A Taste of Victory & Every Bullet has its Billet.....Yes Please!

 

Just in time for Christmas comes these 2 new books for the best period in wargaming history!!!

Do we actually need more books on the Wars of the Late 17th century, I hear you ask???

Oh course we bloody do!!!!

Today's post is a bit of a homage to Mr Barry Hilton as the very clever chappie wrote both of these books!

The first is the long eagerly waited A Taste of Victory. Rather than me write about the book I've pinched Barry's blurb from his League of Augsburg blog.

 "All systems appear GO! I am expecting delivery of Taste of Victory! in the third week of December so am gearing up for the pre order. Delivery will be as soon as possible after that pending the usual Christmas postal challenges.

The book is 116 pages, full colour, hardback and printed by the same company who did such a good job on With Talon and Claw.

It contains 18 scenarios for Beneath the Lily Banners. Each can be played on a table between 6 x 4 and 6 x 6 feet in size over 2-3 hours.

The period covered by these scenarios is 1676 to 1693. The theatres are: Skane Wars, Great Turkish War, Morean War, Tangier, Sedgemoor Rebellion, Jacobite Wars in Ireland and Scotland, Nine Years War in Flanders, Rhineland, The Caribbean and North America.

The book is priced at £30 and postage will be £5 anywhere in the world for the pre-order reverting to normal postage rates when it goes on general release.

It is available here to pre order:  A TASTE OF VICTORY!

Pre-order link for USA: A TASTE OF VICTORY"

The second book Every Bullet has its Billet written by Mr Hilton and published by the almighty Helion & Company, is also available in December, you can register your interest on Helion's website here.

Once again why write my own when Helion explain the book excellently.

"From the Restoration of England’s monarchy until the end of the War of the League of Augsburg, nearly every country in Europe experienced conflict. Until recently, this period was perceived as a wargaming backwater overshadowed by the Thirty Years War fought 1618-1648 and the War of the Spanish Succession which followed from 1701-1714.
It is one of military history’s most colourful and exciting eras which saw the birth of regular armies and navies for most major European powers. Massive battles were fought on land and at sea from the frozen winters of Scandinavia to the searing summer heat of North Africa. Alliances were agreed, broken and remade and thrones changed hands in the name of religion and the pursuit of power.
This guide provides the kind of information wargamers require to take the step into a new period or, begin collecting a new army. It overviews the main conflicts and outlines major, minor and unusual battles.
How to create and paint your troops, information on uniforms and flags, which regiments fought where, the evolution of tactics and battlefield doctrines together with information on the legendary commanders who created them is all included.##The book is designed to act as a reference source and is not aligned with any particular rule set.
The title is a quote from a man who was a major influence on the entire period; Willem van Oranje, King William III."

BLB - NYW English Col Hastings regt of foot

The third and last of my recently painted units for our game at Broadside a few weeks ago and this one's Ferdinando Hasting's regt of foot.

The regiment was raised during the emergency of the Monmouth Rebellion in 1685. Theophilus Hastings, 7th Earl of Huntingdon was issued a warrant on 20 June 1685. As was customary, it was called Huntingdon's Regiment of Foot and based for recruiting in Buckinghamshire. The regiment was not ready in time for the battle of Sedgemoor on 6 July 1685 but was sent to Scotland in 1689 after the Protestant William of Orange acceded to the throne of England. The Earl of Huntingdon was considered disloyal to King William III so was replaced by his kinsman Ferdinando Hastings in December 1688.

At the Battle of Killiecrankie, in 1689, Hasting's Regiment were on the right of the English line, as they were at the back of the column during the advance into Killicrankie pass. As the Highlanders charged there was little time to fix bayonets and most of the soldiers turned and fled. Hasting's and Leven's Regiments mainly stood firm and 'maintained their ground till night'. However, at the close of battle General Mackay found himself alone at one point and managed to push his way clear on his horse. It was now dark and the only men he could find were those of Leven's and Hasting's. His army was reduced to 500, the rest were killed or dispersed. They were the only English regiment on the English side at the battle.

Later in 1689 Hasting's regt were sent to Ireland, where they were involved in action at The Boyne (Rossmare), Siege of Cork 1690, Siege of Kinsale 1690, Drumaugh 1691 and Lismore 1691.

In 1692, Hastings' Regiment sailed to Flanders and, in 1694, took part in the disastrous amphibious assault at Camaret Bay on the French coast, to seize the port of Brest.

Hastings was described by the historian Fortesque as, 'One of the most unscrupulous scoundrels, even in those days of universal robbery, that ever robbed a Regiment.' His misdemeanour came to light in January 1695 when the people of Royston petitioned the House of Commons for the failure of the authorities to pay their soldiers so that they were unable to settle their bills for food and lodgings there.

There were several ways that the Colonel of a regiment could profit at the expense of the soldiers, and the government. The soldiers' clothing was paid from 'off-reckonings' which were deducted from their income of 8d a day (8 old pence). This fund could be increased by claiming for more soldiers than were actually in the regiment. Also illegal deductions were made from the remaining 6d a day so that soldiers actually received very little, and sometimes nothing at all for weeks on end. The following month, on 23 Feb, the regimental chaplain petitioned the House of Commons for non-receipt of pay. The regimental agent, Tracy Pauncefoot, could not supply an answer to this complaint and, having been taken into custody by the Sergeant-at-Arms following the Royston petition, he was now put in the Tower of London.

A few days later Colonel Hastings and four other officers were questioned by the House. Pauncefoot also attended and was found to have misappropriated 500 guineas. The findings of the House stated, 'In particular Colonel Hastings hath compelled some officers of his regiment to take their clothes from him at extravagant rates, by confining and threatening those who would not comply therewith..' On 4th March 1695 Ferdinando Hastings was deprived of his commission. But eight years later he sent a petition to Queen Anne to take into account his long service and sickness. He was granted 'Brigadiers pay from the contingencies if there be room for it.'

 In 1695 Sir John Jacob became the colonel, and it was as Jacob's Regiment of Foot that they returned to England at the end of the war in 1697.

Postie Rejects@Broadside Wargames Show

Posties Rejects will be making their annual trip to Sittingborne this weekend, for Milton Hundred Wargames Club's show "Broadside"
We're hosting a demo game on The Battle of Killicrankie 1689, using the newest version of Beneath the Lily Banners "The War of Three Kings"
Come and check out the game, it should be very interesting!!

We've had a few practice games in the last one, due to some disastrous die rolls BigLee managed to hand the game to the Williamites and change history!!!

Sunday 9th June

Broadside Wargames Show
Swallows Leisure Centre
Central Aveneue
Sittingbourne
Kent
ME10 4NT

BLB - NYW Scots Brigade Barthold Balfour's regt

The second newly painted unit for Beneath the Lily Banners "War of Three Kings" and the second regt form the Scots Brigade.
Barthold Balfours regt were raised in  1603 by the Duke of Buccleugh for Dutch service.
Jumping forward to 1672, they were commanded by John Kirckpatrick, At the start of the Franco-Dutch War they were garrisoned in Maastricht, defending the siege lines there in 1673. Also fighting at Grave 1674, Maastricht again in 1676, Cassel 1677 ans St Denis in 1678.

In 1684 Barthold Balfour became the Colonel. James II ordered them home on account of the Monmouth rebellion, they along with Mackay's and Ramsay's arriving in Gravesend (my hometown) on 30th June 1685. They arrived too late for the Battle of Sedgemoor, so were sent back to the United Provinces unbloodied.
They crossed the channel once again in 1688, were they were transferred form the Dutch establishment to the English.

The next year they fought on the left of the English lines at the Battle of Killicrankie. Their Lt-Col George Lauder was sent off to command a Fuzileer/Grenadier detachment on the extreme flank of their lines. Its not actually known what went wrong at Killicrankie with Balfour's regt. its written that they didn't even fire a shot at the Highlanders before all turning tail and running. In the turmoil of their retreat Balfour was cornered by the Highlanders and skewered to a tree!

With the death of Balfour, the Colonelcy was given to George Lauder who only just escaped death himself at Killicrankie. In 1692 they fought at Steenkirke, 1693 at Neerwinden and finally covered the Siege of Namur in 1695.

In October 1696 the ' Lawder' regiment is still on the list of troops to be maintained by William III. Somewhere in late 1697 or in 1698 the regiment was then returned to the United Provinces. In 1699 it was designated to garrison Bergen op Zoom.

BLB - NYW Scots Brigade Ramsey's regt

Posties Rejects will be putting a game on at Milton Hundred's wargame show "Broadside" in Sittingborne on 9th June. Its my turn again to host the game, I was going to do a Donnybrook extravaganza, with loads of the figures I painted up during the Challenge.  But there's not enough room to do the battle I wanted to do on a 6x4 table.
So I switched scales back down to 15mm and I will be using Beneath the Lily Banners "The War of the Three Kings" rules. We've had a few practice games and ironed out a few bits, now I've just got to try and learn them off by heart, trouble is, I'm 51 and already have a mind full of mostly useless info. Trying to pack in all the changes to BLB is proving rather difficult!!
I needs some oily fish me thinks!!!
Anyway, I needed a few units for this said 15mm battle, I did consider just painting up the command stands and using other already painted units, But I knew in my heart that this would bug the crap out of me. So I've painted them up, the figures from Essex were destined to be French re-inforcements, but instead of the grey they now wear red.

These fine looking fellows are Ramsay's regiment, who were raised in 1675 by Alexander Colyear and were one of the three Scottish regiments who were in Dutch service. They defended the lines at the Siege of  Maastrich in 1676. Colyear died in 1680 and commanded was handed over to James Douglas the then Lieutenant -Colonel. John Wauchope then became Colonel in 1685. He obeyed King James VII's summons to return to Scotland in 1688 as the country moved into the Glorious Revolution. King William removed Wauchope from command which passed onto George Ramsay.

On 27th July 1689, Ramsay's regt fought in the English loss at the Battle of Killicrankie, half the regiment held fast against the Highlander charge, while the other half fled before the Highlanders made contact. In 1691 Ramsay was promoted to Colonel of the Scots Guards, so commanded was given to Sir Charles Graham. In August 1692 they fought at the Battle of  Steenkirke, where Graham was wounded.

In 1694 Graham's regt and another 8 regiments were ordered to hold Dixmude, while other allies besiged Namur. Dixmude was under the command of Major-General Ellenberg and were expected to hold out for at least 8 days. But they surrendered after onlt 2 days, with 4,046 soldiers being taken prisoner. This raised suspicions of bribery and mental weakness.
At Gent a Court Martial was held, both Ellenberg and Graham were found guilty. Graham was dissmissed from service while Ellenberg was executed!!

The regiment then went full circle in 1695 with the son of their founder Alexander Colyear, Walter Philip Colyear taking over command

The flags are mine, made many moons ago, there are now several versions of Ramsay's available to buy, most, including those by Warfare Miniatures don't look like my versions at all, but hey ho they'll do for me.!

More from the Scots Brigade in the next post.

AHPC 6 Donnybrook - 25mm NYW English Artillery

About time I posted again...........

We'll move back in time, to mid March for my 5th entry into the Painting Challenge

and we have yet more Donnybrook figures!!!

This is the Dixon artillery set, from their Grand Alliance range which can be purchased here, for the measly sum of £6.95.

Which for 3 figures and an artillery piece is a bargain!

   

Although in the title I called this an English piece, it can be used for the French or Rebel 
artillery as well as the uniforms were very similar.

AHPC 6 Bonus Round - The Duke of Monmouth

I had a few ideas for most of the bonus rounds, but the Gambler-Risk-taker was always going to be The Duke of Monmouth. Now I did consider this figure to be my Curtgeld as well and be the start of Curt's Nine Years War collection!!! but he's got enough on his plate at the moment, so he'll be added to my collection, with the Wild Bill Hickok figure from my previous post for my Curtgeld.

The figure is from Reiver Castings ,who make an excellent dynamic collection of NYW figures, they're a tad on the large side but still fit in well with Foundry and Warfare, but not with Front Rank!. I gotta admit I do much prefer Warfare minis, but I haven't managed to get any of their figures painted so far??

 James Scott, duke of Monmouth, byname (until 1663) James Fitzroy, or Crofts (born April 9, 1649, Rotterdam, Netherlands, died July 15, 1685, London, England), claimant to the English throne who led an unsuccessful rebellion against King James II in 1685. Although the strikingly handsome Monmouth had the outward bearing of an ideal monarch, he lacked the intelligence and resolution needed for a determined struggle for power.

Monmouth was the illegitimate son of King Charles II and Lucy Walter, who claimed to be the king’s wife; the two, however, had little contact after 1649. James was born in the Netherlands, where the couple had met as both sought refuge during the English Civil War; the conflict ended in 1651 with the defeat of Charles’s forces. Lucy and young James moved frequently, and in 1656 she took him to London. Within months of their arrival, the two were arrested and briefly imprisoned in the Tower of London by the republican government. After their release in 1656, Lucy and James journeyed to Flanders. In 1658 an agent of Charles kidnapped James and took him to Paris, where he was looked after by Lord William Crofts. Two years later Charles was restored to the throne, and in 1662 James was returned to England and installed at court as a favourite of the king. On February 14, 1663, Charles created him duke of Monmouth, earl of Doncaster, and Baron Scott of Tindale and made him a Knight of the Garter. On April 20, Monmouth was married to the wealthy Scottish heiress Anne Scott, countess of Buccleuch; they were created duke and duchess of Buccleuch, and he took the surname of Scott. Even at this early date some Englishmen viewed him as a possible successor to Charles. Since Monmouth was a Protestant, his political opportunities increased when Charles’s brother and acknowledged heir, James, duke of York, converted to Roman Catholicism about 1668.

Monmouth was made captain of the king’s guard in 1668 and admitted to the privy council in 1670. During the Anglo-Dutch War of 1672–74, he commanded English troops on the European continent. He became captain general of all the armed forces in England in 1678, and on June 22, 1679, he triumphed over the Scottish Presbyterian rebels at Bothwell Bridge, Lanark. Meanwhile, the succession to the throne had become a burning issue in England, where anti-papal hysteria had been aroused by rumours that the Catholics were plotting to seize power. Charles blocked all parliamentary attempts to exclude James from the royal inheritance, and in September 1679 he banished Monmouth from the kingdom. Nevertheless, the duke quickly returned in defiance of his father and set about building up a following. In this crisis Monmouth was championed for the succession by Anthony Ashley Cooper, earl of Shaftesbury, the leader of the anti-Catholic Whigs in Parliament. In 1682–83 Monmouth became involved in the Whig conspiracy against Charles and James, known as the Rye House Plot. Although pardoned for his part in this enterprise, he was banished from court and took refuge in the Netherlands early in 1684.

Upon the death of Charles II on February 6, 1685, the duke of York acceded to power as James II. Monmouth landed at Lyme Regis, Dorset, with 82 followers in June and quickly raised over 4,000 men, but he was unable to rally the gentry to his rebellion. On July 6 his army of peasantry was totally defeated on the plain of Sedgemoor, Somerset. He fled but was soon captured and beheaded.

NYW Flags - Earl of Leven's regt

A request for fellow TMPer OhBugger

He was after some info on the flags carried by the Earl of Leven's regt, during the Nine Years War.

So here's my take on the flags, not quite sure why they were never posted when I made

 them a few years ago??

I can't find my original master copy flags so I've used the flag from my file, so I'm

 afraid it will blur slightly if you blow it up too big??

The flags in action!

AHPC 6 Donnybrook - The crew of HMS Ruby

Can't believe this is only my 3rd entry into the Challenge proper?? 

And NO, they're not the same figures I entered into the last bonus round!

The figures are  all Foundry figures, apart from the leader which is a Casting Room
figure, they were painted the same time as the chaps 

from HMS Badger Dragon and are the other half of the Foundry packs.

I did wonder why some of the figures in the packs I bought from ebay had what looked
 like tight curly hair??

Now I know why...Doh!

And there was me, as I was painting the buggers up, thinking, perhaps I should 

paint one of these as a coloured chap??

Oh well?

 These rogues earned me 45 points and pushed me into 47th place, .And have a few things up my sleeve to hopefully get me up to my 500 point mark.....fingers crossed!!!

AHPC 6 Nautical Bonus Round - HMS Dragon

Another continuation for my Tangiers project makes an appearance in the Nautical Bonus round.
Here are the crew of HMS Dragon, who along with the crews from the Ruby, Garland and Guernsey, were ordered ashore by Admiral Herbert......

"Admiral Herbert landed about 500 of the Seamen , he having orders to attend with the fleet during the war, composed of so many companies with a company of Grenadiers, with the compleat number of Officers to each company, of the sea-officer, and volunteers he made choice of Captain George Barthell who formally had been a captain in my Lord Dumbarton's Regiment, to command that battalion of Seamen."

From the Diary of Sir James Halkett Tangier 1680.

The Battalion fought in many skirmishes and in one major battle, so I thought it rude not to include them in the English army.

Nobody makes Sailors for 1680, so I've used Wargames Foundry Pirates, I chose packs that were all musket armed, while Captain Barthell is another old Foundry figure, now sold through their other arm The Casting Room.

These fine looking fellows were entered into the Nautical bonus round, I'm up against some very stiff competition, if you'd like to vote for my or any of the other excellent entries click this link!

AHPC 6 Tamsin O'Leary - L'amour

I seem to have caused a tad of controversy with my last entry into the Bonus round,

apparently I'm gonna get mauled by 2 Lionesses????

Can't wait for the Risk Taker bonus round, perhaps Anne and Tamsin have commissioned a sculptor to model a figure of me on the guillotine?

I didn't finish in the top 3 but was very pleased to get a mention in Curt's Winners post, but I think that could be for the utter madness in taking on the two ladies??

So here's the offending post!

I'd like to introduce you all to Tamsin O'Leary.

Now I know I could well be digging my own grave here, but how could I resist????

In the Civilian Mob faction of Donnybrook, there is a character called the Doxy.

The local Femme Fatale is secretly in the pay of your faction leader. She is able to use

her ample charms to tempt a randomly selected character away from the
battle for indeterminate periods and divert him to her chamber.

In the game, when her card comes out you throw a D6, if she is within 6 inches of a enemy character.
on a....

1. Her obvious charms have failed her this turn, She needs to reapply that make up!
2. Tamsin misunderstands her brief and lures a character from her own side. He will spend D3 turns in her boudoir.
3. An enemy character falls for her charms and misses D3 turns in her company.
4. A enemy character falls for her charms as above, but if he is attached to a unit, they also follow him, if they fail a morale check. They will also remain still for D3 turns!
5. A character falls for her charms,but when they meet she attacks him with her dagger, hidden in her stockings. The Doxy will strike first.
6. A character falls for her charms, after a quick kiss and cuddle she slips her dagger into his heart!

Alas he is no more.....

AHPC6 - French or Jacobite or Rebel Foot for Donnybrook

Yep........I know my Donnybrook shenanigans is/was supposed to be in Tangiers, but in true Wargamer fashion, I've expanded before I've actually finished Tangiers??
These 12 Foundry figures were purchased from evilbay, along with many others for a very handsome price, my original plan was to only have Warfare minis for army figures for the period but I couldn't resist the bargain!

I already have a sizable English force, (pics to follow soon), so I decided to paint up some Jacobite Irish, and as I was looking back over my uniform notes I had one of those "Light-bulb" moments. Why not paint them up so they represent both a Jacobite and French unit?? Now anyone who knows anything about the Nine Years War will know that 95% of the French army were dressed in a grey coat with red cuffs. So all I had to do pick a Jacobite unit dressed in grey coat with red cuffs??
Also these will do fine with a few additions for a Rebel unit for Sedgemoor!

These and some other figures pushed me up to 43rd in the Challenge!

AHPC 6 - Defensive Terrain Bonus Round - Dressed to Steal.

These bonus rounds are killing me Curt.....
Usually terrain items are not allowed in the Challenge so I emailed Curt for a little advice. He said "Use your imagination?" So I did!

.....................................

London, 1688.

Every Saturday night in fine houses members of High Society would meet to party the night away at Balls and Galas. The biggest and most opulent was that of Sir Cloudsy Butterworth, 2nd Earl of Knightsbridge and his good lady wife Winifred.

It was at one such party not long ago that the two roughest villains and vagabonds stole poor Sir Cloudsy's fine collection of Moorish weaponry that he picked up while he served as Vice Governor to Percy Kirke in Tangier. The collection was said to be worth thousands.Quite how the two villains managed to relieve Sir Cloudsy of his treasure is not known.

But who are these two villains??

Recently Terrence Campbell and his good lady wife Denise have moved to London from Cornwall, where they apparently made their fortune in Copper and Tin mining.  They have been invited to all of the recent and forthcoming social events in good ol' London town..........but all is not as it seems. For Denise and Terrence are in fact the Thieves!!

It was them who stole Sir Cloudsy's treasure, it is them who pray on the filthy rich, whom they befriend then steal from.

For they are not really Mr and Mrs Campbell, they are in fact England's two most wanted criminals and have been sentenced to hang as soon as they are caught for previous crimes.

May I present the rouges of the fleapit of London and the masters of disguise..................................Dee Fensiff & Terry Ain!

If you feel inclined pop on over to the Bonus Round page a cast a vote. There are some stunning entries into this round, Millsy and Sir Michael Awdry to name but a few!!!
The figures are from Ainsty Castings from their Three Musketeers range, although I can't find them on their web page??

AHPC Epic Fail - Bonus Round Doctor Doctor

I've got to admit, I was stumped as to what I could paint up for my Epic Fail entry.

I did have one idea but thought that it would better suit another of the Bonus Rounds, so fingers crossed I get the chance to paint it up!

You may have noticed a distinct lack of comments from my good self recently, I'm afraid my lovely daughter Nieve is to blame. For Christmas we bought her a gel pen set, which after you've drawn a picture, you must heat the gel, which can then be pulled off the plastic paper to make a 3D model. 

Sounds cool right?

Wrong!

It's wrong when the said daughter gets bored heating the gel and leaves her artwork on top of her Dads laptop!!!

The unheated gel dripped all over and into my keyboard and now my spacebar doesn't work!

So I've had to download a virtual one, which is quite annoying!

Kids ah! Who'd have 'em!

Anyway on with the figures........

So for my Epic Fail bonus round I chose 2 sets of surgeon figures for my Donnybrook shenanigans set in both Europe and Tangiers.

The larger base is from Redoubt Miniatures and its from their ECW range. I had to get the file out and smooth out the baggy pantoloons and try and make them look a little more from the NYW. I also chopped two heads off, replacing them with floppy headed chaps!

The smaller base is from Warlord Games and once again are from their ECW range.(I wish there were figures our there for this period!)

I've gotta say thanks to the guys at Warlord, I bought the figures at Salute last year but whilst cleaning the figures up in December, I realised that the Surgeon figure was missing, so after a frantic call,the Surgeon arrived in the post, can't believe it took me 8 months to notice!

This is my second post and I'm yet to post in the Challenge proper, although I have been painting bits and bobs and have a few figures finished, I've been concentrating on figures for the bonus rounds. My 1st entry took me to the lofty heights of 49th!! So hopefully the only way is up!

But what better Epic Fail can there be but the death and destruction and utter pointlessness of war!!!

So if you'd like to cast  a vote for my or any other of the excellent entries, click this link