Keep Your Powder Dry

My Napoleonic  armies date from a time when standard bearers had metal flags cast as part of the figure. Which to be very honest was a complete pain to paint. There are ways round this, but still a pain to a cack handed painter like myself.

Thankfully not an issue with the Peter Pig figures: oh joy of joys I can use commercially available flags!

Update: if you would like a crash course in understanding Civil War flags try this article written by one of the re-enactors from Newcastle's white-coats. Or you could try my own three part series on flags and colours which starts here with part one.

Of course if you are a talented artist you could always create your own, there are a number of books which list known flags, a number of rule books have flag sections e.g. Forlorn Hope, or there is the old Military Modelling articles hosted by the BCW Wiki (direct download link).

But which commercial flags to choose? For ECW 15mm two of the largest sources in the UK are Wargames Designs or Mave…

Whilst wandering around the supermarket I saw this in the magazine section. From the BBC History Magazine stable this £9.99 special is dedicated to the events of the civil wars. Sections on 'the path to war', 'living through conflict', and 'legacy and aftermath'. A good introduction to the background of the wars including the political ramifications of the Levellers and the Putney Debates. New to the era and want some background other than orders of battle, then this is for you.

Dragoons are essential in your army if you are going to game any historical scenarios - they played a very important part at Marston Moor and Naseby.


When one thinks of dragoons in the British Civil Wars one immediately thinks of them lining hedgerows at Naseby. But after that, who were they and what did they do?

Gervase Markham, writing in 1634: “the last sort of which our Horse troopes are called Dragons, which are a kinde of footman on Horsebacke”. He then goes on to describe their weaponry “dragons are short peeces of 16 inches the Barrell, and full musquet bore”.

The horses (usually referred to as 'nags') supplied to dragoons are described as 'ordinary'. Required only for transport, dragoon mounts were more likely to be commandeered cart-horses than what we could call thoroughbreds. The New Model Army budget for a dragoon mount was half that of a cavalry mount.

They were in essence an early mobile infantry. Formed into groups of eleven men, ten would dismount to …

When I first started war gaming my battlefield was a cloth dyed dark green, others at school used upside down Subbuteo pitches. Handy, easily available, and most importantly  portable.

Fast forward the best part of 40 years and a Subbuteo pitch doesn't quite cut it, nor big enough. Visiting Salute, blogs, internet forums and reading glossy rule books shows bespoke terrain tables with detail that would not be amiss on a model railway layout. That would be fantastic to have that, but back in the real world that isn't  happening. For a start where would I put it? So the search for something smarter than a dyed green cloth with the storability of a Subbuteo pitch, but bigger and fancier.
Does such a product exist? After many blind avenues I came across the Mat-o-War. Looked just right for my needs, but a bit of a problem - not in production.


Eventually they were available, again, from Antenociti's Workshop, so I placed my order. I went for the biggest one available which is 3m…

Any excuse to shoehorn the title of a Cocteau Twins song in...

As I don't have the luxury of a permanent, dedicated battlefield my battlefield components have to be storable and adaptable.

Roads and rivers are courtesy of Fat Frank, they've stood up to a number of years use and abuse with no sign of wear or tear. Recommended.




Fences are courtesy of Museum Miniatures and give the right feel.



I saw some hedges at Salute from S&A Scenics and picked up a couple of packs. Added a couple more since.



Gabions from Baueda via Magister Militum.


Cheval de frise, stocks and pillory all from Magister Militum

Both my Parliamentarian and Royalist armies have identical artillery units. One heavy, one medium, and two light guns. All from the Peter Pig ECW range. Each gun is crewed by four gunners.

Gun crews were civilians, which goes against our twenty first century logic, but they were civilians nonetheless, most likely commanded by an experienced military man. They didn't have uniforms, wearing their civilian clothes instead.

Artillery pieces would need some form of protective coating from the weather: so what colour to paint them? Very few contemporary descriptions exist of artillery pieces: those that do tend to dwell on the logistics, and methods of moving the guns. One description, of the New Model Army guns, describes them as being "fair lead colour" which could mean red-lead or grey. We just don't know what colour gun carriages were. The Royal Armouries has a reproduction full size saker which has a red carriage. If it's good enough for the Royal Armouries, then …