Border Ruffians - The Hired Help #1

This week I have been able ton finish a batch or 16th Century (possibly could be stretched to 17th Century) Highlanders who will act as paid heavies to bolster one of the Border Ruffian Families my-self and other club members are putting together for a forthcoming campaign when we all get allowed out to play again!

Once again, I'm afraid that I'm not sure of the make of these figures, as usual I sourced them as a job lot from eBay. The lot had them listed as Redoubt Miniatures figures and having checked their online catalogue - that certainly seems to be the case.

A cross section of some of my favourite figures from the batch

Four men armed with Calivars,

Same guys, from the opposite angle

These figures were fun to paint, all with a basic ochre / yellowish theme to represent unbleached or un-dyed materials woven into shirts and other garments.

Four more 'Humblies' armed with Calivars, some of the poses are very dynamic

And the same guys from the front. Note how some Highlanders often

dropped their Plaids to fight, whilst others wore them for extra protection against sword thrusts.

There were 21 figures in the lot, 20 are shown here, the last one which is also painted will be showcased in part two of the Hired Help posts , sometime in the future - just because to me he looks like an Irish Chieftain, rather than a Highlander. I'm probably wrong!

Another three Calivar men, two in Plaid, one without. 

At this time there were no specific Tartan 'Setts'

 for each clan / family just locally weaved cloth made to the maker's favourite pattern.

Closer view of the Calivar men, I did the plaids by blocking in the base

colour then adding the lines using fine nibbed felt-tip marker pens

So my understanding is that Highlanders were often brought in to help add strength to the Border families when they felt out numbered and at risk of serious harm. An alternative to Highlanders would have been Irish mercenaries, which as noted will be subject of my next painting batch...

A group of Highland archers

Archers from the front view, not all the Plaids were chequered, so I left a few plain, for variety.

One final point, these guys came undercoated in black, it was pretty tiresome having to re-undercoat in white, my preferred undercoat colour but that's the joy of sourcing figures on eBay.

The command team! Two drummers, a Piper and a Young Chieftain.

Final view of the command group, the Drummers look very Irish to me,

they may get a transfer when all is done on the next batch!

Siege Equipment Construction

By Steve Cast.

Before we get onto the photos the thing that inspired me to do this was the picture below that I came across of the siege of sterling castle in 1307. Now, I thought, if I can create something like that wouldn’t it be brilliant. However, it’s not going to be on the same scale because I’ll have to leave at least a 1’ x 1’ square to play the game on!

First pics are of the siege tower, now resplendent in its protective water drenched hides to stop those dastardly defenders from setting it alight. The diorama I’m going to make is going to be similar to the picture below with a wooden roadway preceding the tower.

In most of the books I have siege towers seem to have been moved on a planked roadway and as this picture depicts pulled along by oxen to a certain point. This would make sense considering that a siege tower is probably not the most stable of objects and one small pot hole or bit of uneven ground could have sent it toppling over and months of work would have been wasted let alone having to face the jeers from the enemy garrison as it came crashing down into a pile of splinters.

Next up is the breached wall. This is okay but could have been better and if I had a spare piece of wall I would have done it again having learnt from my mistakes. Now, I know I’m going to be a bit anal about this but what I don’t like about it is the fact that you can see where I cut out the resin wall to make the breach and also that the crenellations don’t line up.

Yup I know picky picky picky but I’d do it again. Top right is of the front, top left the back and the bottom is a top view

 Next up is the carpenter’s scene. This really is in the concept stage as you can see. This pic is an overall view. Small bit of woodland being chopped down by whatever medieval lumberjacks were called in the top right corner, the bit to the right of this with the green blob will depict the trees being stripped of their branches, the bit between the green blob and green card will be a horse dragging a tree to the saw pit, the green card holds the saw pit, the blobs to the top left of the card are the carpenters cutting the sawn trees into usable parts and the silver blob is a trebuchet brought from Irregular miniatures that will unceremoniously be cut to shreds to represent a trebuchet under construction with figures all over it plus scaffolding. All I need now is for Baccus to reopen its web site to new orders so I can buy some half decent carts.

Well lads that’s about it for the moment.

Quarantine Challenge: Latest Elizabethans and Border Ruffians

Here is my latest batch of Elizabethan Border Ruffians, as I often do, I have found this batch of figures on eBay and of uncertain manufacture. In this case I believe that they may be old Vendel Miniatures, which I believe are no no longer available...

Figures were painted using my usual methodology of white undercoat, add colours and then apply Army Painter Dark Tone followed by Matt Vanish from Windsor & Newton. Figures then based are flocked with electrostatic grass and other materials.

Two mounted Ruffians, all lances are steel spears, acquired separately,

used as they much more robust than lead versions,...

... and from the other side

Two more mounted ruffians, one English and one Scots - with the Targe

From the other side,

Border Family loyalties were somewhat fluid, when it came to national ties,

in times of national emergency, hey would turn out for whichever

nation was offering the best opportunities for the family.

Four Ruffians, three with calivars and one with pistol

Three more Ruffians, all with calivars

One bow armed Ruffian and one with a crossbow.

The final two Ruffians in the batch, one English and one Scots

Self Hibernation Campaign - The Great Contest: North of the Orange Plank Road

By Robert Hope

“Young Guns” dish it out to Yankee’s

Readers will recall that a certain northern newspaper recently ran a “little” story about us rebels “running short of volunteers”.  The photogenic drawing accompanying the article implied that our new recruits had a lot of growing up to do. 

Well it appears that this was just the spur that these southern boys required. Being young and small in stature does not appear to be a handicap when it comes to firing a rife as the young cadets of Innes brigade proved during the first two day of the Battle of the Wilderness: North of the Orange Plank Road.

On day one of the battle, in a one hour period just after mid-day, they dished out some 9 casualties against the heavy steps of the newly formed “Dutch” Brigade. In so doing they succeeded in blunting the Union advance. On day two of the Great Contest, as the battle continued to rage with immense severity and obstinacy they repeated this feat twice during an uninterrupted two hour period in mid afternoon. 

Most of the casualties being inflicted against the Vermont Brigade who decided to remain in column.  We have no hesitation in reporting the innumerable acts of heroism that these "young guns" performed within the “Marine Redoubt” and their strong devotion to their inspirational brigadier: Horatio Innes and their divisional commander: General Green. Such “esprit de corps” will be studied and written about by countless historians for many years to come.

After day two of the Great Contest, General Green said to our reporter:

“Boys like these are definitely short in supply. We are proud to have them fighting alongside our campaign hardened troops of Green’s Division. They have proven themselves in the harshest of conditions. True, most of the boys in Innes brigade are so short they can swing their legs when sitting on a stool. However, revenge is a dish best served cold. They may be young but they sure know how to load and fire a gun.”

Self Hibernation Campaign - The Great Contest: South of the Orange Plank Road

A letter home to Mother and Father

May the 6th 1864 

Dear Mother and Father 

I trust that you are both well. Once more I have permitted to seat myself down for the intention of writing you a few lines. Whether I will be able to send it through or not, I cannot tell. We have been out of our winter quarters some weeks and I have been in battle for two days. I expect that you will read all about it in the papers: that the result of the Great Contest has so far been in Southern Favour.

Today is the end of 6^th and was one of the hardest fights ever was known on this continent.  It beats Gettysburg or Sharpsburg or Manassas or anything else that Green’s Division have been involved in. Once again, our brigade has been very lucky. For two days running we have repelled the Yankee assaults. On both days we have held the southern redoubt without a single regiment retiring.

Though I am without injury, our General William Pickton has gone to his earths bath. Our cousin Dec is wounded very bad. The boys don’t think Dec will live.   He had the flesh shot off of his hip and he has also lost one of his toes. I inquired after our neighbour’s boy: Peter Gordon.  One of the men in his company told me he was wounded through the right arm and foot on the first day of battle repulsing the Union 3^rd Brigade. After amputation they sent him to Richmond in the big wagons that General Green’s divisional cavalry borrowed from these Yankee’s.  

Until the next time, your loving son, Johnathan” 

Border Ruffians - By John

Figures by John Sears

A quick Photo Shoot of John's latest 28mm Border Ruffians. Figures by Hoka Hey. I've included an outline on Border Ruffian weaponary as well....

Calivar armed ruffian, checking the route is safe

Some say what is the difference between a Calivar and a Musket, a musketeer has a stick to help steady the musket, muskets are generally bigger than Calivars and have a bigger recoil.

Another view of the above

If a figure has a stick but no gun, then its a spear, unless its a pike - which is noticeably longer that a spear! If the stick has no pointy bit and is bent - then its a bow....

Close-up of Elizabethan, armed with a  Calivar

If it looks like a gun with a wooden crossbar and it fires arrows, then its a crossbow.

Another Calivar armed man

If the gun is very short and is held in one hand - then it is a pistol.

Border Ruffian leader, with his gang behind him

Self Hibernation Campaign - Seeing the Elephant

By Robert Hope

Union Army has problems on seeing the elephant (Hint - behind you!)

As a southern newspaper we can steadfastly report that the Union army is having problems with “seeing the elephant”.

It appears that King Rama IV of Siam felt that this was a tragedy and one that needed to be righted as soon as possible. To this end the King has written to Abe Lincoln, offering to send him as many war elephants as he requires. As King Rama IV explained, it would not only help him crush the confederates (quite literally), but they could also be put to work on irrelephant construction projects.

On half of the confederacy General Green responded: “They probably cost peanuts to employ. However, it’s easy to imagine though, given recent events, that Abe Lincoln is probably regretting not putting a few war elephants on the front line. Who knows, maybe it will be scythed chariots next!”

Quarantine Challenge: 28mm Louis XIV French Infantry Regiment - Late 17th Century

I am so pleased to have gotten this regiment done! They seem to have been on my work bench for weeks, waiting for me to get time to paint and finish them off.

As such, I realised how much I enjoy having time to paint miniatures and when that time gets squeezed, even when it is for very good reasons, it soon gets frustrating.

The full, 28 figure, regiment, in line of battle

Anyway I have done a number of similar french regiments in the past but during these lock down times I was scrambling to be able to pull together enough figures to enable me to field this unit.

This group of models represent Regiment Plessis-Prasin, which was formed in 1616 and was thus named in 1650, after August 1682 this the regiment was known as Regiment Poitou. As with most regiments of this period, and as with every country, they were named after their Colonel.

All the figures are from the North Star 1672 range, except for a single Dixon Miniature's pike man. At first I thought that its no good, I can't possibly have one figure taking a knee to receive cavalry whilst everyone else is standing at the ready.

Pike men on 2 x Half Bases, I'm guessing you can see the odd man out mentioned above!

Typically Dixon figures are a quite a lot shorter than the North Star figures,

this pose however, is the exception they are very comparable.

Then I remembered a story told to me by a couple of friends, Mike & Phil, who participated in English Civil War re-enactments, they'd dragged another mutual friend, John, along as a 'birthday treat'. During the height of the re-enactment, John and the guys were standing at the ready with their pikes, looking about and John spied a troop of enemy horse approaching them at a good pace.

He tried to tell the guys around him what was happening but as he was a 'newbie' they all ignored him, they were looking the other way, within moments the troop of horse were on them!

So my explanation for this one figure being at the ready to receive horse is that he has either misheard an order or he has seen what is coming and decided to protect himself.....

One wing of the regiment with musketeers, pike & command

And the other wing

So these figures were undercoated white and then given a grey base coat. Leggings, cuffs and linings were all blue so that made things relatively simple. I did add in a few guys with grey stockings to break-up the uniformity a little.

Hats were also grey - either light or dark grey and a few have black hats, again to reduce uniformity, all had blue hat ribbons.

Shaded using Army Painter Dark one Dip and then matt varnished with Windsor Newton's Acrylic Medium.

Command elements, each on a half stand,

enabling mix and match of command elements when fielding different regiments of the period,

flags can also be swapped in case I want to redeploy the regiment as another one

Officers, as was their want at the time, wore pretty much what the liked, so a variety of colours here with a few nods to the grey and blue uniforms of the rank and file. Drummers either wore reverse colours or wore the King's livery, I could not find reference to how this was done in the historical regiment so have gone for reverse colours.

The Kings livery was blue coat and red leggings, cuffs and linings so if my guess proves to be wrong - it can easily be changed

Frontal view of musketeer base, 4 figures on a 40x40mm base

Another frontal view, highlighting the business end of the muskets

Rear view of a musketeer base

I decided to do all the pole-arms with this regiment as painted, parade ground items, obviously on campaign as shafts get broken and repaired they would be a natural wood colour. Not so here...

Two more half bases of pikemen - all at the ready.

A quick plug for the SYW Templates Blog site, they provide free to use flags for the SYW period - luckily for my purposes the french used the same flags in this earlier period as well.

Free to use standards, click for link