17th century warfare. A wargaming necessity

Do you ever come across one of those periods in history and think "I would really love to game that period" but financial restraints and that annoying, little nagging voice at the back of your mind says "who are you going to game this period with? No one you game with collects this period"? Of course you do and I'm no different. 

However back in summer 2017 when I was lucky enough to find Warlord Games Pike And Shotte For King And Country starter set at a much reduced price the fact that I would have no one to play against for the time being (I'm the optimistic type, why else would I blog? :D  ) didn't deter me from splashing the cash. 

The English Civil Wars (or War of the Three Kingdoms if you will) and the Thirty Years War era really, really interests me, especially as, in the case of the English Civil War, it's fairly easy to visit battlefields, even up here in Scotland.

Once back home, my much caressed purchase naturally ended up languishing in the closet whilst the Pike And Shotte rule book was, now and then, taken down from the shelf,  drooled over then placed reverentially back on the shelf as those big battalions of the TYW/ECW era looked like they would never see the day of light under my command...<stifles manly sob> 

However gaming salvation was on the horizon in the shape of Daniel Mersey and Michael Leck's The Pikeman's Lament. A game firmly set in this period that didn't need those big battalions, in fact with what I had I need only add a box set or two of figures and I could field two opposing forces..Hurrah!! 

Added to that, I remembered that I had purchased the Donnybrook rules in 2016, in yet another fit of desire and optimism. So, after checking with Clarence Harrison, co-author of said rules, and finding that ECW/TYW forces could be easily used for games of Donnybrook, I had no excuse to allow the figures to languish any longer..Hurrah part the second!! 

  

The many temptations of Beelzebub!! A fine collection of rule sets that can be played using ECW/TYW forces 

After these revelations all that was left was to get the figures out and start painting. Firstly though, I thought to myself "JimBob, you can't just throw figures together and start painting; that way lies madness and despair and much gnashing of teeth". "True" I replied, so I dug out the troops and put them into units for ease of painting and sanity. The Pikeman's Lament units come in groups of 6 and 12, nice sized groups for batch painting, so I quickly knocked out my first two (opposing forces) groups; too whit, two Forlorn Hope units.

First two units were these Forlorn Hope; a mix of Foundry and Warlord Games figures

Cavaliers...or are they Roundheads?...

These are the Roundheads...or are these the Cavaliers?

A scenic setting, Hoka Hey's town hall. Lovely wee kit.

Next up, while the froth was hot upon me, I painted up some Gallopers..or Trotters as these chaps could be either in The Pikeman's Lament..smashing...progress was being made

After a couple of weeks I had also painted these chaps too...Pikemen or..no, definitely Pikemen

more to do....much more..

Which is all well and good but I'm still a bit away from getting a game of The Pikeman's Lament.

The more observant of you will have noticed that among the books in the photo above that I haven't mentioned Sharp Practice and this is where that most excellent, IMHO, rule book comes in. I love Sharp Practice because I love narrative games and SP provides a great basis for narrative games. However, SP is aimed at a wargaming period that comes a good few years, about 50, after the ECW/TYW period. Fortunately, the Too Fat Lardies latest Christmas Special has an article dedicated to Sharp Practice set in the ECW. Result!! This gave me most of what I needed for my next project which is to run a game of Sharp Practice set in the English Civil War at Deep Fried Lard in Musselburgh this June!!
I have a few ideas for the setting and the opposing forces and the terrain, I just need to cracking. Anyway, stay tuned for updates on that project...