Showing posts with label for King and Parliament. Show all posts
Showing posts with label for King and Parliament. Show all posts

Friday, 6 May 2022

Bring on the Empty Horses


Above are the completed horse casualty markers for the Roundway Down game (click for a close-up), and below are the infantry casualty markers. The miniatures are a mix of Bicorne and some old Redoubts and a couple of Warlords The dead horses, above, I converted from a Bicorne horse and Bicorne very kindly then cast a bunch up for me (I've not seen them added in their shop). All the minis were painted by Shaun McTague or me, and chum Ian did the expert flocking, which I then tufted, dry-brushed and varnished. I added the flag for the wounded ensign; poignant, or what?


The title reference is from a David Niven auto-biography. The phrase was used by Michael Curtiz, the Film Director of The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936), when attempting to explain on set that he wanted a lot of rider-less horses in the background of the climactic charge; so it is fairly appropriate for Roundway Down!

My recent lack of posts has been because I've been very busy writing modelling for the Roundway Down game at Partizan.  I've almost finished this- just a few hundred tufts to go. I am currently working on the next release of the Medieval Army list book for the month end- I expect to add at least two or three new lists. I'm also finishing my contribution to a Helion book on Ceresole 1544, and writing some ancient army lists, and doing a little work on Renaissance. Lastly I was interviewed at length on the Plastic Crack Podcast, you can watch it here.  Busy, busy, busy!  :-)

Sunday, 24 April 2022

Roundway Down Roundup


I've been busy writing this month and haven't had time to post anything, so here's a sneak peak of the last minis for the For King and Parliament Roundway Down project. The officers are based, the casualties based, two new regiments of cavalry based. There's just these bit bringing up the rear - six artillery pieces and a limber. These are all painted except for the three light guns in the foreground, which I'll hopefully tackle tonight. 

I still need to do some work on the battlefield which is a huge, bare hill. I more or less know how I'm going to do it but that's not quite the same as having it done!

In other news, I'm working on the next update to the TtS! Ancient army list, which is due out on Saturday 30th. There will be three new lists bringing the total to 166 lists.  I'm also ready to publish the next Even Stronger, the first update to the rules in over a year. There will be some interesting new rules which I hope people will enjoy, in particular a new take on Sumerian battle cars.

Finally I recently found a big bag of gold and silver (plated) treasure- literally- and have completely restocked the shop with Victory Medals. Unfortunately these will be the last such medals I'll be stocking, because the supplier's wholesale price recently went up by 50%, which makes them unaffordable- once these are gone, these are gone.  So if you want to add some bling to your game, now's the time! Below is one of my favourites, the Pegasus of Corinth. Of course the best sellers are the Roman denarii.

Monday, 21 February 2022

ECW veterans

 
On Saturday I came across an old ECW regiment that I based up perhaps three years ago to illustrate how I'd model a unit on a 20cm frontage; it's the one featured in the colour pages in the For King and Parliament rule book. It's never been used, because I have always gamed on 30cm, but I've long thought about rebasing it. I worked out a shortcut to do this, by inserting three FK&P7 bases on the edged of the existing FK&P6's, adding extra files to the pike and to each wing of shotte. I just needed to paint an additional seven minis to bulk it out and, on a whim, I did this over the weekend.

The regiment is only in two ranks, unlike my other units which have three, but that's not an issue as I intend it to represent an understrength unit. The minis (many painted by Shaun McTague- the additional minis I repainted from eBay purchases) are a mix of Renegades and Bicornes, and feel like they are veterans.

I don't have a name for this unit, which is fairly generic- probably Parliamentarian as the sashes are orange. I'm open to suggestions! I'll post a better picture when it is flocked.

Friday, 12 November 2021

The Siege of Norchester Scenario PDF published

Today I'm publishing the digital edition of the "Siege of Norchester", a scenario book written by chum Robert Avery. The Siege of Norchester is a supplement for TtS! For King & Parliament that contains twelve free-standing, fictional scenarios in a loose chronological order. 

The 66 page PDF tells the story of the investment of the fictional, Royalist-held city of Norchester. It starts with the Parliamentarians gradually pushing the Royalist foraging parties back into the city itself, then looks at the Royalist attempts to delay the construction of encircling works. There’s an assault on the outskirts of Norchester and then a Royalist attempt to get a messenger through to the King to ask for aid. Finally, there’s the arrival of a Royalist relief force, the fall of Norchester and the attempted escape of the main Cavalier protagonists.    The same officers and units are used throughout the campaign, and it is hoped that the players will come to adopt and recognise them as their own or the enemy. 

The pack is designed to give players who don't have enough time to write their own scenarios a number of games that they can play with little or no preparation. All you have to do is print out the game and player briefings, set up the table according to the map, break out the figures and cards, and start the first turn. You don't even need to print the pack out in full: just the pages you need for the scenario you're going to play.

The games can be played either as a series of linked games or as a collection of one-off battles. To emphasise: each scenario is free standing and they do not have to be played in any particular order…but it is anticipated that players will play them in order as a campaign, keeping a running total of each sides’ score as they go along. The pack provides a Campaign Record Sheet as an easy way of doing so.

Finally, although specifically designed for FK&P, with a little work the scenarios can be adapted for any set of English Civil War/Renaissance rules: the basic elements of why, where and with what each side is fighting being largely common to all systems.

So whether you’re for the King or for Parliament, The Siege of Norchester gives you everything you need for many hours of joyful gaming!

You can order "The Siege of Norchester" from the BigRedBatShop or if you prefer (or if you are based in the EU) from Wargames Vault.

Friday, 26 March 2021

Marlowe to Maidenhythe FK&P scenario eBook

Today I've loaded up this exciting new scenario eBook, written by Robert Avery, into the BigRedBatShop.

The 66 page Marlowe to Maidenhythe scenario eBook is a digital file designed for the TtS! For King and Parliament English Civil War rules, but useful with other ECW rule systems, too.


It contains twelve free-standing fictional scenarios set around in the counties of Buckinghamshire and Berkshire during and shortly after the English Civil War. They tell the story of a series of clashes between Sir John Boulters (for the King) and Sir Christopher Grey (for Parliament). 

Each scenario contains a background briefing, separate briefings for each of the players, a deployment plan and orders of battle. 


The scenarios can be played individually or in sequence, as a campaign. Most of the characters and many of the units recur throughout the campaign.

You can buy it in BigRedBatshop:

Marlowe to Maidenhythe

Or, if you are in the EU, you can buy it from here:

Marlowe to Maidenhythe

Enjoy!

Tuesday, 28 January 2020

Stow-on-the-Wold Scenario published

Cover

The For King and Parliament Battle of Stow-on-the-Wold Scenario is a digital file, designed for use with the TtS! For King and Parliament English Civil War rules, but which could be adapted to work with other rule systems, too.

A sample page from the scenario booklet

Stow-on-the-Wold is a modest scenario depicting the last major battle of the First English Civil War, which occurred when the last Royalist field army, led by the valiant Jacob, Lord Astley, was brought to ground by a superior Parliamentarian force. It is a modest-sized battle with only 21 units. It will suit two to four players, or solo play.

The Royalist OOB
The eight-page scenario PDF includes a brief account of the campaign and the battle, reconstructed orders of battle for both sides, and a deployment diagram. It can be viewed on a tablet, or printed out and bound.

Sample page of unit cards
Also included are the For King and Parliament Battle of Stow-on-the-Wold unit cards, designed by Ian Notter. There are cards for the general officers, some of the colonels, and all the units that we have been able to identify as being present at the battle, or surmise were there. These can be printed out on card, and used, in conjunction with the scenario and rules, to re-fight the battle.

The scenario and unit cards can be purchased here.

If you are planning to re-fight the battle using For King and Parliament, you might also want to buy a 3' x 4' 10cm cross-grid plains mat.

Finally, the For King and Parliament ECW rules can be purchased here.

Tuesday, 5 November 2019

Edgehill Scenario and Unit Cards published!

I've just published two exciting new downloads for use with the For King and Parliament ECW rules.


The first download is our Edgehill 1642 scenario. Edgehill 1642 was the first major battle of the English Civil War, and amongst the largest. The 18 page PDF includes a brief account of the campaign and the battle, reconstructed orders of battle for both sides, deployment diagrams and photos of beautifully painted wargames figures. It can be viewed on a tablet, or printed out and bound. The scenario, designed for the TtS! For King and Parliament English Civil War rules but could be adapted to work with other rule systems, too. It is a large and well-tested scenario that will suit two to six players.



The second download, below, is a 17 page digital file of unit cards, which can be printed, cut out and used to re-fight Edgehill, in conjunction with the scenario and the For King and Parliament rules (although the cards could be used to fight the battle with other rule systems, too).




There are cards representing all the general officers, some colonels and all the units that we have been able to identify as present at the battle. They are additional cards for Parliamentarian reinforcements that might have influenced the battle, had they arrived in time. There are also cards permitting an alternative deployment of the Royalist foot in a Thirty Years War "Swedish" style, which may have been used in the battle. There are card overlays that will indicate whether your horse is pursuing, or your foot formed up in hedgehog. Lastly, there's an explanatory booklet which explains how to prepare and use the cards.



The cards can be printed and cut out either for use with a 10cm grid (9' x 4' playing surface) or a 7.5cm grid (6' x 3' playing surface). They can also be used in conjunction with miniatures, taping each card under a unit's base, so that only the tag with the unit's name and details upon it, protrudes. A really useful way of showing which unit is in which brigade!

You can buy the Edgehill scenario and/or the Edgehill unit cards here. 

Monday, 4 November 2019

Edgehill - Unit cards - Sneak peek!

Here are a couple of images from the Edgehill Unit Cards pack. The cards are designed by my chum Ian Notter, based loosely on the images in the Streeter Naseby engraving. Here is a page from the introductory pack that accompanies the cards, and, below it, an image of a sheet of the unit cards, themselves.



These are some of the Parliamentarian Edgehill foot; large units, eight  ranks deep, so with an extra (fourth) hit. We have added uniform colours, where known (not often!), sometimes we have guessed. The flags indicate who the officer for the brigades is, and his superior general. All the information needed for play with For King and Parliament is on the card tab (save, ammo, battalion guns and so forth). If you laminate the cards, then you could use them with a whiteboard pen.

The whole Edgehill OOB, with lots of "what if" units, will be included in the download. Hopefully I'll have it in the shop on Wednesday or Thursday. If it proves popular, we will give the same treatment to some of the other battles of the ECW; perhaps we could produce a set of generic unit cards for use with the game.

Sunday, 3 November 2019

Edgehill Scenario- sneak peeks

Here are a few sample pages from the imminent Edgehill scenario booklet- due out later this week.  :)




Friday, 1 November 2019

Edgehill Scenario and Unit Cards coming soon....

Very shortly I will have two new For King and Parliament products coming out- a PDF scenario booklet, based on Andrew Brentnall's excellent and well-tested game, and a pack of stunning unit cards designed by Ian Notter, which can be printed out and used to re-fight the battle (if you don't have three or four thousand suitable minis ready to go, that is ;-) ). Here are the covers, I'll post some images from inside, in the next day or so!



Watch this space!

Wednesday, 23 May 2018

At Partizan with Soggy Bottom!


I had a fantastic weekend at Partizan in Newark with chums Andrew Brentnall, Tim Thompson and Ian Notter! 

Here are some photos of the game that Ian took. Above are the hard-riding Northern Horse (foreground) and the Troop of Shewe (AKA the Royal Lifeguard) beyond. Many of the former were Catholics so I game some flags with crosses. All photos can be clicked!


Above Sir Allen Aspley's; my favourite regiment of foote on account of its flags with their lovely gyronny designs. You may be able to make out the King and his bodyguard of Gentlemen Pensioners, beyond.  Below, right, Devereux's take to the field for the first time! I failed to point them out to Charles Singleton, which was a shame, but I'll take a better photo in due course.



Above, a view over Soggy Bottom. That's the butter market in the centre foreground and the Lych gate of the church in the right foreground. Below, the famous London Lobsters. I got to play these in the second battle; they withstood all attacks and eventually rode over their exhausted opponents!



Above, stalwart defenders of Soggy Bottom. In the second game Colonel Brentnall led these forward to the great discomfiture of the Royalists, or at least that is what he claimed in dispatches... Below, a regiment of Royalist horse



Above and below, Andrew brought his small but beautifully formed Soggy Bottom with him, which was much admired! Some visitors rushed straight across to the adjacent Baccus stand! I had a nice chat with Pete Berry about the Thirty Years War. Indeed many people asked about this conflict... I'm sorely tempted...



Above are regiment of the Oxford horse, and below a closeup of some Parliamentary "Dutch" horse.


The 28mm minis are mostly Bicorne and the buildings, Hovels. We used Andrew and my "For King and Parliament" rules; fought the battle twice, with Parliament winning both times (narrowly).

Partizan was a great show- again! It's always terrific to catch up with so many mates. Huge thanks to the lads and to Simon Williams and Andy Green for all their hard work, and a big shout out to everyone who came by the table! Also many thanks to Tricks and Laurence for organising, and the people who brought playing cards (I left all of mine, aside from a Seven of Clubs, at home).

We'll be back again with an ancients game at T'other Partizan, in August, and hope to take Soggy Bottom to Colours and SELWG later in the year.

Friday, 4 May 2018

Coming to a Partizan near you, soon....


Andrew Brentnall and I will be bringing our Soggy Bottoms (same battle, two different scales) to the Partizan show in Newark on Sunday May 20th. If you would like to see how the For King and Parliament rules play, or better still join in and turn a few cards yourself, please drop me a line at the email address to the left and I'll book you in. Games will last under two hours and no previous knowledge of the rules is required.


If you've not encountered the new rules yet, they are a fast play ECW set that work for all scales (2mm to 54mm).  Played on a big (and usually not-at-all-obvoius) grid, with dice and cards, the rules are easy to understand and very decisive- some might even describe them as brutal.


In other news... as my ECW forces have now reached "critical mass", I've started a pair of new ancients armies for a very large new project, of which more, anon. It is likely to take 18 months or so before it hits the tables and it should be quite a spectacle!

Wednesday, 18 April 2018

For King and Parliament at Salute



I've been so busy since Salute that I've not even had a chance to post any photos! These were all taken by Ian Notter, who did a fine job. Most of the minis are Bicornes with a few Redoubt and Renegade added for variety. This thread is picture-heavy and all the pictures are "clickable."

Above, bluecoats guard the approaches to Soggy Bottom- stunning painting by Chris Meacham.


Above and below- Royalist siege guns with a stack of ammunition markers. These guns have the only straight-edge bases on the table- much more obvious than my usual wobbly-edged bases which vanish into the cloth.



Above are the mass of Royalist horse on the left- mostly Northern horse- with the King's Lifeguard of Horse to the fore. Below, Parliamentarian horse, with"Lobsters" to the rear.



Above, John Hampden's regiment. I used 42 miniatures, although perhaps half as many would have done! These were painted by either Chris Meacham or David Imrie.


Above- my own regiments for "For King and Parliament" are divided into "Swedish" troops of six or "Dutch" troops of nine, three troops to the regiment. Units of 18 or 27 horse are, however, strictly for masochists. 8/16 would be far more sensible.  :-)


Above- the  Parliamentarians eschew the protection offered by the stone wall surrounding the church of Saint Lasiurus Egregius. Below, the villlage of Soggy Bottom is largely composed of 25mm Hovels buildings- which have great character!



Above, sheep flee the sound of the guns. A lovely resin single-piece casting from 1stCorps, painted for me by Shaun McTague.


Above and below are shots from Andrew's game at the other end of the table. Andrew has a beautiful "Soggy Bottom." ;-)  Alas, I only have a couple of shots of this much-admired game.



Above is Lord Byron, the hard-fighting Royalist cavalry general. Below, Royalists defend a hedgeline. The long grass is from Killing Fields in the USA- a super product which I just needed to cut to fit the fields.



Bluecoats, again. The wicker fences are Renedra- a quality product that was easy to paint and assemble. 


Trotters- not the Peckham variety.



I've tried to depict plenty of livestock on this rural battlefield- sheep and lambs below, and cattle above, all painted by Shaun. 

Below- a view of the churchyard of Saint Lasiurus Egregiuso. Gravestones were still uncommon at this time. 



And finally, for today, His puissant Majesty King Charles and bodyguard of Gentlemen Pensioners. Tomorrow or Friday I'll have some more photos by Alan Daniels.

We fought the battle twice with, I believe, two Parliamentarian victories.

Salute is always fun- it's great to meet so many friends- I spent the entire day chatting! It was very well organised by the Warlords. Huge thanks to the chums who helped me put it on- especially Ian, Mike and co-author Andrew who helped with the set up on Friday, and Shaun who helped knock-down after the show.

The "For King and Parliament" rules were very well received and Foundry and Caliver had pretty much sold out by the end of the day, although I still have plenty of copies in the.BigRedBatShop. I've already started painting some more bits for the next games at Partizan on May 26th!