Friday 8 December 2023

Scots Covenanters : Epic scale English Civil War

These didn’t quite make the post yesterday but were finished off this morning.

I think I prefer the upright pike position and the Covenanter sprue doesn’t have the ‘Porte’ versions. I’ve tried to create a little variation from the Hodden grey. But you can only really tell that from close up, so I’m not sure it is worth it ? I tried the bonnets slightly darker blue but it was lost, so went lighter shade (early UN i would call it 🙂) again I might do some variations in the future. The good thing is the flags were in the box set I won last week so I can cover off the freebie units. The flag bearers are better positioned on these newer sprues enabling the two flags to be seen.

Head swops seem way over the top in this scale but I was wondering if with careful cutting some could have bonnets removed and go bareheaded ? Or perhaps add a few helmets into the front rank.

Time wise they take about the same time as the other ECW figures.

Thanks for looking in Matt 😀

28 comments:

  1. Lovely looking Covenanters, a few helmets wouldn't go amiss surely?
    Best Iain

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    1. Next unit I will see if I can swop a few over ?

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  2. I had been looking forward to these as I am in the middle of a batch myself. Lovely work, and the variation from the hodden grey is definitely worth the effort. Did you know that Hodden Grey is now trademarked? It is a strange world.

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    1. Thanks Lawrence, my Hodden is actually olive grey which was the closest I had. I might go a bit more green with a few and make the sashes a bit brighter ?

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  3. Great work on these Matt and I would definitely look at some wearing morion helmets AND varying the shades of blue in the bonnets! It has always been my belief that the accepted wargaming truth that all Scots troops in the ECW wore a bonnet as a gross exaggeration - given the Scots had spent the earlier half of the 17th century furnishing large numbers of troops for the Protestant armies of Europe, I am sure there was plenty of pikeman's armour and helmets around for use in the ECW!

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    1. Thanks Keith I might go back in and mix a few darker hats onto these guys. Next unit I will try stopping a few helmets in the front rank ?

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  4. Great work, and a good inspiration. I like the more subdued colors over offset by the light blue bonnet. I just started painting these as well, and am finding I need to use very different shades of blue to have any noticeable difference at a distance. I wouldn't worry too much about adding helmets or other head swaps since this is for 'epic' gaming. I want to be able to spot my scots at 3-4' out, not bending close to look at the array of headgear.

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    1. Thanks my painting technique is definitely on the muddy side rather than parade ground. I might try some blue variations on the next unit

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  5. I'm glad you had a go at those Matt! They look just right if you ask me. Well done there!

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    1. Thanks David they have turned out pretty well for little ones !

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  6. Fine work Matt! Honestly at this scale I no longer worry to much about subtle colour differences to break up the look of a unit, as you simply don't notice it when deployed on the table. Ditto head swaps etc. Nice to do if you want though, but these days I prefer to put my energies elsewhere.

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    1. Thanks Steve , I agree any minor variations are probably not going to be noticed but it might be fun to try a few swops 🤔

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  7. Great work in the epic scale. The detail is good at such a small size.

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    1. Thanks Joe the figures are well sculpted and cast given their small scale 👍

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  8. Great looking Scots Pike and Shotte regiment, Matt!

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  9. A lovely looking unit Matt…
    Although I am also of the opinion that the Scots would have had more armoured men especially in the front ranks…I also like the way that the blue bonnets really set the army apart from the English troops.

    All the best. Aly

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    1. Thanks Aly….the challenge at this scale is how much effort to put in to create the variety ? I’m going to try and play around with a few units to see if it makes a difference

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