Saturday, October 10, 2015

Peter Laing English Civil War

   My wife and I had discussed that when our dog died, we wouldn't get another dog.  Surprisingly, my wife changed her mind and wants another dog ( I thought it would be me who would beg for another dog). We have been spending  much of our free time contacting different rescue groups looking for a new dog.  This has been distracting me from my gaming.

    When I got home from work, once again I switched gears from the semi-flats back to Peter Laings. I had bought several lots over the last couple of months. However, I just put them aside without looking at them. They consist of Medieval spearmen, crossbowmen and axemen.   I also brought out my Peter Laing ECW figures. I then decided to try to work on getting an ECW game together.  I want to try to use some rule variants for BATTLELORE that I found on line.  Instead of trying to paint the armies, I spray painted the two different armies; grey for the Parliamentarians, white for the Royalists. I do have some painted figures to use, too.  Both armies have 4 infantry and 4 cavalry units.
The Royalist Army.

The Parliamentarian army.

The Royalist infantry closes in on the Parliamentarian Army



The Royalists are pushed back.

The Royalists counterattack.

The Royalist cavalry hits both flanks.

The Parliamentarian foot continue to push the Royalists back.

The Royalist cavalry continue to push forward.

The Royalist cavalry on the right sees a gap in the line and charges through it, heading for the enemies wagon train.

As the cavalry charges the train, they see the Parliamentarian General. They cut him down.


The Parliamentarian cavalry counterattacks. The cavalry at the top left forces the Royalist cavalry to retreat. It then makes the mistake of on it's followup attack attacking the infantry instead.  It's dice roll would have wiped out the Royalist cavalry.

The royalist cavalry on the upper left forces one Parliamentarian cavalry off the field. The Royalist cavalry on the right counterattacks and wipes out the cavalry unit. The Parliamentarians are now down three units (2 cavalry and the General). To lose one more means the battle is lost.

The Parliamentarian cavalry defeats one of the Royalist cavalry.

The Royalist cavalry forces another unit of Parliamentarian cavalry off the field. The Royalists  have won the day.

It was good getting a game in. The rules worked out for this game. I'm not sure they are really a good representation of the period. Perhaps my Peter Laing ECW figures will get more use in the future.


8 comments:

  1. Glad you got a game in and the ecw figures look great.
    Don't forget the semi flats too as they would look spectacular on the tabletop too.

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    1. Some of the cavalry on the field are some of my home casts. I might do some more research on the ECW; it might motivate me to do more with the figures.
      I also want to get some games in with the semi flats. I don't know which rules I would use' although I am thinking of using an early set such as LITTLE WARS or SHAMBATTLE.

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  2. Any chance you might share your rules with us?
    Spray-painted figures make for quickly mustered forces and don't detract from the game once one is involved in it. Some ECW style colours flying over the Foot would add some period atmosphere without much effort. You could also use them as morale indicators.

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    1. I for the most part used BATTLELORE rules. OnT HE MINIATURES PAGE forum someone wrote some ideas using BATTLELORE for the ECW. Most of the ideas focused on the infantry. I used the suggestions given. Your mention of colours is a good one, which the writer even suggested. As this was a quickly thrown together game, I didn't put much effort into it. If I was to continue with this game, that would be something I would want to do. I an really thinking though, if I continue with the ECW, I might base the figures for some of Neil Thomas' rules.

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  3. John, I have a reasonable amount of information on the ECW if you need anything. Just let me know

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    1. Ian, Thank you for the offer. Donna and I have been on vacation. I have been thinking of the ECW. If this project goes on, I am thinking of making 8 or 9 man units. I have been looking at "The English Civil War 1642-1651: An Illustrated Military History" by Philip Hawthornwaite. The color plates are truly inspirational. I might just paint units as colored coat units; both sides used them. It would simplify painting.

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  4. I have a set of Ospreys for the ECW plus a number of other histories, including the Haythornwaite book. Just let me know.

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  5. Thank you. While on vacation we picked up a rescue dog. My wife has wanted a new dog since Molly's passing. Being a Jack Russell Terrier, I think the next couple of weeks any free time will be getting Jerry settled into our household.

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