Keep Your Powder Dry

Today's post takes a look at wargaming royalty, Donald Featherstone's book on gaming the pike and shot period. I picked up a first edition (1977) from a certain online auction site for a fiver, which seems to be a bit of a bargain. So what is inside? The briefest of brief introductions to the period, followed by 15 scenarios. If I was new to the period I would be very disappointed with the introduction, as it does not really sell the period to me. There are no descriptions of arms or tactics. I don't know about how 'accurate' the 13 other scenarios are, but the English Civil War scenarios are reasonably acceptable, albeit succinct. Each scenario has two maps; there are no other illustrations or photographs.. The most amusing part of the book are the appendices. In the 'rules' section, the late Mr Featherstone, is somewhat acerbic about all but those rules from the Wargames Research Group and one D.F. Featherstone. I wonder if Mr Featherstone and D.F. Feather...

Bit of an eye candy post today; where I take a look at Steel Fist's new harquebusiers on foot pack . For those of you new to KeepYourPowderDry, or the Civil Wars in general, you might be wondering why anyone would want dismounted cavalry. In a nutshell regiments of horse joined in the besieging of houses, but as horses weren't particularly useful when attacking a house, their riders dismounted to fight. They were often in the first wave of assault troops as their buff coats and armour afforded them considerable protection (in comparison to infantry). Plus it also gave them a share of any spoils if the assault was successful. For more information about the role of harquebusiers in sieges, and a look at my existing assault parties see here . So what comes in pack ECWF 09 and are they any good? For your money you get 12 dismounted cavalry figures,, 4 with swords raised, 4 with pistols, and 4 with carbines. Beautifully sculpted, as always. In the past my small orders from Steel Fi...

Well, obviously, it is never a good day for a hanging, but how else was I to title a post about C17th capital punishment other than to utilise the title of the 1959 American B Western film? Or movie, as our continental cousins would have it. In the C17th if you had been really bad* you were condemned to death. If you were rich you had your head chopped off; if you weren't rich or noble, then it was an appointment with the gallows. Gentle reminder, despite what Hollywood insists, witches were hung - they were not burnt at the stake. My victim has green breeches ties at his knees, a not so secret sign that he supported the Levellers. Was he involved in one of the many Leveller led revolts of the Army Newly Modelled? Was that what led him to his appointment with the gallows, a victim of military justice? Hallmark Miniatures make a man in C17th dress hanging from a gallows,  something that I have kept adding to my basket and then removing every time I'd been placing an order at Ma...

The ECWtravelogue finally gets around to visiting Leicester, well known home of malcontents who like to bury royalty in car parks. The Magazine Gateway aka Newarke Gateway Leicester was a Parliamentarian stronghold pretty much untroubled by the King until the dying days of the First Civil War; that is not to stay nothing happened here, there were a number of skirmishes between the opposing forces around the Thurcaston Road bridge and inside St Peter's Church; but it wasn't until May 1645, when the King's Army attacked the town (to draw the threat of the Army Newly Modelled away from Charles's capital of Oxford) that Leicester saw significant fighting. The Guildhall Rupert deployed his artillery outside the town, prior to demanding that the garrison surrender. The garrison rebutted Rupert's request and the assault began at 3pm on 30 May 1645.  The garrison normally consisted of four companies of foot under the command of Colonel Theophilus Grey, and about 200 horse...

Bit of a buy one, get two more free post today, kickstarting a new year. Regular readers (hello all twenty of you) familiar with my Cannons for The Catholic Confederacy post will know a little about the state of Ireland's C17th roads. (TL;DR they were a bit pants). As a result of the rubbish roads, it is sort of inevitable that the Irish baggage train would be light carts and pack horses. But, as we know that they did haul demi-culverin around they would have been able to move heavier carts around too. So here's my fledgling Irish baggage train: a heavy cart from Museum Minatures. Additional drum from Peter Pig, a Peter Pig dragoon horseholder (with a headswap) as a drover, a SteelFist drummer rounding the base off. I will be adding some light carts to my two Scottish armies and my Irish army at some point. With Magister Militum shutting up shop, I have managed to pick up the last three packs of pack horses in stock, and some Scots horseholders; hopefully, a buyer will be found...