First Post! "Why ECW" and "Why 40mm?"

Well, both are good [rhetorical I admit] questions.

English Civil War was one of my first gaming adventures with my first club, then the North Penn Wargamers.  They'd a somewhat battered collection of ECW in 20-25mm but I loved the variety of weapons and the strange terminology.  But there's lots of reasons to game this period:

• Plenty of resources in English,
• Plenty of novels/memoirs in English - always keep me motivated to paint and play,
• Colorful uniforms and unusual styles [compared to now],
• Interesting weapon combinations - sword/pistol cav, pike/shotte infantry,
• Good balance btw Horse & Foote, with Artillery a bit weak - good!
• Firepower is important but not overwhelming,
• The miniatures fight for either side since there are few distinct uniforms, yay!
• The war itself is an interesting clash of both religion and politics, giving plenty of reasons for almost any wargame event or scenario,
• Lots of interesting personalities and units,
• Lots of interesting small campaigns and clashes.

Whew!  Isn't that more than enough to drop some silly project like starship combat or anything by Games Workshop??

I put my 25mm Old Glory onto ebay, which was a pre-condition of buying the 40mm. I refuse to do it in two scales.  Painted buffcoat regiment of cav, 20 gunners with three bigger guns and eight small, and about a hundred pike and shot infantry with command.  Some of the auctions have sold, but for those of you who insist on 'playing small' my eBay ID is "Double-a-68" : http://www.ebay.com/itm/181195945853?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

This of course begs the question, "Why 40mm - especially when you started it in 25mm??"  Which a gaming buddy did ask, and it's a good question.  The bottom line is that I wanted to use these big figures - more visually interesting and easier to paint, I believe.  As I get older and move to glasses and other optical improvements, the thought of working in figure sizes I can't see except as fuzzy little blurs is just too much!  Also, this is America - Bigger is the New Better, right?  And I have to add that I was inspired by the pictures of other's work in 40mm. 

Finally, Chris at Sash & Saber is doing a great job making it all affordable at good wargame quality.  The net cost, if one makes regiments with a few less figs than some of the larger 28mm like Renegade, can actually cost less on a project basis if not quite on a figure-by-figure basis.

It was a little hard to put up figures that were finished as well as a project that was on its way, but the actual painting didn't inspire me despite the high quality of the Old Glory ECW line.  Also, as I my new goal is to always field both sides of any gaming project, I figured I may as well start something fresh.

Enjoy the cartoon I finally got up with the correct sizing - it's my favorite ECW humorous bit.  Prince Rupert and his famous poodle face off against Pym and 'Pepper' it seems, with the well-dressed and coiffed cavaliers to the left and the somber commoners to the right.