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Unfortunately I have had to temporarily disable comments and the contact form.

Why? It appears that my pictures of the Warlord Epic cavalry sprue have upset a number of members of the 'Epic community' who have taken it upon themselves to bombard the blog with foul mouthed spam.

All I'll say in response is: you do know that these are just toy soldiers?

To all my regular readers, normal service will resume at some point.



 

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Warlord Pike and Shotte Epic Battles: the Scottish sprue

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Another 'freebie'* with  this month's edition of Wargames Illustrated, so I thought it was my duty to pick up a copy and  review them. Hopefully, my latest review of an Epic product won't generate the hate mail that my original posts did. Warlord's Epic Pike and Shotte is, let's be honest, a bit of a Marmite thing (you either love it, or hate it). I probably fall between the two camps: a bit disappointed with the figures, specifically the cavalry sprue; hopeful that other manufacturers will produce stuff to support the range; and, of course I am all for a new range of 'true 15mm'** figures that covers my favourite period (particularly from a company with the 'reach' of Warlord Games). This is, by necessity, a one sprue fits all solution, so combines, foot, artillery, dragoons and horse. Let's look at the sprue in detail. The Epic look is not for everyone, but the foot strips are crisply detailed, no strange hands on pikes this time (maybe War
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Battle of Middleton Cheney, 6th May 1643

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The battlefield at Middleton Cheney has recently been surveyed and an interpretation board installed by the Battlefields' Trust. So it would seem impolite if the ECWtravelogue didn't make a visit... A newly unveiled memorial in the churchyard This night late came a messenger with an Expresse from Banbury to Oxford, declaring what an absolute victory it pleased God to grant the Earle of Northampton over the Rebels at Middleton Cheney, not farre from Banbury Mercurius Aulicus, 6th May 1643   Garrisoned at Banbury the Earl of Northampton received intelligence of  a Parliamentarian force advancing towards Banbury from Northampton. He deployed with his own Regiment of Horse and the Prince of Wales’ Regiment of Horse,  initially to monitor the advance. To avoid the well defended bridge at Banbury, the parliamentarians cross the River Cherwell at a ford close to Bodicote. As they neared the ford they saw the Royalists deployed on the opposite side of the river with a detachment moving
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Houses of Interest: Powys

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The firstly overtly Welsh post for the now inappropriately named ECWtravelogue sees a venture across the Welsh Marches into Powys. The main focus of this entry in Montgomery and its battlefield. And to the man who was wandering into the castle saying to his family "I think there's a load of Civil War stuff here, I looked on KeepYourPowderDry but there wasn't anything" - here it is! Good views of the battlefield, and an information panel can be found in the castle's outer ward Montgomery Castle was originally a motte and bailey castle built in the mid-eleventh century, being replaced by a stone castle in the thirteenth century. Having walked, or more sensibly driven up to the castle, you'll understand exactly why the castle was built where it was. The walkway crossing the ditch into Montgomery Castle's inner ward Fast forward to the Civil Wars: most of Wales supported the Crown. Montgomery Castle was garrisoned by Royalists, under the command of the elderly
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Captain John Mortimer’s Troop of Dragoons

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Whilst technically a Confederate troop of dragoons, Mortimer's did their soldiering in Scotland as part of the Irish Brigade. But as I apply a fantasy football league style approach to the composition of my armies, I'm having them! There once was a troop o' Irish dragoons Cam marching doon through Fyvie-o And the captain's fa'en in love wi' a very bonnie lass And her name it was ca'd pretty Peggy-o The Bonnie Lass o' Fyvie Raised in March 1645 from  Colonel Manus O’Cahan’s Regiment of Foot  they weren't exactly dragoons as we know it. They were musketeers put on horseback. Captain John having served as an officer in O'Cahan's. As with so many Irish units from the Wars, we know very little about them. Mortimer is believed to have been a Scot, rather than an Irishman. They fought at Aberdeen, Kilsyth, and Philiphaugh. At Philiphaugh it appears that they fought as a troop of horse; Mortimer is thought to have been captured following the battle a
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Warlord Pike and Shotte Epic Battles: the infantry sprue

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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
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Coat Colours Part 1: Parliamentarian Regiments of Foot

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When I first started my Civil War gaming project I relied upon the many ECW coat colour tables on wargaming websites. As my project has progressed, my library has got bigger, my research has gone back to primary sources rather than relying upon second and third hand sources; and I have noticed quite a few errors in these lists for wargamers. I have also noticed the same errors appearing in multiple lists.     As a result of continually seeing 'the London Trained Bands and their Auxiliaries wore red coats' (there is no evidence supporting this at all, the evidence, whilst not explicit suggests that the London Trained Bands wore civilian clothes - some of the Auxiliaries might have been issued with blue winter coats) I decided to write my own list.  So here it is. If your allegiance lies elsewhere you might want to look at  Introduction   Part 2  Royalist coat colours Part 3  Scots coat colours Part 3B  Montrose and the Irish Brigade Pa
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Coat Colours Part 2: Royalist Regiments of Foot

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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 around a coat colour I have t
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Flags and Colours Part 3: Media

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Part three of the KeepYourPowderDry guide to Civil War flags and colours looks at where we can see illustrated examples of Civil War flags, and also where we can get some for our armies. But first a plea to editors, authors and publishers of future volumes concerning flags of the Civil Wars: please push the boat out with your production values - books of flags need colour illustrations! First off we have to consider the three volume series English Civil War Flags and Colours from Partizan: Volume 1 covers the English Foot, Volume 2 Scots Colours, and Volume 3 the Bill Carmen collection. These volumes state the primary source material for the flag designs illustrated. Volume 1 was written by Peachey and Prince who intended to write a second volume (they make several references to it in the text of Volume 1) but it never made its way into print.  The latest reprint of Volume 1, earlier versions have a different cover Volume 1 has an absolute wealth of information inside inclu
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Captain Thomas Sandford's Company of Firelocks

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Captain Thomas Sandford (sometimes Sanford) most probably raised his independent Company of Firelocks in Shropshire, for service in Ireland.  Thomas was described as a 'colourful character': which seems fairly accurate, as evidenced by his correspondence. One of his letters, addressed to the garrison at Hawarden, began: "Behold the messenger of death, Sanford and his firelocks, who neither use to give, nor take quarter" He had previously been a quartermaster serving with the Earl of Northumberland's Regiment of Foot during the First Bishops' War.  When originally raised the company had a strength of about 60 men. They arrived in Dublin in 1642 and served under Ormonde, where they helped lead the assault on the Confederate forces at Kilrush. Of the men who went to Ireland 50 men returned to Chester in 1643. Once back in England they fought for the King at Hawarden* and Beeston Castles.  At Beeston legend has it that Sandford and eight of his men famously scaled
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Houses of Interest: Shropshire

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A major revamp for the Shropshire entry. Shropshire was a hot bed of Royalist support. The ECW travelogue takes in not just those sites associated with the fighting of the Wars, but also the many places that claim to have helped save the life of the future Charles II. And, of course, an infamous oak tree. I’ve wanted to visit Stokesay Castle ever since I discovered that it was in fact a real castle and not somewhere made up. The gatehouse at Stokesay has to be up in the premier league of timber framed buildings Cared for by English Heritage, Stokesay Castle is "one of the best-preserved medieval fortified manor houses in England" (English Heritage castle expert Dr Henry Summerson - makes a change from the traditional quote from Pevsner). A seemingly eclectic building programme over 400 years has resulted in the site that we have today. Owned by Sir William Craven, an ardent supporter of the Queen, providing considerable sums of money to the Royalist war effort; Stokesay had
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