Covenanter Cavalry 5: Flags and Stuff

March has been a busy month at work and the painting has been stopped as I've dug into motifs for the Covenanters standards.  Although at first pass their seems to be a lot of info on the Covenanters standards from those captured at Dunbar, Inverkeithing, Worcester and Preston - none of them really tie to the regiments at Auldearn.  So had to be a bit creative within the realms of historical accuracy.  That being said, I'll document the logic when the regiments are fully painted and written up.

In the meantime here's the first cav unit based up waiting for their colours.

The following image shows some work in progress on the rest of the standards - pretty daunting at first but a wee change from Little Big Mans.

Off to Rio so unit should be done in two weeks.

Covenanter Cavalry 4

Unit finished - only got the standard to paint and then the bases to do.  Once that is done I'll get some proper shots taken - but can't really knock the utility of the old IPhone!

Going to be a bit tricky getting the spacing right due to the officers sword.  Back row sits nicely though.

Covenanter Cavalry 3

Some more of the troopers.  Back row will be swords at the ready, front the command and charging types.

Covenanter Cavalry 2

Some work in progress on the cavalry.  Should be another half dozen along soon - hopefully have the whole unit done by the end of the month.  I'll do a write up of the regiment then - will have to be creative with the flag unfortunately - going to be harder painting on something a quarter the size of the infantry.

This will be an officer for one of the command vignettes. I really like the tone on this horse, doesn't really do it justice.  The plaid is the same as on the Lord Chancellors regiment.

Bit to much reflected flash. These are the real thing though - good front rank cavalry, especially the two with swords raised "gerrintaethem".  Black horses not to my cup of tea - the triad makes them too grey.  Think I might have the solution though, a black ink wash (see trooper on the lefts boots) darkens it all up again, whilst retaining some of the form.

Second Irish Regiment WIP

As my co-blogger in Houston has recently shared some WIP photos of his cavalry horses, I thought I would post some WIP photos of my second Irish Regiment for Auldearn. I have recently completed 24 Irish musketeers, which will form 2 shot sleeves of 12 each. I have also completed a couple of Scots government casualties that will be used to add some interest to the multi-figure bases. This regiment will be depicted in a desperate charge, the typical tactic the Irish used to bring their battles to a close. The figures are the excellent Eureka Irish, in charging poses, some clubbing with muskets. The casualties and Irish sergeant are Perry figures.

The unfinished bases are shown (above) arranged as per the final unit basing, with 2x12 man shot sleeves, plus the central pike block of 16, comprising 12 pikemen plus 4 command (Leader, Drummer and 2 Ensigns).

Close up of some of the Irish shot. The chap in the green smock with maroon trews (far left, middle distance), is painted as a tribute the the Sealed Knot re-enactors of "Laghtnan's Irish Regiment" who in earlier days wore this livery as a speculative uniform. Nowadays they wear the more accepted hodden grey of course.

Above, a couple of unfortunate Covenanters fall victim to the murderous irish mercenaries.

I have also included a shot of a new MacColla conversion. I have modified the Eureka MacColla figure with the addition of a beard, Scots blue bonnet, sporran and highland targe slung on back with shoulder strap. All were added with green stuff, with the targe coming from Bicorne. The green tartan trews and some highlights on the sporran are the only painting unfinished. The conversion and paint scheme is based on the depiction of MacColla by Angus McBride in the Osprey "Highland Clansmen" (Warrior 21), a beautiful painting in which he is shown desperately defending a cottage in the village of Auldearn during the heat of the battle. He can be seen below with the Perry sergeant, who will be joining the charging Irish.

I am presently working on Eureka charging pikemen (with half-pikes) and Perry Advancing command and hope to have the entire unit ready soon. I will post another WIP when the pike and command are complete.

Covenanter Cavalry 1

Been a while since anything has been posted and even longer since it was relevant to the blog. However, now back into the swing of things and looks as if I'll have a good run at it for a while with only a few distractions. The photo below is a "good-faith" work in progress shot of all the "cuddies" for the covenanter cavalry. It's been a bit of a trial to get variety in colour and learn to paint them ala Foundry but I think they came out okay. My biggest problem is painting horses in batches of 6, so I mixed them up with some dark age stuff to make sure I got plenty variety of colours. This resulted in 19 Covenanter horses, plus 9 arab, 6 dark age scot's and 7 norman nags too!

My cohort in India has picked up his paints too, so some more Irish are in the offing. Rumour has it he might be moving to a new location so we can only wait to see if Montrose and Baillie finally get to grips!!

The Lord Chancellor's Regiment

John, 1^st Earl of Loudoun, was Lord Chancellor of Scotland, and raised his regiment in August 1643.  Although he had little military experience himself, his senior officers, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Home and Major John Haldane had extensive experience on the continent.  The regiment was recruited in Glasgow and Paisley to full strength, before departing south in January 1644 to join the main field army with Leven. 

 

It served at Hilton and during the siege of York during the spring and early summer.  On July 2^nd it was at Marston Moor, brigaded with the Tweedale Foote.  However, with the breakthrough of the Royalist cavalry, the regiment was routed, but with minimal casualties.  After the battle it recovered to continue campaigning through Yorkshire after the fall of York. By late summer it was again brigaded with Tweedale’s Regiment in the siege lines around Newcastle, where it participated in the storming of the town via the Closegate breach in November.

 

It headed north in March 1645 to join Baillie, pursuing Montrose after the recapture of Dundee, before being detached to Hurry’s command. Here it was brigaded with Lothian’s Foot and Halkett’s Horse, garrisoning Aberdeen.  During this time the regiment had left 200 of its men sick in England, detached another 300 in small garrisons along the north east coast, leaving Aberdeen for the field in April with a strength of 500 men.

 

At Auldearn it served in the front line, and although not singled out for special treatment like it’s sister “Irish” regiments, it still incurred heavy losses.  It remained in the northeast through the remainder of the summer and although recruits were recorded to be drafted from Ayrshire, Renfrewshire, Pebbleshire and Midlothian it is not clear whether they reached the regiment before it was engaged at Kilsyth.  Here it formed the left of the front line with Home’s regiment .  Ordered to hold their ground, they instead advanced to contact with the Maclean’s opposite them in a series of enclosures.  A prolonged firefight erupted but with no real success (perhaps a reflection of the input of new recruits) and the regiment eventually advanced on the Macleans.  However, timely reinforcement by Clanranald turned the tide after bitter hand to hand fighting, and the regiment was destroyed during the subsequent rout.

 

What remained of the regiment tried to reform and recruit, but ultimately it was disbanded, with some of its men rolled into the General of Artillery’s Foot in the New Model Army.

I couldn't find any record of its standards so was left with a lot of room to be creative. The Regimental standard was the Saltire, broken into alternating red/blue eigths, with the usual invocation to the covenant. The colonel's colour incorporates the actual crest of the Scottish Lord Chancellor, so though it may not be correct historically, it offers a link to the real role.

The tartans for the blankets again bring the unit together, whilst a little diversity from the hodden grey gave the unit a weathered appearance. A couple of dead and wounded figures also broke up the firing line, making for a couple of dramatic vignettes.