For Sale

My new year’s resolution was not to buy any wargaming stuff until I had sold some – an attempt to keep some sort of balance in what I have and reduce my groaning stock of unpainted lead and, more recently, plastic.

So I have some sales to show you and if they don’t sell via readers of this blog then they will go onto eBay in about a week’s time. Call it a sneak preview.

1) Perry’s 25mm French Napoleonic (plastic) battalion. 42 figures painted and based (six companies of 6 plus the light company duplicated in open order) Based as per the Perry’s supplied bases. Normally I sell 25mm figures at £5 a figure but as these are plastics I’m offering them at £3.50 per figure or £147 the unit plus p/p.
2) One Box of new Perry’s 25mm plastic French Infantry – unopened and unpainted.
£12.50 plus p/p. Or free if you commission me to paint as a duplicate of Lot 1 at the commission price of £147 plus p/p.
3) Eureka 25mm WAS/SYW Dutch battalion; 18 painted figures plus battalion gun
£90 plus p/p (battalion gun is free). (Blue coats)
4) Eureka 25mm WAS/SYW Dutch battalion; 18 painted figures plus battalion gun
£90 plus p/p (battalion gun is free).(White coats)
5) Eureka 25mm WAS/SYW Dutch Generals – both mounted, one painted, one unpainted.. Plus I have some unpainted figures – 7 musketeers, 2 standard bearers, one drummer and two officers. Make me an offer or I will throw these all in free for any individual who buys Lots 3 and 4 together.

If you are interested, please drop me a line at nigbil@free.fr

The Battle of Chipping Snodbury (Part Three)

So the battle started about 10.30 am after both sides had enjoyed a leisurely breakfast.

As a brief aside, Mrs. Brunsom, resident of Broad Chalke, who had lost all her piglets to marauding scavenging reprobates from both sides, remained in a deep perturbation for the rest of the day and was only cheered up by the great bounty of loot she was able to liberate later on. Also by some great chance, the likes of which ripen historical anecdotes, she was able to find her wounded husband, who had been serving in a Royalist Regiment of Foote, and nurse him back to health – albeit without a leg.

Picture 10. With great fanfare and clarion the Royalist foote advances, flags fluttering lustily in the breeze. Immediately the Parliamentary artillery commences a tune of its own and a large explosion rips the air as one of their guns blows up showering the C-in-C with gore and startling his horse. Things are looking good, the Royalist commander comments.

Picture 11. One the Royalist left wing the cavalry rumbles into a stiff trot to engage the approaching outnumbered enemy horse. The other half of the Royalist cavalry are invisible on the other side of the village and they too move forward in column due to the space restrictions.

Picture 12. Masking their own guns the Royalist foot reaches the silent Parliamentary lines and stop at 50 yards to exchange fire.

Picture 13. Sir Frank Howard orders them forward telling them not to fire but to close with pikes and then falls dead shot through the breast. With his death and with artillery and muskets peppering their ranks, they hold and exchange volleys and then two regiments rout. Things look grim for the Royalist foote, as the second line of infantry move into the space led by Sir Kenneth Williams (‘Infamy, Infamy…they’ve all got it in for me’), but can the cavalry win the day?

Picture 14. Meanwhile on the left wing the Royalist cavalry attack (divided as it was into two parts by the terrain) fared no better. The first attack resulted in mixed results (somewhat of a curate’s egg) and collapsed due to fatigue. The second attack fell upon fresh Parliamentary cavalry which had been sitting by idly twiddling their thumbs. So much had been expected of the Royalist cavalry and to say they had underperformed would be a slight understatement. While two out of eight Parliamentary troops had routed, five out of ten Royalist ones were dead or getting the hell out of there.

Picture 15. Just before the Royalist C-in-C (me) absented himself from the field (a pressing engagement elsewhere…) he ordered his last two troops of cavalry to charge the enemy line. Their commander, having received the order and seen the C-in-C departing, promptly turned round and departed the field. As he did, he noticed that the Parliamentary dragoons and a regiment of foote had cleared passage of Chipping Snodbury and were beginning to envelope the unprotected Royalist right wing.

It was all over.

Casualties were about 300 for Parliament (dead and wounded) and about triple for the poor Royalists who, without Mrs. Brunsom flukiest finding of her wounded husband, would have very little to celebrate.

The Battle of Chipping Snodbury (Part Two)

The Deployment

Picture 4. Royalist Infantry occupy the ground, four regiments up front under Sir Francis Howard and two in the second line under Sir Kenneth Williams. The right wing was left unguarded on the assumption that the River Avon and the town would be too difficult to cross.

Picture 5. On the left flank the Royalists placed their dismounted dragoons in Broad Chalke and had to split their cavalry to either side of the village. At the bottom of the picture you can see the Royalist Cavalry commander with his aide who is reading a map upside down which might explain what is about to happen!

Picture 6 shows a detailed view of one of the Royalist Regiments of Foote – figures by Redoubt and all are 25/28mm. This regiment will route during the battle and lose all its beautiful flags (yes, painted by me years ago) which will be pressed into service by the Parliamentary C-in-C for picnic duties.

Picture 7 shows the Parliamentary deployment. Four regiments up front under Sir William Hague with a regiment in column at the rear aiming to enter Chipping Snodbury with a regiment of dragoons. The right hand end of the line is bolstered by another regiment of foote in case the outnumbered Parliamentary cavalry is defeated.

Picture 8 shows the Parliamentary centre around the village of Little Flosshampton.

Picture 9 shows the Parliamentary cavalry.

We used computer rules (which explains the numbered tags) from Computer Strategies of Australia. A regiment of infantry went in at about 350-400 men while the cavalry were deployed in troops of about 60.

The Plans

The Royalist plan was to assault the enemy centre with the four foote regiments (supported by two more) whilst the cavalry would charge in two blocks around Broad Chalke and slaughter the enemy horse. After that the Royalist Cavalry commander, Lord Flynn of Errol, was ordered to roll up the Parliamentary infantry line.

The Parliamentary plan was to hold with the infantry in the centre while using one regiment of foote and the dragoons to slip through Chipping Snodbury and assault the undefended right wing of the Royalists. The cavalry, mostly massed on the right, were to do their best to hold off the Royalist cavalry and were told to call on infantry support if necessary. The Parliamentary C-in-C held back two cavalry troops as a personal reserve.

Finally, a note on names. Hmmm, well they reflect Political, Sporting and Comedy parts of our English heritage. One of the Parliamentary cavalry generals was Sir Ian Botham and he was certainly about to bowl some googlies.

Battle of Chipping Snodbury (Part One)

While I was on holiday in the States recently I had the chance to visit my old friend Jon in up-state New York and play an ECW game using his lavish wargames table and abundant supply of figures.

This battle report will fall into three blog entries. This section is a brief description of the terrain, section 2 will show the deployment of the armies, and the final section, a description of the fictional battle itself which resulted in a sad day for the Royalists (yes, of course, me). I don’t mind losing which must mean I have mellowed almost into a horizontal frame of mind so I’m an ideal opponent.

Picture 1 shows the battlefield with the town of Chipping Snodbury at the top (along the River Avon) presenting the Royalists (who will deploy on the right) with a fairly secure flank, or so I thought. In the foreground is the awkwardly placed village of Broad Chalke which will complicate things for the Royalist cavalry. What is not visible is another village (Little Flosshampton) which is on the left behind the Parliamentary centre.

Picture 2 shows Broad Chalke bereft of male inhabitants (its late in the war so most have been conscripted or fled) but with a full assortment of wenches awaiting the outcome of the battle.

Picture 3 shows the town of Chipping Snodbury and its ford over the river. Assorted townsfolk are discussing the high price of beer.

In summary, the terrain is as flat as a pancake with just one irritating village which, as we will see, will serve Parliament well.

Savory Sales

I’m back from my holiday in the USA (New York, DC and Maryland) fully refreshed and ready for those slings, arrows and compliments you may, or may not, wish to throw in my direction.

We have taken note of various comments from people about packaging of 'His Britannic Majesty’s Army in the Seven Years War' (special new boxes have been ordered for future postings) and in the meantime copies will be dispatched in double-protection Jiffy bags. We also have some spare dust-jackets so please email me if yours was torn or damaged.

Savory sales started well and to those that have purchased already – a big ‘thank you’. That said, initial interest in the venture suggested a high level of probable sales, which, alas, is still some way off.

If you are one of those people who emailed me expressing an interest in the book and have not yet committed to purchasing, would you please be good enough to drop me an email? The sole purpose of this enterprise was, from my point of view, to make an important and invaluable reference source more widely available; it was never an exercise in making profit and we are some way off covering our costs.

I admit to a modest pride regarding this re-printing of Savory – a view echoed by several purchasers already. Said one recipient: "....the book arrived, although it was not quite what I was expecting. It’s better! When I read that it was a facsimile of the original work, I expected a softback with scanned material from an original copy. My delight, however, at finding myself in possession of a ‘proper’ book just cannot be described."

So, if you have definitely made your mind up to acquire a copy, please do it now; if you’re still undecided, this is a limited print run so time is of the essence, and if you simply cannot make up your mind, remember that it may be many years before this definitive reference book – if ever – sees the light of day again.

To purchase, go to www.18thcenturypress.com or click on the link on the right hand side of this blog. Thanks.