ECW Pike and Shotte 10mm AAR 20th July 2024

Tony B.and I played a game of ECW today, using the Pike & Shotte Rules. We were using a mix of wooden bases and Pendraken models. One day all the models will be painted; in the meantime, this allows us to play a game.

Tony elected to fight for Parliament (grey boards) and we both set up. Tony based all his models on a hill, whilst I lined mine up opposite. The game - Tony chose to redeploy to the foot of the hill and use his stronger fire power to whittle away the Royalists, while I had to get in contact as that is where the royalist strengths lie.

As usual my left flank blundered leaving the table but I managed to get them back in play however my CIC was bouncing from right to left wing trying to get things moving as both wings stumbled forwards. In the end both wings got close enough for Tony to charge them and get to a position to enfilade my left Pike block, with help from his pike and cannon in front of my unit he fired in 16 shots, causing 12 hits sadly his glee was short lived as I saved the majority.

On my left I chased off his cavalry and then revenged myself on the small units of Shotte. In the end his wing was broken as two of five units were broken and the rest were shaken. With nothing to protect the flanks of his pike from my cavalry and Shotte his central position was perilous. On the other flank honours were about even but in the centre my Pike was almost all shaken and suffering.

We should have taken photos, but I wasn’t expecting a game, more of a tutorial, however we managed 5 turns and at the end both side were sufficiently weakened that they’d probably have discretely left the field of battle. So we called a draw. First image is immediately after Tony’s charge on my wings had been repulsed turn 4. The second at the end of the game after turn 5 his broken wing retreating and my centre one 'wound' away from breaking.

The painted combatants

Brigaded Musket Shotte - Standard Unit

Brigaded Musket Shotte - Small unit to support the cavalry

Three units of Royalist combined Pike and Musket

The reason we used boards for unassembled units  ECW Pike & Shotte

ECW Pike and Shotte in 10mm

 Pike and Shotte

The challenge: Do it in 10mm keep basing simple and standardise to other 10mm games we play HC! and a Fantasy addon game I'm developing.

The participants were a Teacher who had written a thesis on the ECW for his masters, a reenactor-wargamer and myself a simple wargamer, but my business life had been spent as a project manager. As a team we work well get ideas, facts and concepts sorted.

We wanted to do it in 10mm and we didn't like the idea of the Combined P&S unit's Shotte sub units walking off to some other location away from the Pike, which we have seen done by others. So we resolved to base them together so nobody could separate them. 

Then in the 'To Kill A King' supplement. we found on pages 144-147 special units for the period. So that is a must purchase alongside the main rule book if you want to play ECW.

As with many games the desire to play sometimes comes before you've managed to paint the armies so for a change we decided to use blank bases to represent the units. 

Board Armies

In the end the standard frontage is 100mm and small units 50mm, Horse and Combined Pike units being 60mm deep and normal infantry 50mm deep. 

Galloping cannons (Infantry) are 30mm x50mm. Medium cannon are 50 mm wide by 60m deep.

Command units are on 40mm discs, the General on a 50mm disc.

In the board armies the Parliament army is Red and the King's is Grey, you'll note the difference in the Combined P&S units more Pike and less Muskets in the King's army whilst the reverse is true of the Parliament's army which is represented below.

For actual models we decided on the above layouts.

The agreed opinion was to make it look as much like a real unit would with a lead drummer 'D' by the CO 'O' and drummers behind and to the rear that would echo the command.

The Regimental flag 'F' would be at the front with the CO and the company flags in the second rank.

In reality this was the parade position, in battle the flags would be moved to the rear ranks to protect them. Pike is either 'P' or 'X' if armoured and of course the 'M' is for musket. I've chosen to have less armoured pike in the Parliament army. 

At the rear of the block would be a lower ranked officer and two NCO's 'J'.

And it would look like this from above.

To my shame I've not yet finished the armies but I plough on.

A Brigaded Musket unit and a small unit that would support the Cavalry units. 

As units are completed they replace the blank boards.

We played a number of games with these and they worked well, all ranges and movement were as per the rule book we didn't reduce them we saw no need to do so. In the opinion of the Historical elements of the team they fought as they should and lost or won in the correct way. Unless I started rolling super dice, I habit I have that upsets people. 

Image of games played with tokens, I'd certainly recommend the idea as it gets you playing and encourages the painting, yes it's a little like playing 40K with unpainted minis, but who didn't?

Wound and Stamina marking - Why are there little pegs on your bases?

The Cannons arrive

Tracking Wounds and Stamina - Why are there little poles on your bases?

 Wound markers - Why are there little poles on your bases?

Picture above says it all without the waffle.

We all need to track wounds and there are many ways of doing it. Dice, coloured or numbered counters are some options and most of the time they are positioned next to the unit and so often left behind when the unit moves. The solution is to balance the marker on the base I've seen discs balanced between ranks of troops and I want to cry.

We were using small dice green indicating wounds, replaced with a red die when they were shaken. These also get left behind and worse would get knocked so five wounds became one. Using dice holders gave mixed results, some too tight you can't get the dice out, or too loose and fall out.

Then we started playing a lot of Hail Caesar! and it soon became clear we had to identify which units belonged to an HQ, to stop errors in command.

SWMBO required a trip to IKEA and I saw a cheap version of Hama beads 'PYSSLA' and the solution came to me.

Use the beads at one rear corner to denote wounds using the current colour system, use the other colours on the other edge to denote HQ and its units. 

This is a 10 point Stamina version whilst HC goes up to 8 stamina I allowed for the possibility of 10 stamina. (Fantasy version with Monsters). 

Each red dice represent a point where the unit might be shaken, depending on what its stamina is 4, 6, 8 or 10 use red or if unit has a higher stamina value use the pink, orange or black token at that point instead.

Historical Colours - What colour should I paint those clothes what might they have been?

Whilst in fantasy I don't care what colour I use I do like to be more accurate in the historical setting, I like to think I'm painting a plausibly accurate colour.

I suspect a lot of the Wargaming source material is opinion, sometimes very objective, but we don't really know what colours the Cretan archers wore but here are some interesting links. 

From the historic perspective, indicating the availability of colours.
I was surprised at the range of colours and their shades and then how colours or their shades were restricted to certain classes of people,

Medieval Woman - Dyes

From which this excerpt comes

Notes about colours
It must be noted that just because it was possible for a colour to be dyed, it did not mean that it was instantly adopted by all walks of life. Many colours were deemed unsuitable for the peasant class. Bright colours, it was thought, were not humble and engendered a feeling of pride which was a mortal sin. Peasants should remember where it was that God had seen fit to place them, and they should not desire anything other than God's will.

Clothing in greys, browns and muted blues were thought most suitable for the lower class. This did not mean that peasants were dowdy. Greys and browns were available in a number of shades and clever colour coordination of hoods and tunics could still make for an attractive ensemble. Blue was a colour which was available to most classes, both cheaply and expensively, in all shades ranging from muted, sombre blues to brilliant jewel blues of the upper classes.

Medieval fabrics and its uses
More about the fabrics available

Medieval fabrics and the use of colour 
This is a good read with a number of colour pictures of the dyed wool. from which this picture comes

Weld yellow to woad blue to produce greens

Plant coloured wool

Walnut Hull dyed yarn, naturally dyed

Natural dyes Wikipedia link

Basing my Lizardmen

 I wanted to have a tropical feel with a rich grass base with pools of water and spikey plants.

I usually base my models by placing them on the wet filler, a plastic based filler needs no glue and is almost instant, a sand based filler needs a little Copydex and left overnight to dry. 

The pools of water are rather simple. 

I left areas with no filler or scrapped it off, painted the flat area white, then some Ice Blue, any light blue will do, then Aethermatic Blue as a patchy finish, looking for a patchy algae bloom. 

Finally PVA glue twice, sometimes a with a 2nd coat of Aethermatic Blue between the PVA layers. I then painted the earth a medium brown as I intended to cover most of it I didn't do my usual Iraqi Sand dry brush.

I couldn't make my mind up if I was going to flock before or after I added the plants, in the end I did both but preferred the before. 

If you flock after doing the plants you may end up flocking the plastic and or leave bare earth under them. In temperate basing I think bare earth works, I didn't want it in my jungle bases I wanted rampant growth, but for the swampy light infantry units I wanted a little earth showing

Doing the plants - for sources look at Using plastic plants, sources and application

My spikes were made using elements from a Topiary ball, 

I used either elements 1 or 2 cutting off one part (3) then cut that in to three parts (4) or sometimes 2 by not cutting at 'a' to give me a taller piece.

I drilled 1mm holes to plant them, especially for the long pieces (at the back right in image).

However, if I wanted to achieve the short stubby spikey bits I had to drill 2mm and even 3mm holes to pull through all the stems so I only had the leaves. (Front and sides in the image.) 

Be very careful when drilling, especially with brittle 3D prints, fortunately the glue back together well.

I'd often start with a small size to lead the way, then use larger bits, testing the piece I wanted to pull through using large bits up to 3mm and usually using pliers to pull them through.

When I had the right size hole I'd use loads of superglue gel locating it amongst the leaves where they'd be squeezed together, look at the last image see all the plastic. Before I started doing this excess glue the elements were falling out.

When it was set, I'd cut off the pulled through excess and push in more super glue.

You'll be picking superglue off your fingers for a while, frequent washing during the process helps. 

Be very careful your gluey finger doesn't touch the painted model. I tended to do this a little at a time wondering if it was worth the effort.

Scenery using plastic plants, sources and application

My gaming skills are OK, dice rolls lucky, painting adequate, but I do get compliments for my scenery. It's not world class but in my peer group often complimented.

I've been asked how I make my scenery so I thought I'd show how I source and use the materials.

I use all the plastic plant material I can find but there are three basic targeted sources.

First - Aquarium shops/Plants where you can get special flooring/breeding plants that are placed on the bottom of the tank with a little grit to hide the structure.

On the right is a perfect example of this and you can see the plastic grid/frame (Red ring) to which the individual pieces/elements are attached together. 

In this instance the peg is the same width as a cocktail stick and you can just push the element on. Sometimes the element is the width of a wooden kebab skewer, so no real sourcing issues for the supports. Paint the wood before pushing on the element, glue if required (any).

As you can see it would make a palm tree or a fern depending on the scale.

Look around for suitable plants and as you can see they'll fit almost any scale. if you thread a second element it will double the canopy or make the bush bigger.

Second - Artificial Topiary balls, these are a magnificent supply and the bigger the ball the more elements you get. I find these in Pound Shops, I assume Dollar Stores would hold similar stock. Look for the right foliage for your scheme, though to be honest even mistakes can work. 

Here is a selection showing size variants, foliage variants and as you can see it's assembled the same way, elements on a frame. 

This composite image shows just a few of the possibilities.

These pegs are usually cocktail stick width too. Here is as example using the top left Boxwood topiary ball.

Third - Plants for train sets  I pick up complete mini plants, often with plastic pegs on the bottom, drill the right hole in your base and glue it in, cutting of the excess. 

I buy different sizes of Palm trees and grass bushes from Etsy and eBay, sellers are often on both and prices can vary. 

In fact I can get the Topiary ball there as well as the Aquarium plants, but I prefer to see before I buy those.

NOTE - The topiary balls and aquarium plant can be further broken up and planted individually using a 1mm or smaller bit. 

The three elements on the left consist of a ring for the securing it and four branches, these can be cut off and used individually, drill into a planted area and add a single stand for added texture.

For my Lizard men I got extreme and in these based command units I have used parts of the plant as shown in bottom right of above picture cut them into short lengths.

You can also see the single yellow flower element.

 Go to Lizardmen basing to see how i did the bases.

Final piece of advice is to mix the different pieces in together.

Different palm trees and grass bush sizes, as well as pieces from three different topiary balls.

Glue, generally  a little PVA to hold the cocktail stick into the base and a little of the same or Copydex to hold the plant.

Where you are gluing the plastic peg into the base, or small elements then I use Superglue Gel. 

Your fingers will get covered, work with care!

Read the "Alien Trees 2 6mm-15mm or 28mm Scrub" on how to paint the plastic

Index

Below are some links to my Scenery making blogs. I'll try to remember to add other links as I create them.

Alien Trees 28 mm
Alien Trees 2 6mm-15mm or 28mm Scrub - Talks about spray painting the plastic foliage
Cedar of Lebanon 28 mm - Home made giant tree for 28mm
Epic buildings from Blotz
Giant Cactus 28 mm
Industrial Scenery 28 mm

Jungle Terrain 10mm for the Lizardmen Army

Lizardmen basing
Jungle Terrain 28 mm

KandM Trees s8mm LOTR
Mechanoid Domes

If I forget to add them above you may find them in the Index Page under the heading Scenery 

Warg Riders - Removable Riders and with arrows.

Recently got into this old game again, I say old as I played it when it first came out in 2001 but I wasn't overwhelmed at the time even though I'd read all the books in the 1970 and many times since and even The Silmarillion twice.

Either the rules or I have changed sufficiently for me to pick it up and play and I've gone down the inevitable route of buying units to make a fighting force with a little extra so I can tweak for variety.

Having played a few games with friends and using proxy pieces, as well as original unpainted plastics I'd bought in 2001. (Is it really 23 years ago!😰) I decided I needed to assemble some forces, Minas Tirith and Mordor were obvious starters as I had the original ancient plastics.
I then purchased the Mordor  Battlehost box and started to assemble the wargs as a newbie player I'd managed a few game with proxy pieces before assembling my wargs. and learnt that either the rider or mount could continue alone and this is reflected in my assembly. 

I assembled the Wargs enlarging the hole to glue in a small magnet and painted them up.

Wargs undercoated and prepped with magnets 

Painting position

Then I painted the riders with their feet still on the sprue using Blu-Tack to attach them to my dowel stand.

When I'd finished I removed the sprue and tag that slots into the Warg, drilled a hole at that point glued in the top of a panel pin and voila, separateable riders and mounts, no need to buy spare Wargs.

Drilled a hole with a small 0.6mm bit using it to locate the position as I find I have more control and it gives the larger bit something to fix on. Also if it's not quite right you can alter the point of entry with the larger bit.

The panel pins I used have a 1mm shaft, a 2mm head slightly bevelled at the top. Using a 1mm bit I drilled into the prepared position and when that was deep enough a short way with the 2mm bit. As nothing is ever exact I used a 3mm bit to help counter sink the panel pin's head. I did this just using the bit with my fingers, a single turn is enough. Why not fix it in the drill? I feel it gave me more control, slowed me down and stopped it going too deep.

Ready for the panel pin.

Why a panel pin + magnet rather than 2 magnets? Well the pin will fit anywhere on the magnet, so you can choose the position of the model. A magnet would over-ride your choice and place it where it wants it. Oh and get the magnets the wrong way around and the opposite poles will reject any idea of placing them together.

Tools for the job

I also have a thing about Arrows, some models call out for them.

I used the small drill bit 0.6mm as my pins are 0.5mm wide I drill into the hand to create a hole for the arrow/pin.

I then push the sharp end into the hand, align it with the bow and cut off at the required length. This leaves you with a nice sharp arrow.

Remove the pin push the sharp end into BluTack paint twice. 

Apply glue to blunt end use that to dab glue on bow above fist then push blunt end into hole you drilled and push home with a block of wood, against the sharp end of the wood. I don't recommend pushing in with your fingers.

When secure paint the end of the pin with bolt gun or whatever your metal choice is.

If you look closely you might notice I have four types of Warg positions. In the box you only get two variants 'A' and 'B' did you know you could glue Left 'A' to right 'B' and Left 'B' to right 'A' swopping the sides?

Long Spears, Lances and Flagpoles

In the smaller scales I play I often want to replace the long spear, lance or flagpole. At that scale the metal can be too thin and can easily bend and eventually break when bent once to often.

Flag Staffs replaced

I recently bought some Dark age Arabs from Pendraken and wanted to have a standard bearer in the heavy cavalry. I also wanted my own flag rather than the supplied one for the foot. 

Not because there was anything wrong with it, I just wanted a bigger banner and will use both in my units as shown. I'd imagined small regimental flags and large National/Army Flags rippling in the wind above them.

Heavy Cavalry with spears replaced with Flag Staffs

Flagstaff created by replacing the spear

So I carefully cut away the provided flag, try to brace the pole so it won't bend or indeed break. Cut away and file down. As you can see I don't always win but have a back up plan. 

Pendraken sell the perfect wire. Just remember to use a larger bit in this case I used a 0.8mm drill bit. I find the 0.1mm difference is essential as you'll never push the rod through

The rod can be cut to length and has a degree of flexibility, enough to bend it if you're not careful..

I then user a Superglue 'gel' on the end of the rod, push it through to rest the base of the spear/pole on the ground or foot of rider. If done swiftly it will pass through and leave glue in the fist.
On occasion the fist breaks looking like pincers instead of a hole through the fist, in that case I just rest the rod, glue and paint as if being held.

Pro tip, get quality bits and replace as soon as you feel it's becoming a struggle.

I also did this with my Polish Hussars the lance in Pendraken's P1 model and they sell the 2 winged Hussar with no lance just a fist, you can tuck the lance behind the fist or try like I did to drill through the fist and more times than not it work, as you can see the hand was damaged in this example, but it won't mater when painted. Option a was a shorter length, but I think with Winged Hussars size does matter. 

In the image below the Winged Hussars lance is 30mm long and rests on the boot. I defy any white metal lance to remain as straight and true as these.