"ORBATS of the Civil War Online?" Topic

I'm just getting into the ECW as a period, and I was wondering if there was a good online source for uniforms, flags and equipment mixes for the war's various regiments. I'm planning to make DBA-Hx armies for it, and it would be good to know whether a given regiment should be Pike or Shot if infantry, and Knight/Cav/Pistols/Light Horse if cavalry.

Cheers!

and it would be good to know whether a given regiment should be Pike or Shot if infantry

All infantry units were Pike AND Shot in the ECW, except for untrained types like the Clubmen, but then they didn't have uniforms either so are best represented by civilians armed with farm implements.

In DBA-HX terms you need to field a Foot unit as two elements – one Pike and one Shot.

and Knight/Cav/Pistols/Light Horse if cavalry.

ECW horse should be either Cavalry or Pistols in DBA-HX terms. Pistols for Parliamentarian horse up to 1643, Cavalry for the rest. You COULD have Hesilrige's Lobsters as Knights if you wish (but generally I wouldn't bother).

Units designated as Dragoons will be … Dragoons.

I'd actually venture to suggest that DBA-HX are not really the best rules for the ECW …

Yes, sleeves of shot with a central stand of pike. However, I'm trying to neat-and-tidy it so that I can use the same stands for a Volley & Bayonet mod too. Therefore, if it's 2:1 shot/pike I'll be fielding them as Shot, but at 1:1 or 1:2, they'll count as Pike.

Thanks for the cavalry advice – what system would you suggest for the ECW?

Also, is there a regimental history resource so that I can see which regiments fought in the most battles? The reason I'm being picky about this is not for the sheer @n@lity of it all, but because I label each base for ease of reference, playing as I do in 2mm.

Therefore, if it's 2:1 shot/pike I'll be fielding them as Shot, but at 1:1 or 1:2, they'll count as Pike.

I don't think that's a good idea at all. The whole point of foot in the ECW was that they were combined arms units.

what system would you suggest for the ECW?

Afraid I can't be much help here. I use my own homebrew rules. They are based though on a set of rules "Victory Without Quarter" by Richard Brooks that you can find in issue 199 of The Nugget here:
link

Also, is there a regimental history resource so that I can see which regiments fought in the most battles?

Since the regiments of the British army did exist before 1659, there are no such things as regimental histories for the period of the ECW.

There are several general histories of the war however that offer some detail as to OOBs. Often though, we just don't know.

Personally, I tend to not worry too much about whether a particular regiment fought at a particular battle. I have painted my units according to the uniform guides of the Sealed Knot (which may or may not be historically accurate) and just field as many units as necessary for a given battle.

Fair enough, I wasn't aware that sources were so sketchy.

It doesn't make a huge difference in DBA-Hx – there's just an inch's worth of ranged shooting and a better rear-rank support bonus to be had.

For orbats of most of the major battles you could do worse than picking up a copy of 'All the King's Armies' by Stuart Reid.

A few orbats are online here – link (towards the bottom) which is a very good site for ECW history.

If you want to delve into individual battles, then Caliver Books caliverbooks.com has a comprehensive selection.

Also, is there a regimental history resource so that I can see which regiments fought in the most battles? The reason I'm being picky about this is not for the sheer @n@lity of it all, but because I label each base for ease of reference, playing as I do in 2mm.

There is a lot of this information in the army generators in the Polemos ECW rules link

Regards

Cheers guys, very helpful =]

For ECW, i have found the DBR rules to be excellent. Other options are Polemos (very large scale), and Principles of War (Renaissance), but I really like the DBR rules. And there are booklets available called De Bellis Civile, that contain great little scenarios for many of the battles:

TMP link

I'd also suggest you look at DBA-RRR for ECW. Have played many games with this variant and it seems to give a good results. You can always go for the big battle version if you want to go beyond the 12 elements a side. Otherwise, DBR works well.

I've just checked out DBA-RRR, and it seems good. The Army lists in particular are amazing, and easily convertible to DBA-Hx. My only issue with it is that it seems to mandate the 3-stand battalia that I'm trying to avoid. I'm looking to have each unit as a separate element, so while I'll definitely keep it as a research tool for armies I know less about, I'm not sure I'd actually play it.

Unless I'm wrong – I've spent all of five minutes flicking through it.

Naturally, I'd have to suggest that you look at Polemos English Civil War. It's available for download at Wargames Vault.

Unlike a lot of the rules mentioned here these are specific ECW rules, so do not suffer from having to include all the other irrelevant exotica that inhabit a general 'Renaissance' rules set.

Units are a single base. None of this nonsense of having battalia running round as independent sub-units.

There are army generators by year for Essex's and Oxford army, the western campaigns, plus samples from Scotland and Ireland. Each list includes an orbat and lists the regiments present. What more can you ask for?

Oh, yes some coats and infantry colours (flags) – go to baccus6mm.com and go to the 'How To' section where you'll find some of the information that you are after.

How's that?

An excellent point! I'll have to check it out =]

After really looking at DBA-RRR and DBA-Hx, I was just going to homebrew Volley and Bayonet! But I'd much rather a set where commanders are in at least a little danger.

At my club, Burton and District (BAD) Wargamers we use FOG R for ECW and have found it easy to use and giving good results BUT the Foot are in units of 6 bases (4 shot & 2 pike) so don't fit with what you are trying to do.
I did use DBR but after about a dozen games I found I really hated it and have not used it since.