The garrison at Pokesay ....

The King's army has been ordered to muster at Marlborough, this has meant that two regiments of foot quartered in his area have left leaving a hole in his chain of key garrisons.

After moving a few companies of foot about he has just enough to make do. Now he has returned to Pokesay near Wallingborough to check on garrison there.

 [new items: a couple of extra pikemen, musketeers, plus command - drummer, officer and ensign]

Wiltshire clubmen ....

In the small town of Amesbury north of Sarisbury, locals are meeting to discuss forming opposition to marauding troops from either side - to protect their crops and livestock.

 [The clubmen are done for now, may add a few more. I've tried to make them as generic as possible so they could be re-used for vignettes in story lines or as part of raw or militia units

The ground surface for the 'market place' is a sandstone effect acrylic floor tile from Homebase].

return via Collingbourne .....

A small body of royalist horse and dragoons had been sent out to scout out potential routes to attempt to get relief to the besieged at Basing House.

On their way back they had blundered into a body of parliamentarian horse, although the royalists had seen them off they had lost some men and worse half of their horses. They made their back skirting to the north of Ludegershall, then across country. On their last leg back to safety they would have work their way round a parliamentarian outpost at Collingbourne Ducis and then over the downs to the royalist garrison of Pewsey; they had been riding double but are now dismounted leading the tired horses ....

---oXo---

At Collingbourne a parliamentarian officer is out trying to bag some fowl ...

Meanwhile at Fulcher's farm, on the main road south-west, a small picket guarded the road.

The royalists cross the fields ...

then make a dash across the road ....

they are spotted by a sentry who calls out the garrison at the outpost ....

As the royalists cross the heathland they capture the parliamentarian officer ...

As they approach the road by Fulcher's farm, the parliamentarians are closing in .....

close pistol and musket fire ensues ....

some of the men dash across the road ...

they try to get the horses across, losing some ....

a small group of royalists managed to get round the back of farm and force out the parliamentarian picket...

as the main group of royalists dash towards the downs (still with the captured officer), the parliamentarians fire a couple of parting shots; the other royalists get a spare horse from the farm....

then head for the woods and up on the downs. The royalists meet at the top of the hill and make their way to Pewsey without further loss.

Running hard ....

a small number of royalist troops are in the fields to the south of PokeSay not far from Wallingborough (in northern Wiltshire)....

The petard team, ran hard across the open field, with the officer bellowing 'Move it' ...

 they got to the barn and set the petard up against the door; then moved off a bit and fell to the ground to catch their breath. Good work my lads said the officer, have a rest.  They'd been practising for about half an hour and this was the first time the petard had stayed up against the door.

Sir William de Willoughby and his brother check the petard setup...

Sir William is pleased, he turns to the men and tell them that will be enough for the day.  Sir William and his brother walked back through the town to Pokesay castle. On arrival he checked for news of a scouting party sent east towards Basing house - still not back, maybe tomorrow ......

ECW Campaign restarts ....

I've got a timeline for 1644 roughed out and some scenarios sorted; so with my ECW modelling and conversion surge finished - the campaign restarts .....

Working on some clubmen...

I have been working on some clubmen (brief historical overview here and some modelled in 1/72 here ; some nice ones in 28mm here). Using up the last of my spare figures I have eight so far, I'm aiming to have about 15-20 altogether.

Will need to get some more suitable figures and make up some pitchforks and short pikes before I can do the next batch.

fiddling with artillery ....

I decided I needed some more variety in the cannon used for my ECW games; preferably a couple of lighter guns. So I embarked on a little bit of conversion work.

Raw materials, a 40mm saker (at the back) and a 28mm cannon at the front with a spare gun barrel.

I removed the barrel from the 40mm saker, and replaced it with the one from the 28mm cannon; the spare barrel I then put on the 28mm cannon. Both cannon received new wheels using some small plastic lego ones. Below another saker and the two converted guns...

 Converted guns painted and shown in use in a mixed battery....

petard team - conversions/modelling work done

After a couple of good sessions at the modelling desk the petard team conversions/modelling work is now done.

The deployed petard and a chap getting ready to set it off ...

Petard team starts to take shape ...

The two chaps carrying the petard,

the arms need filling out, rest of the team is coming along nicely. Have to make up the petard as well.

Preparations for next phase of campaign....

I've been trying to sort out some sort of linked scenario set, including some historical events, to finish off the 1644 year. This is still  a work in progress but I have made a start.

I've obtained a copy of 'Sieges of the Great Civil War' by Young and Emberton,

Nice little book with a good summary of some of the major sieges in the civil war.

For new additions to the forces of both sides I've been sorting through my remaining spare figures; have made up two units of commanded shot,

I also put to one side items to go towards conversions for clubmen, including 3 figures to represent the more well armed of them

Having a few pikemen leftover and some spare heads and other parts, I was looking for something to do with them. Warlord Games make a 28mm petard assault team,

so I'm going to try to replicate this in 40mm; will post some piccies of this modelling exercise as it progresses.

Wardour Castle falls ....

Sir Warwick Hunt had secured Sarisbury, but his forces were stretched. He had garrisoned Wilton nearby to command the approach to the city from the west; Romsey to keep a link with Southampton; and Stockbridge to hold the river crossing on the road to Winchester. Much to his delight Longford castle, a fortified residence, a few miles to the south-east of Sarisbury had surrendered.

He had just heard of the plight of Wardour , 15 miles to the west, whose small Parliamentrian garrison had been under siege by Royalists for a some weeks. A small body of horse sent to help had been turned back.

---oXo---

Events at Wardour were developing.... a small piece of artillery kept up an intermittent bombardment

 The defenders fired the odd musket shot in return ...

 The royalists had brought in some miners from the Mendips, who had been tasked with mining the castle walls. The officer in charge of the works reported to the siege commander that all was ready ....

 The mine is set and goes off right under the curtain wall of the castle ...

 The curtain wall fell and the royalists moved in on the small keep, the defenders with no hope of assistance and nearly out of food surrender .....

a small victory for ye Kinge

Duel behind Boar's Head ....

An argument led to one royalist officer impugning another's honour - with all the troops crammed into limited quarters in Wallingborough, this sort of thing was bound to happen - - only one way to settle it ... a duel (drawer of first blood wins) ....

 The chap in the green drew first blood, satisfaction was obtained ......

A piece of artillerie ...

Nearby to Wallingborough, Sir William de Willoughby watches as a newly acquired culverin is about to be fired....

 [new items: Sash&Sabre culverin and 3 crew]

Supplies for Wallingborough ....

A small body of royalist horse escort a train of supplies to Wallingborough ....

[ I've re-done the basing for my mules and pack ponies, also replacing the drovers which had tricornes with some generic figures suitable for 17C & 18C]

Royalist foot on the move ...

Sir Marmaduke Fenwick's regiment of foot, which had mustered at Bradford-On-Avon, marches to Wallingborough to join the rest of the royalist forces assembling there.

More parliamentarian troops move towards Sarisbury....

Passing through a small town ....

Dragoons move forward down the road....

Sir Warwick Hunt and his officers discuss the route forward ....

while the rest of the troops pass through the town...

Sir Hippisley-Cox's regiment of foot.

Sir William de Willoughby has been busy re-organising the royalist foot. With his own regiment mustering at Pokesay, he has come up to Wallingborough to inspect Sir Hippisley-Cox's regiment of foot.

[This grey coat regiment is the first of my re-organised regiments of foot that I've completed - with some repainted additional figures left over from combining other regiments].

Both sides start to gather their forces ....

Sir William de Willoughby checks out his recently formed small body of cuirassiers.... this will strengthen the royalist horse.

---oXo---

 

Meanwhile in the south of Wiltshire, Sir Warwick Hunt with some cuirassiers and horse escort parliamentarian artillery from Southampton to Sarisbury.