From Kerry T: London Lobsters - Sir Arthur Haselrig's Regiment of Horse (240 points)

Morning, afternoon and evening all

I think I said in my last post that I was going to produce a number of generic regiments of ECW horse that could be used for either side. Why then have I just finished and photographed one of the iconic units of the ECW, this time a Parliamentarian one? I don't know, I just had the figures!

The "London Lobsters" were a cavalry unit raised in 1642 by Sir Arthur Haselrig, a Parliamentarian politician whose attempted arrest with 4 others was apparently one of the sparks in igniting the ECW. It seems being an armoured unit, equipped with the Cuirass they were one of the few Parliamentarian cavalry regiments who were able to stand up to the Royalist horse early on in the war. It is said that at Roundway Down, Haselrig was shot 3 times but each round failed to penetrate his armour. At this time full armour was rare and had largely been abandoned costing perhaps almost four times as much to equip as an ordinary unit of horse.

The actual figures are those produced by Empress Miniatures 

Charge

I do like the sense of movement conveyed by the Empress sculpts but for some reason I can't say that I really enjoyed painting these. I'm not sure why, I know I was frustrated as my fingers kept wiping off the paint at the end of many of the horses tails and their ears. I'm not sure how many times I touched these up while they were on their bottle tops.

The riders are a mix equipped with both sword and pistol, prepping them was bit tiresome, particularly the bit where you attach the sword arm with either pistol or sword. I made a few mistakes here as some riders with pistol still have one in each holster but I think I just about removed the resting sword from the scabbard in those waving their swords. A few of the scabbards that you thread through the sashes  broke but I didn't replace or repair these (life is too short) but I did pin a few horse tails that broke off. Neither did I bother replacing the tack above the stirrups that was missing on a few figures.

Didn't have printed flags so these area quickly cobbled together

How come this horse looks so white in this photo?

I think the plumes should really be orange as well

Not a great photo but does show the headgear variants

Gratuitous horse's arse picture

To be honest I'm glad these are completed and in the next week I think I'll be back to Bicorne Miniatures ECW cavalry. I'm beginning to regret painting so many horses in the first week of the challenge now! I think I need a change!

So in summary

24 x 28mm mounted figures at 10 points each = 240 points

No bonuses - 1 Squirrel

120 in tin can side duel points 

Thanks for looking

Best wishes Kerry (Valleyboy)

From Millsy:

Another absolutely amazing ECW post from your Kerry. Like last time I've been hearing about these for a few weeks on our chats and once again they are even better than I had imagined!

Such a great range of horse colours, the visually striking mix of red and rebel orange and all capped off with great basing and photography once again!

240 superb points mate. Can't wait for what's next!

Cheers,
Millsy