Keep Your Powder Dry

The latest offering from the FK&P* Celtic Fringe team giving us a scenario book. Firstly, as I've written before, I doff my cap to anyone bringing the Irish component of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms into the spotlight. Peter, Paul and Mary  Bill** please take a bow. They have given us eight fantastic scenarios; an introduction to the fighting on the emerald isle, including short biographies of the main protagonists; an excellent, albeit pricey, reading list; and possibly the first published on paper mention of the reincarnated BCW Project and Wiki (with the new URL). Battles covered are:- * Kilrush * Liscarroll * Benburb * Knocknanuss * Rathmines * Dungan's Hill * Ballinvegga * Glenmaquin Each scenario consists of: a detailed background to the battle; a briefing and deployment notes for each commander; specific rules that come into play for the scenario; army lists with FK&P stats; and, naturally, a map of the battlefield. As I have an allergy to grid based games, thi...

As it will soon be ECWtravelogue season again, those of you heading out on an ECW 'tour', might be facing a raft of entrance fees, that can quickly begin to mount up. Here are some ways of possibly saving yourself some money. Prices are correct for 2026. Please note, none of these links are corporate links. I won't receive any commission if you click through. I have just gathered all this information together to help you save money. We'll start with the obvious ones. National Trust and English Heritage. Moreton Corbet Castle, cared for by English Heritage but free to visit The National Trust (NT) cares for many of the great houses in England. The National Trust for Scotland (NTS) is the equivalent body north of the border (more on that later). Currently, individual membership is £96 for an individual, £160 for 2 adults, £168 for a family. The average cost of entry to a National Trust property seems to be about £16 for an adult, so if you plan to visit 6 properties (in...

Having just had a reorganisation of my storage boxes, and realising that my two Scottish armies now had space... I resorted to going through my spares boxes in order to work out what purchases would be required to fill the newly found vacant space. A Freikorps Covenanter officer Might as well paint them up whilst I await the postie bearing packets of lead and freshly layered MDF. Inspired by my attention becoming very Scottish-centric over the last year or so, I have decided upon some more Covenanters. Command figures found for a new regiment of horse, and company of firelocks. Great, that saves a tenner. But what are these, lurking in the Celtic spares box? Two pack horses (for frame guns) and horse holders and a civilian woman.  Montrose's artillery park gets a 200% expansion, with just a pack of Scots artillery crew and a pair of custom casualty markers from Warbases needing to be purchased. Only problem was that the 'woman' is actually a monk. Something I only realised ...

Apologies to those of you who followed KeepYourPowderDry on Twitter/X, you may have noticed that @KeepPowder has disappeared. Over the last 12 months I've seen posts dwindle from 6-700 views within 24 hours to just 35 in 48 hours. Accounts that @KeepPowder has followed, whilst still posting, no longer appear in my feed. My feed has been replaced with 'my grandma taught me this' videos, and ladies who really should put a jumper on (as they'll catch their death of cold). Twitter was a great source of information, and there were many distinct communities over there. Now, it's just a series of short videos crowding out the good stuff. Not to mention the dodgy politics... You can still find KeepYourPowderDry on BlueSky , which has some of the original Twitter sense of community.

The final instalment of the ECWtravelogue's summer expedition to Scotland. This time the focus is on the Highlands and Islands. Lochaber axes, West Highland Museum, Fort William Mingary Castle seen from the Oban-Castlebay ferry through a very long lens C13tth/C14th Mingary Castle was garrisoned by the Covenanters. It fell to the Irish Brigade in 1644. The Castle fell into disrepair and had been abandoned for many years before being renovated in 2013-6. The Castle is now a boutique hotel. Inverlochy Memorial The  second  Battle of Inverlochy was fought on the outskirts of modern Fort William. Montrose defeated and almost completely destroyed the forces of Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll, who had been camped near the walls of Old Inverlochy Castle . A memorial is located on North Road, opposite the car park for Aldi/M&S Foodhall. A stile located  near the bus stop (located towards the roundabout) leads to a short, steep path up to the memorial. Old Inverloc...