Pikeman's Lament - Commanded Shot & Artillery Piece

Time to get back into my on/off 28mm ECW project for Pikeman's Lament Rules from Osprey.

So far I have finished a unit of 6 trotters (Cavalry) and 4 units of 6 Dragoons together with a motley selection of Pike & Shot figures.

Time to get on and finish those Pike & Shot off as complete units, add some more cavalry, some commanded shot and an artillery piece to the mix.

For the commanded shot I chose to use the "Firelock" armed figures in the starter set.

Sadly there is only one figure per sprue, so all have exactly the same pose😕. The only variation is available by a choice of two weapons (both at high port) and two hats.

To maximise the variation (bearing in mind some of these figures would go on multiple bases) I made sure the colours used were diverse!

The Artillery Piece is a Perry Miniatures set. Bought at Colours last year it has been hiding in my drawer ever since!

As with all Perry sculpts, this is a characterful piece that I think captures the feel of the ECW beautifully.

It's also another excuse to use a variety of colours to make the figures come alive!

All were painted using Citadel Contrast Paints followed by a coat of Army Painter Satin Varnish and then a coat of Testors Dullcote.

I finally tracked some of this highly regarded matt varnish down at Firestorm Games. It comes in a ridiculously small aerosol can at an equally ridiculous price of £7!! And to be honest I can't say that I was particularly impressed.

The first time I used it it dried with a slight sheen - just like the Army Painter varnish does from time to time. This is a different formulation apparently, to suit EU laws so maybe it was never going to be as good as I'd heard it was on the internet?

ECW 15mm progress

Well despite my two nights a week away from home, and my epic commute, I'm still getting on with my ECW 15mm figures.

The latest batch to be completed are mainly horse. 

There's a mixture of three quarter armoured cuirassiers (6 bases worth including command) some ordinary Pistol armed cavalry and three command bases for a DBR army.

As well as these, there are three foot command bases (30mm dia. Bases) for Pike and Shotte commands.

I downloaded some flags from the Internet and printed them off. Stuck with PVA to florist wire flagpoles  they are quite serviceable at this scale.

I think I've finally Sussex how to paint convincing horses. I bought a very orangy brown Vallejo paint (name escapes me at present) that I painted the horse in. Then washed in Vallejo Sepia Dip followed by tail and mane painted in black. I added a white blaze on the nose and an occasional "sock" here and there and the finish looks ok. It was quick to do as well.

The mounted command bases also had grey and white horses (as recommended by Phil Barker in DBR). One base has a figure that looks like a partially armour clad Charles I.

The others, a more random looking command figure.

All in all I'm quite pleased with these as the army' s getting bigger by the week. In fact it'll be two small armies or one larger army. And as stated before, it should work with DBR or Pike and Shotte.

Next job is to finish my remaining foot. About 9-10 Pike bases (some with command figures) and my remaining Peter Laing Musketeers (again with Command).

That will leave a few Dragoons and a motley mixture if Scottish Cavalry and Scottish Warband figures to do. Then I'll have to work out how many additional figures I'll need to purchase.

Til next time... 

What's New

Well for a start I've recently changed jobs! This has left me travelling around 150 miles a day as we still have to sell our house to move nearer. Whilst this is a bit of a pain, the plus side is Colette says I can have a dedicated wargame room in our new house!! Can't wait.

I have been doing a few bits and bobs while we wait.

Namely painting up some 15mm ECW figures.

I've loved this period for ever but have still to find a set of rules I really like. I've got Pike and Shotte (by Warlord Games) which looks hopeful, and I've also been reading up on DBR.

These figures are all being based so as they coul be used for either set (infantry on 4x2cm and Cavalry on 4x3cm with Artillery on 4x4cm) they would also suit FoGR for that matter. With movement trays I could also use them for other sets too.

The figures are quite a mixture of manufacturers. I was given a tub of loose figures about 30 years ago, that when sorted out looked like there was at least one ECW army......but no musketeers.

I bought these (and four artillery pieces) from Peter Laing, who at that time lived just outside Hereford. Then I forgot all about them and they languished in the garden shed until I rediscovered them a month or two ago.

Now I've decided it's time they were finally painted and based and these are what I've finished so far. I estimate I'm about halfway through them with probably 15-20 cavalry bases and the same of infantry still to go. I think I'll still need some more musketeers and some standing dragons to complete things and I think I'll try some from Warrior Miniatures as they're only 21p a figure.

Watch this space.

2mm Pike and Shotte

Many years ago in an early issue of Wargames Illustrated, an article was published by Stephen O'Leary entitled Renaissance DBA Revisited. A very thoughtful early variant to DBA, this article even included army lists to cover most of the period.

At the time I tried these out with a couple of armies knocked together from some spare 15mm figures and found them to work very well. But time moved on, and I completely forgot about them until I rediscovered the article on-line.

This fired me up to create a couple of portable armies to use solo, with the rules, when I went on holiday. To make things small I chose to go with Ireegular Miniatures' 2mm Pike and Shotte figur blocks. These were mounted on 25x20mm mdf bases from Minibits (all laser cut, these are good quality bases without the premium charge added by some suppliers). The bases were textured with some fine bird cage sand and painted Vallejo Camo Green rather than flocked.

Well that was five weeks ago. The holiday came and went ...... Without the solo wargaming! However I've finally finished them today and I thought I should share them with you.

Each army is 12 elements (like DBA Ancients), so I aimed to provide two armies as a starting point with a few alternatives so the armies could be varied.

The main elements of each army are infantry and cavalry. Each base has two bases of each.

Command figures are represented by the pairs of horse to the front.

Artillery bases have two guns with crews and a command base inbetween.

There are a couple of Dragoon bases with standing dragons backed by their stationary horses and horse holders.

The figures are surprisingly detailed when you look at them under a magnifying lens. Painting them is quick and simple (even if I didn't get them finished when I said I would!). I paint the bases first, then dry brush with a Camo Green/Yellow mix to pick out the sand. An overall coat of a very dark black/brown acts as a base coat. Then I just use a fine brush to dab colour on the high points of the figures. 

The faces need only be painted on the front rank, hats are dark grey generally and the flags painted one colour (orange or yellow in this case). The pikes were block painted tan yellow and then washed black to provide the shadow between the pikes. I'm really pleased with the finish, from an overhead view they look quite convincing. To try out a new period or if you're just short of space, these figures have got to be worth considering, they're good value for money too.

Together the two finished armies fit in a box about the size of a packet of fags. Battles should be possible on a surface about a foot square. So should be very portable! 

All i need is another holiday to try them out!