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October 19, 2007 28mm ECW Montrose Scots James Graham, Marquis of Montrose, returned to Scotland in 1644 with instructions from Charles I to lead a Royalist uprising against the Scottish Covenanter Government who had sided with the rebels of the English Parliament. The Royalist cause did not enjoy popular support in Scotland, outside of a few Catholic landowners and disaffected Highland communities, but undaunted Montrose hatched an ambitious plan to try and challenge the dominance of the Covenanters. Utilising the recently arrived regiments of the Earl of Antrim’s Irish Brigade to form the core of his army, Montrose then mobilised what he could from the Scottish loyalists. These included a variety of regular pike and shot regiments of foot raised by sympathetic aristocrats, and a host of Highland irregulars organised in their traditional clan units, led by their clan chiefs and retainers. The resulting force was not large and desperately short of cavalry, but Montrose took them off into the Highlands and embarked on a series of successful raids and campaigns against increasingly frustrated Government troops. Constantly on the move through the glens and over the mountains, and in all weathers, Montrose’s nomadic army of Scots-Irish regulars and Highland clansmen was a rough looking, unconventional force, but proved to be a highly adaptable one. The pikemen cut their pikes down to a shorter length for easier marching across the difficult terrain, and when a few horses could be found ad-hoc units of dragoons were formed to provide more mobility and scouting. The defection of Lord Gordon’s Regiment of Horse from the Government forces at least provided Montrose with some regular cavalry, but even then numbers were so limited he was obliged to protect this precious resource with units of close supporting infantry. Never strong enough to challenge the Covenanters in the open lowlands, Montrose managed to lead the Government armies a merry dance, inflicted many reverses on them until he was finally brought to heel and defeated at Philliphaugh in September 1645. Unable to raise any further significant forces and eventually ordered to surrender by Charles I, Montrose fled Scotland in 1646, but his ally Alasdair Macdonald withdrew into the Western Highlands with a few surviving remnants of the army and continued to conduct a guerrilla war until 1647. The additions to our range provide you with a wide variety of rugged looking Scots, including pikemen, musketeers (some of whom supplement their muskets with bows!) and a selection of wild looking Highland types armed with a fearsome array of traditional clan weapons. Lord Gordon’s Horse are represented, plus command figures and personalities. Although designed to represent Montrose’s troops, many of these figures will also look perfectly at home mixed into Scottish Government forces for extra variety, and remember – the range already contains all the Irish soldiers you need to raise a Montrose army. Here are the catalogue details for the new miniatures – 28mm English Civil War Montrose Scots Variants in parenthesises. Variants are supplied randomly. 100ECW12 17th Century Scottish musketeer (4) 100ECW13 17th Century Scottish musketeer with bow (4) 100ECW14 17th Century Scot with clan weapon (4) 100ECW15 17th Century Scot with sword (2) 100ECW16 17th Century Scottish pikeman (4) 100ECW17 17th Century Scottish Laird (1) 100ECW18 17th Century Scottish piper (1) 100ECW19 Montrose, on foot (1) 100ECW20 Gordon’s Horse, charging (4) 100ECW21 Gordon’s Horse, at rest (4) 100ECW22 Gordon, mounted (1) 100ECW23 Gordon’s Horse standard bearer (1) 100ECW24 Gordon’s Horse bugler (1) Click here to see pictures of all these figures. Click here to see more colour pictures of this range.

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