Dark Ages Buildings

-
Always on the look out for suitable buildings I found these from the same manufacturer as my figures, a barn and a store house.

One advantage of seeing my own 'stuff' on a screen, and magnified, is that shows up all the imperfections. In this case just how awful the thatch is. Needless to say, they have been repainted. I will, however, leave these pics here as a bad example. Keep your eyes peeled for a post about painting thatch in the future... see here




The updated version

If you enjoyed reading this, or any of the other posts, please consider supporting the blog. 
Thanks.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Scottish Baggage

-
Image
Reading books doesn't half cause problems, and I don't just mean finding shelf space for yet another book. Glenn Price (Soldiers and Civilians, Transports and Provisions) argues that a significant hindrance to the Scots armies manoeuvring in Scotland, was the quality of the roads - their baggage and supplies had to be carried on pack horses rather than carts in the main part, roads were often impassable to carts. Which ultimately means a bit of a rethink on my Scottish and Irish baggage trains. My Covenanter army has a couple of pack horses (one hander to one horse), and a four wheel heavy cart. Fine for the lowlands and their excursions south of Hadrian's Wall, but no good for campaigning in Scotland. Throw into the mix Magister Militum shutting up shop, I decided to pick up all the remaining packs of pack horses. I also purchased some two wheel carts from Museum Miniatures. With a little reorganisation, this gives me a slightly more appropriate baggage train. Each of the ...
Read more

Never Mind The Matchlocks

-
Image
It appears that it is becoming tradition that successful 'medieval' wargaming rules have a follow up pike and shot version. And so it is with the very popular Nevermind the Billhooks, which has spawned numerous variants, and now gives us the pike and shot version Nevermind the Matchlocks. Just as Billhooks was given away with Wargames Illustrated, so it was with Matchlocks, which came 'free' with the November 2024 issue. Currently available to buy from WI as the ruleset (£5.99), or the mag and rules (also £5.99). Running at 32 pages, the rules are in a magazine format; pretty pictures courtesy of Richard from Bloody Miniatures, and just 5 simple tables to consult (6 if you include the quick reference sheet). Units described These are a seemingly easy to pick up ruleset, but I fear a hard set to master. Designed for small battles/big skirmishes of about 150 figures a side, lasting up to two hours. The game utilises six-side dice, and game specific tokens and cards. The r...
Read more

Where It All Began...

-
Image
It all began in a car park in Macclesfield about 40 years ago. A Saturday shopping trip to Treacle Town started a fascination with events 350 years (or so) ago that has lasted a lifetime. So it's all the Sealed Knot's fault. Or the ECWS. One of the two. Under my dad's Vauxhall Viva windscreen wiper was a flyer for a battle reenactment at Lyme Park. Much to my father's chagrin (he hated anyone fiddling with his car, and believe me putting anything under his wiper blade was very much in the 'fiddling' category) a 9 year old me was fixated with the imagery used, which led to "mum, dad, can we go please?" Needless to say we did go to the reenactment, and I loved every minute of it. The imagery used was the Battle of Naseby engraving (Streeter's Plan), the representation of the troops was right up a 9 year old's street, and has stayed with me ever since. A brief dalliance with 1/300th Heroics and Ros ECW figures (very badly painted) in the ...
Read more

Irish Command: Part Two

-
Image
The original Irish Command post focused solely upon the spiritual leadership of my Connfederate Army. Although I really should have an Archbishop GianBattista Rinuccini figure, mounted on a donkey or on a litter. This post features the military leadership. Figures are gleaned from the Peter Pig Scots generals pack, number 40. PP have recently released a number of personality packs*, which feature figures in 'campaign dress', which could easily have been utilised for my Irish military command, however as these figures appear to have been afflicted with 'heroic sizing' I have decided against using them.  General Eoghan Ruadh Ó Néill  was a talented soldier who learned his soldiering in Spanish service on the continent. His personality, and distrust by his contemporaries meant the seemingly natural commander of the Confederate Army was often sidelined. For a fuller biography see here . Eoghan Ruadh Ó Néill Eoghan's personal standard is the Irish harp on a green backgro...
Read more

Coat Colours Part 2: Royalist Regiments of Foot

-
Image
Continuing my therapeutic blogging (write rather than rant) antidote to incorrect English Civil War coat colour tables for wargamers, I give you the Royalist Regiments of Foot. For all of my coat colour articles see: Introduction   Part 1  Parliamentarian coat colours Part 3  Scots coat colours Part 3B  Montrose and the Irish Brigade Part 4  Dragoons, Horse and the New Model Army coat colours The Trained Bands London Trained Bands Auxiliary regiments Scarves   Same rules apply here, as they did with the Parliamentarian coat colours: Regiments often got renamed when command passed to a new colonel - these regiments are listed under their first name e.g. Jacob Astley's Regiment was originally Richard Fielding's Regiment. Coat colour notes refer to contemporaneous references and some of the deductions made by Reid, Spring,  Peachey and Prince. You will also notice that some regiments have several coat colours listed. Where there is some question aro...
Read more

Coat Colours Part 1: Parliamentarian Regiments of Foot

-
Image
When I first started my Civil War gaming project I relied upon the many ECW coat colour tables on wargaming websites. As my project has progressed, my library has got bigger, my research has gone back to primary sources rather than relying upon second and third hand sources; and I have noticed quite a few errors in these lists for wargamers. I have also noticed the same errors appearing in multiple lists.     As a result of continually seeing 'the London Trained Bands and their Auxiliaries wore red coats' (there is no evidence supporting this at all, the evidence, whilst not explicit suggests that the London Trained Bands wore civilian clothes - some of the Auxiliaries might have been issued with blue winter coats) I decided to write my own list.  So here it is. If your allegiance lies elsewhere you might want to look at  Introduction   Part 2  Royalist coat colours Part 3  Scots coat colours Part 3B ...
Read more

By The Sword Divided

-
Image
About the time I was proudly carrying a Cadbury's Fingers tin full of 1/300th ECW figures backwards and forwards to the school wargaming club there was, on BBC 1 on Sunday nights "By The Sword Divided". Adding fuel to my ECW fire, the timing was perfect. Fast forward 40 years and I saw the complete box set on Amazon. Bought it expecting a good trip down memory lane. If you fancy a similar trip, be warned - it hasn't aged well: some wooden acting, a few flimsy sets, and the soft focus, detract from an excellent script and plot. To be honest, the more times you rewatch the series, the less obvious these detractors become.  Okay, the production isn't on a par with something like 'Wolf Hall', but this almost certainly paved the way for it. By The Sword is equally ambitious in its plot; a local, personal set of stories that tell a much grander story. Want to include the C17th anti-Irish, anti-Catholic narrative? That'll be two servants brawling in the was...
Read more

Villagers: Part Two

-
Image
Way back in the mists of time I painted some Freikorps 15 'camp followers'; as I decided I had far too few civilians I turned my attention back to this pack.  Partly inspired by a recent trip to Amsterdam, and swooning at the sight of the Vermeers in The Rijksmuseum, here's my latest batch of civilians. The colour palette for the clothing has been lifted straight from Vermeer's works. Mostly from the aforementioned Freikorps 15 pack, there's also a few figures from the Minifigs Hussite Wars camp followers pack 214X. Freikorps camp followers a single casting women with buckets women looking stern women with babies Minifigs Hussite camp followers I particularly like the woman with the firewood bundle If you enjoyed reading this, or any of the other posts, please consider  supporting  the blog.  Thanks .
Read more

Radio 4 Real Dictators

-
Image
Jings and crivens, a bonus post on a not-Monday. Be still my beating heart. Once again the leading British talk radio station dips its toe in the preserve of North Derbyshire's premier Civil War blog. Cromwell's Statue at Parliament BBC Radio 4 has a series on dictators. Four of the latest batch of episodes cover Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell. So just shy of 3 1/2 hours on such issues as the origin of the story of his abduction by a monkey as a baby. I've not ploughed my way through the three episodes currently available, but what I've listened to so far is very good, balanced and accurate.  Just ignore the inevitable gaffs such as the description of regiments of foot at Edgehill at the start of episode 2; the description of Boye; Rupert's lobsters; and that old nugget of Cromwell banning Christmas. A reasonably balanced 'take' on a very divisive figures; my only real issue is with the image the series paints of the Army Newly Modelled. Whilst the New Mode...
Read more

Welcome

-
Image
Welcome to 'Keep Your Powder Dry'.  This blog is my way of storing a load of information that I have found whilst researching my British Civil War 15mm wargames armies.  It is no way exhaustive, nor do I claim that it will be completely definitive. I expect to make errors, if you spot one please tell me.  This blog is mainly a lesson in self-indulgence: it is mine, and it is primarily for me. But I do of course welcome visitors, and if it helps you out then I consider that a bonus. Why is it called 'Keep Your Powder Dry'? There is a maxim often attributed to Oliver Cromwell ("put your trust in God and keep your powder dry") in a whole host of situations. The first time he was alleged to have said it to his soldiers was at Edgehill, only he arrived too late for the battle, indeed if he arrived at all. The words first make their way in to print in 1834; the poem 'Oliver's Advice' appeared in the Dublin University Magazine, and was penned by Fitz ...
Read more