ECW in 10mm

I first started playing ECW wargames way back in the mid '80s whilst at University and ever since then have had a soft spot for this period. This may be due to the fact that I grew up just outside of St Ives in Cambridgeshire where there is a rather nice sculpture of Oliver Cromwell in the marketplace.

Fast forward about 25 years or so and I revisited this era with the aim of using one of the many Warmaster Ancients variants as a ruleset. I wanted to capture the feel of the larger battles of the period, as well as the 30 Years War, and so chose to do this in 2mm from Irregular Miniatures. Now I know this is herecy to my good friend and regular gaming chum Keith, but we all have our crosses to bear.

An over all view of the Parliamentarian forces.

Infantry pike blocks supported by cavalry and artillery.

Painting rice; a close up of the pike blocks.

 

However many of the engagements of the period were very small scale affairs, not really suitable for 2mm in my eyes. I didn't want to go the 'standard' 28mm route so this project was parked for a number of years. Then late last year Pendraken announced that they were revamping their ECW range and so the project was back on the list of future projects. The first batch of figures have just been released and can be seen here along with their existing range. Future release include the dismounted dragoons seen below.

 

I think you will agree that these are really rather lovely figures and perfect for small scale engagements within the ECW period. These could also be used alongside the recently refurbished League of Augsburg range for events just after the ECW had ended. Purists may disagree however but I'm quite happy to mix and match a bit within reason.

So now it is just a case of finding a suitable ruleset to produce fun and challenging games for small unit actions for this period of English history, as well as the main obstacle of finding time to fit this in amongst my other myriad of gaming projects!