Unfinished 2mm ECW Project Potential

The box of based units ready to go

The Cornish Royalist Army 1643

The three test bases 

I hage been sifting through the unfinished projects from the last couple of years in order to short list some things to finish off in June and July, rather than starting anything new. One thing I have been considering that is not a naval project is the 2mm English Civil War project for 1643 in the South West. I dropped this after buggering up the bases of the Cornish Royalist army but managed to salvage some of the units, as well as the three bases that I completed as a test run. I quite fancy finishing off the Royalists using the bases I didn't screw up and perhaps even go on to complete the Parliamentarian forces too. It's another option at the very least and a nice change from air and naval stuff. 

Wargaming Campaigns

A long ferry crossing today so a cheeky download for 99p to pass the time on the journey over to France. I'm a big fan of campaigns and have run several at the local club over the years. I've never run a map based campaign, however, and really fancy having a go at a solo effort, perhaps for the One Hour Wargames Hundred Years War project or perhaps the dormant 2mm English Civil War project that I fiddled about with a couple of years ago?

Willoughby's Chase

Nick Jones' innovative, fast play campaign rules for the English Civil War in Lincolnshire, designed for 2mm armies using Dominion of Pike and Shot or similar rules, are now available from Wargame Vault as a Pay What You Want download;

https://www.wargamevault.com/m/product/536576

Cheers Nick 😁 

2mm English Civil War Solo Campaign System

Nick Jones has devised a splendid solo campaign for Dominion of Pike and Shot, set in his home county of Lincolnshire, which he was kind enough to share with me in draft format. It's a really well thought through system built on solid geographical and historical foundations, but straightforward enough to be managed by one person with a minimum of paperwork and painting required. It's inspired me to take another look at my stalled 2mm Royalist and Parliamentarian armies, which have been sitting in a box for months. I built these around the early Civil War campaigns in Cornwall and Devon in 1642 - 1643, which could be a subject for adaptation using Nick's campaign system and the Portable Pike and Shot rules perhaps? Cheers Nick!

Dominion of Pike and Shot

  

These rules look interesting. They are designed for very fast play and for solo use, with a minimum of units per side (3 to 6) and a small area. I'm wondering if they might be an option for my 2mm English Civil War project, which ended up being mothballed after I mucked up the basing and had to have a rethink. There are other versions of the rules available for ancients, medieval and so on, as well as supplements covering specific battles. I think it's worth a look, especially as the rules are only about a fiver from Wargame Vault?

Book Shop Bargain

We had some friends from Belfast visiting yesterday and they wanted to check out the second hand charity bookshop at the cathedral. I hadn't been there for ages and so I was very pleased to find that it had a much better range of military history titles than the last time I popped in. Here are two of the books I bought for little more than a tenner, both in excellent condition. I'm particularly chuffed with the English Civil War one, as it is directly relevant for the 2mm project. 

2mm Pike and Shot Cock Up

I painted the bases on the 2mm Pike and Shot Royalist ECW army yesterday but I'm really not happy with the results. I think I over cooked the texturing on the bases which makes them look like they are at sea instead of marching across the West Country, and the green colour is a bit off too. I've salvaged the ones that are okay, the cavalry and artillery in the main, but will replace the infantry units, as they are not really useable. Oh well, ces't la guerre!

2mm Royalist Army Base Painting

I've made a good start on the base painting today, using a two stage approach from brown basecoat to grass green top coat, which I'll finish off with a highlight and ink wash once the paint has properly dried. I will then be able to undercoat the figure blocks in matt black, prior to giving them a matt white dry brush. It's cold and drafty in the garage today so I'm going to call it a day.

2mm Royalist Army Bases

I spent a couple of hours this afternoon freezing my nuts off in the garage, so that I could texture the bases on the 2mm Cornish Royalist regiments. This is my least favourite task, as it's fiddly but also messy, requiring quite a lot of attention to detail for little obvious result. The texturing is an evil looking concoction of PVA, filler, acrylic paste and sand, which I mix up in a batch for each job. I made a bit too much this time, so I've sealed it up in an airtight container to see if it stays malleable. If it does, I'll have a crack at doing the Parliamentarian army tomorrow, so that I don't have to texture the bases later on.

Portable Pike and Shot 'Griddled'

I added the grid squares to the recycled battlefield board this morning, using a green Sharpie marker pen and a ruler. I fluffed up one row but managed to cover it up and redo it before anyone noticed. Up close the grid is clearly visible but at arms length it blends in nicely with the grass green paintwork. I now need to make some terrain templates to place on top of the grid and get my armies painted for a try out game.

Portable Pike and Shot Battlefield

I was rummaging in the garden shed today when I found this old repurposed wall picture which I turned into a small desert board for 15mm skirmish games a few years ago. A quick measure to check the dimensions and I have an 11 x 9 grid square terrain board for Portable Pike and Shot, using 50mm squares to match my regimental bases (I considered 60mm squares but that would be too small, assuming a minimum of an 8 x 8 squared grid.

The board actually measures 55cm x 47cm, so there will be a 1cm strip down either side, assuming I deploy in landscape, so as to provide room on either flank. I've given it a quick respray in Humbrol Grass Green but will add a bit of dry brushing as well. The terrain features including roads, rivers, woodland, hills and so on, will be laid out on top for each game, as required. Job's a good'un!

What's on the Workbench?

On the work bench for this month is a 2mm scale English Civil War Cornish Royalist army for the 1643 campaign in the South West. This is made up from figure blocks from the  Irregular Miniatures range including specific pike and shot regiments, cavalry, dragoons and artillery, based on 50mm x 25mm bases. The plan is to use these with the Portable Pike and Shot rules and the One Hour Wargames rules for a solo campaign. 

2mm Parliamentarian Army Assembled

I spent the morning basing up the last units for my 2mm English Civil War Parliamentarian army. I've added a couple more bases of artillery, three more pike and shot regiments, a unit of dragoons and a regiment of curassiers, representing Sir Arthur Heselrig's infamous 'Lobsters'. I've also based up a commander and his officers. This lot will now go back into storage while I focus on the Cornish Royalist army, for which I need to texture the bases then start painting. 

Brigade Models Medieval Town Walls

I ordered some more of the excellent Brigade Models Small Scale Scenery fortifications before the holidays, this time focusing on medieval town defences for potential siege assaults, or just as scenery in the background of set piece battles. The idea is to use the various components to construct lengths of curtain walls including both square and round towers, gatehouse and destroyed sections, alongside siege works and other defensive features, inspired by the siege of Plymouth. 

2024 Review - Painting Things

This year has been even more of a washout when it comes to painting stuff, once again due to work and illness sapping my time and energy. I did complete the 1/3000th scale heavy units for the Kriegsmarine and Royal Navy early war fleets but not the rest of the British forces which are still waiting to be tackled. I also completed the 1/2400th scale Royal Navy Napoleonic fleet, which I really enjoyed painting albeit stretched out over several months, although I still haven't played any games with them yet.

The Soviet half of the 1/600th scale aircraft for the Continuation War project were finished but not the Finnish contingent, or the 1/300th scale Soviet aircraft either, despite making a good start on the latter. I also built a 1/72nd scale Bristol Scout for Knights of the Sky but had to drop out of the actual game due to illness. A handful of 1/600th USAF aircraft were also finished for MiG Alley. To wrap up an unspectacular year, I painted three test bases of 2mm English Civil War infantry, cavalry and artillery, then ran out of time to do any more before the holidays. I think my report card for 2024 will read 'must do better!' 

Holiday Reading

A bit of light reading for the holidays, with the siege of Plymouth and Bristol being the focus. Although the different rules I'm using for the 2mm English Civil War project don't include siege warfare, I do have some nice Brigade Models terrain I can use for just this sort of thing. There is a Portable Pike and Shot siege warfare set of rules but it is more strategic than tactical, so I might have to work something out myself. 

Irregular Miniatures Rules in a Box

I needed to order some more pike and shot blocks for my Parliamentarian army the other day, so took the opportunity to bundle in a copy of the Irregular Miniatures Rules in a Box, which include two decent sized armies, my choice being Thirty Years War Dutch and French. 

The rules look rather interesting but I suspect are a bit 'old school' which isn't always a bad thing. They are specifically designed for the 2mm models produced by Irregular although my basing is different to the methods described in the introductory sheet. 

I like the use of cards to set out the main rules, reminding me of games I used to play as a kid using the Tank Battles in Miniature rules copied out by hand onto postcards. I'll see what I can do to adapt them for my units and basing, as they may well be another approach to take. 

Colonel William Ruthven's Regiment

In October 1642 a contingent of Scots mercenaries on the way from campaigning in Ireland to service on the continent, was diverted into Plymouth by stormy weather. The commander of the contingent, Colonel William Ruthven, was an experienced soldier and offered his services to the Parliamentarian defenders of the town, no doubt to make the most of the situation. He was made military governor of Plymouth but subsequently made a right pigs breakfast of it at Braddock Down in January 1643.

I've wanted to have a unit based on Ruthven's Scots for ages but was stuck on how to represent them as a regiment. In different accounts I've read the Scots mercenaries numbered between a measly 200 and an indeterminate 'regiment' in size, so clearly on the small size. I decided in the end to use some leftover pike and shot blocks with a 1:2 pike to musket ratio, which would reflect the better equipment and experience of the regiment, compared to the high pike to shot ratio of early civil war regiments. I'm not sure I like the end result but it will do for the moment. 

Portable Pike and Shot Bookkeeping

These are the rather splendid unit cards used in The Perfect Captain's Very Civile Actions ECW rules but I am going to do something very similar for the regiments in my 2mm Portable Pike and Shot armies. You need to track Strength Points in each game and, as my units will have different ratings for this, I think some individual record cards would be a great idea. I really like these ones and especially the use of contemporary language. I have some time over the holidays to see what I can come up with. 

Random Events in Portable Pike and Shot

In one of the two sets of Portable Pike and Shot rules I'm going to use, there is a system for generating random events when a double is rolled for initiative. I'm a big fan of random things but this system is a bit vanilla, compared to AK47, for example. 

So, I'm going to twiddle the system to give it a bit more period flavour, perhaps with a bit of tounge in cheek humour in an AK47 political flowchart style. I'm thinking here of Ralph Lord Hopton being almost blown up at the Battle of Stratton or the Cornish Trained Bands having a wobble, amongst other things.

The focus will be on things that might add a bonus or penalty to strength, movement or firing, but other things might well pop up that might be either a help or a hindrance to each side. I'm also thinking of changing the mechanism so that a roll of 1 for initiative results in the random roll, making it specific to the side concerned.

It's a bit sketchy at the moment but I have some time over the holidays to work it out.