Work In Progress

I'm halfway through painting my third regiment of foot.

I'm aiming to get to 2 regiments of foot, 1 gun model and 2 regiments of horse per side to enable a small battle to try out rules.

So I've got two regiments of horse, 1 gun model and a regiment of foot to buy and paint, should keep me busy for a while.

Display and Storage

I decided to re-use an old bookcase as a display case for my ECW armies, I put some light blue card at the back and some green flock sheet on the shelves. I am also planning to put some small lights in as it is a bit dark at the back.

Closeup of two regiments of infantry ...

Newly Mustered Regiment of Foot

At last after a long delay my next regiment of foot, mustered ready to collect their new uniforms.

Now what colour coat should they have ...

[All figs are 42mm Irregular Miniatures, some altered to modify hats, or change heads (some heads from Sash and Sabre)].

New Regiment of Foot - On It's Way

I've ordered the figures for my next regiment of foot and hope to get started on painting them before Xmas.

I plan to get more units on the go, now my 18C armies painting surge is tailing off to some degree. I think the nextt one may be a regiment of dragoons on horse, and also dismounted.

I have one mad idea of a project to build a small moated manor house for 'siege' scenarios, based on something like Stokesey Castle (http://www.virtual-shropshire.co.uk/gallery/stokesay_castle) - may be a bit ambitious but it should be a challenge.

Sir Warwick Hunt - for Parliament

Sir Warwick Hunt, commander of the Parliamentarian forces (with his little command group). Seen on his way to meet his brother Sir Herryck Hunt to look at the regiment of horse he is mustering.

New Trumpeter for Royalist Command Group

The red trumpeter has been allocated to the Parliamentarian command group; as I've decided the red regiment of horse is going to be in the Parliamentarian army. So a new trumpeter has been completed for the Royalist command group.

New Foot and Horse - start to muster

Currently I'm painting the Parliamentarian command group.

For the next regiment of horse I wanted something a little different; I decided to convert some Irregular Miniatures figs using Sash & Sabre heads (which can be bought separately); I wanted them to have swords in various poses; so these have been added by using the swords from Prince August cast figures. So far I have only finished two ...

The officers for the next foot regiment are ready for painting; the officers with spontoon and the ensign are converted pikemen [for these I used Sash & Sabre heads on Irregular Miniatures bodies].

Foot Regiments - better pictures

Horse Regiments - better pictures

Royalist Command Group (revised)

Sir William de Willoughby has equipped himself with a suit of cuirassier armour.

Horse:Foot ratio and Unit Sizes

Having trawled through some battle info, looking at composition of armies; the horse to foot ratio varies from 1:2 to 1:6; overall the average is about 1:3.5

Unit strengths;
Theoretical - 10cys @ 100 men --> 1000
Actuals : royalist foot - late 1642: ~ 600; early 1644: ~325

Theoretical - 6+ troops @ 70 men each --> 500
Actuals : parliament horse 1644 : average ~390.

Using a 1:30 fig to men ratio for my wargame units gives me
Foot regiment: 24figs --> 720 (bit high)
Horse regiment: 12figs --> 360 (about right)

(unit size info derived from English Civil War Armies (Osprey)

Plans for each side's army ...

I've sort of have a plan on how to develop the ECW figs I've got to make a couple of armies.

1. Rework the Royalist command group (3 figs) - I'm going to change the commander to have a suit of cuirassier armour, but with a soft hat.
2. Create the Parliamentarian command group (3 figs).
3. Have one regiment of foot for each side that will be involved in every scenario.
4. Have a number of peices of artillery, regiments of foot and horse which could be allocated to either side depending on the scenario. How many ?
Artillery : 6 guns (1 gun + 4 crew), currently have 1 of these.
Foot : 8 regiments (24 figs each), currently have 2 of these.
Horse : 8 regiments (12 figs each), currently have 2 of these.
5. Start collecting scenics for this scale; I've currently got a couple of houses; trees etc needed.

Phew thats a lot of metal to get and store. Well this looks like it may take some time do !!

Just as an aside I've also been looking at the 'Call to Arms' ECW 54mm plastic figs range - the cannon may be useable for my 42mm figs. Also the infantry could be used to make some dioramas. No cavalry in the range yet.

A first Muster ...

All setup on my display shelf - I'll have to get a better colour backing wall (management permitting ?). On the right were the commander and a regiment of cuirassiers.

closeup of the centre..

I think I need more space to lay out the army; plus more natural light for better photos.

Cuirassiers join the array of armes

These were great fun todo. It was difficult to get a variety of shades of plate armour; but with a bit of judicious bit of paint mixing I seem to have succeeded.

Rumours of Roundheads

There have been whisperings and rumours in the countryside around Wallingborough that the Parliamentarians have raised their standard. Their leader is said to be Sir Warwick Hunt; perhaps we'll learn more of him and his family later.

Regiment of Foot - Blue Coats

Another regiment of foot has joined the colours. All figs are from Irregular Miniatures.

The next unit is going to be a regiment of Cuirassiers, I'm half way through obtaining the figures. I'm using the standard 3/4 plate cuirassier fig but making some modifications to get different poses etc.

What's next ...

I've accumulated enough figures now for my second infantry regiment, these are now sitting on my modelling desk, undercoated and ready for painting.

I've decided on my next cavalry regiment, this is going to some cuirassiers, I'll be using the Irregular Miniatures figure, but carrying out various conversions to get a variety of poses.

Royalist Command Staff

The royalist command, from the left - a trumpeter from a regiment of horse, Sir William de Walloughby, the standard carried by Sir William's brother Walter and his cousin Sir Digby Grassington soon to raise a regiment cuirassiers.

A closeup of Walter de Walloughby and the standard..

Regiment of Cavalry

Finished after some time a regiment of cavalry. I'm trying to paint generic type troops so they could be employed by either side, although I expect to have some specific royalist forces to be the core of the army.

Some Officers of Foot

Above are a couple of figure conversions to make some officers. I used the Irregular Miniatures pikeman without tassets as the basic figure, altering the arm positions slightly; then instead of pikes they have partisans made from brass wire and blue-tak (the blue-tak is hardened using superglue).

A Piece of Artillerie

Cannon and 4 crew from Irregular Miniatures, officer with hand up from Sash and Sabre.

I'm currently working on a regiment of horse. Also a newly mustered regiment of foot nears it's time to go into the paint shop.

Regiment of Foot - Green Coats

First addition to the army - a regiment of fine stout green-coated fellows (figures are mostly Irregular Miniatures, with a commnd set from Sash and Sabre). I originally had a slightly larger regiment in my diorama, I've kept the ones I didn't use to form the nucleus for the next regiment.

Sir William de Walloughby

A photo of my recently finished command figure (Irregular Miniatures).

Initial Scenario

I was going to go all historical - an ideal way of doing things. But I decided to keep it as fun as possible and invent a scenario that would appeal to me - allowing me to have any units I liked but looking sort of correct. I'm back to my time as a young boy playing roundheads and cavaliers I suppose.

So a quick outline -

Sir William de Walloughby has decided to raise an army to fight for the King against Parliament. He is to raise a small force to hold the town of Wallingborough.

Which Figures to Use ?

As I've decided to use 40mm/42mm figures. There is only a small choice of suppliers on the market at the moment making suitable figures, namely

Sash and Sabre (40mm ECW range) - http://www.sashandsaber.com/

Irregular Miniatures (42mm Renaissance range) - http://www.irregularminiatures.co.uk/

I've decided at the moment to use mostly figures from Irregular Miniatures.

I'll be posting pictures of units or command figures as the are finished, along with some scenarios etc.

When I was a boy I used to play roundheads and cavialiers with some plastic soldiers. I was always interested in the ECW and had a small 25mm wargame army while I was at school.

Last year I started a small collection of 40mm ECW figures in a diorama format. Recently I thought it was a bit of a waste to have them restricted to statics displays so I've been rebasing them for wargaming.