Shaker Cannon, rattle, and roll

I finished up my second and last cannon for my Parliamentarian forces which officially means I am half way through my force! I have one unit of pike and shotte, which will obviously take awhile to assemble and paint since they will be 36 strong, and one unit of 12 horse to help support the flanks.

Next up I will put together some muskets to start the next unit. But right now I'm painting up some much overdue ratlings!

All the non-king's Men

I finished the unit of 12 Parlimentary horse the other day and they came out pretty good if I do say so myself. I am not normally a fan of painting horses, and I have no idea where this dislike came from. However, I sucked it up and painted through this unit and I am happy I did because it is probably the best unit I have painted to date. This also marks the 50% mark for my army. I have about 250 points painted and another 250 points sitting in a box waiting to be assembled.

Next up will be another cannon, but before moving on to ECW I have my eyes set on those Epic Vultures that have come out of retirement to lay waste to the Emperor's enemies. If you are a tank or a warmachine beware. The 2 underslung Hellfire missiles will make you cry... Also, I see some scenry making in my future.

CHARGE!!!!

6 of 12

Tried a new painting technique on these cavalry models undercoating them white and then using different colored washes to set up the base of the model. Since I don't have a wide variety of washes, my color pallet was very limited to browns and blacks, but I think the horses came out very nicely. I did use normal paints on the models such as the red and some of the different color browns. I'm happy with the way they came out and now I have to finish the second set of 6 horse to add for a nice unit of 12.

Pike and Shotte Unit Completed!

Yes it has been a long time with the fall soccer season starting up and that pretty demon prince model landing in my army which desperately needed to be painted up after getting its butt whooped by a lowly empire warrior priest. I moved back to some "real" fake models in the form of 12 muskets. In all they join my now completed unit for a total of 36 pike and shotte troops ready to kick the Royalists and Scottish booty.

Next up on the painting stand are some nice looking warhounds which should give my warriors of chaos army a much needed cheap speed boost to harass skirmishers and warmachines early in the game. I'm a bit tired of getting shot up, might as well have the dogs go take care of those problems so my warriors can take care of the killing...

After the warhounds I'll be assembling and painting 12 cavalry models to help support my pike and shotte unit. Nothing says bravery like a couple of pistol shots at point blank range to the face, and then cowardly galloping away.

Musketeers from the Highlands

Eight more Covenanter musketeers have joined the fray. That brings the running total to 12 complete. Next up is some pike to round out the unit.

Pike at the Ready

I finished off a group of 12 pike plus command. This now completes 2/3 of my infantry block as 12 of my muskets were completed last month. The pike came out ok, and I think the flag will look fine on the battlefield. The washes have certainly sped up the painting process for these guys and the addition of green wash over the sashes really show off the folds nicely. I didn't do any final highlighting on these guys like with my other armies, but I figure once the army is complete I can go back and touch up the models later. I'm thinking that with the next musket group painted up they will look quite nice altogether.

Next up on the painting table are two models for my Warriors of Chaos. When they are done I'll go back and finish off the last of the Pike and Shotte regiment and then move on to cavalry! Of course, I have to assemble them first, but all in good time.

Muskets at the Ready

Out of a 36 member unit, I have painted a small wing of musket wielding soldiers. I wanted the coats to be a brighter red, but it was not coming out the way I wanted it, so I'm leaving the darker red coat for now. I'll just pretend their uniforms got dirty from campaigning. I wasn't much into detail work or highlighting for this group as I am just going for a tabletop worthy force. At a 4-6 foot distance they should look menacing enough to my enemy. By menacing I mean their combat potential, not their paint job...

Another Stab, Another Odd Combat

We took another crack at a half-size game, playing Covenanters against Royalists at 500 points.
This time the Scots made some significant changes in the list by dropping the highlanders, bringing both cav units to max, and adding a second field gun.

The Royalist forces managed to hold up one unit with their CF5(!) cav and decimate another with cuiraissiers (bane of my kilted existence). Cuiraissiers = MVP.

The dour men of the north, knowing that their infantry was outnumbered and, for the most part, outclassed relied on frame and field guns to level the playing field. This proved a little more effective than either of us was really comfortable with at 500 points, shaking one English unit and whittling the second down to half strength fairly well.

In the end, the English had routed the left cav wing, the Scots had beaten all but a couple of models in the English cav wing on the opposite side, and the foot fight in the middle was a toss-up. A very fun mess!

There was only one situation that really stuck out as a mechanical problem and that was a unit of English foot with muskets forward that got stuck in a fight with a unit of Scots foot with muskets to the side. We found casualty removal on the English side to be odd, with the removal of muskets causing odd gaps in the combat that didn't allow many models of fight on either side. The combat results just didn't do a good job of representing what was on the table. We'll go back and hit the books and try to come up with a solution. Aside from that, though, we seem to be getting relatively competent with the system.

Parliment Receives Its Leader

Finished painting up my general for the heroic and dashing New Model Army, Sir Oliver Cromwell.

Yes he looks great in his blue coat and red scarf, yet his green and yellow feathers in his hat hint at a loose tie to the mighty empire of the O'Connor clan from fantasy battle. Too bad Cromwell wasn't a huge fan of the Irish.

Next up on the paint deck will be my two cannon as the bases that I have ordered aren't scheduled to arrive in the mail until Tuesday. Until then, the Parliamentarian troops will vacation in their Batalia box while making fun of the Scots and Royalists...

Covenanters vs Parliament 550 Points

Our newest historical junkie and long-standing Warhammer Empire commander and I played 550 points of 1644 last night as he anxiously awaits a mountain of plastic from Warlord. The Parliamentary force was proxied by Games Workshop Empire models which worked well. They looked extremely well fed, though.



Scots Covenanters:

General

• 2 Snipers
• 2 Frame Guns
• 1 Field Gun
• 2 Pike and shot units, trained
• 2 cavalry units, trained
• 1 Highlander unit, trained

Parliament Forces:

General

• 2 Snipers
• 2 Field Guns
• 2 Pike and shot units, trained
• 2 cavalry units, trained

The game was pretty smooth, with no big rules bog-downs. We didn't play a specific scenario, opting instead to just throw down for a pitched battle to see if we had a handle on the rules. We screwed up a few, but for the most part both sides were affected the same so it all worked out.



The push-back in multiple combat issue came up again. We opted to just push back from the largest unit and that worked fine.



In the end, Parliament had a clear deathgrip on the left flank (their right) and the Scots' ambitious cav and infantry siezed the right flank. At that point it was 11:15 so we all agreed to call it a draw and go to bed! A very fun game with some good highlights.



-The Scots' frame gun crew gets MVP on their side by sniping the Parliament general from his horse.


-Parliament's reading of Osprey's Pike and Shotte Tactics netted them a vastly superior artillery deployment and they invoked great fear in the center of the Scot infantry.

-The big thing I forgot was to roll for reaction distance on a cavalry flank charge. When the Scots' cav on the right flank made a flank charge on the Parliament pike and shotte, we should've rolled a reaction distance to see if they were able to respond by changing their facing. Failure would see them routed! But, since the cav was actually a turn ahead from one of our other Command messups, I can't complain!

-After reviewing the artillery rules, I realized that we were both giving our guns too wide a berth with LoS. Any targets further than 22.5 degrees from a barrel are out of LoS and the gun must be swiveled which counts as moving! We were both doubling this to 45 degrees on either side, making guns a little more effective than they should have been.

All in all a most excellent refresher on the rules.

1644 After-Action Report

It was a hard-fought game with just a handful of real combats. The Royalist dragoons proved to be the best 50 points spent on the table when they helped the cuirassiers win the combat in the river. For the most part the Scots and Irish got bottled up in between the edge of the board and the river. By the time the Royalists came to town, Montrose's forces were hopelessly outmanned, regardless of the Irish mercs' superior training.

A couple of key takeaways:

• Cuirassiers are amazing - heavy armour really helps turn a combat in their favor.


• Mulitple combats are something we need to work on. One combat started out simple enough with one cav unit charging one pike & shotte unit. Then a second cav unit charged in the back for support and some Highlanders charged the side to support the infantry. It got very confusing very quickly!


• Marching rules will probably be needed in the future. The infantry on both sides redefined 'plodding.'

Royalist List for Saturday

The Royalist List

General................................................50 pts

5 Dragoons, trained...........................50 pts
12 Horse,trained +1cf.......................84 pts
12 Horse, trained...............................72 pts
8 Curassier..........................................72 pts

36 Foot,trained 12 Pike,24 Shot...144 pts
36 Foot,trained 12 Pike,24 Shot...144 pts

Lt Gun.................................................21 pts
Hvy Gun.............................................40 pts

Total..................................................677 pts

Montrose List for Saturday

Saturday's game of 1644 will see a hypothetical Royalist vs Montrose engagement of roughly 650-675 pts per side. The scenario will center around control of a small town on a river near the mid point of the board.

The Montrose List

General..........................................................................50 pts
24 Highlanders, trained, 6 armed with muskets....102 pts
24 Highlanders, trained, 6 armed with muskets....102 pts
24 Irish, elite, 8 pike, 16 musket..............................152 pts
24 Irish, elite, 8 pike, 16 musket..............................152 pts
12 Horse, elite...............................................................72 pts
1 Sniper..........................................................................10 pts
2 Frame guns (light guns)............................................32 pts

Total..............................................................................672 pts

Frame Guns and a Forlorn Hope

Saturday's game of 1644 is going to be a trial run of the Montrose Scots list. In preparation for being outnumbered I decided it would be wise to paint up as much artillery as possible. That means two light guns. Here they are freshly painted and placed with some units from the rest of the army. There's a Forlorn Hope hunkered down behind a fence as well.

Irish for St. Patrick's Day

With an upcoming game, I threw some paint on some Irish pikemen. The colors are a little more uniform than I'd initially planned, but it'll make them easy to use as English down the road if the need arises.

Equestrian center or dining room table? You be the judge.

The next project is a partial unit of horse. My attention span wanes when I paint cavalry, which makes the idea of 12 horses as a partial unit that much more intimidating. Here they are in their partially completed state. Not much progess on the riders, but they'll be a breeze once the horses are ready for them.

Marksman

I got so sick of painting horses that I had to take a break and get this sniper painted up. I like the round base on him; we'll see how practical it is, though. Sadly, the apple juice camera is no longer able to focus on minifigs as well as it once could. We'll call it anti-aliasing.

Muskets At the Ready

Half a dozen Covenanter musketeers, ready to go.

First Shotte at 1644

We tried a scaled-down 500 point game of 1644 and had a great time with it. The game moved pretty smoothly and I don't even think we screwed up the rules too badly on the first run through. I want to put a few of our discoveries down while the game's fresh in my mind, so here we go.

• Command is fickle and absolutely crucial. Don't underestimate a small unit's ability to roll a timely '6' in the shooting phase only to find the target unit running for the hills after melee.
• Small units of cav running around behind the main line would have been fantastic to support melees. Cav can charge into the back of friendly engaged models and effectively pile into the combat.
• Cannons rock.
• You can kill as many mounted Scots as you want; it doesn't mean they're going to care.
• Highlanders are just crazy enough to hold for a couple turns in melee against armored cav- MVP's! I will definitely deploy them wider than six next time, though. Ranks don't really serve much purpose for light infantry.
• Maneuvering is going to be key. We're gonna need a bigger board when we get underway.
• The general is 50 points and no one really understands why. I might name mine Angus MacLiability.
• When moving pikemen, wear thick gloves.

1644 Dry Run Covenanters Army List

Army List for a trial run of 1644
This is basically the compulsory choices with a couple guns and some highlanders added on.

General....................................... 50 pts

1 Regiment of 24 Highlanders (72)
6 muskets (+6)
Trained (+24)........................102 pts

2 Regiments of 24 Foot 12/12 (120)
Trained (+48)........................168 pts

2 Regiments of 12 Horse (96)
Trained (+24).........................120 pts

1 Field Gun....................................40 pts

1 Light Gun....................................21 pts

Total Army Value................501 pts

More fun with Purple Power

Nothing too exciting to report. I cleaned up another unit of pike and shotte last night - hoping to base and flock it this weekend. I also cleaned up half a unit of highlanders before being recalled to active nursery duty. Turns out there's a model in the highlander packs that will work great for a second sniper if the need arises. With any luck we'll see a spot of paint on this stuff before next week.

English Civil War Rules

I've got a pretty good handle on the 1644 rules at this point. It's an interesting departure from the Warhammer mindset, which is funny since Rick Priestly wrote it. Combat and shooting outcomes are much more predictable. If x troops of this type charge an enemy under these conditions, y enemy models are removed. And one more on a good die roll just to keep a small random element.
I could see 1644 being a real nail-biter of a game and I'm looking forward to trying it out. I've got a sneaky idea for a sniper that will be fun to test, too.

The Warhammer ECW rules read pretty fast. I got through movement and shooting in between diaper changes last night. To be fair I have gotten to the point where I'm doing a little skimming on repackaged Warhammer rules nowadays! So far it's 4th edition Warhammer with an ECW spin - no surprise there. Seeing the dead general army-wide panic test again will be nostalgic. Brennan noted that the unit sizes are significantly larger compared to 1644; 40+ models per unit as opposed to the 18-36 that 1644 tends to run with.

Getting a couple games of each under our belts will be good just to see which style plays better for us. That and we'll be better prepared and have more painted when Black Powder ECW hits shelves.

Shots of Pike and Shotte

The first infantry unit based, piked and flocked .

This unit contains 12 pike, including command, and 12 muskets.

New post, new figs, new baby

It's hard to believe this hasn't been touched for five months! In that time we've gotten our hands on some gorgeous copies of Black Powder and I've got a new 1:1 scale baby girl - prepainted! Black Powder looks like it's going to be the de facto horse and musket ruleset.

There should be a fair amount of ECW action coming along shortly as well. (Technically there are horses and muskets involved, so I'm posting it here!)
Santa Wife came through with a copy of Rick Priestly's 1644 rule set for Christmas. That led me down the path of purchasing Wargames Foundry's Scots Covenanter army deal. I have to say, when DHL showed up with a complete metal army in a box I considered purchasing a forklift before my next purchase. Plastic's nice, but heavy metal's where it's at. \m/

As far as the ECW Scots are concerned, some of the standalone figures like the artillery crew and sniper are all cleaned and based.
The first compulsory unit of 12/12 pike and shot have just come out of a 5:1 mix of water:degreaser. (It's a little extra work but it takes the mould residue off; the paint sticks a lot better afterwards.) They're drying on the counter and I hope to get them based later today on GF9's 20mm econobases.