Not-So Merry England: progress UD 20/11/24

[Silent Invader]

Not-So Merry England 1642-1651

A project initially inspired by a visit to ‘Lorna Doone country’ that generated thoughts of Devon-based skirmishes, which has grown and evolved to become an ECW campaign largely set in Essex and Suffolk.

The project comprises Bicorne, Renegade and Bloody minis with Warlord plastic parts used for some of the conversions.


Index of thread content

P.1 First minis finished and hedgerows finished
P.2 Starting the first house, hamlet plan & hamlet baseboard
P.4 Multiple houses underway
P.6 Fencing, gardens and outbuildings added to hamlet
P.7 Starting the barn
P.8 Unit roster for Pikemans Lament
P.9 Dealing with daub
P.10 Four-part hills (WIP)
P.13 Finished village & extras (35+ images)
P.15 Sconce / Cannon emplacement (WIP)
P.17 Sconce finished to prepaint stage
P.17 Three field system (WIP)
P.18 Beacon (WIP)
P.18 Completed terrain including woods, scrub, hills & sheep
P.18 Completed Terrain including sconce, beacon, orchard, crop fields
P.19 Gaming mat (WIP)
P.20 Gaming mat (finished)
P.20 Thatched house bases to extend village (plan)
P.21 Finished felled wood, hedges, etc
P.21 Example of pastoral layout
P.21 Example of road blockade layout
P.22 Why I included a cornfield
P.23 Thatched cottages WIP
P.24 Thatched cottages completed
P.24 The forces
P.24 First units painted (teaser)
P.25 Horse for the King (2 units)
P.26 First foot in action
P.27 Campaign thoughts
P.27 Game board plans
P.28 Minis finished for first game
P.29 Village church (WIP)
P.30 Campaign Commences: First blood at Cowebottom Common
P.33 Campaign part two
P.34 Monastery wip
P.35 Monastery wip and river wip
P.35 River finished
P.36 Mat reworked and table for game 2
P.38 Mixing Bicorne & Renegade + Warlord bits
P.40 Three more completed units & the roster system explained
P.40 The King’s foot command completed
P.41 Building the Manor House
P.42 Manor House layout changes
P.42 Manor House progress
P.43 Manor House moat defined
P.45 Hedge gates


Am using Bicorne minis, with the first six painted.









I’ve got quite a few more mounted to put together, which will give me:

6 swords
6 pistols
6 carbines with buff coats
6 dragoons

I’ll also have foot alternates for the dragoons and for some of the others (though the latter will require more conversion work). (edit: I decided not to bother with foot alternates)

[OSHIROmodels]

Huzzah!

God Save the King!

 

[v_lazy_dragon]

Lovely work so far

[Silent Invader]

Thank you both 

[Elk101]

Looking good! I like your colour choices. Does this mine I have to paint mine too? 

[Mad Lord Snapcase]

Huzzah!

God Save the King!

 

...and a pox on Parliament!   

These look really good, will be following with great interest. 

[Malamute]

Splendid, but you only need five.

[Silent Invader]

Thanks chaps, must appreciated 

They’ll fight for either side .... whoever pays best!

Looking good! I like your colour choices. Does this mine I have to paint mine too? 

Yes, find them, then paint them ! 

[Charlie_]

Very nice.

I like the idea of models for skirmish wargaming being less formal, and mostly mounted. It makes a lot of sense.

[Silent Invader]

Thanks Charlie.

It certainly should enable a lot more variety of games than a ‘standard’ complement of ECW foot. 

[Silent Invader]

I haven’t managed to complete any more minis but I have made four sections of laid hedge.....

NB: The camera focus is on the hedge not the rider!



They’re basically bits of sprue and cocktail stick plus the odd bit of wire covered in GS.



In case some aren’t familiar with the concept, from Wikipedia:

Hedgelaying is the process of bending and partially cutting (pleaching) through the stems of a line of shrubs or small trees near ground level and arching the stems without breaking them, so they can grow horizontally and be intertwined. Hedgelaying originally developed as a way of containing livestock in fields after the acts of Enclosure which in England began in the 16th century.

[OSHIROmodels]

Brill 

Don’t make too many though 

[Silent Invader]

Ta   

Don’t make too many though 

 

Something James has rightly flagged with me before, and it’s worth repeating here, is that  17thC North Devon (where despite the sandy soil my project is notionally placed) was not laced with high-banked beech hedges as it is now, as they were introduced from 1824.

https://www.exmoormagazine.co.uk/hedgerows-the-story-of-our-landscape/

Edit: the project subsequently switched location from Devon to North Essex

[Codsticker]

Those look great. I am reading Partizan's Wargaming ECW Cavalry Actions right now; there seems to be many cases of cavalry leaping over hedges (usually Rupert's )  and those look like the right height to be easily jumped. What did you use for the hedge material itself?

[Silent Invader]

Thanks. The foliage is rubberised horse hair with a mix of several foams and a little bit of clump foliage, all Pvad on.