From Millsy - ECW Dragoons and Scots Pike (182 points)

As if the Space Marines from my other entry this week weren't complicated enough I thought I'd also paint a pile of cavalry and then try my hand at Scots plaid as well. Like all my great plans it came unstuck about 15 minutes after I started. I've never tried painting plaid before. That's Evan's job after all...

These are Renegade Miniatures like the vast majority of my ECW collection and I love them. The detail is sharp, they're well proportioned and the have loads of character. The faces on these are a little flat and gave me some trouble but I'm happy enough with them.

I decided to arm these with a half-pike for no other reason than it looked good. The colour is another home-brew Photoshop effort - just a plain St Andrew's Cross - so these can be used for both sides as required.

As I said I'd never painted plaid (nor tartan) before and had me some swearing [ahem!] until I got my head round it. I wasn't helped by the lack of flat surfaces like kilts either I don't think. A quick squizz at one of the best blogs on t'internet in Project Auldearn 1645 gave me plenty of ideas though and I'd happily do more now. I've got 16 shotte on the table at the moment to go with these but they don't have any plaid (thankfully?).

While I was painting these I also finished my last horse regiment - the mounted version of Sir Arthur Aston's Dragoons. You saw the dismounted version of the same unit in my very first entry this year.

These figures are mostly from Bicorne Miniatures which mix very well with Renegade for size and style being the same sculptor. I've mixed in a bunch of horses with and without pistols for a more experienced look. There's also a Wargames Foundry chap as I was short one rider but you'd never know. One of the things I really like about these is the continental influence with the Dutch style coats on a couple of the riders.

Painting-wise I went a bit crazy on the horse colours once again. 5 different browns, 3 different greys and a black. :-) You'd think I would have given up now as I'm passing the 70 mark with these ones. They're the last ones I'm painting. Really they are. The flag is home-made once again and something of a guess as I explained here.

So a few more Scots shotte figures and this project is pretty much complete. For now. 200+ infantry, 70+ cavalry and a host of other stuff. When I submit the last bits next week I'll do some army shots for you as well.


From Curt:

Ah, I'm a bit biased here as I love how this army has developed. You've done a beautiful job on the Scots Millsy. I think you nailed the plaid, giving just enough of an impression of the pattern without getting lost in it (a problem I have all the time). The half-pikes are thematically spot-on and the Saltire is a great way to go for game flexibility (though in the future I'd like to see a nasty Argyll banner representing my 'home team'). 

The regiment of Horse are brilliant. I think the variation in brown tones has really paid off when seen as a whole and so does the seeding of various figure ranges throughout the unit (I too like those Dutch-style coats - the juxtaposition of fine lace and swords, you can't beat it.). 

Wonderful stuff Millsy!