While I was awaiting the arrival of an order to complete my medieval German army I decided to make a start on some Eureka Miniatures English Civil War miniatures which have been sitting primed for the best part of twelve months. The first regiment to be completed is the King's Lifeguard of Foot:
I decided to do each regiment with four elements of pike (including the command) and eight of musketeers, with four to a base for each element so 48 figures in total. I was originally planning on putting just three figures on each musketeer base but, at this scale, quite liked the look of four so went with that:
The figures are sold as 18mm which they most certainly are, but are no larger than some other manufacturers' figures marketed as 15mm. The flag is from Maverick Models who do a nice range of Civil War flags:
The King's Lifeguards were noted as having red coats, breeches and montero caps, into which I mixed some variation. The red could perhaps have been a little darker given the photos of some re-enactors I viewed online, but there seems to be a lot of speculation over what was actually worn and I felt more comfortable using the Foundry British Redcoat red at this scale:
I went with armoured pikemen for this regiment. The figures were not supplied with pikes but I had purchased extra from Xyston Miniatures for this purpose and was pleasantly surprised how easily they fit the models with no need to drill hands:
It is always enjoyable starting a new project and I managed to paint this unit in less than a week:
The Khurasan order has now arrived, but I will try to get a few more Royalist units completed before getting stuck back into the Germans. I know I had better not leave them too long however, before I disappear down the ECW rabbit hole.
Nicely done👍, ECW is on the list for the future but I am still undecided on scale I am leaning towards 10 mm to provide a similar spectacle as our SYW battles. 15 mm might work as well ?
ReplyDeleteI didn't think of 10mm Matt, and that may have been a good way to go for the larger battles. I purchased a pile of 15mm MiniFigs in the early 2000's when there was really only a choice between them and 28mm, but couldn't resist these Eureka Miniatures when they came out so basically stuck around the 15mm scale without giving it too much thought.
DeleteLovely work on lovely figures Lawrence, both to be expected from you and Eureka respectively! Of course, you have started with the wrong side (the baddies :)) but I look forward to seeing Hepburns Greencoats etc in due course - unless you plan the New Model, in which case they will all look quite similar to these guys!
ReplyDeleteI had a small batch (100 figures maybe) of Minifigs ECW 15mm I purchased as a lad and brought with me to NZ - flicked them off to a guy about 25 years ago though - I remember I had bought them ALL wearing the incorrect English barred pot helmet - good for cavalry, for infantry, not so much (but I always liked that helmet, its probably the reason I favoured Parliament over the Royalists from a very early age!)
Thanks Keith. I was thinking a few of the older-style Parliamentarian regiments with three or four New Model mixed in, a sort of cross-over army. I too purchased those pot helmeted MiniFigs. They looked right to me at the time given what had been represented on television, and are still etched in my consciousness.
DeleteSuperb work, Lawrence! Your regiment is simply superb. Those Eureka figures are quite nice.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jonathan. The figures looked great on the website and looked just as good when they arrived.
DeleteStunning work Lawrence. I could spend hours just admiring those units. Made my day seeing them.
ReplyDeleteVery kind Richard. There is nothing quite like the pleasure in starting a new project, especially when painting the figures turns out to be so enjoyable.
DeleteIt’s a good looking regiment. Good luck with the new project. 😀
ReplyDeleteThanks Stew. The second regiment is nearly completed now, so I feel there is progress.
DeleteWhat Stew, no abuse about the relative merits of the ECW vis a vis the ACW?? 😄
DeleteI have just finished painting some of Prince Rupert's blue-coated regiment and it struck me how similar some of the figures in the montero caps looked to ACW figures. Apart from 200 years, perhaps not that far apart after all.
DeleteA most handsome start to your ECW project, Lawrence. My own version has the unit very fancy, with black hats and plumes on the musketeers, slashed sleeves, etc. Minifigas painted back in the mid 1970's!
ReplyDeleteThanks Peter. I wouldn't have minded a few figures with plumes and flouncy shirts but, even though there is quite a bit of variety in the Eureka range, they are all very workmanlike with the same figures serving for both sides, which seems fair enough. I have allocated the Royalists the greater proportion of armoured pikemen however.
DeleteThat is a great looking group Lawrence. A nice “filler” too.
ReplyDeleteThanks Mark. The other figures have arrived and I'm keen to knock them over quickly so I can turn this project into the main event.
DeleteLovely looking unit, nice figures and excellent painting! I think you're right about this unit having more armoured pikemen but I was pretty sure as the war went on the Royalist we're generally less well equipped, oh and I still have a minifig infantryman with the wrong helmet in one of my 28mm regiments, together with a big bit of plastic underneath him!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
I was thinking about this the other day and I suppose a lot of it came down to who had control of the armouries at various stages of the wars. Some brief Phil Barker notes indicated that the New Model Army wore very little armour, but I'll have to dig deeper into that when the time comes for me to start on them.
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