Keep Your Powder Dry

 As it is All Hallows Eve, it is only appropriate that I give you a review of the slightly spooky* Witchfinder General rules. If you are a fan of the film Solomon Kane then these will be right up your street. Take a sprinkling of northern European folklore and add a good measure of 17th century wargaming. Werewolves, vampires, witches, pikemen, what's not to like? I suppose that before I begin, I should point out that these rules are out of print and are much sought after. That's something very definitely not to like about them, unless you have a copy. These small-scale skirmish rules pit pikemen, musketeers and witchfinders in their righteous fight against vampires, witches and their human and non-human followers. Among these are the barguest, the mythical hellhound of English moors, and noctelinger, a kind of ghoul. Humans on both sides fight with muskets, pikes, pistols and swords.  The game has an interactive IGO-UGO system which is explained in a standard sequence of turn...

Firstly, apologies to members of the Westmoreland and Cumberland separatist movements. For ease of writing, I am using the modern term 'Cumbria' rather than the historical counties of Cumberland and Westmoreland. The opening salvo to the spiritual homeland of sticky toffee pudding entry, concerns Sizergh Castle. The Castle is cared for by the National Trust, so expect a cafe, overpriced fudge, stunning gardens and the tartan blanket picnic brigade in attendance. Originally built as a peel tower in the fourteenth or fifteenth century the building has been extensively modified over the years. Home of the Strickland family, recusant Catholics, they were supporters of the King. Sir Robert was commissioned Colonel in 1638 of a North Riding of Yorkshire Trained Band for service in the Bishops' Wars. In 1640 he would be commissioned to raise both a Regiment of Foot, and a Regiment of Horse for the King. Sir Robert Strickland It is thought that both these regiments were present at ...

I make no bones about this, this is just an excuse to take and publish lots of pictures of my armies.  So here's my small force of clubmen. Consisting of: six stands 24 clubmen (144 total) two command stands, 4 figures each (8 total) 'rank and file' have been created from just three poses, so lots and lots of headswaps   If you enjoyed reading this, or any of the other posts, please consider  supporting  the blog.  Thanks .

 Time for another high production value ruleset: this time, Foundry's Rick Priestly penned 1644, originally written in the mid to late 80s. As you can imagine, any ruleset published by Foundry Miniatures is going to be an advert for their figures and painting system. This volume does not disappoint: lavishly illustrated with 'battle' scenes featuring their beautiful figures, and 'how to' paint guide utilising their paint triad system. My copy is the second edition, which is identical to the first with the exception of front cover and some of the many illustrations inside. Approximately A4 sized, this soft cover book is full colour throughout. Out of print, new copies occasionally turn up at Caliver, Foundry or on eBay. Running at 112 pages in length just 25 pages are the actual rules. The rest is devoted to history, tactics, painting guides, flags, army lists, summary sheets and marker tokens. Whilst written for 25mm sized figures, I've simply swapped inches to ...

Well we all knew that it wouldn't last. 'Finished'? You were right to scoff regular readers - and as an aside, it appears that the regular readership has advanced to the dizzying heights of nine! So, hello all nine of you. As so much conflict during the Civil Wars was siege or siege related, I thought it was only right and proper that I had a mortar. Which wasn't quite so straightforward as you would imagine.  I decided that I should have two siege mortars, one 'deployed' and another 'in transit'. The 'in transit' version being a useful scenario goal - stop the mortar being deployed! But first the tricky issue of sourcing all the parts. Blue Moon make an ECW siege mortar - but alas their figures are 18mm, and the mortar was just too big. Freikorps 15 are in hiatus whilst they relocate, plus their Civil War/30YW ranges have disappeared from their online catalogue.  Magister Militum have a couple of offerings, but their figures are a little small i...

Baroque, from Dadi & Piombo, are based on the popular Impetus rules for Ancient to Medieval warfare (adapting ancients rules to the renaissance is something that we will see as a recurring trend in future rules reviews). The full colour 53 page rulebook is ring bound (the preferred rulebook binding at Château KeepYourPowderDry as books lie flat on the table). The rules are very well written and easy to understand even if you are completely new to the game, without a guide to help you through the mechanisms. Other rules writers please take note of this, and remember that these rules were originally written in Italian. Admittedly there are a handful of occasions where the translation falls down a little, particularly with acronyms (e.g. base value unit is VBU). On first reading the use of acronyms is a little confusing, but familiarity does away with this. The book is lavishly illustrated with diagrams explaining mechanisms, and lots of 28mm eye candy.  Basing, for those who...

The third here's an excuse to post lots of pictures of my armies, post. This time the Army of Montrose takes centre stage. A 'completed' Solemn League Army post has appeared before - but as we all know, armies are never 'finished'. Here they are with all the recent additions - baggage, artillery, extra command. The Solemn League Army consists of: 6 regiments of foot, each 34 men (204 total) 1 regiment of dragoons, 21 men and horses 1 regiment of cuirassiers, 16 men 1 regiment of harquebusiers, 16 men 3 regiments of lancers, each 16 men (48 total) 2 sakers, each with 4 crew (8 total) 2 heavy limbers, each with a drover 1 minion, with 4 crew 1 liight limer, with drover 4 frame guns, each with 4 crew (16 total) 4 frame gun horses, each with a horseholder a priest  3 'commanders' Lord Leven and ensign 1 baggage cart, with 2 figures 2 pack horses with drovers Lord Leven takes centre stage Scottish heavy metal - pure conjecture based on a teeny weeny possibility F...