Covenanter Lancers WIP

Well, term has begun, so the halcyon days of staying up really really late painting minis are over for a while... Despite this, I managed to chip away at some 1/72 Covenanter lancers this week. The figures are from Tumbling Dice, originally wielding pistols or swords, but converted to hold lances made from broom bristles. The armoured geezer will be carrying a flag, after I buy a new colour cartridge for the printer.

They're not beautiful, but they'll do the job.

The Return of 1/72 scale ECW...

There has been a lot of muttering from the Homunculi recently about the way I have neglected The One True Scale of 1/72. 'Airs and bleedin' graces' I've heard them say - 'jumping on the bleedin' 28mm bandwagon, Saga this, Saga that...' The discontent has naturally been most felt amongst the unpainted 1/72 brethren.

To keep the little blighters happy I have started on one of the big projects for 2012 - reorganising, rebasing and preparing more figures for 1/72 ECW, using Basic Impetus Baroque rules. I had some unpainted pikemen from Tumbling Dice lying around, so started with them. Nice figures - a bit chunky and 'wargamey', but dead easy to paint. These lads will join a Covenanter regiment. Truth be known they are probably too well armoured for Covenanters, but the priority at the moment is to just get some figures on the table and have some games. And to keep the Homunculi happy, of course.

Montrose Irish Brigade in 1/72 Scale

These are some experimental figures I did up some time ago to see whether it was feasible to make Montrose's Irish in 1/72 scale. The figures are mainly conversions from A Call to Arms Parliamentarian and Royalist infantry, although the well-fed ensign is a Tumbling Dice Covenanter. The Beautiful flag is from the talented chaps at the Project Auldearn blog. I'm pretty happy with how they turned out, and it is tempting to do some more work on the 1/72 ECW project. But then again, those 28mm ECW figures do look nice. Either way (or both!) ECW will hopefully be a big focus for 2012, along with more dark ages stuff and 1/72 Napoleonics for Lasalle.

Montrose in 1/72 Scale

Earlier in the year I set out to convert a figure suitable to lead the Scots Royalist army that I didn't get to complete. I used this mounted figure from the Strelets Jacobite set, and made a few modifications:

I carved away the foppish 18th century wig and lace and used greenstuff to give Montrose a cuirass. I also remade the sword and scabbard, and replaced the pistol holsters with pistol buckets more suitable for the C17th. This was my first real attempt at working with Greenstuff, and I'm pretty pleased with the result.

Covenanter Flags Part 4

Here's a couple more Covenanter cavalry standards (cornets) that might be of use to someone.

First up - A cornet of Lord Mauchline's regiment, captured at Dunbar in 1650:

...and this one was surrendered on 25 August 1648 at Uttoxeter. It belonged to one of the troops of the Duke of Hamilton's life guard of horse. The slogan means 'give unto Caesar', referring to Matthew 22:21.

Enjoy!

English Civil War Clubmen

'Clubmen' was the name given to locally-organised militias during the English Civil Wars who were usually motivated by the desire to defend their lands against depredations by the armies of either side. For a good summary of the Clubmen uprisings of 1644-6, see: http://www.british-civil-wars.co.uk/glossary/clubmen.htm

The banner is based on the only known flag carried by Clubmen, which was captured by Cromwell's troops on 4 August 1644 in a skirmish at Hambleton Hill, near Shrawton in Dorset. There is no surviving image of the flag, but the motto was recorded. I have guessed at a possible design.

The Clubmen figures are mainly conversions from the Imex set of Pilgrims, with one man wielding a quarterstaff converted from the ACTA Royalist Artillery set. The Imex Pilgrims set has all sorts of interesting conversion possibilities, as Andrew has already pointed out over on his 'Ferrous Lands' blog (http://www.ferrouslands.com/2010/02/painted-imex-pilgrims.html). The only reference I know of to any sort of uniform worn by Clubmen is a reference to a group near Salisbury in 1645 wearing white 'ribbands in their hats' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clubmen). However, this was likely just a local distinction, so I have given my figures a mix of hat bands.

Here they are!

Wargaming the English Civil War in 1/72 Scale Part 5: Some More Figures

Since I posted my summaries of the figures available for wargaming the ECW in 1/72 scale I have learned of a few more options. So this post is a round up of other mainly metal figures that could be used to create mighty armies of Parliamentarians, Royalists, Covenanters or Scots Royalists.

First up, my Mars Scots Mercenaries of the 30 Years War arrived.

I'm not a fan. It is hard to imagine much use for them, although maybe the musketeers could be used if one were desperate. Chunky mouldings, muskets the caliber of anti-tank guns, horribly engraved tartan breeches… The sculptor doesn’t seem to have understood Highland dress, so there are some really weird arrangements of plaid. Save your money. I have a set of Strelets Jacobites on the way, and I’m hoping to convert them into C17th Highlanders.

More positively, Mr John Cunningham responded to my post and has been a goldmine of information about ranges of metal figures compatible with plastics for the ECW. He very kindly sent me a range of samples of 20mm Hinton Hunt figures that he now holds the moulds for. These are some of the ECW figures, along with plastic figures from Revell and ACTA for size comparisons.

The Hinton Hunt figures are sharply detailed, and would fit in well with most plastics although they are slightly smaller. Unfortunately this is particularly the case with a couple of the standing officer figures, which seem underscale. Mr Cunningham has obtained the moulds for all sorts of old and out of productions ranges of figures in 20mm figures available – everything from Wellington’s Sepoys to some very nice C17th Poles. You can see some of his other figures over on The Plastic Pelisse. He can be contacted at CunnJoh@aol.com

Mr Cunnignham also sent me some examples of ECW figures made by Les Higgins. The bottom row are original Les Higgins figures, the ones above are reissues made by David Clayton in the USA. As you can see from the yellow A Call to Arms and Revell figures these match the size of 1/72 scale plastics well, although the style is much less realistic.

Some other metal ranges worth a look:

Art Miniaturen

I have bought Art Miniaturen Napoleonics and they are superb. They also have a growing range of 30 Years War figures, some of which would work well for the ECW. Check out the figure of the general waving his hat:

http://www.schmaeling.de/assets/s2dmain.html?http://www.schmaeling.de/

Garrison Miniatures

Thanks again to Mr Cunningham for putting me onto these. Garrison have a range of 25mm ECW. I haven’t seen the figures ‘in the flesh’, but judging by the scale in the photos on their website they should mix well with 1/72 scale:

http://www.garrisonminiatures.com/catalogue/index.asp?rName=English+Civil+War&rBrand=25mm%2017th%20Century

Historifigs

http://www.historifigs.com/soldiers_of_the_30_years_war.htm#1%20Scale%20Figures

No idea whether their ‘1 inch’ 30 Years War figures would match up with 1/72 scale, but they might be worth a look.

I think that’s all!

Covenanter Flags 2

Here are three more Covenanter foot ensigns.

First up, a flag captured at Dunbar in 1650. It probably belonged to a Captain Christall from John Forbes of Leslie's regiment.

Next, an ensign captured at Preston in 1648. It may have belonged to a Captain Leslie in Sir Alexander Fraser of Philforth's Firelocks, raised in Aberdeenshire in 1648.

And the third one is a generic Covenanter ensign, using the motto as it appears on a surviving flag in the National Museum of Scotland.

Enjoy.

Two More Royalist Standards

Here are two more cornets captured from the Royalists at the Battle of 1st Newbury.

The motto (Dona dei utraque regi) means 'Both gifts of god are for the king'. The two gifts are the crown and the wreath of victory.

The motto means 'Square in every way'. The source for this cornet is a book from 1655 by Thomas Blount, titled The Art of Making Devises'. According to Blount the bearer of this cornet was probably proclaiming his hatred of anything to do with roundheads. Which is a bit naff.

More ECW Flags

Here are my latest two ECW cavalry cornets. Hope somebody finds them useful.

Parliamentarian, 1642-. Captain Booth of Cheshire. Motto means 'Not without cause'.

Royalist, 1643-14 June 1645 (captured at Naseby). This cornet was probably one of a series used by Sir Horatio Cary and his officers in a regiment of horse raised in the West Country in late 1643. The motto is an insult directed at the Earl of Essex, whose wife was notoriously unfaithful. A similar cornet with red ground was also captured at Naseby.

Wargaming the English Civil War in 1/72 Scale Part 4: Flags

There were three types of flags used in the English Civil Wars: Ensigns, Cornets and Guidons. All were generically known as ‘colours’. Ensigns were used by foot, cornets by horse and guidons by dragoons.

You can find a great introduction to ECW flags here:

http://books.google.com.au/books?id=uGBG25-u67kC&pg=PR23&lpg=PR23&dq=english+civil+war+flags&source=bl&ots=HbkC5hKVkt&sig=YPqBCSyB44R_qix6Xg1Pucy-wc0&hl=en&ei=baCIS_v_ENGGkAXTpc0C&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CCYQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=english%20civil%20war%20flags&f=false

This gives the full introduction from The English Emblem Tradition Vol. 3: Emblematic Flag Devices of the English Civil Wars 1642-1660 by Alan R. Young, 1995. I own this book and it is great, giving a description and illustration (when known) of every known flag from the English Civil Wars that bears an emblem and slogan of some sort. This does mean however that most of the flags included are cavalry cornets. The book doesn’t include the more generic foot ensigns.

1. Ensigns

Ensigns were carried by each company of foot. They were usually about 2 metres square, so in 1/72 scale should measure about 2.8cm square. They were carried on short poles (around 2.3 metres long) to allow flourishing and twirling. In both Parliamentarian and Royalist armies the ensigns followed a similar design scheme. The ensign belonging to the Colonel was usually plain, the Lieutenant-Colonel’s ensign bore only the cross of St George in the top left corner. The ensigns of the Captains commanding each of the (usually 5) companies usually bore a number of heraldic devices or symbols, the number of which showed the seniority of the Captain. The more senior the Captain, the fewer devices.

This scheme is well illustrated on some free flags for the Earl of Essex’s army available on the Warflag site:

http://www.warflag.com/flags/ecw/ecw.shtml

Some other free ensigns are available here:

http://tmg110.tripod.com/british6.htm

http://www.quindia.com/studioart08.htm

Covenanter, Scots Royalist and Irish Confederate ensigns were a little different. Covenanter ensigns were usually, but by no means always, based on the St Andrew’s saltire, with some variation on the motto ‘Covenant for Religion, Crown and Kingdom’ or similar. In addition, the ensigns often included some heraldic emblem, often denoting the regiment’s colonel.

A few beautiful flags for Scots Royalists, Covenanters and Irish are available on the Project Auldearn blog:

http://auldearn1645.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2008-08-01T14%3A29%3A00-07%3A00&max-results=7

If you want to buy ensigns for your ECW armies, the only option I am aware of in 1/72 scale is Rofur Flags:

http://www.rofur-flags.de/liste2a/liste2a-engl.htm

Some are also available from Tiny Tin Troops, but I couldn’t work out what scale these are:

http://www.tinytintroops.co.uk/Flags/flags_ECW.htm

2. Cornets

Cornets were much smaller than ensigns, measuring only 60cm square, which is about 0.8cm in 1/72 scale! I usually make them a lot bigger than this, going for the visual appeal over strict accuracy. Cornets were carried on lances between 2.44 metres and 2.74 metres in length. Unlike ensigns, cornets usually had a fringe, and bore a much greater variety of images and slogans. Many included outright propaganda messages. I’m not aware of any free cornets on the internet, or of anyone selling them in 1/72 scale. So I’ve decided to make some, and will put them up on this blog as they become available. Just resize them as you see fit on a colour printer. If anyone uses these I would love to see the finished product. Here are two for starters:

Parliamentarian Cornet belonging to Captain Dobbins of Worcestershire (1642-). Motto means 'While I breathe, I hope.'

Pariamentarian Cornet (1642-). Bearer unknown. Motto means 'Death for me is gain.

3. Guidons

Guidons were carried by dragoons. They were a similar size to cornets, but were distinguished by having a swallow-tail shape. The designs followed a similar scheme to infantry ensigns.

The Covenanters!

I've just finished the cavalry for my DBA-RRR Covenanter army. Here's a sight to strike fear into any heart - heavily armed Presbyterians. All figures are 1/72 metal from Tumbling Dice.

First up, the Covenanter general, who is based as a single figure under the DBA-RRR rules.

'After yon Papist!'

Next, three elements of horse, using slightly different basing rules to DBA-RRR to make them consistent with the rest of my ECW figures.

The banner is a simplified attempt at a Covenanter flag captured by Cromwell's troops at Dunbar in 1650. While looking for flags I found this excellent reference.

Finally, an element of lancers. These are converted from Tumbling Dice figures holding muskets, and the helmeted head is from a figure in the A Call To Arms command set. The lances are broom bristles.

Next up - musketeers.

ECW Parliamentary Cavalry

This is just a quick update with my first figures finished for 2010 - a unit of Parliamentary horse. The riders are from Tumbling Dice (with one from SHQ). The horses are mainly Tumbling Dice, but with a few Revell horses thrown in for variety. I think they match up pretty well.

Now that these chaps are finished I'm concentrating on my first big project for the year - making a Covenanter army for DBA-RRR.

Wargaming the English Civil War in 1/72 Scale Part 3: Artillery

3. Artillery

So, you have your cavalry and infantry for your ECW army, but what about the artillery? Fear not, you are well served.

Revell Imperial Artillery

See the review here:

http://www.plasticsoldierreview.com/Review.aspx?id=310

A great set. Three guns, a surfeit of crew figures and a horse team to pull one of your guns. Sadly this set has been out of production for some time, and attracts crazy prices on Ebay. Mars has pirated the set, but their effort only includes some of the crew and leaves out the horse team. As usual with Mars the quality of the moulding is awful. Grab the Revell set if you can.

Revell guns and crew

Revell horse team

A Call to Arms Royalist Artillery

See the review here:

http://www.plasticsoldierreview.com/Review.aspx?id=20

Ignore the title. As with all of ACTA sets this is equally appropriate for Royalists, Parliamentarians or Scots too for that matter. Four guns and nicely moulded crew figures in four poses. Nothing like the variety of figures that Revell offers, but good enough for wargamers.

Mars Swedish Army with Culverin

This new release appears to be an original effort from Mars, and it looks promising. See images of the figures here:

http://www.marsfigures.com/

The horses are awful, but the gun, crew and mounted officers look quite useful. I will be getting this at some stage.

Tumbling Dice

Tumbling Dice have a number of guns and crew for the ECW, from very light falcons and volley guns to demi-culverins. I have two of these (unpainted) and they are excellent. The crew figures as usual with TD come with separate heads, there is a good range of poses, and the guns also come with accessories (barrels etc). Highly recommended.

Light gun and crew from Tumbling Dice

That pretty much concludes this little survey of what’s available for the ECW in 1/72 scale. There is far more variety than one might expect, especially if you are prepared to use metal figures as well.

Wargaming the English Civil War in 1/72 Scale Part 2: Cavalry

Revell 30YW Swedes painted as Parliamentarian horse

Cavalry and Dragoons

There are fewer options for ECW horse in 1/72 than for infantry, but it is still quite possible to build up varied and accurate units of cavalry and dragoons. Here are the possibilities.

Revell Swedish Cavalry

Read the review here:

http://www.plasticsoldierreview.com/Review.aspx?id=311

This is a beautiful set of cavalry for the 30YW that contains possibly the best horses ever made in this scale. The figures are quite suitable for the ECW (apart from some minor quibbles about swords), and include cuirassiers, harquebusiers and unarmoured horse suitable for dragoons. The Revell set of Swedish infantry also incidentally includes some kneeling figures armed with flintlocks who make great dismounted dragoons.

Dragoons (Revell figures)

You could easily just use this set to provide the cavalry for a Royalist or Parliamentarian army, but there is one problem – availability. In its wisdom Revell has not produced the set for years, although it seems to have just been re-released as a limited edition and is advertised on the Michigan Toy Soldier site. My advice is to grab some while you can. Another alternative, depending on your scruples and tolerance for carving off flash, is to buy the pirated copies of the set produced by Mars. They have released badly moulded and quite illegal copies split into two boxes – cuirassiers and dragoons.

If you can’t get hold of this set, there are some other possibilities.

Strelets Reitars of Charles XII

Read the review here:

http://www.plasticsoldierreview.com/Review.aspx?id=825

These figures are for the Great Northern War. However, they can be converted into pretty reasonable ECW cavalry. They don’t mix well with Revell though, being the usual Strelets ‘chunky’ style. To convert them, cut off the heads of any figures wearing tricorne hats and replace them with heads from A Call To Arms. The Reitars aren’t wearing backplates, but this can easily be disguised with a good paint job. It would also probably be more realistic to carve off some or all of the holster covers on the horses, as they look a bit too ‘18^th Century’. I quite like the effect of these figures, particularly for the New Model Army.

SHQ

SHQ have some 20mm ECW cavalry in metal. They didn’t impress me as much as their infantry. Poses are few, and the horses are too small. Some of the riders can be used in a unit on different horses.

From left to right: Three Tumbling Dice riders, a TD 'heavy' horse, a SHQ horse, SHQ rider, ACTA pikeman

Tumbling Dice

Tumbling Dice riders compared to Mars copies of Revell figures

TD have a good range of cavalry and dragoons with separate heads. This allows for more variation in a unit, and also allows figures to be used as Covenanters. The main problem with TD figures is the lack of variety in the horse poses. They have two – one with pistol holsters and one without. If. Like me, you don’t want your cavalry to appear to me trotting in step, you will have to source your horses from elsewhere. I have mounted a few on Revell horses, and like their look.

TD (and one SHQ) riders on TD and Revell horses

Next time - the artillery.