Soggy Bottom - the Royalist Right

Here are some pictures of the other wing of our recent game at Colours. Again, these were taken by Ian Notter. All the photos will enlarge when clicked-upon.

Above, Colonel Skippon directs his command from a field outside Soggy Bottom. Skippon (close-up below) is a splendid mini painted, I believe, by David Imrie. 

His wing included four regiments of "Dutch"-style horse, including Sir Arthur Hesilrig and his famous London Lobsters, below.

The red-cornetted "Dutch" regiment, above, seem to be focussed on the mobile rations to their front. The flock of sheep absolutely stole the show, I hope that 1st Corps sell a load of them! Below, they are charged by the more-aggressive Royalist "Swedes" of Sir Horatio Cary’s Regiment of Horse. "Cuckolds we come, indeed!" I was delighted with the Sherpa grass I used on this wing- the scalloped edges of the bat bases sink into it and are rendered almost invisible.

Finally, here's a shot along the Royalist line - that's Sir Jacob Astley's Regiment in the middle ground and Henry Tillier's, beyond. The eponymous marsh of Soggy Bottom is on the right, defended by Major Undertaking's commanded shotte (below), a hard-fighting bunch of n'er-do-wells, if I ever saw one.

That's all for today! Photos of the centre are to follow in a few days time. If you missed the photos of the left wing, you can find them here.

In other news, I have just re-supplied the shop with lots of things that have run out. In particular, I include a new mat that I am calling the "The Ginormous One", which is designed for those playing "For King and Parliament" on a 12" grid in the grand manner.

Colonel Thomas Ballard's Regiment of Foot

Here's the second regiment I mentioned yesterday. These are Colonel Thomas Ballard's Regiment of Foot from the Earl of Essex's army. All pictures are clickable! I'm really pleased with the command stand- both the layout (a sort of wedge) and the look of the miniatures with their tassets and sashes. 

The 42 minis were beautifully painted by Shaun McTague, and are Bicornes with a modest admixture of Renegade Miniatures. The flags are Flags of War. The bases are, again, my Batbases- I did the basing and the flags.

It's not very clear in the photo but there's a dead horse on the pike base- I modified this from a Bicorne horse and they very kindly cast some up for me.

This gets me up to 18 battalia, not I need to add some more regiments of horse- oh, and some artillery!  I'm considering building towards the OOB of one of the historical battles- Cheriton, perhaps.

Major Goodenough's Shotte

This is possibly my favourite unit so far; Major Goodenough's division of commanded shot (the photo is clickable). This Parliamentarian regiment, complete with preacher, received an unlikely baptism during the basing process, when I accidently poured the better part of a bottle of Becks over it. Consequently they are slightly more gloss than their more sober peers, and invariably fight like Achilles!

The minis are from at least half-a-dozen different painters including Shaun McTague and David Imrie - others were odd figures from eBay that I made good. The flag is from Flag's of War.

"Dutch"-style horse

Here's the first unit of "Dutch"-style horse for For King and Parliament (click to enlarge).

Most likely Parliamentarians, these are drawn up in similar depth to Friday's Lobsters. I chose to use standing horses as the early-war Parliamentarians often stood to receive the Royalist charges with their carbines and pistols.  I want another three similar units, so that I can do Roundway Down.

Thes minis were mostly (superbly) painted by David Imrie and Chris Meacham and the unit is certainly my finest cavalry regiment, so far. Again they'll be drawn in in three troops with small intervals in between. If you are planning to game using the rules, there is no need to use this many miniatures!

PS most of the minis are Bicorne (there are a few TAGs amongst them), and the cornets are from Flags of War.

Lobsters!

Here's the one and only regimental-sized force of cuirassiers in the English Civil War, Sir Arthur Hesilrige's famous London Lobsters (please click on the photo for an enlarged view). 

This regiment was built around a core of 12 minis I swapped for with Saxon Dog, with the additional minis painted by Shaun McTague and finished by me. They are on my new ECW Batbases (which I really must get into the shop!).

The lobsters fought in deep formation, relying principally on firepower. At Roundway Down, they were overcome after a stiff fight. Their subsequent rout took them down a precipitous slope and many were killed; they were, later, reformed but probably without the expensive cuirassier armour.

In For King and Parliament, cuirassiers receive a +1 on their save when in melee or shot at (except by artillery!). I should explain that there's no need to use this many minis to represent a unit, it's just my megalomania striking (yet again!). On the table there will be intervals between the three troops.

Earl of Essex's Regiment

Here's another regiment arriving at the For King And Parliament muster- my first Parliamentarians, the Earl of Essex's or Lord General's regiment (all photos clickable). They started the Civil War in pretty tawny uniforms, as described on the excellent BCW site.

Mostly Renegade with lovely Bicorne command, these were all painted (or repainted from eBay purchases) by Shaun McTague- I highlighted, added the super Flags of War flags and based on my custom wobbly-edged ECW bases. I was very pleased how the standards appear like they are being waved together in a display.

Above, the command base can be in front at the start of the battle, and moved behind once the shooting starts- the flags look great through the pike. I was also very pleased with how the pike casualties came out- I'm trying to use more casualties in this army.