DISASTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Or, at least, considerable annoyance)

I have been fleshing out my Thirty Years' War figures, slowly but surely, starting with additions to my Jung-Tilly and Catholic League regiments. To that end, I painted another 20 pike and command figures and it was time for the standards. I bailed out on one figure, giving him the (overly small) furled banner from the Warlord Games plastic ECW/ TYW command sprue, but Jung-Tilly was getting the Leibfahne.

Jung-Tilly Leibfahne, 1631

Here it is in all its "glory". It took me several hours yesterday to do. Apart from final shading, which I would do once hung and flapping, so I could add the relevant highlights, I was happy with it.

I carefuly peeled it from its backing (it is painted on a sticky label), having first bent it a little to better attach it to the staff...................................AND THE PAINT STARTED FLAKING OFF!!!!!!!!!!!

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

I have used these labels before without issue and have started again with the necessary flag. This time, however, suitably chastened and ever so totally miffed, I have gone for a basic blue with red crossed staves. Right regiment, easier flag.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

G

Plans for this year

I have identified 7 potential projects that interest me greatly for the year ahead, out of a list of 19 considered. Those 7 are, in alphabetical order:

1) Anglo-Scots Wars, specifically Edward  I and II. I have very few figures for this period so far, but Curtey's will be at the WMMMS show in March, so who knows?
2) Daemons for Warhammer, started in earnest last summer, but a good one to finish.
3) 7TV, the rules for which I picked up last month and love the idea of 60's style Bond games. I bought their Captain Scarlet pack too........oops, I mean, "Time Lift Security".
4) Steampunk. One German tank painted, some Zulu War British built and undercoated. Who knows?
5) Thirty Years' War. This is not going away and, although I have enough forces for both sides for a good game, I also have probably 7 more assorted regiments to paint and a need for more artillery.
6) Vietnam. I bought a load of 20mm stuff ages ago, have the "Force on Force" rules and supplement, but a dire need to find and acquire some Hueys.
7) Williamite War in Ireland. I love this period and am reading whatever I can on it. Love the colour, love the flags, love the poignancy. I also bought a fair load of cavalry and commanders at Derby last October which are screaming for a paint job.

On the consideration backburner remain such things as 20mm Bolsheviks (I have WW1 Russians and plenty of unpainted Reds, so a good choice for completion, but missed the faves list), 15mm Late War SS (I have a paltry company of Pz IV's and some armoured panzer grenadiers, but no enthusiasm for more yet), 15mm Austro-Prussian War (I have figures for both and rules, but have not even started this yet) and 28mm Condottieri (I have Swiss and Burgundians but no desire to add to my late medievals. This may change as I acquire more flag detail, etc., for Italian families, especially Papal stuff).

So, I have planned the year down to week 18 (first week of May) and what features?

Answer: one steamtank (DONE!!!), 28 Saxe-Weimar infantry (TYW), 40 Holk infantry (TYW), 12 Schaffmann cavalry (TYW), 12 mtd/ 12 dismtd dragoons (TYW), a couple of carts and drovers (TYW) and 20 Zulu War British.

Am I on track?...........................................No.
I should have finished the Saxe-Weimar pike by now. Instead, I am working on 12 Jung-Tilly pike/ command and 4 Catholic League command, which will be finished this week.

At least it is Thirty Years' War, and I had planned that!!!

G

The best laid plans

I have posted before about how I tend to do quarterly plans to cover my intended painting activity, so I can assess what I think I will achieve, how long it will take me, etc. "Monitor Evaluator" that I am (see Belbin profiles, for those who have never heard the term), I dug out last year's plans and achievements.

1) I planned to paint 274 28mm infantry over the course of the year. I actually painted 380.
2) I planned to paint 55 28mm cavalry over the course of the year. I actually painted 52.
3) The biggest success rate for figure completion was achieved between April and July, with 8.55 infantry figures per week, narrowly ahead of end July to mid-October, with 8.50 per week.
4) From the end of March to mid-October, I painted 254 28mm infantry and 28 28mm cavalry. Is this why we call it the "Campaign Season"?
5) During that time, I also managed to get in two holidays, work full time and steer around the various claims on my time, issues, demands and fun of having four children.
6) I only achieved 45.8% of my target projects over the year as a whole, as other projects took my fancy and basically got in the way!
7) I painted no 15mm stuff at all (I had plans for another panzer company and some lorried panzer grenadiers), no 6mm and nothing larger in scale than 28mm. Have I unknowingly settled on 28mm and, if so, why?

What does all this tell me? Don't make plans? Get out more???

1) I am somewhat impulsive, as 54% of what I painted was not on the cards when I started the period of the year I planned for.
2) Looking back through the year, I achieve most when not only the daylight and weather are better, but also when I am passionate about something. That campaign season from the end of March to mid-October saw me knock out 10 regiments, a couple of extra pike elements and two artillery pieces for the Jacobite War in Ireland (i.e. 1690-ish), commanders, dragoons mounted, dismounted and horseholding for the Thirty Years' War and a couple of flights of fancy in that I painted my sci-fi stuff I photographed and posted a week or two back and various Daemon troops for Warhammer, for no better reason than I wanted to do something completely different, as well as some long overdue Orc Boar Riders and commander for the same system.
3) I achieved far more when painting uniformed troops, perhaps unsurprisingly. That Jacobite stuff mentioned above took me 17 weeks to complete, with a foreign holiday and two units of Daemons thrown in, so perhaps 13 weeks in actuality for 10 units plus.
4) It is still worth me doing plans, as 45% is still a "PASS" (Grade C 'O' level) and I dread to think how I would ever get anything finished that I needed to without seeing it on paper in front of me!

So, what of this year? Well, see the next post.

G

Coloured undercoats

It took me ages to actually get into painting figures. I tried enamels on various Airfix sets when I was a child, with the usual poor results, but was happy to line 'em up and knock 'em down, paint or no paint. I did at least paint the tanks I built to go with my WW2 infantry, using rules taken from a book a friend loaned me, which I wrote out over a couple of nights. No idea what those rules were, but I enjoyed them for "proper" games.

Anyway, moving on in time, another friend brought "Tunnels & Trolls" into a very dull Social Studies class one day, and role-playing dominated the next couple of years. With that came the "need" for a few figures, and "Chaotic High Priest with War Mace" was duly bought and painted, my first ever Citadel figure and probably my first ever metal one. This was followed up with a few orcs and elves, but most remained unpainted.

My problem was simple. Painting was a chore, white undercoats meant annoying little bits you could not get to without painting over previous bits and the whole thing became tedious again. My group liked the few efforts I did finish, but finishing was the problem.

Then, in a far off magazine, I discovered an article by Kevin Dallimore about how he painted figures (we are talking at least late 80's here, probably later). Black undercoat? Hmmmmmmm....................I tried it and, well, have painted ever since. Black was not without its porblems, however, as red and other colours would not cover it, but an extra stage of pale grey saw to that, with the red on top, but I no longer had those unsightly white patches to try to get to. One Norman army, both sides plus allies for the Second Punic War and Napoleonic Austrians, all in 15mm, and some fantasy and sci-fi figures in 28mm later, and I was hooked on black, yes, even for the white-coated Austrians!

Yet now I am faced with the same basic conundrum, in that a black undercoat does not suit everything. My Tomb Kings were undercoated white, as were my Nurgle Death Guard, but white was still the no-go for me unless the figures were a ringer for it. The answer for me lay in the Army Painter spray cans. My 1690 redcoats use Dragon Red as a base coat, for example. I have also used this for a foray into Steampunk, with a unit of Wargames Factory Zulu War British built and undercoated in the the same way. If I were a Moderns man, the range of greens/ olives/ desert yellows etc would make tank painting far easier (just to show the exception that proves the rule, I actually painted my meagre 2nd SS Panzer Division stuff with a black undercoat and dark yellow on top, as I took a while to bite the bullet!) It is entirely true to say that I would never have started a range of redcoat troops (i.e. 1690), regardless of the draw of the period, without this undercoat option.

Now I have bought some of the Mantic sci-fi Orx, I will be looking at the various browns and greens as undercoats for speed and ease of use. Spray brown, pick out flesh in green, paint the odd different item of clothing and the equipment and tone down with a wash. I will time myself to see what I reckon the saving is.

These cans are the way forward for me. I have not yet tried their varnish washes, but will do also, but only for select things I want to look dank and dark - the Orx, for instance, or undead. Having said that, I saw an article recently, as well as a "How To..." booklet, on how to use this stuff yet still highlight back up as I normally would.

Why did I not think of this stuff myself??? D'oh!!!!!!!!!

I may even get round to matt varnishing my output........................

G

Piccolomini Arquebusiers

Another solid enough performer, Old Glory figures again, flag sourced from the same German site as Hagen's. The link I have is http://www.hz-forum.de/30_krieg_fahnen/alle_fahnen.htm, but you may do just as well with "fahnen und standarten". I think the link was defunct last time I checked, but give it a go and see. Lots of lovely flags for units from both sides and different contributors to the respective Catholic and Protestant armies.

I chose this unit as something a little distinctive from several other Imperialist units. Not only does it have a distinctive name (famous in fact, to those who know their later 17th Century Austrian/ Hapsburg history), but a distinctive flag too, without a crossed stave, Madonna or eagle in site.

That village again, with yet another cavalry unit cantering through it.

More of the column, as seen from the perspective of a small boy sitting in a largeish tree.



Trying not to trample an errant sutleress as they emerge from the siege camp outside Steinkirche, the Piccolomini Regiment advances to try to head off the newly-arrived Swedes.

 Definitely time for another thread now. Swiss, Swedes, Burgundians, AK47 Republic, Punic Wars, Fantasy, WH40K and others will all feature in due course, so stay tuned.

G

Croats

And now for something completely different.........

Well, not quite, as they are still Thirty Years' War, but different in that they are Easterners, skirmishers, do not speak German as a first language and dress funny.

I wanted some of these iconic light cavalry, but do not have a good feel for using such types in any period (do not get me started on the Numidians in my 15mm Carthaginian army!). However, the Imperialists had them and so do I! I usually race them up the table to draw out enemy horse, shoot a few figures with their carbines/ musketoons/ arquebusses, and then chase off somewhere else to do the same again, assuming there are enough of them left. They are nuisance rather than menace, gnat rather than dirty great wasp. As I have said before, I am a Kurassier/ Cuirassier at heart.

One day they WILL be glorious. I will post their glory for all to see when that day comes!!!

Again, these are Old Glory figures.



This flag is unique amongst my Thirty Years' War armies in that it is painted on calico. I did this firstly to try out the technique and secondly because of the odd shape leaving me dubious about being able to recreate it with a sticky label. I wish I had used cloth flags from the start, as I love the technique now I have tried it for my 1690 regiments.



Slightly closer and less glare from my usual gloss varnish on the flag is another bonus.

Steinkirche again, with the Croats arriving late along with the Schwarze Kurassiere. They did their job however. The Imperialist hearts leapt at the reinforcements (carefully timed to be largely useless!) and the Swedish hearts sank at the enemy to their rear. I love a bit of psychological warfare in my wargames!

I will add a few more entries to this section of the blog shortly, but feel a move back in time is in order soon. The Swiss are coming. Can Charles the Bold withstand the shock?

G

Schwarze Kurassiere

Another unit of Old Glory figures, and the second I painted of Kurassiere, this is 16 strong at full strength. I have used a mix of mainly "ordinary" Kurassier figures with a smattering of Eastern armoured ones for variety, such as the figure on the grey horse on the right of the front row in one or two of the pictures.

Whereas I grade Pappenheim's as veteran, I tend to tone these down a bit and have them "Trained". They do not seem to perform any worse than their "superior" colleagues, now Pappenheim's are on their downer. They did a fine job in a game back in November at Stafford Games, when they shot down so many Swedish cavalry from the Vastgota regiment by caracoling the unusually static Swedes that they effectively won the left flank of the battle by themselves. Generally solid and dependable.



The Easterner figure mentioned above is closest to the camera




A slightly clearer shot, which I hope helps to show the variety with the basic Old Glory castings. This variety is helped by the separate right hands, so you can adjust poses a little within the same basic figure.



Kurassiere in a proper formation. Ideal for caracoling some enemy foot (or any enemy horse daft enough to sit around and let you do it!)




Another shot from the Steinkirche demo. The Schwarze arrived late in the rear of the Swedish lines, but were faced off by an about facing Swedish Blue Regiment in hedgehog, so spent their time on table trying to shoot the Swedes down, unable to get through to the main engagement.

  And now for something completely different......

G

Hagen Arquebusiers

This, without a shadow of a doubt, is the worst unit in my Imperialist army. I can remember just one occasion when they did not either fail a morale test and flee without a shot being fired (by or at them) or were beaten in combat and fled. It does not seem to matter whether I armour them, support them, stick a general nearby or anything else, they underachieve massively. More than once has the flank of my infantry line had to form a hurried hedgehog or two as these lightweights flood past them for an early shower.

The good news is that I now expect it so can plan accordingly. The bad news is that I do not paint figures to leave them in the box! Also, a certain Colonel Hagen, head of Von Sparr's Kurassiere at Lutzen, along with other officers and several men from the same unit, was executed after the battle as his unit fled the field rather too early (source: "Imperial Armies of the Thirty Years' War (2)" by Brnardic, published by Osprey). I wonder.......I have recently painted a Jesuit priest vignette for the collection, so perhaps a 28mm exorcism is in order?

The flag shows one of the traits of Imperialist (and other) flags, namely that the two sides are not identical. Later Austrian flags have this trait also, which is a great way for we wargamers to not have to worry about symmetricality! How many times has a symmetrical flag been anything but on a wargames unit??? Bonus!!!

The figures are Old Glory.

The head of the column, showing one side of the flag. The arm from the cloud motif is a quite common one in 17th Century regiments.

Maximum variety is again in order - they are Imperialists!

Deploying into line at the head of the village has allowed us a glimpse of the other side of the flag, with a crucifixion scene. The flag was sourced from a German website, the address of which I have tried hard to rediscover. I will post when/ if I find it again.



Having surprisingly survived the loss of a couple of figures, they are still in the fight. Sadly, it did not last......they routed when Pappenheim, to their right flank, was routed in its fight with Baner's Lifeguard. Aldringen and Jung-Tilly, to the top of the picture, were also getting smashed by the Swedish Yellow Regiment at the time, so perhaps I am being a little harsh on them on this occasion.

More pictures later. Time to feed my kids......(human ones, not caprid. I do not even keep goats).

G

Pappenheim Kurassiere

The first of the Imperialist cavalry I have painted was this unit, a few years back now. They are Renegade figures and, identical horse poses aside, are not bad figures. If I were not in an indescriminate haste to get started on this project, I would probably have mixed and matched a little, but hey ho!

These too are a bit of an enigma on the table. They started their career well, but I think the odd defeat in combat has got to them and they are on a bit of a downer at the moment.......This came to a head during the Steinkirche demo game. They were uphill, they were at full strength, they were fresh, they faced Baner's Lifeguard reduced to 67% through casualties, Baner charged, they countercharged, they routed! A full strength, veteran, Kurassier unit trounced by a few measly Swedes! Verdammten Schwedische!!! A pep talk is in order.............



The command section at the head of the column



And again

The tail of the same column, somewhere in Saxony perhaps. I have tipped a quick nod to the most basic level of uniformity with the sashes, but breeches, saddlecloths, leatherwork, etc., are as varied as I fancied, as with all my Imperialists.



That battle, that ignominious defeat.......Baner's Lifeguard offstage to the right. Shame on the novice (aka Nephew Paul) who deployed them in a long, thin line. Given their recent performances, however, I doubt a more Kurassier-friendly formation would have helped much.




And crumch!!! (And defeat......) At least Nephew Paul arranged them in a more reasonable order first.




Another head of column shot

I love Kurassiere/ Cuirassiers in any period. They are probably why I only field Continental European armies in Horse & Musket games. That and the fact that I hate painting red.

I noticed in the penultimate photo above that Pappenheim were flanked by the Hagen Arquebusiers. I wonder if contagion really is an issue for wargames units............see the next post for more on this line of thought.

G

Aldringen Regiment

Plastic figures by Warlord Games form the Aldringen regiment, the flags again sourced from the excellent articles by Mark Allen many years ago in Wargames Illustrated.

This regiment was "finished" in a hurry immediately before the Wargamer show last December, so that I could add a few more figures to the Steinkirche demo. I say "finished", but in fact I have not yet done the musketeers specifically for this unit and it fought (valiantly as it turned out) with shot borrowed from Loebl and my Swedish Red Regiment (both also composed of plastic figures).

For that game, we graded the regiment "Raw", which means what it basically says, and they were one of the first units to rouse from the slumbering Imperialist camp to face the advancing Swedes and allies. They appeared alone on the Imperialist right, formed up and awaited, of all units, the veteran, well-equipped Swedish Yellow Regiment. As well as a "Raw" classification, we also gave the poor Aldringen soldaten no armour to help them, but still they held after casualties from shooting and when the Yellow Regiment ploughed into them. They held again after a beating in that first round of melee, but could not hold out after a second and routed into Jung-Tilly, stationed immediately behind them. Trained, experienced Jung-Tilly lasted just one combat against the veteran Swedes and the Imperialist right collapsed.

Aldringen had outperformed expectations, however, and earned itself a place in my heart, as well as a likely upgrade when next they take the field.



I again used some metal command figures in an otherwise plastic figure unit. The size differential between the Renegade standard bearers and the Warlord pikemen is perhaps a little too much close up, however.




I love this flag and hope I have done it reasonable justice. It epitomises Imperialist flags for me, with both sets of Hapsburg colours featured (yellow/ black and red/ white), as well as the classic crossed staves, and the modern Austrian flag on which the staves are imposed leaves no doubt as to their origin and allegiance.



Having said all the above, the other, reclined flag is halved horizontally, red and white, so perhaps they should be Poles........I am still not sure what the two standard bearers are arguing about, but "Talk to the hand" could be the caption.



Their greatest hour (though most of the regiment did not live to relate their tale). Alone and ready, Steinkriche, 11/12/11 (aka Summer 1632).

Perhaps some cavalry next time round.

G

Loebl Regiment

Round 3 of a scheduled X round contest sees the Loebl Regiment take centre stage. This was not actually the third regiment I painted, that being a hybrid of Jung-Tilly and an unknown Catholic League one, but I have now chosen to thresh both of those out into full regiments, so they will feature later, once I have finished them (about a year next Tuesday then.....)

Loebl was my first foray into using the Warlord Games plastic figures and, slight size variation between them and the earlier Renegade pieces aside, they are decent if generic figures for the period. The annoying thing is there is too much variety in headgear for my chosen subject, so I either make do with various Scots bonnets and monteros, or leave figures in the box. I have used all the options for Loebl, with the Scots bonnets in my own mind being used for troops I imagine to be Irish. I like the heft of metal figures and plastics will not feature massively in the collection overall, but I have now painted one regiment of cavalry (Vastgota for the Swedes) and three regiments of foot (Loebl, Aldringen and the Swedish Red Regiment) all composed for the most part of plastics with the odd metal figure for specialist types. I have a couple more I can do also, when I get round to it.

The flags are again courtesy of Mark Allen's work in WI, painted by me onto sticky labels as I have for almost all of this collection, but the unit ratio has increased from 1:1 to 2:3 pike to shot, with the complete regiment coming in at 16 pike and 24 shot, though I do sometimes pare a few shot off as a forlorn hope or to help out elsewhere (with Aldringen mainly, as I have not yet painted their own shot).

Metal interlopers in the form of the standard bearers (one Renegade, one Assault Group) in an otherwise plastic figure unit



Four-fifths of the full regiment



Metal and plastic side by side. Largely indistinguishable?



Another option to get around the less useful headgear options in the Warlord box is to leave it off!



Another day, another shot, as the head of the column splashes out of the ford on the stream board I made for the Steinkirche demo game from last month's Wargamer show



And with a friend or two in support




Final shot, more of the same

For the uninitiated, the Warlord Games boxes for this period come in different forms, including a starter army, all at very reasonable (in my opinion) prices. Moving on from Royalist and Parliamentarian foot and cavalry, they added Imperialist and Swedish foot boxes, Swedish horse, Imperialist Arquebusiers and generic cuirassiers and dragoons, with use of metal riders in many cases on plastic horses. I have examples of all and recommend them for a quick and easy way to get started in this period. I do prefer metal figures however, but pay your money and make your own choice.

G

Flags

After posting a few photos now, I thought a few notes on my flags in order. The Thirty Years' War regiments all have flags painted on sticky labels, bent around brass wire for the most part and stuck back to back. The exception is the Croat flag, which, given its awkward shape, I cut from calico. A big thank you to Barry Hilton of League of Augsburg fame for the article he wrote in Wargames Illustrated on this, as it came at the right time.

Painting flags is a pretty new thing for me - I basically started a couple or so years ago with the Thirty Years' War figures, using pre-printed examples for my medievals and 15mm stuff, for example, prior to this. Before that, it was simple daubs on fantasy banners and flags as a whole did not feature too highly.....

I am very much still learning in all painting matters, but the translucency of flags, the highlights and shadows, etc., are still something I feel hit and miss about. Some at least of what you will see in the photos I am not entirely happy with, but also loathe to change as they show me what not to do, where I have come from and so on. Maybe one day.

Returning to the calico method, however, my most recent examples on the Williamites and Jacobites show, I hope, a better effort on my part. "Perfection" is a long way off, but this is the way forward for me. I will still use labels for my older stuff, in order to be consistent, but any I paint myself from now on will be calico.

I suspect I will also chicken out on homegrown for such matters as Austrian Napoleonic and similar highly complex stuff, but future heraldry is in, alongside geometrical stuff. Anglo-Scots wars anyone?

G

Nuremberg Regiment

This unit is unique in that a) it has tassets and breastplates for the pike and b) it is composed of Redoubt figures. I like the variety provided by Redoubt, the separate heads being a major boon to differencing one figure from another. The halved flag was taken from a book on Landsknechts, the other from Mark Allen's work in WI many years ago. The figures are from the "Continental mercenaries" part of Redoubt's English Civil War range (the section in question is called something like that at any rate).

In use, this unit is a bit of an enigma. It has bolted at the first sign of trouble once or twice, but has also performed stoically under my often less than able generalship. If the Imperialist General Gallas was known as "Der Heerverderber" ( the "Army Destroyer"), one or two of my less than polite associates might label me "The Army Getter-into-trouble-er".......Thanks lads! You know it's those purple dice!!!



I lied!!! The officer is actually from The Assault Group, not Redoubt.




Same shot, (slightly) different angle.




And from the other side.




More musketeers. I like these Redoubt figures immensely - the cassocks shout "Thirty Years' War" to me, and the slightly baggier breeches are a boon also. The Renegade and other figures I have in the collection are more 1640's - not a million miles away, but not quite right to the purist.



More of the same, but the left wing of the regiment.



The entire regiment again, 1:1 ratio again. The blue flag standard bearer is also from The Assault Group by the way.




Advancing in column during the Steinkirche game to engage the rapidly approaching Swedish left flank




And from the rear

Again, I hope you enjoy.

G

Lorraine Regiment

The second regiment I painted for my Imperialists, again composed of Renegade figures, with flags sourced from Mark Allen's work in Wargames Illustrated long ago.

The bases are 40mm squares for four figures, based to Warhammer (I think), but only for convenience, as I have never played those rules and nor do I intend to, though I am sure they would give a reasonable, if not "quite right" sort of game. The rules we use were written by Roland at Stafford Games (aka Midland Wargames Centre) a few years ago to give us something to play with. This period/ theatre is crying out for a definitive set in my view, but there are many I have not yet tried (Forlorn Hope, Father Tilly, et al). Roland's rules are very old school and are crying out for a thorough threshing out and developing, which I keep threatening to do. They currently run to four pages of large print A4, which is a recommendation in itself! They have given us several good games, however, and stood the test at the Wargamer show last month.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this second offering in this "series".




The complete regiment, again 1:1 pike to shot.




Detail view of the other flag in the unit, lazily draped over its bearer's shoulder so more visible from the side than the front.




"Prepare for horse" judging by the formation.



Well equipped and lacking uniforms. The latter point at least is common to all my Imperialists, but not all units have armour. Some of them are not even organised on a 1:1 ratio!



Musketeer close up.

Hope you enjoy.

G

Munich (Ebersberg) Regiment

More Imperialists, this time the first regiment I painted for my Thirty Years' War collection. The striped flag is a typical Munich flag, featured in various sources with different numbers of stripes and variations on the pattern, if not the colours, but the green and white standard is a "what if", being more the modern suburb of Ebersberg I think, but I like it.

This regiment seems to perform well, but the first outing I logged was at last month's Wargamer show in Birmingham. During the Swedish assault on the Imperialist camp, Munich (Ebersberg) broke Hepburn's Scots on the right of the Protestant line and turned in to roll up the Swedish line, starting with Schlammersdorf's, but the game was up by then and they pulled off in good order. The mishandled Swedish cavalry should have been able to neutralise them, but, as I said, "mishandled..."



Munich (Ebersberg) in line, defending the road junction.




They look like they mean business!!!




Bavarian infantry officer. As can be seen, they are pretty well equipped, but uniforms are not a high priority.




The entire unit, organised 1:1 pike to shot. All figures are Renegade Miniatures.




Another close-up.




And not forgetting the musketeers, even if the flags are in with the pikes.




Erich von Bierstein again. And I painted eyes!!!!!




A shot from Steinkirche (Wargamer show, 11th Dec 2011). Munich (Ebersberg) march down hill to confront Hepburn's Scots, with Pappenheim urging them on.




Another "Wargamer" shot, as Munich (Ebersberg) rouse themselves early when the alarm is raised, backed by Nuremberg.

Hope you enjoy.

G