Keep Your Powder Dry

The latest ruleset to come under the KeepYourPowderDry microscope will be the last rules review for a wee while (until I purchase some more).  The writers of the Spanish 30 Years Wars rules Liber Militum: Tercio have tweaked the rules so that they can be used for a number of other conflicts within the pike and shot period with the Kingdoms expansion booklet. Described as a 'ruleset for large scale battles with miniatures set in the Thirty Years War' the rules have been translated into English. The publisher keeps changing website (currently Tercios Miniatures), and  has a  free slimmed down version of the game to download: Brevis Editio: Tercios Finding a printed copy might need a little shopping around: North Star currently have the core rules book, but not the Kingdoms expansion.  The rules are intended to be fast play so the basic mechanics are pretty simple. Turn order is alternated, and each turn consists of two elements: planning and action phases. Units are al...

Don't forget to have a look at the entry for Oxford , the King's capital;  Banbury ; the battle of Chalgrove Field (coming soon); and the battle of Middleton Cheney (also coming soon). The first entry in the Oxfordshire Houses of Interest post isn't a house, it's a castle. Broughton Castle to be precise, home of Lord Saye and Sele. And what a castle! Broughton is a fourteenth century moated manor house. William Fiennes, the 8th Lord Saye and Sele, emerged as one of the leaders of the Puritan Parliamentary group in the 1630s who were opposed to the autocratic (and religious) behaviour of Charles I. He earned the nickname 'Old Subtlety' because of his meticulousness in outwitting the King's advisors. Among the fine collection of miniatures on display is one of John Pym William was one of the founders of the Providence Island Company: the Company met frequently at the Castle - although those meetings were often a front for covert meetings of the ...

We should be used to 28mm Civil War figure manufacturers publishing their in-house rules, Warlord's Pike and Shotte, Foundry's 1644. The Kingdom is Ours is Bicorne's foray into rules publishing. Whilst it is to be expected that these rulebooks become glossy showrooms for their figure ranges, The Kingdom Is Ours has a stronger whiff of it being Bicorne's catalogue with some rules tacked on, rather than a set of rules that showcase figures from a particular range. As appears standard, there is a very brief timeline and introduction to troop types encountered in English Civil War battles. The ever splendid Peter Dennis providing the cover artwork Then follows an explanation of the 'unit trackers', a frame to hold a number of dice (10 D6 per tracker). And yes you are going to need one for each unit. Coincidentally, or not, these are for sale on Bicorne's website. You will also need a command tracker for each general (just 5 D6 for these). Shares in a D6 company ...

 For those of you with an occasional ear on Radio 4, this week's Book of The Week may be of interest... The Restless Republic - Britain Without A Crown by Anna Keay is being serialised this week. Five 15 minute programmes serialise the story of 'the extraordinary decade that followed the execution of Charles I in 1649'. All episodes will be available for five weeks via BBC Sounds. You can find the BBC Radio page for the programme here. If you enjoyed reading this, or any of the other posts, please consider  supporting  the blog.  Thanks .

KeepYourPowderDry continues in its quest to take over Front Row on Radio 4... The much anticipated latest from  Pádraig Lenihan has finally arrived. Much anticipated because of the dearth of material available on the Eleven Years War component (of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms) that is available for not-silly-money ™ .  I must point out that I was sent this copy, gratis, from Helion Books, courtesy Charles Singleton. Thank you. Having heard Pádraig speak at the Helion Conference, I was looking forward to getting my hands upon this volume. Not just because I wanted a book that didn't involve selling a kidney, but mostly because I have just started my Catholic Confederate army, and am unsure what to do cavalry-wise. First a look at the pictures. Let's face it, everyone turns to the colour illustrations when they first get a book like this. Guilty as charged m'lud. There are eight full colour 'soldier' pictures by the very talented Seán Ó Brógain, one of which app...