Dice or No Dice

On June 30th, the figures needed to complete four 'Spanish' style early Tercios were finished and the units were based up ready for action. Three units had been partly completed last year, each of which needed an extra wing of arquebus men, a block of pikes and a command strip to bring the unit up to full size. The final unit was begun from scratch. Most of the figures are Pendraken but a handful of Irregular miniatures were used for variety, along with rather more Old Glory figures. With the latter I cut out the pikes provided, which are over-long compared with my other figures, and replaced them with pikes made from wire. The flags are all from Maverick Models. Deployed as early tercios these units have a substantial heft to them that helps distinguish them easily from standard tercios. They are significantly deeper and the extra sleeve of arquebuses either side of the pike block gives them greater bulk. This is both visually appealing and giv...

Loot from Salute

Saturday 12th April saw me taking an early train up to London to attend Salute for the second year in a row. The theme this year was 'Scotland' and as a bagpiper let out a wild skirl as I arrived my heart sank. My ancestors used to hang Scotsmen and every time I hear the bagpipes I appreciate why they might have been moved to do so. I had not gone far when I found the scene shown in the picture above, the courtyard of Carlisle Castle, setting for a splendid skirmish game set up by the Whitehall Warlords, recreating an episode in 1596 when Scots Reivers sprang Kinmont Willie from the clink before the dastardly English could string him up. This event is celebrated in the Border Ballad of Kinmont Willie, which begins with the stirring line "O have ya na heard o' the fause Sakelde?". As a descendant (perhaps?) of this fause Sakelde and sundry other unsavory denizens of the English Marches I have to concede that the Scots may not have been entirely in the...

Wittenweier : Thirty Years War : 1638

T he Battle of Wittenweier, fought on 9th August 1638, was a key point in the campaign of that year. Bernard of Saxe-Weimar was leading an army of mercenaries - among them the remnants of the old Swedish army that he had led to defeat at Nordlingen in 1634 - now paid for by France and reinforced with French troops. Early successes in the year had enabled him to lay siege to Breisach, a powerful fortress on the Rhine but Imperial and Bavarian forces had gathered to try to break the siege and resupply the fortress. Bernhard manoeuvred onto the flank of the Imperial column, forcing them to fight near Wittenweier to protect the supply column. The refight took place at the HK Society of Wargamers' monthly meeting, using 10mm armies and following a modified scenario given in the 'To the Peace of the Pyrenees' supplement to 'Twighlight of Divine Right'. The modification allows the Imperial/Bavarian force to start with their reserve column already on the table ...