Painting an Irish Army – The War of Three Kingdoms

 

I’m putting together an Irish Army for the War of Three Kingdoms-often called the English Civil War. There are two challenges to this.

First, the majority of Irish soldiers were Gaels and they wore trews not breeches and hose.  Khurasan Miniatures gets it right and I’m using their figures.

Second, there is the issue of clothing colours. Irish clothing colours were muted. This was new and a consequence of the overthrow of Gaelic Ireland at the end of the Nine Years War.  There were less resources to go around and it showed.

Some Clans had been dispersed. Others waited for the inevitable dispossession of their ancestral lands. The land was full of men ready to soldier. They lacked arms and training. Once these were available armies formed. The new soldiers went to war in what the stood up in. Uniforms were not provided.

At the top of the page is Eoghan Ruadh O’Neill back from Spanish Flanders. I have chosen to paint "Red Owen" in red, replete with Red Hand flag of his clan. He wears a traditional fringed Brat cloak to remind the boys what they are fighting for. Otherwise he is dressed like a Spanish soldier as is his companion. Many of the Irish officers had seen foreign service and were attired as such.

The rank and file soldiers and junior officers wore Irish clothing. I find a set of WW2 paints come in very handy here. The subdued colours lend themselves nicely to this army.

 

Above we see a Command Stand of an Irish regiment. In reality the kinsmen of the commander would be grouped around him. The man himself has a buff coat, his clothes are colourful. He has a morion helmet, perhaps hidden for decades. Or maybe newly acquired.  The drummer is well dressed in good quality trews and a coloured coat.  The piper is more simply attired.

His pikemen will repay scrutiny. Two are wearing expensive plaid trews requiring much time and labour to make. Robust wear for campaigning. Otherwise one has a sword and two have a scían (Long Knife).  The scian was handier for pike fighting but the sword carried more prestige. The flag is that of the Irish Confederation that claimed the allegiance of Gaels and Old English both. This is a Wargames Designs Flag.

Above we see a close up of Seán O' Brógáín's painting of an Irish pike man. Note the buttoned sleeves allowing them to be opened. An old trait of Irish clothing. We also see part of the scían. The latter was pointed, single edged and, in this period, 21 inches long. Image from Helion's Raw General's and Green Soldiers.

We often read that the Irish preferred a ratio of 1 to 1 for Pike and Shot. That they fielded such regiments is clear. Whether it was by choice is something I intend to pursue.  That is for another day. However, I can tell you now it was not the practice in the Spanish Army where so many of the Irish had served.

Let us look at an Irish cavalry trooper and consider his armament. 

He is clearly more expensively dressed than the ordinary foot soldiers. Plaid trews and a brightly coloured jacket and hat. Note he wears shoes. His armament is sword and lance. Initially, before Eoghan Ruadh, it had been the sword alone. These fellows were the gentry of Gaelic Ireland. Post successful actions helmets and other kit could be acquired.

So armed, the Irish cavaliers struggled to cope with the sword and pistol armed Scots cavalry.  Sometimes a Scots horsemen might have 5 pistols. Meaning he had 5 chances to down the Irish opponent before swords crossed. 

The Irish couldn't cope and demanded armour. We easily follow the military logic. They were happy to fight the Scots but didn't want to die before they got a chance to do so.

Eoghan had little armour to give them. Instead he trained them as charging cavalry and gave them lances. It worked. 

Pistol armed Scots resented being skewered beyond sword reach and Scots Lancers could be met on equal terms. 

Khurasan are making Irish cavalry based on the above.  I'm delighted and will be buying many of them. 

We finish with an Irish Musketeer. Note the muted clothing colours and the longer version of the scían. 

We will return to this subject when I have more to show you. More immediately as part of our Victory without Quarter series we will look at Montrose's Irish Regulars or possibly the Highlanders.

Four Covenanter Infantry Regiments

 

With these little chaps my Covenanter Regiments of Foot are done. Three Brigades, 2 of three regiments and one of 2 regiments.

Above an unknown Regiment's colours captured Dunbar, 1650. It is unusual as it bears the devices of 4 families; Wemyss, Forbes, Douglas and Sinclair. A composite regiment made of transferred Companies? I don’t know.

The figures are from Peter Pig. The central Ensign has an expensive buff coat. Either lucky or gentry then. Note also the expensive dyed clothes. I considered giving him a sash but thought to let the paint do the work.

Argyle's Lowland Regiment. "Sallow faced" as Iain Lom said surveying their corpses at Inverlochy.  Highlanders having a more ruddy look, presumably. 

Pike and shot equipped of course. We will have reason to speak of them again in a future post. Black and Yellow were Campbell colours. That said I don't know how this regiment's colours appeared in reality. Figures from Essex, QRF and Peter Pig.

Another unknown regiment. The central colour with it's five dot device is a puzzle. Significant to a family? Or, just denoting the fifth company of a Regiment? I hope not the latter. The figures are from Essex and Peter Pig. The central Ensign has a cuirass and a nice blue suit of clothes.

McKenzie of Seaforth's Regiment.  Highlanders and equipped with pike and shot.  The pike men are conversions. 

Sometimes Covenanter and sometimes not. Accordingly the flags proclaim no loyalty beyond that of Clan McKenzie. Flags from Ray at Don't Throw a 1 with stars added by me to denote Company.  I'm learning new stuff.

Figures from Essex, Lurkio and , Peter Pig.

Soon I want to complete the Covenanter Cavalry. Three regiments, that's  12 figures a piece, 2 squadrons. One will be Lancers the other two, pistol armed troopers.

Did I mention the Guns? Frames and a Field Piece to come. Next week we will either have Highlanders or more Russian Civil War.

Montrose's Regular Scots Regiments

 

Farqueson's Highland Regiment. Note this is conventionally  armed with pike and shot. Securing the Highland pikemen is a bit of a challenge. Met in this case by turning to Gripping Beast who now sell Lurkio Miniatures. You will notice the Lurkio pike men have a targe. I'm living with that, as clearly they have not yet engaged. Targes can be slung on the back.

All of the Centre Stand figures saving the standard bearer are from Lurkio. He is an old FK15 from way back when. The remainder are from Essex. There are some conversions. Flags from Project Auldearn.

Moneymore's Regiment comprised of men in Highland and Lowland dress. Once again a Pike and Shot unit. The plaid wearing pikemen are my conversions from Essex Italian Wars Light Pikemen. For the rest a mixture of Essex and QRF. Flags are from Project Auldearn.

Above the Strathbogie Regiment, the best known of the three we see here. Raised in the Clan Gordon lands it provided good service to Montrose. Once again the flags are from Project Auldearn.

Sometimes McKenzie of Seaforth's Regiment could be found with the Royalists. It is on my to do list. I printed their flag today. I went for a neutral saltire sans slogans to allow for changing sides.

To finish with our Scots regulars we can conclude with Montrose's Cavalry.

Above, the Gordon Horse. I would like a second squadron for this unit. Visiting Caliver Books, the home of Matchlock, I was delighted to buy another 6 of them.

Above the Ogilvy Horse.  Here I have used an Essex Scots trooper alongside the Matchlock horsemen. Not too bad at all. 

Montrose had a small Life Guard unit and I have the right flag for them. I'm tempted to do it-one stand only.

I'm not sure what we are having next week. I'd like to present Montrose's Irish Regulars all at once. They aren't finished yet. 

It might be Highland Clan units. A handy place to remind myself, and perhaps you Dear Reader, that the Clans won at Kilsyth while their own Regulars stood guard.

Overall progress on this project hit a bump in the road. I needed standard bearers for another & Scots units. My usual source is the QRF FK Range. They reside at Little Corporal these days. Little Corporal is highly problematic to deal with. My last order took 6 month to arrive. So that is out.

A shame as I'd also like more of their dismounted Scots Dragoons too. I do have enough to do another unit that would do for either side at a push.

Luckily for me Martin at Peter Pig does an open handed pack of Scots Lowland Pike and a pack of open handed Irish Pike. The Irish are wearing trews and are perfect for a Highland unit. The Lowlanders can have a green stuff sash and will fit right in. Astute Readers will note that is my Highland pike men problem sorted too.

The project marches on. 

There we leave it amid the skirl of the pipes and the thunder of hooves.

Shortly I will be able to show you my World War 2 Chinese and Japanese. A  new and unexpected interest.

Scots Covenanter Regiments of Foot- Victory Without Quarter

 

Lord Balfour of Burley's Regiment. What a memorable flag. Figures from Essex and QRF. Flags from Project Auldearn.  Balfour’s were frequently engaged. They took very heavy casualties at Aberdeen. A second newly raised Balfour Regiment may have been at Dunbar.

The Aberdeen Regiment with colours withdrawn for the immediate onset. Pikemen are advanced.  The arms of Aberdeen fly over the centre stand. The red and white saltires are my own notion. Flags from the internet. Figures mainly from Essex.

Red coats for Campbell of Lawers Regiment. If I recall right these coats were English issue from the time the Cromwellians and the Covenanters were on the same side in Ireland.  An experienced regiment that had seen much hard fighting there. Figures mainly from Essex and flags from Project Auldearn.

The Earl of Sutherlands Regiment of Foot. The figures are from Essex and QRF. The flags, they are fine, from Project Auldearn. Sir John Hurry, below, keeps an eye on things.

A good start I think. There are more to come. Initially I had thought to do 3 Campbell Regiments. Clan Campbell could turn out about 20,000 men. By comparison in times past the Armstrong Lord of Glenockie commanded 3,000 Lances. Clan peoples of significance, with a discrete legal and social structure.

Anyhow, I have revised my plan. I intend Campbell's Lowland Regiment and Campbell's (Pike and Shot) Highland Regiment. In addition I will do McKenzie of Seaforth's (Pike and Shot) Highland Regiment.

The (Pike and Shot) Highland Regiments are a bit of a challenge in 15mm. What with the absence of Highland pike men in that scale. Some ingenuity is required. Conversions in fact. I have already done this for the Royalist Montrose Highland (Pike and Shot) regiments that we will see next week.

I am minded to add the Earl of Lothian's Regiment of foot too. Availability of figures permitting.

If that all transpires I will have 8 Regiments of Covenanter Foot which I think will do nicely for Victory without quarter.

To this I will add two units of Dragoons. One done above and another to come.

Victory Without Quarter - Back to England

Recall we had 11 Regiments of English Foot to do. Today we have the 5th and 6th done. Above the green regiment. All Matchlock with flags from Ian KH at "This 28mm Life" blog. Thank you Ian KH.  

Parliamentary General Lord Manchester had a Green Regiment. Conversely the flag above might indicate a Royalist allegiance. Let's have a closer look.

Shall we try another Green Regiment? Why not. 

It occurs to me that in the heat of the game one Green Regiment's card might be mistaken for another. The wrong unit might act. How's that for the fog of war and the chaos of battle? Not the two above though, the flags are sufficiently different.

Next, the Blue Regiment. Both sides had Blue Regiments. In fact I already have a Blue Regiment of Essex figures that once rebased will join the throng.

How are we doing with the English Cavalry? Not bad at all. Mystery flags once again. I'm having no success in tracking the artist.

Here is Sir Richard Astley's Regiment of Horse at full strength, 2 squadrons.

Lord Carnarvon's Regiment of Horse. In intend to add a second squadron.

A unit of Essex figures.  The simple red standard with its red and white border was used by the regiments of both Francis Thomson and George Thomson. They fought for Parliament. . A real break I didn't want to be clipping and drilling cast on flags. 

Happy days.

Scots Regiments of Horse-Victory Without Quarter

 

Last week we considered mission creep. This week we see it. Lord Leven's Regiment of Horse in two squadrons.  From Essex, in miniature that is.

The original first squadron here. Flags on this page by Wargames Designs.

Sir John Brown's Regiment of Horse, first squadron. Full strength below. Figures from Essex.

Next Irvine's Lancers, Borderers who turned out for Montrose. The Border Clans had been pretty much destroyed by James 1st of England, 6th of Scotland. Their society was still in a state of flux during the Civil Wars. Note, your left to right Peter Pig, FK15 and Naismith.

The Gordon Horse next. From Matchlock. I might give them a second squadron. I think Matchlock got the look right.

Ogilvy's Horse. A single squadron for these lads I think. Second from the left an Essex figure. Matchlock for the rest.

QRF Lancers below. These are small figures that might do as youths in a wider mix.

I was interested to read that in the fighting before Dunbar the Scots Lancers gave Cromwell's Ironside Cavalry a hard time of it. We must look at lances again sometime.

QRF Dragoons. I very much like these figures. I have enough to do another unit.  You may think I should have cut the guidon to a swallow tail shape. I did wonder, but the white is patterned and so part of the flag.

Next two command figures, Brigadiers in fact. 

The first is FK15's Sir John Hurry. Sir John got about in the War of Three Kingdoms Fighting for Royalists and Covenanters. It is a nice little figure and I nearly made him the centre of a General's stand.

Another Commander from the same stable. Stylish and evocative alas I have no idea who he is supposed to be.

One of the lads on LAF enquired if a Scottish Supplement was available for Victory Without Quarter? Not to my knowledge but we can have a go at producing one in the interim.

We will be south of Berwick again next week

Victory Without Quarter Mission Creep

 

There are words for it. “Mission Creep” for the military and “Project Drift” for civic ventures. That tells us it is something humans do. So it is no surprise to find that I’m painting Scots units when I intended to major in English ones.

It could be worse. I have five English Regiments of Foot done and three squadrons of Horse. Also I have done a One Man and His Dog by way of command. 

Here he is.

 

He (Rupert of the Palatinate) is a Frei Korps 15mm miniature bought just before the Deluge. Next White Coats with red flags, yellow flags and white flags.

All Matchlock 15mm, or nearly so.

Note each company (base if you like, stand even) has its own flag. I feel this is period feel stuff and I like the look of it. 

Apparently standard practice was colours front on encountering the enemy for the first time. Then colours to the rear before the fighting began. I need to credit the fellow gamer and blogger who made these fine flags. Investigation will follow.

Let’s horse around starting with Cuirassiers with a black flag.

 

Next red flag horse. It is too small to see but the flag ridicules a notorious cuckold on the opposing side.

The blue flag boys have a nice white heraldic device. They are also getting a second squadron.

All the Horse are Matchlock 15mm.

A moments pause for the Dead. These are important as a tracking device in Victory Without Quarter. Many more of these to come.

Caledonia here we come. First the Strathbogie Regiment. The flags are from the magnificent Project Auldearn.

Some Highlanders from QRF as was. The great thing about Highlanders is by substituting flags they can represent any Clan Host. Below we see QRF, original FK15 and Peter Pig. Mix and match.

 

Now the latest Cards. Sealant has yet to be applied. I'm waiting until I have the set.

I am enjoying this project a great deal. Bigly in fact. I’m enjoying it bigly and you cannot say better than that.