The Black Guard

I finished my first unit of 28mm El Cid Gripping Beast, these were a real treat to paint, maybe one of my favourite-ever. Yes, the paint scheme is simple, black robes, hippo-skin shields and bamboo spears, but I think they are striking:


Love the double-drummer combo:



Here they are lined up with some 28mm Hat. There is no comparison really, I am wondering whether I should order more metal or keep the Hat stuff. Hmm...



Up next: Peones and mercenary foot

Forces for Auldearn

I have now finished the forces necessary to run Auldearn using BlackPowder. I am going to try running this on a 6 x 4 table with relatively modest sized units and measurements in cm. A foot regiment has two sleeves of 3x2 shot and a 3x3 pike block, so about 1/2 the size you would normally use for WECW. Frontage is therefore 18cm.

First we have the Covenanter army consisting of 4 regiments of regular foot, 2 regiments of highland levy, a small regiment of horse and 2 cavalry detachments.


I don't have a figure of Hurry, so will use this paint conversion of the Earl of Essex as the general with some additional generic commanders:



The Royalists have MacColla's lifeguard, the Irish regiment, 2 regiments of Gordon foot and a large cavalry contingent from the Gordons with 2 regiments and 1 regiment of mounted infantry.


And of course, Montrose himself:


MacColla and his hard nuts:


Lord Gordon's horse:


A random photo of cat behaviour:


And finally, my excuse for missing the club this week: Daughter #2 (age 6) fellow off the swings and broke her humerus, here shown 24h in the hospital and 3 steel pins later, but she's a trooper:

Next up: Getting started on 28mm Gripping Beast El Cid stuff.

Irish Brigade for Auldearn

This week I completed a bunch of Irish shot figures for my Auldearn project, which is close enough to completion that I should start thinking about how to construct the scenario and which rules to use. I could go with WECW, modified Black Powder or Impetus Baroque. They all have merits. The scenario is a surprise attack on Montrose's advance guard (MacColla and his Highlander & Irish bodyguard) in the village with random Royalist reinforcements each turn. The Royalists have better troops but random entry reinforcement, with Montrose, their gifted commander, occupied with haring about the countryside rousing his scattered bivouac. The covenanters must press the attack before Montrose arrives. Historically, MacColla held on long enough for Montrose to double-envelope Sir John Hurry's Covenanters for a total victory.

These figures are a mix of Dixon and Old Glory. The Dixon figs were great, I really liked them. Tons of character and very clean sculpts. The Old Glory are good too, but are a bit less refined.







The other highlight of the week was a kindergarten field trip to feed the dinosaurs at Jurassic Gardens: