The Dark Daughter's Body Guard - The Nine Years War in Ireland

 

Above, the Crawfords under the O'Donnell flag. They constituted the body guard of Iníon Dubh (The Dark Daughter).  She was the mother of Red Hugh O'Donnell and was a Scots Lady of no mean political skills. These she surely inherited from her mother who also married an Irish dynast.

The body guard was part of her dowry. The lads were chosen individually for their size and strength. It turned out that the Crawfords specialised in biguns. The Flag is one of Ray's of Don't Throw a 1.

Annoyingly I think I have made a mistake with my figure selection. Consider this:

 "This was accordingly done for her (Iníon Dubh) for they rushed to the place where Hugh was, and proceeded to shoot at him with darts and bullets, until they left him lifeless; and there were also slain along with him the dearest to him of his faithful people."

The "they" in question are the Body Guards. Note the use the Irish Dart and some of them are using guns, probably Calivers. This is the first mention of Highlanders using darts that I have come across. The guns are less of a surprise. They were about and becoming more so. My choice was the typical West Highland bow and great sword/axe. Ah well, time to think again.

More properly the Dark Daughter was Fíonnghuala Ní Dhomhnaill. Her father MacDonald of Dunyveg and the Glens. Her mother Lady Agnes Campbell wife to Turlough of the Wine, The O'Neill. 

I thought you might be interested to read  her reviews:

The Annals of the Four Masters noted  she was "like the mother of Maccabees who joined a man's heart to a woman's thought."

The historian and biographer O'Cleirigh stated "for she was the head of the advice and counsel of the Cenel Conaill." 

Myler Magrath, the cleric and multiple turncoat, said she was "A cruel, bloody woman who has committed sundry murders".

Well yes, politics was always a deadly business. The point was, and still is, to win. Mother and daughter were adepts.

Above Scots Gaels. They could be a mercenary company or mobilised Clansmen.

The Irish branch of Clan Donald above. The McDonnells of the Route in Antrim. They had displaced the McQuillans some time past. The equally Gaelic McQuillans were the descendants of adventurers of Norman origin. Some of Clan McQuillan were still about. As indeed, they are still.

For the McDonnells things were looking up. They could field a force of 500 men without any real effort. If more were needed they arrived from the West Highlands in swift galleys.

My second unit of English Border Horse. The troopers are from Essex Miniatures and the officer and trumpeter from Khurasan.

Two Khurasan mail clad Irish cavalry and a QRF/Khurasan mix of targeteers. The estimable Clib' tells me Khurasan are to produce  a pack of Irish targeteers. Excellent news.

QRF Kern with a Khurasan Piper. Old fashioned Kern were on the way out but could on occasion be found in both English and Irish forces. They still had their moments. A brave English Captain was rallying his Company at the Ford of Biscuits. A Kern threw a dart through the Captain's neck, killing him. End of rally. 

Two common types of Irish attack tactics. Above caliver men supported by cavalry. Below, the same supported by Targeteers.

I mentioned previously that I was writing rules for the Nine Years War in Ireland. The job is now done. When I have further news I'll report it here.

Flodden Final Units

 

Truth to tell I have 2 Scots and one English units to do. They will have to wait a while. As you will see quite a bit has been accomplished. 

Above, Scots Demi-Lancers under the banner of the Scots Earl Marischal. One of Ray at Don't Throw a One's flags.  The Race of Somerled below. 

Both Clan Donald units. Flags located from the internet by Stuart at Army Royal and overpainted by me.

Lots of Borderers. 

Could be Scots, could be English. The banners of the Commanders enable us to tell them apart.

Below, The English Lord Dacre and his men. Banner from Ray.

The other side, William Graham, Earl of Montrose with his banner. Also from Ray.

The King of England's Spears from Roundway. If I have this right, Stuart of Army Royal drew the flag and Ray coloured it in.

That's it for the moment.

A Flodden Update

 

About three years ago I set out on a Flodden Project. As often happens I wrote and painted away and then got diverted. Permissible, because this is a hobby not a job. You can see my previous progress by hitting Flodden in the tags. Above, not Flodden. Just a Border skirmish.

A couple of days ago I finished the first draft of “Flodden Moor” the working title of my Flodden Game. Yesterday I proof read it. The result is 14 sides of A4 intended to enable gaming the Anglo-Scots Wars of the Flodden Period. Of course you could also use them for intra England or Scotland fights. There were plenty of them. Playtests will follow.

There was still a bit of painting to do. Surprisingly mostly involving the Border Reivers those workmen of the Wars. Now it may be that this is just your thing. An enduring interest perhaps? If so you might want to know what is available in 15mm.

I have 15mm Border Horse from Alternative Armies (1 pose), Minifigs (1pose), Roundway (2 poses), QRF, Essex (1 pose), and ERM. With troops like the Reivers as much variety as possible was my aim.

These days only Alternative Armies ,Minifigs and Essex are still in production, or so I thought. 

Happily ERM are now being sold by East Front Miniatures (EFM). They have the most complete range of Border Reivers, horse and foot, civilians and dogs. I have ordered a few packs and will review them upon arrival here. 

In the meantime you can see an EFM Reiver below. He’s the one in the blue doublet and jack facing a QRF Rider.  A fair fit wouldn’t you say?

Currently I have a couple of units of Border Horse. This is fine for Flodden where the Scots Borderers fought on foot. My 2 units can be English. For other engagements I need a couple more. 

They aren't big units 6-8 figures each. I'm giving some of them little St. Andrew's saltire or St. George cross patches. Mostly my Borderers won't wear them. It was said the Riding Clans were "English by choice and Scots at will."  You can see a couple of standard bearers here to help identify who was, at least temporarily, who.

QRF is currently missing in action. I’m watching with interest Geoff’s efforts to sort things out. I do wish him well. 

Below some English Demi-Lancers from QRF. 

The green and white caps indicate their Tudor allegiance. 

If QRF return I’ll do a Scots version too. 

There is more to the period than the Battle of Flodden.

On this page you can see English and Scots units from my Flodden Collection.

More on this one soon. Starting with a playtest. I really should work out the points for both sides for a balanced game. Truth to tell I'm more interested in the feel of it as a representation of the period.

Middle Romans- Transfer Tales

 

First, forgive the lacuna between posts. I have been very busy with one thing and another. Let us now press on.

Regular readers know I have been playing with transfers recently. The Prince of Transfers is Little Big Man Studios. Real works of art from them.  They have a reputation for being tricky to use.  That is because there application is counter intuitive. You have to put the image on face down. Gasp!

Luckily You Tube is replete with a squad of fine fellows who show you how everything should be done. Seeing it makes it very easy to follow and, oddly, more natural. I set to.

Having been instructed the application process worked splendidly. You have to cut out the transfer. Take care over this bit. Then peel of a layer of plastic. That bit is very easy. Place the image face down on the shield and press. Wet it with a water laden brush.  Then peel the paper off. Less complex or demanding than it reads.

Anything else? The pic's in descending order are Light Cavalry, Heavy Cavalry,  Auxilia and Legions. All figures are from Forged in Battle. They are intended as a start on opponents for my Picts. More on those lads soonish.

A final thing. Although the LBM transfers are custom made for specific figures don't expect a perfect fit. This isn't the end of the world as a look at the above figures will show.

Now for a Crimean War diversion. I have been reading The Crimean War-A History by Orlando Figes. Published in 2010 so not a new book. Orlando got a bit of a public hiding for anonymously giving himself an excellent review. Quite the scandal and it ended with the lad himself issuing a public apology. 

These days such antics would hardly cause a stir at all. In fact he might be knighted or made a Lord. Certainly he could expect a Quango.

Anyhow, the book.  Some of the political currents stuff it is well worth the readers attention. Some of the rest isn't.  The military stuff is on occasion good but mostly it is cursory. Almost lazily so. Surprisingly, to me, Figes is much better on strategic ideas and who wanted what and why.  Not a bad book then but not a must have either.

Consider Carthage in 15mm

 

You could always find mercenaries in a Carthaginian Army. Numidians, Spanish, Gauls, the odd Greek. Almost always Carthaginian Generals of course. The three above are from QRF. One might be Phyrrus of Epirus. He's the one with the Tanith shield., There were allies too, including those just listed depending on where and when. All the same actual Carthaginians did turn up on the battle field now and then. Over the years I have accrued a fair few of them.  Let’s have a look.

 

Chariot Miniatures Liby-Phoenicians. Single pose, once upon a time the latest thing. I remain fond of these figures. I have based them as Light Spearmen according to Civates Bellantes.  I need another base to complete the unit. A big ask with Chariot gone. Luckily 3 Donnington Carthaginians will fit right in to supply the requisite 5 figures per base.

Essex Veteran Liby-Phoenicians. The fellows who did the fancy footwork at Cannae. The usual strengths of Essex castings. Sadly single posed. Forged in Battle next to them.

Forged in Battle Veteran Liby-Phoenicians. Pretty much single pose too. The minor variant route. Nice figures all the same.

I have rated the veterans as hoplites, veteran of course and note the good armour. Six to a base.

Actual Carthaginian Citizens from Forged in Battle. 

These seldom appeared in the wars. For some reason I have rather a lot of them. It must have been an irresistible bargain offer.  On the plus side they are very nice figures. I have used VVV Shield Transfers to good effect I think.

I look at the simple Tanith design with fresh eyes these days. It proclaimed allegiance to the Punic State. Sacrifice of the first born and all it entailed. The archaeology is in. The small bones have spoken. It wasn’t just Roman propaganda after all. Did it chill the hearts of the foe?

No one suggests that the Carthaginian citizens were crack troops. These ones are well equipped as befits a wealthy city. 

Morale is average to my mind like wise weapon handling. Consider them rather average hoplites.

Another variation of the Libyans from Forged in Battle. This time as Civitates Bellantes “Javelin Men”.  Good quality heavy cavalry next. Liby-Phoenicians. In Civitates Bellantes we call these Cavalry. There are also "Shock" Cavalry.

These are from Forged in Battle. I calculate I should have another 3 of them. They must be somewhere.

For ease let us look at the Numidians too. Very effective soldiers. Mine are a bit of a mixture. Light cavalry first.  Apologies for the poor quality of the light on the pic's.

Enough for 4 units in Civitates Bellantes. 

Some Essex, some Forged in Battle and possibly something else. Single bases.

QRF, Essex and Chariot foot skirmishers. 

Somewhere there are more of these. Since writing this they have been found bringing the unit up to 8 figures.

As Adrian Goldsworthy noted in his epic history of the Punic Wars we don't know enough about the Carthaginians. The Romans intended that we shouldn't. They destroyed the Punic written records. Some texts on agriculture survive.

How is it going? Progress.

I’m nearing the end of the first half of my rule writing projects. The Nine Years War in Ireland is nearly done. So is the Crusades Game. Coming up on the inside is my Flodden Game. Plucky outsider In The Days of The Cid is also rapidly making ground. All good and we should see the trial games here as we go. I'm repairing a Chinese House too.

Gonzalo and my Aztec game are still on the bench. It is a matter of finding time. When the games above are done there turn will come.

In the meantime I have been doing a bit of this and that. Let us have a look.

 

Bogs for Ireland or Northumbria and points north and west. A little bit more to do on the bigger ones. I can probably use them in other settings too. I got the irregular MDF bases from ERM. I need to locate a new supplier.  

 

Ptolemaic light cavalry above. These are Donnington Old Era. Modelled on the pic’ below.

 From the Montvert book I'd say. I think they are great.   

No one else does square shield Hellenistic cavalry. I have 4 more ordered.

Ptolemaic Nubians also from Donnington. 

I have based these as “Shock” infantry as per Civitates Bellantes. Hard hitting but note the lack of armour. In actuality they may have been light troops.

Generic Greek skirmishers next.  I think these are Gladiator but they could be Lancashire Games.

Old Glory provided these Spanish crossbow men. I very much wanted some of the fellows in long robes.

A world away in time,  some English and Irish for the Nine Years War. My play test game will be The Battle of the Ford of the Biscuits.

Useful everywhere, Dogs. 

Or are they Wolves? In either case they are sold by Irregular Miniatures. I need some more for my Plains People Village.

I quite enjoy finishing things off. There is a satisfaction in it.