The Army of Parliament WIP

 Based up and ready for action, Redmond’s Regiment of Foote joins the Army of Parliament upstairs. It’s nice to see all of he regiments together and compare to two red coated units. The artillery is still being worked on, so that will be added shortly.

There is also one more squadron of horse down stairs that will bring the total up to seven. Almost done, although I have already picked and sorted another regiment of Foote, Geal’s, to add to the army. This I plan to be a grey coated regiment, as they were quite common in the Roundhead armies. Giving to the phrase ‘Parliament grey’. So Geal’s Regiment of Foote will be a grey coated one with black colours.

 I am using the army lists in the 1644 ECW rule book as a rough rule of thumb to create a force. It’s lists goes up to five Foote regiments Per side and so I thought that would be a good number to aim for.

I won’t be playing this rule set but the army lists are a handy guide to creating a force.

Below is a rough sketch of the units so far, Royalist dragoons have seized the bridge and neighbouring mill.

Zombie Wars

Who would have thought the Mars zombies would unit with the Cybermen to attack Moon base one...

1st Corps ECW Artillery men

Just thought I’d do a quick post about these guys because I think they’re great. The line up above shows just how well they compare to Bicorne and Renegade figures. At £5 for four figures isn’t bad at all and I’ve been impressed with the quality of the sculpts too.

As the purse strings get tightened, these are definitely my figures of choice for the future. Highly recommended!

Parliament battery in Hockliffe, bearing down on Wattling Street.

A couple of years ago my wife and I found an old over grown Lane with a church at the end of it. There were a few some small holdings and a manor house right at the very top of the lane on a slight hill. This place had so much history to it that we decided to research it. Sure enough it turned out to be a place of historical interest. In the Civil war, the manor had been occupied by Parliament troops and a gun battery had be put there on the hill looking down onto wattling street (A5). This emplacement would dominate the busy trade route and have a very commanding view over the area.

Trick shots

 I took ‘old knob’ outside for a bit of fresh air, I think he quite enjoyed it!.

 It’s amazing what a bit of natural light can do for a diorama base.

 This is a shot I took with a model train background, works quite well, must work of the ground next time.

Unit update

 Sir Spencer Redmonds Regiment of Foote is completed and forms up.

 Another small group of orcs are finished off. There is two bases of orc scouts but these still need the rocks painted with granite grey,

 Two squadrons of Royalist horse. These are based on the larger 80x 80mm base, so the horse can be spread out more giving the effect of a charge.

 Those guns again... how many times do we need to see these?!

 Righteous hard heads, parliamentarian horse shuffle into place knee to knee.

 The battery gives fire on the manor house, killing the cook.

 The little helper wanted to know why I was taking so long and not paying her any attention.

 Another good thing about the Vallejo mud product is you can push casualties into it while it is still wet. Logs, guns and of course canon balls were also added.

A Royalist blew coat lays dead in the mud, killed from a pistol ball.

Basing day

 The time has finally arrived to gather up all the painted units and finish them off with some flock, herbs and static grass.

 After a layer of static grass, it’s always good to add some patches of mixed herbs. These look great as leaves, bracken or even wood shaving, if you put them around cut logs etc.

The Vallejo mud has worked well in creating a rutted ground with hoof prints in the mud.

Canon balls!

 Many years ago at work when I was freelance, a bag used for keeping camera equipment weighted down split open. Well, to my delight it was full of thousands upon thousands of tiny lead balls. Being a War-gamer I instantly recognised the potential of this wind fall. I grabbed a small bag of them and have used them ever since. Around ten years ago my poor old Napoleonic French got peppered with them.
As luck would have it they are just the right calibre for the big gun, so are great for making a pile of ammunition. Like the advancing French ten years ago, the odd ball will find its way onto a cavalry base. These bases are quite large so any little detail is good to have. Also being a dull lead colour, no painting is required.

 That’s the trick with this hobby, it’s all about keeping an eye open for anything useful that can be used. It can range from electrical housing for Sci-Fi gaming to lolly sticks for a earthwork gun emplacement. It’s all part of the fun.

The crew are all from 1st Corps. A quite a new range for them, but a very good one.

English Civil War Gun Emplacement

 Well the gunners are finally dry after their 24 hours drying and it’s time to put them to work on ‘Old Knob’. All of the gunners are from 1st Corps apart from the one in the blue hat. He is from Essex Miniatures and his smaller size makes him the perfect powder monkey.

TIP: I gave the iron and bronze a wash with Clear floor varnish to give it a slight sheen. Just a little tip but it seems to have worked well especially on the larger gun.

Almost done just a bit of flocking and some spare tools littered around should do it. The middle sized gun in the background is a Falcon from Essex Miniatures. I may paint up another heavy gun for Parliament, as they had the best equipment.

English Civil War Gun Position WIP

 When I first saw the large 120mm x 80mm base size for Artillery in ‘Victory without Quarter’, I was a little surprised. However, these base sizes are obviously for large guns that are in positions and can not move during the game. This size of base does allow a nice bit of room to model some defences and make a diorama out of the base.

For the light guns (Falcons and Falconets), I have used a 100mm x 60mm base. These fit the smaller artillery pieces much better and because these guns will be moving, I’ve keep them mostly free of emplacements. Maybe just the odd log thrown down in hast.

 This huge ancient gun is lovingly called ‘Old Knob‘, he predates the war but is still in active service. The gun is from Essex miniatures. I imagine he will become quite a character in battles to come.

 The planking is made from cut up lolly sticks, cut to the right width for the gun with enough room to allow gunners to be based around the edge.

 I used the Vallejo mud product to build up the earthwork at the front of the emplacement. Bloody handy stuff this mud, recommend getting some if you can.

 Small twigs from the garden make for great logs, I will leave these unpainted for they are good as they are.