The League of Augsburg
Blood & Cutts Part 3
The final part of a piece on one of the country's forgotten Lions...
An appraisal of England’s fire eating general
An appraisal of England’s fire eating general
 |
| Cutts probably did not get into the heat of battle at Blenheim but his commanded a large body of the army. |
Cutts on the table top
In a skirmish game John Cutts would be a fearless leader with a nose for danger. Fond of impetuous charges, close combat and impossible odds. A character who...
Blood & Cutts! Part 2
The second part of my piece on Lord John Cutts of Gowran.
An appraisal of England’s fire eating general
 |
| English hero - for sure, Subject of Swiftian satire - definitely! |
What he did best
His speciality was leading assaults into the breach. Many of his wounds were received in such situations. He seemed to gravitate towards peers and superiors with a similar disposition to his own. One such, Thomas...
Blood & Cutts! Part 1
This article appeared in issue #379 May 2019 or Wargames Illustrated. I am publishing it on the blog in three parts as it is fairly long.
An appraisal of England’s fire eating general
 |
| John Cutts painted by Wissing around 1687, aged about 24 |
Like many notable men of his era, John Cutts is difficult to define in terms of good or bad, wrong or right. If considered only by his military deeds it...
Battle of the Skull Mound 1677: The Scenario
1677.....
The Ottoman Empire, allied with Crimean Tatars is pushing north on the west bank of the great Dnieper river into the Ukranian territories. The first line of defence is offered by Cossacks on both sides of the river.
A strong Turkish force composed mainly of infantry has been given the objective of capturing a small Cossack settlement near an ancient Patzinak burial site known locally as...
Breaking the surface.. news on the GNW supplement
 |
| Mass charge by Polish cavalry 1683 |
My snorkel has just broken the surface as I come up for air before submerging again into SALUTE 19 on Friday and Saturday.
 |
| Brunswick-Celle infantry 1690s |
I have not been blogging with regularity over the last three weeks simply because I have snatched every waking hour to finish off the last photos for the new GNW supplement for Beneath the Lily Banners.
The shot...
A most remarkable army.. Kuruc 1703-1711
 |
| An Osprey style compilation of Kuruc forces on the march mixing phases of its existence |
The by ways of the late 17th century and early 18th provide magnificently juicy brain food for wargamers. Although I had in passing, read about the Kuruc Rebellion in Hungary during the first decade of the 18th century I had gone no further than a quick skim of what it was all about.
During the compilation of...
The Army of the United Provinces 1660-1687 Book Offer
For members of the League of Augsburg blog here in another attractive offer from Helion:
WARS AND SOLDIERS IN THE EARLY REIGN OF LOUIS XIV. VOLUME 1 - THE ARMY OF THE UNITED PROVINCES OF THE NETHERLANDS, 1660-1687 by Bruno Mugnai
https://www.helion.co.uk/war-and-soldiers-in-the-early-reig…
from now till the end of March
£25 post free within the UK, at cost shipping for the rest of the world.
To order...
Book offer from Helion 'Mark Allen's work'
The offer price is £20 ex shipping. The RRP is £26.96 making this an attractive offer. If you want to order: email charlesjsingleton@yahoo.co.uk.
It is...
It is...
One to One wargaming - table top reality
 |
| A real life soldier! Musketeer Sean of a Jacobite regiment in Ireland circa 1689. Copyright B Hilton. |
Figure gaming usually falls into some broad categories in terms of scale. Firstly there is the model scale and secondly, the model to man ratio.
Typically 40mm, 28/25mm, 20mm, 15mm, 10mm, 6mm are the most common categories for the former. Of course there are several intermediate scales and some...
One to one wargaming: expanding the idea
 |
| Three 48 man companies of musketeers from the garrison of Derry. A company of Mountjoy's Regt at the centre. |
I was very pleased that the first post on this subject was popular and that visitors were stimulated to consider the implications of frontages, deployment, fire methodologies and movement around the battlefield and its table top imitation.
 |
| A battalion of Jacobite Foot based for Beneath the... |
One to one wargaming: A visual study in British company deployment 1685-1698
 |
| Company six deep |
I have been planning this particular post for about three years. Why has it taken so long? I needed to get a run at it. I am fascinated by the compromises necessary in wargaming particularly in relation to scales. Vertical scale distortion, ground scale distortion and finally the challenges in representing the depth of formations relative to their width. This last one has always...
Focusing on Sedgemoor Part 2 - The Royal Army
Rather than focusing on a history of the Royal Army I have chosen to feature several of the wargaming units built up and in some cases, let go over the years. All were based for Beneath the Lily Banners and several have been in involved in over 100 wargames over the years.
The Royal Army fielded at Sedgemoor in 1685 was modest in size but when compared to its opponents, infinitely more professional...
The Royal Army fielded at Sedgemoor in 1685 was modest in size but when compared to its opponents, infinitely more professional...