Being an English Civil War re-enactor AND a wargamer, it is inevitable that there would be some overlap. And it’s true I have figures in 6mm, 15mm and 1/72nd – quite a lot of them, actually. I also have a fair bit of 28mm stuff, even though I don’t really consider that to be a scale that I ‘do’.
My reasoning behind this was that I wanted to have some figures so that if I was invited to play a game in 28mm I would be able to do so using my own figures. Of course, with no actually need to use them they never really got painted. Assembled, yes, undercoated, yes, but properly painted? Just a few.
So, one day a younger friend of mine invited me to a game to celebrate his father’s birthday.
At last! The excuse I was looking for to paint the ECW figures! I had just about three and a bit months to get everything ready. But it is a secret he tells me, his dad didn’t know.
So, okay. I could put pictures up in some places – that would be okay, as long as I didn’t spill the beans. Now that I am retired, and getting jobs cleared from the list, people would think I am just getting on with stuff. But for you guys, here I could not go into detail.
My plan was to build an army for Warlord Game’s Pike & Shotte rules, based on the Royalists in the county of Shropshire (also known as Salop) in or around 1644-4(ish), which is my area of specialist knowledge.
There would be a regiment of Horse – 12 figures – known as Colonel John Marrow’s [Regiment of] Horse. Nothing posh, just a regiment of experienced horsemen, originally raised in the area, with some local officers, Marrow himself had been in Ireland, and had returned to take over the regiment, in 1643.
A company (12 figures) of dragoones, from the regiment of Sir Vincent Corbet. Corbet’s were raised in 1642 at Battle near Shrewsbury (on the same day as my birthday). Corbet’s were pretty much involved in the war right from the get go, to the end.
Two regiments of Foot – each regiment would be 16 pikes and 24 shot – the first regiment would be Sir Michael Woodhouse’s Blue coats and Sir Fulk Hunck’s regiment. Woodhouses was another local regiment, and went through most of the war, while Hunck’s were raised in Yorkshire (mainly) went to Ireland in 1642 and then returned in 1643.
There appeared to be some friction between the local soldiers and the ‘Irish’ regiments. Possibly it was because many of the men who had fought in Ireland saw themselves as ‘proper’ soldiers unlike what they thought of as the softer local troops. Hunk and Marrow tend to be described as brash and abrasive types.
There would also be a commander figure and a sharpshooter.
So, that was what I was trying to achieve and I brought everything I had together to take stock.
A – is the figure I am using as the commander.
B – is the regiment that would make up Hunck’s.
C – is Woodhouse’s
D – are Marrow’s Horse.
E – are the figures that would make up Corbet’s.
Progress was shaky to begin with, as I discovered things that were missing – some things that I thought I had, and searched for – diligently, only to discover that I couldn’t find them AT ALL and had to order new.
There were some decisions that I made and probably would do them that way now. For example, each of the individual Foot figures was on a 20mm square base. Warlord’s Pike & Shotte has them as 4 figures on 40mm square bases. So that I could use the figures for other games I added steel paper to the bottom of the 20x20mm figure bases and magnetic sheet to the 40x40mm bases. The adhesion isn’t that brilliant, it’s not bad, but it could be better. I think I will add some neodymium magnets to the 40mm bases and see if that improves the situation.
I also cocked up the way that some figures are ranked up, meaning they don’t sit on the 40mm bases that well. There isn’t a lot I can do about that, but I am planning a third, possibly even a fourth regiment in the future so I can use Hunke’s regiment as a reserve.
Anyway, the images.
This is a Perry Miniatures dragoon officer, but it also bears an uncanny resemblance to my friend Thornton. Good figure for a general.
Didn’t actually use him the game. Shame really as he turned out quite nice.
Corbet’s
The second figure from the right is a Warlord plastic figure of a firelock charging. With the addition of a head from a Games Workshop Warhammer Empire figure he looks very like another friend of mine, actually in the modern day Corbet’s.
They turned out okay, though I think with some work, I could do a better job, and make them look a bit more rag-tag, but that is something for the future.
Woodhouse’s Pike block. Two things to note 1) Woodhouse’s are known from existing sources as ‘Blue coats’ so that made that decision easy, 2) those steel pikes are damned lethal!
The two shot blocks, officers aren’t necessary under the rules but the idea of a shot block running around without an authority figure just appals me.
Hunke’s pike block, and the issue with ranking the figures. Rookie error, but it happens, and there is no way that I can just take them off those bases and reposition them, at least not without some collateral damage to the figures.
The decorative tassles were off the original plastic pikes from Warlord – I cut them off, drilled them and placed them onto the steel pikes.
Hunke’s shot.
The largely completed army laid out as per the original photo.
One thing that did stand out after these photos were made, was how bland the bases looked. I went back and added a bright green flock into the mix on the bases, which really worked well.
Having completed the army in reasonable time, the last thing was to actually use it. So, yesterday , 21st May, I travelled to Shrewsbury, where the game was being held, and less than a mile from where Corbet’s was raised in 1642.
20 ft by 8ft table. Now I am guessing, but there were 32 regiments of foot on the table and assorted companies of commanded shot, Horse regiments and assorted artillery pieces as well as vignettes of civilians, so I would suggest that there were at least 5,000 figures on the table, 13 or fourteen players. HUGE!
From my side of the board -
From the other end -
The thing is that as player games like this, unless you are the overall commander, devolve into smaller battles – you versus your opponent. It may have been different in the middle with so many players jostling alongside each other, but on our end of the table with a river separating us from the rest of the action, we just got on with it.
I had five regiments of horse, including Marrow’s, my own foot and dragoons, and a light gun which didn’t really do much.
Initial set up – Horse to one side, foot in the middle and the dragoons set up so that they can go and get the bridge.
The Scots on the other side getting a bit aggressive.
The situation at the end of the game.
My Horse had fought themselves to exhaustion (3 out of five regiments were Shaken) and were considered ‘broken’, but in a dice roll ‘blunder’ the Scots that they had been facing retreated two full moves towards the back end of their side of the table. I was beaten, but as in so many examples in the actual civil war the newspaper would have probably proclaimed it a victory as I was where I wanted to be and the Scots Horse weren’t.
Similarly, on the very last turn of the game both regiments of my infantry brigade were considered Shaken so that brigade was broken as well. But the game had ended.
The dragoons on the bridge had a reasonably quiet game, they were bothered by some Scots dragooners at one point but they saw them off without too much trouble.
I was beaten! But to be honest to feel the loss.
Considering what I had achieved to be in the game – getting the army painted, getting out of my cave to go somewhere, and playing a system I don’t normally play, I really enjoyed it.
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- I may build some forces for the Pike & Shotte rules in 1/72nd, so that i can get some practice games in, here at home.
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