More cutting up Epic strips - this time it's ACW's for Noel!

 Alongside the big Wars of The Roses 15mm commission ongoing for Noel I'm also continuing to add to his original Brigade level ACW Fire & Fury project Warlord Epic figures per 20mm frontage base. Just a couple of sprues per month over the last several months. Noel already has an extensive AWC Epic Black Powder collection that I painted for him previously so this is a separate project for the F&F rules. My job is to cut the strips down into 3's (1 wasted figure per strip) then paint and varnish, Noel is doing the basing himself which I'm rather pleased about. Brigades of 10 or 12 such small bases actually look very good together. This month I'm doing 1 Union sprue and 1 Reb sprue.

Cutting the strips - it really is very easy to cut down these strips and I find that the early Epic ACW strips are the easiest to do for some reason as they part very neatly when bent. Always cut through the base first between the feet and then a gentle back and forth bending will cause them to part.  if these is any slight damage along the arms then a quick trim up with a scalpel does the trick nd to be honest once undercoated they look absolutely fine, I have tried to illustrate this in the photos below, before and after painting.

'This War without an Enemy' - Progress report.

 With the newly printed C&C mat now winging it's way from Spain thanks to FedEx and due for delivery on Wednesday I think it's time now to get a couple of small forces together in readiness for a first run through. What you see below is where I am so far and as said previously I'm very pleased how these little bases have turned out as I was never confident that it could be done I have to admit. I'm making labels for the underside of each base with a unit name and starting strength in blocks, type of unit etc. I need to print a nice set of command cards this week and order some plastic sleeves for them from Amazon. 

Terrain - I took the decision some time ago that any terrain must be suitable for the 60mm frontage single bases, so hexes will be ordered from Warbases and I'll be making hills by my usual MDF/5mm Foamboard sandwich method. I'll be using magnetic printing paper to create any roads and rivers to lay directly on the printed mat. Buildings are always an issue with hex terrain, especially where smaller hex grids are in use so I decided to downscale any buildings to 6mm in order to be able to fit them a round the unit bases, well out of scale I know with my 13.5mm figures but with a small 5mm base added at least a height of about 35mm can be achieved with a small footprint that I hope won't look too bad. It's a board game after all and such compromises are not uncommon. Buildings are on order from Steve at Battlescale wonderful English rural range of half timbered buildings. 

So here are the two small armies so far ready to do battle as I continue to add more. Hit markers will be 10mm MDF circles painted green with a small number painted on in white as per my usual method and simply placed on the unit base as required. 

Trying a white basecoat again!

 This week I am painting a unit of 30 x 1/72nd WSS Spanish Pro - Bourbon Infantry (Strelets) for Old John. As they wear long white coats and stockings I decided to begin with an off white undercoat and work them up from there. To be honest I'm rather pleased with both the method and the finish and timings were about the same as using my usual black base. I have another 8 painted yesterday completed (seen in their white undercoats below) and today I'll be painting 6 more including the officers/standard bearers/musician. this will leave just the last 8 to complete the unit by the weekend. Might need to lighten the cuffs a little as I used the superb box art for reference but I think Regimiento Saboya as requested had lighter blue cuffs and breeches, no problem.

Grenadiers in front with red  stockings.

Another WoR Faction has arrived from Noel with additional Mercenary crossbowmen and a few other bits. I also continue to add more ECW units for myself as my printed mat if now on it's way from Spain via FedEx thanks to Rollingmats.

Below: WoR artillery (15mm Peter Pig) heading back to Ireland for Noel along with two completed Factions numbers 4 & 5!

ECW progress video - 14 seconds!

 

'Pike Heavy' units of Foot in C&C ECW.

 Yesterday afternoon I painted the first unit of 'Pike Heavy' foot by way of a change from the standard units. Of course, not all units achieved the ideal ratio of 2 muskets to 1 pike, especially early on when the scramble began to equip the newly raised armies. Parliament had the 'Trayned Bands' in London plus control of the Tower of London where arms were stored, but the pike remained a formidable weapon in close combat.

This unit required a good bit of cutting and trimming, especially the muskets but all  turned out well once painted and assembled I think.10 pikes and just 8 muskets on the base so they get an additional dice in melee combat and minus 1 dice when shooting, all of my foot units comprising 3 'blocks'. I need to add a little marker maybe although it's quite visually clear of the difference. I'd estimate the total painting time to be around 1.5 hours on this unit. I also could not resist painting the first heavy cannon.

Standard unit at Left, Pike Heavy at Right.

The rules: The rules can be downloaded for free from Tony's site link below, the quality of the booklet that he produced is most excellent, he basically totally re typed the C&C book adapted for the English Civil War, a most impressive task that must have required huge dedication.

Foy's C&C based rules for the English Civil War.

More ECW troops, new hex mat and 3D C&C dice!

 Right then, I now have a clear vision of what I want to do with this project. I have been re-watching the 1980's TV series 'By the Sword Divided'  and I'm really enjoying the nostalgia, the formation of 'Lacey's Troop of Horse' in their mix of old arms and equipment ("We shall wear Burgonets") is really well done I think. 

eBay has allowed me to add to my growing pile of Pike & Shotte sprues, I won an auction for a box of cavalry, 3 sprues which includes Horse in a mix of  equipment and headgear and even has 2 Cuirassiers as well as Mounted and dismounted Dragoons and some Forlorn Hope musketeers. Great value. I painted the first base of horse yesterday morning, I wanted 6 per base but could only fit 5 on the 60mm base. I also painted another Regt of Foot yesterday! I also won the excellent set of 5 Royalist Generals, a great personality set, especially Prince Rupert  with 'Boy' at his feet. I'm finding that I can pick up individual infantry sprues for just £7.99 with free postage which is great as I can get 5 units of Pike & Shot each of 18 figures from 2 sprues so excellent value.

I also purchased another set of C&C dice from Etsy which arrived within a week and are great quality, I dislike the very heavy chunky set which comes with the game although I do still have a nice wooden set given to me by Tony/'Foy' a good 10 or more years ago now. This new set are 3D printed with nice strong graphics and rounded edges that roll well, I paid £15.00 for the set of 8 dice which included postage, I'll drop the link in here: C&C Dice 

All bases are 60mm  x 25mm.

Prince Rupert & Boy (Right).

THE BOARD - After a LOT of thought I decided that the easiest way to get a dedicated playing board for ECW C&C was going to be another purchase from Rollingmats of Spain because although I have two already I wanted one minus the edging graphics which are period specific. So I have ordered the one you see below with 75mm hex grid plain black borders but minus the heavy red sector lines as offered as an option. It's worth mentioning here that the customer service is excellent and a reply to my email was answered next day in a very friendly way basically saying they print nay size of hex grid you want with or without border graphics or red lines delivery is estimated mid September so plenty of time to get more troops ready!

 Here's progress so far on the troops, I'm thinking I could also do a few 'Pike Heavy' units down the line with fewer muskets ( better in close combat, less shooting power).

Minifigs 25mm Mounted Generals for Old John, more WoR for Noel and planning more single base ECW's!

Over the course of 4 days this week I painted the 13 Minifigs WSS Generals for Old John. It was a challenging paint because all were in different style coats and colours but I think they turned out pretty well and John is happy. The two horses that had been painted by John's wife Cynthia I left untouched beyond a coat f satin varnish, they are very nicely done. I calculate that with prep, undercoating and painted these is a solid 8 to 9 hours work in these over the 4 days! The bits of paper under the figures are for identification as sent over by John.

The two horses at left were painted by Cynthia.

For Noel I'll be painting the first of the WoR artillery over next few days so that they can be returned to him along with the completed Faction's #4 & #5 (below). Because they are shipping back to Ireland via FedEx it makes sense to build up a decent size package for each parcel. I like FedEx which I book via Parcels2Go online, prepaid self printed label, home pick up and delivery usually within just a few days.

           

And slowly putting together more small ECW units for myself,