Well, you’ve seen almost all these figures before in dribs and drabs, but here’s the entire ECW collection – now complete, at least for now - on the tabletop together. It’s almost 3 years work, although to be fair I have been painting quite a lot of other stuff as well in this time!
The figures are mostly Bicorne and Renegade, with a few TAG and one or two figures from Warlord, Redoubt and Copplestone.
Purists will immediately notice the almost total absence of pikemen – that’s because I’m mainly going to use this collection for large scale skirmish gaming along hedgerows, in village streets and through sieges – not for open field battles which hold little interest for me. Skirmishing pikemen seem a bit of an anomaly, so to be honest, I haven’t really bothered with them for the most part.
Painting: Foot mainly painted by C17th maestro, Baner; Horse, guns, and crews painted by me, with a unit or two of horse just completed for me by the excellent Redzed. (I confess that having painted more than 90 horses and riders, I ran out of steam for the last 15 or so, and subbed them out!) Flags and the basing of all figures is down to me, and the terrain is too - except the buildings which are cheap and cheerful Conflix pieces.
I’d love to tell you this was an actual game in action, but I’m afraid it’s not. The first game will actually be in about a month’s time. For the purposes of taking some pictures of the collection, I set up the table, deployed, and then moved the units into what feels like a reasonable early-mid game situation as the two armies are about to join battle in earnest…
Hope you like it
The field of battle at first deployment…
The Royalist guns ready for action…
Safely behind the village, Royalist commanders consult…
The Royalist Blew regiment advance downhill and through a cabbage patch to engage the helmeted parliamentary foot of the New Model.
The New Model musketeers with Spoons’ Militia advancing behind them to secure the fields and fences.
In the centre, Fondling’s Regt. of Foot scale a stone wall to advance on the Roundheads, whilst behind them, Fondling’s Horse begin their advance…
Other Royalist horse move forward between the houses and fields to engage the parliament men.
On the South bank of the river, a parliamentary saker covers the advance of Spoons’ Militia over the old bridge, urged on by the zeal-to-the-Lord psalms of their firebrand preacher.
While the light parliamentary galloper guns have been manhandled into a commanding position, to support the parliamentary thrust over the river…
Sir Edgar Spoons urges his men forward across the bridge to join the battle, as the main body of parliamentary horse move up onto the central ridge…
Meanwhile, by the new bridge, more New Model infantry cross to the North Bank to secure the parliamentary right flank.
Parliament advances
While parliamentary commanders consult…
On the Royalist left flank, Sir George Prettie's Regt. of Foote move to secure the ford across the river – only to find parliamentary horse almost upon them, with New Model infantry occupying the heights opposite them…
Another body of parliamentary horse deploy along the river to overwhelm Prettie’s Greencoats (Redzed painted these)
In the centre of the field meanwhile, the main body of Royalist horse, comprising Sir Thos. Fondling’s Regt. of Horse, and the Blew Regt. of Horse begin to trot into the jaws of death – the massed ranks of Ironsides facing them…
The Royalist reserve of cuirassiers swing left to support the Greencoats (Redzed painted the four figures on the right)
The Ironsides (there are 40 of the buggers!) begin to canter down from the ridge…
The two massed bodies of horse surge towards each other. Death or glory!
29 March 2009, 09:43:05 AM
