Clubmen

During the Civil Wars in The Three Kingdoms there was widespread destruction and looting, to help prevent this, in some areas, groups of locals clubbed together to form an armed resistance to whichever army came their way. These bands of armed civilians became known as Clubmen. This term became common for any local civilian militias, whith a number of Clubmen joining the Parlamentarian side at the battle of Leeds.

“I marched from Bradford with six troops of horse, and three companies of dragons… and near one thousand musketeers and two thousand clubmen, under the command of Sir William Fairfax” General Fairfax

Warlord games do a superb characterful range of metal Clubmen in their Pike and Shotte range, are among my favourites in their range, however I decided I needed a few more to bolster my collection. These four are plastic clubmen, ready to aid or hinder Hawksby’s forces depending as they see fit! These are all converted from Warlord plastics, with parts from other plastic kits with scratch scythe and pitch fork tools. The bodies are from the Warlord Plastic Infantry Sprue some of the heads and the axe arm are from the Gripping Beast Dark Ages Warriors sets and the hammer arms are from the Perry miniatures English Army 1415-1429 set.

WIP shots:

Nehemiah Cross and Joseph Peat

Cross (left) Was originally from Northumberland and drifted into Yorkshire in the mid 1630’s after fighting with Leslie army on the continent in the 1620’s. Cross is a wild an unprdictable fellow, mostly known for keeping himself to himself, and bouts of rage on the battlefield that have been known to frighten both friend and foe. Often seen wielding the Warhammer he famously took from the hand of a cavalry officer he slew during the breaking of the Siege of Stralsund.

Peat (Right) Was the son of a Nottingham tradesman,  who was tried for sedition, and hanged by King Charles’ men. Having sworn revenge on all followers of the King Peat fled to his sisters cottage in Yorkshire. There he joined Hawksby’s regiment. He is an educated man and is of a republican mindset, believing that all Kings are wicked and the rule of the land must be given to it’s people. He is a boisterous rebel rouser and can often be found debating matters of government or religion, with anyone who is willing to argue with him.

Both miniatures are Warlord Games plastic miniatures. From their Pike and Shotte infantry sets. Peat has had a simple head swap with a Gripping Beast Plastic Dark Ages Warrior. Cross is made up from two different Pike and shote musketeers, cut at the waist and joined to get the turing pose, his arms are from the spares box,and the Warhammer is from the Warlord Plastic Pike and Shotte Cavalry boxed set.

WIP shot:

 

Lawson Pymm

Lawson Pymm is a life long soldier, the illegitimate son of an army officer Lawson grew up on army camps and billets in various places across Germany. Taking the name of his english mother, a camp follower who died when Lawson was merely 7 years old. Lawson is a tough fighter and experienced veteran. He has been a loyal member of Hawksby’s foote, and fought commendably in the action at Skipwithe village.

 

This miniature follows the rough procedure laid out here for making a plastic kneeling musketeer. The starting point is from the Warlord games plastic AZW infantry, I used the body and head of one of these, and then added plastic Pike and Shotte hat and arms.

Kneeling Musketeer

I have wanted plastic Kneeling musketeers for some time now and wanted one in particular for a larger model. Having picked up some of the AZW British on a whim in the recent Warlord Games sprue sale I decided to try to use one of the kneeling ones as the basis for a conversion. The base is not done because he will be part of a larger base.

I was fairly pleased with the results. I think the Putees are just a little bit short for the typical stockings worn in the 1700’s, but nothing I can’t live with. The powder casks were quite hard to do, in the end I cut up a musket rest.

Here are some WIP shots.

What you need:

Cut off the pouches, epaulets, and tidied up the putees:

Green stuff added for hair, and to smooth over the waist:

Fearsome Skirmish at Skipwithe AAR

A most fearsome a dreadful skirmish has taken place in the small village of Skipwithe. It has resulted in the wounding and death of several godly Englishmen. In the very early hours of Tuesday morning a group of skirmishers from the Hon. Lord Hawksby’s regiment sought to apprehend two Royalist officers of horse, who were leaving the notorious ale house the King’s Head.

The assault begins

The officers dash for cover

The battle of the well. The King’s dragoons are holding well.

A spot of fisticuffs

Disaster for the Royalists. A dragoon is killed and in a drunken state one of the officers drops his pistol and shoots himself… dead.

The remaining officer is captured and the dragoons flee… a victory for the greencoats…

… but at a cost.

The scenario and battle were written for Witchfinder General rules, an excellent set of skirmish rules, that can be used for straight ECW games as well as those with a supernatural twist. The rules can be obtained from Dashing Dice Games.

The Scenario can be downloaded here.

The King’s Head, Skipwithe

This is the notorious drinking house in the village of Skipwithe. The Kings Head caters for drunkards, villains and most other kinds of sinners (and indeed the righteous straying off the path of virtue). It is also the favourite haunt of several local Royalist Officers…

 

Front View



Back View

The Kings Head is scratch built using balsa wood, foam core board, and Wills Emobssed plasticard for the stone work. It is based on several buildings around Warwick.