Uniforms

Charge! The Swedish Liv Dragoon Regiment thunders down upon its quaking enemiesIt's a legitimate question. Why has it taken you so long to produce a unit of your own cavalry, based in your own 'chevron' style?Time and conflicting priorities is the answer. I don't have enough of the former and an abundance of the latter.Squadron 1 full charge in chevronI did paint about eighteen riders but only three or four horses. That enabled me to get the web shop stocked but a long way off a 'game ready' unit.Squadron 1 - the chevron is more obvious from this angleSince these chaps emerge about a year ago we've released about another 140 models many of which required painting. We done several show, travelled hundreds of gaming miles and I have been working on several publications and articles. Not excuses, just facts.Squadron 1 rear viewNevertheless, the rapid progress on the new GNW supplement inspired me to get some of these chaps table ready and photographed. I painted around seventeen horses and an additional three ri

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Cossack infantry advancingInvigorated by the excellent progress being made on the GNW Supplement for BLB, I treated myself to some painting which was not actually on the very backlogged schedule.In addition to the painting I did some more reading on Cossacks and found that over the years I had fallen into swallowing a few cliches about them. Perhaps it was too much exposure to the Battleground hex based Napoleon in Russia  computer game or, believing all the Taras Bulba hype.Cossack infantry Command - The Hetman is particularly fine as is the hat waving Ivan!For some reason, I had missed the fact that much perhaps the majority, of a Cossack army was composed of infantry which preferred to fight from the protection of defences.All together now!  You can just hear them singing 'Stenka Razin!' I learned that at Primary school!The Sword & Flame army guide appears to suggest that the mounted component of a force was a relatively small minority compared with the musket armed or levy element. Wagons al

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Danish infantry brigade takes position 1693-1700Forgive the paraphrasing of Carlsberg's strap-line of the last decades but....Danish infantry attack the FrenchIf you know any Danes you'll also know they are quite distinct from other Scandinavians. I always find the Danish approach engaging. Direct, curious, straight and no nonsense. They usually like to have some fun too. You know where you are in the company of Dane!The sample force for Beneath the Lily Banners 3rd edition - see key belowDanish Force 17002 Veteran ‘All musket’ battalions with flintlock muskets                                             5 points3 Drilled ‘All musket’ battalions with flintlock muskets each @ 1.5 points                4.5 points3 Drilled-Elite squadrons of ‘Bullet’ Horse, armour each @ 1.5 points                   &

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Russian Force #1 details below in the textWhere have I been then? Up to my armpits in getting the GNW/Eastern Wars supplement for Beneath the Lily Banners 3rd edition moved forward.Russian field gun in a log redoubtThe book is being laid out right now and the early views are very encouraging. Despite a pretty extensive archive of shots, I knew I didn't have enough of the right kind. I have thus forsaken the paint brush since January 1 and focused on focusing the lens on the toys.Russian Moscow Dragoons move up to the front.As I have mentioned in previous posts. You need to take a lot of pictures to get the shots you want. So far, the new book has spaces for over 150 shots so that means hundreds of clicks in order to produce this required (and growing) number. The book is already at circa 140 pages and rising (largely due to the lay out format we have been using).RUSSIAN FORCE #1 (Photo at top of post)Drilled battalion REGULATION with flintlock @ 1.5 point x 4 = 6 pointsRaw battalion REGULATION with flintlock

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Helion is offering to followers of the League of Augsburg Blog: Armies and Enemies of Louis XIV Volume 1 by Mark Allen which is a super, illustrated compilation of his work on the period 1660-1720 first run in Wargames lllustrated LAST CENTURY!  The offer price is £20 ex shipping. The RRP is £26.96 making this an attractive offer. If you want to order: email charlesjsingleton@yahoo.co.uk. It is essential to include MARK ALLEN BOOK OFFER in the subject line and a delivery address and paypal email address in the text body for invoicing.OFFER CLOSES JANUARY 31 2019As a taster, here is the preface in full, written by some bloke....When Duncan Macfarlane, the perspicacious proprietor of Wargames Illustrated commissioned Mark Allen to write a series of articles beginning with a four parter on The War of the Grand Alliance followed by another twenty odd feature pieces, it was as if the rains had finally come after almost perpetual drought. Since that issue of th

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These chaps have been languishing on my painting table for some time. Finished but un-photographed. They are the first completed squadron of a large Horse Grenadier Regiment for a Petrine Russian Army.The Horse Grenadiers were grenadier companies drawn from dragoon regiments and consolidated into discrete regiments. New Grenadier companies were recruited as back fill in the existing dragoon regiments.It is thought that Peter the Great created three or perhaps four such regiments. These may not have carried distinctive colours but my intention is to use a little licence and provide a flag as focus for the unit.How should they be treated in a wargame? My view is to have them fight in the same way as other Russian dragoons but to provide them with the Elite suffix allowed under Beneath the Lily Banners.This means the squadron would fight as dragoons, have the mounted fire capability permissible in the new GNW supplement and have slightly improved morale when checking.I enjoyed painting these and the colour combi

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Three 48 man companies of musketeers from the garrison of Derry. A company of Mountjoy's Regt at the centre.I was very pleased that the first post on this subject was popular and that visitors were stimulated to consider the implications of frontages, deployment, fire methodologies and movement around the battlefield and its table top imitation.A battalion of Jacobite Foot based for Beneath the Lily Banners and representing between 500- 800 menTo continue, I thought it might be useful to reflect on what we are currently using as tabletop representations and the suspension of disbelief necessary to imagine it can be in any way realistic.It calls to mind innumerable conversations over the years revolving around what I call 'nippy battalion syndrome'. That is, where gamers attempt to squeeze formations of 28mm models through gaps in their lines barely 25mm wide in order to replace worn battalions with fresh ones.Or, those tedious discussions around.. "why does it take a full turn or even two turns to deploy out

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Company six deepI have been planning this particular post for about three years. Why has it taken so long? I needed to get a run at it. I am fascinated by the compromises necessary in wargaming particularly in relation to scales. Vertical scale distortion, ground scale distortion and finally the challenges in representing the depth of formations relative to their width. This last one has always bothered me, especially when battalions were capable of expanding and contracting their frontage and, when the norm seemed to alter from six deep to three deep lines.Company six deepIn order to experiment I needed to paint a full company one to one so that I could model the different formations without compromise. I chose a typical British company of the 1680-1698 period. This could be English, Scots, Irish or Welsh. I also chose to model it with a ratio of four muskets to one pike. In between other demanding projects I painted, in a very basic format:1 Captain1 Lieutenant1 Ensign2 Sergeants3 Corporals1 Drummer48 match

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Rather than focusing on a history of the Royal Army I have chosen to feature several of the wargaming units built up and in some cases, let go over the years. All were based for Beneath the Lily Banners and several have been in involved in over 100 wargames over the years.The Royal Army fielded at Sedgemoor in 1685 was modest in size but when compared to its opponents, infinitely more professional and experienced. It contained two regiments of Horse and one of dragoons and six battalions of infantry supported by artillery.Several of the regiments were fresh from foreign service in Tangier where they saw continuous action in a hostile environment. Others had served at sea as detachments of marines with the navy. Many of the officers had foreign service experience with the Dutch, French or Imperial armies and will have seen action in many pitch battles and sieges.This unit was cobbled together specifically for Historicon several years ago and now lives in the USA.This unit has always served as Le Roi du Anglete

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Royal cavalry approach a hostile Somerset hamlet - the villagers are assembling on the GreenThe Battle of Sedgemoor, July 6 1685 stimulates a variety of responses when discussed amongst wargamers. I almost added - and the wider population  but realized how unlikely such an occurrence might be! Who actually knows much about it? (or cares!)Those infamous 'Lambs' Kirke's Tangier veterans used for rural pacificationWhether you subscribe to the point of view of King James II/VII as religious tyrant backed up by a brutal army and vicious judiciary or, that James Scott was what might be called in west of Scotland vernacular - a wee chancer - the campaign was the opening act of a much bigger play interestingly dubbed 'The Glorious Revolution' by the winners.One of Trelwaney's musketeersWas Monmouth's short campaign a 'Peoples' revolt' or, political agitation by disaffected men of power using a gormless figurehead to test out the country's appetite for overthrowing the monarchy? A tune-up game as Americans might

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Janissary dress and equipment changed little from the mid 16th to the mid 18th century. The units featured here could easily be from The First Battle of Mohacs in 1526, part of the all conquering armies of the 1500s or, from the forces who fought at the Relief of Vienna 1683,  Second Battle of Mohacs 1687, Battle of Zenta 1697 and Pruth River Campaign 1710-1711 . Most of the work was done as a commission by Rob Goodyear. I have based each unit and flagged them. What I like about the way these have been painted by Rob is the interesting mix of colours he has used in each Orta. I used the blend of colours as the inspiration for the banners I did for each. The Orta above mixed blue, green, a soft ochre-green and red pink. This suggested to me that a large, bold and simple green and yellow banner would suit well.The orange which features prominently in the Orta above together with a chocolately - wine shade inspired a very bold flag with arabic writing. I choose a five layered orange field with a c

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I have always enjoyed building Command vignettes. These three are the very first and utilize models from packs OT01, OT05 and OT06. The rank of the officers is non specific although two hve standards whilst the central base features two full dress Janissaries - a senior officer and his bodyguard.I don't often use purple in my warming units but fancied doing a small personal banner for this senior officer. The base also features an interesting section of dead tree - bleached and burned by the searing south eastern European sun.Traditional Janissary symbol of the two tongued sword on this personal standard of yet another senior officer. The rocks are toned down with a sepia wash.This colourful senior officer has an equally colourful bodyguard Janissary at his side. The base is smaller than the other two featured here.A couple of shots at slightly different angles and orientations. Ottomans certainly draw you away from traditional palette colours.Soon we'll be previewing 10 new Ottoman Command models which are v

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Part of one of my own painted unitsWell, this is somewhat of a bling post but I just enjoyed myself so much doing these flags that I thought I would share. I decided that any Ottoman unit I got the chance to  paint and/or base was going to get one of my old style linen flags.The Terry's Chocolate Orange Orta - The men listen intently to their Bolouk!Once I started it was hard to stop! Sometimes its a bit messy but in the end the results justify the effort. I have made and painted probably 250 to 300 of these since 1986 when I first developed the technique. It has changed a bit since then but fundamentally its the same labour intensive process.Bold and striking colours set off the Janissary OrtasI know a few people have tried to industrialize/commercialize it since then but I always felt there was something missing from these. Printing directly onto material does not work and any flags of that sort I have chanced upon seem a bit insipid and lifeless.A very commonly used symbol in the Ottoman Army - 

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A very large Malplaquet game I organized and ran about 10 years ago - spots the Minifigs!The War of the Spanish Succession (WSS) may appear to have been some sort of enormous elephant in the room for Warfare Miniatures but not so. Rather than being a conflict which I have no interest in, the Nine Years War is a conflict when has voraciously consumed my interest leaving little time for anything else.WLOA9 - These grenadiers can serve in several armies 1700-1714Notwithstanding, Warfare Miniatures has quietly being building availability of forces for the WSS over a long period. Since the entire 1670-1720 period was one of military evolution and transition, it can be robustly argued that the original codes offered by Warfare were adequately suited to at least the 1701-1707 span of the WSS.It is likely that for the fist several years of the 18th century - the tricorne did not abound!Pikes, floppy hats and matchlocks continued to appear both in contemporary illustrations and on campaign. Those who would have us bel

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This was a hoot! 1693 and riding roughshod over the French but it's 20 years on.. can the Turk be vanquished too?I very much enjoyed the German Grand National 1693 game which we ran at Tactica and elsewhere in the first half of 2018. The competition between four German ally states against a common enemy was colourful and fun and even spawned an X rated version which I think was called the W hores? Race which a friend of this blog rand successfully over the summer.Saxon, Prussian and Dane - all fighting for the Empire against the TurkWith limited time to paint large forces we decided to do three things. Try and finish some BLB style Ottoman units ourselves. Sub contract some painting of Ottoman units to our highly productive painting partner Rob. Muster some Donnybrook forces which would do the fighting.It is unlikely that Kurassier will be used for the extraction - it's an infantryman's job!The BLB style multi based units will form the 'lines' of the opposing armies but not move on the day. The single based m

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