2 April 2024: English Civil War - New Model Army

New adventure. New challenges. New army.

Tonight I made a start on my New Model Army by ordering a quantity of cavalry - Ironsides, Harquebusiers, Dragoons - for our VWQ games.

Concentrated on the Left Wing of my proposed NMA. Commander will be Henry Ireton of this wing.  Cromwell is commander of the Right wing.

Tonight I acquired enough troops to form the four units of this wing - Butler, Vermuyden, Ireton, Okey. A squadron each is a good start. Two Ironsides, one Carabinier, one Dragoon. But it was a struggle to figure things out given I am still new to the entire period. It's not familiar to me like the Napoleonic or American Civil War. 

Later on I will make a start on the Infantry and Artillery element but through another retailer. One who offers army deals. 

Already ordered Personalities from USA - Fairfax, Skippon, Waller, Essex, Cromwell, Manchester. Haven't arrived yet. 

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3 April 2024

Made second order in two days - infantry and artillery. So the core components of my New Model Army is now settled. Still missing the right wing cavalry but that's okay. Will acquire those later on in the year. 

Now I have enough "reinforcements" to bolster my fellow Roundhead's show army - 4 cavalry units, 5 infantry units, 3 regimental guns plus crews, five personalities plus HQ elements (aides, colonels, generals). 

Still going to run Fairfax as overall commander because I like his history. Cromwell is, by far, the more famous leaving a greater footprint on history, yet Fairfax, for me, is a more interesting character. 

• Army Commander - Fairfax (Cromwell as backup)
• Infantry - Skippon
• Skippon's Foot
• Waller's Foot
• Pickering's Foot
• Montagu's Foot
• Fairfax's Foot
• Cavalry - Ireton
• Butler's Horse
• Vermuyden's Horse
• Ireton's Horse
• Okey's Dragoons
• Artillery - TBA
• 3 x Falcon cannons + crews
• Headquarters 
• Couriers/Aides
• Generals
• Colonels

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4 April 2024

Spent my entire modelling budget for the next two years starting this new adventure. The killer has been the shipping cost but you grin and bear it. Close to nine hundred dollars spent. Figures are all 25mm Hinchliffe minis which are decent sculpts that will paint up well.

Will also print out a sample sheet of the show game cards over the weekend. Was trawling through the emails from the group to ID the listings. Proved interesting viewing as I now have names rather than soul-less numbers.

The group have settled on a grand battle with four armies clashing come show day. For the Royalist side, there will be the English Royalists coupled with the army of Montrose from north of the border. For the Roundheads, it will be a mixed grouping of Parliamentarians allied with an army of Scottish Covenanters. 

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5 April 2024

Received notification my orders are on their way from the UK. Should be with me in two weeks time. Got a partial refund on the postage which is cool. Also got a few extras thrown in by the generous supplier. 

Started the Show cards. Sample draft version below. Guys want something plain with plain backing and frontpiece showing the different armies in distinctive coloured border: Parliament orange, Royalist red, Montrose blue, Covenanter light/pale blue. 

Sample done on A6 sheet. Card size will be standard playing card size. 

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7 February 2024: Version 2 of VWQ Orders cards

Informed the gaming group of my endeavours to make my own VWQ cards and sent through my initial design (2 February post). They got back to me pronto with some major correction. Anyway, here's version 2 of my proposed New Model Army (1645) Orders cards.

Apparently I misunderstood what the actual Orders card entails. Thanks guys for the correction. No real change to the basic design although I have modelled this new set on the recommendations to differentiate the armies (four) by colouring the card decks. So my New Model Army will comprise an orange deck of cards because it's Parliamentarian. The others are Royalist (Red), Covenant (Sky Blue), and Montrose (Dark Blue). One could also add the Irish (Green) but I don't think the group has an Irish Army list. 

Special events are deemed according to scenario dictates or objective needs and will be identifiable by a black border on the card face (as shown in the above A4 sheet). 

I am customising my Unit cards by adding their unit flags. Have not started the cavalry although they will prove a little more difficult. But as can be seen I plan to field five full foot regiments. I've also resized the cards because I miscalculated the original size (much too large). The cards are displayed to print out on an A4 sheet.

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Had some minor success with my research endeavours in the past day or so in that I've found some very useful new sources for this period. Unfortunately I still haven't been able to obtain more information beyond what's scantily available regarding the cornets of the Horse and Dragoons. It would probably help if I bought the texts mentioned a few days back. But I am also mindful, and aware, that historical sources tended to describe more than they illustrated which says much regarding how people communicated back in the day. Anyway, I just need to access a well-known original source text and read it through to find what I know I will find. Even if it takes me over thirty years doing so. Cheers.

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ADDENDUM: I will follow the same format regarding border trim on the front face that the group will adhere to once they settle upon the final card design. I mean, at the exhibition show, there will be four different armies - Royalist, Parliament, Covenant, and Montrose. This means at least ninety-plus card deck will be used! Only the front of the card will identify which army the card refers to. So rather than stick out like a dog with three balls I will comply and conform. 

So, what I've come up is the front card has a decoration placed in the middle to separate the two halves; the top half denotes the identity or activity; the bottom half has space that permits whatever pretty picture you want, however you want it, to depict the period itself. There may, or may not, be a border trim in the Army colour scheme (group to decide which). The back itself will be plain and simple with a title, perhaps a nice trim. But, most important, all the same backing. This describes the entire card design.

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POSTCRIPT: After further thought I believe I need to change the Artillery, Turn Over, and Reload cards over to Special Event status as stated in the rules. So it's a black border for these guys. At least that's how I reckon this will pan out once the guys get back to me. Cheers.