Keep Your Powder Dry

One can not simply spend one's life visiting sites associated with the wars, or painting little men. You do have to eat, now and again... Now even the most die hard seventeenth century afficiando can take their passion into the kitchen with them! Stuck for a recipe? Try Mrs Cromwell's Cookbook , available from the Cromwell Museum  online shop, or in person from the museum itself: although this book was not written by her (it was actually written after Oliver Cromwell had died as a way to make fun of her) the recipes are good examples of food that they might have eaten while they were alive. Maybe I should have ironed it for the pictures... Once you have dined upon your 'Cromwellian' feast I'm afraid there is the washing up to do. And what better to complete the task than a World Turned Upside Down tea towel? Also available from the Cromwell Museum or in person from the shop at the National Civil War Centre. Other seventeenth century themed tea towels are availabl...

There are a number of Forlorn Hope scenario guides hidden away in the Caliver Books listings. I've managed to find six such volumes, there may well be more. (They are quite old, so definitely in the 'new old stock' category - all of the titles that I have listed below may not be available for long.) Description of the Royal Standard, and Rupert's Banner from First Newbury Whilst written to accompany the Forlorn Hope rules, these scenario guides are much much more than just simple scenario booklets. If you are familiar with Peachey and Prince's Flags of the English Civil Wars Volume 1, then you'll know exactly what sort of booklet you'll be getting: A5 stapled booklets with a coloured card cover. These are old, and now look very dated; but the contents are absolutely superb.  They do duplicate some of the material from Peachey and Prince's flag book, but there is also a lot of material which was supposed to have appeared in their never completed volume 2....

The second (I posted pictures of my Royalist Army some time ago,) here's an excuse to post lots of pictures of my armies, post. This time the Army of Montrose takes centre stage. Before anyone says "hang on a minute...", yes there is too much cavalry. The army consists of: 6 'regiments' of highlanders, each 24 figures (144 total) 3 regiments of the Irish Brigade, each 34 figures (102 total) 1 regiment of Scots (34 total) 2 regiments of harquebusiers, each 16 figures (32 total) 1 regiment of lancers, 16 figures 1 frame gun, with a crew of 4 1 frame gun horse with horseholder 1 piece of baggage, with 2 figures 3 'commanders' singularly based Montrose and ensign If you enjoyed reading this, or any of the other posts, please consider  supporting  the blog.  Thanks .

The ECW Travelogue made a packed lunch (or as we in Derbyshire say 'a pack up'), and headed over the border into Welsh Wales. Wrexham to be precise. Chirk Castle  is in the care of the National Trust, so expect the obligatory café, and shop selling fudge and wooden swords. Built in the late thirteenth century, Chirk was part of Edward Longshank's chain of castles across North Wales.  From a Civil War point of view we'll fast forward to 1593 when the Myddleton family bought the property. Sir Thomas Myddelton II was an MP having represented Weymouth and Melcombe Regis in the 1620s, before he represented Denbighshire in 1625, then again 1640-1648. Sir Thomas Myddleton II The area around Chirk was on the whole sympathetic to the Crown, so it was somewhat unusual that Sir Thomas declared for Parliament. At the outbreak of war he was made Sergeant Major General of the Parliamentary forces in North Wales, and went off campaigning.  In the summer of 1642 he returned to Wales to...

 As much as I enjoy painting and modelling I am always on the lookout for stuff that makes life easier, or saves time. I have often wondered if there was something that could help me speed up the laborious process of putting on my underbase markings. (See here for an explanation). An idea germinated, and in the finest tradition of Blackadder's faithful sidekick, Baldrick, I had a cunning plan... The finished jig. In the picture it looks like the top layer overhangs the base - it doesn't: that's just the angle the picture was taken at coupled with a bit of shadow Every so often I clean the paint and glue from my cutting mat, which gives a lovely clean surface on which to work. The downside is that the 1cm squares are wearing off, to the extent that they are now pretty much none existent. I used to use these squares to help me accurately position masking tape on the underside of my bases (enabling me to get a nice crisp line for my allegiance colour code). Even when the squar...

I first played a 'formal' wargame at school, with crudely painted Airfix Napoleonics using some one page simple Discovering Wargaming rules. In other words I'm old. A bit set in my ways. As the kidz would say, I am very definitely old skool. The next ruleset to come under the KeepYourPowderDry microscope can very definitely be described as 'old skool'. Forlorn Hope was written by Pete Berry and Ben Wilkins, Pete's name will appear on quite a few sets of 'ECW' rules over the years (he is also responsible for Baccus 6mm figures). Clearly written by out and out ECW anoraks (in a good way) you will often see these rules described as a 'labour of love'. They are very definitely a 'labour of love' for both the authors, and those who like the game. The game, however, is possibly not to everyone's taste. My copy is the 3rd Edition, which is still available to purchase new from Caliver Books (or OMM if you find yourself inadvertently on the wr...