More ECW Units Finished

I have now finished the last six pike and shot units for my English Civil War Royalist Army.  Pictured below (along with those in my earlier post (clicky)) are what my dozen pike and shot units look like . . . followed by individual photos of the six new regiments (click for larger images).

12 Royalist ECW Pike & Shot Regiments

The new regiments are as follows:

Sir Anthony Thelwell's Regiment

Sir Lewis Dyve's Regiment

Sir Henry Vaughan's Regiment

Sir Gilbert Talbot's Regiment

Sir Gervase Lucas' Regiment

Marquis of Winchester's Regiment

I am also near finishing four units of Commanded Shot . . . but I still have ten units of Cavalry as well as a couple of Dragoon units (both mounted and on foot) as well as all of my Generals and Brigadiers . . . not to mention artillerymen.

So I am far (okay much too far) from being where I want to be with this army . . . but for me the hardest part is now finished because unlike most gamers I find foot far more tedious to paint than mounted troops.  Beside which all I really only need to finish is some of the mounted and a few officers before Murdock and I can try out some ECW rule sets on the table top.

-- Jeff

My Opponent's Evil Army

Murdock has just posted a number of photos of his English Civil War forces (click on previous under-lined passage to see them).

Nasty Parliamentary Gunners

 Now I must make clear that Murdock himself is not an evil chap . . . he is in fact a jolly fine fellow and a very kind and helpful friend.  His ECW army on the other hand is filled with the sort of fellows who would cancel Christmas . . . indeed I believe that Cromwell did just that . . . certainly not the kind of people one would want in one's home.

I, on the other hand am building a Royalist force (see my last post).  Now I will freely admit that Charles is not my ideal as a king . . . but he IS king . . . and you would certainly rather have the Cavaliers at your local pub than those Roundheads.  Admit it . . . who would you rather have a round or two with, stout fellows or Bible-thumping puritans who would banish "cakes and ale"?

Now I must confess that Murdock did agree to take on this Evil Army as a concession to me since I wished to run the Royalists (as I sure you would too).  He really is a jolly good chap (even if he is serving as a Roundhead).

Please take a look at his blog post (clicky).

-- Jeff

First ECW Figures Finished

Well I have finally finished my first six ECW Royalist units.  Following the photos (click for larger images) I will discuss my reasons for the "unusual" basing and for the "command figure" in front of the units.

Sir Allan Apsley's Regiment

Earl of Northampton's Regiment

Sir Stephan Hawkins' Regiment

Sir Edward Stradling's Regiment

Lord General's Regiment

Sir Thomas Blackwell's Regiment

So why did I place five figures on the pike stands (placed like a five pip on a d6) and three figures on each shot stand . . . all instead of the usual four on each?

I firmly believe that pikes should be in "close order" and that (with burning matches) matchlock men would be in a looser (although not "open") order for safety's sake.  Others may well disagree, but I think that it looks good.

As for the "command figure" in front of each unit, it does not fight.  It is simply a marker for the unit's current status . . . in front for good order, in back for disordered, and well behind the unit if shaken.  This allows for a "marker" that does not disrupt the look of the battlefield.

Flags (and coat colors) are from the fine Wargames Design website . . . although I have increased the flag size to 45mm square (pikes/flagstaffs are 80mm).  My bases are nominally 2" square . . . but are actually 47mm square so that they will fit into my display cabinet.

Figures are a mix of 28mm Perry, Warlord plastics and some unknown figures I got from another gamer.

Now to finish the rest of the Foot so that I can move on to the cavalry.

-- Jeff