Dark Ages Buildings

-
Always on the look out for suitable buildings I found these from the same manufacturer as my figures, a barn and a store house.

One advantage of seeing my own 'stuff' on a screen, and magnified, is that shows up all the imperfections. In this case just how awful the thatch is. Needless to say, they have been repainted. I will, however, leave these pics here as a bad example. Keep your eyes peeled for a post about painting thatch in the future... see here




The updated version

If you enjoyed reading this, or any of the other posts, please consider supporting the blog. 
Thanks.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Warlord Pike and Shotte Epic Battles: the cavalry sprue

-
Image
As a follow up to my review of Warlord's Epic P&S foot sprue  here's my thoughts on the cavalry sprue that came with the latest (April) edition of Wargames Illustrated. April's WI: the Epic cover art reminds me of the Letraset style action picture scenes of the 1970s First off, let's have a look at the sprue as a whole. An 'interesting' choice of components for a 'cavalry' sprue, but I understand that the commercial need to 'have everything on just one sprue' dictates what is and what isn't on the sprue. I've already seen quite a few people asking which figures are which, on various forums and FB groups.  So here is a 'button counter's' view of the sprue. The un-identified figures are generic 'harquebusier type' cavalry. I note that there are two figures that look a bit more officer material than the others, and a cornet who could double up for either the dragoons or the regiments of horse. The major missing elemen...
Read more

Helmets

-
Image
If you are 'new' to the Civil Wars there are a number of technical helmet names bandied around by authors and gamers. At the risk of turning into the Ian Allan* armour spotters guide, here is a guide to the different types of helmet commonly used by soldiers during the Civil Wars. Pikeman's pot , is a bit of a catch all as there are several types of helmet used by pikemen. The cabascet/cabasset . An older style of helmet, still made in the seventeenth century. Easily spotted by the 'aerodynamic' go faster spoiler at the top of the helmet. On display at the Nantwich Museum, from the Grosvenor Museum Collection The morion . Another older style of helmet, anyone who watched episodes of The Flashing Blade during the school summer holidays in the 1970s will be familiar with this style of helmet - those dastardly Spanish wore them. A really rubbish picture of an early morion, Combined Military Services Museum A much better picture of a morion, Royal Armouries Leeds Morion...
Read more

Coat Colours Part 2: Royalist Regiments of Foot

-
Image
Continuing my therapeutic blogging (write rather than rant) antidote to incorrect English Civil War coat colour tables for wargamers, I give you the Royalist Regiments of Foot. For all of my coat colour articles see: Introduction   Part 1  Parliamentarian coat colours Part 3  Scots coat colours Part 3B  Montrose and the Irish Brigade Part 4  Dragoons, Horse and the New Model Army coat colours The Trained Bands London Trained Bands Auxiliary regiments Scarves   Same rules apply here, as they did with the Parliamentarian coat colours: Regiments often got renamed when command passed to a new colonel - these regiments are listed under their first name e.g. Jacob Astley's Regiment was originally Richard Fielding's Regiment. Coat colour notes refer to contemporaneous references and some of the deductions made by Reid, Spring,  Peachey and Prince. You will also notice that some regiments have several coat colours listed. Where there is some question aro...
Read more

Colonel Richard O’Farrell’s Regiment of Foot

-
Image
After the trauma (!) of researching Turlough MacHenry Ó Néill, I'm giving the  Ó Néill s a wide berth for a wee while, and researching a not-Ó Néill regiment. The monumental job of cutting and drilling away cast on pikes that are much too short The Farrells were rulers of Annaly, roughly the modern County Longford. They lost about a quarter of their lands in the plantation of Longford in 1618 but were still in control of the county at the outbreak of the 1641 rebellion. So it comes as no surprise that they joined the rebellion in 1641, setting out their grievances in a letter to Lord Dillon, who presented it to the Dublin government on their behalf: The Papists in the neighbouring counties are severely punished and their miseries might serve as beacons unto us to look unto our own, when our neighbours houses are on fire.  They expressed their support for the king and enclosed an oath of loyalty to him. However, they also voiced their disappointment that as Catholics ...
Read more

Colonel Herbert Morley’s Regiment of Horse

-
Image
The last of the 'oooo, I've got space in my storage boxes, I'd better fill it' expansion  horsey men. I won't be missing death by brown paint for a while. Colonel Herbert Morley’s Regiment of Horse was a combined Regiment of Horse and Dragoons serving in Waller’s Southern Association, then as garrison of Arundel until  they were disbanded in 1653. Raised in Sussex in April 1643, the Regiment originally consisted of 80 horse and 100 dragoons. By the end of 1643 their strength rose to about 400 men in total. Combined horse and dragoon regiments appear to be a way of having two small regiments for the price of one: a combined regiment has one colonel (and just one colonel's pay to find). There are a number of examples of these dual regiments recorded, Morley's was not a 'one off'. There is some confusion as to their first engagements: they were ordered to join Essex's Army at Gloucester, along with the Regiments of Colonels Norton and Harvey, but wh...
Read more

Which Figures? Part 2a: Size Matters: Foot

-
Image
Finally, here is the first of the long promised size comparison shots. This post looking at foot figures.  For the full picture see:- Which Figures?   - the original post, where I ruminate about what I want from figures, and what led me to choose Peter Pig. Which Figures? What is Available   - the state of play with current 'ECW' 15mm figure ranges; a continually updating look at what figures are available, and what is included/missing from ranges. No commentary on figure size or ruler action (that's down to parts 2a and 3a).    Which Figures? Part 2a: Size Matters: Foot  - I show side by side comparisons of what is available in 15/18mm, with the obligatory ruler shots. This post. Which Figures? Part 2b: True 15mm/Epic Compatibility: Foot   - a more in depth look at smaller 15mm compatibility Which Figures? Part 3a: Size Matters: Horses  - I show side by side comparisons of what is available in 15/18mm (obligatory ruler content too)  Whi...
Read more

Limbers

-
Image
We all have these 'I could just...' ideas about our toy soldiers which usually involve buying even more shiny things™. There's a couple of *big* thoughts kicking around my head (my RoF really need a third line of musketeers, and surely I need to represent my dragoons mounted too) which get beaten with a metaphorical big stick every time they start making any sort of noise. Recently a new 'I could just...' thought appeared, and before I could find the metaphorical big stick, I had placed two small orders. Jings and crivens*. My armies field three types of artillery - light, medium and heavy (not including frame guns, or the solitary shared siege mortar). Each gun has its own limber. Light guns have a Naismith limber pulled by two horses. Medium and heavy guns have Museum Miniatures limbers and a four horse team. My 'I could just...' thought didn't like medium and heavy guns having the same limber. It argued that heavy guns needed more horses. by Jean Théo...
Read more

Warlord Pike and Shotte Epic Battles: the infantry sprue

-
Image
Firstly a big thank you to Warlord Games who sent me a sprue of their new Pike and Shotte Epic Battles infantry. (You can see how I got on with the cavalry sprue here. ) I will try and look at these figures from three different angles: the first impression of someone completely new to the period, the button counter’s standpoint, and then from a seasoned wargamer’s point of view. In all cases I'm looking at these through Wars of the Three Kingdoms spectacles. (Wars of the Three Kingdoms is a more accurate name for the conflicts that were fought in the British Isles in the mid seventeenth century. The English Civil War was just one of these conflicts.) The obligatory next to a ruler picture (the ruler is lined up with the soles of their footwear) The 'new to the period' view This one sprue provides enough figures for one unit (a Regiment of Foot or RoF). Figures look very detailed, moulding is clean and crisp with no flash and only minimal mould lines. The pikes look a bit d...
Read more

The Army of Montrose

-
Image
As I have almost run out of Royalists and Parliamentarians to paint, and I have a small Covenanter force it would make sense to create the Army of Montrose. Something I have been shying away from for a very long time due to tartan*, but anything is preferable to painting Napoleonic Austrians. James Graham, the Marquis of Montrose portrait on display at Broughton Castle My Covenanters, and the Scots from the Army of Montrose, could also be combined to form a Scots Royalist Army for the Preston and Worcester campaigns. We know very little about about Montrose's Army; the Scots seem to swap sides and allegiance at the drop of a hat, so much of what we know about Montrose's men dates from a short period of their existence when they fought for the Covenant. Montrose never really had a base for his army, the bigger Scottish towns and cities were firmly with the Solemn League, Montrose drawing soldiers from many much smaller settlements (where diarists and chroniclers, on th...
Read more

Rupert's March North: Part One, Cheshire

-
Image
Regular readers (hello both of you) will realise that my mini-series of battlefield visits is on a bit of a break, due to my battlefield 'hit-list' being not so local anymore. However there were a number of skirmishes and sieges locally. Each of these actions probably doesn't warrant an article by itself, however many of these incidents were related to Rupert's march to York. So I have decided to retrace Rupert's route through Cheshire and Lancashire, adding in any other events/locations as asides. For ease of writing south of the Mersey is 'Cheshire', north of the Mersey is 'Lancashire'. 1644, the Marquis of Newcastle is under siege in York, a last stronghold of Royalist power in the north. The Parliamentarian army of the Eastern Association has been joined by the Scots army of the Solemn League and Covenant. A beleaguered Newcastle has requested help from the King in his stronghold at Oxford. Charles dispatches Prince Rupert north with an army,...
Read more