-do it a third time. A little too labour-intensive, even for me!

And I'm still finding bits that pinged off to the four corners of the kitchen!

It's the 1990s all over again. Cocktail sticks for everyone!

Next trick will be to install the walk-ways and to decide whether to permanently base it or leave it in it's current "modular" format.

After that i have some buildings and fencing I need to get cracking on.

Yes Stokes, you're right. it is going to be that MM cover.

2014's Mystery Project

RSM Grenadiers and a huge pile of bamboo skewers...

Somewhere in the Wilderness, a handful of brave grenadiers defend a lonely outpost...

Still experimenting... or am I?

This represents the current state of affairs. I am going to call a this a squadron and a half of the "la Reine" cavalry regiment. I think that three squadrons, each of six figures plus a couple of "command" will do for a regiment.

I spent a couple of hours re-basing the 44th Foot to the new infantry standard on the weekend. Three "companies" of twelve figures will make up a regiment/battalion. I have decided to add a command figure per company, either an officer or a drummer, with perhaps an additional one attached to the centre company. There will be one or two standard bearers and a mounted officer to round things out.

I still need to put in a bit of effort sorting out the 44th (primarily a mounted officer), but I think I am getting there.

Innies or Outies?

I've started basing up my Saxons and am coming up hard against the point where I have to make a decision. I am now standardising my units on a 36-figure basis for the regular infantry*. Do I want to include my command figures in this total? At the moment I'm looking at six bases of six figures plus an officer or NCO figure per 12-figure company plus a mounted officer, drummer and a couple of standard-bearers.

 The alternative seems to be to drop one of the stands of figures and replace it with one mounting an officer, drummer, mounted officer and a pair of ensigns. The first image in this post has just such a mock-up, whilst the others are variations of my current arrangement.

*Why? Because this feels like a good compromise between piddly little units of 12-24 figures on the one hand and unmanageable monsters on the other. I admire those people who can maintain the focus and stamina to put out 72-figure units, but I just cannot do it. Charles Grant-style units of 53 figures are my absolute limit!

I think 36 figure units give me a chance of occasionally finishing them off and eventually offering the prospect of putting on actions like (shall we say) Quebec with a reasonably-sized table. I also think that they represent an opportunity to do two-battalion regiments where you can properly hive off the grenadiers, merge them with those of another regiment and come up with a viable grenadier battalion.

Prestonpans - The Anglo-Hanoverian Army

Commander-in-Chief North Britain: Lieutenant-General Sir John Cope
Adjutant General: Colonel Lord Loudon (64th)

Cavalry: Brigadier Thomas Fowke
13th Dragoons (Colonel James Gardiner)
14th Dragoons (Lieutenant-Colonel William Wright)
567 Troopers

Infantry: Colonel Francis Lascelles (58th)
55th (Lee's) Foot Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Halkett - 5 Companies
57th (Murray's) Foot Lieutenant-Colonel Jasper Clayton - 10 Companies
58th (Lascelles) Foot Majoy John Severn - 8 Companies plus two companies of Guise's 6th Foot
43rd (Murray's) Highlanders - 1 Company
Loudon's 67th Highlanders (Captain Alexander Mackay) - 3 1/2 Companies
1,464 Rank and File

Artillery: Major Eaglesfield Griffith and Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Whitefoord
6 1 1/2 pr "Curricle" guns
4 Coehorn Mortars

These figures do not square up too well with the casualties suffered on the day - 1400 of the Anglo-Hanoverians taken prisoner. 300 more were killed and another 170 escaped the fight.Unless I was mistaken in assuming that all the cavalry got away. A closer reading of my Duffy suggests that the 13th at least were fairly hotly engaged, but were mostly overrun standing. Perhaps more of the cavalry were lost than I had earlier thought. perhaps the Anglo-Hanoverian army was not quite at the "2300" strength I had originally thought. Perhaps their strength was more in the order of about 2000-2100 in total.

Also, my earlier assumption of basically three regiments of foot and two of dragoon starts to fall apart when we examine the actual breakdown of the forces involved. As can be seen there were lots of small-fry, interestingly including  four and a half companies from two highland regiments. Whether to fold them into the 55th and not worry or to set them apart as the Picquets is another decision.

I shall have to think this over and see what turns up. My original conversion of men to figures assumed that there were 1900 infantry which I scaled down to 108 - a 20:1 (weeeell, roughly) ratio. That may have to change.