Manus O'Cahan's Irish Regiment of Foot

My first Irish regiment is complete and I have decided that this will be Manus O'Cahan's Regiment of Foot.  Many of the soldiers in his regiment had fought on the continent during the 30 Years War. Their European combat experience made them some of the most experienced soldiers serving in the Civil War.

They fought for a year under Montrose and O'Cahan stayed with Montrose as he started to prepare for the advance to the Scottish-English border when others had deserted the army.

Unfortunately, the increasing collapse of the main Royalist forces in England meant that more Scottish Covenanter forces could now be sent back to help defeat Montrose and his allies in Scotland. David Leslie (Warlord Games has an excellent figure of Leslie), a highly experienced soldier and Covenanter, attacked O'Cahan's men as they were just waking up at an encampment in Philiphaugh on September 13, 1645.

O'Cahan's forces and those of the other Irish units who had stayed with Montrose found themselves under severe attack and hopelessly outnumbered. Within hours they were reduced to less than five hundred men but they fought on valiantly.

Leslie offered O'Cahan terms of surrender: If his men laid down their arms and agreed to leave Scotland forever they would be allowed to go free. O'Cahan agreed to this, but Leslie had the now unarmed Irish captured and O'Cahan witnessed the execution of virtually his entire army. The women and children who had followed his forces were also brutally executed, many by drowning in the rivers around Philipaugh. Colonels O'Cahan, and Thomas Laghtnan were taken to Edinburgh Castle and hanged from the South Wall without a trial.  A sad end for a professional soldier and the men he led but indicative of the fierce hostility between Protestants and Catholics and the animosity of clan warfare in Scotland at the time.

Musketeers for Montrose's Irish: A Sudden Replacement for WIP #2

I love flags. I love the aesthetics of gaming with miniature soldiers as they march across the field of battle on my dining room table. Most of all, I love my bride of 28 years who let me take a nap on Saturday. While drifting off to sleep, I had an inspiration for creating a different, "romantic" standard bearer to stir our hearts in anticipation of wild Gaels charging across the highlands and lowlands of Scotland making life miserable and down right deadly for many of my Campbell ancestors.

One of the wonderful flags from the Project Auldearn blog

With the wonderful flags available on the Project Auldearn 1645 blog, I knew I needed to get another one of them in the Irish regiment I was working on. One of the things I like with the hard plastic figures from Warlord Games is the ability to convert them. I had converted a marching pikeman into an ensign previously with Newcastle's Whitecoats. So why not do the same thing for the Irish? After adding a bonnet, snipping a pike for the flag and most importantly ADDING A BIG BROADSWORD SLUNG ACROSS HIS SHOULDER! Okay . . . I'm still a kid.

I have quite a few extra swords in sheaths from the Gripping Beast Plastic Viking box. A little super glue later and presto: Tough looking Ensign!  Sure there is no visible sling for this claymore of destruction - but it looks cool!

It is a little known fact of history that the Irish invented velcro.

With addition of the new officer, I will save the replaced musketeer for the second unit of Irish I will paint.

Sorry Aidan Guinness, it's down to the minor leagues for you!

As mentioned earlier, the ECW Infantry boxed set from Warlord Games comes with a variety of headgear including bonnets. The pole for the flag is one of the pikes from the set that I shortened. I simply sized the flag on my computer and printed it out, folded it and added some white glue. While drying a bent it to get the effect of blowing in the wind.

 Here are the three element bases that will comprise the first unit. I still need to add another coat of watered down white glue to the sand before painting the musketeer bases.

Musketeers for Montrose's Irish: WIP #1

With the start of a Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA) during this period of Western Warfare, we start to see the transition from deciding battles with shock to that of deciding them through firepower. And if my Irish are going to keep up, even if they have a reputation for shock tactics, they will still need some firepower on my gaming table. A Christmas gift from Honorable Son #1's sister-in-law is Warlord Games Montrose Irish boxed set. The boxed set comes with 16 metal musketeers.  My forces usually have 2 stands of musketeers with 5 or 6 figures each; with the losses and attrition the Irish take during the Scottish campaign I decided to go with 5 figures each.  I had already used one of the figures as a reload marker leaving me with 15 to choose from - saving the other 5 for the next unit!

I have grouped the figures for painting on the soda lids so I get an idea how they will look grouped on the stand. The Irish figures are sculpted as if on campaign . . . and they have been campaigning for awhile. Jackets have holes, cuffs are torn and many of the figures are barefoot.  Note the hole in knit woolen hat of the figure in the middle of the front rank and the torn breaches of the bare foot musketeer to his left in the picture above.

The figures in the box are provided randomly from Warlord Games' Irish range; the variety and mix of figures is just right allowing you to concentrate on a firing line or a line that is charging. For this unit, even though one figure has reversed his musket in anticipation of hand to hand (the command was Prepare for Pell Mell) I went with the firing line look.

 

I wonder if the Irishman on the left of the photo has some hobbit in him?  J. R. R. Tolkien warned us never to turn your back on a hobbit when he has a rock in his hand.

As I started painting the figures, I realized that there really is no reason why they could not be used as other Scottish units; providing variety for either Montrose or Covenant forces. I am not an expert on Scottish armies of he period, but I will do some research. Most of the figures have the ubiquitous woolen bonnet and could portray units on campaign or hastily called up local and militia forces from the high or lowlands.

Montrose Irish Pike and Command all Complete!

 . . . and I am very pleased with the results.  After looking at the photos I need to touch up the commanding officer's face a bit but other than that - I like!  Great figures from Warlord Games which makes it fun to paint.

 Reload marker for the Irish unit

 Two casualty markers for the Irish

One last look and now time to paint the musketeers!

Montrose Irish Pike and Command WIP #2

I have finished painting the pike and command figures and it is now time to base them.  My infantry are mounted for Victory Without Quarter and are on 60 x 60 mm wooden bases that I purchased from Litko Game Accessories. Litko's prices are extremely reasonable and their service is outstanding.

 

After positioning the figures and checking their spots I affixed them with copious amounts of white glue.  The Irish Brigade Flag is from Project Auldearn 1645.  If you have not checked out this site you are in for a treat!

When positioning the figures I try to think: "What is happening in this moment of time with this unit?" The idea I came up is the officer is positioning the pikes and using the unit color as a guide. Some of the pikemen are still moving up while others are already positioning the pikes forward.

Pikes have not been added yet. The metal pikes that came with the figures are top quality and will be the last items added after the bases are finished.

Sand has been added to the base. I just use ordinary hobby sand that is sold at most stores that have model railroads for sell. I am generous with the watered down white glue. After letting it dry overnight I add another layer of glue to seal the sand in place. This extra step is worth the effort as it makes it easier to paint and protects against wear and tear.

Reload marker and one of the casualty markers. I experimented using GW's Flesh wash on the jacket of the casualty and then I went back over the jacket with the gray I was using. In the picture you can see the difference in the two jackets that were painted the same way except the musketeer reloading does not have the wash. I liked the result and will probably do that on a few of the musketeer figures to give some variety with the gray jackets.

Montrose Irish Pike and Command WIP #1

For my ECW infantry regiments I paint the pike block and command for a unit first before doing my musketeers. I am really enjoying painting these figures and a ragged bunch they are - except for the officers!  The pike stand will have 4 men with pikes, the commanding officer in his finest clothes and an ensign with a flag to be determined.

After spending last year painting oodles of highlanders, I can't believe I am painting plaid again!  Fortunately they are being worn as bedrolls on these figures and paint quickly!

I decided to give the above pike man a faded red coat as some references on the Irish regiments in Montrose's force state that initially some of the foot had red coats. His coat is wearing out and he hopes to replace it with some Hodden Grey taken from one of my ancestors.

To give the unit a sense of uniformity, I decided to go with the "white" breeches that are mentioned in some references of the period.

The unit's commanding officer made a quick stop at the local store and was able to pick up the latest that the dashing gentleman of the period would be wearing.  The figure is one of my favorite figures sculpted for the ECW from any manufacturer. Nest to him is his nephew who will be carrying the unit flag.

Victory Without Quarter can be used with markers to keep track of "casualties". Once a unit takes casualties equal to the amount of stands it has, it is removed from play. My infantry units have three stands and I have been doing 2 casualty stands per unit. Casualties are also from Warlord Games.

The musketeer reloading will be used as a  . . . wait for it . . . reload marker. Once a unit fires a prepared volley they receive a reload marker and do not receive a firing bonus until they, well, reload.

2015 Start: Montrose's Irish Brigade Box from Warlord Games

Happy New Year and may the blessings of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you!

An unexpected Christmas gift was from Honorable Son #1's sister-in-law!  Even though there are only 24 figures to finish the Viking Sea Raider army for Dux Bellorum, they will now take a back seat to some wayward Irishmen in the wilds of Scotland.

As my English Civil War forces expand, and with a middle name of Campbell, it was inevitable that I include forces from Scotland. In raising my forces I have been following historical orders of battle in picking out units that would be fun or basically look cool on the tabletop battlefield.  With 2 clans of Highlanders complete, what better than to add the Irish Brigade from Montrose's Royal Army in Scotland to provide support.  I know venture forth to build forces that beat the crud out of my ancestors during Montrose's Scottish campaign (more on that later).

The Montrose Irish boxed set is all metal and comes with 4 command, 4 pike (with pointy sharp metal pikes!), 16 shot and a small pamphlet on the history of the Irish Brigade, painting suggestions, 7 flags and plastic bases.

The pike and shot figures are picked randomly from the line and gave me a fine mix for the units I am going to paint. The figures are outstanding, though the Irish Brigade ensign's pole looked like a spaghetti noodle that required careful and patient straightening. Several of the musketeers muskets were also bent but they were easily fixed. Warlord Games did a great job in portraying the unit on campaign; ragged uniforms and bare feet.  The Irish Brigade officer is one of the finest figures I have seen for the English Civil War and the Irish Brigade Sergeant has an eye patch! The musician that came with the box is the Irish Brigade Piper which made me happy as I preferred that to the Irish Brigade Drummer.

Most of my infantry regiments for Victory Without Quarter have a pike/command stand with 6 figures and 2 stands of shot with 5 figures each. With that breakdown I will have leftover from the box 2 command figures (the sergeant and piper) and 6 shot left.  I am going to use one of the shot that is loading his musket for a reload marker for the unit leaving me 5 shot figures left.  One of the things I love about Warlord Games and Front Rank is the ability to purchase single figures.  To make a second unit I will only need to buy one more ensign (probably the highlander ensign charging for variety), 4 pike and 5 shot.  Not bad!