Saturday 29 August 2015

Parliamentarian army sighted ...

As Sir William de Willoughby returns to the town of Whitchurch after checking the progress of the siege of Hurstbourne manor a dragoon rides up .....

He reports that a parliamentarian army has been seen in the vicinity of Sutton Scotney about 10 miles to the south. Sir William orders all available troops to muster at Tufton a couple of miles south of Whitchurch.

Wednesday 26 August 2015

the parliamentarian army marches ...

the campaign continues ....

Sir Warwick Hunt is at Stockbridge, while checking the state of supplies he is informed of the eastward movement of the royalists...
He sends orders for the army to muster near Stockbridge; the muster was completed the next day as most of the army was quartered in nearby villages.. The following day the parliamentarian army set off across the downland along the London road ....
they planned to turn north at Sutton Scotney and intercept the royalists.

Tuesday 18 August 2015

Artillery Interlude (2 of 2) - a couple more Artillerist Conversions

I had two more artillerist conversions planned, a man carrying a barrel on his shoulder and another pushing a wheelbarrow.

I was checking the amount of spare metal I have for casting when I spotted a couple of Creartec SYW figures which hadn't quite cast properly - they seemed just right as base figures.  Here are the base figures with their new ECW heads ready for fixing on
Here are the finished conversions, quite a bit of green stuff used

  • belts done using strips of black insulation tape
  • the wheelbarrow is made from offcuts of plasticard and cardboard, the wheel was adapted from a near circular tab from an old Brita filter jug I was taking apart.
The two chaps all painted and hard at work unloading a wagon....


Saturday 15 August 2015

Artillery Interlude (1 of 2) - Ordnance in Action

To cover a short interlude in the Hurstbourne/Whitchurch campaign while the Parliamentarians get organised to make their move; some extra photos of the artillery and the mortar in action with new/converted crew..

 A new cannon, this is a Sash & Sabre falconet ....
 the 'downsized' Call to Arms 54mm cannon, still a tad large but much more useable ...
 the mortar , with the chaps carrying the mortar shell painted up ...

Thursday 6 August 2015

Royalists move towards Hurstbourne Manor

continued from the previous post ......

The Whitchurch parliamentary town garrison reformed by the manor farm. Reinforced by some men from the manor they then lined the hedge rows and a setup a barricade across the road ....
The royalist foot start their advance towards the manor ....
As they near a small wood the parliamentary musketeers open fire ....
The men manning the barricade fall back after coming under fire from some dismounted royalist horse...
The parliamentarians fall back under fire from the royalist foot .....
The parliamentarians retire back towards the manor farm ....
The royalists close in on the manor farm .....
A stiff volley from the parliamentarians blocking the road force the royalist pike attack to fall back...
However the men in the manor farm fall back after taking heavy casualties from musket fire from the advancing royalist foot ....
the parliamentarians from the manor farm make a run for the manor house, while the musketeers blocking the road attempt to hold some royalist horse ....
The royalist horse break the musketeers and they turn and run for the manor ....
The royalist horse try and get behind the barricades by the gate, but shot from the cannon and musket fire from the wall deter them ....
The royalist foot take control of the manor farm ....

---oXo---

The main body of the royalist army arrived a couple of hours later.  They set patrols of dragoons to the east and south-west to detect any move by parliamentarian forces ...

to be continued

Tuesday 4 August 2015

Whitchurch - Royalists take the town ....

A detachment of royalist horse catch the small garrison of Whitchurch unprepared and they easily take control of the town..
 One of the garrison makes a run for it across the fields to take word to Hurstbourne manor...
 The rest of the garrison re-group in a small wood on the road to the manor, a couple of vollies deters the royalist horse from moving down the road...
 The runner reaches the manor and tells them royalists have taken the town ....
 Royalist foot arrive in the town and prepare to deploy...