"ECW Cavalry - what can add interest to painted regiments?" Topic

I am painting some figures for a friend who is coming to visit. I am aiming loosely for Edgehill but I already bought the figures before thinking of what to go for. I have sorted out uniforms (as far as known) for infantry.

Now to the cavalry. As I understand it you have

Cuirassier – full armour (so silvery stuff) and perhaps a sash – tawny parliament – red or blue Royalist perhaps. Only a saddle blanket to differentiate regiments, oh and also the officer and standard bearer (but I don't have those for all regiments).

I believe that horse are in pretty much buff coats and with black armour front and back with a black lobster pot or a hat. Sash again could be a differentiator. Were any of the horse not in buff coats? That would be interesting.

I have seen Dragoons in red jackets and trousers (think it was Warlord's site). What else could I have Dragoons in? Were they in boring buff coats again?

The figures are OG 10mm

Cheers

Neil

"Cuirassier – full armour (so silvery stuff) and perhaps a sash – tawny parliament – red or blue Royalist perhaps. Only a saddle blanket to differentiate regiments, oh and also the officer and standard bearer (but I don't have those for all regiments)."

The Royalists did not have any cuirassier units:
"The only known cuirassier units to see action in the Civil War were the bodyguard troop of the Earl of Essex and the regiment of Sir Arthur Haslerigge."
Soldiers of the English Civil War, vol 2 by John Tincey.

"full armour (so silvery stuff)"
Armour in the ECW was often "blackened", so more gun metal than silver.

"I have seen Dragoons in red jackets and trousers (think it was Warlord's site). What else could I have Dragoons in? Were they in boring buff coats again?"

Dragoons in the English Civil War were not cavalry (as they became later). ECW Dragoons rode on the march but fought on foot.

add a model spaniel or two to the cavaliers cavalry.

Buffcoats varied in shade from light to dark, and there is also evidence that some may have been light gray. Varying the tones of these could add a bit of variety as well.

Weren't the King's Lifeguard the equivelent of Cuirassiers? I believe they wore three-quarters armour.

"Weren't the King's Lifeguard the equivelent of Cuirassiers? I believe they wore three-quarters armour."

There were both horse and foot units of the King's Lifeguard.
link

"The King's Lifeguard of Horse was nicknamed the "Troop of Show" for its magnificent appearance—a rarity in the cavalry corps of the Royalist army, which though well horsed, was often poorly equipped. The Lifeguard, however, was composed mostly of gentlemen and their retainers, who could afford to buy the best. Most troopers probably rode into battle wearing a stout buff leather coat and metal helmet;"
tmg110.tripod.com/warflags.htm

Yep ECW Cav are rather brownish – guys in buff (lt brown) coat with big brown boots, brown leather belts and furniture on brown saddle, with brown furniture, and more than likely a brown horse too.

OK for a bit of variety- by all means have some without buffcoat, especially in Royalist units, and also the odd chap equipped as a cuirassier in a normal horse unit.

Armour could in theory be shiny metal, black, blued or russet (while in practice??). King's Lifeguard of Horse (and Gent Pensioner troop at Edgehill) might have included cuirassier equipped men – they certainly could afford it – one noble trooper was notorious for shaving in sack wine, but there's no surviving evidence either way.

Sashes convetionally red/pink for Royals, orange for Essex's Parls, poss diff colours depending on general, eg Yellow was Waller's colour, blue Fairfax's but there's no real info on sash colour for these two. NMA probably red.

Saddlecloths, holsters etc – I expect pretty much anything goes. Also officers might have coloured leather horse furniture, brass fittings etc.

Not sure how practical in 10mm but a white collar looks good. Also white 'stars' and 'socks' on the horses liven things up.

I guess the key thing is to add nice flags – these brighten the cav up a bit.

Thanks for the assistance. I haven't started painting the cavalry yet so I can still re-organise. My friend can always use the Cuirassier for TYW.

I will be on the look out for 10mm Spaniels.

The closest I've found to 10mm Spaniels are the Australian dog teams in Pendraken's Vietnam range. Just clip off the German Shepard modify slightly and I had a white standard size poodle for Prince Rupert.

Guy

Chortle,

Not sure how comfortable you are with playing Dr. Frankenstein or with simple "add-on" sculpting of bits, or how well you can do it with 10mm. I've done it with 15/18mm quite a bit though.

Take 6 identical figures (or 8 or 10 or whatever, I just find that batches of 6 seem to work out and create a lot of variety) of any kind of cavalry.

First – Assuming you have a pin vise or variable speed Dremel and some wire-size bits, lop off a few heads, carefully with a razor saw or fine craft knife blade. Turn them to a slightly different angle or position, drill through the head into the body and glue together with a straight pin to anchor, clip the pin and file smooth and you're ready to paint.

Second – Lop off a few right arms and alter the position, again drilling through the arm (shoulder area) into the body, anchor with a pin and glue. You can even change the angle of the arm relative to the body but will then probably need to fill a slight gap with filler or green stuff.

Third – Remove existing plumage from a few figures (assuming they have any) and add some new plumes with small dabs of green stuff. While its still pliable, gently score some "feather" lines into it with the dampened point of a pin or a craft knife blade.

Fourth – Staying with the green stuff, add a rolled-up cloak behind the saddle of one or two, a worn cloak (probably to an officer, can be scored like the feathers to look like fur) to one, a "bread bag" or forage bag to one (make the shoulder strap from wire or just paint it on with some black edge showing), and turn up one side of the hat brim (assuming they wear hats) and fill any creases or cracks with filler or green stuff.

Horses can also be altered slightly for more variety. Using a piece of leather or heavy cloth to pad the jaws, use pliers to GENTLY twist the horse's head slightly to one side or the other. Cut off tails, drill a hole and insert a pin or piece of wire, then cover with filler or green stuff and score to make a new tail that's different from the others in the group. Also, look for a leg that's prominent on the figure and either cut the hoof loose from the base and raise the leg slightly or bend it to a slightly different position.

Yes, it is a lot of work (although not as hard as it sounds after a little practice), and I wouldn't recommend doing it to every figure in an army (although I did, once, for a 300-figure Ghaznavid Turkish army), but think of the visual impact that "your" unit will now have. Nobody will have one just like it, anywhere. This is part of the appeal of the current crop of sculptor's like the Perry's, Copplestone, Old Glory and others – creating variety with a single figure type and re-animation with variable detail. The 10mm figures are cheap enough for a little practice, your efforts will soon improve, and just mixing a few figures or units like this in an army can really make it "pop" visually. As I said already, nobody will have one just like it, and that is worth something.

Bill
Sir William the Aged
warsoflouisxiv.blogspot.com