Witchfinder

-

The BBC have just released a new comedy series set in East Anglia and Essex in the 1640s. The story follows a failing witchfinder taking a prisoner to court in order to impress Matthew Hopkins, the Witchfinder General. 

An impressive cast, the series was written and produced by the team behind Alan Partridge. 

 More details here

Publicity still ©BBC

The witchcraft stuff is fairly accurate, apart from continuing the myth of witches being burned alive (they weren't, they were hung). The series looks wonderful, and is well written and researched: not exactly laugh out loud funny, but this is well worth a watch.  

This is gentle smile to yourself humour rather than clutch your sides funny - it took until the very end of episode 4 for me to actually laugh out loud.

Plus there is the bonus of hearing some Beirut over the closing credits on the first and last episodes.

The first episode aired on Tuesday 8th March, 10pm BBC 2, all episodes are now available on BBC iPlayer. 

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

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

Supplying The New Model Army

-
Image
Be still my beating heart. A book on the supply of clothing and equipment that relies heavily, and quotes, contemporary documents.  Somehow, this book really ticks my boxes. Who'd have thunk it? What do you want to be when you grow up? Someone who gets excited at the mention of the Tangye Collection manuscripts, and any hint of SP28 (Commonwealth Exchequer Papers) has those close by reaching for the smelling salts. That last sentence wouldn't have been on the shortlist, or even the longlist. Authors writing about the New Model Army supply chain tend to limit their attention to what are known as the Mungeam Contracts, a 'sample' of the London Museum's* Tangye Collection which were transcribed and are easily accessible. As Dr Abram points out in his introduction, there is so much more source material. But enough of my peccadilloes... Dr Abram's latest tome homes in on the supply of the Army, Newly Modelled. Not just clothing, armour, weaponry, horses, horse furni...
Read more

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

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

Colonel Ruari McGuire's Regiment of Foot

-
Image
I started this blog many moons ago as a repository for all the little bits of paper I wrote to myself... coat and flag colours, base sizes, paint colours, basing routine and so on. As I think I have finally worked out a way of drilling Irish hands that doesn't result in having to remake hands from Milliput, here's a note to myself, and anyone else who orders Peter Pig's Irish pike, when they meant to order Irish pike open hand:- Pikemen legs wide apart: trim away pike, including between the hands.  Then gently cut a notch in the back of both hands, smooth and widen 'hole' for pike with round file. Place pike in position then push foot of pike into a 'better' position. Pikemen legs apart (the slightly more difficult one): cut away pike (including between the hands), careful of sword guard, make sure that the cut below the bottom hand is square; start drilling upwards from the cuff. Top hand cut and file a groove. Pikemen legs together: trim away pike, leave p...
Read more

Coat Colours

-
Image
This post now serves as a preface to my coat colours posts (links below), and provides some background information on who was issued clothing, what constituted a 'uniform', and hopefully dispels some of the Wargamer Facts™ that surround 'Civil War uniformology'. The fanciful Victorian imagery of the Wars has pretty much been dispelled* (Roundheads in striped sleeved shirts, Cavaliers in poncey big hats); in reality both sides were, very much of a muchness. There are some items of equipment and uniforms, still in existence, that give us a starting point. Our best primary source of evidence are contemporary eye witness accounts, from spies to flag designers, account books from great houses and military manuals. Whilst I do strive for accuracy, at the end of the day my armies are a pastiche, they aim to give a 'feel' rather than pleasing the 'button counters' that populate the darker corners of the wargaming community. But, as there is so much that h...
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

Warlord Pike and Shotte Epic Battles: the infantry sprue

-
Image
Firstly a big thank you to Warlord Games who sent me a sprue of their new Pike and Shotte Epic Battles infantry. (You can see how I got on with the cavalry sprue here. ) I will try and look at these figures from three different angles: the first impression of someone completely new to the period, the button counter’s standpoint, and then from a seasoned wargamer’s point of view. In all cases I'm looking at these through Wars of the Three Kingdoms spectacles. (Wars of the Three Kingdoms is a more accurate name for the conflicts that were fought in the British Isles in the mid seventeenth century. The English Civil War was just one of these conflicts.) The obligatory next to a ruler picture (the ruler is lined up with the soles of their footwear) The 'new to the period' view This one sprue provides enough figures for one unit (a Regiment of Foot or RoF). Figures look very detailed, moulding is clean and crisp with no flash and only minimal mould lines. The pikes look a bit d...
Read more

Pike and Shot: Campaigns 1494-1698

-
Image
Erm, 1494-1698? Surely the wrong dates for the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, I hear you ask. You'd be correct. 'Pike and Shot: Campaigns 1494-1698' is the title of a computer game that, amongst other things, covers the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Produced by Slitherine, one of the co-producers of the Field of Glory stable of miniatures rules, they appear to have shifted completely to their computer game business, leaving the FoG miniatures rules for others to pursue in the process. Field of Glory lives on with Slitherine, but in a different guise - with a whole raft of computer game titles and variants. Slitherine offer two games that cover the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, this one is very reminiscent of real time strategy games such as Dune 2, and Age of Empires. However, rather than everything happening all at once there are game phases, very reminiscent of FoG:R. This very definitely feels, and plays like a computerised miniatures game. The game package covers the Thirty Wa...
Read more