The Pikeman's Lament: The First Peninsular War

Well I lasted until the final week of the Warlord Games sprue sale before weakening, but yesterday an order for a pile of Marlburian Infantry sprues went in as each sprue has 12 figures on and costs just £2.50! Don't ask how many I ordered, but free postage is such a temptation! Unlike other ex-Wargames Factory plastics, these aren't as slim and fiddly, the main reason I resisted the AWI sprues...

Warlord Games Malburian Infantry (photo Warlord Games)

The uniforms are pretty generic, so can be painted up as a number of nations, the issue now is which ones... As interesting as Marlborough's campaign is, I have been intrigued by the operations in Portugal and Spain between 1701 and 1710, and there is a book by Nicholas Dorrell coming out at the end of the month (Marlborough’s Other Army: The British Army and the Campaigns of the First Peninsula War, 1702–1712). It looks like it will provide a good overview of all the participants, not just the British (one of the things that interests me is the wide variety of armies who operated in Spain during this campaign).

Rules wise I am looking at Dan Mersey's The Pikeman's Lament, as I have had a copy sat around for a little while now as I had not settled on what war to go for as a starter project (the sprue sale solved that!). Whilst the rules are mainly written with the C17th in mind, they do run through to 1720 so cover the Marlburian period. I also have Donnybrook which I have been re-reading and drawing up plans for...

Not quite sure when I'll start on this, I have to wait for the sprues to arrive, but I can start the planning now units now!

Donnybrook: C17th Militia Officer

I got out the habit of painting my Donnybrook figures when I hit the Algonquin as I wasn't convinced I was getting the right skin tone. However keen to get back on the Donnybrook horse I decided to paint up a figure that I based and undercoated a while back and then ignored for the best part of the year.

I'm not 100% sure who made the figure, I think it is Foundry and may be something to do with one of their Pirates sets. Whatever, I trimmed away his ponytail as too C18th and painted him up as some fairly well-to-do merchant type, leading a town militia against Indians, bandits, Government forces, whatever. Pretty pleased with how this came up so quickly, now he just needs a militia to lead!

Painting Target: 107/1000

Donnybrook TV? New Worlds on C4

Channel 4 is showing a great looking new drama series tomorrow, set on both sides of the Atlantic during the Restoration period. A sequel to their ECW series The Devil's Whore (available to watch on 4OD), New Worlds is smack centre in the Donnybrook era and the trailer looks like it will provide lots of inspiration. All I need now is some free time to do some more painting...

Donnybrook: Scratch Building Woodland Indian Dwellings

Scratch built huts from Wargames Illustrated

I've been pondering scenery for the Tribal Native warband as I don't have any suitable buildings and with son and heir off to university potentially a lot less money as the year progresses. Much as I like the Grand Manner buildings I can't justify the cost for a small skirmish project so have been considering scratch building some.

Google hasn't turned up a lot as yet, but it did uncover a really useful article in the Wargames Illustrated archives on the Flames of War website here and it looks like it will provide a good excuse to eat lots of Easter eggs! I just need to find a UK alternative to Treewrap...

If I can, then the template for a paper Iroquois Longhouse here could also prove useful too...

Donnybrook: Algonquin Tribesmen II

I finished the second test piece Algonquin tribesmen for my Donnybrook Tribal War Party, this time a Huron from Galloping Major Wargames.

Again the main reason for the test paint was the flesh, this time I added a brown ink wash and I think the end result is slightly better. Now I just need to decide on my unit compositions and get on painting the rest up.

 2014 Painting Target: 153/1000

Donnybrook: Algonquin Tribesmen I

One of the more fun looking factions in Donnybrook is the Tribal War Party, which can be any tribal types encountered by European forces from North American Indians to Moors to Central African headhunters... Recently I picked up a couple of blisters of Crusader Miniatures Woodlands Indians, ostensibly designed for the C18th French-Indian Wars but equally usable for C17th actions and an Algonquin Tribal War Party.

I've not painted a Native American for many years and not in 28mm so I worked on a couple as test pieces, finishing one today. The flesh is the hardest part and I have read so many different ideas on getting something that looks right. For this miniature I have used an old pot of Citadel Tanned Flesh with highlights in a mix of Tanned Flesh and Vallejo Flat Flesh, the end result being reasonable.

A rummage in "Lead Mountain" found some more C18th Woodland Indians from the likes of Conquest, Eureka and Galloping Major Wargames, most of which have now been based up and undercoated.

2014 Painting Target: 152/1000

From Tangiers to Harad - Forthcoming Plastic Excitement!

I'm cursing the fact I won't be at Salute this year now - look what Gripping Beast are releasing at the show...

Yes, plastic Arab spearmen and archers, 40 warriors per box... I can see uses for Donnybrook, LoTR and who knows, maybe even Deus Vult! :-)

Donnybrook: Coldstream Guard VI

Having finished my second unit for my Donnybrook Coldstream Guards I decided to paint up a second character, this time painting up an officer figure.

Another Warfare Miniatures model, I really enjoyed painting up this slightly flamboyant model.

Here is the officer leading the completed unit of pike...

2014 Painting Target: 49/1000

Donnybrook: Coldstream Guard V

A bit of free time allowed me to finish off the remaining four pike for the Coldstreams. Once again I've used the excellent Warfare Miniatures range.

2014 Painting Target: 48/1000

Donnybrook: Coldstream Guard IV

Back to the painting table and more progress on Donnybrook. These are the first four pikemen of a drilled regular army Coldstream Guard unit to go alongside the first unit of musketeers. The miniatures are Warfare Miniatures and great fun to paint, despite all the red (the lighting has bleached much of the shading created with a brown ink wash...)

I'm now pondering the remaining two units for the regular army unit. I intend to paint up another unit of musketeers but am torn between a unit of cavalry or one of grenadiers. A standard game has six units a side so perhaps I should just do both...

2014 Painting Target: 44/1000

Donnybrook: First of the Mohicans...

This week has been a bit of a bust painting wise, though some progress has been made on the second Coldstream unit. The Osprey Colonial American Troops books arrived and they have led to a bit of an impulse purchase from Crusader Miniatures when ordering the odd Fallschirmjäger I needed.

I hadn't realised the late C17th was quite so interesting from an American point of view, with lots of possibilities for clashes between British, Dutch and French as well as with the Natives, so I added two packs of Crusader's Woodland Indians from their Seven Years War range to add to the Donnybrook white metal pile!

As you can see from this photo from Crusader's website, they are very nice and will make a great Tribal force to pit against Regular Army and Militia ones...

Donnybrook: The Rules Arrive!

A week earlier than expected the Donnybrook rulebook has arrived and mighty fine it is too. 112 page full colour with soft cover, it is wonderful looking tome and very inspiring, choc full of photos of well painted miniatures for the period 1660-1760.

Of course this "Beano" annual look to rulebooks is not uncommon but the excellent production qualities are in this case matched by the rules and supplementary sections within. I think this is the first rulebook I have read from cover to cover in decades!

The rules are wonderfully simple and I am looking forward to trying them out asap. The default score for any action is a 6 (although it can be modified) and different types of miniature, use different dice - recruits use D6, Veterans D8, Elites D10 and Heroes D12.

The key to the game is the turn sequence, decided by a deck of shuffled cards, one for each hero and unit. This introduces a random sequence to events and with the inclusion of a "turn over" card some units or heroes may end up unable to undertake any actions in a turn (this is not a unique system, David Manley's Sudan rules use it, but it is one I really like).

There are a number of additional rules that can add some level of complexity but at its heart this is a wonderful simple fun game that is hugely entertaining, the kind of beer & pretzels game you would play at a show. The simplicity of the system should allow for it to be expanded in whatever weird and wonderful direction your imagination wants. This game could easily extend backwards and forwards historically, and it would not take much to add fantastical elements (yep, I thinking Solomon Kane for starters!).

The rest of the book contains the faction ("army") lists, some great ideas here including cultists, outlaws/pirates and tribal factions, several scenarios, a superbly illustrated battle report of Scots against Natives in Latin America and a section on period theatres of conflict from Tangiers to the War of Spanish Succession.

Overall this is a great looking game, a well produced and written book and one that has lots and lots of potential for this period and others. Well worth checking out.

Donnybrook: Coldstream Guard III

I managed to finish off the final four musketeers for my first Donnybrook unit. To add a bit of variety in the unit I went with four firing figures...

These Warfare Miniatures figures are great and it is really easy to pick out the various bits of detail such as the buttons and match cord.

Here is a picture of the complete unit, with the attached serjeant character. Another three units and I'll have a small force for the game!

2014 Painting Target: 39/1000

Donnybrook: Coldstream Guard II

The first half of the first unit! These four Coldstream Guard for Donnybrook are from Warfare Miniatures and were enjoyable to paint once I worked out the colour scheme and what colours the various bits of equipment were!

Great miniatures, hopefully the remaining four will be finished off by tomorrow.

2014 Painting Target: 35/1000

Donnybrook: Coldstream Guard I

So the first figure is painted for Donnybrook, a serjeant with halberd, a character to be attached to a Coldstream Guard unit.

The miniature from the Warfare Miniatures range was a bit of test piece but painted up nicely (blowing the photo up this size rather detracts from the finish!). The first musket unit is not far behind...

2014 Painting Target: 31/1000

Donnybrook: How Green are your Coldstreams? (or are they Blue?)

I had planned to paint up at least one miniature today as a test piece but spent most of the afternoon trying to help Saul interface his Roland synthesiser and MacBook, all to no avail (can these people not write in basic English?). Mind you that was not as confusing as trying to work out the facing colours of the Coldstreams for my Donnybrook force...

Yes, I thought it was green, and it certainly was at the time of the Restoration, however... I've come across a couple of blogs where the authors have painted the Coldstreams at Sedgemoor with blue turnbacks and it may be that James II ordered the Guards regiments to adopt a common uniform coat in 1685 and I've pondered this off and on today in between bouts of music tech and have concluded - I don't care, they will be green...

However, that hasn't resolved all my quandries... The Osprey book has them in red with green cuffs and turnbacks in 1677 (see above) and states that this was also the case in 1684 but with red trousers and stockings.

There is a contemporary picture showing them with green turnbacks in 1680, but also green trousers and stockings (contrary to Osprey but ok for Tangiers regiment and Lambe's at Sedgemoor I believe).

I'm not sure what I will do here, I might try one in each green variation and see what I like best!

To console myself I bought another Osprey, Colonial American Troops 1610-1714, that looks fun!

Donnybrook: Getting Started...

With my Warfare Miniatures order having turned up earlier in the week and the flags from North Star I have decided to make a start on Donnybrook, organising my first force. This might seem a bit stupid as I haven't got the rules yet (they will ship at the end of the month) but I think I can discern enough from the article in Wargames Illustrated and the League of Ausburg blog to make a start.

Forces can be be raised based on the regular army, militia, town mob, religious dissenters, highlanders, outlaws/pirates, cultists(!), irregulars and natives. A lot of these seem rather fun but will have to wait to see the detail on the more offbeat forces so I will start with a regular army force.

The forces in Donnybrook are geared towards three levels of game, basic, standard and large. These levels dictate the number of force points you have available for your force; four, six and eight respectively.

Each force point allows you to choose 12 recruits, 9 mounted recruits, 8 drilled, 6 mounted drilled, 4 elites or 3 mounted elites. The overall force gets a free Hero level character and each of the units can attach a character with special abilities. I'm not sure how the characters are added but the example forces on the League blog seem to have one character eg. ensign, standard bearer, added to each unit so I am folowing that for the time being.

Having decided on an army force, the first force I have started work on is the Coldstream Guards. Not only did they fight at Flanders, Sedgemoor, Walcourt, Landen and Namur, they also saw service in Virginia and Tangiers. Further their uniform is  the same as Kirke's Lambs, Montcashel's Irish in French service and apparently some Hanoverian troops, so they can switch sides or fight in different theatres with a quick change of standard.

I'm off starting with two units of drilled troops, one with muskets, the other with pike, and two characters, one officer and one serjant. As you can see the figures have been prepared, glued and stuck to bases. Hopefully it will stop raining long enough for me to undercoat them...

All For (BBC) One!

I started reading the Sedgemoor book today and am hugely enjoying it. There was a fascinating anecdote when looking at Churchill (Marlborough)'s military career when serving with Monmouth alongside the French, both English officers fighting alongside the historic Captain d'Artagnan of the King's Musketeers in one action...

The fictional d'Artagnan is back on our screens this weekend in a new ten part series on BBC One. Whilst it probably won't be as good as the wonderful 1973 film, it still  should be fun to watch...

Donnybrook: More Opportunities...

You'll have to excuse me for going on yet again about a set of wargames rules that have not been released and for a period for which I have yet to paint a figure, but the world moves in strange ways...

Last night I decided to do a little more research on the Franco-Thai War 1940 with the cunning idea of seeing what could be found by using Siam in the online searches rather that the more correct Thailand (the country's name since 1937). This somehow opened up articles on the Siege of Bangkok between the French and Siamese in 1688 ie. smack in the middle of the Donnybrook period. So not only will any French troops for Donnybrook be useable in Europe, America, Africa and India, I could also use them in South East Asia!

Obviously this meant looking up what Siamese troops of the period looked like and whilst this has not been very fruitful, the two pictures I have found suggest that generic South East Asian Dyak pirates and some C19th Chinese may work as good proxies as well as provide enemies for C19th opponents.

Closer to home I picked up a copy of Sedgemoor 1685: Marlborough's First Victory by John Tincey for the Kindle costing 99p (a bit of a saving on the £16 plus for the paper copy!). My current Donnybrook thinking is to have a couple of regular units and a generic rebel/militia one that can see service in both the West Country and America so this should be a useful read...

Donnybrook: Beneath the Lily Banners

I had hoped to get some painting done this weekend but life conspired otherwise and having driven up and back to London to take Saul to a concert at the Hammersmith Apollo last night I have spent most of the day slumped half asleep in the armchair watching the TV!

I did however purchase a PDF edition of the League of Ausberg's Beneath the Lily Banners, their mass battle set for the same period as Donnybrook. Whilst I have no intention of playing mass battles in this period I do like a good set of rules and it is chock full of painted soldiers and background stuff that will prove extremely inspirational.

I also bought a pile of Warfare Miniatures period flags in the North Star sale as they are half price. I probably have bought far too many but what the heck! Barry Hilton at Warfare has boxed up the order I made on Friday so I might start painting this week.

I have decided to paint some up as Coldstream Guards as they saw action in Tangiers and America as well as Britain and will double up as other units.

If you want to know more about the period I recommend checking of the League of Ausberg blog which is full of really interesting articles and lovely painted miniatures. I am spending far too much time there at the moment! :-)