Siege Mound

Here is a WIP shot of my new ECW siege artillery battery on a mound. Last night I added a few more Debris gabions, build the earth around them up and cut the base. Tonight, I need to model the approach ramp at the rear. I have an idea that I could build a gunpowder magazine into the side of this.

It will be an earthen mound, roughly 5cm tall, with storming poles and possibly an abattis.

I'm building the piece to accommodate some Bicorne siege guns painted by chum David Imrie. It feels strange that it is so much quicker to build huge bits of terrain than it is to paint a few tiny 28mm figures!

Battery and Battlechat 105

Over the weekend, I've been working on my first ever siege artillery battery, for the Salute '24 game. My plan is to make it useable for both the ECW and 1672, by having interchangeable siege guns and crews. It will sit on top of a raised artificial mount with a ramp up to it, and store away in a RUB. The gabions are all from Debris of War, and very nice they are, too. I'll show some more images later this week; right now, it reminds me of back when I had braces, back in the '70's. ;-)

In other news, I did an interview with Henry Hyde last week which is up on his Battle Games site. Henry was a lovely host, asked lots of interesting questions and we chatted for longer than we should have but then, I could have talked all day! The interview can be found here:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/battlechat-105-92383129

To access it you'll need to join Henry's Patreon (which I've just done, I'm very keen to support him and  hear some of his other interviews) or wait for a week or so. I shall try to prevail on him to chat with me next year about my new enthusiasm for gunpowder...

1672 work in progesss

As is so often the case, when I should be painting one thing, I find myself painting three other things. My excuse to myself is that I'm finishing them to make room. These are above, Walloon Regiment Vierzet, and below the Listenois Dragoons and some Royal Dragoons which I decided to give ECW flags to.  All for my 1672 project. Proper photos later, when flocked.

Royal Regiment of Dragoons mustering

 

This is a unit for my 1670's project. They are British dragoons, probably most useful in 1678, by which time the British had allied with the Dutch and there were nine squadrons of dragoons in the field. I plan to depict them both on foot (with horse holders) and mounted. All North Star 1672 minis, mostly painted by Shaun McT. and finished by me. I still need to finish basing them.

Since the 1672 rules aren't yet written, I'm keeping my options open so that they can either be fielded as dismounted units of squadron size, whilst retaining the option of grouping two or three of these together to form a larger unit of up to battalion-size. In battle they will most likely be found out on the flank, somewhere, lining a hedge or guarding a supply column.

Ancient Ruins

No, this is not about me and my grognard chums, but rather this printed scenery which I bought on eBay for around £50. I'm gobsmacked about the value- it's almost a foot high (28mm figure for scale) and there must be weeks of work in the design of it, and a ton of filament within it. O brave new world that has such buildings in it! How long would it have taken to build a model like this from scratch? I plan to customise it and use it in my Salute '24 game.

In other news I had an absolutely super chat with Henry Hyde of Battlegames this morning, which he'll be posting as a Podcast in the next few days, I'll talk about it more when I know the release date, soon, I think.

Regiment Vierzet mustering

This poor-quality WiP photo is of Regiment Vierzet, a Walloon unit from the Liege area that will be part of my 1670's French army. The uniform colour  is "morte feuille" or "dead leaves". The flags are from Not by Appointment blog, and the minis are 1672 Swiss with Warfare officers, painted by Richard O'Connor. I'll take a much better photo when they are fully based. I expect to have enough minis based to play a modest game using modified "For King and Parliament" rules, in the spring.

Put Out More Flags

  

This is a command stand for Regiment Vierzet, a Walloon Regiment from Liege serving in the French army in the 1670s. Lacking information about the 1670's period flag, I've given it later colours from the Seven Years War from Dave at Not by Appointment Blog. Quite often French flag designs stayed the same, so it is plausible. The minis are from the excellent Warfare "officers with attitude" pack, excellently painted by Richard O'Connor. I'll write more about the unit when the other minis are based.