Keep Your Powder Dry

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 offerings), I took the plunge and ordered a couple more. Again from the 15mm Big Battalions range (correctly scaled height, reduced footprint) I went for 'three story buildings' (15BPBB07U) and 'warehouse' (15BPBB17U). My parcel arrived quickly and was packaged securely. The buildings were very clean and needed no cleaning up. I gave them a very good scrub to remove mould release agent. With some of my dragoons for size reference The three storey buildings is very neat, thankfully this isn't the Architectural Journal magazine so I can't nitpick about rendered stone in the seventeenth century (stone was an expensive building material so generally wasn't rendered, it was shown off). The warehouse, again, a neat and simple design. If you enjoyed reading this, or any of the...

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. The film looks at seventeenth century superstitions and witchcraft in particular; using cinematography, music and good writing to set the scene. The film is beautifully shot. The Sealed Knot provided props for the camp scenes, and no doubt one or two dead extras. Locations in and around Staffordshire and the Derbyshire border - Lud's Church looking splendid, and as atmospheric...

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. I must confess that I am a fan of  Foundry and  Coat d'Arms  (Cd'A) paints, so mostly I have identified their paint colours. If you are a fan of other brands there are a number of paint comparison charts available on the web, one of the best is Dakka Dakka ....

Regular readers (hello both of you) will know that I am always on the look out for resin buildings that will work with the Hovels buildings I had a look at Total Battle Miniatures' (henceforth TBM) ranges. 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. I already own a few of their Big Battalions Napoleonic buildings (Essling Granary etc), so I hoped they would work size wise. TBM make two ranges - Skirmish which are accurately scaled, and Big Battalions which are the correct height but have a reduced footprint. My test piece is from the Big Battalions 15mm Black Powder Europe section: 15BPBB12U 'Row of Houses' A clean, crisp hollow resin model which required no cleaning up. I thought I'd washed all the mould release a...

James Progers's Regiment of Foot was a Welsh regiment armed with firelocks. They fought at Montgomery Castle and Monmouth in 1644, and were besieged at Abergavenny in 1646. Other than that we know the names of some officers but precious little else. There is some confusion which of the Proger/Progers/Prodger family was the Colonel of the Regiment. There is an article on the Dictionary of Welsh Biography  website which describes the two branches of the family. It mentions Colonel Charles Proger ‘of the Guards’, who had to redeem his estate at £330 for siding with the King in the Civil Wars, and was probably the ‘Col. Progers’ who took part in recapturing Monmouth for the King in 1644 (J. R. Phillips, Civil War in Wales). Sir Henry Proger appears to have been the ‘Lieut. Progers’ who was in Raglan Castle when Fairfax took it in 1646. The article mentions a James Proger who spent time in Spain and was last heard of as constable of Abergavenny Castle in 166...

Sir William Brereton (the same William Brereton whose coffin got washed away in a flood when his body was being returned home for burial) was commander of Parliament's forces in Cheshire. He fielded a regiment of foot, a regiment of horse and a regiment of dragoons. From 1644 the dragoons were often referred to as firelocks - whether this just refers to their weapons, or to them doing their soldiering on foot (with firelocks) we do not definitively know, although the general use of the term at the time meant foot soldiers (with firelocks). From 1645 the regiment appears to have had many in it's ranks who had swapped sides after the battle of Nantwich - including men from Thomas Sandford's and Francis Langley's companies of Firelocks. Again this supports the notion that some of the dragoons at least became foot soldiers. We actually know quite a bit about his regiments - their battle honours, officer lists and so on, but like so many Civil War units we only know...

Recently picked up a copy of this on fleabay. Widely available from internet behemoths for a lot of money, this can be picked up for less than a tenner if you have patience from a certain on-line auction house. An eagle-eyed reader reports it is available from the BFI web shop for £9.99.  Winstanley was released in 1975, and "no" younglings your screen isn't broken, films and telly box were often black and white in those days. We had it hard back in the day... Armour used in the film was borrowed from the Royal Armouries collection; the V&A and the Museum of English Rural Life helped with the rest of the costumes, and advised on locations. Whilst the costumes and locations were top notch, the cast were mostly amateurs. The film tells the story of Gerrard Winstanley  and the Diggers attempting to create a community on St George's Hill, Cobham, Surrey. Slightly slow placed*, this film is well worth the effort of watching it; although it does make m...

In yet another case of déjà vu I sit thinking how to write a blog entry about baggage and artillery. "But you said..." I hear both my readers cry; and yes, I did say no more baggage. But, well...I had a good rummage around in the spares box, and well, a surfeit of dragoon horseholders were crying out to be used. So here they are , two more carts for the Parliament's baggage train. And two more for the King's. As well as two carts Parliament has gained a demi-culverin (heavy gun) and a saker (medium gun), both with limbers and casualty markers. As has the King. As always, the men and cannon are from my usual manufacturer; wagons and limbers from Museum Miniatures; custom casualty markers from Warbases. If you enjoyed reading this, or any of the other posts, please consider  supporting  the blog.  Thanks .

Now with added map with locations and travel directions! The ECW Travelogue returns to the capital for a story of war, politics, births, deaths, marriages, illicit liaisons (possible) and execution. This time an Oyster card fuelled trip around the blue plaques, cemeteries and churches of that there London (with a pub thrown in for good measure). The easiest way to complete this tour is using public transport (with some walking) and I have given directions using TfL Underground/Overground/Docklands Light Railway and the bus network. If you are unfamiliar with town and the transport system, the easiest (and cheapest) way to pay is using a contactless card, Oyster Card or app - just remember to tap in and tap out at each station. You will need a tube map (free from stations or better still download an app, most of which allow you to plan journeys) and a map app such as Google Maps on your phone. First stop is Bunhill Burial Ground , City Road EC3 -...

I'm a bit of a fan of the National Civil War Centre and Newark in general; the centre and Newark having graced the pages of this blog a number of times. Well the Centre has had a revamp. So much of a revamp that rather than trying to re-write the previous entry it made more sense to write a fresh entry. On entering the museum the ground floor has stayed pretty much the same - a history of Newark gallery, and then the main gallery. The main gallery boasts an impressive display of arms and armour (mostly on loan from the Royal Armouries), interactive displays, Civil War era 'civilian' artefacts (including Newark siege tokens, and a deserters' hand branding iron). The multimedia theatre presents three short films, three in the morning and a different three in the afternoon. Not forgetting the dressing up for small and no-so-small people. The World Turned Upside Down is the new exhibition which replaces the excellent arms and armour display, and the medica...

I was having a bit of a sort out/procrastinating about doing a gajillion headswaps of  clubmen*, when I discovered some really useful figures in my 'spares box'. In the interests of 'balance' it must also be pointed out that there were some pretty useless figures in the spares box too (vampire with modern pistol, lots of deaded/wounded Scots highlanders etc). Well, it would be a criminal waste not to use the useful figures wouldn't it? The Scots Covenanters, now have a baggage train (of sorts). A witches' coven, complete with bubbling cauldron. The impressive bit being the fact I hadn't lost all three (separate) legs for the cauldron. Please note my witches look like witches, so have green skin and black clothes. Plus also in the pipeline are some more artillery pieces for the Parliamentarian and Royalist armies. Yet more baggage for those two armies too (well I did have rather a lot of spare horseholders), and another unit of commanded shot ...