Peter Pig: Dark Ages Buildings

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Always on the look out for suitable buildings I found these from Peter Pig, 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

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Streeter's Plan of Naseby in 15mm

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In a moment of madness I wondered if it would be possible to recreate Streeter's famous plan of Naseby using my 15mm figures.

Streeter's Plan of Naseby
Bit of a problem, haven't got a copy of Streeter's Plan; I do however have an original copy of Sturt's Plan. (If you don't know what I'm talking about see here for an explanation.)

My original Sturt Some 'egging on' meant it was happening... Some caveats: topography wasn't going to be in the recreation, nor were the correct regiments in the correct places (shoddy, I know) for example Waller's dragoons stood in for Okey's at Sulby Hedges (there is a little bit of real Sulby Hedges grit on their basing though - does that count?). Figures from Peter Pig, buildings form Hovels, Peter Pig, Total Battle Miniatures, Naseby windmill is my own conversion of an Ironclad Miniatures Russian windmill. hedges are from S&A Scenics, and roads from Fat Frank.

Naseby village taking shape
The finished artic…
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London, Part Seven: More Miscellany

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Following on fromLondon Part Five here are some more interesting Civil War related objects/places worth a visit if you are passing. Plus one or two urban myths get shattered.


A hidden gem - St Mary le Strand's diptych of Charles and Henrietta Maria
The first item of interest, well it probably isn't there, despite so many arguing that it is. The lines of London's fortifications place a large fort in Hyde Park. Earthworks can clearly be seen adjacent to Park Lane near Curzon Gate and it is oft argued that these earthworks are the remains of the fort and the defensive walls erected by Parliament.


The 'earthworks' today

The site of the fort, bottom left; the line of the walls stretching up from the fort  (Rocque's 1746 map)
Sadly, whilst this is clearly the historical location of part of Parliament's defences, these earthworks are most likely to be 'spoil' from the road improvements that took place in the 1960s as pictures from the 1930s clearly show an ab…
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Colonel Richard Bagot’s Regiment of Horse

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Here we have the first of a brace of Bagot's: in this case, a straight out of the packet no headswaps cavalry unit, with the sort of flag even I could paint free hand.


Richard Bagot was the Royalist governor of Lichfield and led his Regiment of Foot at Naseby, where he was mortally wounded.


But let us concern ourselves with his Regiment of Horse. Raised by Bagot in 1643, not long after he was made Governor, his Regiment of Horse was mainly a garrison regiment based in Lichfield; however, they did, on occasion, venture out to fight with Prince Rupert.

They fought at Cotes Bridge, Newark, Burton on Trent, Leicester, and Naseby.










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The Battle of Preston 17th-19th August 1648

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1648, Parliament has Charles imprisoned at Carisbrooke Castle, but secretly the King plots to reclaim his throne by force. He signs a treaty with many of the Scots Covenanters (who now become Engagers) to invade England and join forces with Royalist sympathisers.

It must be noted that the Scottish Kirk did not sanction the Engagement with the King, so the Engager Army was short of many of the most talented and experienced soldiers from the Army of the Covenant.


Cattermole's 'Battle of Preston and Walton', Harris Museum
May 1648, the Engagers rise up and invade England. Royalist risings take place in Kent, Essex and more importantly for the Engagers - Cumberland. A mainly Scottish joint Engager-Royalist army marches south, whilst the New Model Army marches to confront them.

Cromwell's forces mustered the New Model Army and the Northern Association in Yorkshire and marched down the Ribble Valley to meet the Engagers and Royalists at Preston.

The two sides met on Ribbleton …
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Colonel Richard Bagot’s Regiment of Foot

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After so many Regiments of Horse I'm taking time off from cavalry and rewarding myself with a Regiment of Foot.

As Richard Bagot's Regiment of Horse has just graced the blog, it is only right and proper that his Regiment of Foot do too.

The Regiment became the Lichfield garrison in 1644, which is something at least part of the Regiment maintained until 1646.


They developed a reputation for being proficient skirmishers and plunderers - obviously venturing out of Lichfield to resupply the garrison.

As well as these garrison duties they fought at Cotes Bridge, Leicester, Naseby, Huntingdon, possibly Rowton Heath, and the failed attempt to relieve Chester.

Richard was wounded at Naseby and retreated to Lichfield where he died of his wounds. He was buried at Lichfield  Cathedral, where his memorial is still visible in the south aisle of the choir (the memorial is in Latin, but bears his coat of arms - look for a goat's head).


Their coat colour is unknown but their colours are -…
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ECW Wargaming Research: Getting Started

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An oft asked question on forums is "which is the best introductory book about the English Civil Wars?"


The editorial team at KeepYourPowderDry working on the next thrilling post. (Actually a detail from the 1650 news sheet "The Ranters Ranting")
The simple answer is: "there isn't one".

This is usually followed by a slightly more helpful answer  - "Haythornthwaite". 

Sadly, "Haythornthwaite" is almost as unhelpful an answer as "there isn't one".

Nice pictures, but fairly dated and contains a number of errors (including some in the pictures) which he has repeated from earlier books and other authors. These errors have, in turn, been replicated by a number of figure sculptors, writers and websites. There's a reason it is so cheap on on-line auctions!  I must confess that when I re-started gaming the Civil Wars I purchased a copy of Haythornthwaite; it really is inspirational, but as my knowledge base increased I bega…
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Colonel Oliver Cromwell’s Regiment of Horse, Captain Henry Ireton's troop

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Cromwell's Regiment was originally a single troop of the Earl Of Essex's Regiment of Horse which was raised in Huntingdon. Cromwell went to Edgehill, but unlike the eponymous film, arrived too late to actually take part in the battle. The troop didn't really see any action during the rest of 1642 before returning to Cambridgeshire where it became a five troop Regiment in it's own right.


In 1643 the Regiment mainly spent it's time putting down local Royalist uprisings in Cambridgeshire, and took part in a handful of slightly larger affairs: Grantham, Gainsborough and Winceby. The Regiment continued to grow in size having ten troops by September 1643, and fourteen by January 1644 (by which time Cromwell had been promoted to Lieutenant General of Horse).

The Regiment then went on to fight at  Lincoln, the Siege of York, Marston Moor (all fourteen troops), Banbury Castle, Second Newbury. Half the regiment joined Waller's Southern Association participating in many m…
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Sir John Boys’s Troop of Horse

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Another straight out of the packet Royalist Regiment of Horse.


Sir John Boys's Troop was an independent Troop of Horse that was raised to garrison Donnington Castle (the Newbury Donnington, not the East Midlands Donnington, home of the airport, racetrack and venue of the late Derby Worlds).


Sir John Boys (or Boyes)
Raised in 1644, they lasted until the fall of Donnington Castle in 1646; so as you can imagine their battle honours pretty much consists of 'besieged at Donnington Castle', the only variation being Second Newbury.


Sir John was the governor of Castle Donnington, and was also Lieutenant Colonel of Earl Rivers's Regiment of Foot. He survived the wars and three marriages before dying at home in 1664. He is buried at Holy Cross in Goodnestone-next-Wingham in Kent.




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Battle of Lansdowne, 5th July 1643

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Yet another instalment in the adventures of William Waller's Southern Association. This time Waller attempts to defend Bath and stop the King accessing the rich resources of the south west.


Sir Bevil Grenville's monument

 Information board at the foot of the monument

The rear of the monument - mind the nettles!

Early on the 5th of July, Waller took up position to the north of Lansdowne Hill where his troops began to throw up earthworks. His cavalry attacked small groups of Royalists in the area who fled to join Lord Hopton's main force at Marshfield (5 miles away from Lansdowne). Hopton immediately mustered his army and marched on Waller's position. 
Lots of skirmishing ensued, before Hopton's cavalry were routed. Hopton's infantry stood firm and defeated the Parliamentarian cavalry and dragoons; they then stormed Waller's position on Lansdowne. 
Hopton's cavalry rallied and returned to the fray, where they once again crumpled and fled the battle. Waller w…
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What Colours to Use Part 2: Paint

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If you are new to the blog, or new to painting ECW figures - welcome. Now go and read what colours to use first, as this entry will make much more sense if you read this second.

Caveat: I paint true 15mm figures and apply a heavy wash of Citadel Nuln Oil. These colours work in this setting, with the heavy black wash subduing the colour a bit. If you are starting painting out different sized figures you might need to go brighter or slightly darker depending upon size of your figures.


A number of people have asked me what colour paints I use for certain regiments or a particular item. So here is my attempt at converting the colour chart found in part one into a brand and colour of paint.

I must confess that I am a fan of Foundry and Coat d'Arms (Cd'A) paints, so mostly I have identified their paint colours. If you are a fan of other brands there are a number of paint comparison charts available on the web, one of the best is Dakka Dakka.

Other colours I use (that don't fit the…
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