Holdom's Horse

It's basing day again and another Parliamentarian regiment of horse gets their marching orders.

These are mounted on 60x80mm bases.

This is a unit I repainted from an old eBay purchase. They were given a basic paint job then washed with the Army Painter strong tone stain.

They are Essex miniatures with a couple of Old Glory figs thrown in from what I can tell.

I went for a very dark colour for their armour which has been blackened to help fight rust on campaign. This should help them stand out a little from the other horse regiments.

These are based for Victory without Quarter, with a few extra figures added to build up the numbers. These Round head squadrons always look good riding knee to knee as was their way.

 

Fighting the Hordes of Hell

 

Games Day

Rupert's Blew coats got together again today for another day of gaming. I was very pleased because after years of hearing about it, I finally got to play a game of Dux Belorum. 

I enjoyed it very much and the rules really seemed to make sense and reflect a true Dark Age battle. The mechanic of placing tokens on units to aid them really was fun and made you plan ahead.

I did like how the shield walls twisted and kicked across the battlefield. A nice set of rules I thought and one I can finally tick off my bucket list.

The epic battle came down to basically an even match right at the end, with two units of levy fighting eachother. I lost of course, but even that gave my bard a good story to sing about. 

The other game I got to play was a large Donny Brook battle, with different players with a unit each.

The Spanish fort bustling with activity.

My corn and wheat fields got another outing and this time acted as jungle undergrowth. Best half an hour I ever spent cutting up that plastic door mat. I must pick up another when I see one. Here they can be seen trampling through a wheat field made by Two Sheds Fred. These too are worth they're weight in gold and always get used somewhere in the day's events.

Royal Scots approach the monastery and push on through the gardens.

My trusty unit of red coats open fire onto the Spanish fort.

MiniNatur Ivy

I've had this packet of ivy for over ten years, so it's great to crack it open and let it grow.

I found the best way to apply the ivy was to tear chunks off and stick them on in little bits. This way you can get nice sprawling shapes in the material. Any little left over pieces, they just get stuck on where needed. So basically it's a pattern made of loads of tiny bits that all join visually together.

It's very handy for covering gaps in the building.

Big gap...no problem!

 The bush got some new flock too, this building is ready to go.

 

The House that eBay built.

I picked up this very rural looking timber framed house from eBay. I'm slowly collecting buildings for a ECW campaign in a year or two. It's going to take me that long to paint up my Royalists.

Anyway, this big chunk of timber is great for a manor house or something grand. Stick a big wall around it and you have something worth fighting over.

I updated the doors with some MDF left overs, using gel super glue to make the studs in the door.

This building would work for War of the roses too.

Just blocked up some of the drafts while I had my hammer and nails out.

I will go over this once dry and hide some of the cracks with ivy.

 

Stained the door with dark Contrast paint to give it an oak look. I also posted a guard outside to watch it dry.

Always keep a little stash of twigs from the garden in your bits box.