Summer days...

Well, the post-Partizan ‘slump’ in production and engagement with the hobby predictably happened – all the energy that one throws into a project, the big day, and then a lull – and the blog and painting took a back seat over June. However, July has proved to be quietly productive, and after a short write-up, I’ll let the pictures do the talking!

The completed 4 point Scots Covenanter Faction - Hero, characters and shaken markers included

The end of June and the early part of July saw a bit of a watershed moment – I managed to finish off the last two figures of my planned Scots Covenanter Musket, which gave me my completed 4 point basic Covenanter Faction. I could now put 2 points worth of ‘trained’ shot, 1 point of ‘trained’ pike, and 1 point of ‘elite’ dragoons onto the table, with their Faction Leader ‘Hero’ character. This was the original plan of some (?)2 years ago, and on the 7^th of July I breathed a massive sigh of relief when I added the static grass and scenic materials to the last musketeer’s base. Job done!

The Infantry, with the Saltire leading the way, sergeants marshalling the rear

A bird's-eye view

Captain Drummond's Company - these chaps have had their final two figures added this month

 

Close up of the unit - worth 1 point in Donnybrook  - a unit of regular musket

The rear of the unit - the tartan's been a real pain, but worth the effort

Mcleod's Company - the next 'point'. These chaps have slightly different coloured coats to distinguish them from Drummond's company

Hodden coats of the Scots Government troops

 

A rear view. The movement trays are from Warbases, and help moving the figures around. If the shot are on these trays this means that they are operating in close order, and gain an advantage in shooting. The edges also define the 'shooting corridor'

Mackintosh's pike - a mixture of coat colours here, reflecting the musket unit coats as well. These are the third point. I could theoretically split this unit in half so that I have two small Scottish regiments of 12 figures each when combined with the musketeers, when using different rules.

The pike about to charge.... I love the chap second from the left in the front rank, shouting battle cries...

Gordon's Dragoons - only 3 figures strong, these are worth 1 point in Donnybrook, as they are 'Elite'. Here are the mounted and dismounted versions, horse holder 'marker' and shaken marker.

Close up of the Dragoons

The dismounted marker

Peeping over the top...

Since then, I’ve steadily added to the faction, in terms of characters. I already had an ensign for my Scots, but I’d planned to have four characters for my factions (alongside my heroes), one for each ‘points worth’ of troops. So, with two units of shot, two sergeants seemed appropriate, to help them reload quicker, and I also had a rather lovely Perry Miniatures piper to paint up as well, who will help out with morale checks. I’ve now got these completed as well – the last sergeant was done on the 27^th of July, and the whole faction has now been completed to its original plan! There are moves afoot to add another 2 points worth of troops and characters to bring it up to a 6 point faction, but for now I’m concentrating on getting my New Model Army faction finished off.

Tam McLeod and his 'boys'... Hero and characters of the faction

 

Gordon Blair..... dour but slippery...... a real mixture of inspiration in his name...

 

Close up of Sergeant Blair - a Perry Miniature figure. He will sergeant for Drummond's company of shot.

Roy Armstrong - sergeant of McLeod's company of shot.

Another Perry figure - his plaid is more greenish than shown in the daylight.

Hamish McLeod the piper.... who's just ...loud...

Another Perry figure - I imagine him to be a relative of Tam, and part of the McLeod clan

I've not really done any particular tartans - just 'homespun' patterns with muted colours. I tried something a little different here, and It's worked out well.

Jamie the Ensign. A hand painted flag that was based on real examples.

 

Another Perry Figure, one of many drawn from their English Civil War range/Scottish line.

 

On that front – there’s success as well. Last night saw me complete my NMA Ensign, Nehemiah Cotton. His colours have been finished off for a while, and it was just him that needed some work doing to get him done, but the holidays and fine weather have helped. Just two more character figures for the NMA faction now, and then they will also be completed.

Nehemiah Cotton, with his activation card.

A close-up of Ensign Cotton. This flag, with one 'wavy 'pile' on it, represents the Major's colours.

A view from the rear - realistically he could portray an ensign from many regiments of the era.

The fine weather has also allowed me to get outside and take some pics of the completed Scots faction, and some battle action. I’m staggered at how much more detail one can pick out in real daylight – a no-brainer really – but as it’s the first time I’ve done it, it’s really blown me away! The hedge next to the front lawn really adds to the backdrop of a foreboding Scottish wood, so I’m really pleased with how these photos have come out. More of this I think in the future, weather depending!

'Forward!!! For Christ, Crown and the Covenant!!'

Hodden grey and Venice red clash somewhere in Scotland

A view along the battle lines..

Thomas Playwell the fifer keeps spirits up...

'Cast about and make ready!...'

In the background and throughout these pictures are my new dry-stone walls, another product of a rather positive July. I’ve followed the pattern of my previous efforts in creating and enhancing commercially bought walls – stripping off the static grass and glue by soaking them in water, spraying them black, drybrushing up the stonework, adding sand and PVA texture to the bases, painting this basework, and adding more static grass and scenic materials to the bases and walls. Rather a faff perhaps, and time-intensive, but definitely worthwhile. I’ve now got 15 wall lengths which should be enough…..for now.

The next few days should see me complete my other NMA characters, then I’ll add to my civilians. The Other Partizan is in three weeks, on the 21^st of August, and the RAWGamers are putting on ‘A Donnybrook near Dunbar’ as a participation game. All these chaps (and hopefully more) will get a run out – for the last time! After that show, I’ll be starting on a new game and era – and hopefully there’ll be no ‘Post-Partizan Slump’!

As always, thanks for looking and the continued support and kind comments here and elsewhere on other forums. ‘Til next time! Ka-boom!!!!

 

'At the scum to the fore....Give...your...... fire!'

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Covenanter Dragoons

When I drew up the composition for my Scots Covenanter 'faction' of my ECW Donnybrook project, I was fairly sure I wanted some dragoons in the mix. Not only would they provide another aspect to our games, with their flexibility of being able to operate both mounted or dismounted, but there's something quite iconic about Scottish dragoon regiments of the 17th century English Civil Wars.

This is in part, down to the actions and history of Hugh Fraser's regiment, the exploits of which are detailed briefly here, on the excellent Project Auldearn Blog (one of the inspirations for my own project). Fraser's regiment (or Frazer's - I've seen both spellings) was one of the more renowned regiments of dragoons of the era (there is evidence for a significant number), but by the autumn of 1645, following the Battle of Philiphaugh, it received permission to convert to a cavalry regiment, and became equipped with sturdier horses, and fought from the saddle rather than dismounting. Judging by the brief descriptions of other dragoon regiments that I've found, this seems to be a common path taken by many of these units. Fraser's regiment ended their days at the Battle of Winwick Pass, during the  Preston campaign of 1648.

'The Dragoons are coming!...'

During the Dunbar campaign, which acts as the backdrop for my project, the Scottish forces purportedly had dragoons in the form of Lord Kirkcudbright's Regiment. There's no real indication as to which brigade they were attached to, but judging by contemporary accounts, Lord 'Kilcowberry's' (sic) men possibly fought in an action at Haddington, on the night of 31st August 1650, when Cromwell decided to retreat from Musselburgh back towards Dunbar. The English rearguard was already in disarray as it approached Haddington, but 'the Lord by his providence put a cloud over the moon' and the Ironsides managed to break contact with the pursuing Scots. Later that night, around midnight, the Scottish attacked again, this time with a 'party of mounted musketeers', and it's these chaps who were supposedly Kirkcudbright's men. They were clearly made of stern stuff, as it took an hours worth of fighting, before they were finally seen off by Colonel Charles Fairfax's Foot.

There is scant record of their actions during the Battle of Dunbar - presumably they fought on foot as a block of troops - and then were caught up in the subsequent retreat and surrender towards the end of the battle.  Any survivors probably evolved into 'Moss troopers', a development of later actions in Scotland, where the regular Scottish army was supported by rough and ready bandits who harassed Cromwell's forces. They gradually developed into an organised force of 'light' cavalry  under such people as Captain Augustine Hoffman (an officer from Southern Germany!), who attacked the English at Linlithgow in April 1651 with a mixed party of Mossers and dragoons.

My own dragoons have been 'christened' as Lieutenant Gordon's company. I decided to class them as elite troops, not only out of sentimentality for the quality of Fraser's veterans, but also because it got around a rather practical problem that wargamers have with dragoons of this era - the fact that you need 'two lots' of the d%^ned things! To cut back on the numbers I needed to represent both their mounted and dismounted versions, it was an easy choice to make them high quality - in Donnybrook terms, therefore, I'd only need 3 figures of each type. I couldn't resist making a dismounted marker though, and also included my usual 'shaken' casualty marker for my unit.

The unit in full - dismounted troops, their mounted versions, dismounted marker,

Shaken marker, and activation card.

The figures all come from Perry Miniatures - SW4 Musketeers firing, and SW6 Musketeers advancing for the dismounted figures, and SW15 for the mounted versions. The casualty marker figure is from Wargames Foundry ECW49 Casualties pack.

Dismounted Dragoons - mind those powder barrels

I tried to replicate the figures in both dismounted and mounted form - this was reasonably successful, but was largely dictated by the style of the mounted versions. Hair colour, and colour of the uniforms and equipment was the main method of doing this, but for the sharp-eyed, there's a few subtle differences mainly with the facial hair!

The uniforms were painted in a mix of colours - with the doublets being Foundry's 12 Drab palette. This is a slightly 'washed out' brown, with a pale khaki hint to it, and I like the fact that it's a different tone to the usual mid-grey tone that's often used for Covenanter troops. It also makes my dragoons easier to spot on the table!

The dismounted marker is on based on a 60mm round base from Warbases, and features a figure from the Perry SW5 Musketeers loading pack, and a spare horse from another pack of dragoons. The fencing comes from Renedra.

Finally, a few pictures of our friends, in close up and in action. Next up will be the Scots casualty 'shaken' markers. See you soon!

Off we go again - more English to find and fight!...