Counter-revolution in Samarkand, Part I

In the early hours of a February morning in 1918, a train of scruffy soldiers pulls into a Bolshevik controlled station outside the ancient city of Samarkand.

This is scenario one, The Mutineers Attack!, from the excellent Red Dawn Rises! supplement for Setting the east Ablaze! rules.  It is certainly dramatic, judging by all the exclamations!

The scenarios in the book are great and inspired by Peter Hopkirk's equally excellent book on the Russian revolution in central Asia.

 

  

We used the third edition of the rules, by the only slightly less excellent Steve Langan, for this game.

 

This is what happened according to the official history.  

The sleepy guards are not expecting trouble but the soldiers disembark fully armed and ready to fight.

 

"MUTINY!" The Mensheviks have turned their former allies against the revolution and they are now fighting for the Whites!  
 

 

The small garrison of red guards run for the relative safety of the coal bunker. 

 

 

"Fire on the traitors, comrades!"

The Bolshevik gunners spring to their work and shells begin to land with pinpoint precision.

 

Chaos reigns in the mutineer ranks.  Their armoured car crashes off the ramp and immediately breaks down.

Some of them run and hide in the railway shed.

Others in the trees.

Captain Pernov pushes his men through a window into the hastily vacated station.

"More shells comrades.  Keep firing…Oh!" The Bolo field gun runs low on ammo. 

But all is not yet lost for the Reds, as their AA gun pours murderous fire into the station killing more of the mutineers.

 

What this defence needs is an inspiring and handsome proletarian hero. 

 

Fortunately, as the Red guards regroup in the coal bunker, they are joined by commissar Totzek after he heroically sneaked out the back of the hotel.  These dogged revolutionaries will be difficult to shift from behind those solid walls.

 

Wait! Stop! Where are you going?  Seduced by more Menshevik lies the guardsmen defect.

It’s okay thinks Totzek to himself, "I will persuade the mutineers over to me, with my deep understanding of class consciousness and dialectical materialism".  "Oh!  That didn’t go well."

 

"It'll be okay.  I’m sure nobody else heard me mess that up, and will therefore abandon me as a result. Oh!"  The Red AA gun also defects to the Whites.

 

Time to run for it.  [Ed: I don't have any pictures of the chase that followed, so you'll just have to imagine a cross between Dr Zhivago, Benny Hill, and the Keystone Cops, all to the soundtrack of Yakkerty Sax.]

Totzek makes it to the field gun and his last remaining comrades.  Who, fortunately, seem to have found some more ammunition.  Making every shell count they blast their former compatriots and send them running but Pernov rallies his men and begins the assault again.

The inept mutineers, driven on by Captain Pernov, struggle up the slope to storm the last Bolshevik redoubt but are thrown back by the stubborn defence.  Totzek empties his pistol into their ranks, killing another mutineer.

 

 

However, the numbers are overwhelming and our scene fades to black as poignant music plays and a battle damaged red flag waves gently in the breeze … 

 

... but what a twist!  The body of the commissar cannot be found! ...

History of England Podcast

I've been doing quite a bit of driving up and down the country in recent weeks, and it's been made much easier by listening to the History of England podcast.

I haven't listened to all of it, there are hundreds of hours, but I started with Charles I and I've been doing the civil war era.  I'm just up to the Putney debates.  David throws in quite a bit, often niche and very British, humour but even if you don't get all the jokes he has a nice relaxed style and is entertaining to listen to.  It isn't massively heavy on the military side but there is still lots of detail and enough violence for most.  It's worth checking out for long car journeys or background noise while you paint. 

The Battle of Inverkeithing, 1651

Castland Hill in Fife is an odd place for my Cheshire Parliamentarians to start fighting but my club mate Andy has been industrially painting Scots, so this battle seemed like a good way to combine our forces for a game.

The Situation

It is July 1651 and Major General Lambert, with a small English Commonwealth army, has crossed the Firth of Forth to outflank the King Charles II's main army at Stirling. A force of Scottish Royalist troops, under Major General Holborn, have deployed across Lambert's path, in a strong blocking position on the lower slopes of Castland Hill near Inverkeithing.  With Scots reinforcements hastily marching to the join his enemy, Lambert decides to attack before it is too late.

Deployment

The game is played on a 3’ square surface [I actually changed this to 4' when we played as I was having trouble making the 3' board and it seemed very cramped, but that was probably a mistake.  The historical battlefield was tight and the lengthened distance reduced time for manoeuvre]. The Scots deploy first and must start within 12” of the northern table edge. The English may deploy up to 12” in from the southern table edge.

Game Length and Turn Order

The scenario lasts 15 game turns. The English go first on each turn.

Victory Conditions

The English must eliminate seven Scottish units and have at least eight units remaining themselves to win. Any unit leaving the field counts as eliminated [If the English can exit one or more cavalry from the north table edge and still win they can brag they have achieved a major victory]. Any other result is a Scottish victory. 

The Scots Order of Battle

Leaders

Major General James Holborn of Menstrie 

[Holborn's name is spelt many different ways] 

Sir John Browne of Fordell

 

Major General James Holborn's Brigade of Foot

- Sir George Buchannan's (Highland) Regiment of Foot (Average Foot)

- Major General James Holborn’s Regiment of Foot (Average Foot)

- The Master of Gray’s Regiment of Foot (Raw Foot)

Other Foot

- The Marquis of Argyll’s Highland Regiment of Foot (Average Foot)

[It is debatable if Argyll's foot were a significant force at the battle or even present at all.  They were an old regiment but reduced to a very small size.  They may have been recruited up with levies.  We opted to make them average, as a new levy unit stiffened with a good cadre of old veterans] 

- The Maclean Highlanders (Raw Highlanders)

[The Macleans have been heavily romanticised since the battle and their numbers are very debatable]  

- Colonel Harie Barclay's Regiment of Foot (Raw Foot)

[Barclay's had served as the garrison of Aberdeen, and later Burntisland, but were defeated by the English and may have joined with Holborn.]

Sir John Browne of Fordell's Brigade of Horse

- Lord Brechin’s Regiment of Horse (Average Lancers)

- Sir John Browne of Fordell’s Regiment of Horse (Average Lancers)

- Sir Charles Arnott’s Regiment of Horse (Average Lancers)

- Colonel Walter Scott’s Regiment of Horse (Average Lancers)

Other Horse

- Colonel Augustine Hoffman’s Moss Troopers (Average Lancers)

- The Earl of Balcarres’ Regiment of Horse (Raw Lancers)

Artillery

- a light gun battery (Average Light Gun)

[The Scots artillery is conjectural] 

Powder store

D6 Barrels

[These were used to replace out of ammunition results] 

The English Order of Battle

Leaders

Major General John Lambert

Colonel John Okey

Colonel Leonard Lytcott

Colonel Robert Overton

  

English Foot

- Major General John Lambert's Foot - Right wing (Veteran Foot)

- Major General John Lambert's Foot - Left wing (Veteran Foot)

- Colonel George Fenwick's Foot (4 coys) (Veteran Foot)

- Colonel William Daniel's Foot - Right wing (Average Foot)

- Colonel William Daniel's Foot - Left wing (Average Foot)

- Colonel Francis West's Foot (Average Foot)

[West's regiment seems unknown outside of this battle, so may have been an ad-hoc battalion] 

- Colonel Edmund Syler's (Lincolnshire) Foot (Raw Foot)

English Horse

- Major General John Lambert's Horse - 1st Squadron (Veteran Ironsides)

- Major General John Lambert's Horse - 2nd Squadron (Veteran Ironsides)

- Colonel John Okey's Horse - 1st Squadron (Average Ironsides) 

[Okey's Dragoons fought at Naseby but had only recently converted to being a full horse regiment]

- Colonel John Okey's Horse - 2nd Squadron (Average Ironsides)

- Colonel Leonard Lytcott's Horse - 1st Squadron (Raw Ironsides)

- Colonel Leonard Lytcott's Horse - 1st Squadron (Raw Ironsides)

[Lycott's regiment at Inverkeithing is possibly Hasselrigge's.  Lycott had served as a Foot officer in Ireland but was transferred to Scotland in 1650.]  

Artillery

- a light gun battery (Average Light Gun)

- a heavy battery (Average Heavy Gun)

[The English captured a number of guns in their landing at North Queensferry and seemed to have used some in the battle.]

Power store

D6 +1 Barrels  

[These were used to replace out of ammunition results]

Results 

We used some rules based on an ECW variant of Neil Thomas' One Hour Wargames. The English miniatures are mine, with some support from my club mate Dave's Eastern Association troops.  The Scots are Andy's.  

The battle played out quite historically but we made mistakes in the rules and the hill was probably too small, so I won't do a full action report.  Here are the Scots looking splendid as they make their last stand though. 

Big guns and Big wigs

Here's a very short update with a few additional pieces for my ECW project.  First some sub commanders I needed for a game.

Secondly some heavy guns to provide loud, expensive and not altogether effective support for the Foot, Horse and Dragoons.

A longer update to follow soon. 

 

Northern Association Parliamentarians

After a long delay here are some more units for my English Civil War project.  This time it is Sir Thomas Fairfax' own part of the Parliamentarian army that fought at Nantwich in January 1644.  

These units were drawn from the Northern Association, which covered a wide area across Lancashire, Cumbria, Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.   These counties were hotly contested with the local royalists and formed a very insecure power base. 

Northern Association Horse

When ordered to relieve Nantwich Fairfax needed to move quickly and in the dead of winter.  He therefore seems initially to have only taken the cavalry then under his command in northern Lincolnshire.  While their exact numbers and composition are open to question, it seems likely that there were around 1800 horse and 500 dragoons by the time of the battle.  It is however, not even certain if the Cheshire horse were present and included in those numbers.  Although, it seems unlikely they would have been elsewhere given the importance of the battle.  Probably Fairfax didn't have many more than a thousand men when he left Lincolnshire.  

The Northern Association regiments thought to be at the battle are listed below.  Unlike Brereton's single large regiment in Cheshire, these regiments must have been small and were probably combined into a number of tactical fighting units.  I have therefore painted just three additional squadrons.

First is Sir William Fairfax’s Regiment of Horse, which had been formed from several Yorkshire troops sometime in 1643.  Originally commanded by Sir Henry Foulis, by early 1644 Sir William Fairfax, cousin to Sir Thomas, had become the regiment's colonel and he remained so until his death at the battle of Montgomery late that year.  Sir William Fairfax commanded the Horse on the Parliamentarian right flank at the battle of Nantwich.

The colours of Sir William's regiment are unknown, so I have used the black & white cornet of Sir John Gell's regiment of Horse as inspiration.  Gell was from the Derbyshire  gentry and secured the county for Parliament in 1642.  His regiment took part in the battles of Hopton Heath and Rowton Moor alongside the Cheshire forces.

The next unit is Colonel John Lambert’s Regiment of Horse.  Lambert was a talented soldier and another Yorkshireman.  He would later become a prominent Major General in the New Model Army.  An interesting side note is that Lambert would lead the New Model forces that crushed the royalist 1659 uprising of Cheshireman Sir George Booth, his erstwhile comrade-in-arms at Nantwich.  Lambert was a staunch republican and a possible successor to Cromwell as Lord Protector.  He tried to oppose the restoration but failed when his army melted away through lack of pay and enthusiasm.  This was partly because his old commander, Sir Thomas Fairfax, refused to fight with him against George Monck, who then commanded the New Model forces in Scotland but who had fought on the Royalist side at Nantwich, and been captured.  These complicated personal relationships show how interconnected the officer corps was and the detail is part of what makes this period so fascinating.  Lambert's Horse carried a Blue and red cornet.  Lambert commanded the left wing of Horse at Nantwich.

The third new unit is Sir Thomas Fairfax’s Regiment of Horse.  Another Yorkshire regiment, Fairfax' own Horse were certainly present and probably one of the stronger units he brought from Lincolnshire.  At Nantwich the regiment carried a nominally blue cornet with a foliated pattern in cloth.  It looks very green in this picture and in the illustration found at the link above, but I've added some additional blue touches to it since.  I may just repaint it plain blue at some point, as that's how it was when the regiment joined the New Model Army.

Some more Yorkshire Horse regiments are believed to have been at the battle.  These were either Sir Thomas Maulverer's or possibly Colonel James Mauleverer’s, and Colonel Hugh Bethell’s.  Sir Thomas' cornet is unknown but James Mauleverer's regiment carried a complex white cornet with hands holding swords piercing a crown and some books.  I've opted out of trying to paint this one so far.  

One of the Maulverers and Sir William Constable seem to have commanded the Parliamentarian horse in the centre or reserve.  Constable was colonel of a regiment of Horse and Dragoons at this time.  His Horse man have been at the battle or in garrison at Hull.  Sir William Fairfax and later Colonel Morgan succeeded him to command of the Dragoon regiment.  Morgan was only a captain at Nantwich but seems to have led the combined dragoons in a forlorn hope and was promoted to major after the battle.  If Constable commanded his Horse and Brereton his foot this possibly left no senior officer to command the disparate troops of dragoons.  This maybe explains why they were merged under Morgan on the day.  I'll paint a second unit of dragoons for Morgan eventually.

Northern Association Foot 

When Fairfax arrived in Manchester he is said to have found the forces there somewhat ragged and disaffected, with the officers more reluctant than the men.  Nevertheless  after a few days the army was under way to the relief of Nantwich.  It is debatable if Fairfax charisma won them over, or if the accounts exaggerate the disaffection.  It might be reasonable to make the Lancashire forces slightly less steady than the Cheshire men but there doesn't seem to be much evidence of a difference from the battle.   

The first regiment I have painted is Colonel John Bright’s Regiment of Foot.  At Pontefract, a year later, they wore green coats lined yellow, so I have gone with that here.  Their colours are unknown but I have made them red as I didn't yet have a red flag and it goes well with the green.  Bright's were a Yorkshire regiment originally but later adopted into the New Model Army, where they changed to red coats.  Bright was not one of the senior Parliament commanders at Nantwich and I meant to add him on his white horse to the regiment base but forgot.  I might correct that later.  This unit can stand in for one of the regiments we have no known coats or colours for but were commanded by a senior officer, such as Colonel Ralph Assheton’s (possibly Ashton) Regiment of Lancashire foot.  They probably fought in the van alongside Brereton's foot.

Colonel Richard Holland’s Regiment of Foot were present and Holland probably commanded a body of foot alongside that of John Booth, both were Lancashire regiments, and J Booth's regiment seems to be distinct to the regiment of George Booth in the Cheshire forces.  Holland's men were accounted particularly mutinous, so could maybe have a chance on not obeying orders at the start of the battle.  However, Fairfax sensibly placed them in the middle of his line, where there was little opportunity for avoiding the fight.  The coats and colours for Holland and J Booth's regiments are unknown, so I have used the grey coats and white colours of Sir John Gell’s Regiment of Foot who fought at Hopton Heath, for one.  

The last unit for now has red coats and a green colour.  They can serve as the other of Holland or Booth's Lancashire foot bodies at Nantwich and then later be a New Model unit or other unknown Parliamentarian regiment.  Fairfax' own New Model foot regiment had red coats and may have carried a green colour.  It's probably also worth noting that I have done all my Parliament foot with grey breeches and some with coloured turnbacks to make them distinct from the more monochrome nature of intended Royalist practice.  When, and to what extent, these ideals ever matched reality is of course open to debate.

This is all the Foot I have painted so far. 

One more Lancashire unit known to have been at Nantwich is Colonel Alexander Rigby’s Regiment of Foot.  They seem to have worn grey coats but had an unknown colour.  They were brigaded with Duckenfield and G Booth's Cheshiremen on the day, so can be assumed to form part of those battalia.

This is all the Horse I have painted so far. 

If I need more Foot that can serve as a New Model Army unit and an earlier parliament unit, one option is Sir Thomas Myddleton's regiment of foot with their red coats and white colours. Myddleton was from the marches gentry and a very active supporter of parliament.  His regiments, including Horse and Dragoons, served widely in Cheshire and the marches, notably at the battle of Montgomery and the siege of Chester.

The Cheshire Parliamentarians

Okay, enough fluff and history let's see the troops I have painted so far.  Here's Sir William himself to wave us off.

 

The Cheshire Horse

I'll start with the cavalry. At Brereton's insistence, the Cheshire Horse were merged into a single large regiment under his personal command.  This was probably to avoid having several small regiments under various competing local gentry.  Abram says they numbered 5 troops and perhaps 3-400 men in early 1643, but a year later were 14 troops strong.  A simple linear expansion can't be assumed but by the time of Nantwich they probably had the greater part of the 1000 officers and men they would peak at in 1645.  This powerful and coordinated force bears reasonable comparison with Cromwell's Ironsides, and was well equipped and officered.  

I won't be doing all fourteen troops, but assuming squadrons of two bases, at a scale of about 150-200 men per squadron, Brereton's Regiment of Horse might have fielded 3 or 4 such bodies in early 1644, for 6-800 cavalry overall.  I will probably eventually do five squadrons, so I have the numbers for Rowton Moor as well.

 

The cornets are oversize to allow some hints at the flag designs in Abrams' "More like Lions than Men" but don't look too closely at the details.  I may redo them at some point but I'm happy enough for now.

The figures are all 3d resin prints provided by my club mates. They seem a little continental rather than English in look, so I have clipped a few feathers and modified a few hats.  They are true 15mm scale, so will probably match well with Peter Pig, Warlord Epic and Steel Fist Miniatures ranges. The wonderful KeepYourPowderDry blog has some good posts on figures here.  A couple of other highlights, amongst the many useful posts there, are these on coats and colours.

The first unit is Brereton's own troop. This troop arrived with Brereton in January 1643 and continued even after the regiment was passed to Colonel Jones, following the self denying ordinance. 

The second unit of Horse is Colonel Jones' troop.  Michael Jones was the staunch protestant son a Welsh puritan bishop in Ireland.  He had served in the King's Irish army but refused to fight for the Royalists following the cessation of arms with the Irish Confederates, defecting to Brereton on returning to England.  It is unclear exactly when Jones joined as Brereton's Lieutenant Colonel of Horse but if not before Nantwich these troops can serve as Sergeant Major Browne's troop.  John Browne was a professional officer, probably formerly of Lord Brooke's regiment in the Earl of Essex' army, one of several officers sent to Brereton on request.  Browne seems to have left Cheshire in July 1644 and the capable Captain Zankey of Brereton's troop was promoted to Sergeant Major.  Abram has an image for the cornet of Jones' troop but not one for Browne's, so they may have been similar or even the same unit.

The third Horse unit I have painted is Colonel Duckenfield's troop.  Robert Duckenfield was a member of the Cheshire gentry and a close associate of Sir William Brereton.  Duckenfield commanded a Regiment of Foot in the Cheshire army at Nantwich and elsewhere, so his troop was commanded by his brother Francis.  

The last mounted unit I have painted is a unit of dragoons.  Brereton arrived in Cheshire with three troops of dragoons and seems to have quickly raised two more.  They were formed into a regiment but the number of men and troops seems to vary over time.  They may have been firelocks from the beginning but were equipped as such by 1644 at the latest.  

I'm not sure if I will need dismounted dragoons but these will serve as them or as commanded shot instead.

 

The Cheshire Foot 

Now we can switch to the infantry.  Four Cheshire Regiments of Foot are known at Nantwich.  The quality of the Cheshire foot was generally good, and although less experienced than their Irish army opponents, they were probably more committed and performed well.  They had gained considerable experience prior to the battle, and been well trained and handled by Sergeant Major James Lothian.  This excellent Scottish professional officer had arrived early in 1643 and conducted most of the army's foot and siege operations.  Lothian was unfortunately captured at Burford near Nantwich in December, and not exchanged until July 1644, but his students did him proud in the battle.

Sir William Brereton’s Regiment of Foot
At least some are know to have been issued with grey coats, and there is evidence they carried black, and possibly also white Colours.  I have given them black colours, and kept the white for Duckenfield's regiment, as these match the colours known for their respective troops of horse.  This seems reasonable as the reference to white colours could possibly have been another unit of Brereton's army, rather than his own regiment.  Brereton's regiment was very large and may at times have fielded more than one battalia.  I have fielded them only as a single unit as I wanted to make each battalia distinct, and they may have detached companies to bolster other units or provide garrisons anyway.

Colonel Robert Duckenfield’s Regiment of Foot
The coats and colours of Duckenfield's regiment are unknown but I have assumed grey coats, which seems typical of many northern foot.  I have given them the white Colours that are recorded as carried by some companies of Brereton's army.  These could have belonged to Brereton's own regiment, or another Cheshire regiment.  As Duckenfield's horse troop carried a white cornet, they seemed the most likely candidates.

 

The last two regiments of Cheshire foot known to be at Nantwich were Sir George Booth’s Regiment of Foot and Colonel Henry Mainwaring’s Regiment of Foot.  It is again unknown what coats were worn, or colours carried, by either.  

Booth's regiment may have been within the garrison of Nantwich but I'm not yet clear on that.  George Booth Senior seems to have commanded the town, although it could have been his grandson namesake.  Whoever commanded the garrison, they sallied out to attack the Royalist rearguard late in the battle.  The Nantwich trained bands seem likely to have been present in the town itself, but they can't have been alone and the overall picture is still quite confused.  Different accounts contradicting each other.  I'll do some more research on this.

Mainwaring's seem to have been with the main field army but were probably, by the time of Nantwich, a smaller unit whose companies were brigaded with another regiment, or distributed across multiple battalia.  If Booth's were not in the garrison it may have been with them that Mainwaring's were brigaded, as they fought together against Prince Rupert later in the year.   

Whatever the situation, I have painted this third foot battalia with red coats and a blue colour.  They can stand in for any unknown unit in the Nantwich army, and also serve as a New Model Army unit, such as Robert Overton’s Regiment of Foot.   Overton's fought at St Fagans in the second civil war, which is another battle I would like to re-fight eventually.

 

It was quite normal to form composite battalia in the civil wars, and it is possible there were only six such bodies of Parliamentarian foot at Nantwich.  In light of this reasoning, I will make the last three foot battalia from the Lancashire units.  

All this is excluding the Folorn Hope, probably composed of dragoons under Captain Thomas Morgan, and a possibly a body of 'clubmen', which may have served as pioneers.  

 

Finally to round out the arms of service I have this single base of light guns.  I seem to recall reading that a brace of drakes was sent to Brereton from London in 1643 but I'm struggling to find the reference now.   I'll confirm it if I do.