Keep Your Powder Dry

Way back in the mists of time I painted some Freikorps 15 'camp followers'; as I decided I had far too few civilians I turned my attention back to this pack.  Partly inspired by a recent trip to Amsterdam, and swooning at the sight of the Vermeers in The Rijksmuseum, here's my latest batch of civilians. The colour palette for the clothing has been lifted straight from Vermeer's works. Mostly from the aforementioned Freikorps 15 pack, there's also a few figures from the Minifigs Hussite Wars camp followers pack 214X. Freikorps camp followers a single casting women with buckets women looking stern women with babies April 2025 update, there appears to be an issue at QRF/Freikorps concerning ownership of some of the ranges. Might be worth checking out the wargame forums before placing an order. Caveat emptor. Minifigs Hussite camp followers I particularly like the woman with the firewood bundle If you enjoyed reading this, or any of the other posts, please consider  su...

My original Which Figures posts have grown exponentially, so much so that I decided to revise the information. For the full picture see:- Which Figures?   - the original post, where I ruminate about what I want from figures, and what led me to choose Peter Pig Which Figures? What is Available   - the state of play with current 'ECW' 15mm figure ranges; a continually updating look at what figures are available, and what is included/missing from ranges. Which Figures? Part 2a: Size Matters: Foot   - I take a look at what is available in 15/18mm and show side by side comparisons  Which Figures? Part 2b: True 15mm/Epic Compatibility: Foot   - a more in depth look at smaller 15mm compatibility Which Figures? Part 3a: Size Matters: Horses   - I take a look at what is available in 15/18mm and show side by side comparisons Which Figures? Part 3b: True 15mm/Epic Compatibility: Horses   - a more in depth look at smaller 15mm compatibility I had a littl...

For the none UK readers of this blog, a quick explanation: fields in the UK historically were enclosed by either hedgerows or dry stone walls, and occasionally a hybrid of the two. Depending upon whereabouts in the country you are you will find a dominant method. Here in the Peak District we have dry stone walls as stone is a free resource lying around on the ground, in nearby Cheshire where stone is less easy to come by you find fields divided by hedgerows (also known in mountain rescue circles as God's barbed wire). Many of the dry stone walls in the Peak were built in the seventeenth century, only requiring occasional repairs. I have a quantity of hedgerows, but fancied some dry stone walls for some variety. Living in the Peak, and knowing a few drystone wallers, any stone walls would need to be correct! I looked around and found that most of the commercially available  models didn't have coping stones on them, so they wouldn't do. I found two models that were accura...

Every battlefield will have villagers, probably running away very quickly. My ECW villages are populated from a number of sources. First off the offerings from the manufacturer of most of my troops; there's a trio of useful packs - scarecrows and  villagers, sprinkles, and clubmen Matchlock Miniatures  have an impressive range for the ECW, their figures have quite a bit more meat on them than my 'normal' figures, and from time to time have sporadic availability. They have a really good selection of  'characters'. I have chosen their Witchfinder, ratcatcher and surgeon packs.   Every so often fleabay throws up a gem. Here's a little vignette of Matchlock's regimental agitator, musketeer with chicken, and musketeer with pipe. All I've done is rebase them. The unknown cart is particularly nice. Freikorps 15 (yes still available) from TSS have a useful camp followers pack which match the other figures really well. Update...