Green Regiment of Foot

My new regiment of foot, recently completed and ready to stand for the King. These are Warlord plastics (because they’re cheap, and so am I!). I worked out that I could build regiments suitably sized for the 1644 rules set using part of a boxed set. What I did was to buy an extra sprue of foot, and build a regiment using two sprues of foot and odd bits and pieces.

The command sprues contain two well-dressed herberts intended as commanders and ensigns. I used one of these per regiment as the commander. The foot sprues have an extra pikeman body one each, for which there are no arms. Warlord suggest using them as sergeants, but with a bit of work, I turned two of them into ensigns, using the spare arms from the command sprue, and one into a fifer. The last body will be converted into a sergeant using spare arms from the firelock storming party box set.

Command, from the front

 and the rear

These other figures, the extra commander, ensign, drummer and sergeant will go with a second regiment I’m building.

The only problem with this approach is that the regiments formed have skewed pike / shot ratio. They could do with a few additional musketeers, to put them nearer a 2:1 shot to pike proportion. I’ve got some plans for this, but in the mean time hopfully they’ll pass muster.

 Here's the command, escorted by shot and pike.

Pike, deployed as a block. The pikes are made from stainless steel wire, which can be nasty if you put your hand down on them, but the plastic ones from the box set are far too flimsy for my taste.

Some of the shot, some firing the others moving into position.

The whole regiment, pikes in the centre and shot on the wings.

Again, this time with the shot to the front.

I'm looking forward to seeing if they can fight...

The Furie of the Ordonance!

Here are the finished guns! Two small “battalion” guns and a larger piece.

I left two of the gun carriages as bare wood, the larger one with an unpainted iron barrel

 and one of the smaller guns in bronze.

 The other small gun was painted in red with a black-painted barrel. A follower pointed out that red carriages were more commonly associated with Parliamentary forces, which given my army is meant to be Royalist might be a problem!

A bit of thinking found me a way out. Red paint would  have been fairly generic – red lead was commonly available, and popular as it’s a great preservative (unless you eat it…). Also, cannons were rare and highly desirable, and no general in his right senses would turn down a captured gun simply because he didn’t like the colour!

The figures are from 1^st Corps, from their Thirty Years War range. These are one pack of the firing crew and one pack of loading crew, although mixed between the guns. There was no flash, limted joint lines to clean up and they painted a treat.

 These are lovely, characterful figures. There are a couple of well-dressed master gunners, and a selection of matroses and labourers who seem to range from the serious and capable to some who look like they need to be told to come in out of the rain. The powder loader on the left at the back here is a perfect example of the latter.  I loved the variety, and would recommend them without reservation.

 The accessories (budge barrels, buckets) are Amati model boat fittings, from Cornwall Model Boats. A bit of green stuff and some flytying thread made these useful little pieces into exactly what I wanted. The cannonballs on the large gun are angler’s split shot. These actually scale out as fourteen pound cannonballs, based on the magic of arithmetic. This fits perfectly with Reiver's description of the gun as a 12-24lb.

Here are all three guns as a single battery, ready to batter a slogging infantry regiment, or make mincemeat of a dashing cavalry force with canister.

Figure mounting and work holding

Someone asked me about the thingies I use to hold my figures while I’m painting them, and how I mount mini’s for painting, so I thought I’d devote a couple of lines on how I do it.

The figure holders are made from pieces of pre-perforated plastic board. I got them from my work, where they come as packaging for some sort of laboratory consumables. I don’t know exactly what – it isn’t something I use, but seeing them being thrown away I thought they were too good to miss and rescued them.

 

The green ones are better, in my opinion, as the holes are smaller, and so support the mini’s more securely. The sheets are pre-perforated and the holes therefore line up perfectly. All I do is open up the four corner holes to take an M5 bolt. Spacing otherwise is provided by the M5 nuts, and I use two sheets in each layer for rigidity. In the picture, there are thirteen figures on the holder, and it’s by no means crowded – twenty 28mm foot or a dozen horses is comfortably do-able.

To mount minis to paint, I use roofing felt tacks (for foot and horses) or pop rivets (for mounted), with hot melt glue, as here.

For foot figures, like the Reiver artilleryman on the left, simply apply hot melt glue to the tack, push on the figure and away you go. I don’t painted mounted minis on the horses, but mounting the riders this way doesn’t work for me. I drill a hole through the seat, 4-5 mm deep, of the same diameter as a pop rivet shaft, then glue the riders on as per the Warlord figure above.

Demounting is simple: heat just the tip of the tack or rivet gently, then carefully pull away using tweezers / pliers / forceps.

An update! Artillery

Just because I haven’t posted any updates doesn’t mean I’ve been totally idle! Every army needs artillery, so I’ve built up mine considerably, and here it is.

The new guns are Reiver Castings items, from the 17th/18th century range. I got these at a show from Under The Bed Enterprises, who were a couple of all round good chaps, very friendly and helpful. I bought two battalion guns (catalogue number AP7) and 12-24lb field gun (AP3). The kits are sold in the usual neat and natty little plastic bags, as shown here.

Each is a four piece model (carriage, two wheels and a barrel), cleanly moulded in fairly soft metal. Mould lines are prevalent, but there was no flash on either example, and cleanup was quick and easy. Reiver have made no attempt to cast wood grain into the carriage, which is no bad thing. Scaled up, most kit wood grain would make a railway sleeper look well-finished. The wheels are narrow and delicate, and benefit careful handling. The kit goes together with minimal additional fettling. I reamed out the wheel centres a little, and squared up the axle shafts, to try to keep everything square during assembly.

Assembling the things was a bit of a grunt. Everything fitted well enough after preparation, but it’s by no means simple to keep everything square and true while the glue sets (I used Araldite). I got around it by using small offcuts of wood of the correct width as jigs to support the wheels, whilst clamping the whole thing in a plastic drill vice. This is one of the battalion guns undergoing the process.

They look right based on illustrations. I wouldn’t care to speculate on their precise dimensional accuracy, given these come from a time when all artillery was bespoke, the concept is probably meaningless anyway. Colourwise, yellow, red and black appear to have been popular, although whether based on preference or availability is perhaps open to conjecture. Here’s one assembled next to a Warlord infantry ensign for comparison.

Building Simple ECW Houses, Part 2

This is the second part of my explanation of how to make houses for ECW gaming. 

Here, I’ve dismantled the wall components after the dry fit and check, and cut out the roof sections. In this case I’ve used foamcore, but card, MDF or foam sheet are all suitable. It depends to some extent what sort of roof you’re trying to portray. Using foam sheet is better if you’re making a thatch, as the extra thickness is credible, but if you intent to portray a tiled or shingled roof, foamcore is better since the roof look more in proportion.

I’ve cut out the bits where the chimney will go through the roof. This can take a bit of fettling, but if the fit isn’t perfect, don’t worry, as the final cosmetic layer(s) of the roof will cover up the gaps.

Now glue the thing together. I use impact adhesive and dressmakers’ pins to provide support. Once the roof is in place, the whole structure is quite stable. Once dry you have a shell of a house, ready for the real work of making it look the way you want.

The next steps require large quantities of small bits of wood. Bags of matchsticks from craft shops are excellent, as are wooden coffee stirrers. The plans I’ve used build a house with what is called a “jetty roof”. Obviously in the real thing this has to be supported, so in this case I’ve added cross joists under the jetty from matches.

This next shot shows two things – first, the floor plate at the base of the upper storey. This rests on the joists under the jetty and ties the upper floor in. I’ve found the best way is to add the joists over-length, glue the floor plate in (in this case it’s a coffee stirrer), then cut the joists flush with a chisel.

I’ve also added the basis of the window frames, matchsticks cut to length and glued in place.

Now start framing. There are some good books out there on vernacular architecture that can guide you, and if you live near any historic towns or cities, an afternoon out can give you the impression of how it was really done. There are a couple of things to remember.

First, the timbers used in these buildings were cut directly from tree trunks / limbs, often on site. At best they might be cut with a pit saw. The beams therefore are often NOT straight, but were worked by the carpenters to fit the building. Look closely and the marks of sweeps and adzes can be found quite easily.

Second, the wood was often worked and used green, since it’s vastly easier to work something like oak when it’s green rather than when it’s seasoned. A consequence of this is that the buildings move, often quite a lot. A gap you can put your thumb in is nothing, and being able to cram a couple of fingers between timbers is not at all unusual.

So, if your timber work is a bit rough and doesn’t fit perfectly – you’ve got it right! Here are the two gable ends, for interest.

Because I can! (Redoubt Enterprises Dragoon Horse Holder)

Do you have ever have a “because I can” moment?

This was one. As far as I know there are no ECW rules where you actually NEED to have anything on the table to mark where the horses are when your dragoons are fighting dismounted. However, just because you don’t need it doesn’t mean you don’t make it.

Redoubt’s dismounted dragoons include a horse holder model. Actually, if you look at this boots, he’s actually a cavalryman, not a dragoon, but I didn’t let it stand in my way. Three standing dragoon horses from Redoubt’s range complete the component parts.

I mucked about a bit with the horses, mainly altering the position of the heads, to give the impression that they are moving, reacting to the noise and confusion of battle. The centre figure is the "original", and the two outer ones have minor changes to pose - mainly head position. The horse models are lovely, with nice anatomy and no flash. The saddles are festooned with bags, blankets and the other paraphernalia dragoons need to keep body and soul together in the field. They even have loose reins hanging down.

The holder is nice, and the anatomy is fine. The pose is quite “straight up and down”, but I think he looks the part of someone trying to keep three horses in order in a situation where they are inclined to be anything but calm. He wears a buff coat, and is armed with sword and carbine. By drilling out his hand, and bending the reins carefully, you can easily place everything in his grip, keeping the mounts in place until his comrades need him.

 

In this last shot, I have him with some other manufacturers’ miniatures, so comparison. From left to right, these are a Renegade foot dragoon, a Warlord metal dragoon officer and a TAG cavalry officer.

 

Despite the fact it will probably never grace a table, I really enjoyed doing this. Sorry the photos aren't better - I've altered the lights in the room I work in and I obviously need to re-invent the wheel as far as pictures go. I'll replace these when / if I can get it right.

This little set also illustrates a nice point that most rule sets gloss over: once dismounted, a proportion of the troops had to be told off to hold the horses, so a sixty man dragoon company might only put forty men in its firing line.

Renegade Miniatures Dragoons Review

This was one of Renegade’s regiment packs. Rather than the usual 24 foot or 9 horse that you get in most of the regiment packs, in this case you get six each of foot and mounted, without command. Here are all twelve, ready for action.

This is a good way to buy ECW dragoons – many of the rule sets specify that you need both foot and mounted figures for a dragoon unit. The figures came packed in a stout box, per normal Renegade practice. The service is best described as “slow and steady”, and in my experience it would be tempting fate to order from Renegade if you had a deadline for getting figures on the table.  I’m never in a hurry, so I can sit back and enjoy the very competitive prices Renegade charge for their products.

To the figures: the foot figures are best described as very big, very bad men. They tower over figures from manufacturers like Perry, TAG and Warlord. They have nasty, ill-tempered faces, and if they were real, no-one in their right senses would want to meet them on a dark night! The figures are well-sculpted, with good proportions, good clothing and good, complete equipment. If there is room for complaint in this area, it’s that the boot tops are a bit bucket-like. Previously, I bought a regiment pack of Saxons from Renegade. Those figures had quite the biggest hands I’ve ever seen! I’ve met people with big mawks in my life, but those blokes, scaled up would have palms big enough to sit down in. The dragoon figures, on the other hand have hands that are properly proportioned, i.e. just plain big!

The biggest issue with the foot figures is that they suffer from severe flash. This is thick enough to need drill bits and Dremels to remove, rather than a bit of subtle scalpel work. My figures had complete webs between the arms, weapons and body and between the legs in several cases. On a couple of the figures I decided to add beards, and on another a bushy moustache, just to increase the impression of these chaps being wild and lawless.

The mounted figures are interesting, in that they suffer none of the issues with flash seen on the foot. They are equally big, strong, powerful men, and look just as intimidating as their unmounted brethren. However, the appearance of the men is very different from the foot versions. The equipment, coats and headgear are not a good match for those of the (supposedly) unmounted equivalents. All muskets are moulded separately for the mounted troops, and are done very nicely.

The horses are good. Anatomically, they are correct (compared with e.g. TAG), and quite slender. This is quite good, in my opinion, reflecting the fact that dragoons got second-rate horses, which were generally smaller than what the cavalry got. The poses are quite uniform, and could probably have stood a degree of remodelling, had I been more bothered. Also, the horse poses all seem very dynamic, which is at odds with the riders, who seem to me relatively relaxed in their poses.

The fit between horse and rider varies between tolerable, and quite poor. All needed some work to achieve a good matchup.

Overall, well worth the money, but if your examples are anything like mine, be prepared to put a bit of graft in between getting them through the post and onto the table.