The Relief of Norchester at Partizan - all the Gabions in the World!

Here is Norchester- a town well fortified, now, with its new line of modern defences. The medieval walls are now partially protected by trenches, two horn works and the famous Bishop's Bastion.

The siege lines have expanded, too. Next outing I hope to have a tented camp to stand alongside the baggage train.

Above and below, the battle from behind the Parliamentarian lines; left and centre.

... and the right. Here, the Parliamentarian cavalry triumphed- Prince Rupert had to leap a hedge to seek the somewhat illusory protection of a unit of Royalist forlorn hope!

Above, the normally sleepy village of Soggy Bottom. The impious crophead dragoons have stabled their horses in the churchyard! And finally, below, a short video of the battlefield.

Partizan was a fine event, as ever- very well organised, indeed, a well-oiled machine. There were some super games of which my favourite was Aughrim, which I'd have watched all day, if I'd not been a tad busy. That Omaha Beach game looked most impressive, and the Bodkin's Roman vs. Sassanid game, and others. It was super chatting with so many people, at least five re-enactors pointed out their regiments on the table. A terrific show!

The Relief of Norchester at Salute 51

Here are some super photos of the Relief of Norchester game that my friends helped me take to Salute last weekend. The photos were taken by chum Ian Notter. Above is a shot of the parliamentarian Great Battery, which had just commenced its bombardment of the eponymous city.

...and here is the city Norchester, itself. You will be able to make out the tall buildings of the Flemish merchants' quarter (Norchester exports wool to the Low Countries), and the bombardment has already damaged the ancient bell tower of St. Andrew's church. Beyond the city is Norchester Great Wood.

The other end of the battlefield is defined by the Bishop's Wood. Above and below, there was a massive cavalry clash on this wing, with over 300 horse in 15 regiments fighting to more or less mutual destruction. We used the For King and Parlaiment rules to fight the battle, everyone picked them up and it ran smoothly.

On the other wing, above, Hesilrige's heavily-armoured lobsters (right foreground) held the Parliamentarian left flank throughout the day, resisting numerous charges!

And finally here is a view down the battlefield showing many of the 27 foot battalia that were engaged. The battle was extremely close- the Royalists were behind most of the day, and down to four medals just after lunch, but managed to squeak a narrow victory an hour later, forcing the parliamentarians to lift the siege!

Above is a brief video that I shot before the event.

...and I was delighted to win an award for the game- best 25/28mm game, second year in a row!

I'd like to thank everyone who helped m to deliver the project, particularly Ian Notter who helped a great deal with the modelling and advice, as well as the photography. Huge thanks to those who played on the day and helped me to engage with the public- especially FK&P stealth co-author Andrew Brentnall. Also thanks to everyone who dropped by for a chat, and apologies to anyone I didn't manage to talk to- it was insanely busy. And finally a big thank you to the South London Warlords who, as ever, did a fantastic job running the event.

I will be taking the game to Partizan next month. If you'd like to play, please drop me a line. In the meanwhile, the brave citizens intend to bolster the defences of Norchester with some state-of-the-art renaissance fortifications, to be erected in front of the medieval walls.

Montrose- To Win or Lose it All

Hi all, today I'm launching a new scenario book and also an accompanying "extra rules" book, for use with the TtS! For King and Parliament English Civil War rules. The 90-page Montrose- To Win or Lose it All scenario book contains nine free-standing scenarios covering the Marquis of Montrose's battles in Scotland in 1644-45. Eight are historical and one, a "what if". Each scenario contains a background briefing, separate briefings for each of the players, a deployment plan and an order of battle. The scenarios can be played individually or in sequence, as a campaign. The book also includes a background to the campaign and descriptions of the principle personalities involved, including Montrose, Alastair MacColla and Archibald Campbell. It could be adapted for use with other rule systems.

The 26-page Celtic Fringe Extra Rules book is intended for use alongside the TtS! For King and Parliament English Civil War rules and the Montrose "To Win or Lose it All" scenario book. By Celtic Fringe, we refer to the land and people west and north of the "Highland Line" in Scotland, and their Gaelic-speaking cousins across the Irish Sea. The book contains extra rules that build on the For King and Parliament mechanisms, modelling the traditional styles of fighting that still survived in these areas. As well as the Montrose scenario book, it will also support two planned future scenario books in the same series, concerned with the Insurgency and the Catholic Confederation in Ireland, and with Cromwell's campaigns in Ireland and Scotland.

These are available both as print books, in the usual-for-TtS! wire O bound format, and as digital downloads. If you live within the European Union, please purchase the digital downloads from here on Wargames Vault.

There is a modest discount if you buy both books together, and postage will also be somewhat  cheaper, especially if you are outside the UK. Enjopy!

Mea Culpa

...it has been two months since my last post! A mix of real life stuff- and the BigRedBatShop has been insanely busy (thanks!). I've also been getting ready for publishing the ECW Montrose book towards the month end, and an updated Medieval Army List Book.

I've been trying to sort out some additional ECW cavalry for the big Salute game. So far, I have three squadrons of Dutch ready for flocking, two Swedish regiments half finished, a Dutch regiment needing snagging and basing. One more Swedish regiment is unseen, since it is still mustering. By Salute I hope to have 27 regiments of 18 men plus some separate squadrons.

In other news, I've just added some new bases in the BigRedBatShop- new command base sizes and a variant on the popular FK&P13b.

Rally Round the King!

Over on the Yarkshire World Cup of Wargames Rules poll, the King is in danger! Our FK&P rules are currently trailing a tantalising 40 or so votes behind the popular "O" Group rules, with only a little over a day to go. Can you help to save the King? If you've not yet voted, please vote here. Ask your friends to vote, too, please! If we make it though this round, I'll co-write another free scenario with Andrew Brentnall, and perhaps even take it to Salute!

Bring on the Empty Horses

Above are the completed horse casualty markers for the Roundway Down game (click for a close-up), and below are the infantry casualty markers. The miniatures are a mix of Bicorne and some old Redoubts and a couple of Warlords The dead horses, above, I converted from a Bicorne horse and Bicorne very kindly then cast a bunch up for me (I've not seen them added in their shop). All the minis were painted by Shaun McTague or me, and chum Ian did the expert flocking, which I then tufted, dry-brushed and varnished. I added the flag for the wounded ensign; poignant, or what?

The title reference is from a David Niven auto-biography. The phrase was used by Michael Curtiz, the Film Director of The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936), when attempting to explain on set that he wanted a lot of rider-less horses in the background of the climactic charge; so it is fairly appropriate for Roundway Down!

My recent lack of posts has been because I've been very busy writing modelling for the Roundway Down game at Partizan.  I've almost finished this- just a few hundred tufts to go. I am currently working on the next release of the Medieval Army list book for the month end- I expect to add at least two or three new lists. I'm also finishing my contribution to a Helion book on Ceresole 1544, and writing some ancient army lists, and doing a little work on Renaissance. Lastly I was interviewed at length on the Plastic Crack Podcast, you can watch it here.  Busy, busy, busy!  :-)

Roundway Down Roundup

I've been busy writing this month and haven't had time to post anything, so here's a sneak peak of the last minis for the For King and Parliament Roundway Down project. The officers are based, the casualties based, two new regiments of cavalry based. There's just these bit bringing up the rear - six artillery pieces and a limber. These are all painted except for the three light guns in the foreground, which I'll hopefully tackle tonight. 

I still need to do some work on the battlefield which is a huge, bare hill. I more or less know how I'm going to do it but that's not quite the same as having it done!

In other news, I'm working on the next update to the TtS! Ancient army list, which is due out on Saturday 30th. There will be three new lists bringing the total to 166 lists.  I'm also ready to publish the next Even Stronger, the first update to the rules in over a year. There will be some interesting new rules which I hope people will enjoy, in particular a new take on Sumerian battle cars.

Finally I recently found a big bag of gold and silver (plated) treasure- literally- and have completely restocked the shop with Victory Medals. Unfortunately these will be the last such medals I'll be stocking, because the supplier's wholesale price recently went up by 50%, which makes them unaffordable- once these are gone, these are gone.  So if you want to add some bling to your game, now's the time! Below is one of my favourites, the Pegasus of Corinth. Of course the best sellers are the Roman denarii.

ECW veterans

 

On Saturday I came across an old ECW regiment that I based up perhaps three years ago to illustrate how I'd model a unit on a 20cm frontage; it's the one featured in the colour pages in the For King and Parliament rule book. It's never been used, because I have always gamed on 30cm, but I've long thought about rebasing it. I worked out a shortcut to do this, by inserting three FK&P7 bases on the edged of the existing FK&P6's, adding extra files to the pike and to each wing of shotte. I just needed to paint an additional seven minis to bulk it out and, on a whim, I did this over the weekend.

The regiment is only in two ranks, unlike my other units which have three, but that's not an issue as I intend it to represent an understrength unit. The minis (many painted by Shaun McTague- the additional minis I repainted from eBay purchases) are a mix of Renegades and Bicornes, and feel like they are veterans.

I don't have a name for this unit, which is fairly generic- probably Parliamentarian as the sashes are orange. I'm open to suggestions! I'll post a better picture when it is flocked.

The Siege of Norchester Scenario PDF published

Today I'm publishing the digital edition of the "Siege of Norchester", a scenario book written by chum Robert Avery. The Siege of Norchester is a supplement for TtS! For King & Parliament that contains twelve free-standing, fictional scenarios in a loose chronological order. 

The 66 page PDF tells the story of the investment of the fictional, Royalist-held city of Norchester. It starts with the Parliamentarians gradually pushing the Royalist foraging parties back into the city itself, then looks at the Royalist attempts to delay the construction of encircling works. There’s an assault on the outskirts of Norchester and then a Royalist attempt to get a messenger through to the King to ask for aid. Finally, there’s the arrival of a Royalist relief force, the fall of Norchester and the attempted escape of the main Cavalier protagonists.    The same officers and units are used throughout the campaign, and it is hoped that the players will come to adopt and recognise them as their own or the enemy. 

The pack is designed to give players who don't have enough time to write their own scenarios a number of games that they can play with little or no preparation. All you have to do is print out the game and player briefings, set up the table according to the map, break out the figures and cards, and start the first turn. You don't even need to print the pack out in full: just the pages you need for the scenario you're going to play.

The games can be played either as a series of linked games or as a collection of one-off battles. To emphasise: each scenario is free standing and they do not have to be played in any particular order…but it is anticipated that players will play them in order as a campaign, keeping a running total of each sides’ score as they go along. The pack provides a Campaign Record Sheet as an easy way of doing so.

Finally, although specifically designed for FK&P, with a little work the scenarios can be adapted for any set of English Civil War/Renaissance rules: the basic elements of why, where and with what each side is fighting being largely common to all systems.

So whether you’re for the King or for Parliament, The Siege of Norchester gives you everything you need for many hours of joyful gaming!

You can order "The Siege of Norchester" from the BigRedBatShop or if you prefer (or if you are based in the EU) from Wargames Vault.

Marlowe to Maidenhythe FK&P scenario eBook

Today I've loaded up this exciting new scenario eBook, written by Robert Avery, into the BigRedBatShop.

The 66 page Marlowe to Maidenhythe scenario eBook is a digital file designed for the TtS! For King and Parliament English Civil War rules, but useful with other ECW rule systems, too.

It contains twelve free-standing fictional scenarios set around in the counties of Buckinghamshire and Berkshire during and shortly after the English Civil War. They tell the story of a series of clashes between Sir John Boulters (for the King) and Sir Christopher Grey (for Parliament). 

Each scenario contains a background briefing, separate briefings for each of the players, a deployment plan and orders of battle. 

The scenarios can be played individually or in sequence, as a campaign. Most of the characters and many of the units recur throughout the campaign.

You can buy it in BigRedBatshop:

Marlowe to Maidenhythe

Or, if you are in the EU, you can buy it from here:

Marlowe to Maidenhythe

Enjoy!

Stow-on-the-Wold Scenario published

Cover

The For King and Parliament Battle of Stow-on-the-Wold Scenario is a digital file, designed for use with the TtS! For King and Parliament English Civil War rules, but which could be adapted to work with other rule systems, too.

A sample page from the scenario booklet

Stow-on-the-Wold is a modest scenario depicting the last major battle of the First English Civil War, which occurred when the last Royalist field army, led by the valiant Jacob, Lord Astley, was brought to ground by a superior Parliamentarian force. It is a modest-sized battle with only 21 units. It will suit two to four players, or solo play.

The Royalist OOB

The eight-page scenario PDF includes a brief account of the campaign and the battle, reconstructed orders of battle for both sides, and a deployment diagram. It can be viewed on a tablet, or printed out and bound.

Sample page of unit cards

Also included are the For King and Parliament Battle of Stow-on-the-Wold unit cards, designed by Ian Notter. There are cards for the general officers, some of the colonels, and all the units that we have been able to identify as being present at the battle, or surmise were there. These can be printed out on card, and used, in conjunction with the scenario and rules, to re-fight the battle.

The scenario and unit cards can be purchased here.

If you are planning to re-fight the battle using For King and Parliament, you might also want to buy a 3' x 4' 10cm cross-grid plains mat.

Finally, the For King and Parliament ECW rules can be purchased here.

Edgehill Scenario and Unit Cards published!

I've just published two exciting new downloads for use with the For King and Parliament ECW rules.

The first download is our Edgehill 1642 scenario. Edgehill 1642 was the first major battle of the English Civil War, and amongst the largest. The 18 page PDF includes a brief account of the campaign and the battle, reconstructed orders of battle for both sides, deployment diagrams and photos of beautifully painted wargames figures. It can be viewed on a tablet, or printed out and bound. The scenario, designed for the TtS! For King and Parliament English Civil War rules but could be adapted to work with other rule systems, too. It is a large and well-tested scenario that will suit two to six players.

The second download, below, is a 17 page digital file of unit cards, which can be printed, cut out and used to re-fight Edgehill, in conjunction with the scenario and the For King and Parliament rules (although the cards could be used to fight the battle with other rule systems, too).

There are cards representing all the general officers, some colonels and all the units that we have been able to identify as present at the battle. They are additional cards for Parliamentarian reinforcements that might have influenced the battle, had they arrived in time. There are also cards permitting an alternative deployment of the Royalist foot in a Thirty Years War "Swedish" style, which may have been used in the battle. There are card overlays that will indicate whether your horse is pursuing, or your foot formed up in hedgehog. Lastly, there's an explanatory booklet which explains how to prepare and use the cards.

The cards can be printed and cut out either for use with a 10cm grid (9' x 4' playing surface) or a 7.5cm grid (6' x 3' playing surface). They can also be used in conjunction with miniatures, taping each card under a unit's base, so that only the tag with the unit's name and details upon it, protrudes. A really useful way of showing which unit is in which brigade!

You can buy the Edgehill scenario and/or the Edgehill unit cards here. 

Edgehill - Unit cards - Sneak peek!

Here are a couple of images from the Edgehill Unit Cards pack. The cards are designed by my chum Ian Notter, based loosely on the images in the Streeter Naseby engraving. Here is a page from the introductory pack that accompanies the cards, and, below it, an image of a sheet of the unit cards, themselves.

These are some of the Parliamentarian Edgehill foot; large units, eight  ranks deep, so with an extra (fourth) hit. We have added uniform colours, where known (not often!), sometimes we have guessed. The flags indicate who the officer for the brigades is, and his superior general. All the information needed for play with For King and Parliament is on the card tab (save, ammo, battalion guns and so forth). If you laminate the cards, then you could use them with a whiteboard pen.

The whole Edgehill OOB, with lots of "what if" units, will be included in the download. Hopefully I'll have it in the shop on Wednesday or Thursday. If it proves popular, we will give the same treatment to some of the other battles of the ECW; perhaps we could produce a set of generic unit cards for use with the game.

Edgehill Scenario- sneak peeks

Here are a few sample pages from the imminent Edgehill scenario booklet- due out later this week.  :)

Edgehill Scenario and Unit Cards coming soon....

Very shortly I will have two new For King and Parliament products coming out- a PDF scenario booklet, based on Andrew Brentnall's excellent and well-tested game, and a pack of stunning unit cards designed by Ian Notter, which can be printed out and used to re-fight the battle (if you don't have three or four thousand suitable minis ready to go, that is ;-) ). Here are the covers, I'll post some images from inside, in the next day or so!

Watch this space!