Royalist Command

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Painting by Alan Tuckey (with one exception), basing by me.

His Majesty, Charles I.


Prince Rupert of the Rhine and Boye. Poodles - not really a 'manly dog' are they? And who were they trying to kid calling it a war poodle?


As yet unnamed generals


This one is from Matchlock, and is one of my paint jobs.


And finally a priest, looking suspiciously sympathetic to the Pope and the Church of Rome.


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What Colours To Use?

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The mental images we have of seventeenth century dress are invariably of a dashing cavalier, wearing extravagant clothing and an ostentatious feather in a broad-brimmed hat; or a dour Puritan dressed in black and white. A heavily stylised, but very enduring set of images created by the Victorians. But what was the reality?

Some clothing from the time still exists, although this will, by the very nature of things, have belonged to rich owners. It has been suggested too, that due to interest in the civil wars, that these surviving garments have been fancydress-ified to achieve the romantic nature of dashing cavaliers and their ladies.

One example of surviving clothing items  is a royalist officer's sash in the Victoria and Albert museum which has intricate silver/white embroidery.


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Hex (2017)

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Hex is a micro budget British film set during the Civil Wars. Be careful looking for it as there are a number of films that share the same title. Not heard of it? No neither had I.


This film is currently included with Amazon Prime in the UK, but is listed as Hex (2019). Hex (2018) is a completely different film altogether, with a much higher body count.

Two soldiers (a Royalist and a Parliamentarian) meet after a skirmish and their conflict leads them into the woods. Only the woods are... well that would be telling.

Think A Field of England but with an even smaller budget and in colour.

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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.

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Total Battle Miniatures Buildings: Take Two

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Regular readers (hello both of you) will remember my original TBM post a few weeks ago. Impressed with my sample building (and how it blended well with my Hovels and Peter Pig offerings), I took the plunge and ordered a couple more.

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The warehouse, again, a neat and simple design.



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Total Battle Miniatures - Buildings

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Why resin? My own house is almost 200 years old, nothing is straight, nothing is true. Whilst laser cut mdf buildings can look good, they are a bit too crisp, neat and square for the seventeenth century. Hence resin. Sagging roof lines, wonky windows are all better represented in resin.

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TBM make two ranges - Skirmish which are accurately scaled, and Big Battalions which are the correct height but have a reduced footprint.

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Baggage Train (Again)

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Yes, again. Baggage.

Bit of a recurring theme here.

For the benefit of new readers I keep getting tempted by shiny things and add to my baggage trains - all the while vowing that that is really is my final addition. Probably done this three or four times now. My baggage trains are now mahoosive.



When I discovered that a relative was a captain in Holland's Regiment of Foot, well I had to represent them (and him). Which meant that the Royalists needed another regiment of foot. Which meant I needed to rebalance the armies as they were becoming very foot heavy. But this post is about baggage - I'm coming to that, be patient.

So a really big sort out of the spares box was in order. I discovered that I had enough dead harquebusiers for my big cavalry expansion, and also enough dead musketeers for the few more regiments of foot. But then I started rummaging around in the spares box. Museum Miniatures had thrown in some 'pack donkeys' into one of my orders in lieu of postage ch…
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Colonel Richard Holland's Regiment of Foot

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Who hasn't searched for themselves on Google? It's fairly normal behaviour I believe. So when you discover The Cromwell Association Online Directory of Parliamentarian Army Officers it has to be done really doesn't it?

Not really expecting to find a relative I was pleasantly surprised to find Captain Thomas Chetham of Colonel Richard Holland's Regiment of Foot. But was he a relative? A little bit of digging finds that he was a cousin of Sir Humphrey Chetham my great x lots uncle. So I'm not exactly what relation Thomas is - somethingth cousin many times removed I guess?

Awaiting flag
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Other tha…
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Coat Colours

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The tricky question of 'what colour' should I paint my armies was my next conundrum. The fanciful Victorian imagery of the wars has pretty much been dispelled (Roundheads in striped sleeved shirts, Cavaliers in poncey big hats); in reality both sides were, very much of a muchness. There are some surviving uniforms, and documentary evidence of colours and flags, which give us a starting point.

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Royal Armouries, Leeds

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Update: they appear to have had a slight revamp of the Civil War Gallery. There's a few extra bits on display. 

One of the most stunning museums I have visited (if you can ignore the wealth of smelling mistooks on the exhibit labels and interpretation boards). One of my favourites too.
Lots to see and do. If you have small people in tow, check their Events page.  They usually put a tournament on over the Easter weekend. If you have particular interests check out the schedule of talks and demonstrations before you go, and plan accordingly.


On entry choose the stairs which give close up views of the Hall of Steel.


Civil War interest lies with the Littlecote Collection, the most important surviving armoury of the Civil War; in the audio visual theatre tucked away at the back of the gallery there is a 15 minute dramatisation of events at Marston Moor (on a continuous loop). Spot the mistake on the large interpretation board showing Streeter's Plan of Naseby - it's actually Stu…
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The Sealed Knot - ECWS: re-enactors

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Bank Holiday weekends usually mean that The Sealed Knot, and The English Civil War Society are re-enacting somewhere. If you have never been to a re-enactment they usually take on two forms - a small demonstration with maybe just one regiment, or major battle with horses, cannon and hundreds of foot soldiers.


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The living history camp...


Prior to the battle 

the apprentices regiment drilled...

...and Hesilrigge's Lobsters rode out

The battle


The resident kites weren't sure what to make of it all








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