jeffwt | 01 Jan 2015 4:33 p.m. PST |
Hi, I'm interested in setting up an English Civil War scenario for use with the One Hour Wargame book by Neil Thomas, (4 units Infantry, 2 units Cavalry, 2 units Reiters and 2 units Swords). I would like to use 1/72 scale figures but have found that there is very little apart from the A Call To Arms series that just covers infantry and artillery. I notice from the Infantry description that he suggests the infantry be split between pikes and shot on a ratio of 2/3 to 1/3 . I also noticed that A Call To Arms have a 1/32 scale for this period covering pike, shot and cavalry but I'm not convinced that a 3'x3' board would be big enough. Any advice how I could put this together? especially suitable cavalry as the Revell set 02567 (Swedish cavalry ) seems to be out of production. Many thanks |
dwight shrute | 01 Jan 2015 5:19 p.m. PST |
call to arms have a cav set in the works , and waterloo 1815 have just bought the ECW cav set . link |
IGWARG1 | 01 Jan 2015 5:26 p.m. PST |
I see Revell cavalry sets at various retailers and at shows. Try ebay or just internet search for them, they are not that rare. Mars, I think, made copies of cavalry, so try looking that way. Try Michigan Toy soldiers website or similar. All the figures from Swedish cavalry box are just fine for ECW. Some Mars sets are not copies of Revell and are horrible. For more variety of Infantry try Zvezda Austrian infantry though they are larger that Revell or Call to Arms. |
JezEger | 01 Jan 2015 5:41 p.m. PST |
auction I see you're in UK.Link to EBay UK. |
20thmaine | 01 Jan 2015 6:40 p.m. PST |
Or better yet – go to Hannants, who are several pounds cheaper per box : link Mars have a lot of stuff in their 30 Years War range – but they are not the best examples of plastic figures. If you can find some Revell TYW figures they'll round out your forces nicely. |
Major William Martin RM | 01 Jan 2015 9:40 p.m. PST |
jeffwt; Please check out these helpful blog sites and posts, as they relate specifically to doing the ECW in 1/72nd scale. The first one, the Plastic Pelisse, also compares the available plastics to the available "true" 1/72nd metals like SHQ and Tumbling Dice. Plastic Pelisse 17th Century link ECW Infantry link ECW Cavalry link ECW Artillery link Bill |
jambo1 | 02 Jan 2015 8:01 a.m. PST |
Not interested in doing ECW in 1/72 but thanks for that links Bill as that is a fine blog and great reading. Plastic Pelisse also a good read. many thanks. |
Marc the plastics fan | 02 Jan 2015 9:30 a.m. PST |
The Zvezda infantry are very nice. The revel sets make great units. |
jeffwt | 04 Jan 2015 10:34 a.m. PST |
Hi, Many thanks for the advice so far. I have purchased 2 boxes of Revell Swedish Cavalry and a box each of Revell Swedish infnatry and Revell Imperial infantry. I think the Imperials could represent the Parliamentarians and the Swedish infantry could represent the Royalists or can I mix them up? As for the cavalry can they represent both sides? My final question, for now, is can I mix these with A Call To Arms figures. Many thanks |
Major William Martin RM | 04 Jan 2015 9:46 p.m. PST |
jeffwt; The Revell Swedes and all of the ACTA ECW figures have been measured by Plastic Soldier Review as 24mm from bottom of the foot to the top of the head. They then equate that measurement to actual scale height based on exact 1/72 scale. This is obviously a somewhat inexact science, but is as close as anything else. They measured the Imperialists at 25mm and the Zvezda Austrians at 26mm. I definitely would not hesitate to mix the Revell and ACTA figures, and I probably wouldn't hesitate to mix the Zvezda Austrians with the Revell Imperialists, with some care in selecting poses. You can also "even up" figures from different makers for specific units by slipping some 1mm plastic or cardboard shims under the shorter figures. As to how well the figures "fit" the ECW, here are a couple of quotes from the Dux Homunculorum blog, and I believe he knows more about the period than I do and has done more research: About the ACTA sets -
When the infantry from all 3 sets are mixed together it is possible to get a good range of figures for an army. In particular, mixing the pikemen from both infantry sets allows the creation of a good pike unit. They are realistic and nicely moulded, but there are a couple of problems. The pikemen are wearing a lot of armour that was steadily abandoned as the wars went on. In particular, the tassets (thigh protectors) worn by all but one of the pikemen would have been increasingly rare by 1645. The musketeers don't look so great as a group. There are too many figures doing too many different things to really look like they belong together in a drilled unit. Only one figure in any of the sets is using his musket, and he is found in the Command Set. And about the Revell sets -
These are great figures for the Thirty Years War. Unlike A Call to Arms the musketeers look great together. For the ECW they have some problems. The Imperial Infantry are all wearing helmets, which would have been rare for English musketeers. Some aspects of the clothing also look too old fashioned and Continental to be convincing for the ECW. In particular, the baggy breeches (pluderhosen) don't look right. The musketeers are all using rests, which again became quite outmoded as lighter muskets were introduced during the ECW.These figures can certainly be mixed in with those from ACTA, and are certainly good for the first year or so of the war, and perhaps for regiments that were drawing on the stocks of old armouries. Some head swapping (eg replacing some helmets with caps from ACTA figures) makes them even better. They would look quite wrong for the New Model Army. Pikes for both Revell and ACTA should be replaced by wire or broom bristles – the Revell pikes don't have points and are variable lengths and the ACTA pikes are much too short. Bill |
davbenbak | 05 Feb 2015 4:46 a.m. PST |
jeffwt, I've got the same project going. I have a lot of boxes of Revell TYW that I bought back in the 90's. Swedes with their brimmed hats for Royalists and Imperials with helmets as, well, Round Heads. Not exactly historical looking but it's all about the gaming with me. So far I've got 4 colored Swedish regiments painted and two London Tryaned Bands. Keep us posted on how your project turns out. |
Jefthing | 14 Feb 2015 12:43 p.m. PST |
Jeffwt If you have too many figures in helmets it's not that difficult to carve them into the shape of a wool cap. All you need is a sharp craft knife and if the plastic 'fuzzies' a bit it just looks woolly! |
davbenbak | 12 Mar 2015 9:51 a.m. PST |
Here are a couple of Revell Imperialists done up as Parliamentarians [URL=http://s1371.photobucket.com/user/davbenbak/media/BlueRegtLondonBands_zps66b3e583.jpg.html]
[/URL] [URL=http://s1371.photobucket.com/user/davbenbak/media/RedRegtLondonBands_zps8a1b0826.jpg.html]
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jeffwt | 05 Jul 2016 12:47 p.m. PST |
Hi, I have virtually completed the painting of all my ECW figures (I know it's taken 18 months since my original post but I didn't actualy start painting these until early February this year). I am now considering changing from using Neil Thomas' book to using Basic Impetus Baroque but have a problem with basing my figures. In the Early Parlaiment list it shows the following: 3 P&M-FP M=5 VBU=5 I=1 VD=2 MM=-1 2 P&M-FP M=5 VBU=4 I=1 VD=2 MM=-1 What is the difference between the two types of units or doest it really matter. I plan to use 10 Pike & Shot figures per unit (6 shot, 4 pike), 8 cavalry per unit and 1 artillery unit per side. Many thanks Jeff |